I’m sure most of you by now have seen the supposed leaked list of expansion zones. I wasn’t sure when it surfaced but after some googling, I found a set of posts on a ZAM Network starting in 2007 all the way through 2011. The guy who posted stated that he’d been sent the info in 2003 or 2004 from a buddy in the Friends And Family Beta. Later in the thread (August 2009) he admits to faking the list and writing it himself in Fall 2007.
I thought it would be fun to take a look at it again as it’s been a while since the thing made it’s way into the open. How close is his 2007 post to what we are seeing in 2012?
When he wrote the list, Burning Crusade was already released. So this is spot on and he could have changed some names to make it look more official than it was.
Draenor Set – Burning Crusade, announced 2005, released Jan 2007
Azuremyst Isle – 1 to 10
Bloodmyrk Isle – 10 to 20 (Bloodmyst Isle)
Eversong Forest – 1 to 10 (Eversong Woods)
Quel’thalas – 10 to 20 (Ghostlands)
Hellfire Peninsula – 58 to 62
Zangarmarsh – 60 to 64
Terokkar Forest – 61 to 65
The Deadlands – 63 to 67 (Auchindoun area that was incorporated into Terrokkar?)
Nagrand – 64 to 68
Blade’s Edge Mountains – 66 to 70
Netherstorm – 67 to 70
Shadowmoon Valley – 69 to 70
Northrend Set – Wrath of the Lich King announced 2007, released Nov 2008 Remember, the list was written in Sept 2007. This list is exactly what was released except for the level ranges being a bit different.
Borean Tundra – 67 to 70
Howling Fjord – 67 to 70
Dragonblight – 69 to 72
Grizzly Hills – 70 to 73
Crystalsong Forest – 72 to 75
Zul’drak – 73 to 76
Sholazar Basin – 75 to 79
Storm Peaks – 76 to 80
Icecrown Glacier – 78 to 80 (Icecrown)
Now things start to get a bit broken up, however it’s still interesting to see how many of his proposed zones did make it to Cataclysm.
Maelstrom Set – Cataclysm, announced 2009, released Dec 2010
Gilneas – 77 to 80 (Worgen starting area, I really wish they’d turned this into an inhabited zone, the design is so cool. Shame that nothing is there unless you pvp)
Grim Batol – 78 to 81 (L85 dungeon in Cataclysm, zone is Twilight Highlands. Do note that in Vanilla, Grim Batol was part of a subzone of Wetlands which was guarded by elite red dragonflight)
Kul Tiras – 79 to 82 (Home of the Proudmoore family, not released but some think it may be released with Mists of Pandaria after the sacking of Theramore)
Kezan – 81 to 86 (Goblin secondary zone in Cataclysm)
Tel Abim – 83 to 85 (unreleased)
Zandalar – 84 to 87 (unreleased, may be part of Mist of Pandaria, it is on Blizzcon 2011 zone map for Pandaria per Wowpedia)
Plunder Isle – 86 to 88 (Home of the Bloodsaid Buccaneers, not released. Some speculation that it might be Hiji due to similar shape and area per Wowpedia. Also it could be released at the same time as KulTiras if they do release that zone. Could even be another pvp area)
The Broken Isles – 87 to 90 (unreleased)
The Maelstrom – 89 to 90 (Not released as a zone but a sub area with Thrall for the sake of storytelling)
Missing from this set are the zones of Uldum, Tol Barad, (which is part of the Kul Tiras islands), Mount Hyjal, Lost Isles, and Vashj’ir. It’s interesting that he didn’t have Mount Hyjal down on his list, it’s such a big part of the lore.
The next two sets are and could be a mix of what we now know is the Mists of Pandaria and the next unannounced expansion along with what was mentioned above. We know that the Elemental Planes were introduced in the Cataclysm when Deathwing rose from Deepholm. Also part of the Plane Set are the areas that look to be the much anticipated (at least by me) Emerald Dream story arc. Blizzard has said that they have plans for the Dream when they can fit it in. Some have speculated that it could be patched into Mists of Pandaria since it sort of fits into the vibe. According to a Wowinsider post, it HAS been in development.
Plane Set
Pandaria – 1 to 10 (The Wandering Isle)
Hiji – 10 to 20 (unreleased)
Wolfenhold – 1 to 10 (in his mind, Worgen start zone?)
Xorothian Plains – 10 to 20 (See Xoroth)
The Green Lands – 88 to 91 (unreleased)
The Dying Paradise – 91 to 94 (unreleased)
The Emerald Nightmare – 94 to 97 (unreleased)
The Eye of Ysera – 97 to 100 (unreleased, Green Dragonflight’s main base within the Dream)
Deephome – 88 to 91 (Cataclysm 82-83 zone)
Skywall – 91 to 94 (Became Cataclysm L85 raid)
The Abyssal Maw – 94 to 97 (Not released as a raid, yet)
The Firelands – 97 to 100 (Became Cataclysm L85 raid, patch 4.2)
Legion Set – Eradar and the beginning/end of the Burning Legion?
K’aresh – 96 to 99 (Home of the Ethereals, interesting that they have been reintroduced)
Argus Meadowlands – 97 to 100 (Argus is the homeworld of the Eradar/Draenei)
Mac’Aree – 99 to 100 (Main city on Argus)
Maw of Oblivion – 100+ (This is actually part of the quest to get the Rogue epic daggers)
The Burning Citadel – 100+++
So, overall, he has had a lot of things right, but further down the list, things still show up but are not quite as he predicted. Still, this is a really good match to what we have seen so far considering it was made up five years ago.
I’ve been thinking (and hoping) that the next two expansions will deal with the light/darkness, dream/nightmare stories since these have not yet been expounded upon. There have been some interesting tinfoil hat articles regarding this by Anne Stickney at Wowinsider, see Know Your Lore. I’m really hoping that the Dream will be next, anything to do with dragon/titan lore is especially interesting to me for some reason.
Also, I find it intriguing that the new enemy, according to Chris Metzen during Blizzcon 2011, will be War. And that perhaps the Horde and Alliance of Azeroth have been drawn to Pandaria to learn lessons. Lessons that will prepare them for these future conflicts between internal light and darkness, dream and nightmare?
To quote Illidan Stormrage in the Dark Temple, “You Are Not Prepared”
Saving Azeroth, one heal at a time 