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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the new expansion pack for Blizzard's World of Warcraft ( Macworld rated 5 out of 5 mice ), the venerable massively multiplayer online juggernaut, has brought the most sweeping changes and updates that the game has ever seen. Hundreds of hours of new content for all levels, cinematics, expanded lore, thousands of quests, a dozen instances, and three additional player-versus-player areas have breathed new life into the six-year-old online world.

But let's take a step back for a second: World of Warcraft is one of the most successful, popular, and expansive games of all time. Yet for new players, such a gargantuan game can be intimidating to break into. With so many characters, quests, levels, and classes, simply starting out can seem like an intimidating prospect. On the surface, the new Cataclysm expansion seems like more red meat for the hardcore players (more levels, and of course, more dungeons). But the introduction of Cataclysm may prove to be the best time to be a new player in this fantastical world.

Around the globe, more than 12 million people are WoW players--about the same number of viewers who found themselves drawn into the television saga "Lost" last season. WoW's participation just continues to grow, and with good reason. New players will find storylines that are more mature than the originals, along with gameplay mechanics that make playing much more accessible to the uninitiated. This extra bit of handholding comes in the form of additional hints to help finish quests, more straightforward player expectations, better storytelling, and, frankly, more fun.

The cost of entry has also gone down; there's a generous free trial, and no need for players to buy the original game and all the expansions at once (unless they're compelled to play as one of the races that was introduced in a later expansion pack). Players are still able to have as many as ten characters per realm (Blizzard's term for a game server) to try out as many races and classes as they choose, and in recent years, Blizzard has allowed players to move characters from one realm to another, for a fee.  The game software itself has also seen some spectacular improvements, especially for players with beefier video hardware. Rendering of complex textures such as water and lava is far more realistic in the latest upgrades, and additional visual effects such as dynamic sun shafts, as well as greatly increased detail in spell and damage effects, serve to further improve the visual experience of the game.

One of the longest-running complaints of WoW players has also been addressed: patch day. Previously, when Blizzard would add new content via a patch, players would have to wait for files to be downloaded before they could play. Some of the larger patches could take hours to download. The revised launcher released this fall changes the experience entirely, allowing players to dive in to the world while additional content downloads in the background. So while Tuesdays still see realms shutting down for a few hours of regular maintenance, the download-and-patch dance has been all but eliminated.

I've been everywhere, man

Experienced players will find that WoW: Cataclysm raises the player level cap from 80 to 85. The two previous expansions have brought with them ten new player levels each (61 to 70 in Burning Crusade ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), and 71 to 80 in Wrath of the Lich King), but Cataclysm has only half as many. That doesn't mean there's less content than other expansions, though--in fact, Blizzard has concentrated this go-round on more end-game content, including several new level 85-only dungeons, and new heroic versions of two classic dungeons, The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep.

In addition to new high-level content, Blizzard has also reworked the lands throughout all of Azeroth, with new storylines and physical changes in virtually every area, and new achievements for even high-level players doing these low-level quests.

The new stories ease the experience of creating new level-one characters, and having to walk through those same quests over (and over, and over) again--who hasn't already taken down Stitches in Duskwood at least a half dozen times? When you decide to roll a new Worgen or Goblin (or any other race), the mid-level running around is less painful, sometimes even interesting (at least the first time around), with new in-game characters and quests. But while it's less painful, the mid-level grinding is still just that, a grind.

Speaking of the new races, the first five levels of the green-tinged, pointy-eared Goblin race are worth the entire price of admission for the Cataclysm expansion. Blinking neon lights, a car to drive within the first five minutes of gameplay, Champagne pool parties, soccer games, all before you reach level five. (My teenage son peeked over my shoulder and wondered if I was playing Disney's Toontown or Banjo Kazooie, rather than World of Warcraft. I think he's on to something there.)

The Worgen starting experience is closer to what we're used to for a beginner area, but the storyline is more polished, the lore somewhat more interesting, and the jokes your character tells are a lot funnier. Your new Worgen (they're like werewolves) begin level 1 as a human, but the changes won't come as much of a surprise. Added cinematics enhance the storytelling, but you'll have to pay attention.

There's also the opportunity to take advantage of one of the new race/class combinations that weren't available before, including Gnome priests, Tauren paladins, Human hunters, and several more.