Please tell me this is a joke

[Kynladoria-maladath]

Expansions have never been leaked before. Blizzard has airtight security.

[Chilibean-azuresong]

@Rita-velen

Don’t be a skunk

[Breadisfunny-turalyon (Breadisfunny)]

psh we all know malfoy defeated dumbledore.

[Lilus-archimonde]

@Sonyja-moon-guard

This has already been picked apart pretty brutally. It’s fake

Much like how Cata, MoP, WoD, Legion, BfA, SL, and DF were all debunked and proven fake in the final week or so leading up to their reveals?

As I’ve said elsewhere:

@Lilus-archimonde

Well, at this point it’s hard to say one way or the other if this is fake or not. If it is fake, it’s a very convincing fake. However, some minor things appear to be lining up and suggesting it isn’t fake. Here’s the thing: I’ve been around long enough to see this cycle play out time and time again. I’ve seen my fair share of fake leaks, and I’ve seen quite a few real ones that everyone and their mother swore “had to be fake.”

As things currently stand? This seems to be leaning towards the real deal. The key thing for me is in the video from the original post. Go to 3:52 in that video of the area that looks like a jungle setting. You’ll see pillars in the background.

The “It’s clearly fake!” crowd doesn’t exactly have the best track record once we start closing in on the final month prior to an announcement.

Right now, some of the reasoning people have been using is weak at best, especially considering we only have a small handful of screenshots that aren’t showing anything mindblowing. Sure, more than a few of you have brought up reused assets, but that’s something that EVERY expansion reveal has to some extent. The other big one that was pointed out on Wowhead was the spelling of certain words (defence instead of defense), but if the screenshots came from an European version of the website, then it’s easily explained as British English versus American English and not just a careless typo.

And I’ll say it again since Wowhead is also pointing it out in their own reporting: one of the screenshots has a pillar that matches up perfectly with some of the Blizzcon decorations that were being shown off a few days ago. To me, that’s currently the biggest thing that points towards this being a legitimate leak.

By all means, you guys have a right to remain skeptical. Just be aware that for every 5-10 obvious fakes we’ve seen over the years, we also have seven expansion leaks that were “clearly fake” up until the moment they weren’t.

[Xanthvelan-atiesh]

Saving a spot for when it’s true and all these people eat their words.

[Nairdowel-dawnbringer]

@Ixenn-area-52

Why are people getting upset about this?

Did you forget where youre at, lol?
ths is GD. Our motto is “We get upset about everything”
lmao

[Sonyja-moon-guard]

I’m not invested enough to read all that, but either the screenshots are fake or we have 39ft dwarves. Both are acceptable to me.

[Eluvia-nazgrel]

Looks like Stormwind City to me. If it was a serious thing there would be a new city.

[Gravedancer-destromath]

That’s what I’m doing.

I don’t trust any leaks no matter where they come from. I can wait for an actual official announcement and trailer drop.

[Dedaru-moon-guard (Dedaru)]

What’s throwing me off is the plant-themed triceratops, this is skirting between real and fake.

[Hezzlocks-khazgoroth (Hezzlocks)]

The laptop photo is fake, yes, screenshots looks pretty legit though. Yeah, sure, there’s a bunch of reused assets, but every single expansion in WoW history, from BC to Dragonflight, has had promo screenshots in the new environment with a bunch of reused assets. Blizzard does that all the time.

That said, still take this with a veritable dumptruck of salt. There’s some very talented fakers out there, so no matter how legit a leak looks, never assume it’s real. Just wait for the official announcement.

[Pyromor-shandris (Pyromor)]

My honest opinion ,it’s real,look at the decorations at the Blizzcon and look at the featured pictures.They are the same style who else would know?

[Catniplover-bleeding-hollow]

It’s a “leak”, which means it might be true, or it might not be. Consider it a thought puzzle, not a fact.

[Goldenshot-silvermoon]

@Lilus-archimonde

By all means, you guys have a right to remain skeptical. Just be aware that for every 5-10 obvious fakes we’ve seen over the years, we also have seven expansion leaks that were “clearly fake” up until the moment they weren’t.

Agreed.

I’ve seen this play out multiple times too. As soon as I saw the screenshots, my gut told me they were probably legit.

Have people already forgotten the leaked pic of Bolvar before shadowlands that half the forums “debunked” and declared to be fake?

[Sendryn-sentinels]

@Rita-velen

Use spoiler tags please >:(

… for a fake leak?

[Owo-goldrinn]

@Greybrook-sargeras

Can’t be real, my dad who works at Nintendo says it’s going to be an underground expansion.

Can you get your dad to get me a free battle pass? Bill gateman is my favorite dude, id love free ubisoft!

[Anastrasza-argent-dawn]

I’m not one that cares if it’s fake or real to be honest. Whatever the real expansion is revealed to be next weekend unless it’s very ridiculous like if the systems for 12 sound very “anti casual friendly “ I’m gonna buy it and play it most likely.

I’ve explained many times on these forums it’s not that wow is my favorite game but it is my favorite game to chill with .

I like bg3 as a game way better than wow for example but when I play that game im not chilling im paying attention deciding on responses in dialogue strategy in combat what quest do I do next how do I solve a puzzle etc.

When I play wow im listening to music or a podcast or watching a movie while im playing— at my own pace.

Ie. Im chilling

[Lilus-archimonde]

@Sonyja-moon-guard

I’m not invested enough to read all that, but either the screenshots are fake or we have 39ft dwarves.

Right, because characters like Varian and Thrall are ten feet tall when compared to the player characters of the same races…

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayandStorySegregation

We have zero context on the character model that we’ve seen, and as the game has a history of making important characters much larger than the player characters for various gameplay purposes, I think instantly jumping to “Look at how big he is!” as a means to try and debunk the leaks could potentially be a foolish endeavor.

Anyway, on another note, multiple news outlets are reporting on the Avaloren leaks now. Granted, most are taking the “grain of salt” approach and not reporting it as firmly proven, but they also don’t generally jump on leaks and report them unless there’s a good chance that it could be true (such as all the times an expansion title was learned days/weeks in advance via new trademarks filed by Blizzard)

Might be about time to acknowledge that the leak actually has some weight behind it.

[Lilus-archimonde]

@Rita-velen

Use spoiler tags please >:(

Here’s a spoiler: the Titanic sinks at the end.

[Sonyja-moon-guard]

C’mon, now. Quote the whole thing.

@Sonyja-moon-guard

Both are acceptable to me.