First Expansion Images?

[nobbie]

On WOWGuru.com, these two images have just popped up, which might show the new race and starting location of the upcoming WOW Expansion "The Burning Crusade". It looks like High Elves, but might as well be something else:

[Quark]

Look like Blood Elves to me. Of course, they're in the Outlands right now, and unless they did some serious healing the Outlands aren't in that good shape.

[nobbie]

Look like Blood Elves to me.  Of course, they're in the Outlands right now, and unless they did some serious healing the Outlands aren't in that good shape.
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Might as well be some sort of "oasis" in the Outlands :)

[bernard shakey]

On WOWGuru.com, these two images have just popped up, which might show the new race and starting location of the upcoming WOW Expansion "The Burning Crusade". It looks like High Elves, but might as well be something else:

* * * * * * *
FROM THE WOWGURU ARTICLE
There are 3 children in Stormwind that i ran into the other day, having a conversation about the Panderan. I did not catch it all (ran off too fast) but it at least started with 1 boy saying there was rumor that one had been sighted, then another of the boys replies that they are just a myth/rumor.

It may be nothing, but it also may be a subtle hint regarding the new alliance race. Once the servers come back up, i will try and find the boys again and screenshot the entire conversation.

* * * * * * *

I believe I heard the conversation he is talking about months ago. I think I remember one of the boys saying that some creature has been sited, the second boy says their just rumor, and the 1st boy replies along the lines of "noob their real and they'll drink your blood! ".

I don't think it was ment to be a hint of things to come just "boardwalk talk" like the 3 or 4 women in the mage district talking about the spell they want to cast that could cause the world to blink out of existance.

Only time will tell. Lets just hope they finish fine tuning the current characters BEFORE they introduce any new ones.

[savaughn]

Look like Blood Elves to me.  Of course, they're in the Outlands right now, and unless they did some serious healing the Outlands aren't in that good shape.
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So... this is actually the question I've been wondering. We're getting 2 new playable races for sure. Where will they live? Blizz has already stated point blank that there's 2 whole new starting areas.

So, there are two "obvious" possibilities on Azeroth. One is that area just south of Silverpine Forest. That is a separate area on the map and is completely NYI right now. That would make a lot of sense for a Horde newbie area, too, since it gives immediate access to the other Horde starting areas.

The obvious Alliance option? The NYI area immediately between Dun Morogh and Elwynn Forest. Interestingly, if they put it in that area, there's a pretty good chance there's a deep body of water there - the one that the Tram runs through when it goes from SW to IF.

These are the obvious choices. There are others. Mount Hyal, of course. That would make sense with Blood Elves. There's a small NYI area on the west edge of Tirisfal Glades. There's NYI next to the SW edge of Mulgore north of Feralas and south of Desolace. There's also that NYI east of the Burning Steppes or south of Un'Goro but I'd guess those areas are going to be higher level stuff.

And of course, the entire eastern edge of Azeroth has a NYI border all the way from north of the plaguelands down to the Swamp of Sorrows....

[Hedon]

Reminds me of the Bloodelves you see in Azshara. Would make sense for Horde, as many players request a more physically attractive alternative to the current Horde races (though I think undead females are great).

[Icebird]

The Not Yet Implemented area south of the Greymane Wall in Silverpine Forest is Gilneas, a human settlement in Azeroth lore. I know Blizzard can and have mixed things up a bit geographically but I can't see them going that far from what they've already established.

Chris

[nobbie]

Two additional images have just been posted on inWOW.de, which are probably related to the new starting area(s). Looks very "elvish", if you ask me:

[Pesmerga]

Looks very badass if you ask me.

[nobbie]

I don't know if this screenie is a fake, but if, then it's a darn good one :)

Note the Pandaren for Alliance ...

[MongoJerry]

I don't know if this screenie is a fake, but if, then it's a darn good one :)

Note the Pandaren for Alliance ...

I suspect it's fake, since I believe the pandarians, if they were included, would always be considered a third party race. We'll see, though.

[Dozer]

I don't know if this screenie is a fake, but if, then it's a darn good one :)

Note the Pandaren for Alliance ...
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I thought the pandaren were just a huge April Fool's joke, why is everyone thinking that they are going to be a new race?

And there is a typo in the Blood Elf desciption. Fake.

[nobbie]

I suspect it's fake, since I believe the pandarians, if they were included, would always be considered a third party race.  We'll see, though.
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Or just the Pandaren icon is a "speculation teaser" :)

[MongoJerry]

I thought the pandaren were just a huge April Fool's joke, why is everyone thinking that they are going to be a new race?

And there is a typo in the Blood Elf desciption. Fake.

As I understand it, they were introduced in earlier Warcraft games, so yeah, they could be included at some point. However, I remember a Blizzard post a long time ago about this that the pandarians could make an appearance but they would most likely be only included as 3rd party quest givers and such (kind of like the goblins). Things can change, of course, but yeah I think the picture's fake, too.

[Bob the Beholder]

I thought the pandaren were just a huge April Fool's joke, why is everyone thinking that they are going to be a new race?

And there is a typo in the Blood Elf desciption. Fake.
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Yeah, the Pandaren were a big April Fool's joke! Until they rleased the Pandaren Brewmaster as a real and easily attainable hero in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

Now, this stuff is confusing me. Because I have been told repeatedly that Blizzard representatives have said that the only playable elves in WoW will be Night Elves, and no other elf races will be included. But then there's this. I dunno.

[Artega]

Giving the Allies the Pandaren would be like giving the Horde Goblins (which I'd consider a fair trade, since Goblins > all); it's not going to happen unless Blizzard wants to re-write the entire Warcraft plot.

Blood Elves wouldn't be a bad addition to the Horde, but why would they choose to join the Horde? We know they won't be joining the Alliance because of the way the Allies treated them like #$%& in War3X, but what motive would they have to side with the Horde? Illidan is capable of giving them the one thing they lust for - magic - and the shamanistic magics of the Horde wouldn't fill that void (aside: Did Arthas actually kill Illidan or simply defeat him at the end of War3X? I've heard that he was killed and I've heard that he was simply injured.)

I've got serious doubts as to whether or not the Blood Elves will officially be a new race; there's no reason (that I can see, anyway) for them to side with the Horde.

I'd bet on ogres becoming a Horde race before Blood Elves do.

[nobbie]

And there is a typo in the Blood Elf desciption. Fake.

Maybe this is just a preliminary "alpha/beta" screenie that has leaked?

[vor_lord]

Maybe this is just a preliminary "alpha/beta" screenie that has leaked?
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Or maybe it's "leaked" as a clever marketing tactic from Blizzard itself.

[choppedliver]

Another, less obvious source of rumors: http://thottbot.com/?z=108

Someone claiming to be a Blizz developer suggests that the Undermines is coming out in the "2.0.0 timeframe", with the two new (neutral) races being Ogres and Goblins.

What makes the post somewhat plausible is the mention of the name "Burning Crusade" for the expansion in a post dated 9/18. I don't know how widespread knowledge of that name was back then.

Not a reliable source, but still interesting to fuel speculation.

[MissileToad]

Hola guys. I hardly post here, but this one is interesting :).

Blood Elves as a Horde race makes almost zero lore sense. They dislike the Horde almost as much as they dislike the Alliance. If not ogres as a race though, sad to say Blood Elves would probably be the only other option considering the steadfast neutrality of the goblins :(. Perhaps I'm biased in thinking the Horde doesn't need a "pretty" race!

I'm pretty sure those are screenshots of somewhere in Quel'Thalas. The NPC elf at the blocked entrance to that region is named "Adon" (*cough* add-on!), a not too subtle hint of what would be in the first expansion! The art fits all we know of the region too, from WC3 and books. IMO the elves we see in screenies are NPCs and neutral questgivers.

The final screenie of the character selection is a fake...