I would imagine that in his current state some would consider Arthas to be at least equal to Kil'jaeden in terms of power. And technically Sargeras would also trump Kil'jaeden in terms of powerful baddies left. However, I would find it hard to believe WoW would have us fight and kill off essentially every conceivable villain in the cosmos.

Sounds like you have some insider information.

I don't see how they would add any additional races. I'm not a huge lore-buff, but I can't think of any races off the top of my head that would complement Horde/Alliance balance very well. Plus one of the main points with introducing the Dranei and Blood Elves was to address the faction mismatch with classes. Now that the factions are "balanced" (don't get me started on Fear Ward), I don't see how they could feasibly add in two more races.

One interesting idea would be to have an 11th "neutral" race that left each individual character the option of which faction to choose to ally themselves with. That could possibly alleviate some of the stretches that Blizzard would have to make in order to fit the race into the existing world. Pandaren perhaps? :o

Goblins are more likely as China supposedly opposes anything that involves killing a panda and The Undermine is propably added in an expansion, hopefully the next one.

You could basically start at the Undermine and then after reaching a proper level (thinking of 20 as that's where the BElves and Draenei[I guess] join the others) they get to choose their sides. The only thing that needs some tinkering is their available classes. Mages, Rogues and Warriors would be likely, but what else? Paladins and Shamans are ruled out with Hunters and Druids as Goblins aren't exactly Light humping or have any respect for the Nature nor the Elements. Warlocks could fit in and if we're stretching it - Priests (we got holy UD priests).

Then we have the Furbolg/Worgen movement, but I think those aren't as likely.

reading the blue post that says resilience will affect dots in the "next major content patch" makes me think that at blizzcon this mentioned patch will be presented, probably with zul'aman and its related quest hubs and rewards and rep grinds.

I believe I can remember hearing somewhere that relatively speaking Archimonde is a bit more powerful than Kil'jaeden is... The difference lies mostly in their methods. Kil'jaeden is far more inclined towards subtle machinations, while Archimonde is more one for the direct "I charge in with the rest of the Legion and kill them all!" approach.

From that you can assume that unlike Archimonde, Kil'jaeden would pick an area to fight in which would work to his advantage.

Well, the War3 lore is that Kil'jaeden is the leader of the Nathrezim while Archimonde is the leader of the Eredar with Sargeras above them both. That was before the TBC retcon where they both became leaders of the Eredar. I think it was Kil'jaeden who also made the Lich King and gave him his power.

They'd probably have to bring back Sargeras someday, especially if they plan to do more expansions or plan to make a War4 or WoW2.

If they announce Patch 2.2 containing VoIP, Zul'Aman as a 10-man at a Tier 4.5 level of difficulty, Guild Banks, and (to throw in something unexpected and pure speculation!) a complete overhaul of Alterac Valley, as well as having Starcraft II playable, I don't think anyone would go away feeling too disappointed,

Yeah, Archimonde is the Defiler, Kil'Jaeden is the Deceiver. That's pretty much where the distinction lies.

Kil'Jaeden is probably the more "adept" of the two in terms of power, another of his titles is "First Among the Eredar", but Archi was the combat specialist and the walking nightmare who would break worlds the fun way. Kil'Jaeden preferred corruption and minions. Not that those measures couldn't kill an awful lot of beings - see Lich King, Orcs v. Draenei.

I don't recall any instance where Kil'Jaeden has actually been dragged out into a fight personally. The nearest I believe was when he appears in full "glory" above Illidan and Illidan begs in what's pretty clear terror.

Kil'Jaeden is very clearly an Eredar in Warcraft III.

"Warlocks could fit in and if we're stretching it"

One of the quest NPCs for the level 60 epic warlock mount chain is a goblin lock.

I agree with the point someone made above about Blizzard running out of major villains. I think it is time to advance the story back on Azeroth and generate new archvillains from the plot threads of vanilla WoW in order to keep the stable of nemeses full.

One way to do this would be to create Heroic versions of the old 5-man instances. These 'Classic Heroics' would be populated by level 70 mobs and their themes would assume that the events of vanilla WoW and TBC are in the past. For instance, Heroic Blackrock Depths could be written as follows: Ironforge retakes Blackrock Mountain after the death of Dagran Thaurissan and Ragnaros, and Dark Irons led by the Thorium Brotherhood attempt to reintegrate into mainstream dwarven society. But the leader of the Ironforge occupation force (General Stormpike from AV?) is a traditionalist who cruelly oppresses the Dark Irons, and civil war breaks out beneath Blackrock Mountain. The players can choose to assist either the Ironforge Occupation or the Dark Iron Rebels. Good opportunity for a faction grind with rewards and recipes.

In Heroic Stratholme, the destruction of the Scarlet Cathedral has allowed the Scourge to overrun the city, but the fall of Kel'Thuzad has weakened the Scourge in the Eastern Plaguelands. The Brotherhood of the Light now launches an assault to reclaim the city of Stratholme, but their efforts are hindered by Varimathras as he plots to escape his servitude and avenge the death of Balnazzar.

In Heroic Dire Maul, the death of Prince Tortheldrin and the huge damage to the arcane structures of the sanctum have weakened the barrier between dimensions and opened a potential invasion point for the forces of the Burning Legion. Eredar warlocks and Sunfury blood elves must be prevented from pillaging the research of the ancient structure and opening a gate for the forces of the Burning Legion.

And on and on. I think this would be a good way to add new content while keeping the old stories of WoW fresh and up to date.

This is an awesome idea.



Heroic Blackwing Lair - Krixix's revenge!

this is a fantastic idea! It keeps the quests and story going for newer players but gives higher levels a sense of advancement and storyline progress

It also means they don't have to do a whole new art and landscape design for the instances as they just use what's already there and populate with different mobs. There's still a huge bunch of work involved in testing, balancing and hell even a lot of localisation for N different languages.

Could certainly fly as an idea. Me, I reckon they'll probably continue the Eastern Plaguelands storyline somewhat. Even with Kel'Thuzad dead, they haven't properly concluded the scourge plot.

After all... at some point they need to continue the Ashbringer story, and the weapon's lore just doesn't fit in an environment without undead in it. I can't see folks getting their legendary Ashbringer in the next expansion and doing boost SM runs.

I'm really hoping for a new BG.... I'm thinking an "assault" type of BG, like in the older FPS games. One team on defense, one on offense, then switch. Dynamic map with mini-objectives, etc. The whole "zerg FR!!" "all in!" "G2 to BS" style of PvP is growing tired.

Or, even better: An arena-style BG for honor, not arena points. I love arena, but honor-grinding is such a pain.

I think Kil'jaeden would make a perfectly acceptable final boss for TBC. Illidan was basically his lackey.

The stories of both of the new races introduced in the expansion tie initimately into Kil'jaeden's story: the Kael'thas turn-in quest text mentions him by name, and Velen (Dranei racial leader) has been his mortal enemy ever since Sargeras corrupted the Eredar.

Finally, the expansion itself is called "The Burning Crusade". That title is reach with meanings, but is certainly a reference to the Burning Legion, of whom Kil'jaeden is the undisputed master.

I think you're all missing a key point here. Lore, yes, whatever. But think more strategically. WoW is getting more vanilla (everyone's a dps class, all trinkets do the same thing, etc. etc.). Kalgan sits on his dark throne sweating. What can he do to bring the awesome back to WoW?

The only answer, and it's obvious once you think about it, is as follows.

The Maelstrom is a giant source of power in the middle of the ocean. Who's attracted to power? Goblins. Who else? Pirates. And who especially? Goblin Pirates. And who would be the natural enemy of power hungry Goblin Pirates? Obviously Blood Elf Pirates.

So the next expansion has to involve at least:

* Goblin as a playable race
* Pirate as a playable class
* Giant floating neutral pirate cities
* Guild- or Player- owned pirate ships with cannons
* Sharks
* A new pvp arena featuring two pirate ships side by side separated by two thin gangplanks
* All-murloc pve instances
* the final instance, in an incredible twist, exposes the Hydraxian Waterlords as the real enemy, way more powerful than the scourge
* the climactic final fight involves killing waves upon waves of undead goblin-murloc pirates under the command of the world-destroying evil Duke Hydraxis as you battle valiantly on the deck of a half-destroyed pirate ship teetering on the edge of the Maelstrom.

All of this follows pretty directly from first principles so I'm surprised you guys haven't figured it out yet.

I'll be severely disappointed if it's anything less than what you've described Bogeywoman. Though it saddens me that my guild will probably not progress far enough to participate in the epic final fight you've described.

I'm hoping they announce a new voice actor for Archimonde. I couldn't imagine the torture of learning this encounter and wiping over and over having to hear his voice @ Mount Hyjal.

I think they may have to get the rights from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 first...

E3 information, via mmo-champion.com from gamespot

E3 07: World of Warcraft Content Upate Impressions - The Dungeon of Zul'Aman - PC News at GameSpot

More Zul'aman informations, Guild bank and Voice Chat coming soon.

Zul'aman

10 Players raid
No attunement or key required
Trash can call adds by beating nearby war drums
4 Loas (animal bosses) : Dragon Hawk God, Eagle God, Lynx God, and Bear God.
2 Other bosses : a Witch Doctor and Zul'jin (Hakkar style, he'll be able to use animal powers from the other bosses).
Rescue missions quest, giving better rewards depending of the time you take to complete it.

Guild Banks

Officers can create vaults.
Can be managed with different permissions.
Should be released before Zul'aman (2.2 ?)

Voice Chat

Free of charge
Will mute the game slightly when someone talks and use onscreen icons to show who's talking.
Will be released in 2.2

---

Much more at both links.

-------

I'll post a scan of the article talking about Kil'Jaden being in Burning Crusade in the next big raid dungeon when I get home tonight. And the death of hero classes and other stuff. That was from the old article a few months ago that initially reported voice communications and guild banks.