7.0 Announcement @Gamescom 2015

[luckton]

Join us Thursday, August 6 at 9 a.m. PDT for a special World of Warcraft event streamed live from gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany—where we’ll be unveiling the next chapter of the World of Warcraft saga. . . .

Tune in again Sunday, August 9 at 8:00 a.m. PDT for a World of Warcraft developer chat before the show ends, and find out more about what’s in store.

Stay tuned to our dedicated gamescom page for further details on the live stream. Those who are able to join us in person at gamescom can visit us at the Blizzard booth in hall 7.1. We hope to see you there!

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/19841681

So...where are we off to now?

[Paelos]

The best of the comments:

Get those wallets out, guys! It's time to shell out $70 for another expansion that will only have 5 dungeons, 2 raids, and 1 content patch!

I think the important question is are we going to be paying another $50 for 2 patches worth of content?

*Patch and a glorified hotfix of content. Fixed that for ya, buddy.

Let's hope that the next expansion is about 30 dollars cheaper than WoD was considering the amount of content we can expect from it.

No more orcs, please no more orcs!

Hey guys we heard you like announcements so we are announcing we will be announcing stuff at a place where stuff gets announced.

[Paelos]

In all seriousness, unless they are unveiling how they will have an expansion ready by Christmas? They are so fucked in the sub department by year end it's going to be hilarious.

[Zetor]

I have it on good authority that the next expansion's content wil lconsist of one extra-huge troll dungeon.

shut up and gimme my $15 a month, little mon!

[luckton]

No more orcs, please no more orcs!

"Announcing World of Warcraft: Orcs of the Orcs Orcs. Where adventurers will help Thrall do his daily chores while building up rep with Aggra. 5 2 Thrilling new raids which will be locked behind fishing dailies. Hope your Archaeology is maxed out because the new legendary will be found by collecting 5000 of every racial artifact fragment. Uldaman has been revamped and made a level 110 dungeon, also it has trolls in it now for some reason. Finally to extend game life make the experience feel more real ground mounts will now no longer be usable."

[Paelos]

Yes, everywhere running now. And the artwork is only the clownshoes vanilla armor from Dire Maul

[Merusk]

Now now. I'm sure it will totally justify the $100 (due to inflation) price and have all kinds of content you'll love to grind before riding for the last 2 1/2 months of the expansion. Flying will be patched in at 8.0.

[luckton]

I don't think they'll have something out by Christmas. Probably going to be a spring release, maybe February. But no, not this year.

As far as features go, I don't know what they have in mind. They took so much out in the last couple of expansions; maybe an AA system at long last?

[Fabricated]

I guess they're at the "fuck it, we've made enough money" period now. I think basically they're going to the update/content schedule of WoW's F2P also-rans and seeing how long they can trick people into buying a box and paying $15 a month for it.

[Draegan]

The only way people come back is if there is a class overhaul or 2-3 new classes. Otherwise it's just going to be more boring leveling content no one gives any fucks over or more shitty raid content no one really enjoys.

[angry.bob]

So...where are we off to now?

I hope it's an alternate version of Draenor, set in a different timeline. One that's completely different in that the orcs there will be blue or something. Also trolls. There's never enough content that involves foiling troll plans or something.

[Hutch]

"Because Warlords of Draenor never got its 3rd raid tier, the Iron Horde reaches the Dark Portal and changes the past and the future of Azeroth!"

"Travel forward in time, to the mysterious continent of Zandaria, where the Iron Zandalari have overthrown the Mogu, and now rule over the peaceful Pandaren folk with cruelty and terror."

"Explore an Azeroth where no one can fly, and only the Iron Horde may ride! Walk, don't run, through the deserted capitals of Kalimdor and the Ruins of Stormwind, and wonder what fate befell the millions who once dwelt there."

"Welcome to World of Warcraft: The Eternal Blizzard!"


(* green text alert: these are not actual quotes)

[Sir T]

Who could tell the difference between snark and reality at this point...

[Montague]

I for one am hoping for an underwater vehicle raid where when the boss goes to 5%, Ronin and Thrall enter and kill it with a 15 minute unskippable cutscene.

[Tannhauser]

Is this xpac coming faster than normal?  Seems so to me.  WoD wasn't a bad xpac to me, I got my fill of it.  I do hate that they hate flying, I'm sure we'll be 'walking to Mordor' in the next xpac.  Off the top of my head I'd like to see this xpac explore the Dranei homeword (Argos?), or maybe a huge underground system with dwarf/earthen/titan things going on.  Please no more orcs/draenor/time travel!

Or what if that is their plan?  Use the time travel ascpect to revisit Azeroth and make changes there? 

What would make me excited (like the above poster said) would be to have 2-3 more classes.  The monk is a fun class, though I didn't get her past level 30 I think before I /quit.

[Merusk]

It is faster than "normal," yes. WOD released last November, so it's only been 8 months. This may be Acti-Blizzard trying to actually fulfill that "One a year" promise from a few years back.

However, given the rushed feel of WOD, the countless bugs and errors that still remain and the half-baked ideas that have obvious solutions, the Blizzard culture is a far cry from being able to deliver QUALITY content on that timeframe.

As to the rest:

I expect a continuation of the last two x-pac themes - the bad guy who shows up/ is hinted at the end of the last X-pac is the main boss of the next.  That'd make Sargeras and the Burning Legion the focus., either in the Iron Horde timeline or the real one. Probably that one so they can either sell WC4 in the future or swing back to the real one and say, "hah, no that was nothing but a setback."  

This is sort of backed by Khadgar's statements in the Archimonde defeat cinematic.  Gul'Dan isn't dead, he's thrown through the portal, and we know Sargeras is out there in our timeline and still within Mediv in the IH timeline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lieulbyk9I

The persistent rumors that we'll see Karazan 2.0 remain nothing but rumors, but that'd be a good way to introduce Mediv. He sneaks through the timeline and occupies Kara in our world or some such BS.

Lots of rumors around classes. Not worth discussing since the announcement is only a few days away and there's zero info to back any of them.

[angry.bob]

I do hate that they hate flying, I'm sure we'll be 'walking to Mordor' in the next xpac. 

You do have to admit though that if Gandalf and Frodo had just hopped onto Giant Eagles and flown them to the Fires of Doom, the entire story of Lord of the Rings would have fit onto four sheets of paper.

[Sir T]

They would have just padded it out with long speeches, product placement, Dwarf Jokes and tits.

[Kail]

I expect a continuation of the last two x-pac themes - the bad guy who shows up/ is hinted at the end of the last X-pac is the main boss of the next.  That'd make Sargeras and the Burning Legion the focus., either in the Iron Horde timeline or the real one. Probably that one so they can either sell WC4 in the future or swing back to the real one and say, "hah, no that was nothing but a setback."  

Yep, looks like.  Versus the Burning Legion at the Tomb of Sargeras.

New Demon Hunter class is probably the only thing that really stands out.

edit:
linky for the lazy

[Tannhauser]

At least there's a new class.  The rest looks like standard Blizz boilerplate.

[Ironwood]

Fuck.  That.

[Malakili]

There's still something deep down inside me that perks up when I see new Warcraft stuff. It's like a conditioned response. Then I realize it's WoW expansion number six and go about my business.

[Father mike]

Yeah, me too.  Ulduar was pretty good, and the pillars of creation stuff seems to be an extension of that - so that's sort.of exciting.  But then I remember that it's WoW ...

And demon hunters aren't doing it for me at all

[Fabricated]

Awful, just awful.

[Mithas]

Rehashed rehash.

[Merusk]

I expect a continuation of the last two x-pac themes - the bad guy who shows up/ is hinted at the end of the last X-pac is the main boss of the next.  That'd make Sargeras and the Burning Legion the focus., either in the Iron Horde timeline or the real one. Probably that one so they can either sell WC4 in the future or swing back to the real one and say, "hah, no that was nothing but a setback."  

Yep, looks like.  Versus the Burning Legion at the Tomb of Sargeras.

New Demon Hunter class is probably the only thing that really stands out.

edit:
linky for the lazy

Woo, I was right. Rehashed Illidan AND another Gul'Dan appearance. Bets that Gul'san dies in the last leveling zone just like Garrosh did? 

Demonhunter looks very uninspiring. Another Tank/ DPS melee class. They needed another ranged, not yet another Melee class. Raids suck enough for melee right now with 7 classes vying for those spots, now it's 8 and only 6 classes for ranged. Good thinkin. 

[Hutch]

The Artifact weapons are way cooler in my imagination than they could possibly be in reality.

In reality they're going to be uninspired, un-transmoggable, grindy, not really as customizable as you're thinking, and ultimately there will be only one version of each that is optimal for raiding.

Next.

[Fordel]

So we're prepared this go around.

[Merusk]

The Artifact weapons are way cooler in my imagination than they could possibly be in reality.

In reality they're going to be uninspired, un-transmoggable, grindy, not really as customizable as you're thinking, and ultimately there will be only one version of each that is optimal for raiding.

Next.

You missed the part that you won't get the Legendary/ Artifact status until the final raid tier, just in time to be replaced 2 1/2 months later by a green weapon from the 4th zone of the x-pac.

[Fordel]

pfft, we all know there's way more time between the final raid of a expansion and the release of the next one! 


I fully expect the inclusion of Demon Hunters to give this expansion an enormous initial flood. People have been pining for those fuckers for like over a decade now. They won't stick around, but it will make for a nice news blurb.

[angry.bob]

Well, the harpies look a lot better at least.

Demon Hunters look like 4edgy4me rogues. I don't know why, but I was really expecting and hoping for something more like the Diablo Demon Hunter / WH Witch Hunter.

[Paelos]

<insert oh wait you're serious Bender gif>

[Paelos]

So after this we do the Lich King 2.0 right? Because that's the pattern now?

[Zetor]

I dunno, what comes after the kitchen sink?

e: as for the demon hunter thing, I bet they think this will help solve the "tank shortage". Which would mean that they don't understand the problem in the first place.  

[Rokal]

I'm not really seeing what is going to make Demon Hunter tanking different from the agi avoidance tank they just added.

On the one hand, it's really one of the last (if not the last) class archetype people were really waiting for to be added to the game. On the other hand, it's really bringing nothing new to the table, just remixing Monk Tank and Melee Demonology Warlock.

Oh well, onward to re-killing villains that we killed in previous expansions. With any luck we'll have something as awful/grindy as LOTRO Legendary Weapons to bring along for the ride.

Edit: With historical beta/release time lines as a guide, if they don't have the beta out until this Winter they'll have another year-long content drought between the last content patch and the expansion.

This is after having the most anemic patch content out of any expansion so far.