Sneak peak of the new comic, gives some truth to the Thrall rumours.

WorldofWarcraft.com

I don't get that. Why would it be easier?

Unless there's som really funky stuff going on with flying in wow the main reason they're not allowing flying (for non-game balance issues) is that when Azeroth was designed you couldn't fly in it so they cheated a lot in the edges between zones. Very sharp borders, one texture just ending in the middle of nowhere and a new one continuing next to it. It was very visible when you could get up where you shouldn't be by jumping around on slopes etc.

It should "only" be to smooth these things over and make the transitions smoother and maybe add a few trees or steeper cliffs. I don't see how doing everything from scratch would be easier.

The reason they haven't done it in a patch is probably that they don't feel it's necessary, you're not that much in the old world when you're 58 or above. There are no flying Auction houses.

Though this could already be assumed from the covers of the following issues, we see Rehgar (Thrall's emissary), Broll, Maraad and Shattrath architecture, and the new #25 cover displays a young Blood (or High?) Elf which could be a Scryer representant - could also be Valeera, but she's different from how that character's been depicted so far.

No it does not, not at all. It merely states that Jaina plans to ask Thrall to join - the covers of the following issues suggest that he instead sends Rehgar, who is also a shaman, because, well, he is too busy leading the Horde. Thrall isn't one of those "oh you totally need me on this adventure to succeed" characters.

*cough* Might of Kalimdor? Not WotLK content, but how much exposure does Thrall have in that? Some lines in the Battle for the Undercity, where Saurfang also appears, and the questionable honor of being visited by an Alliance raid regularily, just for a mount.

Saurfang is a questgiver in Borean Tundra and also plays a part in the quest 'Foolish Endeavors', where he disguises himself as a scourge and then pops out to beat down Varidus the Flenser and his army (which apparently is on youtube). Given that you return Saurfang the Younger's battle armor to him after the Wrathgate as well, I'd say he's not as minor as you make him sound.

Perhaps he chooses not to accept the title of warchief as he feels he's a better commander of armies than a leader of the people. I worry that he won't survive past WOTLK based on what he says in Borean Tundra though. I can't see him really letting Garrosh be leader of the Horde and messing things up:
Saurfang to Garrosh: "I won't let you take us down that dark path again, young Hellscream. I'll kill you myself before that day comes... "

I think this might be a sort of chicken and egg though. Do people skip the story because they are not interested in lore or because they simply have been conditioned into ignoring it? I would argue there are probably a good amount that fit into the latter. There are simply so many worthless old world quests, with the lore hid away behind long chains, that is has always been easier and more efficient to use QH and get through the content as quick as possible. This only became worse with the changes to XP. Now you can pick and chose the quickest quests and just skip anything longer. Consolidating the old quests would make the leveling process not only smoother, but it would allow the story to come to the forefront of the experience.

Just got a look on the cover of issue #23 (or was it 25?) and is it just me or are there a Goblin and a Worgen in the upper left corner of that cover?

Another idea I had about the joys of a lvl 85 cap is that it allows for raids and gear to be reset easier. Rather than have three to four tiers of content at the max level, just have one or two. Instead of having a level 80 running around in a bunch of item level 200 epics (which aren't that epic it turns out) and a different level 80 running around in all item level 258 epics (which surprise surprise are actually quite epic!) we could have a level 85 who is wearing all epics, and yes, those epics are epic.

I think a lot of "old time" WoW players lament over the un-epic-ness of epics anymore. What does purple mean when everyone can get them? If the level ranges are shorter, the gear could make larger jumps from level to level, giving way to tiers of content that increase both in level required and in the gear available. I think a lot of us can remember the joys of going from all greens to all blues and even on top of that our first epic at level 60 and how neat that was. Now if someone even has ANY blues it is like they are a scrub. I don't think I've seen a single level 80 in an instance with a green on still.

I don't think I'm doing a very good job putting my thoughts in to words. I just think it has always been strange that "the game starts at x0" where x is 6, 7 or 8 has always been the case with WoW.

I think many will agree this would be work nicely if each tier was a "Ulduar quality" tier. Not a one-room OS/EOE and not a Coliseum style (even though thats fun!). If they want to make expansions shorter, and have only two tiers. Having two big raids like Ulduar/Icecrown definetely can be a nice idea, for the reasons you outlined.

While I can see the potential benefit in having only 2 tiers of raiding, the inevitable results of that are what I would question. Right now, the 'development cycle' is 3-4 major patches, putting in 3-4 tiers of gear, over what, 2 years? Would this mean a new expansion then, every year?

While I can totally understand wanting Ulduar quality content for each patch, but at the same time, if this means less patches, and a shorter cycle, then the other problem I see ... is we don't get to enjoy walking around with our epics for longer periods of time. Personally, I enjoy going around and seeing the various level 80 Epics and such, and if the entire time frame I got to do that in was about 8 months, instead of 18, (figuring the slowdown as the expansion is near launch and raiding dwindles), not to mention that there would be only 2 major raids in that time to get them from ... it just sounds less than appealing to me, vs. the way it is now.

But, i'm not going to go as far as saying Quantity > Quality either. I just think that the negatives of cutting out the smaller patches(and development time) outweigh the positives.

Yeah that might be it, now that you've pointed it out it does look more like an orc with a wolf headdress then a goblin + worgen.

The preview from Comic #22 shows discussion about starting a new council and they mention Thrall as a candidate. However the way they do it seems a bit contrived.

"The druid Broll would be a perfect candidate, but Darnassus has its own problems, and I doubt they can spare him. I'll ask Thrall, of course..."

Because you know, Thrall isn't nearly as busy as Broll these days.