Next WoW expansion "Leak"

[SinR]

Blizzard has never said never.

It's ALWAYS been worded as "not at this time" or some very close variation of that.

That way, when Blizzard does do it (flying in Azeroth, playable Pandaren, etc) they can say "we never said NEVER"

[Deleted]

Blizzard has never said never.

It's ALWAYS been worded as "not at this time" or some very close variation of that.

That way, when Blizzard does do it (flying in Azeroth, playable Pandaren, etc) they can say "we never said NEVER"

They have said never, more then once. Over time to learned to not to it anymore. I think somewhere in Wotlk they stopped stating things as definite facts.

Weither they said it in the past doesn't matter, let's be glad they changed there mind.

[Abstieg]

They also said pandas would never be a playable race, and flying in Azeroth would never happen and tons of other stuff. And at the time when they said those things, nobody think it would even be a possibility.

Let's be happy they think outside of the box.

None of those things were ever said.

[SinAscendant]

Okay. Points against this.

#1. British spelling of "artifact" and "Honor". Points towards person not in America and therefore less likely to work for Blizz.
#2. Even if the old person was an insider, there is not one scrap of proof that this is the same person who leaked the previous leaks.
#3. Zandalari in this xpac would mean that the Zandalari have been a major enemy in three xpacs in a row, which has never happened.
#4. Introducing Jaina's brother, a minor character who never had anything going for him as a main lore character this suddenly is strange.
#5. Ship mount. Nuff said.
#6. Magni suddenly freed from crystal and somehow ready to protect the World's Heart.
#7. Zul suddenly being a servant of the Old Gods, which makes no sense as it has not once been even hinted that the Zandalari have anything to do with the Old Gods.
#8. "N'zoth pushes through the bonds that hold him now that the emerald flight has lost its power". The one who bound him to the Rift was Malfurion, not the Emerald Dragonflight.
#9. Heroic Azjol-Nerub; but that already exists.
#10. Abyssal Maw was in Vash'Jir, it wouldn't make any sense to release it now, they'd have to send us back to Vash'Jir to do it.
#11. Path of the Titans was supposed to be endgame character customization, not minor alt buffs. And "Sharing mounts at LV10"? Like we share them at LV1 now?
#12. No new character models at launch, even though the orc models are done (Garrosh has the updated model) and they've specifically said they'll release them one or two at a time.

There are so many holes in this I could strain spaghetti through it.

Oh, and GC just confirmed that Abyssal Maw is not being actively worked on.

"The good news is this is something actively being worked on, not a shelved project like dance studio or abyssal maw."

[Zaqwert]

Everything seems completely plausible. Normally when people fake stuff they try to make it trollish. I'm inclined to believe most if not all of it.

[miffy23]

Just a priori: I don't actually believe this "leak" to be real, but I believe the content to be very likely and well put together, so here's some counterpoints.

Okay. Points against this.

#1. British spelling of "artifact" and "Honor". Points towards person not in America and therefore less likely to work for Blizz.
Nonsense. The fact that the person might be British doesn't mean they might not work for Blizzard. Plus nowhere did the guy claim to work for or be affiliated with Blizzard, nor did he/she claim to KNOW this, it was merely thrown out there. People treating this as a "leak" need to buy new tinfoil hats.
#2. Even if the old person was an insider, there is not one scrap of proof that this is the same person who leaked the previous leaks.
And noone ever claimed it to be except the OP, the post on 4chan itself was just random and with no claim to anything - besides the fact that an actual leak would never be identified or revealed, if it wanted to keep "leaking"
#3. Zandalari in this xpac would mean that the Zandalari have been a major enemy in three xpacs in a row, which has never happened.
What's your point? If anything, this is a very, very likely scenario, Zandalari have been around as a major lore part since Vanilla, just like the Burning Legion and the Old Gods, or The Scourge for that matter. Relevance?
#4. Introducing Jaina's brother, a minor character who never had anything going for him as a main lore character this suddenly is strange.
There are like 50 new "minor" characters being introduced each expansion, sometimes some with patches too. You expect the story of xxx expansions to be carried by the 20 or so main characters and no new ones to be introduced ever? Besides Blizzard has retconned so much in WoW this is like the least unbelievable aspect.
#5. Ship mount. Nuff said.
Golden Asian Dragon mount. A chopper. A flying goblin shredder. A 2seated rocket. Really, a ship is what tips your bullshit sensor?
#6. Magni suddenly freed from crystal and somehow ready to protect the World's Heart.
Magni suddenly turned into crystal and becoming a "powerful voice echoing and watching over the mountains of Khaz Modan".
#7. Zul suddenly being a servant of the Old Gods, which makes no sense as it has not once been even hinted that the Zandalari have anything to do with the Old Gods.
Pretty much all evil on Azeroth goes directly back to the Old Gods or the Burning Legion one way or another. Also, Zul and a faction of the Zandalari are corrupted, not all if you read closely.
#8. "N'zoth pushes through the bonds that hold him now that the emerald flight has lost its power". The one who bound him to the Rift was Malfurion, not the Emerald Dragonflight.
Reread the story, it was with the help of the Emerald flight and Y'sera that the enclosure of the Rift was formed. Furthermore it is the Emerald Flight keeping watch over the Dream, not Malfurion 24/7. That the dream would come into play has been surmised immediately as the Aspects losing their powers was revealed. Nothing new here, and quite likely.
#9. Heroic Azjol-Nerub; but that already exists.
Could easily be an interpretation on the "leaker's" behalf of for example "Heroic dungeon in Azjol-Nerub (the city, not the WotLK dungeon)
#10. Abyssal Maw was in Vash'Jir, it wouldn't make any sense to release it now, they'd have to send us back to Vash'Jir to do it.
Maw is still on the shelf as of now, not cancelled, and if this expansion were roughly true, we WILL be going into the sea and the deep reaches of the world. And the Maw will likely be where we try to free Neptulon from Ozumat. Also - "Uldum is in Silithus, it would make no sense to send us back into Silithus."
#11. Path of the Titans was supposed to be endgame character customization, not minor alt buffs. And "Sharing mounts at LV10"? Like we share them at LV1 now?
Your spinning your own ideas out of a supposed teased leak. The mentioned perks are minor examples that have been speculated / hinted at here, not a sales statement. Also, pretty sure it's "mounts at lvl10" vs at lvl 20, not shared mounts.
#12. No new character models at launch, even though the orc models are done (Garrosh has the updated model) and they've specifically said they'll release them one or two at a time.
The orc models are not done, as in one specific updated model does not a fully customizable model make. You could just as well have claimed the orc model was 100% done when Thrall was updated in Cataclysm, or when the aspects got their unique reskins, suddenly that was the new Nelf skin. I'm sure it'll go in that direction, but a unique model is no indication of a finished available player model.

There are so many holes in this I could strain spaghetti through it.

Oh, and GC just confirmed that Abyssal Maw is not being actively worked on.

"The good news is this is something actively being worked on, not a shelved project like dance studio or abyssal maw."
1 min later: shelved does not mean cancelled. You will not get any confirmation or denial of anything remotely possible from them before Blizzcon, deal with the fact that no information from Blizzard right now can be treated as reliable, until they are ready to present a product they are satisfied with.

Again, not standing here claiming this is accurate, I just think it makes sense and could very well be true. However since u went to the length of making a fancy list i couldn't resist but point out the many holes your swiss cheese of a debunking has.

[Ragedaug]

I tend to agree with Zaqwert. Most everything seems plausible. I'm not sure about the 90-100 level part, though to be honest, I think I would prefer that to the current 5 levels, 6 zones stuff. More zones and more levels I believe would be better. I believe they mentioned in one of the recent interviews that they are going for the squish next xpac, could be that they decided with the squish intact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to return to 10 level Xpacs.

Whether any of it is true...who knows. I won't lose any sleep trying to argue for or against it. Time will tell.

#5. Ship mount. Nuff said.
Golden Asian Dragon mount. A chopper. A flying goblin shredder. A 2seated rocket. Really, a ship is what tips your bullshit sensor?

Agreed. I called BS to the "BS" as there is already a ship mount in the game. If "you" don't have one yet, go do the quest line in 1000 Needles. You'll get it. It just doesn't go in your book for some dumb reason, it's an old school, stay in your back pack till you need to ride it, mount.

The orc models are not done, as in one specific updated model does not a fully customizable model make. You could just as well have claimed the orc model was 100% done when Thrall was updated in Cataclysm, or when the aspects got their unique reskins, suddenly that was the new Nelf skin. I'm sure it'll go in that direction, but a unique model is no indication of a finished available player model.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say most of the models (if not all) are already done. It's just the armor and mounts left to work on. There are two functional Orc replacements already in game - Thrall and Garrosh. GC was even throwing out a poll not too long ago asking which of the two models the players favored.

[Deleted]

Ideas/Writing in some places seem way to good for what Metzen has produced from his brain in recent years.


Still, it's nice to dream about some of it, isn't it?


Who am I kidding, by 6.0 Warlocks are back to being awful :P

[Bad Ashe]

Okay. Points against this.
#4. Introducing Jaina's brother, a minor character who never had anything going for him as a main lore character this suddenly is strange.

this really isnt a point against.

my logic: a not obscure but still not well known easter egg in a pre-WoW game becomes an entire race with an expac themed about it.

[ryonavin]

Why do people read things and then just make up whatever they want to believe anyway? The existence of the Maelstrom has nothing to do with the World Pillar. Fixing the World Pillar isn't going to make the Maelstrom go away. And why would the Stonemother have any power over water?

WOUNDS plural.. meaning more than one. it's a very broad statement.. All it's saying is that they (meaning Thrall, the earthen ring and the Stonemother) are attempting to repair the destruction caused by the Cataclysm, and while the Maelstrom was not caused by the cataclysm, it most certainly was a focal point, considering our entry into Deepholm was via the Maelstrom. So Deathwing may have caused the Maelstrom to be worse than what it was prior to Cataclysm and as a result of their efforts (they don't say Therazane speciically fixed the Melstrom it was a combination of the three groups working on the dstruction as a whole, so Therazane could be working on the earth while thrall and earthen ring were working on the sea). This is not that huge a leap in logic

[SinAscendant]

I can see your points, but that doesn't change the fact that my points are still relevant.

I never said I was debunking it, I was pointing out inconsistencies and saying why it was not LIKELY to be real. I never said any of these things were 100% or even implied it.

1, if they didn't work for Blizzard, how would they know this information? Information of this sort always comes from within the company.

2. It was heavily implied that the person was saying they were the same person from previous years; "here we go again" and stating knowledge of the previous leaks implies (though obviously does not outright state) that he/she is the same person.

3. No, it is not all that likely. No other lore group has gotten three expansions in a row with a major part to play as a villain. Again, not impossible, but unlikely.

4. Minor characters I can understand, for example Garona. A character who was barely mentioned in one RPG book - and Blizzard OUTRIGHT STATED WILL NOT BECOME CANON - I cannot. twitter.com/Loreology/status/357271492943290368

5. One of the slightly more believable things, I'll admit, but so far all the mounts we've had have been something we can, well, mount.

6. Doesn't change the fact that him coming back with no explanation or prior hints is odd.

7. Zul isn't evil. He's a prophet who saved his people and happens to want to control the world. He's a power-hungry dick, sure, but far from evil. In any case, if he were a servant of the Old Gods, would not some reference have been made when he was so close to Lei Shen - and by proxy Ra-Den, one of the Titan's Watchers? Or the Engine of Nalak'Sha? Or any of the Titan tech?

8. Did you not read Stormrage? It clearly states that Malfurion was the one who found the Rift of Aln, and that Malfurion and Tyrande sealed it off. Alone. The Emerald were not involved in that act whatsoever. They had already lost the Dream and would have been eradicated were it not for Malfurion. The point is, it's a lore point that this person should have known about if they really were getting a leak but they didn't.

9.It was placed after Heroic Blackfathom. And it was labeled "Heroic" specifically. That heavily implies that it is a Heroic version of an existing instance. There is no reason to think otherwise.

10. Uh, how would Ozumat manage to get inside Nespirah? And barring that, it doesn't make sense to send us into the middle of an unrelated, lower-level zone to get into a raid, especially a zone that Blizzard knows nobody likes.

11. They aren't speculated. This is a supposed leak. These are supposed to be facts that are confirmed by an insider.

12. They have said that character models are 25% done overall, and seeing as they have working orc models that implies that at the very least orcs are complete and other races are well on their way. 6-7 months or so is at LEAST enough to finish one race if not more.


As for Abyssal Maw being shelved, I know it's not canceled. That's not the point. He is positioning Abyssal Maw as an entry raid, and since Blizzard has just confirmed they are not working on Maw at this moment in time, it is extremely unlikely for Maw to be the entry raid to an expansion coming out in (probably) 6-7 months.

- - - Updated - - -

Blah: It is now that I've done research and Blizz stated that said character would not become canon.

[Novistador]

Seems kind of fake. ESPECIALLY 'Warchief Lor'themar'.

Lor'themar is one of the top running candidates, not saying that if he is picked that it means this guy is spot on, but HEY you never know. I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss this post, AT THE SAME TIME I wont hold blizz to anything he posted. Even though so much of this stuff is what I want to see.

[KCguy]

They also said pandas would never be a playable race, and flying in Azeroth would never happen and tons of other stuff. And at the time when they said those things, nobody think it would even be a possibility.

Let's be happy they think outside of the box.

Blizzard considered pandas for BC, but ultimately went with draenei and bloof elf's. Flying, they thought it would be cool and different in BC, but some within the company have said they wish they'd have gone a different route.

[SinR]

@SinAscendant

Garona is *NOT* a minor character. She was responsible for the assassination of King Llane Wrynn, Varian's father, among other major canonical accomplishments.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Garona_Halforcen

[frogger237]

I love how these "leaks" always come out a few days or weeks after the trademark leaks, its like they needed time to come up with what they "found".

Its also interesting how almost everything people have been speculating about TDB is also supposedly going to be in the next expansion, I mean really the only thing that has been speculated on but not put in here is the non-cannon RPG demon references to the Dark Below.

[Deleted]

Who am I kidding, by 6.0 Warlocks are back to being awful :P

Do not give them pesky dev's an idea mate. I can imagine them writing a headline "New expansion pack content" and then just sitting on the forums making merry with all the ideas and theories players come up with.

[Noomz]

Because it's a discussion forum for, you know, discussions.

FWIW, a lot of this sounds plausible... A lot of it doesn't. My biggest issue would be underwater zones as Vash'jir was pretty widely reviled, despite how well it was done. It would also be very strange to not see new character models, 10 levels rather than five, a heroic dungeon we already have and the return of the Abyssal Maw.

My prediction is that some of this will be right, some of it won't. The rest will be argued about like Nostradamus' prediction about flying pigs.

No need for the attitude.

But no discussion can be had becuase NO-ONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THE SUBJECT! It's not even speculation because have absolutely NOTHING but our own completely and utterly unfounded ideas of what we WANT.

We can conclude nothing. We can discuss nothing. It's all speculation in its purest form with no basis in facts or reality, BECAUSE WE DONT BLOODY KNOW ANYTHING.

[arcaneshot]

Lor'themar is one of the top running candidates, not saying that if he is picked that it means this guy is spot on, but HEY you never know. I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss this post, AT THE SAME TIME I wont hold blizz to anything he posted. Even though so much of this stuff is what I want to see.

No, you see the problem is it was dropped in so casually like we expect this. Knowing the name of the new Warchief is a bullet point on its own (we won't know this until the SoO ending cinematic is revealed), and to drop it in casually like that is suspicious.

[Noomz]

Okay. Points against this.

#1. British spelling of "artifact" and "Honor". Points towards person not in America and therefore less likely to work for Blizz.
#2. Even if the old person was an insider, there is not one scrap of proof that this is the same person who leaked the previous leaks.
#3. Zandalari in this xpac would mean that the Zandalari have been a major enemy in three xpacs in a row, which has never happened.
#4. Introducing Jaina's brother, a minor character who never had anything going for him as a main lore character this suddenly is strange.
#5. Ship mount. Nuff said.
#6. Magni suddenly freed from crystal and somehow ready to protect the World's Heart.
#7. Zul suddenly being a servant of the Old Gods, which makes no sense as it has not once been even hinted that the Zandalari have anything to do with the Old Gods.
#8. "N'zoth pushes through the bonds that hold him now that the emerald flight has lost its power". The one who bound him to the Rift was Malfurion, not the Emerald Dragonflight.
#9. Heroic Azjol-Nerub; but that already exists.
#10. Abyssal Maw was in Vash'Jir, it wouldn't make any sense to release it now, they'd have to send us back to Vash'Jir to do it.
#11. Path of the Titans was supposed to be endgame character customization, not minor alt buffs. And "Sharing mounts at LV10"? Like we share them at LV1 now?
#12. No new character models at launch, even though the orc models are done (Garrosh has the updated model) and they've specifically said they'll release them one or two at a time.

There are so many holes in this I could strain spaghetti through it.

Oh, and GC just confirmed that Abyssal Maw is not being actively worked on.

"The good news is this is something actively being worked on, not a shelved project like dance studio or abyssal maw."

I think we have a winner here.

[TwoNineMarine]

True or not I like the thought of the Titantic Experience or whatever. I'd love to see that.