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This is a very big change to the guild system. I personally know of a number of guilds this will affect, so I wanted to post this right away -- even though it bumps down mrgummage's awesome Cataclysm battleground preview. Be sure to check that out too.

Before diving into the trenches, keep in mind that this will not remove people already in your guild if you're above the cap. However, it will prevent you from inviting new members until you drop below the cap.

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Twin Peaks
Lore
The battle here is fought on behalf of the feuding Wildhammer Clan and Dragonmaw Orc factions who both vie for control of the resources in this strategic valley within the Twilight Highlands.

Map View
http://www.worldofraids.com/uploads/1285553335/med_gallery_22811_17_184633.jpg

Format
Twin Peaks is a 10 vs 10 capture the flag style battleground, similar to Warsong Gulch. Each faction gets a base which houses the flag, Wildhammer Stronghold to the north and Dragonmaw Hold to the south. Each is surrounded by strategically valuable terrain with choke points, passages and multiple avenues of attack. The midfield is dominated by large terrain features and smaller line-of-sight obstacles for the cunning player to exploit, as well as a power-up hut for each faction.

Objectives
Each team has to take and capture the opposing teams flag, while defending their own.

Thoughts and Feelings
Twin Peaks has a definite "Warsong Gulch 2.0" feel about it, with many of the great features from the original capture the flag format such as choke points, line of sight, strategic areas.
At the same time they've worked to alleviate some of the more annoying aspects from the original battleground. The addition of two graveyards per faction is going to really mix things up, and hopefully will prevent heavily geared teams from simply sitting on the graveyard, as often was the case in Warsong Gulch.
The biggest feature of the new battleground is the fact it is asymmetrical, with each faction getting different strategic advantages and disadvantages.
Both flag rooms each have several avenues of entry, including drop down from above. however their exit routes are far more limited, making defence still a very valuable tactic.

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Battle for Gilneas
Lore
Gilneas is the historic home of the Worgen. In the wake of the Cataclysm and the shattering the Greymane Wall, the Forsaken have launched an assault on the Worgen home lands.

Map View
http://www.worldofraids.com/uploads/1284102694/med_gallery_17713_17_54745.jpg

Format
This is a 10 vs 10 fight for control of strategic resources, similar to Arathi Basin. The battle ground contains three captureable locations, each with it's own graveyard and strategic attributes, as well as an uncaptureable starting area with graveyard for each faction. The Gilnean Outpost in the south-west and the Forsaken Landing Site to the north-east. The map itself is roughly triangular in shape, with the north-west being primarily dominated by water.
The terrain in the middle is riddled with back passages, strategic ground, choke points and obstacles to keep combat interesting.

Objectives
The objective of this battleground is to accumulate 2000 resources by controlling key map locations.

Thoughts and Feelings
Much like Twin Peaks is the Cataclysm's answer to Warsong Gulch, The Battle for Gilneas is it's answer to Arathi Basin. Once again taking the elements that made the capture point battleground format successful, while weeding out and improving on things that caused issues.
The reduction of control points from five to three causes the battles at each to be far more intense, however I fear that the various choke points between bases are going to cause similar "midfield zergs" that plagued Arathi Basin.

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Tol'Barad
Lore
Tol'Barad is a magical prison island, located in Baradin Bay off the coast of Eastern Kingdoms, which is being fought over by the Baradin's Warden and Hellscream's Reach factions.

Map View
http://www.worldofraids.com/uploads/1285553335/med_gallery_22811_17_49288.jpg

Format
This is a large scale world PvP zone which could be considered the "Cataclysm Wintergrasp". The zone is designed for scaling battles from 20 vs 20 up to (reportedly) 100 vs 100 battles, given enough participants from each faction. Every two hours the battle starts and those queued at automatically teleported into the fight as required to maintain balance.
Like Wintergrasp, controlling the zone grants the faction access to a raid instance and specialty vendors. However unlike Wintergrasp, the vendors are attached to a faction that requires gaining reputation with to access the most powerful items, and the zone is also a quest hub for the controlling faction.

Objectives
Depending on who controls the zone at battle start the players must either assault the three secondary bases to make the primary base vulnerable to attack, and then capture it before the timer expires, or defend the zone from the opposing faction.

Thoughts and Feelings
The layout of the zone is interesting, and the three-pronged attack options help prevent the battle from becoming a linear zerg fest against the walls of the keep, as often became the case in Wintergrasp. The new daily quest zone, and factions to level up reputation with, will also give players a far greater incentive to compete than simply to do the raid once a week.

That's right. Whether your forte is video or print, Blizzard is holding two contests for the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. It's unclear if your entry could actually be used as an advertisement for Cataclysm -- they're probably looking for something more viral than anything -- but the fact of the matter is you have a shot at winning some pretty sweet stuff if your entry is chosen. Be sure to check out the Cataclysm YouTube Commercial Contest and Cataclysm Print Ad Contest pages for full details and prizes.

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