The Velonara quest (which might be related to the Tirisfal stuff) has been in the data since 8.1.5 and they keep updating it, yet still no word on it. I’m not gonna hold my breath at this point.
8.1.5: https://www.wowhead.com/quest=55346/the-dark-rangers-pupil
8.2: https://www.wowhead.com/quest=55345/the-dark-rangers-pupil
9.0: https://www.wowhead.com/quest=54944/the-dark-rangers-pupil
9.2.5: https://ptr.wowhead.com/quest=54943/the-dark-rangers-pupil
Seems like Dragonflight preorders are still unavailable and coming past 9.2.5, which means more waiting to see if anything comes from the rumors at an unspecified date!
As I said, maybe 9.2.5 will allude to something…or not. I’ll look through everything before I comment on it. Again, it doesn’t kill new playable race rumors. That will be whenever Dragonflight preorders open with incentives announced whether it ends the rumors or not.
But hey, regardless if nothing comes from out of it, we’ll still keep marching in support for playable Horde San’layn! 
Fair enough. Although I’d argue that shipping hundreds of encrypted files is a bit more suspicious than a few lines of server-side quest text. A quest could just be one designer working on something on the side and including it by mistake.
For the Tirisfal thing, it’s not like 4 different teams accidentally made somehting, pushed it, and encrypted it on the same key lol
Gathered up a few of the Wowhead links regarding 9.2.5 and its contents:
Still need to read them. I know there are suppose to be different events going on, so there could be more that isn’t listed here that goes on in the patch itself.
Again, we won’t know if the rumors are really true or not until we see Dragonflight preorders available at a later date. I’ll keep expectations tempered until then, of course.
Once the patch does come out, I’ll be looking around in-game and seeing if there will be anything of interest to report back. Assuming the rumors are true, we could see something alluding to the near future. And even if nothing comes from any of it, it doesn’t mean we’ll never see playable Darkfallen and San’layn at all.
Still hoping for the best for playable Horde San’layn, of course.
I guess there is the ‘wait and see’ factor due to the encryption. At least we know we’ll see those encrypted files (probably?) in a week.
And we don’t know the specifics of what all is going on in Tirisfal Glades with the Forsaken and Calia. I assume that will be available when 9.2.5 goes live as well. If it isn’t available, that will just rouse even more suspicion.
Guess we’ll find out on May 31st.
There’s at least 3 different encryption keys showing up in 9.2.5, and one of them seems to have the splash screen in it. So I’m guessing at least that one would be unlocked at launch so the splash isn’t a blank green square?
True. Why would the encrypt a splash screen if all is announced? I assume they don’t usually encrypt splashes (this is something I don’t know). But… yeah. If all we know right now (which is something we already knew from PTR anyway) was the only thing in 9.2.5 and worth being on splash, you’d think it wouldn’t be encrypted.
Definitely a fair point.
The announcement was legit nothing we didn’t already know for months now anyhow. They have to know it was stuff we were aware of already from PTR.
Maybe the green square is a sign we’ll finally see playable Horde Saurok! Ya know! Green for reptiles! Yes! I have solved the case! Hahaha…haha…haaa…can you blame me for trying? ._ .;
-ahem- In all seriousness, I’m wondering if that splash screen will be used at all when we log in or if a different one will be used at 9.2.5’s launch. It is hard for me to imagine them holding off on announcing something big like new playable races until it launches, unless the encrypted splash screen is related to Dragonflight preorder incentives. Hard to say, really. It’s all so confusing. Especially if it ends up being a damp squib of features.
Least we have a confirmed date for the patch to come out. Hopefully we’ll learn more about Dragonflight preorder incentives sooner than later, though.
Finally, the release date. The torture can end soon.
Wish these two were not always talked about in the same sentence. I want nothing to do with Calia. I like her model but that is about it. Damn Menethil’s . . . worse then undead cockroaches. 
It really is strange to me they didnt mention the Calia/Tirisfal quests - not even the Anduin/Sylvanas and Tyrande quests. I can understand if they want to keep certain rewards (ie armor set, potential allied race, etc) a secret. But to not even mention that the quests exist? Very odd.
And we know the quests are coming in 9.2.5, because Danuser has alluded to such during the T&E interview (The Calia ones, unsure about the Dark Ranger’s Pupil quest)
I’m getting my hopes up again, because they’re going to incredible lengths to keep this stuff a surprise.
Even FF14 gives some preview of the story to come in patch notes/reveals.
I believe the mention was that there were suppose to be different events going on as well that kinda shows how Azeroth has been since we’ve been in the Shadowlands. One thing I remember mentioned involves the Horde Council somehow, and I don’t recall seeing anything mentioned about them with the 9.2.5 release date announcement.
With Calia and Tirisfal Glades, we’ve only seen Alliance stuff datamined and nothing really of the Horde side. I assume there is a Horde side, seeing as one quest involving it was on Wowhead. Not to mention the whole splash screen encryption.
It’s all suspicious, and you would think it would lead to something. I don’t think there is suppose to be weeks of different events happening with 9.2.5 to my understanding, so it’s hard to know what to expect or what is or isn’t coming. Moreso with Dragonflight preorders still not available.
I do think a bit key to this puzzle could be Dragonflight preorders, which would explain a lot for how a lot of things are being so secretive and all the encryption. Not to mention that Blizzard need some incentives to get preorder numbers up (with the usual revenue streams by proxy with race changes and level boosts), and it’ll be awhile before prepatch starts, so new playable races of some kind does make sense (and would make a lot of money depending on what races become playable).
Until we see the Dragonflight preorder incentives, we can’t put any rumors to bed one way or another, and it would be fairly early to just give in to despair, even if nothing comes from 9.2.5. Of course, this assumes we’d be getting at least one new playable race, which if we do, could be anything. Though it still seems like Darkfallen are a good candidate for one new playable race.
And as I said, if nothing comes from any of this, it doesn’t kill playable Horde San’layn chances. Even if a rogue San’layn going into business for themself happens, it isn’t the end of the world (of Warcraft!). We just continue onward with our support in the grand scheme of things.
Oh hoo hoo. I don’t mind if I do. 
Fascinating. And I am guessing the log in box is still encrypted? That’s super bizzare.
If it’s a pre order thing it’ll likely remain encrypted until they release pre orders. I am pretty shocked at the radio silence about dragonflight and pre order availabilities and bonuses. Especially since dragonflight is “pretty far along”.
Gonna go for the slimecat O.o and purple death walker 
I wonder if that questline will happen on launch or after they do a preorder bonus reveal as the leak suggested.
If I were to guess, it could be that they’re trying to finalize a release window before they can offer preorders or are timing it to coincide with certain time periods and earnings. I’m sure they want to do it ASAP, and I’m eager to preorder it myself so I can eventually make my Dracthyr characters when they’re available.
If that Tirisfal Glades questline is in, it’s possible it could allude to the rumored Darkfallen playable race and another questline would be how you unlock them, or just preordering Dragonflight automatically unlocks them. Again, this assumes we’re getting a new playable race of some sort.
If the Tirisfal Glades quest isn’t in on 9.2.5’s launch, it will cause a lot of suspicion and likely more speculation. It could have something to do with a new playable race. It may not have anything to do with it. We’d be stuck twiddling our thumbs until something gets announced in that case.
Whatever happens or doesn’t happen, I’ll see if I can look around on 9.2.5’s launch day when servers come up and report anything I find. Hopefully, others will also do the same thing so we can share our findings.
Still hoping for a juicy carrot on that stick dangling before us as opposed to a rotten potato, of course, but I’ll try to keep an open mind as I search for clues. 
The lack of any mention of Calia/Tirisfal content in the patch notes tells me this content will remain under wraps even after 9.2.5 launches. The encrypted content could be revealed when pre-orders are finally announced, or even some other pre-determined time that Blizzard has in mind.
Having to wait to find out is going to annoy me. -_- Especially if it ends up being a big let down in regards to Darkfallen as an allied race, or at the very least as customization.
Lol I found this meme I made on my computer a while ago 