How large and mighy were the ancient empires of Azeroth? Aqiir,Twin Empire, Kaldorei?

[sam86]

Do you have a source for this? Last time I checked we didn't know which theory is correct.

The islands that got risen again in wc2 and we saw them in wc3 tft missions, they show that the lands near the well and the well area itself was sunken in ocean (then gul'dan risen some of them for his purpose)
Does that work as source that the lands got submerged in water?

[Frontenac]

Do you have a source for this? Last time I checked we didn't know which theory is correct.

Do we really need a source? We know that Suramar sank and its ruins are still at the bottom of the Great Sea. If Kalimdor had been split apart, the ruins would not be so near the Maelstrom. The Great Sea would not be littered with Night Elven ruins.

[Aquamonkey]

In the old lore, it notes that the continents we see are only 20% of ancient Kalimdor's land mass. It wasn't a matter of the Well's collapse pushing apart the continents, those continents are all that's left, with the other 80% destroyed/submerged.

The Sundering describes the Well as expanding and sucking in huge chunks of Kalimdor, consuming many miles of land before receding. The Great Sea then poured into the space created by the Well that had previously been the middle of the continent.

[Mormolyce]

Maybe they could make an expansion centered around a bunch of islands being raised from the sea, containing old forgotten cities from the sunken parts of Kalimdor. It'd be an opportunity to create new landmasses and introduce new races, cultures, civilisations, etc.

Might be a bit more interesting than the conventional "south seas expansion" proposal, which always struck me as recycling lore left-overs.

[Shiroh]

Well, why can't it be a combination of sinking and drifting apart?

I'm just confused because I read somewhere that there are ruins of Zin-Azshari in Azshara, but Zin-Azshari was at the Well of Eternity. And I can't imagine that Zin-Azshari was thousands of miles wide...

[Aquamonkey]

Well, why can't it be a combination of sinking and drifting apart?

I'm just confused because I read somewhere that there are ruins of Zin-Azshari in Azshara, but Zin-Azshari was at the Well of Eternity. And I can't imagine that Zin-Azshari was thousands of miles wide...

Drift still wouldn't account for it. The Well spread so far out that the people running from it could see Hyjal before it receded. Also, if you look at the full map with all the continents and the Great Sea, less than 80% of the area is taken by the Great Sea. So if anything, the continents are drifting inward.

It was pretty lore breaking for WoW to place Zin-Azshari in the Azshara zone, but Rule of Cool.

[Frontenac]

Drift still wouldn't account for it. The Well spread so far out that the people running from it could see Hyjal before it receded. Also, if you look at the full map with all the continents and the Great Sea, less than 80% of the area is taken by the Great Sea. So if anything, the continents are drifting inward.

It was pretty lore breaking for WoW to place Zin-Azshari in the Azshara zone, but Rule of Cool.

I thought that it was the ruins of Eldarath, not Zin-Azshari. Unless Zin-Azshari and Suramar were very large. It is possible. Even under the Highborne, Night Elven cities may not have been very densely populated (as it is today), integrating large parks and elements of nature, as we see in the Cavern of Time dungeon.

[Aquamonkey]

I thought that it was the ruins of Eldarath, not Zin-Azshari.

Those are different ruins. Zin-Azshari ruins are mentioned as being there on multiple occasions. I don't think it's actually labeled as such in the sub-zones though. I think the actual ruins are in the water/marshy areas.

Stormrage says that Azshara is at the edge of what was once Zin-Azshari.

Whether continental drift or the city sprawled for hundreds of miles, lore was broken. The Sundering says, "several miles of land beyond Zin-Azshari had vanished." It also describes the entire city as being torn from the rest of the land and floating like an island before being sucked towards the center of the Well and sinking.

[Shiroh]

lore was broken.

What! Blizzard never does that

Yeah, I guess I'll just go with the submerged theory and assume that Blizzard wasn't thinking (again) when they wrote the part of Zin-Azshari being partly in Azshara

[sam86]

Nice notice, never thought of it
Also i think its pretty messed, but what if it was the 'city' name not the state name? For example the ruins can be in state of Zin Azshari, not in the city itself (the capital of the state) which did drift far away?
I'm confident they didn't think of that logic, but i think it might work?

[Frontenac]

The lore surrounding the Well of Eternity is pretty messed up anyway. I mean, in some sources, the Well was a lake large enough to have three great cities built on its shores : Zin-Azshari, Suramar (even called a metropolis) and Galhara. In game, it is merely a huge pond, located entirely in Zin-Azshari. In other sources (Quest : The Fall of Ameth'Aran), Ameth'Aran and Bashal'Aran were also located on the Well's shores. Let's remember that their ruins are located in Darkshore! Other sources place Suramar midway between Hyjal and the Well. If it were true, then how can the ruins of Zin-Azshari be located in Azshara? It should be Suramar. It really is a mess. Maybe the new comic book on Azeroth's origins will clear that out? Or probably make it even more messy...

[Crruor]

Maybe they could make an expansion centered around a bunch of islands being raised from the sea, containing old forgotten cities from the sunken parts of Kalimdor. It'd be an opportunity to create new landmasses and introduce new races, cultures, civilisations, etc.

Might be a bit more interesting than the conventional "south seas expansion" proposal, which always struck me as recycling lore left-overs.

So basicely pandaria?

[Aquamonkey]

In game, it is merely a huge pond, located entirely in Zin-Azshari.

Nothing about WoW's scale is correct anyway.