Blizzard releases interactive Outland map
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 13th 2006 at 7:46PM
Blizzard has posted an interactive map of Outland, the new lands showing up in the coming soon (we're told) expansion.Lots of groovy interesting stuff on there, including some new instances. The Black Temple and Hellfire Citadel we know about already, but Gruul's Lair sounds exquisitely interesting, and the crypty Auchindoun (centered in the middle of a massive crater) should be amazing. There's also cities for each faction marked in the zones, and more than a few cities marked "Faction," which undoubtedly hints at the locations where lots and lots of World PVP blood will be spilled.
But maybe the most interesting thing on the map is a neutral city labeled, mysteriously, "Area 52," up in the southeast of Netherstorm. That lends a flavor I didn't expect to the new world, although it's one that seems likely, if you've been listening to what we've heard of the Draenei lore so far (and I do mean heard). Anyone want to take my 50g bet that we'll see an X-Files cultural reference in the NPCs when the expansion hits?
Update: Looks like I was a little too fast on the PVP judgement: Tseric says Faction towns will be new faction homebases like Light's Hope (Argent Dawn) and Timbermaw Hold (TM Hold, obviously), while Neutral towns will be both places like Gadgetzan and World PVP objectives. Basically, don't read too much into the map before you see the game itself.
Update2: Two more things-- one, check out the comments for a fun easter egg. And two, Pallysucks points out that the BE paladin is wearing the one set of pally armor in the game without +Str on it... and wielding a 2hander.
[ Thanks, Dave! ]
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Instances, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
djr Sep 13th 2006 8:42PM
The most interesting thing is when you click on the zones in this order:
Shadowmoon Valley
Blade's Edge Mountains
Nagrand
Netherstorm
Zangarmarsh
Hellfire Peninsula
Terokkar Forest
Gorath Sep 13th 2006 8:57PM
HAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY
Do what Djr said, and watch the results
Ratherbrute Sep 14th 2006 12:33AM
Why do the dungeon level ratings go up to 72?
Azlias Sep 14th 2006 1:37AM
"Why do the dungeon level ratings go up to 72?"
Just under the map:
"Note: All dungeon and region levels on this page are the expected monster levels, not player character levels"
Huma Sep 14th 2006 3:02AM
"we'll see an X-Files cultural reference in the NPCs when the expansion hits"
:-) I hope the little grays won't have +50 racial to Mind Control :-)
heath Oct 11th 2006 9:59AM
...and it looks like Wildhammer faction will finally do some good.
vectorelement Sep 14th 2006 5:51PM
Regarding the easter egg, there's a javascript function that checks the order in which the areas are clicked. If you check the source code, you can see this array:
listOfIntegers = new Array(4,0,2,3,6,1,5);
Therefore:
4 = Shadowmoon Valley
0 = Blade's Edge Mountains
2 = Nagrand
3 = Netherstorm
6 = Zangarmarsh
1 = Hellfire Peninsula
5 = Terokkar Forest
Pretty cool.