Posted by Amatera on Friday, August 14th, 2009 - 105 Comments
Tags: azeroth, azshara, barrens, cataclysm, deathwing, gilneas, goblin, Hyjal, kezan, level 85, ragnaros, revamp, spoilers, thrall, uldum, undermine, worgen
The info just keeps on rolling in today. A week out from the rockstar event that is Blizzcon and we might have our first major leaks. Heartbourne has already clued us in on potential new class combinations, but our friends over at MMO-Champion seem to have found a whole lot more. Boubouille absolutely insists that none of this is speculation, and while I remain skeptical about his sources, his track record is proven. This is as close to gospel as we’re going to get until we hear something officially official. So keep on reading to find out what we know (or think we know) so far. Be warned, though, spoilers are abound if you want to keep your sense of surprise.
SPOILER WARNING
Herein is a rough list of major content changes that we can expect to see in the next expansion:
- New Class Combinations - No new classes will be added to the game. Instead, existing races will be given access to classes that they never had before. It is currently unknown what classes will be available to the new races, however.
- New Level Cap - Surprisingly, it’s only 85. This may fit in with a new philosophy of improving characters through gear instead of pure XP. Likewise, if the end-goal for WoW is 100, it leaves a little more space for successive expansions to grow.
-
Azshara, Queen of the Naga
The Cataclysm - This titular event, set in motion by Deathwing and Queen Azshara, will bring many changes to the existing content in the game, as well as open up several new ones. Their motivations for unleashing such destruction upon the world may be in part due to those pesky insanity-inducing Old Gods.
- New Horde Race: Goblins - The Goblins have found their island home virtually destroyed by the events of the Cataclysm. Washing up on the shores of The Barrens, a quest line involving Thrall’s capture (and subsequent rescue by the Goblin race) will explain how they ended up as the new consorts of the Horde. With their homeland gone, it’s unclear whether or not we will get to visit Kezan, the island where the Goblin capital of Undermine exists.
- New Alliance Race: Worgen - The Greymane Wall, which separates Gilneas from Silverpine Forest, has been shattered by the Cataclysm. Bewildered from their self-imposed exile, the Worgen venture forth and find friends in the Alliance. It is unclear what the Goblin starting area may entail, but the Worgen will be receiving the Death Knight treatment. Gilneas will be a heavily-phased zone that will shuttle your character through the nation’s history before unleashing them on the rest of Azeroth. Did I mention that Worgen do get to transform? That’s right, you’ll be able to shift from Human to Worgen at the click of a button, though we don’t know if it will afford you any special abilities to do so.
- Azeroth Remade - Goblins and Worgen aren’t the only ones who have felt the impact of this catastrophic event. Existing zones will be remade or phased in order to accommodate the current state of the world. The examples given include remaking Azshara into a 10-20 level area and splitting the Barrens into two distinct zones for players of different levels.
- New Areas - There will be no new continents introduced in the expansion, but instead, unreleased content in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will finally be filled in. In addition to the aforementioned opening of Gilneas, you can also expect to see modern-day Hyjal and Uldum. These are only examples and do not represent the entire breadth of fresh content that will no doubt be introduced.
- Mainland Flight - Restructuring the two core continents has allowed Blizzard to add flight to those zones that never had it. Now you can ride all the way from the Plaguelands to Booty Bay on you very own flying mount. Presumably, you will still need to take a boat or zeppelin to go from one continent to the other.
- Dungeons Remade - Onyxia was only the beginning. This does not preclude the addition of new 5-man dungeons or raid content, but many of the old instances will be retrofitted for players progressing from Level 80-85. Reportedly, we’ll also be seeing Ragnaros again. It is not known how extensive the changes will end up being (new bosses/new graphics or merely upgraded stats on mobs and items).
That’s a lot to digest and I’m honestly eager to see how everything fits together. There are some controversial ideas in there, as well as changes that players have been clamoring for year after year. In fact, a lot of it sounds like the kind of stuff that Blizzard employees have wanted to implement themselves, but have repeatedly insisted they haven’t been working on. Phasing, as I previously proposed, will play a large role in the recreation of mainland Azeroth (self high-five!).
By treading this path, however, I’m afraid there is also the chance of alienating a certain portion of the player base who see this as merely reusing old content. That may or may not be the case, and we may have to wait another week to find out. I think it really depends on how fresh the revamped content ends up feeling. Will the graphics of many areas be significantly improved or changed? Will the new quest lines make it worth adventuring through old zones? Is this the vanilla WoW that we always wanted? Or will the new Azeroth be a whole lot like the old Azeroth?
A yet-to-be-confirmed post on the Something Awful forums indicated huge, sweeping changes for the landscape, though. Thousand Needles flooded, many zones in absolute ruins, Orgrimmar sundered in two (with the introduction of a new Orc main city). The forums are private, but the summary has be re-posted on MMO-Champion.
I’m sure you all have a lot to say about these revelations, so feel free to strike up a conversation in our comments section. I know I’ll be watching it closely!
Related Posts: The Next Expansion: A Skeptical Look At The Leaked Information, Leaked: WoW Cataclysm will Feature Worgen and Goblin, BlizzCon 2009: How Did MMO-Champion Do, You Ask?, The Next Expansion: What Blizzard SHOULD Do With New Races, Look At Me, Look At Me! - A News Recap,
By Yumbibi on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
WOW thats some new stuff!!
Hope some of it gets in!
By Lord Reinhart on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I am definitely going to change my night elf hunter to a worgen hunter bwahaha… and even maybe level up a worgen other class to see the new zones (like aszhara now being 10-20) ..
Look forward to the expansion!! I hope its not too far off, I hate big announcements like this, as I get all excited, then realize oh wait, I still got a good year.
By b4k4 on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I was skeptical about the addition of the GOblins as a playable race, but if this info is correct, I might consider rolling one.
And the info about changes to the landscape has me conflicted. I really like the idea of the world changing and evolving with the game’s story, but if those changes aren’t phased like the deathknights’ area (and the Worgens’, apparently), new players could be missing out on the story so far.
By Bearshark on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I have been reading up on this topic a ton and this news really does excite me… yet at the same time I am disappointed. NO WORGEN FOR HORDE!!! I love them… I guess I can finally have my super small rogue class though. Take that gnomes!!! I am really glad vanilla wow is getting the much deserved face lift and some dungeons are getting retouched for high level play. I just wish they would put in a heroic mode for all dungeons and all they dropped were tokens. Like heroic RFC wouldn’t be fun.
By Conchuir on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
i would love to see an update of old content. there are many things that are relics due for it. (can’t we finally retake Gnomer on behalf of the gnomes? those guys are lvl 30s for crying out loud)
By Radefa on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
i also read that gnomer would be taken back by the gnomes and it would be a city or newer instance.
By cocopuff on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
man this XPEC is going to suck big time no new continent instead reworking what they have already talk about lame thats patch meterial not XPEC metterial and whats with the that 85 level cap are you trying to drive players away from teh game? i mean whear are we even going to go to level to that hyjal sumit? the capabbility of using your fluong mounds in the classic azeroth will completly remove the need of mmounts once you get a flying mount revamping looks promissing but how that effect leveling 1-58 or are we even going to have to go though outlands anymore i can see it now busting your ass though 2 freaking continents only to have to return to a place whear you started (EK, kalimdor) were they on crack when they thought of this
By cocopuff on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
that right their is a perfect eample of blizzard just being lazy
By Octaviax on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Best. Expansion. Eva!
By Vallestra on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
@cocopuff:
You’re bashing Blizzard for being lazy? Take a good look at your spelling and tell me who’s being lazy.
On another note, I think this will be an awesome expansion!
By Irishi on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I, honestly, believe about 5% of this. Dwarf Shaman?? Really? Where in the Dwarf lore does Shamanism come into play? More Retcon Blizz? Really?
By Highwayman on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
The only drawback I can see to phasing the existing Azeroth to accomodate high level players is that it’ll essentially make helping out lower players impossible! I myself rely sometimes on higher level friends when working on my alts and I have several friends for who I do the same…If I’m phased into an ‘altered’ Elwynn forest, how can I stomp those awfully annoying Kobolds that don’t want me stealing their candles????
By Whitesuperman26 on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
One word….AMAZING! if even half of this becomes true it will transform WoW into a whole new game…in a great way. I like the way they are changing up the classes too. Finally the gnomes get souls and help others as priests.
By Ghelik on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
@Highwayman:
I used to hate the thought of what this is, until you cleared up how the entire world would be phased out.
Of course, I’m not going to like the idea of it, but it would probably give some of the older feel back to WoW, with the lower-levelled players having to help eachother.
Now this is sounding kind of fun. Can’t wait.
By Defkon on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I think all of this will be pretty epic…however I’m having a hard time believing the flying in Azeroth part. Blue posters have always said this wont happen. Maybe it will. We shall see.
By Xian on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I too, am somewhat skeptical about the “flight in azeroth” part. How will that affect capital city raids? Will flight not be allowed within them, or perhaps flying guards created? (see Outland) Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
By Conxcore on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
By the sound of things, catacylsm is gunna put LK in the dust!
By Grant on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Theyre shortening the lvl cap… but will most likely double again the xp needed for each lvl.
Cheap way to make money IMO.
By Zang on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I think I’m more exciting about being able to fly in the old world than anything else.
By raijin on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:15 am
I’d probably consider believing everythng BUT… the class/race combinations and flying in azeroth. <–=no. I wouldn’t mind making the lowbies level themselves either… keeps people from being lazy.
By Amatera on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:27 am
To address some of your concerns (new details have come to light, which come from the Something Awful post I referenced).
The reason why you can fly now in Azeroth is because it is, literally, not the same Azeroth. It sounds to me like many of the zones are being given heavy facelifts, which gives them a convenient excuse to go in and fill in all of the missing bits before.
It seems as though all as-of-yet released content in mainland Azeroth will be accesible now, so they’re going to have to make things cohesive.
Also, from what I’ve been reading, there may not be an “old” Azeroth in the game anymore. People who join the game may not be able to experience things as they once were (aside from Outland and Northrend content, which seems to remain untouched at this point). Is this a bad thing, if true? Only for nostalgic reasons.
One of Blizzard’s big regrets was not having a cohesive story after the first few levels for any give race. You had these mini-arcs and then, from 20-60, nearly nothing unified besides a few vague threats thrown together for raid content. Now, from 1-80 (or 85, I guess), they have a chance to create something “whole.” Something that every player feels like they’re a part of. And that likely includes redefining questlines, adding new ones, and removing some altogether.
Players who experience that content now are probably in for a much more interesting ride than any of us were when we leveled our first character. And as for the rest of us, things may be different, but they’re also still kind of the same. I don’t think we’ll be running short on nostalgia when we get our first crack at the expansion content.
By Keltoroq on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Top Ones
- Flying in the old world
- New Races (This is always exciting stuff for me altough i rpefered new classes)
- The phasing in azeroth
- The rework of many old dungeons to high levels…nice
Bad ones
- New classes for races like Dwarf Shaman?Undead Hunter?Orc Druid? Is it just me or this doesnt make any sense???
- No new continents? In a expansion pack? Come on…
I guess we better just wait…
By warkins on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:42 am
come on orgimmar is then almost distroyed that is not cool bliz
but asyhara in azorth nice
and flying in the old wold is gonaa cool but notfo the low lvls
By warkins on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:46 am
and 1 last thing are u al forgetting 1 thing
HELLO THE LICH IS STIL HERE AND U ARE TALKING ABOUT THE NEXT THING WE NEED TO SLAY THE LICH KING FIRST !!!!!
By Decado on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:53 am
this is gunna take a little while to take in…
By Sean on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 1:15 am
If this proves to be true, this is a lot more work than any other expansion.
So people claiming Blizzard are lazy are just plain stupid to be honest.
If you don’t like it, either find a new game to play or go make your own.
By Lethalpie on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 2:02 am
The reworking basically is making two new continents if its as extensive as it sounds. Personally I think this is awesome, although the Worgen fitting into the alliance still makes zero sense (not that it isnt cool).
By Necro on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 2:41 am
I really really, and I mean REALLY, like the Azeroth phasing idea. Goblins and Worgen don’t excite me that much as I don’t see myself seriously re-rolling one other then just to see the start zone and the character animations.
As many have already said, Dwarf shamans and Tauren paladins… not what should happen.
I’m looking forward to re-made old instances and phasing in Azeroth.
By Trial on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 3:57 am
you already waste almost 100€ to start playing,and they are talking about a new expansion already?..
go steal your mothers D:!
By Lil ole me on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 4:07 am
I’m excited! If done right, this could be the expansion I’ve been waiting for. No longer getting threatened by GM’s with banning for going to the Ironforge Airport. Or any other out of the way places that are not supposed to be accessible. And being able to fly everywhere should be awesome. I was flying around on my 72 Tauren Death Knight last night, admiring Northrend. There is something to be said about flying… gives you a different perspective.
Very excited. Also about the class/race combos. Will they make the undead hunter only able to tame undead beasts? Because that would rock! Also, worried about the Tauren Blood Knight…
By Arassar on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Some of those sound *plausible*, but most of them I won’t buy until I see it. I mean, Goblins and Worgen? Seriously? Can Worgen even TALK?
By Arassar on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Oh man, I didn’t see this one: flying on the mainland? It won’t happen. Not ever. Therefore, this list is crap.
By Hiski on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:08 am
The new classe combination will be:
* Human Hunter
* Orc Mage
* Night Elf Mage
* Dwarf Mage
* Blood Elf Warrior
* Dwarf Shaman
* Undead Hunter
* Tauren Paladin
* Tauren Priest
* Gnome Priest
* Troll Druid
By Shamtastik on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:11 am
For 5 years I`ve played WOW, and for 5 years Orgrimmar have been (still is…for now) my home, for it to be sundered in half like Silvermoon City will break my heart T.T
By b4k4 on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:55 am
These people complaining about the lack of a new continent need to do some thinking. We’re almost out of content that can be based off the old Lore. To get a completely new zone to explore, Blizz now has to start thinking about creating it entirely from scratch. If they’re gonna do that right they need more time than they needed for The Outlands and Northrend. I’d rather get the new zones, and maybe a couple smaller islands in content patches, than a new continent that’s barely playable because Blizzard pandered to the fans and put it out before they were done with it.
And I agree with Grant about the shorter level cap meaning more XP between levels, but I don’t think it’s a way to scam more money off us so much as a way to keep the game alive longer. If the final goal of WoW is a 100 level cap, then Blizz is running out of time. When a permanent level cap is introduced how long do you think non-raiders will stay on after they reach it, with no promise of that cap raising in the future? Even raiders will eventually get bored with it, so shorter level caps with more XP means the game will overall last longer.
By Makaus on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Rly? Alliance gets Worgen’s and horde gets goblins??? WTF! fail
By fuzzy on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:08 am
for every one that is worried or excited
1) this list is speculation it would be cool if it was in but speculation
2) revamping the old world sounds alot harder than making a new one
3) human hunters- took u long enough blizz
By Josh(the Original one) on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I was really excited to go to the maelstrom and see all these things I had really exciting thoughts in my head….but this is just a downer.
By Bucketface on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:33 am
AWW COME ON!!
I’m enjoying northrend to much, plz tell me northrend will still have something to do with this expansion.
And after what I have seen, the LAST thing I want to do is go bak to the old world…
By Bucketface on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:34 am
NORTHREND FOREVER!!
By cocopuff on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:35 am
can no one see the failure of blizz here i mean come on it doesnt get the dumber then this. except for worgens are playeble and gilneas opens up as well opening of mount hyjal and uldum the whole expenchion is going to be a bust
By Cnblackout on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:43 am
This sounds really awesome one thing i would like to see though is a split in lvls almost as if once you reach 80 you go through an event (undercity story part) so then when you create a low lvl character you still see the original lore, but once you reach that point you get to see the whole original continents be ravaged. This way you have something to compare to and get the feeling of every WoW player when you see one of your favorite zones destroyed. That would be so Epic!!!!! This expansion is gonna be awesome!! The only thing i questioned was the Tauren paladin because i play a paladin but personally they need something to revive the race. WoW ftw! and this btw will take more work than any other expansion.
By cocopuff on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:00 am
i am in no hury for the next expenchion i dont really care how long it takes to be release. allthough it might take long time long time to revise the current content it would take much more to create new content and (insert blizz being lazy here) as i said before its not the quantity of their work its the quality of their and lately the ony remake and this lttle leak really lacked quality
By cocopuff on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:05 am
@cnblackout
dumbest idea ever in order for your idea to work each character would have to live in thier own little world literly
By Dan on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:26 am
So much of this doesn’t make any sense.
NE MAGE!? A night elf mage is called a High Bourne = Blood Elf
I think the only thing that may hold some merit is the level 85 cap. Otherwise I’m calling BS on this ‘leak’ until it’s announced at Blizzcon….and then if this all ends up being true, /cancelaccount
By Tidydethnity on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am
This might have been said, but I am going to say it anyways. Part of the problem with adding another continent is all off the players leaving EK and Kal behind. With this expansion we are going to have a ton of current players rerolling the new classes and races, making leveling so much better. Imagine the shear amount of players in the starting zones and beyond. I have been wanting them to hit the reset button for a long time and I think we are going to finally get it.
By Faramor on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 10:05 am
This is not yet proven it’s all skeptical and there is no actual proof of release from this. He’s just being skeptical and if this were to truly happen a huge number of WoW player’s would quit because no one that played in vanilla WoW (okay maybe a few but not many) wants to re-raid Vanilla’s raids including myself. If blizz was to do this it would cost them alot of players.
By Tidydethnity on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 10:15 am
@Faramor
You comments are not true sir. There will be no decline in subs only substaintial growth. People always say they are going to quit but can’t because they are addicted to the best MMO on the planet. As for being this being a rumor, MMO-champion has a pretty flawless track record, I am not saying that its 100% true but I will bet u $3.82 that it is true (that all i have in my pocket).
By Montes on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 11:05 am
For you people saying that blizzerd are being lazy they are not this will probly be more then any of the other expantions to work on i mean they are rewriting azeroth thats 2 continents and they have to make new quest for the lower levels because some zones are being remade to higher and or lower like azhara or being split in half like barrens and some zones may become flooded thosend needles the only bad thing i can say is that i will miss old azeroth but we got atleast 1 year left before expantion mabye more and if all of this is true i will have a fangasim so will my guild mates when i tell them…..
and i wonder what the new orc city is and how gnomeragon is gana look like they took gnomeragon : D
oh and the dwarf shaman is possible because there are a group of dwarfs called wildhammer i think that now shamanism so the dwarfs probly learned from them 
and ahead of time R.I.P old azeroth carine bloodhoof black rock mountain mabye:P and.Without Thrall to keep Garrosh in check, he declares open war on the Alliance. In the political upheaval Cairne Bloodhoof is implicated as a traitor to the Horde and murdered by Garrosh. Cairne’s son Baine takes over as the new Tauren chieftan. /cry he was awesome i hope garrosh dies D:
wow new city for ally
By Montes on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 11:07 am
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=92919.0
READ IT ALLL alright?
Deathwing
Deathwing the Destroyer / Neltharion the Earth-Warder will play a major role in Cataclysm. Having been driven mad by Old God whisperings and turning against his own kind only to be fail in his attempts, Deathwing has sunk into the shadows. While the Horde and the Alliance were busy fighting back the Burning Legion only to then be beset with the Scourge, he has been lurking and moving things into place. After Lady Sinestra’s failed attempts to create a Twilight Dragonflight, he again retreated to Grim Batol and succeeded where she failed. With his results seen in the Obsidian Sanctum, he has finally created the supreme Dragonflight he sought and plans to unleash it upon the world. But what of the Old Gods’ sway over him?
if you want more go to the link i put at the top of this comment oh and hes probly not the final boss D:
By Montes on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 11:09 am
God i hope this release during summer
i hate schoool…..
By thedpsking on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 11:53 am
There was nothing said about “no new classes” being added to the game in the “leak.” It’s still quite possible that we will see them. Also, nothing, i repeat, NOTHING has been announced by Blizzard regarding anything to do with the expansion, so this is all just speculation. It’s very accurate and smart speculation, but still. Also, I think if these new race/class combos are true, it’s to better facilitate faction changes.
Just my 2 copper
By Dragoro on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
It would be awesome to see massive changes to the world, a world constantly changing is much better than a static world.
By righteuossdk on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
ok, to all of you trying to make sense of why the Worgen are going to the allaince… the gilneans from the original alliance cut themselves from the alliance b/c they “supposedly” were wasting money on the orcs being put in internment camps, so they put up the greymane wall to seal themselves off. btw, the greymane wall is the southern border of silverpine forest. it was said that no one knew what happened to them, but there was speculation that the rest of silverpine was infest with werewolves that they would be worgen also, i guess they were right. and to all of you who dont like the ideas of revamping azeroth, u have to consider that Blizz wsants us too use all of their availiblee content, including vanilla azeroth. (thats prolly why there is no auction house in outland or NR
) and i think that a undead hunter is a waste of time, i think a undead pally makes more sense, they could be pallys in life and take it to their grave 
(and for some lore on why tauren will be pally’s, or SUN knights, is there is a quest that talks about NE druids worshipping the moon, while the sun, or HOLY LIGHT, is a nother part of TAUREN religion, so that is a little bit of lore and explanations, PST with your questions on this, ill try to help 
-righteuossdk-Lightning’s blade - (alliance)
By Josh (Dajosh) on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I hope Alliance does get Worgen, i always wanted to play a monster looking class… horde don’t excite me… and im bored of Draenei… and gnomes are small. Though i will role a Dwarf Shammy, i hope their totems look cool. But Worgen will be awesome… not the Gilneas i was hoping for but it will probably rock
By Sno on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
other than the new races this expansion is pale in comparison to how excited i was for wrath or BC i don’t want old zones that are new i want to go into the maelstrom kill some bosses and go back to old Azeroth and level alts in the zones i always have. im all for Hyjal being accessible though
By mcloud on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
for those complaining about the class changes (human hunter etc) if u think, it makes sense in a way with the new faction change coming up, that way you can pick a diff race for a shammy for example, instead of orc S, change to a dwarf shammy ? it could be legit
By cocopuff on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
oi have to admit azeroth being worped in to new azeroth garsoh taking leader ship of the horde sounds awsome nothing wrong with a change of scenery redesing old instances (raids not included) for level 80-85 epic fail who needs it if i want a bosss i can one shot to kick my ass ill get a group go to TOC hope for the female paladin boss and then let the mammeroy of an old boss kick my ass but i do not want that who wants to do something they did literly 1000 of times done in harder mode i actauly expected gilneas to be a raid or a 5 man instance but a new alliance city will work just as well i wonder if mages will be port thier ill definetly be making both goblins and worgens for the lore i hope blizz sticks to remaking old raids i hope the new races will come with new class or 2 the new class/race combination could work if taking the right approach i expected the tomb of sargeras to be a raid in this XPEC guess i am jsut going to have to wait
By Kevin on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
i like most of these ideas but, i would like to see a new hero class made, it is still early and blizz may intro one but i hope it is some kind of healing class instead of the tank/dps of the death knight
By Reeper on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
BLIZZARD RULES!
SOUNDS COMPLETELY AWESOME!
BRING ON THE MIDNIGHT RELEASE!
By Octaviax on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Quoted from Bigwang (Zand):
“Blizzard…you have WON”
By Michael on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
That is soooo unfair why do the Horde have to get stuck with Goblins and Alliance get the worgen who are totally awesome?
I think they should make both races neutral parties.
By Ashecroft on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Well. Personally, Im completely excited by all the stuff said. Ever since TBC I’ve wanted a Belf Warrior, now with upcoming faction change, I may be finally able to
Personally, I do agree that EK and Kal needed something to bring people back, and if Azeroth is indeed being reworked, this would be it.
But, until I watch the Blizzcon live stream next week and see what Blizz announce, I wont keep my hopes up too high.
@Sean. *highfives and agrees*
By Michael on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Also I agree there should be another hero class. Whats the point in introducing hero classes, if your just gonna have one?
By Amatera on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I’m sure they’ll add more hero classes. In fact, I fully expect one or two to pop up over the course of the expansion. Perhaps not at launch, but in one of the content patches.
I believe Blizzard mentioned doing this in the past.
And really, it kind of fits with the lore at this point. With all the upheaval and allied races having to learn new skills from each other (hence the new class/race combos), it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that they will also develop new powers along the way (heroic-level classes).
By DrowNoble on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Although I’m a bit intrigued by this, I have to say that *IF* this is true. HOW .. FREAKING… LAME.
They are basically going to rehash the same content I’ve done a bazillion times. No New Classes but WAIT! I can make an undead shaman! Uh, why would I want to when i already have an ally and horde one.
Seriously Blizz, you make an absurd about of money off this game. USE it to develop a truly new class. Tweak old zones sure, but ADD new and fresh content. Heck add the Fletching profession, since bows/staves/arrows are the only thing we can’t craft now.
I’m so not looking forward to questing in two barrens zones….
By veldoran on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
i promise you blizzard “leaked” this on purpose. they want to keep us busy for the next week till blizzcon. i know thats what this is, i cant beleive that nobody has pointed this out yet. THIS IS NOT WHATS GOING TO BE IN THE NEXT EXPANSION!. this is somthing they threw together in a few hours. this isnt the real details, it might have somthing the do with catyclysm but its not going to be like this
By Naberian on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Worgens for the alliance.
Really?
By Naberian on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
If anything the alliance should get Furblogs. That would be cool.
By Amatera on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
@DrowNoble
I’ve got to keep repeating it: a lot of the existing zones are being drastically reworked. It *is* new content. Just because the names and motifs of these zones might be familiar to you doesn’t mean you’re going to have the same experience twice.
By Amatera on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I like to think of it as more “the kingdom of Gilneas” for the Alliance. That they happen to be Worgen is just a nice side effect.
We often like to think of Horde as the “bad” side and Alliance as the “good” side, but the fact of the matter is that there are elements of both in either faction. Worgen have traditionally been enemies, but that doesn’t preclude Gilneans from wanting to be a part of the Alliance, as they have at times in the past (lore wise, they like to keep to themselves, but they absolutely loathe the Horde, so they’d probably never join them).
By Rikaku on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Cocopuff:
Seriously, stop calling Blizzard lazy if you can’t even manage to put one period in your entire post(s). And do you not realize that we’re running out of “Old Lore” at this rate? A cataclysmic event on Azeroth is exactly what’s needed to provide a background for new lore. New lore means new stories, relations, factions and then new lands.
Think ahead.
New expansions don’t mean “OMG new hero class and new world!” it just means exactly what it’s called. An expansion of the base game itself.
By Joe Noefail on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Game just went stupid. Blizzard is lazy. My fresh 80 alt is already in full epics from 500 dps - 3200 dps in less than a week. I’ve never felt so useless
By thedpsking on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 1:25 am
@Joe Noefail:
They introduced Trial of the Champion (where I’m assuming you geared your new 80) so new 80s and alts wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of finding groups for ALL the older raid content and then farm that for weeks before they were ready for Trial of the Crusader and Ulduar. I certainly wouldn’t want to farm naxx for weeks AGAIN just to get my DK ready for what he should be raiding in the first place.
By thedpsking on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 1:32 am
@DrowNoble:
You’re pretty sad if you think Blizzard is just going to leave the Old World zones as is and expect us to have fun with it. As it’s been said they are DRASTICALLY reworking all of the old world zones. Barrens, Mulgore, Thousand Needles, and Durotar are all flooded. Orcs and trolls had to rebuild there capitol elsewhere. Expect to see the old world looking more like Northrend graphics-wise. You think it’s lame because you’re not thinking straight; of COURSE blizzard wouldn’t do something like that. Also, nothing’s been said about no hero class in the next xpac. All of this is just speculation. So quit your damn complaining and at least wait until Blizzcon to start the QQ.
By Nalamin on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 2:02 am
OMG OMG OMG my brains have exploded on my computer screen!
By Elsey on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Does this mean i wont get to see some panderen =(?
By Aliok (Horde-Malfurion) on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 4:39 am
“New Areas - There will be no new continents introduced in the expansion, but instead, unreleased content in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will finally be filled in [...]”
This really excites me. From when I started the game pre-BC and leveled, to when I went back for Loremaster at 80, I saw lore and areas that weren’t delved into. One specific place I would like to see is that raid instance portal in Darkwhisper Gorge that is blocked. And I want to know more exactly about why Earthcaller Franzahl is there… ( http://thottbot.com/c14348 - screenshots of the portal aren’t there anymore.) And Uldum! The quest line which leads you to it and ends abruptly is soooo tantalizing. Sadly, it busts my theory that Uldum is secretly Blizz’s in-game HQ. (Please don’t ask how I arrived at such a conclusion - all I recall is that it is based on quest text and the Keeper/Guardian/Librarian of Uldum speech.)
The possibility of Orgrimmar being sundered like Silvermoon City saddens me, though. As many Alliance raids may attest to, it’s the heart of the Horde.
Although… with Blizzard revisiting the Old World, I can see some aesthetic improvements being made from purely a game programming viewpoint. Is anyone else tired of RFK and its cramped camera scope because the “ceiling” of the instance can fill your screen with blue?
I am curious about how Blizzard will essentially mate Cataclysm lore with Wrath lore. The Lich King as a character and NPC is one epic-evil bad guy. Still, is it possible it’s getting stale. Wrath gave us so much more (non-combat, possibly excepting one quest in Icecrown) interaction with him, I don’t really want to wait to the theorized final level cap of 100 to take that sucker on. Eheh…
Upgraded raid bosses may be a sticking point. Some of them are cool and should be seen by more players, however the older players (most specifically the “vanilla” WoW ones) may be turned off by it. As one guildmate said, she doesn’t want MC to be touched. To run it in the old days, you had to have purple gear that was a serious pain in the derrière to get - and she still has the entire set. I am halfway of the same opinion. I don’t mind old content that few could access way-back-when being freshened for the newer players. Naxxramas is a good example of this. More readily available content should remain as it is, if possible.
I am in love with the idea of flight in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms - and it’s not because it would be faster. Blizzard takes a lot of time on designing environments, and details that are beautiful or simply there to make the player laugh. Flying on the flightmaster’s mount means I only glimpse certain aspects of the environment and a detail or two for a moment. I want to soak up scenery!
I could go on longer, but this post is ridiculous enough in length as it stands right now. ^^u
By Drenton on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Props to Vallestra.
I just hope they make the Worgen introduction as good or better as the death knights. I hope for a good story, with a less OPed class in the beginning, I also hope for the whole phasing attribute to be cool, what ever they do, I know it’ll be good.
I couldn’t see The Undermine being part of the expansion, but a patch or two after, I also think main land flight would be a great idea, saves people cash in the long run and you get to see Azeroth from a free flight perspective, praying for the announcement at Blizz Con to make it offical!
By Blahbahblah on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 7:33 am
The alliance already has a midget and the horde already has a lanky sorta hunched over guy. Glad we don’t have to have gnomes AND goblins, then the alliance would just be a massive joke.
By madarra on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 7:54 am
then finaly we might see troll and gnome home city`s
P.S. i dont see this as blizzard running out of ideas or being lazy ,I see it as the fact that they used up most of the history and are now building the FUTURE (now doesnt that make it sound more exciting?)
By madarra on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 7:58 am
p.p.s. maybe Winterspring is experiencing another brief spring like it did looooong ago and all the melted snow flooded the barrens thousand needles mulgore etc
(OMG its global warming)
By DrAwesome on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 11:59 am
ok so if worgen become up and have a druid class i’ll be first to kill my ne and make a worgen i mean seriously. ur in human form then bam worgen bam bear every1 around would like “wtf” and askin u and shit that would be the best
By DrAwesome on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
oh and wait what about worgen mounts u have to turn into human form and right a… what? just somthin 2 spice this up
By amidaman on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
the ice stone has melted, and flooded azeroth
By Mr. Vincent on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
This all sounds FANTASTIC…but I’m still not sure I can believe rumors.
By Zreena on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
LOLOLOL.
The ice stone has melted.
Win.
By swingly on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 12:28 am
This expansion is gonna be awesome, I cant whait =D
By BludStorm on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 12:48 am
- Goblins and Worgen: They don’t interest me too much. I think I’ll roll one just to try it out but that’s about it.
- The new class options:
* Human Hunter (Seems Ok)
* Orc Mage (I don’t think the lore supports this)
* Night Elf Mage (I guess they could be reformed Highborne or something)
* Dwarf Mage (No Opinion Really)
* Blood Elf Warrior (Seems ok)
* Dwarf Shaman (Cant really see this working even for wildhammer dwarfs)
* Undead Hunter (No Opinion Really)
* Tauren Paladin (Nope. Doesn’t Make sense at all)
* Tauren Priest (This could be the result of the lore bit added to elder rise)
* Gnome Priest (No Opinion Really)
* Troll Druid (This seems even worse than the Dwarf Shamans)
- Changes tho Azeroth: Since I already leveled one char through this content, I don’t think I’ll mind too much and it will make leveling alts a new experience.
- Guardian of Tirisfal: This one doesn’t work at all. Even if Medivh’s work to ensure no more Guardians are required wont it make sense for Med’an to be one rather than Thrall
- The New (New) Horde: If this is true then Blizz is taking Horde Lore into a direction that I do not approve at all. The reason I liked the Horde Orc were that they were a fallen warriors finding their way back to their honorable shamanistic ways. Garrosh taking the horde back to its ‘ORC SMASH!!!’ ways seems like a step back.
I am hoping that someone at Blizz released this as a red herring to keep everyone on their toes till Blizzcon
By salizar on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 1:59 am
personally i love the idea of flying mounts in old world, lotsa places i have to see, hyjal is number one, seen part of it in gm power movies on youtube. on EK 5 new areas that do not glow when moused over, so what are they one is gilneas but the others? also i fucking new we (the horde) would get goblins thats sick i think, not as cool as ethereal i think but ok, specialy for engineers
By salizar on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 2:40 am
personally i love the idea of flying mounts in the old world, lotsa places i have to see, hyjal is number one, seen part of it in gm power movies on youtube. on EK, 5 new areas that do not glow when moused over, so what are they one is gilneas but the others? also i fucking new we (the horde) would get goblins that’s sick i think, not as cool as ethereal i think but OK, specially for engineers
but if it were done, i really think blizz will make it so all races can be all classes, at least thats what i think they should do. further more, blizz needs to take some time to equalize the classes.
I agree and disagree with re-upping on old dungeons and zones though. personally i say get rid of all the old dungeons like RFC - to uldaman, as cool as some of them were they just have no realistic way of fitting in the “old world” to low level, i say add new ones. and for thoughs new ppl that start, to bad if you missed it, shoulda started earlier IMHO. changing the zones as a whole can be good for the game, after all, given time all things change. i personally would like to see the trolls get their own city, especially if gnomes get their’s back.
on the idea of new classes to old races, it could be cool. i want to see a BE druid
for all the people that say this will be lame i agree with one thing, level cap. all ex-pacs so far have had +10 levels, i hate even the slightest idea of only 5 lvls. because i cant remember who said it but all the end game raiders will eventually give up on the game if there is to be a max lvl cap. i say go as far as you can blizz, go to lvl 3 fucking hundred if you have to. and for all you fucking retards that say “deleteaccount” i hope you get raped in front of you god damn family then snuffed the fuck out. because, it’s because of YOU (prolly euro trash) that the game came out the way it did in the first place by fucking rushing through shit and bitching and complaining. just because your spoiled bitches does not mean blizz has to answer to you every whim. i hope you all get skinned with a fucking spoon, and roasted over a god damn fire, then left to rot.
anyway, i agree, this new POSSIBLE! ex-pac will be good if this is the way it comes out, but it wont be the best it will take allot to top LK.
super sorry for the long post, had allot to say
By salizar on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 2:41 am
also sorry for double post
lol
By spk on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 3:50 am
When they came out with TBC and WOTLK they added something to an already good game, but now, they are replacing a lot of the original game.
Personaly I think it will ruin the game … Too many available and impossible combinations (tauren paly or dwarf shaman for example). Phasing will make it impossible to help leveling alts, non epic mounts will become obsolete, and mofifying the “old” continents will spoil the feel of the game.
It;s going to have a manga feel to it … Cheap and chaotic …
This will suck …
By azide on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 7:12 am
To all the people who complained about dwarves getting the shammy class, read about the earthen please!
And undeads getting the hunter class is understandable *cough* sylvanas?
Im glad that they’re making old raids like MC a high level raids, i never got to experience it until i was 80.
By imgonnastartworkingatblizz on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Imo they’re destroying what defines the specific things in WoW.
Though it’s still rumors (hopefully), it still scares me.
But at this rate…
Why not give all races all class options.
Why not give all classes all spells and abilities.
Why not make ALL original raids to endgame. (which they probably will later on…)
New races sure, i’m all that but i seriously don’t wanna see a goblin in the Judgement set. ^^
(and i even overcome the horde-got-pallys and alliance-got-shaman issue)
re-doing azeroth and filling in new storyline and new zones and some new content, sure that works to but Nagas feel kinda déjà vu since tbc.
I’m not against new things happening but i think blizzard should make sure where they land their feets.
By jaelke on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Ughh I knda dont like the new races but I like how TN might be flooded and org splitin half very smart
By Meren on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
wow thats so bull the horde gets those stupid goblins and alliance get worgen? maybe ill reroll just to play them?
By Rendbend on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I can’t think of what the barrens will look like after the expansion is released
i don’t know about anyone else but i swam along the area where Gilneas is supposed to be (it doesn’t exist at the moment)
By jeff on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 4:06 am
some hnters have worgen as pets and worgen being a new aliance race is awkward
By purplehamster on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 4:52 am
Well… first let me say that the thought of ANOTHER expansion fills me with dread. I’ve finally managed to level all my characters up from 60 to 70 to 80, and now i have to do it all over again… again?! Oh please no! >.< Leave us in peace for another 4 years at least please.
On the other hand, I am very glad that Blizz have rediscovered how lovely their old Kalimdor really is. I already expected and wanted Burning Crusade to update the old world, but I was sorely disappointed, and the same happened with WotLK. I love Azshara for its beautiful graphics, and I would really like to see it being promoted from a dead region to a playable one.
So to sum up - another expansion, OH GAWD NO!!! But I guess if we *have* to have one, then I am glad that Blizz will finally return back to it’s lovely old continents and give them the facelift they need and deserve.
By purplehamster on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 5:08 am
@Naberian -
Yes, Furlbogs would be awesome for the Alliance!!!!
Finally the Timbermaw in Winterspring would get a new purpose in life!
By Rick on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I personally am very excited for this expansion.
People are saying that the flying in the old world will make raiding very too easy, but i beg to differ. Im guessing that if flying on Azeroth will be part of the new expansion then the areas people can fly in will probably be neutral zones or phased zones and im willing to bet that people flying in their enemy faction’s cities wont b possible (maybe once someone gets within a certain distance from the city they will be dismounted or perhaps ported somewhere).
I am REALLY looking forward to the changes in the old world dungeons and zones as well as the class and species changes. Alot of people are complaining that they wont be able to get their characters help from higher level players, but i personally like this idea. The game was meant to be a somewhat challenge, but if people are having level 80s help them level from 1-80 the entire time, then they aren’t really experiencing the game. And for people who are leveling alts, if you were able to reach a high level before, im sure you can do it again.
Worgen and goblins would be extremely cool additions to the game. and i personally LOVE the idea of new Class combinations. We have yet to see how paladins weaves into the Tauren story line, but perhaps thats what blizzard is going for. Maybe the players are supposed to experience a completely new part of the Warcraft story line.
I personally cant wait to see what Blizzard does with this expansion…if any of these things are actually in the expansion i will b thrilled.
By Quilan on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Worgen for alliance sounds correct lore is good, i may role one. Flyers in Pre-BC areas FTW all i gotta say epic flyer from SW to The Isle of Quel’danas (Pople on my server still do sunwell) = great, lvl 85 cap is believable, Azshara lvl 10-20?? why? Azshara is tough, instead of pulling one mob you pull like 3 at a time. Goblins of horde sounds correct. Hyjal and Uldum areas sound cool. Gj blizz
By chris on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Honestly i dont think blizzard is going to do this. Right now the forums seem split and many people do not like the way its sounding. It would be too big of a risk for them to come out with this type of totally different xpac.
By RandomGuy on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 1:08 am
New content, such as increased level cap, new prof., more classes to different races and some new races, all of that is fine. I mean, that’s what makes an expansion - new content.
But let’s focus on two things now.
1 - the rework of continents is horrible. That’s a world far too unfriendly to newcomers. It will look like one of Starcraft’s planets, rather then WoW material. I might reconsider playing WoW just for that, even though I am a fairly new to the game.
2 - goblins aiding the Horde ? Sure, you can explain how it happen, you can make it seem logical and even natural, but it still isn’t fair. Compared to the Worgen, goblins are … well, compare a grass to a tree and it will be the same. Seriously, the WoW lycans vs the greedy little things, that’s just bashing the horde too much. There are other races much more equal the coolness of worgens, like ogres, or even mag’har for example. Giving Horde goblins whne the Alliance gets worgens is adding insult to injury. And yes, I am a horde player.
As much as I love the new content, I absolutely hate the two things mentioned above. And it kind of bothers me that this is an expansion just as much as it is a remake. Somewhat disappointing.
Just a random WoW fan, expressing thoughts.