As you know, a game "going gold" means its final version is done and ready to be sold. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade has gone gold, and nothing stands in the way of the January 16 launch of this big expansion for one of the biggest MMORPGs in history (if not the biggest MMORPG in history).

WorthPlaying credits Blizzard CM Tseric as their source, and they also listed a few of the things you can expect from Burning Crusade. After all the news, it's a nice recap of some of the features that make this expansion worth its weight in blog entries:

• An increase in the level cap to 70
• Two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves
• New starting zones in Quel'Thalas and beyond
• The entire new continent of Outland, reachable through the Dark Portal
• Many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere
• New flying mounts in Outland
• Many new and dangerous monsters, including epic world bosses
• Hundreds of new quests
• Hundreds of new items
• A new profession: Jewelcrafting
• Socketed items