Breakfast Topic: Back to the future or forward to the past?
by Jake Evers 
Nov 4th 2011 at 8:00AM
More and more patch 4.3 news has been emerging in recent weeks, and it's looking like the new dungeons and raid in patch 4.3 will all be Caverns of Time instances. One intriguing twist is that the first of the three new dungeons will actually bring players to a time in the future. Though the news sounds great, I for one do not expect that the new 4.3 PVE content will exhaust the concept behind CoT. The notion of traveling backward or forward in time to witness -- and perhaps even influence -- an epic event in the story of WoW has the potential to breed an endless number of exiting possibilities.
A CoT instance I would like to see in the future is a visit to the past conflict between the Eredar who joined up with the Burning Legion and the Eredar who fled with the help of the Naaru (aka the Draenei). There hasn't been much Draenei lore or story development since The Burning Crusade, so I think an Eredar-themed CoT venture would be welcome (and for once, my Draenei shaman wouldn't have to disguise himself as a Human). Perhaps players could be brought back to the eredar homeworld Argus to assist Velen and the Draenei as they attempt to escape from Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden and the demon-corrupted Eredar. If Sargeras is involved in the next expansion, perhaps the trip back to the time at which he recruited the Eredar could be part of an attempt to weaken or destroy him.
What Caverns of Time dungeons or raids do you hope to see developed in WoW? Would you rather go back to an historic moment in the past or forward to some key event in the future?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Chris Nov 4th 2011 8:09AM
To the Infinite Dragonflight and beyond!
busuan Nov 4th 2011 2:01PM
Azeroth is "Time-locked". All bronze dragons go crazy when they reach the end and find they will have to go back to the start. An infinite loop, hence the infinite dragon flight. They are not going anytime, anywhere.
The Titans imprisoned the Old Gods physically and magically. It would be natural and logical that they also built in some temporal factors as well.
Nina Katarina Nov 4th 2011 8:12AM
I don't think we've exhausted the drama potential of possible futures, and Murozond is far too good a character type to waste on a single 5-man end boss. And hey, as someone in a possible future, we could fight him (cough) an infinite number of times!
I always enjoy that quest in Dragonblight where we meet up with our Good Future selves, and I'd love to fight our Evil Future selves as part of some 5-man or scenario.
Caverns of Time has given us human, orcish and nelf history, but there are plenty of other people that we could see more of, and plenty of stuff from the old RTS that would make fun storylines. All those dwarvish ruins, thousands of years of troll history, the Aqir...
MattKrotzer Nov 4th 2011 8:33AM
...gnomes...
Heck, maybe they can finally tell the story of how Sand Gnomes got to Auchindoun?
Mortenebra Nov 4th 2011 8:57AM
"...we could fight him (cough) an infinite number of times!"
I can just see it now: "So, we meet again for the first time, Lonestar!"
Abbadon Nov 4th 2011 8:23AM
The suggestion of an Eredar-themed CoT instance is quite good, but I would really hope that the "go back in time to weaken and thwart the present baddie" doesn't become the standard by which we deal with our troubles.
Spectres Nov 4th 2011 8:24AM
But does it make sense for the caverns of time to extend to events off of Azeroth? We would have to learn that either Nozdormu is the keep of all time in the entire universe, not just maintaining the time flow on Azeroth from corruption by the old gods there, or that this cavern of time is linked to other caverns of time on other planets. Personally I think it more likely that the titans left individual guardians on each world, like the dragon aspects.
I agree I would like to see a pivotal moment in every races history in the caverns of time. Orcs have been taken care of, the rest of us need some love!
Nina Katarina Nov 4th 2011 8:27AM
Hmm... it would be interesting if Nozdormu, Keeper of Azeroth's Time, came into conflict with a Keeper of Time from another planet, for some reason. But Nozdormu would NEVER become evil, never.
MattKrotzer Nov 4th 2011 8:31AM
@Nina:
I see what you did there.
loop_not_defined Nov 4th 2011 10:33AM
I was thinking another good Draenei CoT would be helping them flee the Black Temple, aka the Temple of Karabor (with the Infinite Dragonflight attempting to wipe out the ones who flee). But you're right, it kind of feels weird hosting a CoT dungeon from Azeroth onto another planet.
Mostly I just think it'd be cool to see what the Black Temple looked like in it's glory days.
Udderpowered Nov 4th 2011 8:25AM
Didn't they say that the Murozond thing is their end to Infinite Dragonflight stuff? I think it was at Blizzcon. I hope that doesn't make more CoT stuff less likely.
MattKrotzer Nov 4th 2011 8:31AM
If that cavern gets any bigger, with more branches, people will start comparing it to classic BRD... which I loved, but apparently was in the minority.
alzeer Nov 4th 2011 8:34AM
i read something like it :Murozond got multiple versions each to different timeline and we just killed one.
Chetti Nov 4th 2011 12:44PM
Blackrock Mountain is huuuge, and I still get lost there if I die.. or have to walk in the front door of something. I like CoT, yet.. I hate trying to find my way around. But they've been making the corpse walk for some places a little easier. What would be cool is if they'd use that dragon quest giver at the front as a way of travel, or something like it. Add something like a teleporter there (like deadmines and some other places). Though I like the idea of dragon travel. Pick your instance, get taken to the door. Or at least close to the door. I realize that doesn't help the corpse walk any.
brighthammer Nov 4th 2011 8:26AM
I'd like to see something where we help the infinites out as the last wish of norzdumo: as in, he's on his deathbed after(or before) a fight with us and decides to give the world one last wish before he passes on.
We then get a raid where we go back in time to save the greatest heroes the world has known. I'm thinking Lothar, Uther, and broxigar. Would make a fun instance to save them, and leave a similar looking corpse for the sake of history.
MattKrotzer Nov 4th 2011 8:29AM
I've said for many years now that I'd love to see the Caverns of Time feature a Fall of Gnomeregan instance. It'd be a great way to flesh out the gnome's lore and show the betrayal and downfall of their people, which appeals to a great many of us gnome-o-philes and Alliance players, but would inevitably mean killing a lot of gnomes to maintain the timeline, so it'd appeal to the Horde (and a lot of dickish Alliance) as well.
llcjay2003 Nov 4th 2011 9:25AM
I'll be honest here and am prepared for flaming. I think that Gnomes are a joke. However, I must clarify that this is more of a knock against how Blizzard has told their story thus far. As it stands, Gnomes are only used in comical situations (cf. Wilfred Fizzlebang) and do not really have an impact in the overall lore of Warcraft at all.
The battle for Gnomeregan did help to move their story along but even that progress has been halted.
I have no problem at all with the charm the Gnomes bring, I just wish Blizzard would add some actual depth to their story.
MattKrotzer Nov 4th 2011 9:26AM
You and me both.
loop_not_defined Nov 4th 2011 10:43AM
Don't forget the Mechagnomes, with Mimiron being one of the Titanic Watchers. So that brings their total lore contribution to....two. Yeah. *cough*
loop_not_defined Nov 4th 2011 10:45AM
Crap, forgot my original point...
I'd like to see something about the Gnomes that didn't have to do with Gnomeregan, tbh.