End of the Bell Curve for PvP, Bloodlust for Shamans!

WoW Insider is reporting some big news about the Burning Crusade.

First of all, the current ladder system of PvP will be abdolished. This is great news. This eliminates the problem of having to compete with your own faction. This means that your team will no longer focus on killing enemies instead of trying to capture the flag in Warsong Gulch, exclude you from their Arathi Basin premade group, or have to work out High Warlord / Grand Marshal rotations for different weeks.

Second, there's information about the new shaman and paladin skills. Paladins get an AoE taunt buff that will help them function as offtanks in an emergency, and shamans get bloodlust. Finally. While it may not be as powerful as in Warcraft 2 (+50% melee damage), it's still great news.

What they didn't mention was how they are going to keep the factions different enough from each other to make the choice matter. Personally, I would love to have racial spells and skills for each class. The priests have them, and fighting a dwarven priest is somewhat different from fighting a Forsaken priest.