Could Tel'Abim be a potential future expansion?

[ercarp]

I'm curious to hear if I'm completely alone in considering Tel'Abim a serious future expansion setting.

I've been thinking about it for a while, and I really think Blizzard could make Tel'Abim into more than just a "haha funny banana meme" island. We've seen them scale up canonical islands in the past to be more "continent-sized" for gameplay's sake (i.e. Broken Isles, Kul Tiras, Zandalar), so they could easily do the same with Tel'Abim by expanding it into 5-6 separate zones.

If Blizzard wanted to make a fun, adventurous kind of expansion that harkened back to the Mists of Pandaria days, in my mind Tel'Abim would be the perfect way to go about it. When I imagine what just one of the zones would look like, I think of something with the aesthetic of the Lost Isles combined with the detail and expansiveness of Jade Forest. Obviously, if there are 5-6 zones then they would all have to be visually distinct from each other, but the general aesthetic of the entire continent should be sunny, colorful, and tropical. Sandy beaches, palm trees, blue skies, exotic animals, etc. Maybe there could be one shittier-looking zone (like a swamp or something) to switch things up a bit.

Tel'Abim would also give us the perfect opportunity to add Hozen as a playable race and delve deeper into their lore. I like to imagine that they would have this huge, sprawling port-city with a ton of verticality (because monkeys like to climb) built around a massive bay, atop of which the Monkey King resides, guarded by his ever-vigilant Winged Hozen. There could also be a Jinyu population on the island as well, so why not throw them into the mix as another playable race? The Jinyu could offer the Alliance an equally grandiose capital city within their own region—perhaps something visually akin to the Zora's Domain from BotW?

As a side note, if they do ever add Jinyu, I think they should rework them to be more than just reskinned night elves.

There's also plenty of room for wacky, original ideas like (off the top of my head) "Jungle Pandaren" or something; a vicious offshoot of their peaceful cousins that settled in the region long ago and adapted to live in the harsh jungles in the northern reaches of Tel'Abim. Not only would they be culturally the polar opposite of their peaceful cousins, but they would also look visually distinct, with more defined muscles, and shaggy fur covered with tiger-like patterns of orange, red, and green colors.

...And that's about as far as I got in my brainstorming, but this thread isn't so much about my ideas as it is about inviting people to discuss the possibility of Tel'Abim as a serious expansion candidate. I'm also curious to hear what people's thoughts on it are in general because to me it sounds like the perfect getaway from all the doom and gloom we've had to face in recent times, but maybe others will disagree.

[Golden Yak]

Hey mister Tel'abim, Tel'abim ba~na~na~!

I mean, it's a little limited on its own, but couple it with some other islands and it could work. Ogrezonia is out there too. Maybe it could be a Dragon Isles' battleground or something.

[Woggmer]

This sounds more like a Hearthstone expansion than a WoW one.

[Al Gorefiend]

If we ever saw Tel'abim Island expeditions would have been it.

Could they make it an entire expansion island? Sure, did it with Pandaria. Likely? No, because Tel'Abim is just referenced in a banana item. It is probably a farce of Chiquita bananas and their history of destroying entire island populations and ecosystems to the ground to replant banana trees to feed an international market. AKA, it is a "banana island" which carries historical context.

[Woggmer]

If we ever saw Tel'abim Island expeditions would have been it.

Could they make it an entire expansion island? Sure, did it with Pandaria. Likely? No, because Tel'Abim is just referenced in a banana item. It is probably a farce of Chiquita bananas and their history of destroying entire island populations and ecosystems to the ground to replant banana trees to feed an international market. AKA, it is a "banana island" which carries historical context.

That's oddly specific... especially since the Tel'Abim bananas have existed since as far back as Vanilla.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

If they desire it, it would be completely foreign to anything we've seen before.

[Biomega]

I mean I knew WoW was going bananas, but this is a bit much...

[wushootaki]

I'm curious to hear if I'm completely alone in considering Tel'Abim a serious future expansion setting.

I've been thinking about it for a while, and I really think Blizzard could make Tel'Abim into more than just a "haha funny banana meme" island. We've seen them scale up canonical islands in the past to be more "continent-sized" for gameplay's sake (i.e. Broken Isles, Kul Tiras, Zandalar), so they could easily do the same with Tel'Abim by expanding it into 5-6 separate zones.

If Blizzard wanted to make a fun, adventurous kind of expansion that harkened back to the Mists of Pandaria days, in my mind Tel'Abim would be the perfect way to go about it. When I imagine what just one of the zones would look like, I think of something with the aesthetic of the Lost Isles combined with the detail and expansiveness of Jade Forest. Obviously, if there are 5-6 zones then they would all have to be visually distinct from each other, but the general aesthetic of the entire continent should be sunny, colorful, and tropical. Sandy beaches, palm trees, blue skies, exotic animals, etc. Maybe there could be one shittier-looking zone (like a swamp or something) to switch things up a bit.

Tel'Abim would also give us the perfect opportunity to add Hozen as a playable race and delve deeper into their lore. I like to imagine that they would have this huge, sprawling port-city with a ton of verticality (because monkeys like to climb) built around a massive bay, atop of which the Monkey King resides, guarded by his ever-vigilant Winged Hozen. There could also be a Jinyu population on the island as well, so why not throw them into the mix as another playable race? The Jinyu could offer the Alliance an equally grandiose capital city within their own region—perhaps something visually akin to the Zora's Domain from BotW?

As a side note, if they do ever add Jinyu, I think they should rework them to be more than just reskinned night elves.

There's also plenty of room for wacky, original ideas like (off the top of my head) "Jungle Pandaren" or something; a vicious offshoot of their peaceful cousins that settled in the region long ago and adapted to live in the harsh jungles in the northern reaches of Tel'Abim. Not only would they be culturally the polar opposite of their peaceful cousins, but they would also look visually distinct, with more defined muscles, and shaggy fur covered with tiger-like patterns of orange, red, and green colors.

...And that's about as far as I got in my brainstorming, but this thread isn't so much about my ideas as it is about inviting people to discuss the possibility of Tel'Abim as a serious expansion candidate. I'm also curious to hear what people's thoughts on it are in general because to me it sounds like the perfect getaway from all the doom and gloom we've had to face in recent times, but maybe others will disagree.

If they model it after India and have an Elephant race, I am all for it. Tel'Abim is definitely something they could go wild with if they really wanted to.

[Atriel]

That's oddly specific... especially since the Tel'Abim bananas have existed since as far back as Vanilla.

And Chiquita Bananas as a produce have been around since ~1873. So, not really oddly specific, just an old reference.

[Bwgmon]

That's oddly specific... especially since the Tel'Abim bananas have existed since as far back as Vanilla.

I think the point is that Tel'Abim's entire existence is likely based on a reference to the Day-O song.

They could expand it, sure, but as of now, its only history in the past 15 years is a line of text on some bananas, which isn't exactly the strongest starting point for backstory.

[EntertainmentNihilist]

I mean, the only reference to it is Bananas. So they could make it literally anything they want. It wouldn't even have to be tropical, they could just say Azerothian bananas aren't a tropical plant (as opposed to IRL bananas).

Hell, "Tel'abim" could conceivably be a/the name for a/the continent on the "other side of Azeroth".

[Melorandor]

As a centerpiece of an expansion? No.

Part of an expansion? Maybe.

Battle for Azeroth wasn't a Great or South Seas expansion as many on here like to proclaim to the highest heavens. It was about the Fourth War and the Black Empire with a side of island expeditions with the sole purpose collecting Azerite -- Battle for Azeroth was everywhere, which lent to its lackluster reception on my end.

Kul Tiras and Zandalar could in turn play a new role in a potential Great Seas expansion that is based on actual ocean exploration, like how Dalaran came back for Legion. I still believe we will get a Great/South Seas expansion where we will go to islands like Hiji/Plunder Isle, Tel'Abim ect.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

As a centerpiece of an expansion? No.

Part of an expansion? Maybe.

Battle for Azeroth wasn't a Great or South Seas expansion as many on here like to proclaim to the highest heavens. It was about the Fourth War and the Black Empire with a side of island expeditions with the sole purpose collecting Azerite -- Battle for Azeroth was everywhere, which lent to its lackluster reception on my end.

Kul Tiras and Zandalar could in turn play a new role in a potential Great Seas expansion that is based on actual ocean exploration, like how Dalaran came back for Legion. I still believe we will get a Great/South Seas expansion where we will go to islands like Hiji/Plunder Isle, Tel'Abim ect.

Well here's hoping to that(The great sea expansion that is even if it seems unlikely).

[Golden Yak]

Tel'abim as a Hearthstone adventure is also a good idea.

Though I could see it paired up with Undermine as well. Speaking of hearthstone, use the Gadgetzan from that and the nearby Un'goro Crater, could make for some fun stuff.

[Melorandor]

Tel'abim as a Hearthstone adventure is also a good idea.

Most likely the case.

[Lochton]

I doubt Tel'Abim on its own, but if South Seas expansion, then yes, Tel'Abim could be there.

[MoanaLisa]

Most players, former or otherwise, won't remember enough about it to recognize it as part of an expansion title. Expansion titles are supposed to be evocative, somewhat recognizable and in some way instantly familiar. This doesn't meet that criteria in any way at all.

[Fahrad Wagner]

I'm positive we will one day see Tel'Abim as a zone, although I'm doubtful it will support a whole expansion!

[Elfezen]

This island is too small for an expansion, if we take the Dragon Isles, Tel'Abim, Plunder Isle and the Undermine together we have enough size for a single expansion and its patches, and that is almost all that is left from lore areas of Azeroth, the Undermine might be a dungeon like Gnomeregan was.

[ercarp]

Hey mister Tel'abim, Tel'abim ba~na~na~!

I mean, it's a little limited on its own, but couple it with some other islands and it could work. Ogrezonia is out there too. Maybe it could be a Dragon Isles' battleground or something.

I would be disappointed as hell if they downgraded TA to a simple battleground, lol. Although that's something I can totally see Blizzard doing. The team with the most bananas at the end wins?

If we ever saw Tel'abim Island expeditions would have been it.

Could they make it an entire expansion island? Sure, did it with Pandaria. Likely? No, because Tel'Abim is just referenced in a banana item.

I was fully expecting to see Tel'Abim in BfA as well, but since they never added it, that just makes me more curious as to whether they have bigger plans for it set out in the future.

I also don't see how it being "only referenced in a banana item" would make it any less likely to happen though. Pandaria was barely mentioned at all either. In fact, I don't think it was name-dropped even a single time in WoW, was it? I could be wrong on that.

If they model it after India and have an Elephant race, I am all for it. Tel'Abim is definitely something they could go wild with if they really wanted to.

An elephant race sounds really cool. I think Naga were partly inspired by Indian culture though, weren't they? But they haven't really gone all the way with it.

They could expand it, sure, but as of now, its only history in the past 15 years is a line of text on some bananas, which isn't exactly the strongest starting point for backstory.

There's more to it than that, actually. There's an entire journal written by a sailor who shipwrecked on Tel'Abim and went insane. Prior to BfA, people assumed that was due to Old God shenanigans on TA, but it could really be almost anything.

Hell, "Tel'abim" could conceivably be a/the name for a/the continent on the "other side of Azeroth".

I think canonically it's supposed to be somewhere to the east of Tanaris. It's still shown on the Chronicles maps, so it definitely exists. We just can't go there (yet).

I still believe we will get a Great/South Seas expansion where we will go to islands like Hiji/Plunder Isle, Tel'Abim ect.

I would be more than okay with this as long as they give the zone some proper justice. I'm so glad they didn't waste it away on an Island Expedition map in BfA, because that would have been such a waste. It could at the very least be a really fun patch zone in a South Seas themed expansion.

Most players, former or otherwise, won't remember enough about it to recognize it as part of an expansion title. Expansion titles are supposed to be evocative, somewhat recognizable and in some way instantly familiar. This doesn't meet that criteria in any way at all.

To be fair, you can say the same about Mists of Pandaria and (partly) Warlords of Draenor. Putting proper nouns in expansion titles is always going to confuse or alienate some part of the playerbase.

I'm positive we will one day see Tel'Abim as a zone, although I'm doubtful it will support a whole expansion!

I hope so, it sounds like it could be a really fun zone to explore if executed well. As a patch zone, it could be something like the Timeless Isle perhaps?

- - - Updated - - -

This island is too small for an expansion, if we take the Dragon Isles, Tel'Abim, Plunder Isle and the Undermine together we have enough size for a single expansion and its patches, and that is almost all that is left from lore areas of Azeroth, the Undermine might be a dungeon like Gnomeregan was.

We don't actually know how big or small it is except for its size on the Chronicles map, which corresponds roughly to the size of Kul Tiras; so it could at the very least be a 3-zone expansion. Maybe one half of a South Seas themed expansion?

That said, if you look at the world map, the sizes don't really make sense. KT, Zandalar, Broken Isles, and Pandaria are all roughly the same size, but actually vary quite a bit if you go to them in-game.

Tinfoil Theory: If the world map uses the Mercator projection that we use in real life, that could explain why Pandaria is so much bigger in-game despite appearing to be roughly the same size as the other, relatively smaller islands. It's the reason why Africa appears so tiny on world maps despite actually being the second-largest continent.

And since Tel'Abim is also to the south (somewhere in the sea between Tanaris and Pandaria), they could easily apply this same size distortion to it, making it even bigger than it appears on the map.