The fantasy MMORPG World of Warcraft reveals today on August 6th at Gamescom the new expansion. Watch it in a live stream, we will provide updates in German.
Watch in the live stream as Blizzard presents the new expansion of WoW
At 6:00 PM the live stream begins directly from Cologne. Blizzard wants to present the new expansion for World of Warcraft.
This will be in English, we at Mein MMO will therefore provide updates in German, summarizing the most important points so that you can catch up on it during or after the stream. We will embed the stream right here as soon as it starts:
We will try to make this rather entertaining.
Read here in the live ticker in German what has happened
4:00 PM: This is also an experiment for us, we are doing this for the first time together. Cortyn will assist me with her unimaginably vast and completely useless WoW background knowledge in almost all situations. The good thing: The live ticker about the WoW expansion is one of the few situations where all this fluff (she calls it “Lore”) is really useful.
4:15 PM: The most important questions will surely be:
- What is the name of the new expansion? (4 words with 7-2-3-9 letters seems to be circulating after a developer’s tweet: Revenge of the Zandalari, people are already joking about a troll expansion)
- Are new races and classes coming?
- Is the level cap rising? Will it go higher than 100? Or is an alternative method of progression being employed?
- What is the setting of the World of Warcraft expansion?
- Are there any new major features being promoted?
- Is there already a release date?
4:25 PM: By the way, Cortyn is guessing something with “Highborne” for the name.
4:30 PM: My concerns right now lean more toward whether our servers can handle the load. We expect a larger influx around 5:00 PM – due to that other game by Activision.
4:35 PM: Cortyn has already presented and summarized the “likely theories” about the WoW expansion in an article. Now would be a good time to check that out. If you decide on one now, you can later tell everyone: You knew it the WHOLE TIME!
4:45 PM: In a forum, someone has now hopefully jokingly mentioned the tweet from a WoW developer, claiming that the truth is hidden in the encrypted messages of the Blingtrons with obsessive energy pursued: He came to the conclusion that the next expansion will have something to do with the Old Gods.
5:00 PM: Well, with all the leaks and number games – most likely a few WoW developers are just having a lot of fun. We’ll know more in an hour … hopefully.
5:15 PM: Blizzard is having fun right now. Here’s the supposedly strictly secret plan: No mounts anymore, but rideable Murlocs that can also fly. Also, Hearthstone should be able to play WoW now and there are Nagas as a playable race.
See what we really have planned for the next WoW expansion at 18:00 CEST! #BlizzGC2015 http://t.co/P3cWbCaO3T pic.twitter.com/3E3L4wGEau
— Lurky (@LurkingLurky) August 6, 2015
5:25 PM: Cortyn’s mouth corners have noticeably drooped: Nagas as a playable race was one of her favorites.
5:30 PM: Whoa! Music out of nowhere! The live stream has started, but it will still take half an hour.
5:40 PM: Since it seems nothing will come of the Nagas as a playable race, Cortyn suddenly demands Nagas as a playable race. Where for normal mortals it applies: “With bacon, everything gets better”, she is a proponent of the “With demons, everything gets better” theory.
5:50 PM: When the last expansion Warlords of Draenor was given a release date, they basically tread water for 30 minutes and then released everything in the last 10 minutes. Let’s see if they start with a bang this time or use the “The best comes last” tactic.
5:59 PM: Cortyn completely in delirium, believes she has discovered unmistakable hints in the soundtrack that it must be about Azshara.
From here on, the reporting about the actual live stream, the reveal of the WoW add-on starts.
6:02 PM: Okay, they are first calming down. A summary of the story with a “surprise at the end.”
6:05 PM: The summary revolved around the Warlords of Draenor, which could mean that the add-on now picks up from there, as colleague Cortyn had indeed predicted beforehand.
6:06 PM: Now it continues with Game Director Tom Chilton, the man with no hair. All leaks so far have been wrong, no one got it right. Now comes a connection video from Warlords of Draenor to the new expansion.
6:08 PM: Illidan is back!
6:09 PM: Similar to Garrosh between Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor, Gul’Dan will set the events of the new add-on in motion.
New expansion is called Legion – brings level 110, artifact weapons, new class demon hunter
6:10 New continent, level cap rises to 110, new dungeons and raids, new honor system, artifact weapons, class halls and probably a new class demon hunter. The Burning Legion is back. The expansion will be called “World of Warcraft: Legion”.
Here is the feature overview:
http://youtu.be/N6CWue7voA0
Here is the cinematic teaser trailer:
http://youtu.be/hmHY6hERT3s
6:15 PM: The expansion “Legion” will take place on the new continent “The Broken Isles”. On the continent, you will find the “Tomb of Sargeras”, which now serves as a crossing to numerous worlds of the Legion. The largest invasion of demons in the history of Azeroth is approaching and is supposed to overshadow the devastating effects of the War of the Ancients.
6:19 PM: The artifacts will serve as weapons of deceased heroes or of those who have lost all hope. In addition, powerful “Order of Classes” will be formed. Paladins, for example, will re-establish the Order of the Silver Hand.
6:21 PM: The Demon Hunter will be seen from the perspective of Illidan. He sends the Demon Hunters on a “suicidal mission”, shortly before the players stormed the Black Temple in “Burning Crusade”. You will experience the story in the past. Sounds like they are making the introduction of the Demon Hunter very similar to that of the Death Knights back then.
Lore overkill
6:24 PM: Extremely much lore, Cortyn is currently lying in the corner with rolling eyes and looks ecstatic. Numerous references to the story of World of Warcraft, as you would expect from a Legion expansion. It’s about the background of the Titans.
6:28 PM: Cortyn says: The add-on gives everyone a bit of what everyone wanted. Emerald Dream, Azshara, class quests, demon hunters, South Sea Islands – the feel-good add-on for everyone?
6:29 PM: Even Nesingwary is being dug up. Alleria and Turalyon – their fate is also supposed to be clarified in Legion, which fans have been waiting for over a decade.
36 different artifacts for classes – tailored to the wishes of players
6:32 PM: 36 different artifact weapons are supposed to come into play. One for every single spec in the game. These weapons are supposed to become the “ultimate” weapons for each class. The quests will be artifact-specific. For example, Frost Death Knights will seek the shards of Frostmourne to forge a pair of runeswords. The artifacts will grow stronger with “Artifact” power, can essentially gain their own levels and level up. As the weapon gets stronger, you will unlock properties of the weapons and can visually customize the weapon. Sounds like a concept from Lord of the Rings Online.
6:38 PM: There will be numerous variations of the individual artifact weapons in World of Warcraft. Ashbringer as a flame sword, as a broken sword merely held together by light. A lot of information at once. Many of the most famous weapons and class designs are getting their moments. Doomhammer for enhancement shamans, druids will get the claws of the first nightsaber and will be able to upgrade the look of this “weapon” slowly. Feral druids will be able to change and “upgrade” their forms with the weapon.
More on the topic: World of Warcraft: Legion – All info about the artifact weapons!
6:43 PM: Cortyn thinks that shamans will be able to get Doomhammer, meaning Thrall will die.
Players should feel more like members of their class, getting a “clubhouse” and Knights of the Round Table
6:44 PM: The “class orders” will be led by the players, the greatest heroes themselves. It is increasingly about players feeling like members of their class again and that they distinguish themselves clearly from one another.
6:45 The classes will have a kind of “clubhouse” with World of Warcraft: Legion, a place just for their class. It won’t be as private as the garrisons, but a “place that fits the respective classes”. And these will probably become the headquarters in the new expansion. There will also be some sort of “followers”, but it won’t be about soldiers, but about heroes and champions. There will be fewer than before, and they will become more important – the own Knights of the Round Table. For example, paladins will be given Lady Liadrin, who was previously the blood knight matriarch.
Dungeons and raids: Emerald Dream and much more
6:48 PM: With World of Warcraft: Legion, the instances should become significant again, as they are the core of what makes an MMO. Lore and story will be important, so you will learn a lot about the Vrykul and Val’kyr in the first instance.
6:53 PM: With the expansion, you will also be able to boost a character to level 100 immediately.
6:54 PM: There will be at least 9 new instances spread across all zones at launch. They are always linked to the lore of the area and seem to almost always represent the finale of the respective area.
6:57 PM: The Emerald Dream is coming as a raid. Gul’dan will probably be the final boss of the second raid, the ancient elven city of Suramar.
Demon Hunter – the new class
7:01 PM: Demon Hunter, Tom Chilton squeezes out, and takes a pause for applause. Yes, for us Germans, that’s not such a hard feat to say that in German, sorry. But it must have been tiring! The look of the Demon Hunter strongly resembles Illidan himself, with horns, blindfolds, all those things. Yes, he will really resemble the Death Knight. He will also start at a higher level.
7:05 PM: Demon Hunters will be able to be both tank and DPS, he will only have two specs: One for tanks, one for melee damage dealers. And there will also be metamorphoses. A third spec would only dilute the idea behind the class.
7:07 PM: Demon Hunters will master a double jump. A big deal in the often so static WoW: This will allow them to overcome obstacles that others cannot, giving them a new tactical advantage.
Honor system will be revised
7:11 PM: Chilton summarizes the history of the PvP reward system. The first version was way too harsh with ranks that could be lost. Then they switched to a currency system and stuck with it. The problem with that: Strong players become even stronger due to their gear. In the new honor system, equipment should no longer play this role. Oh, they’re switching to a “PvP talent system.” At which new talents for PvP are available at certain ranks, which are only intended for PvP in World of Warcraft.
7:16 PM: If you reach level 50, you can say: I want to go back down to level 0 and increase my “prestige” level and start over again. With the higher prestige level, new cosmetic items will come. Hardcore players will then distinguish themselves with “unique” skins – such as for their new artifact weapons.
7:19 PM: It’s coming to an end. A lot of information. But no release date. Only: The beta is supposed to “begin later this year.”
7:20 PM: Thus ends the live stream. Really a lot of info that needs to be digested first. On one hand, they clearly satisfied some of the biggest fan wishes. Many probably wanted the Demon Hunter class; with the content, they are doing a kind of “little bit of everything” buffet. The class halls sound like a really interesting idea. And they have also taken a lot from other games. The “prestige” system is found in the MMO area similarly in “Marvel Heroes”; the way weapons can be leveled and customized has been around in Lord of the Rings Online for quite some time.
Cortyn has already announced that she will write a long, long article about all that was heard. Regarding the release date, one can probably slowly determine summer 2016, in time for the movie, if the beta does not start immediately but rather with a delay at the end of the year. So still enough time to deal intensively with World of Warcraft: Legion, the latest expansion, and perhaps even become friends with it.
Here you can also find the website for World of Warcraft: Legion. On our thematic page for World of Warcraft we will also gradually shed light on the new contents of the add-ons.
