Time Jump Before Next Expansion?

[Orcbert]

I was bored and watching my guilty pleasure of Naruto the other day and it struck me that 'jumping' the story ahead 3 years aloud for a quick change in story without having to really explain the changes in too much depth.

It was a brilliant move and I thought it could be used effectively before the next expansion.

With what's going on in the Alliance pulling out from Org and the new leadership not having any real problems with the Alliance it seems like there is not much need for Horde/Alliance conflict. We could jump ahead 4 or 5 years and have some pretty intense story and game mechanic changes.

I was wondering if there was going to be a faction shuffle with how the story was playing out but it struck me as near impossible because of breaking up guilds. However if we time jumped and then you chose a side from the new factions (perhaps Azeroth or Burning Legion as an example) when you hit 90. Just a thought bumping around my head.

[Derpleton]

I hope we get some time jump it's downright silly with the amount of deaths resulting from the war that any of the races (aside from the undead) could put up with the huge loses.

[Orcbert]

Exactly. Also, if we keep up the Horde vs. Alliance thing we need time for pressures to build again. Alliance for the first time in recent story showed tons of character and that they would accept peace. With whoever takes over the Horde, it would be silly if they immediately started attacking.

[Zeroguard]

We already have actually lol. Wrath was a 2 year time skip and Cataclysm was a 5 year time skip.

[Xeraxis]

We already have actually lol. Wrath was a 2 year time skip and Cataclysm was a 5 year time skip.

Cata was 1 year after the events of WotLK.

[roflwaffle]

Cata was 1 year after the events of WotLK.

every expac as far as i remember was a one year time skip between each.


if we get one, a decade or longer time skip could be promising, a lot can change in 10 years.

[Boogums]

Cata was 1 year after the events of WotLK.

Cata was 5 years after the start of Wrath, 3 years after Arthas died.

[Therougetitan]

Cata was 5 years after the start of Wrath, 3 years after Arthas died.

That's been proven false, as of Tides of War, Anduin is about 14. In Stormrage. which takes place around Wrath, was 13.

[Zeroguard]

That's been proven false, as of Tides of War, Anduin is about 14. In Stormrage. which takes place around Wrath, was 13.

Not really proven, the WoW historian guy just went let it slip through lol...

[Larynx]

Not really proven, the WoW historian guy just went let it slip through lol...

It's certainly more compelling evidence than the word of an anonymous internet forum poster.

[Boogums]

That's been proven false, as of Tides of War, Anduin is about 14. In Stormrage. which takes place around Wrath, was 13.

"Proven?" Suggested, maybe, but http://www.wowhead.com/quest=26320 suggests otherwise.

[Potassiumgluconate]

"Proven?" Suggested, maybe, but http://www.wowhead.com/quest=26320 suggests otherwise.

What?

We killed him way back in classic. We even run into Gryan Stoutmantle chilling in Northrend. Why would he be in Northrend leading a small squad if he's still in Westfall hunting the Defias?

[Caerule]

Oh gods, I thought we were finally rid of the Timeskip people.

People for the love of the Titans. The books have clearly shown without doubt there is no time skip. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm nicely ties up the timeline between the death of Arthas and the Cataclysm, which does not take 5 years at all. NPCs make it clear too that it was a decade ago that the Burning Legion attacked Hyjal in Warcraft 3. A developer even commented later that a decade should be taken loosely, and it was actually less than 10 years.

Time never skips in the WoW universe. No years pass in what are months in real life.

I swear to god it people start Roleplaying 5 years have passed when the next expansion rises once more, based on hearsay...

*frustrated*

[Mormolyce]

Probably just 1 year, like the other expansions. They probably don't want to advance the timeline too much because then old characters start dying :P

Cata was 5 years after the start of Wrath, 3 years after Arthas died.

0-5 - Warcraft 1
6 - Warcraft 2
8 - Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal
20 - Warcraft 3
21 - Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne
25 - WoW (vanilla)
26 - WoW: the Burning Crusade
27 - WoW: Wrath of the Lich King
28 - WoW: Cataclysm
29 - WoW: Mists of Pandaria
http://www.wowpedia.org/Timeline_(unofficial)

"Proven?" Suggested, maybe, but http://www.wowhead.com/quest=26320 suggests otherwise.

The quest's "five years" is either wrong, or the events of Deadmines actually happened before Vanilla in the lore. A popular theory is actually that the quest is referencing the time that had elapsed IN THE REAL WORLD. The whole sequence with the party killing Edwin VanCleef was tapping on the fourth wall. See this note on the Cata date:

While most sources seem to indicate that Cataclysm occurs a year after Wrath, there are a couple which would suggest it's three years instead. Dave Kosak confirmed on Reddit that the Battle for Hyjal was about seven years ago,[22] and that the sources which suggest otherwise are just estimating.

http://www.wowpedia.org/Timeline_(unofficial)

Blue post:

This is the most red-shirtiest of questions so far! Congrats!
But it's a good question.
Matoclaw was just estimating when she says "a decade ago." It was closer to ... what, seven years I think?
I can tell you that the quest team is definitely being a little ambitious with Anduin - we write him as though he's 17 or so, but in reality his age is younger.
And since we're being honest, we're intentionally a little bit vague about exact time periods in-game. The content we put in will be played for years, so sometimes things get a little ... spongy.

(See, the real answer is that the devs don't care if their timeline is slightly wrong, everything is just rough estimates.)

[Orcbert]

Oh gods, I thought we were finally rid of the Timeskip people.

People for the love of the Titans. The books have clearly shown without doubt there is no time skip. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm nicely ties up the timeline between the death of Arthas and the Cataclysm, which does not take 5 years at all. NPCs make it clear too that it was a decade ago that the Burning Legion attacked Hyjal in Warcraft 3. A developer even commented later that a decade should be taken loosely, and it was actually less than 10 years.

Time never skips in the WoW universe. No years pass in what are months in real life.

I swear to god it people start Roleplaying 5 years have passed when the next expansion rises once more, based on hearsay...

*frustrated*

Read the post, I'm saying I want there to be. It would make sense for pretty much any plot advancement.

[Mormolyce]

Read the post, I'm saying I want there to be. It would make sense for pretty much any plot advancement.

WoW's timeline has significant time compression in it though. I mean, how did the Twilight's Hammer build the massive BoT in like a few years?

I still have trouble believing Stormwind was rebuilt in the time given...

[Deleted]

He's not talking about that type of time skip. And it's not actually a time skip, you could say that that's just the time that passed over the course of the expansion. He means a time skip where something of importance happens, that players are then confronted with - that they have to be informed about. Like they apparently do in mangas and animes like naruto and dragonball. You know, Goku grows up etc.

In WoW it could look a bit like this

- Varian dies and Anduin takes his place
- Wrathion is now a full-grown dragon with a huge followship of heroes
- Thrall's son is grown up and leads the Horde
- Moira's son is grown up and leads Ironforge

[Zaelkath]

I hope we get some time jump it's downright silly with the amount of deaths resulting from the war that any of the races (aside from the undead) could put up with the huge loses.

Your signature scared the shit out of me.

[Orcbert]

He's not talking about that type of time skip. And it's not actually a time skip, you could say that that's just the time that passed over the course of the expansion. He means a time skip where something of importance happens, that players are then confronted with - that they have to be informed about. Like they apparently do in mangas and animes like naruto and dragonball. You know, Goku grows up etc.

Exactly. It seems like we could use a "There was 5 years of peace between the factions but in that time ____ was happening." It would make it feel a lot less like apocalyptic superpowers are in a line waiting for their turn. It also seems logical that with a war right after the Cataclysm both forces will need time to build up before the next big challenge.

[Deleted]

Exactly. It seems like we could use a "There was 5 years of peace between the factions but in that time ____ was happening." It would make it feel a lot less like apocalyptic superpowers are in a line waiting for their turn. It also seems logical that with a war right after the Cataclysm both forces will need time to build up before the next big challenge.

I had an idea like that a couple of months back. http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...two-expansions I always like that in fiction. It's hard to bring in characters like Thrall's or Moira's son without such time jumps. Of course there would have to be major changes made to the game.