Warlords of Draenor revealed as next World of Warcraft expansion

Blizzard's Chris Metzen took the stage at Blizzcon 2013 and recounted the many years of Warcraft, delving deep into its lore and teasing the return of long-forgotten villains to the realm of Azeroth.


"We have been thinking a lot about Warcraft, what makes it distinct, what makes it tick... about the early days," he said at Blizzcon on Friday. "Many of you were with us during the events of Orcs and Humans, Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal," he said. "The events of those came predicated what's happening in the modern era of WoW".


"There's a huge amount of players that never lived those events, met those characters or had those adventures. As we're thinking about where to go... man a lot of that makes the wheel turn. Some of the baddest dudes ever in the Warcraft franchise almost had their way and conquered the entirety of the Eastern Kingdoms. If they had history would have taken a turn".

"What if those dark days could come again, what if those vicious villains could threaten our homes again. The conflict coming will be the Alliance's finest hour."

"Horde, you've had to live with the consequences of Thrall's disappointments, with Garosh's reign of terror, but in the face of all that you have a chance at a new start, to redefine yourselves in this brave new world. But as is often true, to forge a brighter future, sometimes you must confront the ghosts of the past."

A trailer shown during Blizzcon also revealed players will be able to build and upgrade garrisons, character models have been given a visual makeover, the level cap has been raised to 100, and players can boost to 90 and play immediately.

"After the events of Seige of Orgrimmar, Garosh is taken away in chains. Suffice to say he will be put on trail, but before the verdict can come down he escapes. Garosh has a new friend with a unque ability to bend time. Garosh goes back, he hates the hord now with its coalition of trolls. He hates the Horde and everything Thrall stood for," explained Metzen.

"He's gone back, but it alters time. Garosh's intent is to redeem the Orcish ideal. He wants the Orcs to be proud again, and not encumbered by all these races. The critical part of his mission is to stop the moment the Orcs drink the blood of Mannorth. They will not be cursed. He will convince them there's conquering to be done and build an Iron Horde. He will empower them with some of the technology he loves. He's going to build a portal and lead his horde through it."


Draenor is described as a brand new continent. It's the homeworld of the orc before it was shattered into Outand. Players must venture to this area from 35-years in the past and defeat the Iron Horde.

A trademark for Warlords of Draenor was filed on November 5. Blizzard has also registered a trademark for The Dark Below, though it has not yet been confirmed what this pertains to.

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