Yeah I just finished watching it. Taking it with a grain of salt of course, but was a fun leak to read through.
Just pulling this from MMO-Champion for folks that also enjoy the expansion speculation season:
8.2: Azshara survives.
8.2.5:
-Worgen Heritage Armor will be knight-like in human shape, cool nightmare-is in worgen shape.
-Goblin heritage armor has a cool trade/gold theme to it.
-Tyrande defies the Alliance and attacks the Horde.8.3:
-Vulpera and Mecha-Gnomes.
-Ends with an assault on Ny’alotha.
-Sylvanas makes herself the scapegoat to unite Horde and Alliance against Old God threat.
-Sylvanas absorbs the essence of N’Zoth and is killed, to send it to the Shadowlands. It is weakened, but returns.
-Azeroth the Titan appears at the end of the final raid to save us from crumbling Ny’alotha. Very unique model.
-Ny’alotha is within the planet. A Titanic plain where the Old Gods attempt to corrupt the Titan. Lovecraftian.9.0+ Next Expansion:
-Untitled Black Empire expansion. All zones updated for 2020. Some zones merged. Void theme, but also rebuilding.
-Updated Quel’thalas’ new look is a favorite.
-The team is much bigger than during Cata. No invisible walls to remove. Progress is very far.
-Guild Updates: Housing, new achievements, mounts, social features, removed guild controls restored. No auction house in guild hall.
-Guild Halls will be very customizable, with lots of options, combinations, even holiday stuff.
-Horde and Alliance are merging into one faction in 9.0. No more crossroads.
-Many Allied Races are becoming customization options of existing races, and more customization options are being added.
+This includes Mecha-Gnomes for Gnomes, High Elves and Void Elves for Blood Elf and Gilblins for Goblins.
+Vulpera and Nightborne will be the only races not to become customization options for existing races.
-All the Old Gods will re-awaken. And now without the limits on their true power. Their seals broken.
-9.0 will have a lot of Beta invites, for there is much stuff they want feedback on. Also Beta open quicker.
-One of the patches will be relying heavily on undeath. Something is happening up in Northrend.
-Titanforging is gone, but Warforging remains. No new Artifact Power grind system.
-More dungeons than past expansions. Less focus on how the affixes play into the dungeons.
-The next expansion’s graphics are described as absolutely astounding.
-Gilneas and Silverpine Forest are becoming one zone, with a story about Gilneas’ restoration.
-Future zones will be a bit more sandboxy. Like those in 8.2.
-The Ethereals join, to prevent Azeroth being destroyed like K’aresh. Expect to go K’aresh in the expansion.
-Sylvanas dies, but we’ll see her again in the Shadowlands.
-Night Elves will be making Dire Maul (Eldre’thalas) and Feralas their new home.
-Desolate Council will return to lead the Forsaken. Also more customization for Forsaken, such as no bones.
-The PvP system is getting a revamp. They hope to integrate it in a way that makes story sense.
-Level squish will go from 120 to 60. Then level to 70. Alternative for adding further levels sought.Upcoming Class design:
-Tinker Class as new Hero Class. Gnome and Goblin only. Strong campaigning may see other races added.
-Tinker Class is about riding a robot, shooting rockets and stuff, or deploying robot constructs.
-Classes less pruned in 9.0. More Class specific spells.
-Leveling system of 9.0 will come with a much more engaging rewards and talent system. Also new class quests.State of the Game:
-Not worried about FFXIV. Convinced next expansion will put WoW back on top.
-Most of the team disagrees with the corporate practices of Activision.Classic:
-Layering will only be for the first stages of the game. Launch day would be a **** without it.
-Only if Classic performs well, will they decide on Expansion Servers.Future:
-Bolvar was behind the stuff with Vol’jin. Behind her uniting the factions against her. He lied.
-Plans to bring Azshara back as an ally in the future.
-They hope to learn from Classic about things to bring over to retail.
-Less expansion-specific content.
-Naga and Ogres would be difficult, but are not impossible in the future, as options exist.
-Pandaren Death Knights under consideration. No other new race/class combos.
-No plans to stop making expansions, as long as people continue to buy them.
-They want to stray away from shock value to focus more on development and engagement in the story.
-Having two factions has been a hindrance in the storytelling.
-When Arthas returns, he will remain an enemy of Azeroth. No redemption.
-Kel’thuzad could possibly make a return.
-With the faction conflict being resolved, more story can go to racial things, including Pandaren leaders.
-More things being account-wise is being worked on.
-Blightcaller will be a more independent character in the future, rather than a pawn.
-Calia Menethil will also show up when the theme of undead rises again.
-Ruins of Teldrassil will be explorable. Still in early development right now.Obvious and Extra Stuff:
-Subscriptions are here to stay.
-Blizzard isn’t going to be changing the word “nagas” despite some people apparently using it like the n-word.
-California is expensive living.
-The employee likes their job.
-3 Million subscribers, last they heard.
-No plans for Necromancers in 9.0.
-Female Ethereals will have boobs.
-No Dance Studio.
-No cash shop allied races.
-No plans to return to Outland any time soon.
-No plans for a return to Draenor, but there is story potential there.
-No plans for Warcraft 4.
-No new movie planned right now.
-Azshara has not exposed all of her city to the air.
Here’s someones summary from Reddit:
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Two new continents: Dragon Isles, Shadowlands. New class: Tinkerer DPS with turrets, bombs and ‘ghost buster’ gimmicks. Also healer and tank specs. Uses mail armor. Primary stat is intellect. Vestiges of Power (secondary talent system a la artifacts/essences). Level squish postponed. No world revamp. New scaling tech that will do away with the frequent item level & stat squishing. Raid tier sets are not returning, but there will be class-specific challenge sets. Champion system: We will reunite with the spirits of fallen heroes: Uther, Cairne, Vol’jin, Varian, Saurfang, Rhonin, etc. But also certain villains. The Old Gods are not dead. They are sleeping in Ny’alotha. N’Zoth has been redirecting souls to fuel the Old Gods’ ascension back into the world. The Black Empire will rise again very soon. This is what Azshara saw when she died.
Forces of death aka “Death’s Vanguard”:
Elune, Helya and others are working together to fight the Void incursion into the Shadowlands. Bolvar brings us there. Sylvanas has been honoring a pact, waging war in Helya’s name. Elune’s night warrior also transports the souls of its victims to the Shadowlands. Alliance has inadvertently helped the war against the Old Gods in the Shadowlands. They will be reunited with all of the casualties (almost). Bwonsamdi is working for Hakkar the Soulflayer, who seeks power for himself, also by consuming souls. Old Gods: The void exploited the defeat of Argus to gain access to the Shadowlands. Xal’atath may have sold us out. Ny’alotha is threatened by the advance of Death’s forces N’Zoth instigated the battle for Azeroth to cause death & consume more souls. Sylvanas propagated the war to usher souls toward Helya instead of Ny’alotha.
DARKFRONT:
“Starting point” for Shadowlands. Three minor factions: Night elves, death knights, Helya/Sylvanas. Helya is kinder now & prettier. Main goal is to prevent Ny’alotha from consuming the souls of the fallen. Huge rivers of souls run through each zone.
MORBARA:
All the blood trolls we killed in Nazmir are here. Bwonsamdi has been roped into working for Hakkar the Soulflayer. We help him overthrow Hakkar and reclaim his title as the loa of death. ALNIR RIFTLANDS: A crucible for the primordial energies that comprise the fabric of all realities, with portals to each one. Everything is spilling in and out of rifts. Source of void incursions on Dragon Isles and Emerald Dream.
XIROS:
Semi-peaceful zone where spirits go to rest according to lore. Main city and sanctuary is here. Lots of questlines and two dungeons. Greek inspired, a la “Hades’ front yard”. Ethereals have a big presence here.
There will likely be 9 dungeons total at launch, 5 in Shadowlands and 4 on Dragon Isles. No names for them yet.
Dragon Isles:
Don’t know much, but it has void dragons We will help rebuild the black dragonflight Storylines for each dragon aspect
Here’s the ‘leaked’ map as well:
