Let's talk realistic: THE NEXT EXPANSION (subs loss, predictions, what fans like)

[rogueMatthias]

I think the next expansion will be called : "All those loose ends we forgot about"

We can have a south-seas raid fighting Azshara and freeing Neptulon

An Emerald Dream raid

And then an N'Zoth raid to finish it off.

[Pua]

I think the next expansion will be called : "All those loose ends we forgot about"

We can have a south-seas raid fighting Azshara and freeing Neptulon

An Emerald Dream raid

And then an N'Zoth raid to finish it off.

Seriously?

Not a lot wrong with that.

[Razecog]

Actually my entire argument is based on facts;

Fact: Every WoW class comes from a WC3 unit or hero.
Fact: There are no WoW classes based on technology.
Fact: Tinkers are the only WC3 hero unit without corresponding WoW abilities.
Fact: A profession isn't the same as a class.

The only opinion portion is that I believe that those facts point to the imminent inclusion of a Tinker class. Sorry if that bothers you so much.

What bothers me is that you bring it up everywhere.

[Ult92]

Many of you are propagating this idea that the expansion will be a 'mix' of things. Like South Seas + Emerald Dream. I'm leaning against that, mostly because that would require split zones. The devs have already made it clear that they prefer to have one world in an expansion, not a series of disconnected zones (with portals). They tried that in Cata and didn't get a good response.

I don't see how you can make a 'continent' with South Seas and Emerald Dream. Hell, even just South Seas on it's own, unless we plan to fly across large bpdies of water to get between zones. Maybe Emerald Dream just on it's own would work.

[Sageofthe10paths]

"South sea" should be called by us the "Deep Sea" expantion with giant naval vessels serving as capital cities and huge under water zones or islands, the lost zandalar capital. It wouldn't be a totally underwater zone expantion. Maybe one or two.

[lanerios]

There won't be an underwater zone. The Vashjir QQ was way to big. People can't handle change that well.

[Mormolyce]

Seriously?

Not a lot wrong with that.

Except that it's kind of like when you get all the little left over bits of soap and try to mush them together into one useable bit of soap.

[Miatog]

South Seas expansion seems really good,

See, to me, South Seas seems like something that might be better suited to a patch or tier depending on expansion story. I honestly have a hard time seeing them pull a full expansion out of a few islands. I could be wrong of course, they might pull it off, but I doubt it.

but to be honest... it wouldn't be as good as expansion about Burning Legion. Everyone know Burning Legion much more than naga/Azshara etc. We all consider Sargeras as a main Antagonist(N'zoth is cool, but no, not right now, not yet) in WoW, and dealing with his forces would make a huge impact on the lore and players would really like it.

Here's a quote from DEVS Q&A:

Here's the link for MMO-Champ thread about it:
Click!

Does that mean we will see Illidan once more? (I'll talk about that later)

Anyone who did legendary quests in MoP know that Wrathion is showing us Azeroth being "bombed" by "Huge Infernals"/"Fel meteors"(?).
Here's the link to YT:
Click!

Burning Legion is coming to Azeroth once more?

When I'm expecting, is some pre-patch event where we need to deal with demons on Azeroth. Then the expansion, is going to their world and kicking the Demons where it hurts!

Kill'jaeden isn't dead, it's obvious, I would see him as a main Boss in the next expansion. Many people know him from previous game/ex-pack and I'm pretty sure he's more recognizable than Death Wing/Garrosh, also he's Right Hand of Sargeras.

I would argue him being more recoginizable than Deathwing. But no, KJ is not dead, all we did was stall him so the Sunwell could push him through the hole and plug it up at the cost of her mortal life. That doesn't mean he'd be the main boss though. I see him as being either the end boss of the next to last tier, or the next to last boss of the expansion, just before Sargeras himself.

What more?
Demon Hunter class, though many players hate that idea, I think some would came back to see how it is to play with this class.

The next class has to be mail and have at least one int spec for loot distribution reasons. Since Demon Hunters are seen as leather wearers, I see them unlikely for the next class, though I would love to play one!

And I can see Illidan in this expansion, players LOVE him and many would like to see him once more, but right now he'd be Demon Hunter class trainer(like Darion for Death Knights, but his role would be bigger, I'd even say like Tirion in Wotlk).

Problem is they need to bring him back from the dead...

New classes:
Everyone(well, most of them) seems to be talking about Ogres for Horde, and High Elves for Alliance.
It really make sense, we have actually seen Ogres in the Horde army.
Why High Elves? I'm not really sure, but they are ok for me, and they're part of the Alliance.

Also Alleria is High Elf, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her + Turalyon in Burning Legion ex-pack, they're experienced in fighting versus demons. Bringing them both back would be really good for lore, and at last we'll see them.

I assume you meant to say no races there :P.
Ogres I'm all for, High Elves though, no. While we see them as part of the Alliance in game, there's one huge issue with them being playable. There's far far far less of them than there are of the Blood Elves and the Blood Elves are practically an endangered species.
What could be a replacement...honestly I have nothing other than Furbogs. Warriors, Rogues, Shamans, Druids we see in game, I think Mages somewhere. So they have the classes, but armor could be funky on them...it's not a good choice.

[Pua]

There won't be an underwater zone. The Vashjir QQ was way to big. People can't handle change that well.

Mmm. I thought Vash'jir was done about as well as it could have been, much better than expected actually; I still avoid it like the plague when levelling up.

Except that it's kind of like when you get all the little left over bits of soap and try to mush them together into one useable bit of soap.

Yeah, I see the concern but don't think it's all that valid. I mean, it could all be loosely interconnected such as things were in vanilla where we dealt with trolls, the Qiraji and the Scourge. All of those were devolved from each other, and it still largely worked out just fine from a storytelling point of view.

[Elexo]

I'm loving the idea of a multi themed expansion like the Burning Legion and South Seas.
Makes sense, why would the villains always patiently wait their turn anyway?
It would appeal to a broader audiance and feel more threatening.

However in doing so they cut away a potential expansion for themselves to release later, meaning less money.
So it's not going to happen.
Wrathion has made it very clear the next expac will be about the Burning Legion.
The community has been talking about the south sea expansion since pre-wotlk and there's always been good ideas for it.
Maybe some day, ey?

[Talen]

See, to me, South Seas seems like something that might be better suited to a patch or tier depending on expansion story. I honestly have a hard time seeing them pull a full expansion out of a few islands. I could be wrong of course, they might pull it off, but I doubt it.

I, on the other hand think that they'd be able to geta fairly decent Xpac out of Azshara.

Note - I said Azshara and not the South Seas. I think it'll be a long time before we see an Xpac with the island theme again. It was tried in Cataclysm and left the zones feeling isolated and the game lost a lot of sense of scale. You coudl add a travel element akin to SWTOR but that might be too out of place.

Instead, with Azshara - I would expect that alongside Kezan and Kul Tiras, we'd see the realisation of that prophecy from the LK era. That one about a land rising from the sea.

New continent and a recreated Well of Eternity, links into the Emerald Dream, the chance to do the NElfs right and still have a nautical theme and the beginnings of a BL invasion....

Of course, whether they could get a decent continent out of that is anyones guess

Ogres I'm all for, High Elves though, no. While we see them as part of the Alliance in game, there's one huge issue with them being playable. There's far far far less of them than there are of the Blood Elves and the Blood Elves are practically an endangered species.

Thing is...if that was an excuse the Horde would have the Orcs and.....that'd be it. There really aren't that many Tauren, Trolls, Goblins or Pandaren in the Horde. Even the BElfs and Forsaken aren't really that large.

There are a some things which do make me NOT rule out the HElfs immediately.

First - they are the one traditional Alliance race that is missing as a player race.
Second - the Ogres are the one traditional Horde race missing from the Horde.
Third - we know they are working on BElfs...and by defintion HElfs.
Fourth - we also know Blizzard have doen work on Ogres as a player race
Fifth - one of the major complaints in LK was the amount of attention the HElfs got. More than most player races. That was why we didn't see much of them in Cata.
Sixth - despite this, they had a major role in MoP. Needlessly, since any role they fulfilled could have been taken by generic human/Dalaranian NPCs.
Seventh - we've had several subtle hints that we'd be heading to Sea. Ocean themed prophecies, lands rising from the depths, promised returns to Kezan and Kul Tiras...Blizzard working on Ashara and the Emerald Dream...Blizzard working on Naga PCs, who were also a faction in WC3 TFT.
Eighth - next year is the 10t and 20th year anniversarioes of Warcraft and WoW.

In essence....I'm half wondering if (given the latest focus on HElfs) Blizzard will make Ogres and HElfs playable in recognition of the anniversary and do so in an Xpac where we face off against the last major faction from WC3. On balance, I think it unlikely but still....I do consider the HElf focus to be a little odd.

EJL

[Deleted]

Tbh The south seas just doesn't sound exciting enough to be an entire expansion. Realistically the only thing in the south seas worth making content for is the Tomb of Sargeras and to have an entire expansion centred around the south seas and then have the major plot line of the emerald dream in the expansion would be daft. It was also speculated that Zandalar was destroyed in the Cataclysm so that would likely not be featured:

Prophet Khar'zul says: We NEED dis land! Da cataclysm destroyed our home!

Besides which game would you rather buy?

World of Warcraft: The South Seas

World of Warcraft: Return of the Legion

I know which one sounds better to me..

[Themerlin]

I'm loving the idea of a multi themed expansion like the Burning Legion and South Seas.
Makes sense, why would the villains always patiently wait their turn anyway?
It would appeal to a broader audiance and feel more threatening.

However in doing so they cut away a potential expansion for themselves to release later, meaning less money.
So it's not going to happen.
Wrathion has made it very clear the next expac will be about the Burning Legion.
The community has been talking about the south sea expansion since pre-wotlk and there's always been good ideas for it.
Maybe some day, ey?

Instead of Burning Legion/South Seas mix, I would rather see a begining with Azhara with us tearing her scales off trying to reach the portal to Argus/Xoroth.

So Azhara/Burning Legion awesomo!

[Deleted]

I would like WoW to take a more serious turn of events... Don't get me wrong Mist of Pandaria was a great expansion in so many ways. BUT it would've been sooo much better with a different setting, same content just different skins. I'm not saying Pandas are silly but what I'm saying is that it's still pandas no matter how hard you build a great story and fill it with nice stuff, still pandas.

[Anufis]

My idea which I want to happen:

Double-class feature.
You choose second class(at max-level) for your character and get for example 1 passive and 3 active skills from that class and maybe graphic update of others.
For example you play Paladin and become Paladin/Death knight=Fallen Crusader.
You get
-DPS/HPS cooldown: summon runic weapon(which copies part of heals/damage)
-Def cooldown: AMS
-utility cooldown: Asphyscate(ranged interrupt or silence)
-passive: unholy presence(increases haste by 10%)
Also you get recolor of holy abilities/their icons and they become more unholy/shadowy
I think, it would make good part of character customization.

Maybe it's bad example, but you get the idea.

Sorry for poor english.

[Synstir]

If we're talking about getting players back, I think we do need something that is really appealing. I don't mean lore here, cause in my opinion lore doesn't matter for playing the game (for a lot of players). I think what Blizzard needs to do in the next xpac, is add a really badass race and class, something that will attract former players back to wow. Around this new class/race there could be lore (old) so old players will have something to recognize but the race/class should be something non-lore-knowers who play wow, would be attracted to.

They tried something like this in MoP. The Pandaren didn't do it as expected I guess and also the kung-fu panda look-a-like stuff didn't do as expected. They need now Something that will hit like a bomb...... appealing to old and new players alike. Lore is only for those who are interested in lore, so burning legion or not is more for them.
Adding a very appealing race/class is something that will affect everyone.

So whatever the expansion might be lorewise, i think a appealing race/class must be in there to attract old/new players.
What that should be I don't know.. that is where all those expensive brainstormers/dev's are being paid for by Blizzard and there are a lot of ideas here on MMO as well by players.

[Nivena]

-immersion

-3 primary professions per character

[Deleted]

The next expansion Blizzard will have to do a few choices if it doesn't want to halve its subscribers again to 3m players.
It can't be a paid game + monthly subscription + f2p revenues + scandalously high priced services (transfers, race changes, and so forth)

There is a limit to greed, at least many million departed players seems to think so.

- So it should stop half measures and enable most aspects of the games to be played interrealm, including latest & newest raid tiers.
- Character transfers, race / names changes / additional services should be free or very cheap whithin reasonable limits (e.g. first 5 transfers / month free, after that paid to avoid realm hopping).
- pve players should not be bothered and limited by pvp. Blizzard should definitely choose one way of solving the pvp-balance-changes-destroy-pve-balance-and-vice-versa-problem, such as 2 different sets of value for abilities for pvp & pve (e.g. chaos bolt does so much dmg in pve and so much in pvp). It can't go on for the next 10 years refusing this way of balancing while effectively doing it erratically whenever it feels like it.
- pvp players should not be bothered and limited by pve.
- Spectator mode for pvp, no excuses
- All races graphically enhanced with more details to reach the quality level of pandas. No excuses or delays.

Sure, this is and investment. But one has to decide whether one want to milk players to the max and see their numbers decimated, or sometimes reinvest the big bucks earned. In addition the Wow team could stop wasting huge resources for such non-features as destroyed talent trees to use the resources for things all players wants, such as a decently looking character.

- Other improvements wouldn't cost a dime such as getting a decent history again. Wotlk was so epic from pre trailer to end of the Lich King, the lore was so rich that failed Cataclysm & Mop (lore-wise) can't compare at all. Let's bring back the epicness. And let's stop the I-don't-care-for-alliance-I-will-only-develop-horde-lore.

I'm pretty sure that none of this will happen and that unfortunately the wow community will halve again.

[Dominating]

It will be Burning Legion-themed, 100%. If it's not I will refuse to post on here any longer. There's just too much hinting at it in MoP, first with Wrathion showing us Azeroth under attack from Infernals, Wrathion declaring a greater evil will force the Alliance and Horde to band together, then the Warlock green fire quest which introduces the Council of the Black Harvest, drops subtle hints regarding the Legion's whereabouts, and brings us back to Black Temple, the innocuous loading screen tip saying Alleria and Turalyon haven't been seen for years... Too much is hinting at it. And with subscriber figures dropping steadily I will be shocked if they don't return to the most familiar villains in Warcraft lore to entice players.

[vaccine]

Yer I feel it will be to do with the return of the Burning Legion. They've been absent too long and I think they'll want to capture back subs from players who have rose tinted glasses regarding TBC.

I really hope Illidan doesn't come back in any form. He was a cool villain but we killed him, he died. Some story plot to ressurect him to fight the Legion would be so awful (but so typically WoW unfortunately).

Not sure about a new class, I feel they've kind of raised expectation that there has to be one now given Pandaria had both a class and a race and we know the Titan team are now on WoW too. Demon Hunter was hinted at back in Cata and there are tons of other ideas for one (personally I'd love Spellbreakers from TFT!).

They could also add demon races to each faction similar to Pandas (as in one demon race split to each faction) or just a seperate one each, or delve back into existing races for allies, but to be honest I don't really care about new races, especially given we'll be getting the old races skin updates.