World of Warcraft Expansion Rumors

[Evil Avatar]

More on WoW Expansion (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/660/660431p1.html) is a Voodoo Extreme article compiling some of the recent rumors on the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack, The Burning Crusade.

Here is a quick summary:

The name is Burning Crusade.
Takes place in the Outlands.
Level cap raised to Level 70.
2 new races, Blood Elf (Horde) and TBA (Alliance).
No new classes.
New profession, Jewelcrafting, which will allow for slotting and modding items ala Diablo 2.
New BE starter area and zones north of the Eastern Plaguelands, Silvermoon (their Capital City), Ghostland, and Zul'Aman.
Epic FLYING FREAKING MOUNT useable only in Outlands.
Small upgrades to the graphics engine (BE will have 20% more polygons than original races for example).
Weather effects added.
Exploring how to add in cross server Battlegrounds.
Weather effects would be a nice addition to the game.

[endrom]

alliance better get pandarians. but for the horde i was hoping goblins, blood elfs are still cool though. the new profession sounds very cool. but im wondering how the heros classes and the level raise effects the whole community. ethier get ten more levels but choose a new talent set that gives you hero class abilities? I really want to see the flying mount.

[Thumper]

Weather effects = yes! this game would be just THAT much better with them.

Blood Elves are cool, but what could they add for the alliance (the whole pandaren idea is a little half-baked).

Flying mounts, amazing, I'd like to see how this works.

Raising the level cap? That sounds like a shitload of work/balancing (what will they do with talents, new spells/abilitys, dungeons... EVERYTHING). Thats gonna take a few patches to smooth out all the wrinkles, thats for sure.

Cross server battlegrounds? It WOULD be nice to be able to play in any BG whenever you want, that's for sure. But part of the fun is the competition between the factions on your own server. I have mixed feelings.

New profession - jewelcrafting. Is it just me or does that sound like an enchanter? Blizzard should check out this post:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-suggestions&T=447896&P=1
now THAT would be sweet.

[Lizard Dude]

Raising the level cap? That sounds like a shitload of work/balancing (what will they do with talents, new spells/abilitys, dungeons... EVERYTHING). Thats gonna take a few patches to smooth out all the wrinkles, thats for sure.

Well, I guess that's why it's an expansion and not just a regular update.

[Mooninaut]

That whole list looks bogus to me except for weather effects, and that's just a random pick off the list of features Blizzard has already stated they're going to implement "someday".

An Italian gaming magazine is the source? I say someone there wrote up what they'd like to see in the expansion and printed it as fact.

[Tricky Thumb]

Graphical improvements for new races only? That's sorta lame, I'd rather have no new graphical updates and more content than 20% more polygons ore higher textures in the BE and whatever Alliance race we get.

Dammit, I really do hope we get a couple new starting classes.

[evilpenguin9000]

I think most of this is bullshit. The Blood elf thing seems weak and no new classes? What about the hero classes I've heard so much about? Also with so much of the game predicated on the level 60 cap, it seems that it would be hard to raise it. I can only imagine a bunch of level 70 chars thumping Onyxia with no challenge or running through Blackwing Lair dominating. I'm hoping for different things from an expansion.

[Roc Ingersol]

Weather Effects would be nice. Cross-Server BGs would be nice.

Blood elves? Meh.
Jewelcrafting? Gee, I hope it sucks as much as enchanting!
Flying mount? Hello, Mr Money sink.

The biggest problem they'll have with level 70, is 10 more talent points. People are going to start picking up 31 -and- 21 point talents from 2 trees, making for some combinations that are going to be pretty staggering. The only way to really stop it, is manufacturing some new arbitrary constraints, or making the 41 pt talents even more staggering. Good luck to them on that.

[Stormwatcher]

I heard that the other new race is DRAENEI!
and that the new level cap is 75.
and that Spellbreaker is a new CLASS.
Therefore, there are a LOT of rummours flying around. Better not take them too seriously. But the Blood Elf thing seems to be pretty sure.

[pablious]

This all looks bogus except for weather effects, and that's just a random pick off the list of features Blizzard has already stated they'd like to implement some day.

I say someone pulled this out of their ass.

Yeah, this definently doesnt seem authentic at all, none of it quite fits with with what I'd expect for the exp. And the blood elves with the horde? That would be even more of a stretch than the forsaken with the horde.

[Heretic Machine]

Well guys, we KNOW Blood Elves are joining the horde. Screenshots have already been leaked, we've seen them, their armor/clothes, their village, and even their icon on the race select screen.

[Tricky Thumb]

Perigon is correct, I'll even link (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/world-of-warcraft/index.php#more-blood-elves-more-wow-expansion-screens-132164) the place where they can be seen. Although now that I have linked that place I must cleanse my body with lighter fluid and hot grease.

[Roc Ingersol]

That spellbreaker rumor shit is so laughably bad...

Unfortunately, Draenei might not be too far off the mark.
Would suck for the Alliance, but I wouldn't mind killin me some more of those rubbery hunchbacks.

[bobafett10]

I can only imagine a bunch of level 70 chars thumping Onyxia with no challenge.

Heh, most raiding groups have Onyxia on farm status, she is by far the easiest of them all currently. Raising the level cap would really mess up the current endgame. All the level 60 instances would become obsolute, and all the level 60 epics that people have been working months to get would become outclassed by some level 70 superior drops. I can't see a level cap raise happening.

[agentgray]

Weather effects. Does this affect gameplay? I know Guild Wars has weather effects, but it's just eye candy.

[Lizard Dude]

Weather effects. Does this affect gameplay? I know Guild Wars has weather effects, but it's just eye candy.

I'm pretty sure there was a blue post awhile back saying that there were three types of weather currently planned and that they would affect gameplay.

[netcraazzy]

I think it would be cool to have slotted weapons but it's just too similar to enchanting.

[Mason]

Level 70 cap is a joke. Blizzard's still reworking the talents for all of the classes from the original release. Not to mention that it'd kill high-end PvE until the expansion came out, since no one would waste their time getting level 60 equipment when they could wait, get higher level equipment, and get experience while doing so.

I like the scholar idea. That'd be a great new profession.

I'd be willing to bet that they add at least two faction-specific classes. I mean, what could be lamer than an expansion that just added new races playing the same old classes? I suggest that nothing could be more lame.

[Mason]

I'm pretty sure there was a blue post awhile back saying that there were three types of weather currently planned and that they would affect gameplay.

...which will probably turn into yet another unneeded mage nerf, mark my words.

[netcraazzy]

...which will probably turn into yet another unneeded mage nerf, mark my words.

Haha now that would be funny. No arcane missles for you, it's raining outside!

[lpmiller]

not having goblins as a playable class is a crime.

[Sazime]

If it DOES happen, SUH-WHEAT.

[PixelSamurai]

No new classes but a new elf race? I smell bullshit.

[thiby]

I think its crazy guys who think if they post what they want to be added to WoW will really be added. You know, if you really belive it would happen it will happen.

[HoHumtheBum]

I don't think the Outlands, Emerald Dream or any such area already in the game files will be part of the expansion. Whatever zone data will comprise the expansion will be on the disks you buy at the store. Why preload zone geometry on the computers of players who won't buy the expansion?

[Crabby]

An expansion coming with no new additions to character customization in some way aside from *raising the level cap* is a complete wash in terms of gamer satisfaction.

Afraid as I may be of the possibility, I won't deny that I think Blizzard is one hundred times more likely to pull something like simply adding ten more levels and not putting in some extra grease work with new classes, hero classes, or the such.

[Voodoo]

A new horde race?! How about OGRES! They been in Warcraft since the beginning and it is about time for me to roll one...

A new Alliance race? That would be a very hard one to guess as I haven't even a clue, they aren't as complex as the horde...

New classes, I don't doubt it.

New areas... I would bet on Northrend and/or Undermine before I would even say Outland.

[Ryjin]

What I have heard:
2 new races: blood elves(horde) and draenei(allies)
maybe some kinda playable neutral faction(kinda doubt this one)
3 new continents: northrend, undermine, and some naga place
Gilneas, quel'thalas, emerald dream, and dark portal are opened up(someone has to complete a quest for dream and portal to open them up server-wide)
Second coming of the burning legion
Burning legion destroys Org and IF, gnomes retake gnomeregan
bunch of new instances including a 100 man one to kill arthas (50 horde 50 allies)
level cap raised to at least 75
and hero classes

I gotta say all of that sounds GREAT to me except for the level raise and hero classes. They would need to do so much rebalancing

(First post on EA!)

[Mason]

Don't forget the ability to equip rocket launchers in your arse.

How could you have horde and alliance in the same instance? If you can't group or raid together, there's no way to get sent to the same instance. And of course, hard to see that flying at all on a PvP server.

[Rommel]

We have been complaining loudly around here that the game needs weather effects for a while. As for Golbins as a playable race - that would be a huge expansion, as they are neutral. Golbins could be a plausible third sect in the far future though.

[Whimbrel]

I quit the game this week and Blizzard sent me this code good for a 10 day guest pass. You will need somebody's cds or find an old download of the beta. Enjoy.

Your Guest Pass Key is:
GHGCZNZTDJYEMFF2YMEPEY2PHR

[saneman]

Could someone do me a favour and clearly define exactly what hero classes are supposed to be? Or link to somewhere that does?

[Citizen Philip]

Could someone do me a favour and clearly define exactly what hero classes are supposed to be? Or link to somewhere that does?

No definite information has been released. It has been discussed that the levels in WoW match the power rating in WC3. ie. level 60 = level 6 (of 10) hero. The difference is at level 6 "hero" in WC3 gets their super ability, which does not occur in WoW. It's speculated that a WoW Hero Class will enable this ability(ies?).

Most of this thread is just garbage rumours. I'll wait until Blizzcon instead of a site that gets paid by the click.

[Sloth]

Goblins should have been a playable race common to both sides. You could be either a horde or alliance goblin, of course you'd have to pick a side at character creation and stick with it, but since goblins are sort of neutral, it makes sense that both sides would have goblins. They could differentiate the goblins by color, alliance goblins could be the traditional leafy green and the horde goblins could be an olive green or brownish green. Different enough to be noticeable but not different enough to make it look like two separate races.

[Sloth]

As far as classes go that is always a hard call. You don't want to make a class that infringes on current classes and you want a new class to have a role otherwise why put it in?

What class is WoW really missing? They have the standard nuker, healer, tank, pet classes and a few hybrids. The only traditional class they are missing is a monk type character. But other than graphical effects what would differentiate him from a rogue or warrior? The EQ monk had feign death which was an awesome ability.

One of the problems with games like WoW is that combat is so basic, you don't really need alot of specialization in classes. Your holy trinity basically covers everything you need.

[Shifteh]

Oh-my-God, oh-my-God, oh-my-God. The Blood Elves are, by far by favourite race in all of the Warcraft Canon. And they made them Horde!

<3 Blizzard, <3

[Heretic Machine]

Level 70 cap is a joke. Blizzard's still reworking the talents for all of the classes from the original release. Not to mention that it'd kill high-end PvE until the expansion came out, since no one would waste their time getting level 60 equipment when they could wait, get higher level equipment, and get experience while doing so.


Never happend when they released EQ or DAoC expansions, which this game is a successor to. I think people don't understand sometimes that this is in fact, just another MMO.

[Alexious]

I heard that the other new race is DRAENEI!
I completely forgot about them! An interesting addition if it's true. They were the guys from Frozen Throne who were invisible until they attacked, right? I think it would be very cool to have a race that can stealth-move in every class. Of course, that would also raise some pretty crazy issues with PvP balance. But it sure would be a bold choice.

As I said in a previous thread, Pandarans are more of an inside joke than true race so I doubt they would make the cut. But then, if you put the high/blood elves in the Horde, what else is left for the Alliance? Pandarans or Draenei are the only ones I can think of. It's not like the Naga or the Ogres would side with the humans.

Personally, I don't care if this is all a smokescreen... I think all this speculation is great fun to read! :D

[ElectricMonk]

I'm pretty sure there was a blue post awhile back saying that there were three types of weather currently planned and that they would affect gameplay.

maybe if you stay out in the rain too long you catch a cold

[Draft]

The WOW expansion speculation is starting to really get out of hand :P

This is what we know:

There's going to be Blood Elf content of some sort. Lots of screens have leaked showing what appears to be a Blood Elf town, and lots of Blood Elf characters. No clue as to whether they're NPCs or PCs. However, a Blizzard CM on the official forums did confirm a new race for each side, but offered no insight into what that race would be. It's not a huge stretch to assume Blood Elves are joining the Horde.

EVERY other bit of expansion info comes from wackjob internet sources of varying dubiousity, ranging from a spanish gaming magazines cover scanned and fan translated as "blizzard takes you to the 70th level" to random crazy ass wishlists posted as patch notes on every WOW forum known to man.

[Syl]

If they somehow managed to throw in Pandorens, then wouldn't they need to add a Samurai class?

That'd be pretty cool. However, I just find the Pandorens hilarious.

[eudaemon]

Well guys, we KNOW Blood Elves are joining the horde. Screenshots have already been leaked, we've seen them, their armor/clothes, their village, and even their icon on the race select screen.

The description is from an old post in the suggestion forum, complete with mispellings. The Blood Elf shown is a poor photoshop hack from an existing model in game. He is also wearing clothes that a starter wouldn't have. It's been completely confirmed that those are fake.

Now, the Blood Elf areas look reasonable. I'm not saying Blood Elf isn't the new race, but, the character select is fake. As far as lore goes, apparently the Blood Elves hate the Undead for destroying their homeland, so even though the Forsaken aren't the Scourge, they would still hate them. They can't be alliance either because the remaining High Elves don't like them and the Night Elves can definitely not stand them.

[pablious]

Yes, but do you forget that Sylvannas was a high elf, along with a lot of the forsaken? And the forsaken were all unwilling slaves of the lich king, and all hate the scourge as much as the blood elves. I can definently see the blood elves allying with the forsaken, though I still dont like that fact that either of them are in the horde. But with only two factions, what are you gonna do, I guess.

[eudaemon]

I know Sylvannas is a banshee (although with crappy night elf model as of now), but they are Undead. But hey, Blizzard has rewritten history before (Garona once a half human half orc, now a half orc half draenai). But, the orcs are happy to get rid of their demon master's, so they might not like the Blood Elves much. Although they do siphon off a demon's power and or hunt them down outright and kill them for their power.

As for Pandarens, I thought I read somewhere that they don't like Night Elves any more. They used to live with them, but then they left for some reason?

[Mason]

Never happend when they released EQ or DAoC expansions, which this game is a successor to. I think people don't understand sometimes that this is in fact, just another MMO.

As for DAoC, farming equipment in raids wasn't really a major component, at least not on Midgard/Tristan. The only bosses who dropped something better than spellcraftable equipment (prior to ToA) weren't really worth the time and effort. There just wasn't a really heavy PvE endgame. And of course, at least the first two expansions didn't raise the maximum level. Can't speak about EQ.

WoW is far more reliant on raid PvE for its endgame. Maybe I'm just disillusioned with the whole genre, but to me it'd seem foolish to waste a lot of time on farming for zero experience and loot that's soon to be outclassed, when the new levels and loot are coming shortly.

I know WoW's just a MMO, my point was that most other MMOs give you something else to do beyond farming instances.

[Mason]

As far as classes go that is always a hard call. You don't want to make a class that infringes on current classes and you want a new class to have a role otherwise why put it in?

What class is WoW really missing? They have the standard nuker, healer, tank, pet classes and a few hybrids. The only traditional class they are missing is a monk type character. But other than graphical effects what would differentiate him from a rogue or warrior? The EQ monk had feign death which was an awesome ability.

One of the problems with games like WoW is that combat is so basic, you don't really need alot of specialization in classes. Your holy trinity basically covers everything you need.

Hmm. Melee fighter with a lot more positional and reactionary attacks. Multi-pet caster. Blood Mage abilities are mostly scattered between mage and warlock, so nothing there. Spellbreaker is a possiblity, if they cultivated it into something like GW's Mesmer (i.e. indirect abilities that damage/disable others when they try to attack or use their abilities). That one would actually add a lot of depth if implemented correctly.

No one would complain much about another primary healer class, to take some of the weight off of the priest population. Perhaps more protection-focused (again, more along the lines of GW's protection monk, with various forms of damage mitigation replacing actual healing).

And there are some weak versions of abilities found in some classes that could be implemented more strongly elsewhere. For example, Druid's Thorns isn't the last word in damage shields, a caster could have a high-dps focus damage shield that they cast on others as a primary ability, or something. Just because Blizzard was really scattershot with the abilities for the original classes doesn't mean they couldn't overlap general concepts, so long as the particular implementation was unique.

[Qoz]

WoW endgame is broken for me.
It's nothing more than a huge timesink once you reach lvl60.
Nothing really new and interesting happens except some new-looking monsters in the instances.

The PvP was what interested me in playing. But sadly PvP suck badly in WoW. It's not that I havn't had great battles, but there is no purpose. You are just like every other player out there looking the same and farming honourpoints.
The system rewards people sitting by the screen all the time.
Time = more honourpoints
It's not about PvP skill.
PvP is flawed also by the lvl system and the stupid item system.
Why the hell can't I sell my old equipment to others? The economy is stupid.

I guess I'm ruined by experiencing UO in its glory days.
Player driven economy. Items were not that important in PvP.
Skill determined the winner.

I made my own WoW-PvP scripts to use Thistle Tea in combat combined with backstab. And fear-auto-trinket-use when facing warlocks, priests and warriors.
I always won 1v1 but it made no difference in the big picture.
No extra honour-points for being good at PvP. No recognition for skill.
The only recognition people get, is when walking around in a full Lightforce-set. And that kid spent 1million hours in the same instances over and over again. How sad.

I think the system has too many different skills for races. It makes it interesting in single player versus monsters, but destroys the large PvP battles.

WoW is mainly PvE (the casual players dig this) and some Diablo-item-collection-heroin (gotta gettem all!). PvP is tacked on and will never really succeed unless the system is completely revised (=not gonna happen).
Alot of players will play WoW .. but I think they will stop once they have played at lvl60 for a while. Just in time for WoW2.

[Savok]

I can't see Blood Elves joining the Horde.

The way the game has been built they can't raise the cap, however they could add 10 special lvls for a Hero Class that you can unlock once you hit 60, lvling in this class brings you new abilites and benefits while adding no new talent points (at least for the original talents) or causing your lvl 60 purple items farmed from raids to be worthless as your real lvl would never go above 60.

Think 2ndED AD&D, it's the only way I see it working.

[Savok]

Blood Elves hate all Undead, Forsaken and Scourge.

Qoz, I've killed shamans 7 lvls above me in the past, skill does still come into it.

[Shifteh]

Blood Elves hate all Undead, Forsaken and Scourge.
As opposed to Tauren, who love aberrations of nature.

I can't wait to play Blood Elf, should that be a new race; my only concern is that so will everyone else. By far my favourite canon race, I realise that as a new race, everyone and their mother will be playing them.

And I have to disagree about 'absolutely nothing to do at level 60 other than screen-watch PvP.' How about Battlegrounds?

[Savok]

Blood Elves lost everything to the Undead, Tauren actually benefited a lot from the whole Burning Legion thing, getting allies to fight the centaur and all.

And Battlegrounds are honor farms that are about as great as Counter Strike, exploits galore.

[XenonCJ]

Blood Elves lost everything to the Undead, Tauren actually benefited a lot from the whole Burning Legion thing, getting allies to fight the centaur and all.

And Battlegrounds are honor farms that are about as great as Counter Strike, exploits galore.Forgive my ignorance, but what exploits?

[Crabby]

WoW endgame is broken for me.
It's nothing more than a huge timesink once you reach lvl60.
Nothing really new and interesting happens except some new-looking monsters in the instances.

The PvP was what interested me in playing. But sadly PvP suck badly in WoW. It's not that I havn't had great battles, but there is no purpose. You are just like every other player out there looking the same and farming honourpoints.
The system rewards people sitting by the screen all the time.
Time = more honourpoints
It's not about PvP skill.
PvP is flawed also by the lvl system and the stupid item system.
Why the hell can't I sell my old equipment to others? The economy is stupid.

I guess I'm ruined by experiencing UO in its glory days.
Player driven economy. Items were not that important in PvP.
Skill determined the winner.

I made my own WoW-PvP scripts to use Thistle Tea in combat combined with backstab. And fear-auto-trinket-use when facing warlocks, priests and warriors.
I always won 1v1 but it made no difference in the big picture.
No extra honour-points for being good at PvP. No recognition for skill.
The only recognition people get, is when walking around in a full Lightforce-set. And that kid spent 1million hours in the same instances over and over again. How sad.

I think the system has too many different skills for races. It makes it interesting in single player versus monsters, but destroys the large PvP battles.

WoW is mainly PvE (the casual players dig this) and some Diablo-item-collection-heroin (gotta gettem all!). PvP is tacked on and will never really succeed unless the system is completely revised (=not gonna happen).
Alot of players will play WoW .. but I think they will stop once they have played at lvl60 for a while. Just in time for WoW2.


I'm going to repeat this to you for the last time. Skill does not equate into writing or using macros that automatically take the "skill" of manually doing something out of the game. Stop being such a hypocrit about it.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

I just wish they would fix the lag at the Auction Houses...but thats just me.

[Mason]

Savok: BE might not be the best buds with all the horde races, but in Frozen Throne they're actually at war with the Alliance, so their place in the horde makes sense.

I could see the 10 hero levels working, as opposed to doing a third major revamp of the talent system to accomodate the extra points. I'm fuzzy on the whole hero class system though. Would each class have multiple hero classes?

Qoz: Play Guild Wars. It sounds a lot more like what you're looking for. Unless of course you actually think that setting up macros counts as skill, in which case no one really wants you in any social game.

[Grave]

They would never raise the level cap! That would totally make Naggy and Vox super easy!

Oh wait...

[Savok]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exploits?

Wall walking, bubble jumping, a hole in a wall that you aren't meant to be able to get through yet can in one map. Though I think they've managed to stop some of the exploits now, still, Everlasting Vendetta are famous for it on Dark Iron.

And the only reason the BEs weren't at war with the Horde was because they weren't even near them.

As for the Hero classes, that's purely what's in my brain, nothing Blizz has said or anything. I'm just saying how you can work it without fucking the current end game and classes.

[Superunknown[GP]]

My guesses:
# The name is Burning Crusade.

True.

# Takes place in the Outlands.

True.

# Level cap raised to Level 70.

True.

# 2 new races, Blood Elf (Horde) and TBA (Alliance).

True. Draenei seem likely for an Alliance race. Pandaren are possible, but unlikely.

# No new classes.

True.

# New profession, Jewelcrafting, which will allow for slotting and modding items ala Diablo 2.

False. I'm betting there'll be no new professions.

# New BE starter area and zones north of the Eastern Plaguelands, Silvermoon (their Capital City), Ghostland, and Zul'Aman.

We know that there will be a new starting area for certain. This seems like a good bet.

# Epic FLYING FREAKING MOUNT useable only in Outlands.

My bet: Not a chance.

# Small upgrades to the graphics engine (BE will have 20% more polygons than original races for example).

Seems likely.

# Weather effects added.

If this is in the expansion, it'll be patched in for regular users as well.

# Exploring how to add in cross server Battlegrounds.

Nope. Blizzard's community team has repeatedly stated that this would require overcoming massive technical hurdles. Also, it doesn't solve any problems- there'd still be massive imbalances on wait times, due to the fact that more players are on the Alliance than the Horde on almost all realms.

[Savok]

You'll need some form of flight in Outlands, the place is akin to Shadow Shard in CoH.