World of WarCraft expansion rumors

[DSGamer64]

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/14/rumor-co...sion-cataclysm/

And you'll never guess what happens in it. Author "Boubouille" of MMO-Champion claims to have assembled detailed information on World of Warcraft's next expansion, which reportedly tears the landscape of Azeroth asunder in some sort of ... huge ... disaster ... event ... thing. There's probably a word for that -- might be smart to trademark it.

As pointed out by our sister site WoW.com, this expansion would be the first to skip over the expected addition of a new continent, instead presenting altered versions of familiar lands. Two new (and previously rumored) races, the Worgen and Goblins, are expected to join the social slayfest, along with more race/class combinations and an 85 level cap.

None of the information has been confirmed by Blizzard, though the supposed premise and additions certainly sound intriguing. Indeed, this Cataclysm sounds quite a bit more fun than the one that recently befell The Matrix Online.

If it's true, it would be way too damn early, the turn over rate for WoW content would be way too early and just more evidence that Activisions ownership is turning the game into a boring cash cow. They still have not even completed the raid content that pits groups against Arthas, the Lich King and the final boss in the entire World of WarCraft game story.

 

[Gaisuto]

I don't buy it. The main idea of the main expansion content being new areas is that if players didn't have them, they couldn't reach them, simple as that. But if the expansion is to change areas from the vanilla game, then how do you deal with those that don't buy it? Block them out entirely?

And on that comment, Blizzard completed the Icecrown Citadel instance before the game even released. But when TBC came out, they let you face the final encounter right out of the box and players stormed through it much quicker than they expected/wanted. So now they're holding out on it, letting people get geared up so they can make it really god damn hard - Like the final encounter should be.

 

[inra]

If it's true, it would be way too damn early, the turn over rate for WoW content would be way too early and just more evidence that Activisions ownership is turning the game into a boring cash cow. They still have not even completed the raid content that pits groups against Arthas, the Lich King and the final boss in the entire World of WarCraft game story.


Not like the expansion will be released as soon as they announce it. It'll be about a year until it's released, assuming they announce it at Blizzcon this month. It was 1.5 years between TBC and WoTLK. They've said previously that they want to release an expansion ~every year.

GaisutoThe main idea of the main expansion content being new areas is that if players didn't have them, they couldn't reach them, simple as that. But if the expansion is to change areas from the vanilla game, then how do you deal with those that don't buy it? Block them out entirely?

Phasing? They used it a lot in WoTLK.

 

[Gaisuto]

I hope not, that Phasing stuff was really, really annoying. And if that was to be the case, how do higher levels go and help out their lowbie buddies if something comes up? Forever separated from them until they buy it?

 

[DeMoN]

God dammit, I can't believe WoW is canon. That sucks for those of us who liked Warcraft but are smart enough not to play an addictive MMORPG.

 

[shakirmoledina]

i really wish to play WoW but seeing tht u have to pay though there are free servers, it doesn't encourage me (plus the file is 4gb)

 

[Placeholder]

Okay, here is a summarized version of the news at MMO-Champion. If you don't want to know, scroll past this post.



The level cap in the next expansion will be slightly lower than expected this time around; 85.
Cataclysm doesn't introduce any new classes to the game. Instead, Blizzard have offered more race and classes combinations to players. The Some of these have already been datamined from the 3.2.2 Test Realms.

• Human Hunter
• Orc Mage
• Night Elf Mage
• Dwarf Mage
• Blood Elf Warrior
• Dwarf Shaman
• Undead Hunter
• Tauren Paladin
• Tauren Priest
• Gnome Priest
• Troll Druid

The events of the cataclysm has caused two new races to seek new allies. The Goblins for the Horde and the Worgen for the Alliance.

Hallows End masks for the new races.

Cataclysm will be the first expansion not to introduce a new continent, instead making use of previously unreleased zones and revamping existing ones. Blizzard will be taking advantage of newer additions to WoW such as phasing and daily quests. Most of the quests and mobs in the classic zones will also be redesigned to make leveling less painful.

• The Barrens will be split into two separate zones of two different level bands.
• Azshara will become a low level (~10-20) zone.
• Some of the zones like the Thousand Needles will be flooded.
• Durotar is wrecked and apparently Orgrimmar could be destroyed. A new Orc city is rebuilt over the course of the expansion.
• Gnomeregan will be part of the expansion as well and gnomes might be able to reclaim their capital. (The last part is still unconfirmed)
• Wailing Caverns will be become a lush tropical area as a result of the druid's magic.
• The Blackrock Spire will erupt and a new version of Blackrock Mountains will be available, apparently Ragnaros will be back too.

Part of the redesign of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor is the introduction of flying to the two continents.

Redesigning Onyxia's Lair in Patch 3.2.2 was just the first step. As most of the leveling will take place in revamped areas of Azeroth, so too will the dungeons, allowing players to use them to level from 80 to 85.

All unfinished zones found around Azeroth in the current WoW will now be finished and accessible. Some of these are:

• Hyjal (present)
• Gilneas - The Worgen starting Zone.
• Uldum

It is unclear if the old Goblin locations such as Kezan and Undermine will be included in Cataclysm. New islands have risen from the seas, some on the backs of giant sea turtles. New underwater zones will be added.

Deathwing and Azshara are the cause of the Cataclysm. It is unknown who the main boss of Cataclysm will be, but it is likely it will be an Old God.

Malfurion Stormrage will be returning to Azeroth to aid in the creation of the new Guardian of Tirisfal - Thrall.
Thrall will hand over the leadership of the Horde to Garrosh Hellscream. Without Thrall to keep Garrosh in check, he declares open war on the Alliance. Garrosh declares Cairne is a traitor to the Horde and kills him. Cairne's son Baine takes over as the new Tauren chieftan. This could explain why Baine was removed from the game in Patch 3.2.2

There are clues already in WoW to suggest what will happen in Cataclysm.

Spoiler

Notice that the centre of Kalimdor is.. gone.

Another image showing Kalimdor is missing a lot of land. Also observe that the Maelstrom is gone. Perhaps this is what caused the Cataclysm?
Credits to Hothgor for the images.

All credits go to Boubouille of MMO-Champion. You can read the full details here.

 

[Balrogs.Pain]

they killed cairne? aww, he was always my favorite hero in tft.

 

[DeMoN]

they killed cairne? aww, he was always my favorite hero in tft.

I know, wtf. I went through so much trouble to save him in TFT and he gets offed.

 

[megawalk]

wow...the worgen distract me...they are more cooler then blood elves dang 0_0
oh yeah forgot i was a wolf fan =p
another expansion would be cool...to play 2 exciting new races......
maybe kil'jaeden will finally walk the world of azeroth (OH NOES!)
hopefully not....

 

[DSGamer64]

I hope not, that Phasing stuff was really, really annoying. And if that was to be the case, how do higher levels go and help out their lowbie buddies if something comes up? Forever separated from them until they buy it?

That would be impossible to modify the entire original zones, since they are designed on a different system then other parts of the game. Northrend and Outlands are built completely differently, plus the phasing thing couldn't just be added into the original content. The next expansion a lot of people believe is going to be based in the Maelstrom, the two current expansions are based around WarCraft 3 and covered the history of Azeroth as well. I don't see where they could go with a new expansion aside from creating a new storyline. I would sooner see a new game after Lich King that is entirely new and has higher system requirements with better graphics, maybe even make the old content free and allow you to migrate your old characters stats over to a brand new game, or create a new one for those who want to play the new game instead.

 

[Placeholder]

That would be impossible to modify the entire original zones, since they are designed on a different system then other parts of the game. Northrend and Outlands are built completely differently, plus the phasing thing couldn't just be added into the original content.

I've messed around quite a bit with WoW private servers and model editting etc. I'm fairly sure the maps are the same. Still .adt files.

The next expansion a lot of people believe is going to be based in the Maelstrom, the two current expansions are based around WarCraft 3 and covered the history of Azeroth as well.

Yep, I think this IS the Maelstom Expansion. Take a look at the second picture in my previous post. See? No Maelstrom, the Maelstrom stops, half of Kalimdor blows up/gets drowned. I also wrote that the new villains are Azshara (the Naga queen) and Deathwing and that there are new islands to be added, including ones on large sea turtle backs.

Azshara, Deathwing and Sargeras are the only big "loose ends" I can think of before WoW is done. We know Azshara and Deathwing are up to something, perhaps they are being controlled by Sargeras. Possibly the new Alliance and Horde leaders are too (why else would they get so angry? I think Sargeras has twisted them, like LK and Arthas). That's all 3 in one.

CODE- Draenor Set

Azuremyst Isle - 1 to 10
Bloodmyrk Isle - 10 to 20

Eversong Forest - 1 to 10
Quel'thalas - 10 to 20
Hellfire Peninsula - 58 to 62
Zangarmarsh - 60 to 64
Terokkar Forest - 61 to 65
The Deadlands - 63 to 67
Nagrand - 64 to 68
Blade's Edge Mountains - 66 to 70
Netherstorm - 67 to 70
Shadowmoon Valley - 69 to 70

- 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+
This is a list that has been around since WoW Beta. It's unknown if it's true or not, but so far it's holding up.

Plane Set COULD be done, but it's kinda lame. Emerald Dream is just an alternate version of Azeroth. They're already re-doing Azeroth, it'd be boring to play the same area in a different color. I think Blizzard might skip it due to the similarities it has to Cataclysm.
Legion Set is also kinda ridiculous, they're all different planets. It kinda messes up the lore if your character becomes some space (wo)man.
That leaves just the Maelstrom Set. Cataclysm.

Gil'neas is where the Worgen are going to be around.
Grim Batol is Deathwing's lair. He's supposedly one of the main villains in Cataclysm.
Kul Tiras is on an offshore island, perhaps it is effected by the Cataclysm.
Kezan is the Goblin's home.
Tel Abim is a large island located near the Maelstrom, almost definitely effected by the Cataclysm.
Zandalar is a troll's island below the Maelstrom. See above.
Plunder Isle is another island that could be effected by the Cataclysm.
The Broken Isles, above.
The Maelstrom itself, it's only intended by Blizzard to be a 1 or 2 level zone, so there can't exactly be a new continent for it or anything.

All of the above are still far too small to be compared to zones, and considering they've chosen the level 85 cap, half of these may not even appear. If so, then what the rumours say of no new continents is true. Only a few small islands. Some may be completely wrecked, some may not appear due to the change in level cap, etc.

Basically, they just need to finish off WoW with this expansion, and at the end a big event where Sargeras comes along and completely wrecks everything. Cliff-hanger ending. Event ends after like a week, then boom end of WoW. From then on they can leave WoW to rot. They still get their money from it even without development.


QUOTE

I don't see where they could go with a new expansion aside from creating a new storyline. I would sooner see a new game after Lich King that is entirely new and has higher system requirements with better graphics, maybe even make the old content free and allow you to migrate your old characters stats over to a brand new game, or create a new one for those who want to play the new game instead.

They've said they're almost definitely going to make a Warcraft 4 soon, it will be made by a mix of the WoW team and the Starcraft team. Both of those are going to be finished sooner or later.

Blizzcon is next week, so we shall see if it is true or not. I hope it's true. I can't see it not being true to be honest, everything sounds right.