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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAre we being teased about the next expansion?
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Apr 6th 2009 at 7:00PM
So there's been a feeling in the air lately that some of the blues have been in a bit of a teasing mood. Sure, that's not neccessarily new, but what is interesting is what exactly they may be teasing us about. For example, here's a recent post in which one Sulmus of Aerie Peak asks for the Greymane Wall to be opened. Zarhym soon jumps in to say that they would be "out of their mind" to open the wall... then follows up with random ellipses. To top it all off, Bornakk and Crygil jump in with silly punctuation of their own.
Now when Alex and I were discussing this the other day, Alex insisted that they were basically admitting that the Greymane wall would be opened, likely in conjunction with the next expansion. He says it's already in the planning stages, and the blues are just waving the knowledge tantalizingly out of sight because they're not allowed to officially announce it yet. Now, at first I wasn't really on board with it, but then I noticed another post Zarhym commented in.
Imani of Aerie Peak posted a thread with the aim of advocating for more Old World content along the style of the Un'goro detour or Stormwind Harbor in Wrath. With the Maelstrom, she said, Blizzard should focus on fleshing out different areas of the old world, such as Gilneas, Azshara, and Grim Batol, weaving them in with new expansion content to give a sense of continuity. It's certainly a good idea to begin with, but what caught my eye is that Zarhym himself commented that it was a good post, thus surreptitiously tagging the thread with the air of officiality via blue text and providing a tacit endorsement of the idea.
Now of course, Zarhym's not a member of the dev team proper, and he could just simply be saying he thinks it's a cool idea (because it is), but considering his other post, I can't help but wonder if Alex had a point. Maybe these are ways to say, "Yeah, we're headed to the Maelstrom and filling out Azeroth for the next expansion, but we can't tell you that officially, so here, have some oblique references and teasing!"
It could all be wishful thinking, sure. Maybe the blues are just having some fun and commenting on some cool ideas, but still, I'm thinking I'd put good odds on a Maelstrom-related announcement at the next BlizzCon. Time will tell, but I'm starting to feel sort of optimistic.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Lore, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 7)
Ferocitron Apr 6th 2009 11:54PM
The idea of the Maelstrom as an entire expansion suggests a whooooooole lot of swimming. I think you have to view it as less of a block expansion like the last two, where a whole continent was added to the world, and more of an increase in development over the entirety of azeroth. Maybe develop a few properties in old azeroth (Gilneas, Kul'Tiras, that one part of Tirisfal Glades where something badass is hiding), put some stuff out at sea (Goblin islands, an island or two around the whirlpool at the maelstrom, and the raid of Naz'jetan at the bottom), maybe a few surprises (perhaps a jaunt through one of those excess portals out in outland to go help out Turalyon and Alleria on some other legion world? Maybe a zone or two duplicated into Emerald Dream style and fight some nightmare?)
And of course, the obligatory CoT instance. I for one think saving Lothar from the Deadmines is long overdue, should have been one of the first things they did with CoT. That or seeing what happened with Gul'dan inside the Tomb of Sargeras, and making sure his skull is available for later users.
Of course some of the stuff we want to see will likely be later in wotlk... personally i like them to do grim batol this expansion, seeing as theyve got the dragon aspects hanging out in their fancy new house.
skreeran Apr 7th 2009 9:49AM
Swimming is no problem for me. I just need to get out my Iron Boots and Zora Tunic.
Codexx Apr 6th 2009 11:16PM
Well, aside from the Burning Legion, we don't have any major enemies left.
To keep a solid story going, Blizzard will need to start introducing and foreshadowing future bad guys to take over, and I don 't know how far they can go, considering we've already fended off the leader of the Burning Legion, Illidan and his minions, will now be killing off Arthas and thus (hopefully) ending the scourge (and maybe even a cure for undeath). Sure, entering the Emerald Dream or the Maelstrom will let us take on some big bad enemies that have been hinted at but never directly acknowledged to be working, and I would appreciate more foreshadowing instead of just jumping right in. Like if an underwater expansion was planned, an aquatic raid would be a nice touch to set the plot in motion. Or if the Emerald Dream, we have the Emerald Dragonshrine as well as their portals beneath Wyrmrest.
I, too, would enjoy seeing parts of the old world opened and expanded. My major concern is the 20-30 difference in level between then, and the major graphical differences. Perhaps an entire overhaul is in order?
As well as that, if there's another hero class, we're going to need more slots per account. Same for another race.
I'd be for just about anything, so long as Blizzard makes it as seamless as possible. I don't want it to be a small opening event, then we just jump into this plot. The Dark Portal reopened? Demons coming out? kill them, hop in portal, oh crap, it's Illidan. Kill him. Woohoo, we won. Hey, we should head to Northrend now. Zombies? Cool, we have a reason to build a harbor now!
Seriously. foreshadowing please.
jonb Apr 6th 2009 11:26PM
heyy guys im not all that well informed with the wow lore and everything so sorry if this sounds dumb but whats next after arthas what baddies are next if any are left
Arquin Apr 6th 2009 11:38PM
Someone tipped me off about this prior to Wrath. Plans change, but it is interesting to think that this is Blizzard's roadmap for WoW.
"- Northrend Set
Borean Tundra - 67 to 70
Howling Fjord - 67 to 70
Dragonblight - 69 to 72
Grizzly Hills - 70 to 73
Crystalsong Forest - 72 to 75
Zul'drak - 73 to 76
Sholazar Basin - 75 to 79
Storm Peaks - 76 to 80
Icecrown Glacier - 78 to 80
- Maelstrom Set
Gilneas - 77 to 80
Grim Batol - 78 to 81
Kul Tiras - 79 to 82
Kezan - 81 to 86
Tel Abim - 83 to 85
Zandalar - 84 to 87
Plunder Isle - 86 to 88
The Broken Isles - 87 to 90
The Maelstrom - 89 to 90
- Plane Set
Pandaria - 1 to 10
Hiji - 10 to 20
Wolfenhold - 1 to 10
Xorothian Plains - 10 to 20
The Green Lands - 88 to 91
The Dying Paradise - 91 to 94
The Emerald Nightmare - 94 to 97
The Eye of Ysera - 97 to 100
Deephome - 88 to 91
Skywall - 91 to 94
The Abyssal Maw - 94 to 97
The Firelands - 97 to 100
- Legion Set
K'aresh - 96 to 99
Argus Meadowlands - 97 to 100
Mac'Aree - 99 to 100
Maw of Oblivion - 100+
The Burning Citadel - 100+++"
engine Apr 7th 2009 4:46AM
This list gets posted twice in one thread? Really? What, did the "friend" that gave it to you find it in his vanilla WoW beta folders too?
Posting this list should get you banned from comments, you people are IDIOTS if you believe any rumor about the game you hear online.
Arquin Apr 7th 2009 5:45AM
Actually, he said that he wrote it down after finding it unexpectedly and through esoteric means on Blizzard's site. He told me he was browsing realm lists or PTR realm selection or something else and stumbled upon this list in some form. I'm not sure, but I think that url subbing and google penetration searches were somewhere in there too; again, I'm not certain.
He told me this in 2008. I will admit, he might well be screwing with me but he had his story down.
Arquin Apr 6th 2009 11:50PM
Oh, and my predictions:
-Next expansion in Maelstrom
-Neutral sanctuary is the Goblin capital
-No new races in Maelstrom
-After Maelstrom, some sort of "Emerald Dream" expansion (81-90)
-Two new races in "Emerald Dream"
-Final expansion (91-100) occurs in wherever the BL calls home
-No new races in the 91-100 expansion
Arquin Apr 6th 2009 11:55PM
Scratch the "Emerald Dream" expansion being 81-90. Duh, that's Maelstrom! Rather, it will be 90-100, with two separate "planes" (maps) to level on from 88-100.
I also flubbed up on the "Legion" expansion. My sources indicate levels 96-100+++ will be its level range.
engine Apr 7th 2009 4:52AM
Your sources indicate this, huh? Shut up. Get out. If you have an idea for the game say it like it's an idea, don't try to pass it off as some insider fact that you tipped off to by one of your sources. You were that guy in middle school that we all knew, who said that in Japan they already had like Super Mario 9, and you know for sure because your brother knows a guy in Japan and Japan gets all their games first. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
PopeJamal Apr 7th 2009 2:00PM
@engine:
You really are an uptight asshole aren't you? At least they actually posted something compared to your nerd-raging "SHUT UP" onto the screen fifty times.
Go outside or something...
tonedeff Apr 7th 2009 12:12AM
I couldn't care less about lore.
But i would like to see the old world get a bit of a make over, all the areas or atleast most of them that are unfinished to be finished or added with new contents. If even if its just small instance patchs or somthing along the way.
Would be great to send people back to the old world for new stuff!
Ben Kelly Apr 7th 2009 12:19AM
As I am of the opinion that the next expansion will also be the last it would be cool if they opened up the maelsrtrom, the emerald dream and all the areas of the old world that are currently off limits. They could also fill in all the blamks in the old world and beef up some of the less than exciting areas.
Allow us to fly on all continents.
90 level cap and respec all the old world raid dungeons to make them level 90 heroics.
+ new instances in the dream, the maelstrom and then in Gilneas, Azara, new instances in all the capital cities not just Stormwind and Origmar.
I know I would be keen to see all this new content in the old world. It would make the whole game substantially more exciting and bring people back to the game.
engine Apr 7th 2009 4:57AM
You'll never get to fly in old-world Azeroth, flying mounts weren't even on the table until TBC and as such all of the geometry in Azeroth is designed to be viewed from ground level. There are unfinished trees, houses with no roofs, towers that just end, old-world Azeroth is a really terrible, unfinished looking place when viewed from above, and it would take millions of dollars and thousands of hours to fix it. We'll never get to fly there.
Balius Apr 7th 2009 8:04AM
It wouldn't take millions of dollars or thousands of hours. Remaking all of Azeroth's land from scratch could be done in a few hundred hours. It would take some (extremely tedious, but not terribly complicated) work, and a rather large patch, to revise the existing maps but it would take nowhere near the effort you describe and it's certainly not ABSOLUTELY off the table that such a revision might eventually take place.
The thing is, it doesn't really make sense to put in the effort it would take to get flying mounts working well when that time could be better spent on other projects. If I have to choose between slightly quicker and more convenient travel in an area I'm rarely in or seeing more new content, it's not even a contest.
That said, it wouldn't surprise me if Blizzard just had interns and programmers with nothing else on their plate at the time spend a few minutes revising the old world map files as an extremely low priority task.
Ben Kelly Apr 7th 2009 8:24AM
My issue is that WoW does not have an infinite life it has to end and there has to be a final expansion pack.
I am saying that it would be cool if Blizzard took all the areas on the map that are locked and opened them up in the final expansion pack.
Most of those areas are in old Azeroth and if you are spending time and energy adding new content there it would make sense to send some low level grunts to give the old stuff a once over.
I reckon that it is a lot easier than you think but it requires resources that until now Blizzard has chosen to allocate elsewhere.
I am not convinced that they will do it but if you gave all the old school players another shot at the old content with a twist then you might be able to bring the game full circle and end it with many of the old people playing again and that would set them up to move across the mystery MMO.
Sibe Apr 7th 2009 12:30AM
As someone posted eariler a link from Allakhazam from 2007, this first came up in 2006 and for me it seems pretty clear. I mean, firstly it pin-points Northrend before any information is even released, this only this it didn't predict was Death Knights. The Deadlands were most likely the Bone Fields and that whole area of Auchindoun (which turned out to be a little of a let down a bit like Azjol-Nerub and Anub'arak, even though they were huge let downs TBH).
So, if Death Knights weren't really considered when this original plan was made, then you have to account for all hero classes that they will be releasing in each expansion. The Emerald Dream expansion might be easier to tell, for me that hero class would be Brewmasters. Horde would get the Pandas and Dwarves would be the Alliance Brewmasters (that's just IMO anyway).
The Plane set is interesting, because it is splitting up the content based on two storylines, one for the elemental plans and the other for the Emerald Dream. And it is hard to tell what the other race is, Worgen or Nathrezim, Worgen are a possibility because they are from another dimension, while I doubt we will be seeing any Nathrezim on the Horde after what happened with Wrathgate (TBH the whole Wrathgate event seems random to me, if anything those Forsaken actually did a good think for Alliance/Horde).
Anyway, so many questions, was thinking of Arthas as one of the top guys to kill but looking at that list it seems like the game has a long way to go... But hopefully the new mmorpg blizz is releasing will be for hardcores, but still interesting what they do for the wow story even though I personally have stopped playing the game.
Draelan Apr 7th 2009 2:53AM
Wait? Good thing for Alliance/Horde? Just what cutscene were YOU watching? Putress slaughtered countless horde and alliance forces, including two of their heroes, Bolvar Fordragon and Saurfang the Younger. He betrayed the other forsaken and teamed up with Varimathras, driving his fellow undead out of the Undercity. His goal was not just to destroy the Lich King, but all life. ("Death to the Scourge! And death to the living!") Not only that, but the subsequent events that occurred in retaking the Undercity pushed the Horde and Alliance into war against each other, something that REALLY hurts their efforts against the Lich King. (All they're doing by killing each other is giving the Lich King more corpses to build his armies, and weakening each other before their final assault on Icecrown Citadel.)
I just can't see how any good has come of the Wrathgate event for horde or alliance.
Balius Apr 7th 2009 4:19AM
In all fairness, Saurfang the Younger was killed by Arthas before the poison dropped, and his soul was stored in Frostmourne.
The Wrathgate event, from the perspective of the Horde, was something that has been foreshadowed since the beginning of WoW. Forsaken quests have involved creatively killing various creatures with poisons to help the Apothecary Society create a weapon against Arthas, sometimes with direct malice toward the Alliance and sometimes with mere indifference toward the living. The leaders of the Horde blamed themselves for their failure to see the treason brewing in that splinter faction of the undead, as spearheaded by Varimathras.
It drove a wedge between the Horde and the Alliance, and shook even the foundations of the diplomacy among the Horde leaders. The only real good that came of it was in showing the players who go through it what incredibly bad-ass dudes the leaders are. It was definitely a VERY BAD THING.
Similarly to how we'd seen glimpses of the poison weapon that caused all this havok, we've been given hints at some seriously bad juju going down in the deep seas. Murlocks and Naga are being driven to shore as refugees and would-be conquerers, so sayeth the quest and flavor text. We also know about goblin civil wars and trade disputes in the Undermine, including princes in hiding and open hostility.
I think a South Seas/Maelstrom/Old World Revision is likely for the next expansion.
I also think that the chances of Blizzard giving the Horde a new race and not doing the same for the Alliance is RIDICULOUSLY unlikely.
It is my honest opinion that the Emerald Dream will never be an entire expansion. An instance, a raid, a zone, or some combination of the three, perhaps. But people will get weary of running instances in caves to kill particularly mean animals very quickly, no matter how varied you make all the caves. Nothing in the Emerald Dream really has that epic, ancient feel that something like Utgarde Keep or Ulduar has, or the flashy magical feel of something like The Nexus. Moreover, the Emerald Dream is tied to one class and one race, and all the other classes and races would only have an extremely focused reason to be there(i.e. kill guy x to save the real world) which lends itself to a shorter and more goal-driven experience like a raid or instance.
Besides, in order to make an expansion workable, you'd really have to destroy the whole purpose of the Emerald Dream. The developers would have to add roads, settlements, cities, instances, bridges, etc. Both the Alliance and Horde, in all the other games in the Warcraft series, have been all about stripping the land bare to supply themselves. At best, the Emerald Dream would no longer be the world without sentient races settling it, it would be Azeroth as a resource rich new frontier to exploit.
Sibe Apr 7th 2009 4:48AM
Because killing them by gas is better then either sucking their souls (like what happened to Saurfang) or turning them into Undead and forcing them to serve the Lich King. The forces at Wrathgate didn't stand a chance against the Lich King, the gas attack by the Forsaken actually weakened the Lich King much more then those Alliance/Horde forces ever would have.
I never said it was completely random, of course Forsaken had those starter quests, but with everything else that was happening early in WOTLK is was silly to through this plot change in with it to create a even bigger mess of the XPACK. And the only really warning we had that this was going to happen is the minor event in TBC...
Varimathras was not given enough justice imo, that is all that I am saying, they shouldn't have thrown such an important event in with everything else. Here is a guy that was a big character not only in WC3, but also in WOW (esp in early WOW), like Varimathras says when you kill him... "All this hard work for nothing"... With that said, none of the dreadlords have actually died in WOW lore, so maybe he isn't actually dead.