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Expansion Speculation |
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What will be in World of Warcraft's first expansion? This has been a frequent topic of discussion since the WoW expansion was confirmed by Fangtooth (link) to be in the works. We don't have a crystal ball to predict what the features of this expansion will be, but we can look into the topics that have been discussed previously. They can give us some insight into what ideas have been floating around Blizzard Headquarters in these areas.
1. Player Housing
2. Weather
3. New Zones
4. Hero Classes
5. Outland
6. Cinematics
7. Title
Player Housing
Player housing has long been a subject of discussion, and how it will eventually be implemented into World of Warcraft. Once planned to be implemented during beta, player housing was bumped in favor of more important features. It is expected to be included in an expansion. Various implementations have been discussed over the last few years:
[Please note: Blizzard's style of game development is one of active trial and error. They are constantly playtesting new features, and then making changes to improve them. As such, any discussion of features here should not be assumed as a guarenteed game feature.]
Warol.com (Chinese fansite) Interview from 2003: | | 5. We see "guild owned cities" in Shadowbane. The cities could be destroyed by other guilds. Will we see similar player housing in WOW?
Certainly, that is the concept behind Shadowbane; at the moment, we're still working on the player housing for World of WarCarft, but it's not anything quite like Shadowbane. We will have community development areas set up - the focus will be geared towards letting the player earn and build up structures, such that these player housings become an extension of the player and adds to character development. | | |
Azzor's December 2003 new info review: | | Housing
* Won't make the initial beta release, but hopefully for the final release.
* It will work like War3, in that you plop a transparent image of the house to anywhere on the ground. There will be restrictions though. | | |
These ideas of player housing have since been scrapped.
World of Warcraft Fan Site Chat - July 26, 2004: | | [GilS.PR] What are the plans for Housing in the World of Warcraft?
[Katricia] Player housing will not be available until after World of Warcraft has been released. Our plan is to add player housing in a future live update or expansion. Our current idea (which could change) is to extend the cities to have player housing neighborhoods. For example, in the canal area of Stormwind players can see a blue instance portal behind a large portcullis; this is the entrance to the player housing neighborhood in Stormwind. | | |
This implementation had been rumored before the chat, and is currently seen as the most likely implementation. Instanced "housing neighborhoods" would solve the land area problem that occurs with housing for thousands of players. These would likely work like the Deepwater Tram instance, where you can see other players there but it requires a load screen and isn't entirely geographically accurate. There has been speculation that the housing neighborhoods would have a wide variety of houses costing different amounts, where the largest "guild mansions" would cost enormous sums of money.
Blizzard Interview, June 2005: | | Blizzard: We have not announced any plans for housing, but large systems like that are most suitable for an expansion. | | |
Very likely expansion material, in other words. In the first expansion? Who knows.
Weather Effects
Eyonix comment, June 28, 2005: | | Weather is still being worked on, and you'll be happy to know that the progress of effects looks phenomenal. Once I have additional details to provide, or am able to show off a preview of such, I will do my best to share with the entire community. | | |
So, we do know that weather is currently being worked on. It seems likely to this writer that it is expansion material, but there is always the possibility it could be introduced via a live update.
[Speculation] I wasn't able to find this interview (so I'll label this as speculation), but I recall a Blizzard dev mentioning at one point that they hoped to do something special with weather. One idea that had been thrown around the office was having weather effect gameplay. For example, a blizzard might dappen the effectiveness of long range spells/abilities. Whether this ever made it off the discussion board, I guess we'll find out.
New Zones
These areas are not currently in the game, but have been mentioned in the past:
-Northrend
-Quel'Thalas (northeast of the Eastern Plaguelands)
-Gilneas (south of Silverpine Forest)
-Maelstrom
-Outland (land beyond the Dark Portal, formerly the Orc homeland of Draenor)
Many instances/dungeons have also been mentioned that are not currently in the game:
-Uldum
-Caverns of Time
-Karazhan (Medivh's Tower)
-Ahn'Qiraj (in the Silithus zone, coming in patch 1.9)
-Mount Hyjal
-Emerald Dream
-Grim Batol
-Dalaran
-Kul'Tiras
Hero Classes
Hero Classes are probably the most intriguing potential expansion feature. Once slated for release, they have been pushed back for a multitude of reasons. They may be in an expansion (which is why we mention them here), but they are also listed on Blizzard's underdev page, so they may very well come through a live update (a patch).
October 2003 Issue of CGW magazine: | | Will there be any high level or hero classes?
Although currently hero classes do not exist in game, early reports noted that once you get to around level 40, you can specialize in skills to become some of the hero unit classes in Warcraft III. The available hero classes would depend on your base class and race. For example, a Dwarven Warrior can become a Mountain King and a Night Elf Hunter can become a Demon Hunter. Blizzard hopes to be able to add these hero classes before release. | | |
This was a very early design idea, and is generally considered to no longer be in the works. Obviously, hero classes do not come after level 40.
World of Warcraft Fan Site Chat - July 26, 2004: | | [GilS.PR] What can you tell us about Hero Classes?
[Katricia] Hero Classes: After achieving the maximum level in the game, players will be able try to become a Hero Class. Becoming a Hero will be very difficult and arduous, since you can only become a Hero until after maximum level, we do not plan to implement Hero Classes until after all of the game content is completed. | | |
Hero classes have shifted to being something obtained after becoming level 60. Their purpose seems at this point to be a means of advancement after achieving the highest level in the game.
theSafeHouse.org interview with Jeffrey Kaplan (Tigole), October 11, 2004: | | Q: Hero classes have been mentioned but not much info has come out about them. Instead of epic weapons or armor, it seems that there will be an epic subclass? Will this be another lame time sink to keep players hanging on or a truly rewarding end game experience?
A: Hero-class design is still being iterated on right now. Since we're still
actively balancing the classes, it's hard to give definite, concrete answers
on this one. If I had to vote on lame time sink or rewarding end-game
experience, though, I'd cast my vote toward rewarding end-game experience =P | | |
Blizzard Interview, June 2005: | | Will access to the hero classes be based on a percentage of the player base like PvP titles or will it requiring grinding out the prerequisite quests and are they actually in testing yet at Blizzard?
Blizzard: We’re not ready to release any details on the Hero system yet. When the time comes, we will definitely share the news with everyone. | | |
Caydiem forum post, June 1, 2005: | | They are still in the concept phase. When we have more information for you on this subject, we'll give it. Until then, it's pretty safe to assume that they're still in conceptual design. | | |
So, still a ways off.
[Speculation] I wasn't able to find the final Blizzard quote I was looking for, so once again I'll label this as speculation. After the new talent system was introduced (talents used to be very different in beta), there was some discussion on hero classes. I recall talk of hero classes perhaps consisting of a fourth talent tree. These talents would be above and beyond the original three trees, and have some method for gaining points in them. Another idea I recall Blizzard reps commenting about was about adding talents on the end of the current talent trees. Your hero class would force you to specialize in a tree. I consider these implementations more likely at this point than the "hero unit classes in Warcraft III" implementation. Only time will tell.
Outland/Dark Portal
Outland (along with Northrend) has long been discussed as a very likely "main feature" of an expansion pack. Outland is what remains of the old Orc homeworld of Draenor. It is accessible through the Dark Portal, and is the last known location of Illidian, the Naga, the Draeni, and the Blood Elves. Here is what Blizzard has said about it in the past:
Official FAQ (beta, pre-beta): | | We've seen from an older screenshot that the Dark Portal has been rebuilt. Can you give us any background on why it's back or what role it'll play in the game?
The foundation of the Dark Portal was never destroyed, even though the connection of the worlds was severed. While it is no longer active, there is a legend of a ritual contained within Medivh's spellbook that might one day allow powerful Warlocks to open the portal. | | |
Rituals were a much hyped feature of WoW prior to beta. The only ritual currently in the game is the Warlock summoning spell, but the possibility of larger rituals (to open such things as the Dark Portal) remains.
Official Q&A (beta): | | Will there be a Dark Portal?
Yes. Players will be able to summon the dark portal, and it will be a server-wide, world altering event.
Since we'll be able to summon the Dark Portal, will we then be able to visit the Outland?
Yes. Once the portal is opened, it will remain open for good, allowing all players access to the Outland. | | |
So, a server-wide, world altering ritual spell to open the Dark Portal, which leads to the vast lands of Outland. A bit 'o' demon slaying might be in our future.
Cinematics
Official Blizzard Beta FAQ: | | Will there be Cinematic sequences in the game?
Yes. The Blizzard Film Department will create cinematic sequences for World of Warcraft. We do not anticipate, however, that the game will have as many as our previous games due to the nature of Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games. You can see the first cinematic for World of Warcraft on the movies page. | | |
The language, "first cinematic", seems to suggest more will be upcoming. Since we haven't seen any yet...
Title
What will the expansion be titled? Although nothing official has been said, there was some speculation in May in regard to the trademark "Burning Crusade". Blizzard has registered that name at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Trademarks - Search - New User Form Search (Basic) - "Burning Crusade" ). Filing Date: May 3, 2005.
WorldofWarcraft.com: | | Once Sargeras saw that his armies were amassed and ready to follow his every command, he launched his raging forces into the vastness of the Great Dark. He referred to his growing army as the Burning Legion. To this date, it is still unclear how many worlds they consumed and burned on their unholy Burning Crusade across the universe. | | |
More info can be found here.
Conclusion
I hope this article has informed you of some of the past Blizzard comments about possible expansion features. Many things which could easily make the expansion (Northrend, Quel'Thalas, the goblin home island of Undermine, Maelstrom, siege weapons in Battlegrounds, etc) were not commented upon because Blizzard has said nothing about them so far.
Obviously, new classes and races are also a possibility. Ogres, High Elves, Blood Elves, Draeni, Pandaren, and half-orcs are all race possibilities. Or maybe murlocs.  Necromancers have always been a staple of Blizzard games, so they might be a possible new class.
Blizzard has yet to release an expansion pack without some new and exciting twists, so there very well could be features beyond what we have thought of.
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