I have my own theory on expansion cycles.

Act 1: Exploration and Wonder.
Act 2: Visit exotic worlds and fight alien threats.
Act 3: Battle against a mighty long-time foe
Act 4: Destruction to renew the setting.


So, the first iteration was:
Vanilla: Exploration and Wonder.
TBC: Visit exotic worlds and fight alien threats.
WotLK: Battle against a mighty long-time foe
Cata: Destruction to renew the setting.

And then second iteration:
MoP: Exploration and Wonder.
WoD: Visit exotic worlds and fight alien threats.
Legion: Battle against a mighty long-time foe
BfA: Destruction to renew the setting.

I don't think this is done on purpose, it's just a natural progression in which the setting is explored, pushed beyond boundaries, old threats are finally confronted and then we have an act to destroy the old and set up the next iteration.

If I'm right, next expansion is back to Exploration and Wonder. Then we will visit another world (which may be an exotic unfamiliar part of Azeroth, a new planet is not necessary), and then we will fight a big threat that has tormented us for a long time (it's probably being setup right now). Then it's destruction to renew everything.

__________________
- Sorry for any typos; english's not my primary language.

- A better signature coming soon(ish).

of all the leaks , i liked razorpax the most. Everyone and their moms swear we are getting tinkers, EVERYONE. But Blizzard usually zags when everyone expectes them to zig, when it comes to expansions.

The only cycle I see is how they keep returning to call back on a previous game or expansion.

Vanila? Calls back to WC1 (orc vs human fights, Stormwind, Blackrock mountain, all playing prominent roles)
tBC? Calls back to WC2 (Beyond the Dark Portal, more specifically, with the Sons of Lothar and the four portals originally intended to lead to more worlds)
Wrath? Calls back to WC3 very clearly. Working together against a big threat, Arthas returns, etc.
Cataclysm? Calls back to Vanila and its threats. Old Gods, some of the WC1-inspired plots of vanila.
MoP? They try to break way from the callbacks, but end up returning to orc vs human and thus call back to WC2.
WoD? Calls back to WC1 and tBC in equal parts.
Legion? Mixed callbacks to WC3 (Legion) and tBC (Illidan, Khadgar, etc.)
BfA? Full on call back to WC2, and some WC3 elements (Daelin Proudmoore, etc.)

So I think the next one will again call back to some past elements that were underutilized. We will call back to tFT and revisit the Northrend plots, even if we don't return to Northrend. It will also mix in elements from something else, like maybe Cata stuff with dragons.

__________________

So yesterday, WeakAuras on twitter posted three images that he said were leaks from Blizzcon. As far as anyone can tell, they originated from him and no one has been able to reverse image search them.

Diablo IV:

Overwatch 2:

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands:

Then today the Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 images were confirmed real by independent sources. ESPN reported on the Overwatch 2 image and even shared more Overwatch 2 leaks, alleged to have come from a for internal use information pamphlet about the content contained in the Overwatch 2 Blizzcon demo. Meanwhile the artist credited for image of Lilith in the Diablo IV leak confirmed its legitimacy on twitter.

Since they were all posted by the same person at the same time, with the other two real, Shadowlands has probably the best chance of any leak in a long time to be real.

As for the strange stuff about Bastion and the Kyrians, I have a theory about that: Just like the Overwatch 2 images, its part of an information thing about the Blizzcon Demo. Bastion is the zone the Blizzcon demo is set in, hence why they're calling it both Bastion and "The Shadowlands" at the same time, and why the description blurb is just saying "meet the noble kyrian, discover new abilities" like its a summary of what you'd encounter in the demo.

Marlamin on twitter agreed with the theory and pointed out that it matches the shape and dimensions of the banners placed outside Blizzcon demo stations describing the contents of the demo.

WeakAuras also reposted this Bolvar cinematic image leak thing, but it did not originate from him like the other three and thus is does not have the same credibility by association from the other images:

__________________
I am now a writer for Blizzplanet!

Check this:

https://gear.blizzard.com/media/cata...rt-gallery.png

__________________

This is the end of their "trilogy" of x-pacs for this year. The first was about the Evil League or something like that taking Dalaran, the second was about them taking Dalaran to assault Uldum, and now it's the finale. It does not mean it ties in the 9.0 (but it could have clues nonetheless).

__________________
- Sorry for any typos; english's not my primary language.

- A better signature coming soon(ish).

The Bolvar picture is real, this is not a drill it's on Blizzard's gear store's servers.

The other images in the picture Krainz link don't exist though, just Bolvar, the rest give you a blank screen.

__________________
I am now a writer for Blizzplanet!

Less than 100 hours to go. I'm finally begining to feel it.

Yes. Those pictures is from someone messing with URLs in his own browser and showing his browsing history. The pictures do not exist.

For now, we know the image is 100% real. But the banner with the "Shadowlands" shirts could very well be false, made by someone who found the Bolvar picture earlier.

__________________
- Sorry for any typos; english's not my primary language.

- A better signature coming soon(ish).

Saw something on another post that made a good point. Sylvanas is who she is because of the actions of the previous Lich King, causing her to want nothing but vengeance (at least until Cata). Now, the current Lich King is only on the Frozen Throne because of Sylvanas' actions. Maybe he'll be looking for the same revenge?