World of Warcraft is completely redesigned. The WoW analyst Bellular is sure of that – and has plenty of evidence for it.
World of Warcraft has changed significantly in recent years. After things went downhill with “Battle for Azeroth” and “Shadowlands”, a lot has changed for the better in Dragonflight. But these improvements currently only cover a very small part of the game world. We at MeinMMO have already speculated that Blizzard is already working on a complete overhaul of the old world in the background.
But the YouTuber Bellular is also certain that the WoW developers are currently working on a very big thing – and he provides even more clues.
Hints in the game data and the world
Much of the evidence for Bellular is the “assets” found in the game data. So there are many revisions of “old” buildings. The original human buildings, such as those that form the town of Goldshire, have received a complete makeover with modern graphics – so far, however, these innovations are only in the game data, not yet in the game world.
More and more revisions were found in the last patches. Redesigned orc stronghold pieces, night elf tents in HD resolution, and much, much more.
In addition, many “old” things have already been updated in recent years. Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch have received a new look. In “Battle for Azeroth” many new buildings were created in the style of the Horde and Alliance, which can be easily integrated into the old world.
Numerous old enemy types have been given a modern HD design, most notably gnolls, furbolgs and centaurs. Gone are the days when these creatures were just pixel mud.
Ironforge City Guards have already received an HD update, with new armor and high-resolution details – but for now the model remains hidden in the game data.
All of these updates, which Blizzard has used in other parts of the world, could affect all of Azeroth and “facilitate” a complete overhaul so that this mammoth task will actually happen within an expansion.
But there is also currently a lot to do in WoW, because patch 10.1 is still quite fresh:
WoW: Patch 10.1 Embers from Neltharion is live – you can expect that from now on
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The story is ready to finally progress
There was already a small time skip of several years between Shadowlands and Dragonflight. But in most areas of Azeroth there is hardly any sign of it. Apart from the Arathi Highlands or the Darkshore, most areas are still at the “Cataclysm” state – and are therefore historically many years in the past.
But the story goes on and on and on. The most recent Warcraft books (such as “Exploring Kalimdor” or “Exploring The Eastern Kingdoms”) already tell how the areas have slowly changed and what has happened there in recent years. These are all events that have only been dealt with externally so far, but are only told in the game in a subordinate clause of a quest and are not really playable yet.
In addition, Blizzard has been throwing more and more hints that some big things will happen in the next few years. Here are just a few of the “story promises” already hinted at:
In patch 10.0.7, the “Nightsquall” was teased – a night elf pirate who is currently trying to unite various pirate factions in order to then explore “the other side of Azeroth”. Probably the previously unknown continent of “Avaloren”.
The kingdom of Stormwind has been without a king for years, for Anduin is still lost in the shadow lands. For the human citizens, after the kidnapping, the king never returned.
Kalia Menethil and Genn Greymane seek to restore Gilneas to the people (and worgen) of Gilneas. In an interview, Blizzard previously said that “Repopulating Gilneas is something that we would see in the game and not in [Büchern oder anderen Medien]“.
The remnants of the Scarlet Crusade want to cleanse Lordaeron of the undead and have been spreading propaganda material across Azeroth for a while that they have a “true heir” of the Menethils to lead the kingdom.
The night elves are about to plant a new world tree and build a new home after Darnassus was destroyed.
The Silver Hand has attempted to reclaim Stratholme on numerous occasions since Legion, and has always failed.
A political reversal is imminent among the dwarves. The “Council of Three Hammers” will be replaced once the rightful king of Ironforge comes of age – Dagran Thaurissan II. Last mentioned in the tale of the marriage between Thalyssra and Lor’themar, he is almost of age to take the throne.
A political dispute is brewing among the Horde: the water of Durotar is contaminated by the goblins’ oil drilling and all water has to be imported from Mulgore. How does the Horde deal with this?
The anniversary is the perfect time
There’s a pretty big anniversary coming up for Blizzard and Warcraft. Not only will the “Warcraft” franchise soon celebrate its 30th birthday, but the World of Warcraft is already heading towards its 20th birthday – two events that take place almost simultaneously, namely in the year 2024. The next expansion is also an anniversary – because it would be the 10th expansion of World of Warcraft.
For Bellular, it’s clear that this would be the perfect time to really “attack” again with WoW and do some major editing of Azeroth, let the story progress and undertake a massive redesign of the world that puts “Cataclysm” to shame and the avoid mistakes from back then.
After all, around 700 people are now working on World of Warcraft and Blizzard had increased the team by another 100 people before the launch of Dragonflight. An endeavor like revamping the entire world could use so many new employees.
In November of the current year there will be another BlizzCon. The fact that the next World of Warcraft adventure will be announced there is virtually confirmed. But this time it could be much more extensive than we always imagined.
Do you believe the theory and think that Blizzard is planning something big with WoW for the anniversary? Or is that too much wishful thinking?