What's your tip off that an expansion leak is a fake?

[Calfredd]

I'm talking about the accurate ones.

What made the other ones not accurate or is this just a case of hindsight?

[Pennoyer]

The Cataclysm leaks were pretty on the money- Horde vs Alliance centric, Magni and Cairne 'dying', Goblins and Worgen, set in Azeroth. I can't remember all the information it gave, but it was in bullet point form and covered about of what you can see on the MMO Champion front page.

Cata was like that due to all the holes that F&F Alpha was riddled with. It has not been like that since then.

These days, the extremely elaborate, detailed plots are the ultimate tip-off that it's just some fan-made concept. You'd pretty much have to steal Metzen's personal diary to have the kind of information that some of these threads purport to have.

[Thelxi]

You never know. The only thing I look at is who posts it. Sometimes people who have previously leaked something accurately will leak something new again, so I will definitely pay attention to that and not discard it as fake.

Often leaks will turn out to be half true and half bullshit though, so nitpicking things and declaring leaks fake is not the way to go.

[Velerios]

I believe a leak when it has totally no connection to the current lore.

You killed Deathwing! Now time for Pandas! So stupid it MUST be legit.

You defeated Garrosh and Sha? Would be a shame if he escaped, travelled back in time and came with an orcish army reinforced with gnomish technology. Dude seriously? Legit.

Dark Below - naga, Azshara, etc? We haven't seen her for ages, shes still there, everybody asking for it.... definitely not legit.

It is simple:

Is the "leak" something that player want, that they would actual play, that make sense in the lore and not something Metzen brought up in half a day without a cheesy storyline?

Definitively FAKE

Is is something that player don't want to see: more Orcs, Garrosh, True/Iron/Alabaster/Diamond Horde and a cheesy story about green jesus? High likely!

[Deleted]

I think they are nice ideas, but thats it. At the end we dont know what blizzard will do next. While i would guess it has something to do with the movie story line.

[The Penguin]

Serious Answer: If it's posted on April 1st or not.
Not so Serious Answer: Whatever society or a specific radical group demands.

I dunno, due to all the feminism rants and efforts by some real she-nazis of late, I expect the next expansion is this.


World of Warcraft: Sylvanas, Rage of the Scorned

Female only race of Undead Blood Elven Rangers. Only female players can play them. Whitemane and Sylvanas are their racial leaders. Male players can play as their hunter pets, but only if the Ranger is Dominance Spec. Dominance Spec pet is a PIG.

Specs:

Dominance: (Uses Victim and Emo-Rage Resources, Has token pet which can be sacrificed.)
PMS Avenger: (As seen in Mystery Men)
Twitter Hero: (Uses the Triggered Resource)

Possible 4th Spec: Castratrix


(Talents to be released later. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT!?!!)


And if you think this post is serious on any level.. all I can offer is a fine lol. xD

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

Can we PLEASE stop bumping those "leak" threads. They're so very annoying and spam!

[Rae888]

If it's posted anytime outside of the week or 2 leading up to Blizzcon, it's 99% likely to be fake.

It's when they start sending info out to 3rd parties, like translators, printers, event planners, branch offices, etc., that this stuff starts coming out.

[Souflikar]

All expansions so far has been leaked here about one week before official announcement in Blizzcon.

A leak a week before the official announcement is more of a drip.

[Deleted]

Is there any one thing, or group of things, that proves falsehood to you when mentioned in any one of the many expansion leeks? I'd share mine, but since time travel was on my previous list I doubt it's very useful now.

When it doesn't fit the story being told. Bro, the lil' Prince Deathwing told us during Mists that the Burning Legion would return to Azeroth and Khadgar just told us it's just the beginning, so... sadly Queen Azshara will have to wait, as will all the other important things. Burning Legion came first, l2queue!

[Iflash]

A new class. Blizz is in full "do the bare minimum" mode. A new class means more work and more balacing. Any leak that includes those would make me think they are fake.

New races are more likely IMO, as they don't require that much balancing.

[Jester Joe]

The account is a keyboardturner that has about 3 posts all relating to the "leak."

Isn't that usually where the legit leaks come from?

I just wait until trademarks pop up, but even then, I don't fully accept it until BlizzCon reveals it.

[Krazzorx]

Mostly on a case by case basis. Especially considering some parts of a leak can be false while still being overall correct. Like the "Not using Grommash because of a Japanese motorcycle" thing.

Generally though, a leak to me seems possibly accurate when it contains features no one ever thought about. That doesn't mean they all have to be unexpected, eventually Blizz will do a South Seas xpac and Legion xpac and those will always be the most popular suggestions for next xpac. But having "oh that's cool, never would've guessed that but it works" features I'd say is a relatively good sign.

[Deleted]

Every leak is fake until proven otherwise at Blizzcon. That's my approach.

[Deleted]

The account is a keyboardturner that has about 3 posts all relating to the "leak."

Don't forget the special names like: Eyeofazshara or theleakening.

[manypillars]

I think this time around I'm going to consider all the features talked about at the reveal at Blizzcon to be leaks and wait until the end of beta to decide if they were legit.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I read the storyline. If it sounds too random, into the reject pile it goes.

[Netherspark]

Too much detail
Contains ridiculous/cheesy names
Ridiculous/cheesy plot
Release date set
Contradicts established story (in a "the guy clearly doesn't know the lore" kind of way)

Most so-called leaks are immediately identifiable. But one or two end up sounding about right, even though people may dislike the idea, and often those are the ones that turn out to be accurate.

[Thalian]

If a story is too obvious. People have been guessing the next expansion would be something obvious like the Emerald Dream, the South Seas or Argus since Wrath of the Lich King. The last three expansions have all been curve balls. No one would have come up with a leak claiming that the world would be destroyed and remade. No one would have guessed that there would be a whole expansion focused on Pandaria, which was supposed to have just been a measly island. No one would have guessed that the end boss in Mists of Pandaria would be helped by Wrathion to go to Outland, back in time, in an alternate universe, to attack Azeroth with his daddy's new Nazi army.

[Blupparen]

When it gets too many "points" right.