That said, most, if not all of this will probably turn out to be completely wrong. Oh well. A guy can dream, can't he?
So I've been thinking a lot about what the expansion after Mists will be. I'm fully expecting an announcement at this year's Blizzcon in November, to the point where if it wasn't announced then, go drop something heavy and see if it still falls down, because the laws of physics and the universe just took a personal day. I have divided this post up into a few different sections, and I'm going to try and provide as much evidence as I can for each. Feel free to brutally tear apart my argument (or agree! People still do that, apparently) if you see something that you think is impossible or you just like playing devil's advocate like a little ****. That's ok, I really like doing that too. We can be little turds together.
So, first up, what will the next expansion for WoW be? What will it be about? What kind of new goodies are we going to get our grubby little hands on in our pursuit of the glorious "phat lewtz"? Let's start with the setting of the expansion.
The Setting
(Oooh, big text. Really blew the special effects budget on that one. I'm pulling out all the stops here!)
I'm predicting Argus, the Draenei homeworld, as the setting of the next expansion.
I'm guessing we'll see Outland as we know it revamped so the leveling experience there isn't so completely horrid, and an entirely new area, Argus, opened up for endgame. This means in addition to the Outland revamp, we'll also see a new world with complete new zones for the next leveling bonanza. The expansion will feature the Burning Legion making a return, with I'm guessing Kil'Jaeden as the final boss. As far as levels go, I'm thinking only five more, bringing the cap to 95.
So why another Outland expansion? Well, Blizzard has said in the past that they would like to go back to Outland and give it a revamp, like the did the old world with Cata. In fact, a lot of the Lore Q&A panel from back in 2010 (when it was supposed to be mostly about Cata) ended up being questions about another visit to Outland, and the devs definitely expressed interest.
I've taken some key quotes from that interview and crapped them out into these fancy shmancy spoiler tags to save on postage:
Quote:
Will we ever see a redemption or resurrection of Illidan as a Character?
BOY DO I WANT TO DO THAT. That'd be badass. I don't think anyone at all has ever talked about that. But I love that ****. I'm a sucker for a good redemption story.
So for the story contest i wrote what might have happened to Kael'thas what happened between tbc and the bt
Actually a number of years ago, one of our lead writers wrote a 80 page novel about that, and its ********* we've been struggling where to put it out, i would like to put it out at some time.
BOY DO I WANT TO DO THAT. That'd be badass. I don't think anyone at all has ever talked about that. But I love that ****. I'm a sucker for a good redemption story.
So for the story contest i wrote what might have happened to Kael'thas what happened between tbc and the bt
Actually a number of years ago, one of our lead writers wrote a 80 page novel about that, and its ********* we've been struggling where to put it out, i would like to put it out at some time.
It was brought up again next year at the 2011 Blizzcon Lore Q&A, as well.
Quote:
What happened to Arthas' body, Kael'thas' body, Illidan's body? Can we just bring them all back?
(Metzen) I woudln't say we're going to bring all of them back. Do you guys think we should bring Illidan back? (Crowd cheers) Based on that response I think it is likely, we'll have to find some way to bring Illidan back.
(Metzen) I woudln't say we're going to bring all of them back. Do you guys think we should bring Illidan back? (Crowd cheers) Based on that response I think it is likely, we'll have to find some way to bring Illidan back.
But the devs expressing a desire to go back to Outland and beyond doesn't mean that they have any concrete plans, right? Right.
Except we're already seeing evidence of another Burning Legion expansion in the live version.
The first confirmations of Expansion 5 being worked on bubbled to the surface way back in March of last year. MoP had been in beta for two days when this was published. Blizzard likes to leave little hints at things when they can - when they add races they prefer ones we're familiar with, and new content has recently been evolutions of old. The point I'm getting at here is that Blizzard not only had time, but they also had the motive to leave little hints here and there for the alert eye to pick up. Hints pointing towards a Burning Crusade expansion.
Let's start with a certain Pet Battle trainer in Felwood - Zoltan. This is a Blood Elf surrounded by cultists (who by the way, have bugged textures that look really cool) and preaching in Demonic. Preaching about the return of "the Master."
Speaking of "the Master," this isn't the first we've heard of him. Back in the Battle for Undercity, Horde fought against Varimathras in his coup. Varry gave some excellent quotes during the battle.
Quote:
Thrall: LET'S GO! QUICKLY! What is this? Varimathras: Welcome to your future -- what little there is left of it... Too long... Tireless, endless planning... It will not end like this... Need more time... The Master is near... Such power! Can you not feel it, mortals? Cease this foolishness and join me! I will not fail! Not again! I cannot hold... Destabilizing... A distance voice : YOU HAVE FAILED ME, VARIMATHRAS! Varimathras: A thousand-thousand pardons, Master! I will deal with these intruders myself! All the portals are now down, and Varimathras start to fight himsefl ! Varimathras: Years... wasted...
(code-blocked for formatting)
So we've established that there's a major demon running around that people are calling the Master. Possibly Sargeras. Possibly Kil'Jaeden.
But those are minor and outdated things. Let's get to the real juicy stuff, the legitimate hints. I'd like to present Exibit A: Alleria and Turalyon. First off, Alleria is the third Windrunner sister, sister to both Sylvanas Windrunner, the Dark Lady of the Forsaken, and Vareesa Windrunner, leader of the Silver Covenant. And she hasn't been seen in years. Alleria and her human husband, Turalyon, one of the founding Knights of the Silver Hand, were members of the Alliance Expedition that shut down the Dark Portal from the Outland side. They were stranded in Outland with the rest of the expedition until the portal reopened. The thing is, we don't know what happened to these two. They just kind of... disappeared. And the fans have been asking for them for a while now, since they were and are major lore characters.
Blizzard hasn't been completely quiet about them, either. First off, the two have a half-elven son running around Outland looking for them. Recently in Mists (!!!) a tip was added to the loading screen rotation stating that "Nobody has seen Alleria or Turalyon in years." And most importantly, at the Mists launch event in September of 2012, Metzen stated that we will "need their help" soon, heavily hinting the next expansion will feature these two characters, both very tied to Outland.
And then there's Wrathion.
Oh boy. I could write a book on Wrathion.
In the Best Buy Developer Q&A, an interesting question popped up.
Quote:
Will there be an appearance of the Burning Legion in the end of MoP?
The threat of the Burning Legion is still out there, and it's very much a threat to Azeroth. The mortal races are mostly focused on the current war, but not everyone has forgotten about what's out there and the challenges to come... Wrathion, in particular, is already trying to look ahead.
The threat of the Burning Legion is still out there, and it's very much a threat to Azeroth. The mortal races are mostly focused on the current war, but not everyone has forgotten about what's out there and the challenges to come... Wrathion, in particular, is already trying to look ahead.
Wrathion is the character who has been trying to bring an end to the Alliance vs Horde war for the entirety of Mists, even if that means supporting one side to total victory. Because Wrathion says something is coming. Something very, very big, and a divided Azeroth can't hope to stand against it.
Quote:
Wrathion says: My father, Deathwing, tried to destroy the whole of Azeroth.
Wrathion says: He was misguided, of course, but he was right about one thing: Our world is... so fragile.
Wrathion pulls out a dagger and slices his palm, casting some magic to show a representation of Azeroth, which rises from the floor to hover a few yards up.
Wrathion says: We are a point of light in a universe of shadow. A candle in a tempest.
Wrathion says: Sometimes I think it was the very precariousness of our world that drove my father to madness.
...
Wrathion says: Now, to my point: I believe we are headed towards a reckoning. And no, I am not talking about the current conflict between the Alliance and the Horde.
Wrathion says: Believe me - what Garrosh Hellscream achieved in Theramore is nothing compared to the horrors that are even now bearing down on our fragile home.
Green fireballs, reminiscent of infernals, streak toward the planet. The surface turns molten.
Wrathion says: But the war deeply troubles me. Do you see my concern?
The planet explodes.
Wrathion says: A divided Azeroth cannot possibly stand against the darkness.
This is some of the most compelling evidence for a Burning Legion expansion there is. Wrathion is stating in about as plain of words that you can expect Blizzard to use that Azeroth is going to be facing an outside threat. Something not from Azeroth. Infernals, a "universe of shadow," "horrors bearing down on our fragile home"
This is screaming, "It's Burning Legion time, b*tches!"
So why do I think it will be an expansion set in Argus and not a Burning Legion invasion of Azeroth? Well, if they did an Invasion expansion, where the hell would they put it? Blizzard will want to do another new continent, not a spattering of zones across the world like Cataclysm - they cited the unpopularity of the spread out zones as one of the reasons Panndaland was a continent, and not a bunch of zones. So if they did a new continent, there's just not much left on Azeroth to explore. We have a lot of underwater areas still most likely, maybe some underground zones like Undermine and whatever the hell's going on below Tirisfal, some islands in the Great Sea still unexplored, and the occasional unimplemented zone in the Old World. But that's about it. There's just not a lot of space left in the old world, and none of it fits with a Burning Legion expansion.
So let's take another look at Outland, if there's nothing in the Old World big enough. Blizzard has stated multiple times in the past they've wanted to revamp Outland, but they won't use just Outland, since it's currently occupied by the 58-68 leveling bracket. As of Cata, the Exodar has been fully repaired, once again allowing dimensional travel. The Draenei themselves are possibly the most neglected race, lore-wise, though Velen is starting to get more attention. (Another point! Velen is starting to get more attention!) And I'm willing to bet there would be plenty of Draenei willing to lead a crusade to take back Argus with the assistance of their Allies. Perhaps as a retaliatory strike after some kind of calamity happens to Azeroth? Something that the mortals have to struggle to deal with again, challenging both Alliance and the Horde with their new Warchief (*coughVol'jin*cough*)?
I see the Burning Legion as obvious for the next expansion. My money's on Argus and a revamped Outland, but evidence for that is a little harder to come by.
Ok, enough ranting about the setting. What else are we getting? What other goodies?
New Races, Classes, and Why We Won't Get Any
Mists of Pandaria added not just a new race, the Pandaren, but a new class, the Monk. But you know this. How could you not know this. We're in the freaking pandaland expansion.
What I'm getting at is Blizzard usually likes to give these things time to settle before expanding more. Pandaren are still really new, and Monks are the least popular class. While I would love to see an Ethereal race or a Demon Hunter class, I really don't see it happening. Monks in particular are a bit of a thorny issue - like I said, they're the least popular class at the moment, and a new class is only going to reduce those numbers. Blizzard is also super hesitant at adding new classes. They have yet to add a new class two expansions in a row, and I really don't see them breaking that trend, unless it's to wait even longer between additions. I don't see a new race in the cards, either. It'll take away too much from the Pandaren to have them eclipsed so quickly by some newcomers.
But fear not! I don't think we'll be left out in the cold, either. In fact, I'm guessing something really cool will be coming with this next expansion. Not the redone vanilla races. Well, I think we'll be getting those too, actually, since they've been working on them for so long and the 5.2 mobs are I suspect a great preview of them. But I digress! As I was saying, I think we'll be getting something really awesome in the next expansion.
Disclaimer: From here on out I'm going to start the baseless guessing and rampant speculation. Like I wasn't already. I just have no facts or evidence from here on, as opposed to a few scraps.
This past March something showed up in the 5.3 PTR. A little something called Tri-Spec. Obviously, this, if implemented, would be a huge deal. But I don't see them implementing it any time soon. They don't want to give us a Tri-spec system that would homogenize all the rogues into being the same, all the priests, all the mages, etc. When you have access to all your specs, there's no need to even respec again, and all the characters of the same class are immediately exactly the same. That is, they don't want to give us tri spec when we have three specs.
When we have three specs.
I'm predicting that for the next expansion, in lieu of a new class or a new race, all current classes (with the possible exception of Druids) will be getting a fourth spec.
This would accomplish a few goals. First, it would allow us to finally play as all the archetypes we've wanted, but honestly wouldn't happen as an individual class thanks to them already being too similar to current classes/specs. Demon Hunters are the weird bastardization of Warlocks, Hunters, and Warriors. Necromancers are like Warlocks and Death Knights had a doombaby. A Psionic class would be too similar to Priests. So on, and so forth.
The second goal it would accomplish would be to fill in itemization gaps. This is a problem Blizzard has talked about before, especially with the switch to Cata and the Healing Debacle. Int Plate and Bows/Guns are great examples of what Blizzard could fix with adding a fourth spec - finally giving those types of gear multiple classes, instead of having to disenchant that bow that dropped for the third time because you don't have a hunter. This would also allow Blizzard to play around with some of the pure dps classes, finally giving them some hybrid options. This would breathe new life into old and aging characters, and would allow people to keep playing their old specs if they wanted, having the choice to try something new without being forced into it.
Here are some possible specs I've thought of that could maybe be added on to existing classes:
Death Knight: Necromancer, a ranged DPS spellcaster using the already existing rune system. Uses int plate and dual wielding int weapons or int two-handers (they do exist). A good old-fashioned pure Necromancer archetype that WoW is sorely lacking, it might involve summoning mass weak minions, like an ability to raise five skeletons at once or something. I don't know, I'm just spitballing here.
Druid: I don't think they would get a fourth spec, really. Sorry to leave them out in the cold, but they already fill every roll, and five specs is kind of insane.
Hunter: A Physical dps, melee spec. That's right, get up close and personal and use abilities to fight like an animal. How cool would it be to be fighting side by side with your pet? Mauling like a bear? Slashing like a tiger?
Mage: Bring back the Frostfire spec! While Frost is exclusively ice, and Fire is burney goodness, Arcane isn't a union of the two but its own thing about force of will or some such. I want a union of flame and frost to blast my foes, with frostburn and hotcold or whatever Blizzard comes up to call the damage, since loldamagetypes these days. An alternative could be a Time based healer spec, reversing the damage done and making it so allies were never hurt to begin with, though this borders a little with how Arcane has been portrayed recently.
Monk: Cranedancer: a ranged spell dps spec, following Chi-Ji the Red Crane. This is the only one of the four Celestials that monks cannot currently follow in the steps in, and a chi-based and energy-based spellcaster just sounds cool to me. It could be based around Chi spells and Hadoukens firing off constantly and all kinds of spellcaster-y goodness.
Paladin: Shockadin time! Another ranged dps caster, this would be all about Holy Righteousness or whatever the kids yell as they shoot holy magic at each other these days. Another Int Plate user to fill in the gaps.
Priest: A second ranged dps spellcaster spec, this one utilizing bother Light and Shadow in a discipline-esque "force of will," potentially Psyonic archetype. Uses both light and dark to sear the foes, being awesome and filling in a Yin-Yang-style that WoW suspiciously lacks.
Rogue: A swashbuckler tank class, that gets up close and dodges and parries her way to victory. High evasion, high parry, high finesse. Lots of showy attacks and ripostes and all kinds of goodness. This is eclipsed a little by Combat, though, which utilizes similar thematics already. In lieu of this, another ranged Physical dps utilizing bows with no pet would be pretty cool. A true archer, minus the furballs.
Shaman: As much as I want to see a Shaman tanking spec, it doesn't really fill in any of the holes in the itemization. I don't really see them adding some kind of tanking Mail, either. If they went the route of Shaman tanks, it would have to come with some ability to let them equip plate and would likely dual-wield. They would have some cool abilities too, like maybe encasing themselves in a body armor of earth for absorption or some such. Actually, this might work...
Warlocks: Demon Hunter tank spec. This one is a natural extension of the tanking options Warlocks have already combined with a Burning Legion being the perfect way to introduce a Demon Hunter specialization. Illidan, the quintessential Demon Hunter even started as a powerful mage, just like most Warlocks in the lore. This one just fits too well to pass up. The only issue is itemization, which will need to be solved by again bumping Warlocks up to Leather while DH specced, or by giving some kind of conversion from caster stats to tank stats. Maybe make them require Spirit for some variety in gearing?
Warrior: I'd forsee a ranged DPS spec using guns and bows. Though there aren't really with any Strength on them, so that could be an issue. Maybe they attack at ranged with an equipped Melee weapon by throwing? I really think Warriors are due for a ranged spec, though.
Well, that's that. My brain-abortion spattered all over the computer screen. I still have more to type, but it's 2 AM and I have to be up in a couple hours for crew practice, I'll edit more in later if I feel I have good stuff to contribute. Read, respond, disagree, downvote and make me lose imaginary internet points, I don't particularly care.
Ok, I kind of care. I would like some feedback. Likely? Impossible? Yeah, probably impossible and not going to happen, but it's just some brainstorming I've been doing on Life after Pandaland for a while now.