World of Warcraft Expansion: Wrath of the Lich King!

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:40 am

http://wow.gamona.de/

This german site broke the news on the new expansion for World of Warcraft by mistake. I guess this got leaked when Blizzard was going to set stuff up for a Convention they were going to attend in germany later this year. Seems we got a new expansion and a new class to boot!!

Check this out. I had Alara help decipher the German and here is what the site says for all of us who dont read or speak german:

<Danubus> Hey you there?
<Danubus> http://wow.gamona.de/
<Veilan> hm?
<Danubus> can you please translate this for me =)
<Danubus> I cant read german and I want to know everything it says
<Veilan> page still loading...
<Danubus> ok man
<Danubus> yeah GF said it was taking a time too
<Danubus> I think a ton of folks are hitting it cause this site broke the news of the expansion
<Veilan> okay, here go the bullet points, supposedly from some leaked internal memo...
<Veilan> - main site of the expansion will be Northrend
<Veilan> - you'll be able to combat Arthas as final boss
<Veilan> - new max level will be 80, minimum level to go into the expansion areas will be 68
<Veilan> - levelling up to 80 will take about as long as levelling through TBC
<Danubus> what about Death Knight I could at least make that out
<Veilan> - a new class called death knight will be available to alliance and horde, if meeting certain criteria, it will supposedly be jedi-like
<Danubus> cool
<Veilan> - he'll be a damage dealing tank with some other skills, apparently
<Veilan> - there will be siege weaponry and destructible buildings / fortifications / units in PvP battlefields
<Veilan> - there will be a new craft, "inscription", to boost attributes
<Veilan> - the size of the added areas will be about as big as for TBC
<Veilan> - starting area will be howling fjord, there will be areas named grizzly hills and dragonblight
<Veilan> - first dungeon will be 70 level 5 player instance, Utgarde Keep
<Veilan> - there will be heroic instances and raids to 25 people, about as many as for TBC
<Veilan> make a post of that on the off topic boards I guess, so you can just link people to it :p
<Danubus> yeah I am thank yu, Velian! I Lub you!!
<Veilan> yw
* Danubus runs off happily

Now here is a map thats also leaked of the new expansion area:

Im stoked!!!

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:30 am

Here is more info from another website:

http://goblinworkshop.com/news/story.html?StoryID=940

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:13 am

There are also rumors floating around about another area that could be used in the next expansion pack. Read on:

BlizzCon 2007 Begins This Friday
Rumors of a second WoW expansion abound.
by Charles Onyett
July 30, 2007 - This year's convention, to take place August 3rd and 4th in Anaheim's Convention Center, will prominently feature World of Warcraft and StarCraft II. Like we've already reported, attendees will get a chance to go hands-on with the recently announced sci-fi RTS sequel, as well as participate in World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Warcraft III tournaments. Blizzard already has brackets up for the competitive events.

Rumors have, as you might expect, been swirling around whether Blizzard will announce a new expansion pack for World of Warcraft. Considering the sales records shattered by the game's first expansion, The Burning Crusade, another seems inevitable. Blizzard passed on E3 2007 as a venue for announcing anything substantial, preferring instead to detail dungeons and features coming with future patches. It would make sense that such a decision was made so they could bask in the spotlight of their own, private event.

Recently we've been receiving emails regarding the rumored second expansion. One came in from an anonymous "blizz guy," whatever that means. He claimed to have inside knowledge of what Blizzard was going to announce, which we've highlighted below. Please keep in mind that this list is entirely unsubstantiated.

That expansion pack is called World of Warcraft: Into the Maelstrom

The Maelstrom area of Azeroth will be opened up for play. Will consist of various islands and Undermine will have a new neutral city.

The islands will include questing zones, raid dungeons, that city, and a new arena.

The level cap is being raised to 80 with the expansion but there will be no new talents.

Advancement after level 70 will be through Hero Classes rather than talents. Hero classes will function as subclasses and each existing class will have 3 of these hero classes to choose from. These hero classes will not be limited by talent choices. Players will be able to choose these new subclasses at trainers when ItM goes live.

Currently the Priest and Druid hero classes are complete and the Warrior and Mage are close to completion.

Hero classes will be demonstrated at BlizzCon
When contacted, a Blizzard representative responded with, "we haven't announced any details on a second expansion. We also can't comment on rumors or speculation."

Regardless of what's announced, Blizzard will have to vie for the public's attention as QuakeCon 2007 will be going on at same time, August 2nd - 5th, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas. id Software certainly isn't holding back - information on the new Wolfenstein game, id's Tech 5 game, and more should come out of it.

Joos · Post by **Joos** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:21 am

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:07 am

The FAQ on goblin workship was supposedly pulled from www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/ when it briefly became available (Note the forbidden error instead of not found).

Northrend is a fairly safe bet. Worldofraids.com got the same email that IGN did, and having read over it, while some of the things sounded cool, it did seem a little...over the top.

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:48 am

From BlizzPlanet:

CONFIRMED - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

For months, and almost daily in the past weeks I have been camping the US Patents and Trademarks Office website and the Legendary Pictures website. Around 3am, no updates had appeared. Early today Thursday at 6am EST, I searched through the Blizzard Entertainment copyrights page at US Patent and Trademark Office Website. It is official. The second expansion pack of World of Warcraft is titled:

The title confirms the next expansion is based on the Northrend Continent. Fans who have neglected in purchasing the World of Warcraft RPG books from White Wolf Publishing (Arthaus) should seriously get a copy of the World of Warcraft RPG: Lands of Mystery released early on Q1 2006. The book contains never before seen lore and map of Northrend. The continent of Northrend is neatly divided in ten regions:

Coldarra

Crystalsong Forest

Grizzly Hills

Howling Fjord

Icecrown Glacier

Sholazar Basin

The Borean Tundra

The Dragonblight

The Stormpeaks

Zul'Drak
A year ago, we added a summary page describing each region within Northrend and the Northrend map taken straight from the Lands of Mystery RPG Book. The question to ponder now is whether this new expansion pack will throw in the South Seas as well. The Burning Crusade contained Outland, Quel'Thalas (Ghostlands and Eversong Woods), and Azuremyst/Bloodmyst Isles (the Draenei starting location).

Northrend seems to be quietly bigger than Outland, but then again, the South Seas only have five isles: Isle of Kezan, Zandalar Isle, Broken Isles, Plunder Isle and Tel Abim, besides Nazjatar (home of the Naga) deep below the Maelstrom. It is quiet possible some of those areas could make it in the expansion, and release others as major content patches throughout the year.

The importance of the South Seas in the Northrend equation is that early whiteboard map designs showed Isle of Kezan (Undermine) as major transportation hub with zeppelin and boats going out to Ratchet, Booty Bay, Kul'Tiras and Valgarde (Howling Fjord's city in Northrend). This is no secret to fans who purchased the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition and watched the Behind the Scenes DVD with developer interviews and slideshows of concept art, where the early map designs showed Isle of Kezan and its transportation routes. Ex-Community Manager, Katricia, said at the offical forums on December 6, 2003 the following:
Katricia: "I’m not sure which islands you are referring to so I’ll skip commenting on those at this time.

The team does plan on including content for the Maelstrom and are exploring the best ways to do this."

~Kat

We will have to wait until tomorrow when BlizzCon Convention kicks in revealing all about this expansion pack. Make sure to check out our BlizzCon Coverage section hourly for any updates from the net. A staff member of Blizzplanet is also going to the BlizzCon event to bring us the latest news.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office says the following:

Word Mark WRATH OF THE LICH KING

Entertainment services, namely, providing online computer games; providing computer games that may be accessed via a global computer network; and providing online information in the field of computer gaming entertainment.

Comic books, strategy guides, trading cards, coloring books, adhesive stickers, rub-on transfers, notebooks, stationery-type portfolios, posters, greeting cards, calendars, instructional leaflets, manuals, advertisement boards of paper or cardboard, catalogues, photographs, art prints.

Computer game software and related instruction manuals and guides sold together as a unit; downloadable software for use in connection with computer games; interactive multimedia computer game program; mousepads

Mark Drawing Code: (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Serial Number
77241365
77241363
77241361

Filing Date July 28, 2007

Owner (APPLICANT) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Live/Dead Indicator: LIVE

Well, we shall see. Blizz is making an announcement soon. Some have said it might be D3, though

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:12 pm

And the nerds squeal with glee!

So It's going to actually provide buildable/destroyable buildings for Alliance and Horde, hm? Makes PvP more worthwile if they mash your house.

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:07 pm

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/

Its official!!

FeaturesMaster the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft's first Hero class.
Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.
Transform your hero's look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
Explore perilous new dungeons filled with some of the deadliest creatures -- and greatest treasures -- on Azeroth.
And much, much more...

Here is the new video of the expansion:

http://www.blizzplanet.com/news/1579/

Death Knights!!

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:15 pm

Hm, compared to the Everquest2 trailer... well It seems that the good folks at Blizzard have fallen into the same hole; grown into a self delusion that their hammy crap is worthwile. If you want a background voice to sound sinister, run it through some damm filters!

Hm, well, off to play Shadowbane.

Zakharra · Post by **Zakharra** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:31 pm

Woooow....!

*sigh* I'm not even up to playing Burning Crusade yet. *pokes her level 44 Forsaken Warlock*

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:59 pm

Shadowbane is the gayest ass game ever. Its no wonder they had to shut it down. Nice to play on a player run shard, though isnt it?

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:00 pm

Zak, what server did you say you were on again?

btw, Zak or anyone check these Youtube videos from the Con. It tells a shitload of detail about the new zones as well as the Death Knight class and more.

Northrend Developer Panel - Day 1 - Friday August 3rd 2007
1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2hH-S3dPKA
2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlX70PsEupw
3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFUCFuDBVUk
4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_geCiXqMsw
5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25k13mnbqQA
6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZdNhEq-Fpk

I checked em out last night. Some awesome stuff!

Lusipher · Post by **Lusipher** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:16 pm

You can also check out this Deathknight player run website:

http://www.unholyaura.net/

Zakharra · Post by **Zakharra** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:31 pm

I play mainly on Sentinels.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:39 pm

Charlie wrote:Hm, compared to the Everquest2 trailer... well It seems that the good folks at Blizzard have fallen into the same hole; grown into a self delusion that their hammy crap is worthwile. If you want a background voice to sound sinister, run it through some damm filters!

Hm, well, off to play Shadowbane.

The last 4 words of your post completely invalidate any point you think you may have had.

Shadowbane isn't worth the wage they pay their programmers.

Also, if you had 9 million active subscribers to your MMO, you could be forgiven for thinking your 'hammy crap' is worthwhile