BlizzCon 2010: Emerald Dream and/or Nightmare in the future
by Gregg Reece 
Oct 23rd 2010 at 6:00PM
While there is no announcement for an exact date or even which expansion it will appear, Alex "Valnoth" Afrasiabi (lead world designer for World of Warcraft) has finally answered this for us, and that answer is yes. The problem comes down to a matter of finding the right place to fit it in. This might mean something in patch 4.2 or all the way in patch 6.2. It really comes down to when it will fit in the game storyline.
At least we now know that it is something they will do.
BlizzCon 2010 is upon us! WoW Insider has all the latest news and information. We're bringing you liveblogging of the WoW panels, interviews with WoW celebrities and attendees and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stephen Oct 23rd 2010 6:08PM
This is good to know. In my top 3 of WoWLore things I want to see explored, Emerald Nightmare / Dream is most definitely one of them. I can't say it's top, because that fluctuates depending on mood. :-D
Naithin Oct 23rd 2010 6:08PM
/swoon
I've been pining for an expansion dealing with the Emerald Dream ever since I was a green newb and wandered into the lair of one of the protector dragons in Ashenvale in Vanilla, then later on another character had the same experience in Darkshire, which lead to a 'wtf?' and then a wowwiki check.
Been my favourite part of the lore basically ever since.
I really hope it gets a full expansion treatment rather than just a patch, it really deserves it. I'm hoping that now with Malfurion awakened to help us deal with Deathwing, once that threat has passed he'll grant us some more insight into the nightmare and ask us to aid him and Ysera.
Waaaannnt!
Ves Oct 23rd 2010 6:36PM
Oh those wacky Old Gods.
Five Dragon Aspects, guarding Azeroth.
Five Dragon Aspects, guarding Azeroth.
And if one Dragon Aspect should go insane forcing players to kill them.
There'll be Four Dragon Aspects, guarding Azeroth.
Four Dragon Aspects, guarding Azeroth.
Four Dragon Aspects, guarding Azeroth.
And if one Dragon Aspect should go insane forcing players to kill them.
There'll be Four Dragon Aspects? Oh, Kalec got a promotion.
Naithin Oct 23rd 2010 6:41PM
Hah. I'm unclear on whether Kalec has already recieved the promotion or will do so during the course of events in Cata though, but either way, that's a pretty neat move.
Granted the above was already spoiler, but the next bit should probably be warned so.. SPOILER INC, ALBEIT BASED ON SPECULATION, I BELIEVE SPECULATION I READ RIGHT HERE ON WoW INSIDER, BUT SOURCE NOW ELUDES MY MEMORY! SPOILER SPOILER!
If they actually make Thrall the aspect of Earth after assisting in taking out Deathwing, oh my goodness that would be amazing. Take that, Allies!
SPOILER OVER.
Fletcher Oct 24th 2010 12:17AM
SPOILER ALERT (second-hand info I think from one of the WoW Insider podcasts about the new Azshara)
Kalecgos is not the Aspect of Magic, or not yet at least. He's in Azshara looking for Azuregos, because the Black Dragonflight is trying to hunt down all the blue dragons and finish wiping them out like they started to do during the War of the Ancients. When you find Azuregos, he agrees to help because he thinks Kalecgos is a whiny little jerk and he doesn't want him (Kalec) to become the new Aspect, and Azuregos thinks that by helping Kalecgos he'll have something to hold over him.
Also, Thrall as the new Aspect of Earth? I'd hope not - Thrall is, for one thing, not a dragon - but he *is* Metzen's Mary Sue, so anything's possible. Personally I liked when Thrall wasn't necessarily Shaman Jesus, when all he was, was just a charismatic orc who could see where the orcs needed to go to avoid extinction.
Johnny Oct 23rd 2010 6:55PM
They could make a lot of inception jokes, for one thing.
kooda Oct 23rd 2010 6:15PM
Nizzoth?
Drakkenfyre Oct 23rd 2010 6:36PM
I would love if they actually used the current Emerald Dream areas in the files, and not just start over.
Saeadame Oct 23rd 2010 7:01PM
Yeah those floating trees are pretty snazzy.
Ice Oct 23rd 2010 6:40PM
Not to be party killer or be "negative nancy" or anything but Isn't this been "on the works"/"Incoming" since like vanilla?
Its not really news that it is coming someday, in future, maybe.
Same happened with things like Uldum, Hyjal. They were "on works" since vanilla and were coming "sometime in future" and now they finally have arrived to us with cataclysm. Its not really big news, it seems to be question every year its becoming kinda "shrug, yeah someday" joke already. Of course emerald dream is coming, they cant really leave it out. Its big part of lore that has been in the lore since WC3 games.
Mr. Tastix Oct 23rd 2010 7:10PM
I agree with you.
It's never been a question of if it'll happen, it's always been a matter of when. They've always stated this.
Eddy Oct 23rd 2010 7:31PM
This was pretty much what I was going to say, but toned a little more negatively.
I like to know that they're thinking about it! But I'm not surprised in the slightest, and I would have been kind of worried if they weren't.
Al Oct 24th 2010 2:50AM
Yeah, just another addition to their list of "Oh yeah, we'll do that..."
Azizrael Oct 23rd 2010 7:02PM
The Emerald Dream is a big ol' *shrug* from me. As I understand it, it's a pre-Sundering Azeroth with a ton of Druidy stuff going on.
Wouldn't be surprised if it was the fifth expansion, though. (My theory is the fifth will be going back to Outland and through the portals to new worlds to fight the Legion again, allowing them to rework Outland content at the same time, and settle the Turalyon/Windrunner/etc storylines they skirted around in the panel yesterday)
liquience Oct 23rd 2010 7:05PM
So... Why *doesn't* Blink work right? :|
Gregg Reece Oct 23rd 2010 9:14PM
Pathing bugs.
That actually got answered in the class Q&A.
jfofla Oct 23rd 2010 7:32PM
This could be an entirely new form of "It was only a setback", It was only a dream!
Dalrint Oct 23rd 2010 7:53PM
Ever since the quest from Icecrown that takes us back to Moonglade where we go into the Emerald Dream and it's just a twisted version of Moonglade, I've had this idea in my head where an explansion could literally just be a 'dark, twisted' version of Azeroth.
Go through a portal and come out in the emerald nightmare, which is the whole world, identical to the normal one, except...well, full of nightmares and darkness. Twisted towns of haunted dreamers, wars between nightmares and daydreams, dream monsters lurking in the shadows. Imagine a Stormwind, except its full of people trapped in the dream, going through the motions of things only they can see, randomly fighting of shadows of their own nightmares. A whole world of that.
We're never gonna get that, though.
Vodkamartini Oct 23rd 2010 8:47PM
"Azeroth Enquirer - Rumors fit to print!"
I SAW THE EMERALD DREAM!!! - claims Forsaken
World just a twisted version of itself!
Forsaken Priest Shadendowed had trouble convincing his friends what happened.
"I was picking some lowbie herbs and killing a few noob Nelfs in Kalimdor when I fell into this hollow tree and blacked out," the undead shadow priest said. "I woke up and saw it. I saw the Emerald Dream those druids in my guild speak of. But everything around me ... was twisted. Black, shadowy, nightmarish creatures flying in the corners of my eye. It was actually pretty pleasant, like the Undercity."
However, Shadendowed's pleasure in the corrupted dream stopped when he made the trek to the Forsaken capital.
"It was horrible. It was even more twisted than you could fathom. Everything was spic and span clean. Not a carcass in sight. And then ... I SAW LIVE PEOPLE," said the terrified priest.
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Three interns gave their lives for these!
QuickSe7ens Oct 23rd 2010 9:41PM
Chris Metzen brought this up earlier during the Lore Q&A yesterday, when (and correct if you corrected the post wow insider) he said the name of the new old god was Nizzoth. Insider didn't post the sentence following that, where Metzen said "He was the one responsible for things like the emerald nightmare, and he's been doing some bad things and we gotta take care of him."