Something Very Peculiar I noticed in the Jesse cox and Crendor Q@A

[Nachturnal]

If the next expansion is dragon focused, then they better give us that hybrid aspect class so many people have spoken of.
Think of a Dragonmancer of some sort where they have each element of the dragon aspects, green is healing, red is damage, black is tanking, blue is damage
(Arcane mage got some of the time magic stuff going on so I wouldn't think that aspect would be represented)


Though I doubt it, my money is still on the Azshara expansion, unless they can somehow work dragons into that.

As much as I would love that, I don't know man... Blizzard has never released a new class in back to back expansions. I figure they need a space in between to really hash out a previous new class.

[TriHard]

As much as I would love that, I don't know man... Blizzard has never released a new class in back to back expansions. I figure they need a space in between to really hash out a previous new class.

Ohh I am with you there, I don't think we'll get a new class. I just mentioned it because it was the only class that made some sort of sense to me if it had become a dragon expansion, but I don't think there'll be another expansion solely focused on the dragons, they kinda used that with Deathwing and it didn't go so well.

I think we're more likely to see them as a side story in an expansion, but this opens old wounds with Ysera being dead <.< She was one of my favorite characters

[Deleted]

So if we take every idea we have and put it together: we are going to have void, nagas, bolvar and dragons. Hmmmm, okay.

Options:

1. Naga go to Northrend to melt it and flood the whole world. The Lich King and all the Dragons there are obviously not fans of the idea.

2. Naga enter the Emerald Dream via the Rift of Aln thanks to N'Zoth and mess it up.

3. Some kind of new Void Dragonflight.

4. Some kind of time travel shenanigans that involve the void. Going back to the time of the Black Empire could be fun. Final Boss Y'shaarj. We fight him to buy time till Aman'Thul can come over and remove him. We did get models for all the titans.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

So if we take every idea we have and put it together: we are going to have void, nagas, bolvar and dragons. Hmmmm, okay.

Options:

1. Naga go to Northrend to melt it and flood the whole world. The Lich King and all the Dragons there are obviously not fans of the idea.

2. Naga enter the Emerald Dream via the Rift of Aln thanks to N'Zoth and mess it up.

3. Some kind of new Void Dragonflight.

4. Some kind of time travel shenanigans that involve the void. Going back to the time of the Black Empire could be fun. Final Boss Y'shaarj. We fight him to buy time till Aman'Thul can come over and remove him. We did get models for all the titans.

That last bit would be cool. We could just get models for Titanforged entities.

[Aeula]

It'd be nice to hunt some good dragons for no other reason than loot and glory like back in the old days with Azuregos.

They're no longer useful now they've lost their powers, but their relics might be!

[Triggered Fridgekin]

Dragons would certainly fit well if we were to get another Lich King expansion. They're practically neighbors and aren't strangers.

Paging @Wildberry.

[Nyel]

Oh God no, enough of

Orcs
Dragons
Demons

Give us something fresh.

[Wildberry]

Dragons would certainly fit well if we were to get another Lich King expansion. They're practically neighbors and aren't strangers.

Paging @Wildberry.

Oh God, have I actually memed myself into the champion of WotLK 2?

Well, there are actually a few interesting tidbits here. Though, I would like to preface and point out that, while I've been meaning to skim through this interview all day, I haven't had the time, I'm simply operating under the assumption that Hazzikostas' comment can be boiled down to: "Deaths of Chromie is a hint at the next expansion, and we'll find ourselves doing things like that at 112."

I don't think it's particularly far-fetched that DoC hints at the next expansion. There are so many potential threads, that it's not exactly a flat-out spoiler, and leaves room for speculation.

With regard to how this could possibly tie into a Lich King expansion, let me expand on a few things relevant to DoC specifically.

-The Ruby Dragonshrine is under siege by the undead. NPC text suggests that the presence and activity of the undead has increased significantly as of late, and alludes to the idea of the dead marching once more

This, I think, is fairly interesting in and of itself. On one hand, there's the near-confirmation of more active undead, but it's interesting, given the DK class quest, that the undead specifically focus on the Ruby Dragonshrine.

Bolvar and the Scourge he leads seems to have significant interplay between themselves and the Red Dragonflght. For starters, it's suggested that Alexstrasza's flames kept Bolvar in a limbo state between life and death. Then, not only does he want the Deathlord to raise a long-dead Red Dragon (As opposed to Arthas' plans for, say, Galakrond, who had no particular flight. Or Frostwyrms, which were initially and predominantly Blue Dragons), but he actually wants the Deathlord to infiltrate the Ruby Sanctum, and, in a sense, congratulates the player when they kill the entirety of the sanctum's denizens.

Whereas Arthas' Scourge initially focused on Blue Dragons, and moved onto all of them with a specific focus on Proto-Dragons near the end, Bolvar's Scourge seems to have a particular interest with the Red Dragonflight, which can't be insignificant given their history.

-There's a Dreadlord Mastermind commanding the Undead at the Obsidian Sanctum

This is another interesting bit, because it suggests (again, assuming we can take Deaths of Chromie literally) that the Nathrezim will survive the Burning Legion. Now, I don't think it's unfair to suggest that the Burning Legion is going to be near collapse by the end of "Legion," after suffering what is shaping up to be a rather large defeat on their own capital planet.

Before jumping into what this particular Dreadlord could be up to, though, I'd like to look at the state of the Nathrezim overall. Now, we know that the Nathrezim weren't corrupted by Sargeras, and instead were among the Demons that sent him on his path as the Destroyer. Instead, the Dreadlords in question were basking on the husk of a planet that had been all but consumed by Old Gods. They're no strangers to both Necromancy and Void magic (and as WoD suggested, there can be interplay between both realms of magic).

Currently, though, Dreadlords lack their own planet. Nathreza, at best, resembles Outland, a floating husk of rock drifting aimlessly through the Nether. At worst, Illidan outdid MU Ner'zhul's "portal overload" and outright destroyed the planet. They're also without a leader now that Tichondrius is, to the best of our knowledge, dead.

If the Burning Legion collapses, the Dreadlords find themselves leaderless, and they lack their own planet, what exactly can they do? Go back to what they were doing before. Corrupting other worlds, drawing on death and void magics, etc. It's entirely likely that the Dreadlord remnants could go the familiar route, back to Azeroth. Mal'ganis was instrumental in the creation of the Scourge, Detheroc, Varimathras, and Balnazzar all proved somewhat proficient at commanding the Undead.

Given that Bolvar's command of the dead, doesn't quite yet seem to rival Arthas' or Ner'zhul's, we could see the Dreadlords try to usurp control of the Scourge from him, which, would give them an army capable of destroying all life on Azeroth.

It's also worth noting that, while Bolvar's Scourge seems to be interested in the Red Dragonflight, the Dreadlords would most likely, given their race's history, dabble in void-based Necromancy a la AU Shadowmoon Clan.

All we really know from the future Obsidian Dragonshrine is that at least one Dreadlord is controlling some of the Undead.

Though, I would like to jump in here and put out my own far-fetched theory once again: Mal'ganis' absence is intentional, he's going to survive the Legion's fall and be our segue character into WotLK 2.

-Void Lord in the Blue Dragonshrine

Now, this could be taken one of two ways. As touched on above, the Dreadlords could harness void energies themselves, as they have a history of it, but I'd like to toss another potential explanation out: Nerubians.

Now, we know that Nerubians derive from the Aqir, who can trace their origins back the Old Gods. Interestingly, though, the Nerubians seem somewhat independent form Yogg-Saron, in a way that the Qiraji weren't with C'thun. Given their relative independence, it's possible that a new Nerubian society could cut out the middle man in the Old God's given Yogg's defeat, and harness the void themselves.

With regard to why they'd want to do that, well, Bolvar seems to have no problems antagonizing neighbors. Perhaps after witnessing the fate of their civilization against the Scourge in the War of the Spider, they're desperate to avoid another defeat and occupation.

Now let's look at some other possible threads:
-Wrathion's suspiciously innocent explanation as to why he was in Northrend
-Wrathion's knowledge of Ephial's true nature in WoD
-Ebon Blade's presence on AU Draenor through Mograine. Interest expressed in AU Ner'zhul's writings.
-Entirely possible that Bolvar, since we now know he's been conscious, could have sent his own agents to AU Draenor through the Alliance's expedition.
-Mograine, the primary dissident within the Ebon Blade, is now under Bolvar's control regardless
-DK Class campaign
-Paladin Class mount finale (The dead are active again in Stratholme)
-References to the fate of the Dragonflights throughout Legion.

I think it's entirely possible that with:


-Varimathras' Torture
-The Collapse of the Legion
-The "death"/salvation of whatever's left of the Pantheon on Argus

We could see the next expansion focused on the resurgence of Dragons, post-Legion Demonic power struggles against their creations, Wrathion's schemes continued, etc.

Now, Dragons specifically? We don't have terribly much to go off from there, we only know a few players who might be pushing against them (Bolvar, for example). I think we might have a better idea of what might happen with the Dragonflights once 7.3's story and consequences start to take shape later on in the PTR.

[Defend]

Where was that?

They were also in DoC for a brief moment if I recall correctly

[Soulwind]

I'd be fine with an Infinite Expansion, I've suggested ideas for one a few times.

But I think Ion is more enthusiastic about the different planets that you see brief glimpses of using the keystone in Argus than he is about Chromie.

I'm getting a Cataclysm vibe from this, each zone is in a different planet and they're connected by portals. Thematically, there'd be a ton of variety. Gameplay and story-wise, it'd be very disjointed. At least it's better than "the Void", which would be a continent-sized Netherstorm.

[Wildberry]

I'd be fine with an Infinite Expansion, I've suggested ideas for one a few times.

But I think Ion is more enthusiastic about the different planets that you see brief glimpses of using the keystone in Argus than he is about Chromie.

I'm getting a Cataclysm vibe from this, each zone is in a different planet and they're connected by portals. Thematically, there'd be a ton of variety. Gameplay and story-wise, it'd be very disjointed. At least it's better than "the Void", which would be a continent-sized Netherstorm.

If the expansion is another disjointed Cataclysm-esque clusterfuck, it'll be an awful time for this game.

[Soulwind]

If the expansion is another disjointed Cataclysm-esque clusterfuck, it'll be an awful time for this game.

Cataclysm had a bunch of problems, possibly the least of one was that the zones weren't physically next to one another.

To be honest, the Broken Isles are not very homogenic either, as the different factions and threats don't intervene in zones other than their own. You can walk from one zone to another, but that's about as much as they have in common. There aren't vrykul tribes in Val'sharah, the Nightmare isn't spreading to Azsuna, The naga are ignoring High Mountain...

WoW zones will always be WoW zones, and very rarely will they truly mesh together.

A quick example of how to make this "continent of planets" idea more interesting: they are all being invaded by the Void, which is opening rifts and connecting them all. So you suddenly have a huge portal-like blackhole linking a jungle to a volcano or a desert to an ocean, species from one environment are suddenly appearing on another, and being corrupted by the Void at the same time.

We'd somehow learn how to use these rifts and be where the Void is. Protect each planet from its corruption. Combining the "adventurer" player, who is exploring new civilizations and ecosystems with the "intergalact savior" who is saving the universe planet by planet.

Again, that's an idea I came up with on the fly. I'm sure they'd be able to sell this concept better at Blizzcon.

[Wildberry]

@Soulwind

Still not really interested. WoW has had zones that mesh before, too. Northrend was fantastic on that front:
-Vrykul in Howling Fjord, & Icecrown.
-Trolls in Zul'drak, Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills
-Titan things in Howling Fjord, Storm Peaks, Grizzly Hills, Dragonblight, Sholazar
-Gorlocs
-A quest experience that encouraged zone flow (Questlines followed, roughly, the campaign against the Lich King. Borean Tundra flowed into Dragonblight. There was a clear "war effort" that connected the continent).
-Taunka in Borean Tundra, Grizzly Hills & Dragonblight
-Tuskarr in Borean Tundra, Dragonblight. & Howling Fjord

They really just need to copy Northrend's formula again and give us a coherent continent. It's much better than literally disjointed Cataclysm, Intergalactic frolicking, or figuratively disjointed Broken Isles.

[Deleted]

Could also explain the updated vanilla 4 dragons that were datamined, possibly a expansion prepatch, or some sort of 7.3.5 with those as raid content leading to 8.0

That sounds more of a vanilla timewalking of sorts

[HitRefresh]

At around 12:10 in the video, as Ion is talking about the Chromie Scenario he says, "Certainly when you're level 112, as we learned in the Chromie Scenario, Dragons will be very important."

I might be reading to much into it, however when you think as to why Blizzard would choose this specific theme if they wanted to add a scenario in 7.2.5. Chromie is popular, but you also see dragons in Azsuna talking about how deathwing's fall effected them so there is some likely set up. And as we also see there is some old god setup in Legion, but I think of it as the old god setup in Legion is the equivalent of Wrathion's warning in MoP, so we will likely have an expansion in between the two major events, and as dragons are connected to the old gods via madness and corruption, it is not that far fetched of an idea to think that they might focus on dragons in one form or another in the next expansion whatever it may be.

This just makes me think about how much it must suck to be the guy getting interviewed like this, because people always read into the specific word choices you made.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh God no, enough of

Orcs
Dragons
Demons

Give us something fresh.

Like... Trolls?!

[Nyel]

Like... Trolls?!

Yes, I'd like to have an expansion with the Troll empire.

[SirCowdog]

At around 12:10 in the video, as Ion is talking about the Chromie Scenario he says, "Certainly when you're level 112, as we learned in the Chromie Scenario, Dragons will be very important."

I might be reading to much into it...

Yeah, pretty sure he was just talking about that particular scenario. He didn't place any particular emphasis on the words like you did in your quote. He was just talking about the context of that scenario.

I mean, I guess it COULD be a backhanded hint at things to come. But I've learned that Blizzard doesn't even know what Blizzard is going to do in the future. So I wouldn't get too hyped up about it.

[Deleted]

No one can ever have dragon fatigue.. Dragons are fucking awesome.

If someone got a dragon fatigue, I'm quite sure it wasn't in the top 20 things that made Cata suck and lose the first millions of subs.