It has so far been a tradition for Blizzard to announce new World of Warcraft expansions at their popular convention, BlizzCon. Wrath of the Lich King has been on the market for quite some time, and the implementation of a number of major patches has occurred since its release. It therefore seems only natural to assume that Blizzard will announce a third expansion in a few short weeks.<\/p>\n
Whilst this may be purely speculation at this point, what we do know is that before expansion three hits the shelves, Patch 3.3 will make its way onto the realms. Patch 3.2: Call of the Crusade was released a few days ago, and now that that is out of the door, the development team will have shifted their focus to its successor patch.<\/p>\n
World of Warcraft’s future lies in the hands of another major patch, but far more importantly another expansion. With new expansions Blizzard can make significant changes to gameplay that are simply not possible with patches. The possibilities are endless, and chances are that the large majority of the World of Warcraft player base is excited to see which direction the game will be taken in. Many changes in gameplay have been implemented since the game’s release back in 2004, so we can expect many more in the future to keep things interesting.<\/p>\n
We have seen the addition of two new continents with the two expansions that have been released so far. Both of these have been very different, with The Burning Crusade touching very lightly on a sci-fi fantasy theme, and Wrath of the Lich King focussing on an Arctic theme. Both have resulted in the introduction of new professions and other similar yet new features, but they were different in bigger ways, such as the first introducing new races and the second a whole new class (which, notably, begins at level 55 instead of level 1).<\/p>\n
Expansion three could result in the implementation of yet another continent or it could use what is already available but unused in-game. Can you imagine a completely sea-based expansion? All that open sea that players have yet to traverse…who knows what could be hidden in the icy depths. What about an air-based expansion? There could be a reason why Blizzard does not want to allow flying mounts in Azeroth other than possible quest exploitation. They could even take World of Warcraft underground.<\/p>\n
Before imaginations run wild, however, one should keep in mind that the Warcraft universe is rich in lore, and Blizzard are unlikely to stray away from it. It is possible, however, for them to innovate and still stick to the lore, by introducing something exciting and unexpected for players to feast on.<\/p>\n
Who knows what the future may hold for this juggernaut of a game…<\/p>\n