New expansions for World of Warcraft (and most other expandable games, now that I think about it) generally focus on bringing new items and content into the mix. Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard’s latest expansion pack), on the other hand, has broken with tradition by making changes to the actual dynamics of the game.

Let me explain. With the last incarnation, the changes introduced in 3.0.2 and Wrath of the Lich King have fundamentally changed the number of buffs and debuffs that now work in the game. These changes are designed to take advantage of new game rules and methods that weren’t necessarily there before. While the content has undergone minor modifications, the main change affects how players will use their pros and cons from now on.

Historically, there have been benefits that have only affected one party. With the updated version, these will now affect the entire raiding party; for example, the effect of Blood Lust, Paladin Blessings, Totems, and Power Word Shield will now affect all 10-25 members of a raiding party. What this, in turn, means is that it will no longer be necessary for a player to separate and distribute their specialized buffers into multiple parts.

This fundamental change will inevitably change the way many strike groups gather, as class selection will be much less of a headache than in the past. This is probably a welcome change for smaller guilds, this may well result in larger and more specialized guilds losing party members as a result of increased competition for available buff slots.

In addition to these changes, more classes will now have access to multiple buffs and debuffs that could previously stack; an example of this is where Death Knights, Warlocks, and Druids will find it easier to gain essential buffs that affect spell damage taken by a target. The downside to this will be the restriction on one party member to cast the debuff (if all three classes are in a group) and their inability to stack. Ultimately, the overall effect is that a role can now be filled by multiple classes.

At first glance, it would appear that, from the perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of a raiding party, the emphasis has shifted from the larger hardcore guilds to the smaller, less serious guilds. Exactly what the ramifications of this change will be, only time and gameplay will tell.