So we know time in Shadowlands passes slower than normal. While we are in Shadowlands, it’s possible that time on Azeroth could pass by 5-10 years.
Would Blizzard use this as a chance to release Warcraft 4 to tell the story of what happened to Azeroth while players were in Shadowlands? And will this give devs a chance to revamp Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms for future WoW expansions beyond Shadowlands?
That’s an interesting idea. It’s definitely a good way they could put a WC4 into the current timeline without too many problems.
Will they do it? I wouldn’t put any money on it. They don’t seem to excited about making any RTS games and if they do it would be cheaper, easier and just as profitable to pump out another Starcraft game. The RTS market isn’t exactly hopping right now, taking a risk when the easy sure thing is available isn’t always a good business move. Especially after the botched job they did with the WC3 reforged. They prolly wanna stay far away from a WC RTS until enough time has passed that people have forgotten about that.
Why would they need to make Warcraft 4? Warcraft is done. It’s all about the World of Warcraft now.
Yeah. RTS games don’t really fit the new business model of continued player monetization. It would be neat if they told stories of what the factions did while players were in Shadowlands. For example, what happens to Lordaeron? Forsaken? Night Elves? I think there’d be a wide assortment of narratives they could explore via campaigns.
I think after Refunded they would think twice before making another RTS.
I think we need Chromie to fix our broken Azeroth post-Cataclysm. In doing so it reveals a long forgotten other side of Azeroth that has been unexplored! 
Why sell 1 game where you can sell 15 books for that time gap instead >_>, either or i better get books or a game for that time gap 
The idea of Warcraft 4 presumes a desire to expand on the RTS genre. Considering the state of Warcraft 3 Reforged, and the decline of Starcraft 2 over the years and the complete absence of the IP being mentioned in general mission statements, I really wouldn’t hold my breath on this one.
The hope would be that they’d develop it in-house rather than find a third-party studio.
Well books are easier, cheaper, faster and can tell more story. So we’ll prolly get that. It all depends on how much time passes. I’m still not convinced it will be a time skip forward. It seems to me like a time skip backwards to essentially do a soft reboot is something Blizz would do.
eww a time skip back lets not please. what will we make sure garrosh doesn’t become warchief, make sure the burning of teldrassil never happens, that would deeply affect the events of shadowlands and the maw thus the time skip is surely to the future. Plus i love wow books so much condensed lore into pages.
I think a forward skip would be good. There are so many lore issues like Teldrassil, Calia, Tyrande, Genn and Lordaeron that could be addressed in a campaign.
For example, maybe while we’re gone into Shadowlands, Genn retakes Gilneas and restarts a war. Who knows?
I mean while we’re gone into the shadowlands … we’re still hoping back and forth , i doubt blizzard will force us into shadowlands only once you hit level 50 
So while time may pass differently , there is nothing major thats gonna happen in the 24hrs it takes between usual visit to stormwind or older content !
That’s just for in-game purposes. But I think in canon, they could easily say adventurers who journey into Shadowlands don’t come back until the end of the expansion.
I thought I had read something similar about WoD too but I can’t find the source anymore.
Oh but why think of new stories when you can retell WC3 but this time Arthas is the hero. That’s mostly what Blizz has been doing for the last 15 years, trying to rehash WC3, now they could do it all again, but right this time.
Tell me that doesn’t sound like the level Blizz is operating at these days?
I give Blizzard a lot more credit with their story, something probably so deep and big that no one can see coming. We just have to wait and see.
This I will agree with. We know nothing till they tell us. It will prolly just be a skip forward because that is the safe and easy thing to do.
This though, not after BfA. Not since they have started making decisions based on the rule of cool over consistency or logic. I just don’t trust them with story that much anymore.
What do you think is wrong with the story, the only really big flaw i saw was Anduin: Lets go attack the home of the forsaken, a race notoriously known for using anything and everything to win including the Plague. Let us totally not take precautions against the possible use of the plague. Battle commences, plague is used, over 3/4 of the forces die. Anduin: Surprise pikachu face
Arthas should have been wc4. He deserved better than what he got in wrath with the awful end.
The entire lead up to the expansion, the unnecessary faction war, the overly dramatic writing, the mustache twirling villainy.
The individual zone story lines weren’t bad. Uncovering the rot in the Zandalari leadership and helping the Kul Tiran houses fix their problems so they could come together as one nation was decent story telling.
The burning of the tree, Sylvanas’s mood shifts, her poor decisions when she is supposed to be a master tactician. That part came off like a bad edgy teenage fan fiction. Then you had Saurfang’s over dramatic depression and Zappy Boi’s youthful enthusiasm combined with Sylvanas’s bungling attempts to assassinate him showing him that he’s still needed and he needs to get the band back together to save the school… Cause that came off like a bad after school special on the Hallmark channel.
Then you have Magni and the Champions of Azeroth storyline that just does not fit anywhere and is completely contradictory to the rest of the narrative. The factions are at bitter war with each other. The Horde has done unquestionable atrocities and the Alliance has suffered unbelievable tragedy, but hey let’s stop fighting for a bit cause this shiny Dwarf wants our help to fix the ever loving dying planet. Wait, the planet is dying and there’s an Old God mucking about? Why were we fighting again? Oh hold on a sec the Dwar says we’re done for now. DIE ALLIANCE SCUM AAAAAAA!!!
Finally we get to the end of the faction war and it’s a half arsed tub of fizzled disappointment because it’s the culmination of the edgy teen fanfic smashed together with the after school special. So we get emo Saurfang teaching everyone a lesson by sacrificing himself to become the hero and get what he wanted all along. And Sylvanas loses because she makes the dumbest mistake in the history of all Elfdom by yelling you don’t understand me, you’re all dummy heads. Then she realises she flubbed and flies off in a tantrum.
And that’s it. It’s over. We all buddies now. Forget the tree, forget the dead Troll King, forget we dragged two independent nations that were minding their own business into our war just to leave them hanging saying WTF just happened when we end it. Oh wait, right, the Dwarf and his Old God, we better take care of that. We proceed to punt the Old God with little to no story actually happening. The last Old God. The biggest bads after the Legion for the entire game and we kill him almost as an afterthought to a war that shouldn’t even have happened.