Yeah, looking back at that statement I realize it was little heavyhanded. The Sarth fight had nothing to support it in-game, not even so much as a quest to go in there (until the weekly raid, which is kinda silly). Clearly it's a part of the lore of the game, but all its support is outside the game. My statement there was that drawing a relationship between the Ruby Sanctum and Kisirani's "expression of Garrosh's honor" was highly unlikely given the likelihood that Ruby Sanctum will be similarly tangential to the current storyline.

The powder keg event that truly sparks the war between the Horde/Alliance post-Icecrown should have the following characteristics:

• Any goodwill that Saurfang or the Kor'kron hold for Varian after the Deathbringer event will likely be eliminated.
• Garrosh will, at some point, indicate that his "warrior's honor" is more appropriate for a wartime Horde than Thrall's "shaman's honor." This matches with Kisirani's statement regarding a paradigm shift away from Thrall's vision.
• More importantly, the Horde and the Horde playerbase will completely buy Garrosh's statement.

You know, I don't see Varian being the aggressor here. We saw him aggressive at the Battle for Undercity and we know his attitudes well. If Garrosh brings war, Varian will answer it, but if Garrosh didn't and there were authentically bigger dragon-shaped fish to fry, Varian would continue to prioritize that over settling the score with the Horde.

So it meshes better with re-casting the Horde in a more warlike stature by removing the one thing that has kept the Horde relatively peaceful for so long: Thrall's cohorts in Cairne and Vol'jin, his personal understanding relationship with the Forsaken and Blood Elves, and Thrall himself. The new Horde War Machine, led by Garrosh, supported by Baine, and keeping Vol'jin, Sylvanas and Lor'themar in line, is what will characterize this faction going forward.

EDIT: @Bierzkrieg: I think the artwork of Thrall and Cairne rolling about rescuing horde orphans is all about characterizing that Cairne's loyalty is to Thrall. I think if Thrall is going to focus more on healing the world, he'll want Cairne's backup. Especially since Baine has been primed to lead the Bloodhoof the whole time.

I think it's important to point out that Thrall becoming the Guardian/joining the Tiris Fal/etc doesn't necessarily mean that he's leaving the Horde behind him. He's still the most important link for all the races that make up that faction, and he brings the Goblins into the group too. I think Thrall will leave the day-to-day operations to Garrosh, choosing to take on an advisory position, and then later on realize he can do nothing to stop Garrosh' aggression now that he's been given the reins. It's a huge mistake on Thrall's part, but one that we loreboars have to accept because Blizzard wants an aggressive Horde.

True, Blizz has said in the past (at the WoW comic presentation, I think) that they want to emphasize the notion that an orc takes some measure of delight in battling, unlike a human (this was the speaker's example). They don't want to make the Horde bad, but they seem to dislike the current "All the same, different outfit" stance towards factions.

It remains to be seen wether Vol'jin will get some support in the form of Horde troops for the retaking of Echo Isles or if it falls to trolls and champions to do it. Like Enova said, smart moves may get Garrosh some new friends, and supporting another racial leader in getting his home back is one such move. Vol'jin would be almost obligated to aid Garrosh in his war. Not that the Trolls need a reason to go chop-rend-maim.

All things considered, then, we're to expect a lore-shattering event that changes a bloodthirsty Overlord Ripper with little military knowledge and dire personality issues into a more sensitive (if not less warprone) leader. 3.3.4 might hold the key, like Exemplar suggested.

Curiosity's burning...

Edit: At this point, I doubt Saurfang has much influence on young Hellscream.

Call me out for speculation, but 3.3.4 may be reserved for future quests pertaining to the upcoming events, such as the quest we recieve from the tauren in Dalaran alluding to the Sunwalkers, but in a much more fleshed out way rather than mysterious NPC dialogue.

Edit: wrong name

I've always thought that the "Heroes" of Azeroth and their respective guilds were similar to Tirion, and the Argent Dawn. I mean, yeah for gameplay-sake Horde and Alliance do not inter-mingle, but in TBC we definitely worked outside the lines of the Horde and Alliance in regards to Kara (mercs of the Kirin Tor so to speak), SSC/TK/BT working with the Broken and Akama, and with the Bronze Dragonflight in CoT:Hyjal. In WotLK, Naxx is a bit of an outlier in that it was reused content where the players were working for the Argent Dawn previously. Maly and Sarth we were working for Wyrmrest Accord. Ulduar, both factions washed their hands of the affair. Leaving the players working for the Kirin Tor, the Explorers League and I suppose themselves. ICC we were working under Tirion and the Ashen Verdict although it was definitely faction based to some extent, but should have been far more faction influenced. We are for all intents and purposes Mercenaries hired by whoever is willing to give us a nice ring with a sweet socket and awesome proc.

I guess my point is there hasn't really been much our Warchief/King has demanded of us, at least not in the raid-game. The Horde and Alliance have had little to say in some of the biggest matters going on in Azeroth or even Outland for that matter. Part of this is, again, due to gameplay issues. Having an neutral party run the invasion of a dungeon is an easy fix, but it leaves my faction based alliances in question. At the end of the day I don't really feel like a soldier of the Horde on orders to kill something, but just some freelance Paladin working for a paycheck.

As far as Garrosh I am really curious to see how they will make him more likable. The character pretty much did a 180 from when we had met him in Outland. The impotent leader is no more, but in his place is a very suspicious fellow. Just look at the leadership he has picked. I don't think you run into one Horde commander in Northrend (other than the officer who saves you in Grizzly Hills) that doesn't leave a bad taste in your mouth. They are pretty much ruthless with no sense of tact. Trying to barter their will over you through bribery, threat of life, or whatever means necessary. It's actually a great example of how great Blizzard's writing can be, and how far it has come over the years. This is, personally, the Garrosh and the Horde I would like to see; at least, temporarily. Watching them sway from the lighter side of noble savage to the darker side would be a fun journey. I don't have to like Garrosh for him to be a good character. The best villains cause you to despise them. Odds are, if you hate Garrosh, and despise his coming rise to power than Blizzard is doing the right thing. Now, saying that it doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to see some honest character development out of him. I mean if you're going to make him bad, and a borderline tyrant with a severe case of Bloodlust then go for it. I'll enjoy the ride, but take him somewhere other than making him the last boss of some dungeon down the road.

Seeing the pics at Blizzcon of the Horde taking over Zoram Strand and building up their infrastructure and defenses makes me all warm and fuzzy. I really can't wait for Cata.

I am also anxious to see how they integrate the players much more thoroughly into the story, I.E, Wrathgate, Argent tournament dailies, (specifically the ones pertaining to Icecrown Citadel), and the like. It seems as time goes on Blizzard has been giving the player much more involvement in the storyline as it progresses. As you stated Charmin, I feel like just some schmuck running around doing tasks for people and not really feeling apart of the grand scheme. I am eager to see if more phasing takes place in Cata, as with the UC Battle,(I personally loved it), I feel it adds more opportunities to make large changes to previous areas we are so familiar with.

I sort of figured that they would go straight from 3.3.3 to 3.3.5, for some internal reasons. I think they have in the past increased the 0.0.X number by two, without giving a reason. Perhaps 3.3.4 was an internal patch that was rolled into 3.3.3 or 3.3.5?

OTOH, it's also quite possible we will actually get a 3.3.4. While I highly doubt it will happen, just about everyone would love a Quel'Danas v2.0 sometime before Cataclysm. IQD/MrT/Sunwell was a really, really great way to finish off TBC, even if 90%+ people probably never even zoned into SWP (myself included, IQD/MrT was so good I didn't care. )

They usually skip numbers for the very reason of incase something needs a patch. For example a while back (I think it was 2.2) they skipped to 2.2.2 but 2.2.1 was used to fix localization errors in Korea.

Well, Blizzard has publicly compared this to Onyxia's Lair, and the 80th level version of that was introduced in 3.2.2. So if they really do think of it in those terms, this isn't the first time they've done this. I agree that it's different because it's actual new content as opposed to a revamping, but in terms of what people actually do, the loot they get, et cetera, I can see the similarity.

Regardless of any possible planned 3.3.4, they specifically stated Ruby Sanctum is 3.3.5. It's just really, really weird to lock yourself in by quoting a number. What if there's a bug, you release 3.3.4 to stomp it, but accidentally generate another bug. Now you need 3.3.4.1 or 3.3.4a or some such in order to keep your numbering straight.

Holding 3.3.4 for possible bug fix doesn't match their previous methods - allow me to point to 3.3.0a, however skipping a number does 3.3.0 to 3.3.2.

Stating 3.3.5 as a fact just falls into the whole "don't make promises" category that they're typically very careful to follow on forums, as it's bitten their ass too much.

Again, it just made more sense to say "Ruby Sanctum data found in 3.3.3 was added early, it will be in a near future patch," not specifically tying it to 3.3.5 as a firm deadline. Most especially when the simple-seeming 3.3.3 has required a month on PTR and (from what MMO Champ seems to say) had serious bugs which were difficult to resolve.

Edit:
Also, I think they're trying to tie the numbering to the tier. I'd like to say "Act", but it doesn't match (Wrath release is Act 1 with Wrathgate, Uld is Act 2, but Argent Tourney was act-less, and ICC is Act 3) 3.x is clear - 1.x was vanilla, 2.x was BC, 3.x is Wrath, 4.x will be Cata. 3.0.x was first tier, 3.1.x was Ulduar, 3.2.x was Tourney (and Ony), 3.3.x is ICC (and Ruby Sanctum). If a new tier (a la Sunwell, even if it extended a tier's set bonus to other slots, iLevel increased) hits before Cata it would most logically be the 3.4.x series.

I could even think that the Ruby Sanctum has been in planning for quite a while, about since the start of the actual fleshing out of ICC, but the latter always had more focus, because a) it was more important, and/or b) it was planned for a later release anyway.

A ritualistic meeting with his father courtesy of Thrall as a parting gift. Only thing is he still throws people out of Orgimmar so I don't know, maybe this isn't so likely.