Rumor: Northrend could be next World of Warcraft expansion
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jul 29th 2007 at 3:00PM }
World of Warcraft has left two major sections of Warcraft III's story open, one of which, if the information is solid, will hopefully be tied up in a battle with Arthas. The other being the glowing pink sparkly bubble protecting the city of Dalaran, which has taunted WoW players for over two years. Then again, Blizzard can take its sweet time, it's not like they're hurting for players, and introduce The Emerald Dream or take on the expansive ocean in the next expansion. BlizzCon starts next weekend and Joystiq, along with WoW Insider, will be there covering it to let you know about the latest from Blizzard's franchises.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cypher @ Jul 29th 2007 3:19PM
Frostmourne hungers!
jey @ Jul 30th 2007 9:50PM
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andres @ Jul 29th 2007 4:06PM
I remember reading way back that when burning crusade was coming blizzard responded saying that to take on arthas you will need to be higher then lvl 70. They know this because they were already working on him.
So i figure this is news but oldish.
Also, Northrend is the only other place that has yet to be used as far as lore is concerned. The only other place that has not been used is the home of the burning legion.
Alikar @ Jul 29th 2007 4:51PM
Not true. There are actually many places in the WoW lore that they have yet to touch, such as the Emerald Realm or Undermine.
andres @ Jul 29th 2007 5:13PM
thats true. However the realm of the dragons are being treated as instances then actual maps. Look at the "time tunnel" (funny reference) anyway the land of nozdormo which is the dragon of time, his world was treated as a series of instances not a specific map. Same will happen with the emerald dream.
As far as undermine please refresh my memory what was undermine.
Jeff.a.Hogue @ Jul 30th 2007 5:11AM
Mealstrom
Emerald Dream
It'd make sense that Mealstrom was next, as Queen Azshara would be the "last boss", and she pales in comparison to Arthas.
Emerald Dream...i'm not too sure about on the whole. Doesn't seem like it has enough lore to even support it be implemented full scale (probably why they haven't, there have been Emerald Dream files in the game since it launched but they haven't done anything with them yet).
Neebs @ Jul 29th 2007 3:39PM
Wasn't Northrend supposed to be in BC, though?
Martez @ Jul 29th 2007 3:52PM
Warcraft has a storyline? I thought you just danced and clicked on stuff.
Chainblast @ Jul 29th 2007 5:13PM
Yeah it has many. It just requires that you read.
Martez @ Jul 29th 2007 6:24PM
I've got no problem with reading. I just haven't really played Warcraft-anything.
The1 @ Jul 29th 2007 4:04PM
Guess I should be excited, however I do not play WoW.
Zach L @ Jul 29th 2007 5:30PM
Undermine is the capital of the Goblins; it's the center for Goblin trade.
harrison_schaerr @ Jul 29th 2007 5:41PM
wow i love that cutscene... watch it all the time =)
it's too bad warcraft got boring years ago...
End @ Jul 29th 2007 6:39PM
This shit is never going to end? MMORPGs need to die, just like FPSs need to die.
3cubedminus3squared @ Jul 29th 2007 6:44PM
You should've capitalized 'end' in your sentence.
I probably would've laughed.
that deaf guy @ Jul 29th 2007 8:33PM
Meh they'll never die as long as the almighty dollar fuels them. One thing they could do though is smash em together! Bring on the FPSMMORPGs! =D
Max @ Jul 29th 2007 8:10PM
This news can bite my one-eyed goblin sideways. Emerald Dream, FTW.
Joon @ Jul 29th 2007 9:21PM
It's been known to be Northrend for months. There have been plants, weapons, and armor for Northrend in the game files for a while now.
Also, no, Northrend wasn't supposed to be in BC. That quote about the level needed to beat Arthas is being misconstrued. They weren't saying it specifically because they were working on him. He's still probably a long ways out. At a conference someone asked if current players would be able to kill Arthas, which the staff laughed at.
Hougie @ Jul 30th 2007 5:12AM
There have been Emerald Dream files in WoW since the game launched. But yes, it is likely that Northrend is next. First the music setlist for Blizzcon, combined with the files, etc. It's likely. But we'll know in a few days anyways I guess.
Emceay @ Jul 29th 2007 10:06PM
Sweet, a new continent to attract all of my friends back to the game and get my $14.95 to get repetitively killed by high level players in splintertree - for the third time..
Only this time, all my friends will suddenly dip out for Warhammer and leave me to struggle reaching lv 50 alone before I finally just give up and sell my account like last time.
"Sir! We're losing players!"
"Just put more elves in! That's like crack to them."
Rayonic @ Jul 29th 2007 10:22PM
I just play on a PvE server. I'm not into the whole "ganking" thing.
Emceay @ Jul 29th 2007 10:49PM
Yeah, my friends are PvP though. I'd hear that from the zone constantly: "go play PvE"
But who would leave their friends to go play a neutered version and start over leveling again?
Why do they even let a 70 kill a 35 in a zone for ~lv 35 players anyway? Repeatedly? And just sit there by my corpse waiting? When I can do nothing to retaliate? Not even run? Just stay in town and hope they don't overwhelm the guards.. It just smacks of Blizzard wasting my time to get my money.
It should either be capped at level, or capped at a number of kills, because little turds with nothing better to do can keep me from questing on my dollar and that is just plain wrong. XP bonus isn't enough to make up for the giant gap that's formed between casual and hardcore players.
Besides, I like fighting people on par. It's the completely needless repetitive snuffing that makes me hate WoW to the core.
All that damn running from your grave is such a waste of time and money. Eventually I realized that everyone that was really good was either a child with all the time in the world, or an adult with some kind of social hangup that lets them play WoW for 16 hours a day and feel rewarded. So I just let them be.
Sam @ Jul 29th 2007 10:40PM
Can you imagine actually fighting Arthas.
I mean can you imagine being on the first raid to be confronted by arthas, no PTR tests, no leaked images.
I mean seriously...the thrill that nihilum must get must be worth the fucking effort they put in to get there first.
Just imagine going up against that guy....damn. Now THAT's epic.
eldee @ Jul 30th 2007 1:02AM
yes, his predictable attacks and rehashed loot table will really make my jaw drop in awe.
blueman @ Jul 30th 2007 4:30AM
There is no way they will make you fight "Arthas" You would need at least a 100 man raid. With everone at lv 100 and all kitted out in tier 10.
Adam @ Jul 30th 2007 8:00AM
I think Blizz stated at one point you'd need a full raid of level 80 or 90 players to kill Arthas.
Sam @ Jul 30th 2007 9:42AM
That quote states exactly: "a full raid of level 80 characters."
If a +10 is added to the level cap again this expansion, that means its arthas killing time.
TheSecretWeapon @ Jul 30th 2007 8:34AM
I personally don't play WoW. I think it looks and sounds pretty boring and I like games like Command & Conquer and Hotel Dusk more.
It seems every gamer out there is obsessed with WoW now. Is there anyone here, like me, who doesn't play WoW?
myheaditches @ Jul 30th 2007 9:24AM
No, you're a unique snowflake. Congratulations.
aylera @ Jul 30th 2007 12:29PM
"I like games like Command & Conquer and Hotel Dusk more. "
Yah, those games go well together.
While it's a likely expansion, just because they're playing music that's themed towards region of the Warcraft lore, doesn't really mean jack :P
What does make it likely, is that barring Blizzard just making up a new location, they don't have much left to reveal.
Spartacus @ Jul 30th 2007 12:31PM
No, there are plenty who don't play and many more who used to play, but have since kicked the habbit.
I for one love Blizzard games and picked up WoW about ayear after it came out. I fell in love with it and played for hours a day and got several friends hooked on it as well. Worked my way up the ranks in my guild, had a decent PvP ranking and made it to lvl 49 (human warrior) before I realized that the game wasn't fun anymore. So after 3 solid months of play, I cancelled my subscription.
If you ask me now, I still have fond memories of WoW, but the problem is that after a certain level, the gameplay just gets too repetitive. Grind grind grind. Do an instance 10 times to get your one freakin item. Grind grind grind. Get killed and camped by some prick 10+ levels above you. Grind grind grind... Back in the lower levels WoW actually ahd interesting QUESTS and a bit of a story line. At some point that all fades and the only reason you're playing is to level up or find your next peice of equipment (which IS still a pretty driving factor). In my opinion, if the game played all the way to lvl 70 like it did from 1-30ish, I might be swayed to still play... Then again, it feels good to have my life back and to play games with slightly lower stress levels.