WoW Expansion in 2006

[Evil Avatar]

GanmerGod.com has posted an interview (http://www.gamergod.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=287) with Blizzard Designer Shawn Carnes, talking about all things World of Warcraft and including the info that the first retail expansion pack for WoW will be in late 2006.

Grimwell: With WoW as a clear success, an expansion is a no-brainer to follow up on the success. What are the plans for this?

Shawn: An expansion is planned, not in 2005, possibly in late 2006 barring unforeseen chaos. Work is already going on for the expansion, and it's going good. What to look for?

Blizzard is good at polishing what we do well. The WoW expansion will be like other game expansions in that there will be new characters, items, spells, etc. but it will have the Blizzard twist.

[Evil Avatar]

Seems like a long wait.

[Heretic Machine]

Late 2006?

No Goblins = No Sale.

[Evil Avatar]

Late 2006?

No Goblins = No Sale.

Right now I would say that both the Trolls and the Gnomes need their own "home city" and I would expect to see that happen in an expansion pack since those were such obvious oversights in the retail release of WoW.

[XenonCJ]

2006? One word : Meh.

I was really hoping they had something in the pipeline for Christmas...

[Lon Lon Rabbit]

Yeah I don't see patches bringing enough new content to keep me playing until late 2006...

I'll probably leave (for the second time) in a few months and return when the expansion hits.

[balamoor]

You guys act like we aren't going to see any new content till the expansion. :D
I'm sure we will see more Instances, Raid content and the like. (You know those add on things EQII sales for 5.00 a pop?) I'm betting we will even get Hero Classes before we get the expansion.

Remember this is Blizzard, they won't push out a Gates Of Discord just to please the l00t whores in the game. Yeah the no brainier classes would be Goblin/High Elf I think, but my Wife and daughter wants Pandarean. Me personally? I just want Death Knight as a hero class :D But whatever we get will no doubt be awesome ..cause hey its Blizzard.

[XenonCJ]

You guys act like we aren't going to see any new content till the expansion. :D
I'm sure we will see more Instances, Raid content and the like. (You know those add on things EQII sales for 5.00 a pop?) I'm betting we will even get Hero Classes before we get the expansion.

Remember this is Blizzard, they won't push out a Gates Of Discord just to please the l00t whores in the game. Yeah the no brainier classes would be Goblin/High Elf I think, but my Wife and daughter wants Pandarean. Me personally? I just want Death Knight as a hero class :D But whatever we get will no doubt be awesome ..cause hey its Blizzard.Yeah they have been doing a good job of adding stuff... But I'm ready for something new AND BIG.

Basically I'd like to see:

2 or more continents.
2 or more playable races. (dryads, feinds, aboms, blood elves, naga come to mind)
2 or more playabe classes. (necromancer, witch doctor, spell breakers come to mind)
at least 2 new spells\abilities per class
flying mounts
level cap raised to 75.
hero classes and seige weapons
A battleground that operates like warcraft3, build stuctures, mine gold, chop down trees, produce units and fight.

[Doomsday]

A level cap at 75 would make Molten Core and Blackwing Lair totally obsolete, so I doubt it will happen. You'd level so much while grinding for Tier 1 & 2 armor that it wouldn't even be worth using them

[Librum]

I would think they would raise the level cap at some point, however, so things like that will have to be taken into consideration. Perhaps you simply won't get any xp towards post-60 levels except in certain areas?

[balamoor]

I would think they would raise the level cap at some point, however, so things like that will have to be taken into consideration. Perhaps you simply won't get any xp towards post-60 levels except in certain areas?


The Blizzard guys I talked with at the 2004 E-3 told me that Rasing the level cap was not somthing they were really big on. The Hero Class is going to be where the game really starts. People keep saying: "Its so easy to get to 60!!!" It's suppose to be, The game begins with the hero class.

[Xerxes]

I'm with Xenon on most things
But i could do with just one new continent...
Lumberjack profession...
Neutral races like goblins, panda folk, normal(blood?) elves, why not orges
More model for the other races, cause everyone is starting to look alike
More portals that you can just walk through(not mage made), like a major transport
Fight animation updates, looks the same after time after time after time
Where the hell is Prince Arthas
Raise the cap just a little more, or come on with the damn hero classes

But note is says possibly late 2006, hell for what it's worth, possible early 2008... >_<

[TrackZero]

I can only assume due to the timeframe for this expansion that it's going to be quite massive.

[The Iron Weasel]

sometimes i feel like the only one in the world that doesn't play this game, i got GW for my needs

[Atorak]

A level cap at 75 would make Molten Core and Blackwing Lair totally obsolete, so I doubt it will happen. You'd level so much while grinding for Tier 1 & 2 armor that it wouldn't even be worth using them

By that time, people would have been grinding at MC and BWL for almost 2 years! Jeez, I mean, I'm not even there yet, but I guarantee I'll be a little bored of it by the end of 2006.


PS: Can someone explain what a Hero class is? I've heard of it, just not really sure what it is. Can you get more skills? Do you continue to level?

[Heretic Machine]

sometimes i feel like the only one in the world that doesn't play this game, i got GW for my needs

So, you suck then? Because that is the equivelent to saying that you suck.

[XenonCJ]

So, you suck then? Because that is the equivelent to saying that you suck.ahahhahahah lol i just about blew coffe all over my screen when i read that.

[XenonCJ]

A level cap at 75 would make Molten Core and Blackwing Lair totally obsolete, so I doubt it will happen. You'd level so much while grinding for Tier 1 & 2 armor that it wouldn't even be worth using themWell obviously... Those would just become level 60-65+ dungeons. I'm expecting with the expansion, you would have new level 75+ raid dungeons to play in and get orange\red drops instead of those "crap" purple ones...

Of course an expansion could also mean an update or extension of those dungeons as well...

[carneconcarne]

doesn't seem like they will advance the level cap, the skill trees seem designed around a limited number of talent points. Add even one more, and some classes will get much too powerful.

[Librum]

The Blizzard guys I talked with at the 2004 E-3 told me that Rasing the level cap was not somthing they were really big on. The Hero Class is going to be where the game really starts. People keep saying: "Its so easy to get to 60!!!" It's suppose to be, The game begins with the hero class.

I've heard them mention the term 'Hero Class' off and on since the first rumors of the game were brought up years ago, but never anything very specific. I've seen speculation about them all over the map, so it makes me wonder just what they're planning on doing. I suppose Hero Classes might be a nice thing to introduce in the span between the original game and the first expansion, though it sounds like the very thing they would hold back for a big expansion.

But yeah, like many of the others who've posted here, they'd better have some really interesting new instances, zones and battlegrounds coming out over the next 12 months - it's getting pretty stale as is. The game, as it stands, doesn't begin at 60 - that's where it turns into a normal, grind-happy MMORPG, albeit the most user-friendly and fun one out there.

[Xerxes]

If they raised the cap, a new higher level continent, and new instances would be fitting and needed. Not everyone is going to be a Hero, so it's hinted.

Atorak, nobody really knows what hero classes are, Blizzard made mention to them and every has there own speculation.

It's assumed(I heard) it's a like the Jedi's in SWG, it's going to be rare, but if you got it, you'll have ways to go to fully develop it and not only that but once you are done you will kick more ass than most of the normies (others with lvl 60s and such) on the game, even in mobs. I guess it's like there's lvl 60 dragon, there is a boss elite lvl 60 dragon, the latter is the Hero.

Anybody want to donate a few other speculations for Atorak's entertainment?

[Atorak]

OoOOooOooO! Yes! More speculation! Crave Entertainment!

That sounds like a pretty cool idea, but it might create that gap that SWG had if only "some" of the high level characters got a chance to become uber. I mean, who played SWG and DIDN'T want to be a Jedi? EVERYONE wanted it! Just like everyone will want a Hero class.

I would assume that the hero class would just allow for a further specification of your original class. Instead of just being a "Warrior", you could become a "Dragonslayer" or something to that effect (ex: you kick serious dragon ass, get more protection against them). Basically, making your character even more refined. And I think new skills are a great idea! Hell, it might even help fix certain issues people have with the classes being unbalanced.

For example, rogues get absolutely annihilated in high level instances (or so I've heard, I'm only 28! LOL!). Perhaps they could release some sort of Rogue / Warrior Hybrid Hero Class, which would make them soak more damage, but would cause their DPS to go down. Anyway, something like that.

Hey, if you want to really entertain me, tell me exactly when this game starts to get awesome! I gave up on a few characters around level 31, and I stopped playing a few months ago, but I picked it up again this week. Does the game really pick up around 40? 50? Or only once you hit the magic number 60?

[Xerxes]

I'm got burned out at 44 for about 2 months and came back now at lvl 50. Money isn't such a issue. I also been able to lead some BGs to victory which was fun. Money isn't too much a issue. I mean you go some stuff and bam you get your golds coming in after a hour. I'm dedicated only to making my one character the best at what he does. If you want more proctection, and you'd sacrifice dps to get it, hello you want to be a warrior. Who are rogues good pvping cause its not warriors. Once you disarm them and slow them down a bit they are there for the whipping.

I've also heard about that speculation, such as Hunters moving on to Demon Hunters, and such stuff.

[Liquidize105]

So, you suck then? Because that is the equivelent to saying that you suck.
You're missing your tycho to write you a front page.

Playing WoW over 4 months = chomp.

[Citizen Philip]

By that time, people would have been grinding at MC and BWL for almost 2 years! Jeez, I mean, I'm not even there yet, but I guarantee I'll be a little bored of it by the end of 2006.


PS: Can someone explain what a Hero class is? I've heard of it, just not really sure what it is. Can you get more skills? Do you continue to level?

This is idle speculation, but, once upon a time while playing Warcraft 3 someone built a custom map that behaved and looked very similar to WoW. It was during the beta, but it was still very cool.

I believe the levels in WoW represent ther Hero levels in Warcraft. we have 60 WoW levels and there are 10 Warcraft levels. Each level in Warcraft is 10 levels in WoW (level 60 = level 6 hero): The major difference is, is that a level 6 Warcraft is granted their Hero ability, which are not present in WoW. I would guess that WoW Hero's will be granted a special class ability. This would also mean that the final level for hero's would be level 100 - which I don't think would be very plausible to have 2000 Arthas/Jaina Proudmore/Thrall/Carine/etc hero's running around on every server.

I could speculate that a change to a Hero class may change the weapons and armour you can use, for example Shamans might move down to Leather, get 2 handed weapons (to match their archtype Warcraft Shaman) and in exchange will become a "buffer" as they start casting more group friendly combat buffs (ie. Bloodlust) - but they will still be a level 60 character, they will simply be a new variant with new abilities (perhaps losing some of their totems and spells).

Since most Blizzard games have 3 factions, I take it as being read that the expansion pack - or maybe a super Christmas content update will include a third faction. My guess is Illidan with Blood Elves, Naga and 2 others. I wouldn't mind seeing another race added to each faction as well.

[Orphiuchus]

Maybe it will be like ff11, where you do some instance to unlock your hero class, then you can start leveling that new class from level 1.

Course, without the dual class thing that would be stupid. Eh, nevermind, this idea sucks.

[Phos]

I'm sure you'll get to advance to the heroes of warcraft 3.

Rogue = Demon hunter
Warrior = Mountain king
Mage = Archmage
Shaman = BFG9000

Something silly like that. What they need is more customization, so I can distinguish myself from the other carbon copies of my class. A backstabbing rogue isn't all that different from a sword or mace rogue.

[netcraazzy]

OoOOooOooO! Yes! More speculation! Crave Entertainment!
Hey, if you want to really entertain me, tell me exactly when this game starts to get awesome! I gave up on a few characters around level 31, and I stopped playing a few months ago, but I picked it up again this week. Does the game really pick up around 40? 50? Or only once you hit the magic number 60?

Honestly I found that the early levels are a lot of fun, lvl 10-30. The quests are pretty easy but still interesting and there are lots of new areas and instances to try out. Then you begin your grind for your mount and it's not so much fun for a bit. Once I got to the 50's it was all about the loot. That can be fun but you need a good guild at that point so you can group for the instances.

I like crafting so that's one bit of a letdown with WoW but the rest of the game makes up for that.

[Xerxes]

The game is more harder for me cause I tend to do as much as I can as loaner, and I'm a lvl 51 night elf warrior. I take on mobs that I can't believe I can take on. I've run and swam damn near over the 80% of the map. I've died probably more than any one in my guild. Everyone tells me it's more fun to be in a group, but I think my guild just wants my help them out sometime. I hate grouping because of loot issues. I've been in a group were a ass hole preist took BOP mail pants only i could use in the group. "I'm sorry, but it's ok I can sell these for my mount." And just last night on a quest i could of done alone, guild member is like come on I can help, sure a lvl 58 paladin can be helpful but not when he wins the roll for a Travelers Backpack (16 slot).

Moral of the story, fuck grouping.

[Spigot]

Right now I would say that both the Trolls and the Gnomes need their own "home city" and I would expect to see that happen in an expansion pack since those were such obvious oversights in the retail release of WoW.

That would be great *FREE GNOMEREGAN!*

I think they also need to have an auction house in Stormwind... heck, in every Racial city. That'd cut back on the Ironforge Slowdown a bit.

One thing I've always wondered about but haven't determined yet. Are all of the AH's connected? I go to the one in Gadgetzan where I'm hearthstoned and I've never been 100% sure if it's isolated or tied into the other AH's.

[XenonCJ]

That would be great *FREE GNOMEREGAN!*

I think they also need to have an auction house in Stormwind... heck, in every Racial city. That'd cut back on the Ironforge Slowdown a bit.

One thing I've always wondered about but haven't determined yet. Are all of the AH's connected? I go to the one in Gadgetzan where I'm hearthstoned and I've never been 100% sure if it's isolated or tied into the other AH's.They are not connected. There are 3. Orgimaar, Ironforge, and Gadgetzan.

Also note that Gadget is the only one Horde and Alliance can trade between each other at.

[bryan]

Trolls won't get their own city because they're not predisposed to having one. Even their sectionn of Ogrimmar is patterned after their villages.

[DLemasa]

I'd love to see Paladins have the ability to become Death Knights. They could come up with some very cool quests to do so, i.e. how we might "fall". I'm still sore about the lack of Anti-Paladins in just about every other videogame (NWN blew a great opportunity). Tired of being good.

[Mister Pie]

I hope that the Horde gets some better quests.

[reimomo]

Is this some kind of sick fucking joke? 2 years to release an expansion? Pathetic. Oh, right, WoW already has everything you could possibly want in a MMO.... yawn.

[XenonCJ]

I'd love to see Paladins have the ability to become Death Knights. They could come up with some very cool quests to do so, i.e. how we might "fall". I'm still sore about the lack of Anti-Paladins in just about every other videogame (NWN blew a great opportunity). Tired of being good.Uhm then play a Horde Shamen retard.

[bryan]

God, why do people always wanna play the 'anti paladin'? Enough already with the fascination with 'falling' and being 'once paragon of virtue now vessel of darkness.' It doesn't make you 'cool'. I lump all you people in with the goths.

[BigJonno]

My WoW expansion wishlist/speculation.

- A neutral "faction." Goblins, high/blood elves and pandaren are a must.
- Northrend as a high-level continent, possibly hero classes only.
- Hero classes. Not sure how they're going to pull this one off though. Are they going to have a different hero class for every race/class combination. It makes sense for a night elf rogue to become a demon hunter, but I can't see it working for a dwarf.
- More auction houses. I know they want to keep things centralised, but having two cities in the game so full that all but the fastest computers and connections have at least some lag and the rest almost deserted seems stupid.
- More guild interaction tools.
- More varied equipment. I hate the idea of getting to level 60 and then repeatedly doing the same dungeons just so I can look like everyone else.
- I would love to see Pandaria itself, but I reckon that's a slim to none.

[steve]

doesn't seem like they will advance the level cap, the skill trees seem designed around a limited number of talent points. Add even one more, and some classes will get much too powerful.

Your right, but there's one simple solution: No more talent points after lvl 60, instead you get some new kind of points that you can spend on new boni. Hero abilities could be one of those options.

Regarding MC: if they raise the level cap, loot will progress, too. So those MC items will probably become lame to anyone lvl 75, and there's no reason to run this dungeon anymore. Just like no lvl 60 runs instances like RFK or Maraudon anymore. You just don't need the items there anymore.

[bryan]

I'm almost sure they'll raise the the level cap. Part of the reason why they'll only release it that far away is that they still have the tier progression scheme to work through. So far BWL is tier two and most people seem to say there'll be at least 5 tiers of Dungeons.

[Xerxes]

That's why if you did raise the cap, Talent trees would have to be changed and expanded.

[XenonCJ]

That's why if you did raise the cap, Talent trees would have to be changed and expanded.Thus the phrase "Expansion"......