World Of Warcraft: Blizzcon and Special Announcements!

With Blizzcon barreling down upon us like a rampaging kodo, there's only one thing we can really do before the excitement of the convention hall floor: speculate.

Rumors have been flying about lately that the next expansion to WoW is likely to be announced during a cryptically labeled hour long section on the Blizzcon schedule. While it could very well be the Emerald Dream, a few pieces of evidence seem to suggest that a frostier climate rests in our future, namely that of Northrend.

The rumors have mostly been circulating due to a recent patenting of the name "World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King" and other random bits of internet sleuthing. While some seem to suggest that this makes the expansion a sure thing, the only official thing we have to go on is a long ago response by Drysc that informed us that we would have to be level 80 to fight Arthas, the assumed final boss of the Northrend expansion. Many of the specifics regarding the speculation can be found at the always useful WoWiki entry on "Wrath of the Lich King".

While the announcement of such an expansion would overall be great for us players, the potential for another level cap increase raises the question: "Is it too soon?" It took over a year for the Burning Crusade expansion to be released after it was announced and even then many players never got a chance to fully experience the pre-60 game, especially the incredibly well designed Naxxramas. Releasing yet another expansion, even if the development time mirrored that of BC, could potentially send the current raid content spiraling down into the purgatory that Ragnaros and Kel'thuzad currently inhabit. Unfortunately, all we can do is speculate, as Blizzard hasn't officially announced anything.

Until then, enjoy the murloc suit, the latest bit of Blizzcon swag.