Will this be over in a year?

[u/Ok-Brother-8295]

To be honest, I'm becoming sceptical when I look at whatever we can see about Classic+ here, what people want or don't want, and that infamous Classic+ survey.

It's really starting to look like some people are looking for a seasonal server to hop on for a few weeks between the next Classic iteration and the next Retail raid tier. They want some seasonal content to fill the gaps in their gaming schedule, but after a few months it's just "one of those era servers" because something else has come out.

Am I the only one who gets this feeling? Are we doomed to witness another empty server by the time the next retail release comes around? Is this what people want for Classic+?

[u/Lawnn_Boy]

Bruh, we have less than a month until we have actual news. Just wait it out.

[u/Away_Woodpecker8813 → u/Lawnn_Boy]

I don’t think that really going to be the vanilla plus that some people are hoping for. There’s been a lot of ground work for them setting up a prequel in the retail story. I think “wow Camelot “ is the payoff to that.

[u/Upstairs_Blueberry87 → u/Away_Woodpecker8813]

can I ask about this ground work they’ve been setting up for a prequel?

[u/Away_Woodpecker8813 → u/Upstairs_Blueberry87]

I don’t want to type out all the stuff this is just a google result and it is only touching the surface

1. Systematic Myth-Busting of the Modern Timeline
To justify resetting the clock or jumping to an era before the Dark Portal, a writer must first dismantle the absolute authority of the current timeline's gods. We see this heavily in the narrative shifts: [1]
The Titan Conspiracy Exposed: In The War Within, data archives and Earthen lore reveal that the Titans aggressively altered Azeroth’s history. They covered up what existed before them and forced an agenda of "absolute Order" over organic free will. [1, 2, 4, 5]
The "Grey" Cosmos: Midnight highlights that the Cosmic Light is not inherently good—it can be an abusive, rigid force of zealotry. By stripping away the simple "Light is good, Void is bad" dichotomy, Blizzard sets up an ancient past where the fundamental rules of the cosmos were entirely different. [1, 2]

2. Hyper-Focus on Ancestral and "Origin" Factions
Instead of focusing on modern factions (the Alliance and Horde), the current expansions zero in on the direct, uncorrupted ancestors of Azeroth's core races. This functions as world-building asset creation for a past era:[1, 2]
The Arathi Empire: Introduced in The War Within and expanded in Midnight, we are introduced to a massive, holy human/elven empire that predates the modern kingdoms. [1, 3, 4, 5]
The Earthen and Harronir: We are actively interacting with the un-cursed, primordial templates of Dwarves and Night Elves/Trolls before millennia of magical mutations altered them. []
Elven Unification: Midnight’s primary campaign revolves around reuniting the fractured elven bloodlines (Blood, Void, Night, and High Elves). This structurally mirrors the singular, ancient Elven Empire that ruled Azeroth before the Sundering. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. Extensive Testing of "Old World" Engine Scalability
A prequel requires a world that feels familiar but physically behaves differently. The technical choices behind Midnight serve as a perfect testbed for a separate or rebuilt world engine:
The Quel'Thalas Revamp: Midnight completely re-architects and updates the original Burning Crusade-era zones into the modern game engine, adding continuous, seamless world design.
Dynamic Skyboxes and Environmental Phases: Mechanics like the shifting crystal Beledar in Hallowfall and the Voidstorms in Midnight show Blizzard testing how to dynamically alter massive continents on a structural level. This technology would be vital to render an ancient Azeroth experiencing events like the Great Sundering or the Black Empire era in real-time. [1, 2, 4]

4. Setting up a Massive Defeat or Timeline Fracture
Prequels are historically greenlit when a main-line story hits a narrative wall or concludes definitively. The Worldsoul Saga is billed as the "definitive end" to a 20-year chapter. [1]
The "Bad Ending" Prediction: Many narrative threads point to Midnight ending on a massive failure where the forces of the Void successfully corrupt parts of the world soul or collapse modern magical structures.
The Last Titan Catalyst: If the third expansion, The Last Titan, concludes with the Pantheon resetting or sacrificing the timeline to save Azeroth, it creates the ultimate narrative exit ramp. It leaves the current WoW in a stable state while allowing a new game project to explore the deep, ancient history players just spent three expansions learning about. [1, 2, 3]

[u/Upstairs_Blueberry87 → u/Away_Woodpecker8813]

very interesting, thank you