Wouldn't Thousand Needles play the part of the Grand Canyon.

Archipelago's would probably be in a more Maelstrom themed expansion such as the next one if Azshara is next.

__________________

Hmm, I though Thousand Needles already plays the role of Grand Canyon of WoW as the whole zone is basically one big canyon.

As for tropical islands... I dunno, doesn't the game already have plenty of those? Off the coast of STV, Echo Isles, Strand of the Ancients and soon Lost Isles.

Yet the Maelstrom will be in Cataclysm...

I think 'archipelago' is covered by the Echo Isles and the islands north of Theramore. Southern STV may also count. And with Cataclysm giving us even more islands, I think it is covered well and good.

But no, Lon-ami wants a whole zone with this little idea that he thought of.

__________________
...what just happened?

You would know, wouldn't you?

Would you? They made a big deal about Deathwing coming from there, and they are keeping is as just a drawing on the map?

__________________
...what just happened?

They didn't make "a big deal" of it, it was mentioned by one Blizzard employee in 1 interview, nothing more. Other than that mention that Deathwing pops out from the Maelstrom, nothing even hints at possible inclusion of the Maelstrom in-game yet.

Yet you proceed to tell us that "The Maelstrom will be in Cataclysm" like you know for sure...

1. A zone completly made of metal, like the Titans HQ. And then like 25% of the zone would be completly made of flesh.

2. An Asian theme zone (Pandaria) with bamboo forests etc.

3. A zone that is a series of floating islands in the sky. Perhaps in a Twisting Nether like expansion.

4. An "Icelandic" themed zone. Like plains, snow, geysirs mixed with volcanos and glaciars.

5. A huge city that is actually a whole zone. I imagine perhaps when we visit the Ethereals homeworld K'aresh, their whole planet is a city that is being consumed by the Void.

Fine. Fans made a big deal about one little tidbit. Based on your eye-rolling, I take it that it is in Cataclysm? Or are you mocking me for being wrong?

I've imagined their homeworld as a giant city ever since Ulduar came out.

Lolwut?! From the Old Gods? Because that does not say 'titan' to me.

Netherstorm tried.

Zul'drak tried.

__________________
...what just happened?

No, not at all. I was just wondering why you mention something that hasn't even been proven/hinted at and make it seem like you know it for a fact instead of saying "I think/believe Maelstrom might be in Cataclysm", that's all.

Let's just say that the chances of a Maelstrom expansion... is not so high.

Yeah, the flesh part would come from Old God corruption. Perhaps the Titans of the Pantheon would be affected by the Curse of Flesh and become raid bosses or in a bizarre twist, Aman'thul is or becomes the leader or new host of the Old Gods.

It wouldn't be like Netherstorm. Not in space. It would be a beautiful zone surroanded by clouds.

Zul'drak doesn't really feel like a city for me.
My "city zone" would feel much more like an actual city and be a bit more technological (Ethereal).

As have I. I get the impression of something akin to Marvel’s old Asgard, Jack Kirby style futuristic.

I’ve always figured that when the Titan returned for their scheduled “revisitation,” if there was an expansion centered around it then it would essentially have an enormous “craft” that is their city come and float over Azeroth. It would be large and diverse enough for several zones.



As for landscapes, I always wanted a zone where you are essentially in space - like on the surface of the moon. Not just a weird nether sky like in outland, but just blackness and stars. Lack of atmosphere be damned for cool visuals.

__________________

Nagrand already achieved that feeling for me and soon we'll have Skywall which is literally a zone in the clouds where we'll use flying mounts to fly from 1 platform to the other.

Somehow Zul'drak always gave me the impression of a well built city with levels, temples, aqueducts, fields and whatnot.

Kezan comes to mind.

So many points to address:

1: I don't consider Thousand Needles a canyon like the Grand Canyon. It's, basically, a dry river, and the erosion it has is produced by air, not water. Also, it doesn't have levels: the bottom isn't in a slope. Whatever, I don't consider the "canyon" role well enough played yet.

2: My archipelago-zone idea, as pointed by Revenant, is to have a zone made of dozens of small islands. There's nothing like that yet.

3: I remember that metal-zone idea of yours, Roblore. On the change a zone thread, wasn't it? You chose Badlands, if I'm not wrong. Whatever, I think Deepholm already covers that "rough pure minerals" theme, so I don't know.

4: Iceland, tundras and taigas are already covered by Northrend. Yeah, they aren't zones in their own, but their elements are portrayed across the different regions of Northrend.

5: By isles floating in the sky, I guess you mean isles floating vertically aside from horizontally. If not, Netherstorm is already there, although you could mean something like my archipelago idea but with void instead of water, which is what I suspect. Something like Avatar's Pandora's floating isles, then?

6: The "city" zone is a pretty good idea, although I suspect Kezan could fill that role, if the rest of the isle is the same as what is available in Cataclysm. Whatever, a city is like a jungle, and playing through a jungle of skyscrappers would be awesome. Perhaps a spaceship-world instead of a simple city, although that idea would fit more titans that ethereals. Taking city at planet for ethereal and spaceship-planet for titans would be ok for me.

That's all, I think .

__________________


Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

I always thought pandaria should be, as someone said, a bamboo forest. But not an ordinary one. Huge bamboo, big around as oaks and hundreds of feet tall. The pandaren would live on round platforms surrounding the bamboo trunks connected by rope bridges. Has a very misty, green aura to it with gray rocks mostly covered by lots of deep green moss on the ground. And perhaps in some areas, the large carst pinnacles like you see in southern China.

__________________
'This wand's brother is the wand of that scar-maker, the guy who gave you your famous scar.' Harry almost dookies a shooter but controls himself. Harry is sick of whispery games, and he says, normally, 'What is this scar-maker's name?' Ed Vanders all but holds up a skull and soliloquies, 'Oh, we don't say his name, but know this: he is a badass. He can kill anyone, anything. A gorilla or a bear, whatever, anything. Anything but you.' Ed Vanders, wasteland of a face, crowds in close. His monologue is stinky. 'You are in a great position. You are an army of wizards, Mister Potter. Use yourself wisely.' His breath cascades over Harry's unbreathing nose. 'How long must I go without an intake of air?' is the only thought that consumes his brain.

I'm sure you'll know he's actually right sooner or later.

Anyways, on topic, I'd like... A overly magical fairytale forest.

You know, like something from Alice in Wonderland / A midsummer nights dream.

The plane Lorwynn from Magic The Gathering would be pretty close.

Just because Deathwing came out of the Maelstrom doesn't mean we wouldn't have a expansion about the areas AROUND it such as Nazjatar. We know we won't be fighting Azshara in this expansion and so a more island themed expansion for her is perfect. Maybe we could find out where Kul Tiras walked away too now that Vashj'ir is there (if they don't go with 'lol it sunk').

Upside-down Karazhan. An instance I guess, not really a zone. How about a whole zone of quicksand.

__________________
"Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious."
– George Orwell

Pretty god one. We have a ton of forests already, but something faerie-style, something classic, is still missing. And no, Eversong doesn't fill that role properly.

Actually, I think a forest like that would be great for a zone at Pandaria.

As for some others ideas, guess what, I had one from a Magic card, too. It's from one resource: plains. In most of the different editions, they appear as white-yellow-beige grass fields near the coast, with clouds that let sun rays through.

I don't know how that terrain is called, but it's easy to be found in the delta of big rivers, and they are places where sea water and river water meet, full of different fauna and flora. One of those hilly places, full of grass moving by the wind, would be great for a zone. Add a good white-sand beach with some dunes and that would give it a good coast, too.

__________________


Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

I think Ashenvale was Blizz's take on the faerie forest type. Those screens just scream Ashenvale to me.



At least before the Warsong cut half of it down that is.

__________________
For the Burning Hollow!

I think Ashenvale is a bit too dark and nocturnal (in a beautiful way) to be considered fairy-tale esque. I doubt we'll ever see a real fairytale forest in Azeroth, it'd probably be somewhere in the Emerald Dream or so.

@Lon: Sounds alot like swedish beaches to me. There's grass and slopes which suddenly turn into sand with the ocean a stonethrow away.

Or do you mean something like this?

Crystalsong forest could also serve as a faerie forest, it even has mobs fitting the theme (living trees, the faerie-like frost nymphs and crystal dryads).


Personally, I'ld like to something post-apocalyptic, heavy metal type of place (like the areas in Brütal Legend). I really missed an area like that in Northrend, Icecrown fitted it the most, but seemed to lack the chaotic feeling.

__________________

This. Take Ashenvale, replace the huge trees by smaller ones and let the sun enlighten the glades and groves.

I don't think it fits for the Emerald Dream. Pandaria would be a good place, imo.

Perhaps, dunno, I've never seen beaches from there :S. And no, it's not that plains. I'm speaking about white-beige fields, with small patches of sand. Like a big huge beach-like zone that goes inland. I don't remember the exact cards, but I think you can imagine it, more or less.

But yeah, probably similar to those Swedish beaches .

__________________


Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

Maybe steppe, savanna or heath?

And I couldn't really find a Plains that fit your description, but you could look for yourself^^