Instances in Burning Crusade and beyond
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 5th 2006 at 3:08PM
Relmstein's got a great roundup of the new instances coming in the Burning Crusade, including the lowdown on two instances that won't show up in January, but will likely appear in two releases after the expansion.The Black Temple, it seems, won't be available when the expansion hits-- Blizz says they want to "polish" it before release. Relmstein says that's fine, because it will take players a few weeks to get to level 70 anyway. I'm not sure that's true-- you should never underestimate how fast players can eat up new content, but I do think that the other new instances will be more than enough to at least keep the majority of players interested for a while. The other instance we'll have to wait a bit on is Zul'Aman, a 10-man instance that's Troll-based like Zul'Gurub and Zul'Farrak. Of course I knew that there would be lots of new 10-man content in BC (the highest dungeons will have a limit of 25 players), but the thought still gets me excited-- UBRS is one of my favorite instances in the current game (and relatively easy to get a group together at any time), so more 10-man content will be very welcome to see.
Finally, Relmstein takes a look at instances and areas that still haven't opened in the world. Hyjal and the Island in the middle of the map we already suspect will open in later expansions, but there's a few instances that might be closer-- specifically Uldum in the south of Tanaris (a Dwarf lore instance like Uldaman) and Gilneas near Silverpine Forest. There's no plans yet for either to open (Blizzard has acknowledged that they want to, but probably aren't currently working on either), but considering that instances are many players' favorite part of the game at large, it's extremely exciting to think what swirly portals we'll be walking through soon.
Filed under: Patches, Guilds, Instances, Quests, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Theadrick Dec 5th 2006 3:30PM
Add Grim Batol as well, and also the OTHER prison in Stormwind "The Vault". There is also that instance portal in Stormwind, and a matching one in Org, rumored to lead to an instance player housing area sometime in the future. Then there is the blocked off gate and tunnel in Timbermaw Hold as well. I am sure I am leaving some others out.
moongaze Dec 5th 2006 5:58PM
I remember a green instance doorway at the end of strat-UD that leads to no where atm.
Argent Dec 5th 2006 6:38PM
the 'island in the middle' (presumably the one between the 2 continents of azeroth) is the goblin home area of undermine.
if you got the CE of the original WoW and watch the DVD, at one time you see a few frames of a whiteboard/hand-drawn map that outlines all the basic transportation routes in the game. it shows undermine being the gateway into northrend, so it's reasonably safe to assume it'll go in whenever they release northrend as a playable area (xpac 2?)
Argent Dec 6th 2006 12:43PM
the raid portal in dead side strath was always thought to be the actual entrance into naxxaramas (much like there is a raid portal to MC in BRD and one to BWL in UBRS.)
i suspect blizz just didn't bother to implement it in the end, beccause it's entirely superflous.
Argent Dec 5th 2006 6:42PM
timbermaw hold was supposed ot be the 3rd or 4th pvp BG, but got scuttled somewhere along theline. dunno if there is ever gonna be anythign else there.
Rayonius Dec 6th 2006 12:41AM
the back of strat = naxxrammas
not timbermaw hold, im afraid, but azshara crater. same zone, so easy to get confoozled
Donner Dec 6th 2006 12:39PM
if you got the CE of the original WoW and watch the DVD, at one time you see a few frames of a whiteboard/hand-drawn map that outlines all the basic transportation routes in the game. it shows undermine being the gateway into northrend, so it's reasonably safe to assume it'll go in whenever they release northrend as a playable area (xpac 2?)
I dont know if blizz really wants to play that card in the second expansion or not, I really dont wanna see myself facing the lich King for a few more years.