Why the new Map makes sense.

[shoc]

So like a lot of you I saw the new map and my first reaction was "what the fuck man why is the Maelstrom off centre that's stupid shit".

But after a little digging and goofing around with the map, the new maps makes a decent amount of sense.

So for reference, here is the new map.



And here is the Pangea map, with the new map very roughly overlaid.



As you can already see, the Maelstrom already isn't perfectly centered in the Pangea map. If you go back at the original Pangea map you'll notice the same.

First, this new map also clears up a number of Lore inconsistencies that we've been facing up until this point, notably the location of Azshara (the zone) relative to the Well of Eternity.

In previous lore, the destroyed coastline of Azshara was supposed to be the Location of Zin'azshari, the capital of the Night Elves. When the Well of Eternity imploded during the War of the Ancients, Malfurion and co. was said to have fled Zin'azshari to Hyjal, where they survived the Sundering. With the old map, this didn't make a whole lot of sense, as Malfurion and co. would have had to travel halfway across the continent which is very unreasonable. But with the new map, it makes much more sense.


Second, the map makes a lot of space for future content, that wasn't possible with the old map. Refer to my next image:




I've placed Kezan and the Lost Isles in their proper sizes and positions based on the Maelstrom Map. Not only is Nazjatar/Zin'azshari in it's proper place, but it also creates a continent's worth of room between the Broken Isles and Pandaria, and a mysterious, big open space to the East of Northrend. Notably, there is also an abundance of "South Seas" space that was not possible with the MoP Map.


TL;DR the new Map makes a lot of sense with many lore events taken into consideration. It looks weird, but new lore always trumps old lore and this is undisputedly canon. The map also seems to make 'preparations' for a number of future expansion locations.

[Aleksej89]

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

[Kaldriss]

i was and still am a little put off by the lack of symmetry with kalimdor and EK but if this is why they did it then ill be happy with it

[Mgann-Morzz]

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

Well that would explain why there's Vrykul on the Isle. Just a part of their old civilization seperated from the rest of the Vrykul controlled lands in what is now Northrend when the Sundering broke the original Mega-Kalimdor apart.

[shoc]

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

You bring up a very good point, though off-topic from my OP, I have a feeling that Blizzard just might put the Broken Isles on the Northrend instance, based on the fact that their fatigue zones between Howling Fjord and Highmountain are connected.

It could be part of a larger move to one day connect the entire world under a single Instance, creating a truly seamless massive world. I don't see why that wouldn't be possible with today's network technology.

[Kaldriss]

just as an addition i always thought that the countinents were all (or most) of the land from before the sundering and had just gotten pushed apart by the violent magic but it also makes sense that the land wasnt moved just submerged

[Graden]

Very good and detailed post Shoc, i agree with you.

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

Hm, maybe. I mean, Highmountain and Stormheim look pretty similar with Howling Fjord, so.

[shoc]

Well that would explain why there's Vrykul on the Isle.

It would explain Taunka too, as the result of Allopatric speciation that occurred when they were separated from the Highmountain Tauren.

[wowaccounttom]

all i learned from those images is that wow is full of trolls

[Sfinna]

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

I think so. Highmountain and Stormheim, the two zones that personally feel much like Northrend to me, are right up near it.

[Lavannah]

Okay...okay, this makes sense. I can see how this can easily make it so Blizz has more space to work with...and kills Red Shirt Guy's question about whether or not our portion of the map is just a northern hemisphere section of the world. Now i'm interested to see how they're gonna fill it up lol.

[thesmall001]

Curiously, this approximation would put the submerged landmass of Vashj'ir in Z'noth territory pre-Sundering.

[In Ogres We Trust]

The scale is off, so that's why it looks like garbage.

[StannMann]

Curiously, this approximation would put the submerged landmass of Vashj'ir in Z'noth territory pre-Sundering.

I'd say that's believable. He's responsible for the naga, no?

[shoc]

Curiously, this approximation would put the submerged landmass of Vashj'ir in Z'noth territory pre-Sundering.

More curiously, Thal'dranath's position is right on top of where N'zoth is hiding, according to the Chronicle map.

[Candy Cough]

Nice post, interesting.

Northrend looks almost connected to broken isles.

Like they are part of the same "region"?

Well Odyn created the Vrykuls, hence why they are in the Howling Fjord and Stormheim

[Kellorion]

I wonder if you could fly from Howling Fjord to Highmountian?

[Astronom]

More curiously, Thal'dranath's position is right on top of where N'zoth is hiding, according to the Chronicle map.

N'zoth's main location is about due west of Uldaman and north-east of Timeless Isle, which would place it in the Abyssal Depths part of Vash'jir.

I wonder if you could fly from Howling Fjord to Highmountian?

Probably not.

[shoc]

N'zoth's main location is about due west of Uldaman and north-east of Timeless Isle, which would place it in the Abyssal Depths part of Vash'jir.


Probably not.

N'zoth's position on the map is much closer to the Well of Eternity than Vash'jir.



Personally, I think N'zoth is much closer to the Southern Tip of Thal'dranath than anything else.

[zubaja]

I love this thread. It all makes much more sense, now.
All I'm having an issue with, and this could just be my memory of the current worldmap failing me, is the following:
-Did they move EK more to the east to get enough room for the isles to fit?
-If the Isles were always there, wouldn't we be able have seen Highmountain from the Howling Fjord for quite a while? Granted, this is speculation concidering I don't know the exact distance. All I know is that Highmountain is the highest mountain around.
-Isn't there a ship-route through or close to the isles in live? I think from Darnassus or Ratchet.