World of Warcraft needs no introduction. Following on from this morning's official announcement of the next expansion, WoW: Catalcysm, Blizzard presented a discussion panel about "Classes, Items and Professions." Here's what they talked about as it happened:

[11:59] Waiting for it to start. Here we go...

[12:01] Travis, John and Greg on stage.

[12:02] Straight into it! Goblin Racials - rocket belt to jump 20 yards every 2 minutes, rocket barrage - can fire rockets at an enemy every 30 seconds. Goblins have a passive 1% increase to attack and casting speed. They get the best possible gold discount regardless of location. Get a pack hobgoblin - personal servant allowing you to access your bank every 30 minutes.

[12:03] Goblins get alchemy +15 too.

[12:04] Worgens have Darkflight - activate your true form, increasing movement speed by 70%. Aberration - reduced duration on curses, and you get a skinning bonus and you don't need a knife to skin.

[12:05] Worgen form - cosmetic only. You can be a worgen or human outside of combat, but only a worgen in combat...

[12:06] Goblin classes - no Paladins or Druids. Worgens - no Paladins or Shaman. All other classes possible. Undead Hunter, Blood Elf Warrior, Tauren Paladin shown.

[12:07] Alliance - Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Night Elf Mage Warlocks - soul shards banished from bags (audience cheers).

[12:08] Soul shards are only used in combat and are displayed on the UI. Three shards per fight. They regenerate quickly when out of combat. Possible to get more for long fights or mistakes.

[12:09] New Warlock spell - Soul Burn. Costs 1 shard, 30 second cooldown, off GCD. Soul Burn empowers your next spell, no other spell costs shards.

[12:09] Warlocks will have instant Fear, instant Soulfire (applause and cheering).

[12:10] On to Hunters now. Mana gone for Hunters (huge applause). Hunters no longer care about intellect or mana regeneration. Fewer cooldowns on Hunter's abilities. No Aspect of the Viper. Ammo becomes an item, not a consumable.

[12:11] Now on to items...

[12:12] Stat streamlining on items - Blizz is getting rid of unnecessary stats. Mana Per 5 is gone (huge cheer). Replaced with Spirit (booing from audience).

[12:13] All healers will get a meditation-like skill, no more Spirit on Mage and Warlock gear. Spell power is gone (audience gasps). Intellect now provides mana and spell power (cheers). Attack power - gone... ok, Blizzard is just kidding!

[12:14] Agility now provides 2 AP for Rogues, Hunters, Shaman and Druids.

[12:15] Armor penetration is gone, replaced with mastery. Mastery makes you better at what you do, simply put. Haste increases rate at which you gain energy, runes rage, and focus.

[12:16] Block value goes away, a block now mitigates a percentage of incoming damage.

[12:17] Stamina - no defense, spell power, attack power = more stamina for all. Plate wearers have same stamina as everyone else.

[12:18] New legendary item - Shadowmourne, large axe. Now on to professions...

[12:19] Archaeology - Blizz is still working on it, but it will be a secondary profession (like cooking, fishing) so everyone can use it. Collect artifacts throughout the world, unlocks paths and unique rewards.

[12:20] Reforging - customize your gear (applause). Blacksmiths, Leatherworkers, Tailors, Jewelcrafters and Engineers can reforge.

[12:21] Capability - reduce one stat for another. Some restrictions apply - you can't put the stats into something that is already on the item.

[12:23] Gathering will be made more fun and compelling. Miners might not be stuck with a stamina bonus, might get something else.

[12:24] Engineering - is either amazing or sucks. The presenter jokes how nobody complains about it.

[12:25] They're going to be doing more amazing stuff like the wormhole generator, more gadgets with catastrophic failures etc. Trying to make it much more exciting.

[12:25] Big changes coming to fishing, but he can't talk about them. It'll be "made more fun".

[12:26] All professions will go up by 75 points. There will be a new title, "illustrious".

[12:27] That's all folks. On to Q&A now.