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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsFinding Blizzard's Cataclysm
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 3rd 2009 at 3:30PM
The other day, we posted that Blizzard had trademarked the name "Cataclysm," and right after that, the community exploded with speculation: is it the name of WoW's next expansion, Blizzard's next-gen MMO, or some other project? Nothing is guaranteed yet (is it ever with Blizzard?), but the Internets have pretty much landed on the new expansion as the answer. "Cataclysm" actually means "a momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition," but it also has a pretty specific relation to water, and that's got lots of people thinking that it's the name of the Maelstrom expansion. In fact, The Sundering, or the world event in Azeroth's history where the Well of Eternity was destroyed and the Maelstrom (that swirly thing in the middle of the map) was created, was referred to as "the Cataclysm." So there you go -- pretty solid evidence, even though, as I said, nothing is guaranteed until we hear it from Blizz.Stropp's got an interesting piece of speculation that says though "Cataclysm" is still probably the next expansion, the event the word refers to has yet to happen. He claims that if Blizzard really wants to speed up the 1-50 leveling process, they should just destroy Old Azeroth as we know it, and just have all the new characters start at level 50. That would be pretty nuts, but then again, Blizzard's never shown a real affinity for the old content, and by the next expansion, we'll be heading up to level 90 or even 100.
Finally, there's this: when the news first broke last week, we noticed that the wowcataclysm.com domain had just lapsed when the trademark was registered. But apparently, as a few of our commenters have noticed, the Australian person who originally owned it has re-acquired it for another year. So if "Cataclysm" really is the next expansion, Blizzard will have to lay claim to the domain (either by buying it or trying to enforce their trademark), or (more likely) put the domain somewhere else.
Filed under: Night Elves, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Gessilea Jul 3rd 2009 4:06PM
Oooooooh, I like this idea! That would help with the whole "how to have an expansion underwater" thing too.
wesleyshawn Jul 3rd 2009 5:09PM
In the book, "arthas", it actually refers to this happening in a vision Arthas has at the end of the book. Its refers to a great land rising out of the sea and also makes a reference to Malfurion in the Emerald Dream.
Artificial Jul 3rd 2009 4:04PM
The mistake people are making are in thinking the Cataclysm occurred 10,000 years ago.
In fact, the Cataclysm *started* 10,000 years ago. The conclusion of the event... is about to arrive.
You are not prepared. ;)
Gessilea Jul 3rd 2009 4:05PM
Like other commenters, I too can't imagine that Blizzard would destroy the old world (though it is a very interesting idea). If anything, I could maybe see an expansion of the phasing technology to allow for changes to the old world as we level, but even this seems unlikely. After all, if the old world were destroyed, even only for players who had completed a Wrathgate style event, one would have to decide to do certain achievements in advance, could never go back and help friends level, holiday content would have to be totally reworked... yeah, I'm just not seeing it.
micgillam Jul 3rd 2009 4:12PM
I doubt they'd do away with Old World also. Maybe allow upper-level characters to roll "advanced" characters (i.e. once you hit 55, you can start new toons of *any* class at 55) or something like that, so only new accounts would *have* to go through vanilla. Then again, that would probably screw new players for being able to do the lowbie 5-mans, so maybe not.
...
I've got it, BoA heirloom Pony mount (with auto-scaling for +40% to 60% at 20, to %100 at 40 (pony becomes mustang), to regular flying at 60 (mustang becomes pegasus)...you get the picture.
Narshe Jul 3rd 2009 4:18PM
I notice this article is just repeating what has been said in the comments section by readers. I guess you just making it convenient for readers who dont want to look through all the comments, i just hoped for some new/relevant info.
"Blizzard's never shown a real affinity for the old content, and by the next expansion, we'll be heading up to level 90 or even 100."
I would love for you to say where this comes from, since Blizz is constantly saying they dont want to increase the lvl a new toon starts at, and instead gives you ways to gain exp faster(Heirloom items, RaF etc). Blizz constantly says they dont want new players skipping old content because they created it and would be a waste to not use it in some extent.
I dont see the need to "Destroy" Old World, if i designed the game and spent that much time creating that work why would i want to erase that work? Now, having the Maelstrom event affect the way Azeroth actually looks, this would be a great way to update Old World in a way that is appeasing to old school players. Imagine Kalimdor being shifted around, maybe breaking apart. This would add new content too to Azeroth, if some kind of land mass shifted up from under the water to create new land. Theres still some spots on the world map that show areas we cant reach.
Rakah Jul 3rd 2009 9:58PM
lowbie 5 mans are rare enough anyway except on brand new realms.
the only class i really can't be bothered leveling is a warior, i have 80 or close to 80 of the other classes, perhaps starting a warrior at 55 might make me want to level one.
andy Jul 3rd 2009 4:29PM
maybe Cataclysm the next gen mmo?
fearinlight Jul 3rd 2009 4:44PM
did....you even read o.0;
Amritrao Jul 3rd 2009 5:06PM
@ fearinlight: did....you read any official comment from Blizz in the speculation o.0;
andy Jul 5th 2009 6:40AM
yea my point is there is nothing official about this its all speculation
and it says the guy has renewed the rights to wowCataclysm, anyway Cataclysm doesnt really sound like a wow expansion name to me anyway
freeway8989 Jul 3rd 2009 4:34PM
>=(
Azbulldog Jul 3rd 2009 4:53PM
Why would Blizzard use a domain like wowcataclysm? From what I remember all information for Burning Crusade and WotLK was all hosted on the main WoW site.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/
Nathanyel Jul 3rd 2009 4:57PM
As a redirect. See e.g. wrathofthelichking.com
noelkytty Jul 3rd 2009 5:02PM
wrathofthelichking.com properly redirects you to the wow/wrath page. Why wouldn't wowcataclysm.com take you to
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/
?
Azbulldog Jul 3rd 2009 5:00PM
Was there one for Burning Crusade? As well as ones that also use a "WoW" prefix?
Ringo Flinthammer Jul 3rd 2009 4:57PM
Blizzard has a plenty of affinity for the old world. That's why they've said they hope to do some more Dustwallow-style revamps soon, and why they refuse to let everyone start at 50. Why do are you so eager to interpret "no immediate plans" for "never," Mike? (Especially given that there were "no immediate plans" to allow faction changes only a few weeks ago.)
Grim Batol is definitely coming at some point, especially now that we know what's going on in there in the present day, thanks to a recent novel and a villain big enough to be the focus of an entire expansion. Apparently Uldum came close to being part of the Northrend expansion, but didn't quite make it.
Kul Tiras is almost a lock if there's a Maelstrom expansion and Gilneas wouldn't be too unlikely, either -- especially if, as per the Warcraft RPG, it's overrun with naga.
Patience: Blizzcon's only a few weeks away.
Nathanyel Jul 3rd 2009 4:59PM
I don't think they'd scrap the old Azeroth altogether, at least they'd provide means of re-entering it, through phasing etc.
Why? Achievements. Pets/mounts that drop in low-level instances, the Loremaster achievement...
Gizen Jul 3rd 2009 5:16PM
While it's true the Maelstrom was created as a result of the Sundering, there isn't really a current cataclysm that's occurring with it. Or, anything at all for that matter. It has, afterall, sat there undisturbed for ten thousand years. Has anyone considered that Cataclysm might actually be a Caverns of Time expansion, where the new expansion's 'continent' is the world of Azeroth at the time of the sundering? It would make a title like Cataclysm a bit more accurate, would no doubt have the Infinite Dragonflight as our main threat, and it would allow us to meet a lot of really powerful lore characters in their prime (Azshara, Archimonde, Cenarius, Malfurion, Mannoroth, etc.). It could also probably feature a lot more instances that send us to famous moments in the history of WoW, something that Blizz has said they're already considering more of due to the popularity of current CoT instances.
Jason Jul 3rd 2009 5:35PM
The new expansion could be set entirely in the past at the time of the cataclysm. And entire caverns of time sort of thing.