Next Xpac: As it seems to be the "in" thing to do right now....

[Talen]

A semi serious wishlist for the next XPac. Not much chance of any of it being done....but I always get some degree of fun just speculating.


New Expansion Pack:

Terror Shall Rise
Azshara has taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the cataclsym to bring her realm to the surface. Lands just recovering after the Cataclysm now once again find themselves under siege by the elements and the island nations of Azeroth stand united - literally - and beached. The island nations of Kezan, Zandalar, Kul Tiras and others face new challenges in the time ahead as they struggle to adapt to a changed world. Meanwhile Garrosh and his army of loyalists have fled after their defeat at Orgrimmar and taken refuge in Blackrock mountain, forcing the Alliance to once again divide its armies.

For the Horde, this is a time of rebuilding and consolidation. Many of Garroshes victories stand undone as the unified Alliance press forward upon many fronts, retaking many of the lands seized by Garrosh in his grab for resources. The new warchief faces many challenges to consolidate her rule with a much diminished force, not least of which are repairing the walls of Orgrimmar demolished when the Skybreaker dropped its bombload to blast a way into the city, and the enhanced Alliance presence at Tiragarde in Durotar but she can find some solace in the knowledge that the Trolls, Tauren, Blood Elves, Goblins and Orcs of the Horde stands united behind her. But the balance of power has shifted and the Orcs no longer stand dominant as many have fled with Garrosh and the Warchief knows she (and everyone else) must also keep a wary eye on Sylvanas, who has seized the excuse of rebellion to remove the Kor'kron overseers from her city.

For the Alliance, this is a time of muted celeberation. Garrosh has been defeated, and his fall has left the Horde weakened and in disarray, allowing the Alliance to push forward on mnay fronts - but he and his forces have managed to regroup at Blackrock Spire. The Kingdom of the Dark Irons now stands almost completely in orcish hands and Ironforge is receiving many refugees who now flee their home. Northshire lies under assault and not all the Dark Irons have given up their Twilight Hammer loyalties. With their armies divided, progress to retake the lands seized by the Horde has stalled but new hope beckons. Calia Menethil, and many Lordaeron refugees, have emerged from her refuge in Kul Tiras, and she has reasserted both her claim to the lands and loyalties of the people of Lordaeron and her membership of the Alliance. And Danath Trollbane has returned, his work in Outlands now safe with a new generation of heroes. The Alliance has buckled but it has survived the storm and the Alliance Assembly, built upon the ruins of the Park district, stands as a stalwart testament to their unity and strength.

But storm clouds beckon. Wrathions prophecy appears to be on the brink of fulfilment as darkening skies herald the arrival of the Legion as Infernals once again rain down upon the world....their first foray in force against the planet for over 10,000 years.

In this time of strife and conflict, can the peoples of Azeroth unite and face the future?
*********************************************************************

Level Cap: 45
The Level cap has been reworked. Idea is to make the initial levels last longer, and be more rewarding and ensure reaching the endgame cap appears less intimidating to new players.
*************************************

Talent System:
7 Talent tiers, with 1 talent point available every 5 levels, starting at level 10.
**************************************************************

Player Model revamp
We know its coming
******************

Gear Revamp:
In an effort to make gear more universally attractive and to free up design room, for new classes, the following changes will be made.
Gear will be color coded to define quality as now.

Grey: Poor
White: Common
Green: Good
Blue: Superior
Purple: Masterwork

Orange shall define legendary status, but the item will be treated as a Masterwork. Legendary stats granted by history, not stats.

Each piece shall be allocated an armor type (cloth, leather, mail or plate), and armor value, a STA rating and 0-3 gemslots depending upon quality.
Players shall be able to add their own stats to the gear.

Reforging is limited to 3 pieces.
**************************

Crafting Revamp:
Crafting has been revamped

All players may now learn all professions and all recipes.
All recipes are now BoA.
Skill cap reduced to 300
New profession: Woodworking
Craft wood to form weapons, trophies and other items.
All crafted gear starts as white/common. Critical success improves gear quality; critical failure lwoers it. Earn and develop items to improve quality.
Recipes have been reorganised and material cost adjusted as appropriate.
Jewelcrafting refocussed onto providing gems for gear customisation.
Specialisations returned and allow player to gain an enhanced benefit from a profession. e.g. use less materials to craft a piece of gear, prevent a misfire, gain more mats from gathering, gain access to higher levels of gear quality. Players can have 1 major specialisation and 1 minor specialisation.
******************
New Races (pick one):

Alliance: Drakonid, Ethereal, High Elf
Horde: Saurok, Ogre, Highborne
Neutral: Naga
************

New Class (pick one):
Warden
Tinker

Both Mail equipped class, with melee tanking, healing and ranged DPS capability.
*****************************************************************

New continent
Spanning the region where the Maelstrom once held sway lies the newly risen continent of Azsharia. Ruled by the glorious Queen Azshara. Formed of several zones and centered around the huge moutain whose caldera now houses the reborn Well of Eternity, the lands holds many secrets. Explore the ruins of the ancient Night Elf Empire and fight the Naga succesors. Find out why Sargeras and the Legion are so interested in this world. Discover the terror that drove the Murlocs and Mukrura from their homelands to the shores.
**********************************************************************************
Class and Spec Overhaul

As usual, all classes and specs recieve an overhaul. Specialisations are are consolidated where possible, desirable, viable. New specialisations added

Death Knight - Tank; DPS; Pet Based DPS
Druid - Tank; Ranged Spell DPS; Melee DPS; Heal
Hunter - Ranged Physical DPS; Pet Based DPS
Mage - Ranged Spell DPS; Heal
Monk - Tank, Melee DPS, Heal, Spell Ranged DPS
Paladin - Tank; Heal; Ranged DPS.
Priest - Heal; Melee DPS
Rogue - Melee DPS, Ranged DPS
Shaman - Tank; Melee DPS; Heal; Ranged Spell DPS
Warlock - Tank; Spell DPS; Pet based DPS.
Warrior - Tank; DPS

Paladin class mirrored between factions.
Horde gets Blood Knights (Blood Elves) and Sunwalkers (Tauren)

Glyphs overhauled to provide differentiation.
************************************

New factions:
Alliance:
Wardens - Night Elf
Kul Tiras - The Human kingdom unveiled at last
Lordaeron Remnant
Stromgarde Restoration

Horde:
Stonemaul Ogres
Stormreavers

Neutral:
Zandalari Royalists
***************

New Scenarios:

The retaking of Gilneas
The restoration of Arathi
The Battle of Strahnbad
Flight of the Phoenix
The defence of Kul Tiras
Last March of the Scarlet Crusade
Death is light a a feather.....so Liam has no excuse.
To sink the Vangarde
The rescue fo Reginald Windsor
The Battle for Undercity

New Dungeon
Tomb of Sargeras - Help the Wardens face off against Maeve. Discover the final fate of Naisha.
Plunder Hold
Gillijims Isle
Blackfathom Depths - revamped with new end game mode.
Secrets of the Coilfang - what exactly was Vashj doing in Outland?

New Raids
Abyssal Maw - Neptulons fate revealed
Rift of Aln - Azsharas interest in the Emerald Dream, long held in check by the Green Dragonflight, now pays off
Fate of the Zandalari - Discover the fate of King Rastakhan. Free him and his people from the insidious Zul. Discover the hold Azshara has over the Troll priest
****************

New PvP System
Abiliites now have separate PvP and PvE effects.
PvP damage measured in %age of maximum health

CC Recovery mechanism
When CCed, success at this will end the CC effect early (e.g. use three random abilities as quickly as possible)
****************************************************************************************

New Battleground:
Kezan
The Seas have receeded and Kezan stand ripe for the taking. Trade Prince Gallywix sees an opportunity that must be seized - the total and complete domination of the Goblin homeland. Gnomeregan stands ready to oppose him as they seek the return of many Gnomish blueprints and inventions stolen from Gnomeregan by Goblins during the years of exile. These are secrets too powerful and too dangerous for the ignorant to wield. And between them both stand the remaining Trade Princes, who want Kezan restored to their own hands and have hired mercenaries to enforce their will against BOTH the Horde and the Alliance. Play in this three way battle and gain the upper hand. Struggle to capture the stolen override to the Gnomeregan Orbital Defence System and their Orbital Weapons Network and witness the firepower of a fully armed and operational GODSOWN system as you rain fire and destruction from the heavens upon your enemy.
****************************************************************************************** *****************

New feature: Gear restoration service.
Ethereal vendors can now check your memory and restore many lost items.
Rewards from any quest in game that you have completed can now be restored

New feature: Dynamic Events
Battle the Burning Legion as they begin their invasion. Watch as infernals rain down from the sky. Stop the Legion from opening the portals and wreaking havoc on the local areas. Follow the clues to find out why Azeroth is so important to Sargeras. Take part in the defence of the planet. Uses new PvP combat system

New Feature: Player Housing
Take control of the defences at Point alpha. Build your fortress, staff it and equip it, then use it to defence the city of Point beta against the forces of Azshara. Also incorporates Player armory and storage cellars, trophy room, wardrobe, flagpole and stabling facilities.

New Feature: PvP Warfronts
Join the battles in Andorhal, Arathi, Stranglethorn, Darkshire, Ashenvale, Silithus and elsewhere on Azeroth and Draenor.

New feature: Level adjustment
Optional feature to allow you to set your level at the level cap for a zone or dungeon.

New feature: Heathstone minigame
Play the new game which has taken Azeroth by Storm. Capture the cards held by some of the most powerful beings in existence. Find an Inscriber to craft you new card. Take on the Champions at the Darkmoon Faire.

New feature: Purchase Orders
Want something? Can't be botered to get it yourself? Put up a purchase order on the local bulletin board and let someone else do yuor work for you.

New minigames: Demolition Derby, Battleships
Because the Darkmoon Faire needs more stuff

New feature: Battlefield. First tested in 5.3 Escalation with Battlefield : Barrens.
Battlefield: Arathi Highlands
Battlefield: Gilneas
Battlefield: Ashenvale
Battlefield: Azshara
Battlefield: Silithus

New feature: Pistols/Hand Crossbows
Long requested

New feature: Proving Grounds
Train yourself to be a tank or healer by taking these uncooperative NPCS through a set of increasingly difficult challenges.

New feature: Pet Collars
Adjust the stats for your pets.

New feature: Pet Battle Items
Now the players can take part. By giving up a turn in battle, the player can choose to use one from a selection of Pet battle Items

New feature: Dual class Pets
Now your pets can be dual class.

New Feature: Brawlers Guild Deathmatch
Singly or in a team, the aim is simple. Eliminate as many of your opposition as you can, as often as you can. Make use of the provided weapons to quickly dispatch your opponents to seek out the potions to heal the damage you take. Don't worry folks - the guilds mages will ensure noone dies or is permanently disabled...they say. AND they'll provide a wide variety of environments for your own personal amusement. Should you be disabled, they'll even teleport you to a random point in the arena.

New feature: Brawlers Guild Cheat option.
Bribe the Guilds Mages to give you an advantage. If you don't do it, someone else will.

New feature: Player customisation
Tattoos, Scars, Jewellery, Facial features, Sub races and more. They are all there thanks to the new model revamp.

New feature: Clothing option: Coats and Jackets.

New feature: Screenshots will be start with the character name

New feature: Character names will be associated with the account and not server.

EJL

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

The only thing I really agree with is an Azshara themed expansion. All your other ideas are kind of...crazy. Changing pretty much everything.

[Talen]

No offense, but alot of that was really, really bad, or wouldn't work lore wise/gameplay wise. the Highborne would not join the horde, they are already pledged to the alliance/welcomed back to darnassus.

Yes. Because they are totally monolithic and have no disagreeements whatsoever. You don't think it even slightly possible that a group of Highborne may want to seek out their High/Blood Elf kin instead of the Night Elfs who dislike them and their kind and blame them for the Sundering?

Why not a splinter of Eredar instead? Since Eredar are pretty much red draenei.

I have yet to see any viable way for the Eredar to either seek out the Horde, or be accepted by the Horde given their past history. Velen would be foolish enough to trust them and velen gives them a link to seek out. The Horde? No. Blizzradd eosn';t have to pay any attention to such details but I kinda like them.

Also, the level cap thing would make each level seem extremely long and tiresome

To be fair - thwat would be part of the point. To make each level longer and more meaningful.

and it would make you feel like you aren't progressing.

And being blunt...that was never an issue before. And right now you level so fast, levelling isn't a reward. And there aren't really enough rewards to keep things ticking and feeling good. Used to be you got new dungeons, a talent point every level, plenty of new skills and so on. What point is having a lot of levels if they are just empty?

Also, from what you can see, it seems the black rocks have been mostly forced from Blackrock Mountain, with garrosh taking them into the Horde

Individuals from Blackrock have joined Garrosh. Not the entire Clan.

And what more, muted celebration? If the Warchief of the Horde fell, it would be like Hitler's death in World War 2, the entire World; especially the alliance would parade the streets like never before.

Hitlers death effectively ended WW2. The reason the celebration in this supposition is muted is becaue the war didn't end with garroshes defeat. Essentially - its a speculation on how the Alliance will be removed from Orgrimmar. Have them take advantage of the rebellion by sending only limited forces to org so they don't have the strength to hold the city, have them make advances while the Horde troops are distracted and give them a major new front to engage in with the newly invigorated Blackrocks. Garrosh is done but not out, the Horde is weakened and the Orc influence very much diminished, they've made strong gains but also have a stronger enemy to the North.

Victory, but not total. Muted Celebration.

You are proposing they completely remake WoW, in essence, and bork the lore, I know its a fan thing, but those ideas would take three expansions at the very least to add.

The "Borked " lore you've pointed out...doesn't appear to be as borked as you think. And yes, all this would be a fairly major undertaking. And yes...it is unlikely - I'm expecting a BL Xpac myself. But it killed an hour at work so why not post it?

EJL