No new expansion, instead WoW 2

[Deleted]

First off i'd like to say, this is not a leak. This is mere speculation based on what I think is possible and i think there are subtle hints out there that back up of what I think might be possible.

What?
Since World of Warcraft has come out, the big looming ultimate enemy has been Sargeras, leader of the burning legion. Soon in legion, we finally get to face him - resolving a 10+ years long plot line.

World of Warcraft, despite continuous development and iteration, has become bloated. It has a hard time luring a new generation of gamers in because of this content bloat. The starting experience is confusing and outdated - and is not representative of the leaps in quality each new expansion brings, but many players do not get to see because they have been put off by early gameplay.

As some may know, in early stages of development of Legion - it had not been the original plan to visit Argus and confront Sargeras. Legion's plotline had been altered along the way; Thal'dranath (content originally planned for legion and is confirmed by Ion to have been replaced by Argus) had to make way for the final confrontation.

In recently datamined files which can be found on various fansites, it has been discovered that in a final act of spite Sargeras plunges his sword in Azeroth (Silithus), clearing the way for a new ultimate enemy, a new story and era for the Warcraft IP. Beginning with the release of the Old Gods, which will reshape the face of Azeroth and working up towards facing the Void Lords - which will be told over the lifespan of a new game.

The perfect end of World of Warcraft, and a spectacular fresh start of a newly shaped Azeroth in a succesor; World of Warcraft II

Why?

Timing
We are currently in the longest period WoW has ever known from release of a new expansion, to an announcement of a new expansion. Many expected Blizzard to announce a new expansion at GamesCom last summer, like they did for Legion - But they decided to sit on new information for BlizzCon - possibly because they want to announce something as big as a new game at their own convention.

To add to this, it has been confirmed by Blizzard that they have nothing to announce for the Diablo franchise this Blizzcon. This is possbly due to the fact that they do not want another game to steal thunder from their new game.

Year in Review video
During the year in review video recently released by Blizzard, Ion Hazzikostas was expected by many to release a statement about the announcement of a new expansion for World of Warcraft. Instead Ion say's

*"What is Next? Where can we possibly go after this climactic battle that awaits us. and I can't wait to tell everybody more about this at BlizzCon"*
youtube.com/watch?v=SCKXH3Boivw

Tom Chilton
At GamesCom 2014, Tim Chiton (former WoW game director, moved on to an unannounced project) said in an interview with gameinformer when asked if WoW2 is a possibility the following:

*"Definitely. It’s something we have talked about. It’s something we have talked about for ten years.I think that there are a lot of challenges there in seeing how World of Warcraft II relates to World of Warcraft, do they live alongside each other, does one feed into the other, what is that product, etc. These are challenges that have to be figured out before that becomes a reality.”*

gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/08/15/tom-chilton-talks-world-of-warcraft-ii-and-warlords-of-draenor.aspx

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I am curious to know what you guys think about this. Is WoW2 imminent? If so, will there be new classes? How will combat work? Will there still be a subscription? Discuss!

No.

(You will be remember as the player who lost 20 minutes of writing for nothing). - I'm kidding, it's just that a i think Blizzard won't stop the classic WoW for now, because it bring cash and entertainment well enough.

[Siffredi]

Actually a new game engine that could well...not be total shit and be outdated even though updated ?
We could say, avoid hardcoded stuff that cant be changed ?

Saying "actually nothing" is a bit weird if you ask me :P

Bigger Main Bag Size! What about real customization of the look of your face? So every1 looks slightly different? A new gfx-engine which makes people just play because it looks great? A new battle system outside of TAB-1-2-3-2-3-2-3-1? Especially for PVP and possible e-sports-ambitions of Blizz. Multithreaded client? And possibly lots of things which can't be implemented now because of some hardcoded stuff...?

[Queen of Hamsters]

Actually a new game engine that could well...not be total shit and be outdated even though updated ?
We could say, avoid hardcoded stuff that cant be changed ?

Saying "actually nothing" is a bit weird if you ask me :P

It is "actually nothing" though, considering the evolution this game has seen with every expansion.

"Total shit", works better than ever after 13 years...

[MoanaLisa]

Bigger Main Bag Size! What about real customization of the look of your face? So every1 looks slightly different? A new gfx-engine which makes people just play because it looks great? A new battle system outside of TAB-1-2-3-2-3-2-3-1? Especially for PVP and possible e-sports-ambitions of Blizz. Multithreaded client? And possibly lots of things which can't be implemented now of some hardcoded stuff...?

There have been tons of MMO's with better graphics that have fallen by the wayside and failed. Whatever it is that keeps players around for a long time, better graphics isn't it. World of Warcraft continues on partly because it's graphics engine allows for players with lesser computers to negotiate the game successfully with a relatively decent frame rate. They're not going to give that up just to find out that photo-realism isn't as popular as everyone thinks it is. No one is coming back to stay for months because Elwynn Forest looks good.

The game has many, many problems. The look and aesthetic of it isn't one of them.

[Steampunkette]

Actually a new game engine that could well...not be total shit and be outdated even though updated ?
We could say, avoid hardcoded stuff that cant be changed ?

Saying "actually nothing" is a bit weird if you ask me :P

One of the most important things to understand about MMO production is this: You need the lowest possible bar for entry.

Think of what most games produced in 2004 looked like... Then think of what WoW looked like in 2004. It wasn't as pretty as other games produced that year. Certainly not as detailed. Why?

Because people with 5 year old computers could play it. People using their Mom's E-machines desktop work-computer could play it. Because it didn't have high end graphical requirements they opened the doors for a MASSIVE group of potential players.

If the game -required- more modern graphics, all those players on 12 year old piece of trash computers wouldn't be able to play anymore, unless they invested in upgrading their computer -just- to play WoW. And if they've not upgraded that piece of trash in the past decade, why would they do it, now? Can they even AFFORD to do so?

The higher the graphical quality, the higher the requirements, the less potential players you have.

[Siffredi]

There have been tons of MMO's with better graphics that have fallen by the wayside and failed. Whatever it is that keeps players around for a long time, better graphics isn't it. World of Warcraft continues on partly because it's graphics engine allows for players with lesser computers to negotiate the game successfully. They're not going to give that up just to find out that photo-realism isn't as popular as everyone thinks it is. No one is coming back to stay for months because Elwynn Forest looks good.

The game has many, many problems. The look and aesthetic of it isn't one of them.

I wouldn't consider the look and aestethic as problem, too. WoW is also popular because of the style of the graphics. And there are some fanmade Unreal-engine Videos of WoW (Elwynn Forest for example) which are just beautiful. That gfx update wouldn't solve and problems. But it would make the game just better. That's it...

Photorealism isn't the thing which Blizz should consider. But porting their graphical style into a new engine would be great. But maybe I'm wrong and most of all people just gives a fsck about it....

[MoanaLisa]

I wouldn't consider the look and aestethic as problem, too. WoW is also popular because of the style of the graphics. And there are some fanmade Unreal-engine Videos of WoW (Elwynn Forest for example) which are just beautiful. That gfx update wouldn't solve and problems. But it would make the game just better. That's it...

Photorealism isn't the thing which Blizz should consider. But porting their graphical style into a new engine would be great. But maybe I'm wrong and most of all people just gives a fsck about it....

I think the problem about high-end graphics, apart from limiting the number of players who can get a decent frame rate, is that the better they look on the high end, the worse they look on the low end. You can use a really wide variety of settings in WoW and the game looks decent. I can't say the same for other games that really look excellent at the high end. No evidence to back any of that up other than my observation but it makes sense that a design house would want to narrow the distance between their low end and high end graphics as much as possible. YMMV.

[Nurvus]

I think if Blizzard releases WoW2, it will be to provide us with a different experience, not "more of the same".

So I think they'd go with a stronger Warcraft theme, probably closer to a sandbox, almost as if we're in a zoomed in Warcraft 3 game where the NPCs are on autopilot with decent scripting and variance, with focus on resources, workers, buildings, and dynamic invasions, all with an immersive, realistic feel.

But for that to work, we probably need a timeskip after a huge threat is dealt with - probably after the looming threat of the Void.

[Siffredi]

I think the problem about high-end graphics, apart from limiting the number of players who can get a decent frame rate, is that the better they look on the high end, the worse they look on the low end. You can use a really wide variety of settings in WoW and the game looks decent. I can't say the same for other games that really look excellent at the high end. No evidence to back any of that up other than my observation but it makes sense that a design house would want to narrow the distance between their low end and high end graphics as much as possible. YMMV.

You can use a wide variety of settings. True. But my impression is, that WoW isn't very optimized when it comes to high graphics setting. You need a real powerhorse as gfx card then (and in the same time, you can play actual games in high settings without any issues).

[lockybalboa]

This does not even qualify as a speculation, you're just dreaming and wishing for things

[Trumpcat]

WoW 2 not happening on Blizzcon 2017. Maybe one day in many years.

[ComputerNerd]

You assume they stopped reporting sub numbers because it's bad. If that were true, they wouldn't have reported WoD's low sub numbers to begin with. You know what they say about assuming? It makes an ass out of you and me.

What I do know is that Dalaran is always bustling with people, Argus is crawling with people, and any groups made in the group finder on Argus get filled up in a matter of seconds. I see plenty of people playing.

Always the case, ignore the examples which disprove your argument, and seize immediately upon the minority.

Someone just needs one flimsy coincidence to "prove" an argument nowadays it seems.

[sam86]

If wow will be over then I want a wc4 not wow, mmo format proved extremely harmful for lore, making it very boring predictable
I won't start a new mmo game, if wow is over, then it is over, also i already plan to stop anyway because no f8cking flying but that is unrelated to this topic

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You assume they stopped reporting sub numbers because it's bad. If that were true, they wouldn't have reported WoD's low sub numbers to begin with. You know what they say about assuming? It makes an ass out of you and me.

They did stop reporting numbers when wow - for first time ever - had less active players than in vanilla, and another mmo game - again - for first time ever dethroned wow as the mmo sub-based game with most active players
I play on twisting neither now (after changed server 5 times), even in WoD it was crowded in Ashran, and back then blizz numbers were reporting like only active 2.4 million or something

[Gorsameth]

WoW 2.0 only happens when the engine needs to overhauled entirely.

[sam86]

If they were to develop a new game engine why wouldn't they develop it from the start so that the old game would work in it? And if you imagine that the graphics are "total shit" why would you even think that they would change them?

wow core game engine was at least dramatically changed during WoD, u can check that urself that most wow files extansions changed during that time, and the famous problem of max 32 digit doesn't exist anymore (the reason for squish in first place)

[Gorsameth]

If wow will be over then I want a wc4 not wow, mmo format proved extremely harmful for lore, making it very boring predictable
I won't start a new mmo game, if wow is over, then it is over, also i already plan to stop anyway because no f8cking flying but that is unrelated to this topic

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They did stop reporting numbers when wow - for first time ever - had less active players than in vanilla, and another mmo game - again - for first time ever dethroned wow as the mmo sub-based game with most active players
I play on twisting neither now (after changed server 5 times), even in WoD it was crowded in Ashran, and back then blizz numbers were reporting like only active 2.4 million or something

I dont think FF14 ever passed WoW in active subs.

[MoanaLisa]

I dont think FF14 ever passed WoW in active subs.

No one would know if it did. Active subs have never been reported for FF14. They've said something about number of accounts but that's a different thing entirely. Those sort of press releases are designed to be confusing and to cause people to conflate X with Y. The general impression is that FFXIV has never quite crossed the threshold of one million active subs but just like WoW subscriptions no one really knows that either.

As far as I know Blizzard is just about the only studio that reported active subscriptions with a consistent definition over the years. If I were getting as much shit about it as they were I would stop too, especially if I were the only one doing it.

[JustRob]

Always the case, ignore the examples which disprove your argument, and seize immediately upon the minority.

Someone just needs one flimsy coincidence to "prove" an argument nowadays it seems.

You disproved nothing. The only fact you stated was that subscriber numbers were around 5 million during WoD. The rest was bullshit you made up. Subscriber numbers could easily have doubled in Legion. Most people I speak to consider it a great expansion.

[ComputerNerd]

You disproved nothing. The only fact you stated was that subscriber numbers were around 5 million during WoD. The rest was bullshit you made up. Subscriber numbers could easily have doubled in Legion. Most people I speak to consider it a great expansion.

I was meant to click on, and quote the person who said that blizzard were hiding the information because it looked bad.
I apologize for mistakenly quoting you instead.

Well.. The fact that they reported exact sub numbers for what..10 years and then stopped during wows all time low sub numbers should give you an indication of how bad it is.
If they magically got back to old sub numbers rest assured they would make a PR stunt of it. But...they haven't ?

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Actually a new game engine that could well...not be total shit and be outdated even though updated ?
We could say, avoid hardcoded stuff that cant be changed ?

Saying "actually nothing" is a bit weird if you ask me :P

They reported many drops too during that time, but you conveniently ignore those yet declare they hide drops only below some arbitrary amount just because you say that must be the case.

Can someone who thinks they are hiding bad numbers actually explain why they did report them many times before.

[Queen of Hamsters]

They reported many drops too during that time, but you conveniently ignore those yet declare they hide drops only below some arbitrary amount just because you say that must be the case.

Can someone who thinks they are hiding bad numbers actually explain why they did report them many times before.

They can't.

They also won't touch upon the fact that the current metrics, the new ones that are official, are showing plus figures all around. In their minds, WoD dropped WoW below 2 million subs (even though the final sub reveal was what, twice that?) and that's where they want to believe that the game is at.
It would be mighty interesting to see which of these people would also denounce and dismiss sub numbers as "a bad gauge for the health of the game!" back when they were being announced.