Project Lore

Proverb is a column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!

The Great Sundering

One of the lore-richest eras in Warcraft history is the War of the Ancients, in large part due to the trilogy by Richard A. Knaak. I confess that I have only read the first book in the trilogy, but I am working on the rest. The War of the Ancients took place about 10,000 years ago. In short, a sect of night elf sorcerers, called Highborne, wielded arcane energy using the power of a body of water called the Well of Eternity to summon the Burning Legion into the Azeroth, and a great war ensued. The origin of the well is unclear; some sources claim that the Titans created the well when they were shaping Azeroth, but this conflicts with some of the implications in the War of the Ancients trilogy. In any case, it was a endless fount of magical energies that attracted the interests of demons and sorcerers alike. When the war between mortals and demons came to the Well at the Battle of Zin'Azshari, Illidan Stormrage filled seven vials with waters from the well. When the night elves were able to seal off the demonic portal at the Well, a great cataclysm occurred, called The Great Sundering of the world (also referred to as The Cataclysm, which is why most people are certain that this will be the theme of the next WoW expansion). The single continent of Kalimdor shattered into several land masses, and the Well of Eternity became a swirling vortex in the center of the Great Sea known as the Maelstrom. Illidan created a second Well of Eternity on the top of Mount Hyjal using three vials from the original Well. The night elves condemned the creation of a second Well, as reckless use of the first one nearly destroyed Azeroth. Illidan was condemned to confinement, and was not released until about 10,000 years later, during the Third War. At some point, he gave one of the vials to the Highborne, which ended up in the hands of Dath'Remar Sunstrider. Dath'Remar and the Highborne were exiled, and fled to the east. They washed up in Tirisfal and founded the new high elven nation of Quel'thalas. There, they built the wondrous city of Silvermoon and used Dath'Remar's vial to create the Sunwell. I suppose his jailers didn't think to search his body, as he seems to have retained the remaining 3 vials during his imprisonment. Soridormi later claims in the Burning Crusade that they were thought to be lost, but it doesn't seem like they looked very hard. Upon his release and exile from Kalimdor, and his defeat at the hands of Arthas, Illidan fled to Outland with with new lieutenants, Kael'thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj. Kael'thas became the second in the Sunstrider dynasty to posses a vial, though players in The Burning Crusade recover this vial and the one held by Lady Vashj and give them to Soridormi, who uses them to create the portal in the Caverns of Time that goes to the Battle of Mount Hyjal. The vials were not consumed, and Soridormi retains these two vials. The final vial is not quite accounted for, as Illidan should have been the possessor. Illidan was killed by players at the Temple of Karabor (Black Temple), and his vial was not mentioned. It is unclear if he really held the vial at the time of his death or if he chose another person to claim it, or if he even lost it. It is possible that someone else claimed the vial after his death. If the next expansion really is Maelstrom based, I predict we will see the three remaining vials again. With Nozdormu's possible insanity and his possible role of leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, Soridormi may play a major role. I bet Nozdormu will eventually need to be defeated, and with the theme of the former site of the first Well of Eternity, maybe we will see the current Hyjal open to players and Azshara may have some nefarious scheme with the vials. Thanks for the comments on the last post! I always learn a lot from our readers, so keep helping me learn about the history of Warcraft. Let me know what you want to see in future editions of Proverb, and if you like more speculation or my recounting of the lore.

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Evil Sudoku Puzzle Via WebSudoku - Good Luck! The RPG genre, and by extension the MMORPG, is full of cliches.  Tired cliches.  We are led to believe that our single avatar has enough skill, power, intelligence and cunning to change the fate of the world/galaxy/universe/dimension alone.  Our toon can wield unimaginable power no matter how long it has been fighting, and, for most games, with absolutely no sleep.  For some reason the capabilities of our fighter, be it healer or warrior, never diminishes as our health depletes.  Health, which is a static pool assigned by an arbitrary numbers, may fall from from 18,928 HP down to 1 HP, but the savior remains piss and vinegar till the last drop.  For some odd reason the gear carried by our hero contains power of its own, which is granted to our avatar when worn.  And to cap it off, lions, boars, bears and other nefarious creatures carry these items with them until they breath their last breath.  Yet we never receive the exact item they just wielded against us. Sound like damn near every RPG you've played this millennium?  Frankly it should, because it has been the tried and true method since RPGs started.  And I don't mean in the digital form.  Sure, there have been incremental changes, and even some titles that stand out for one reason or another (loot drops in the Fallout series), but by and large, developers know that gamers fear drastic change and have heeded that warning. Blizzard has made its own steps towards Vulcan approval in Wrath.  During my questing expeditions in Dragonblight I ran across a little number that tasked me with collecting animal hides.  Being a skinner I initially rolled my eyes, annoyed at the prospect of having to skin for a quest.  Not only had I perfected the act ages ago, but couldn't the dozens of stacks I already posses, some still on my person, count towards the requirement? Nope. But it wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be.  Sure I had to hunt down some worms, and shake out some birds, but my skinning abilities did come in handy.  After looting the downed beasts I was able to skin them, like normal, only this time Borean Leather wasn't the only thing my blade peeled off the corpse.  I was also given a Thin Animal Hide, at a 100% skin rate no less, the very quest item that I was after.  It struck me how much sense it made.  Solidsagart is a skinner.  She skinned an animal that died as part of a quest and received the standard drop of a hide, but gained another item - a guaranteed one - for her additional skills. I know I saw something along these lines during Solidsamm's quest, likely from his engineering skill during Fizzcrank Airstrip quests, but I can't remember the specifics.  Do you remember anything of this nature?  Perhaps not the logical use of a skill, but something that broke from the traditional group of cliches that we so easily accept. Shortly after the small step forward I was tripped back in line.  Not a day later, Solidsagart progressed to Zul'Drak where she helped Gristlegut feed his Scourge buddies.  An act that doesn't make any sense.  Unlike the Drakuru-based quests, they are for subterfuge, helping the Scourge here does nothing to further our own cause.  In fact, we are strengthening them!  Back to the illogical I guess.  At least the quest text, item descriptions and completion text is funny. Num, num indeed.

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Dorkins continues the dailies for his rep grind with The Wyrmrest Accord. This time he needs to take down a few dragons near the top of the Nexus. Does he have the right stuff to be an Ace? Find out what happens in this episode of Project Lore.

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Battlegrounds have been much more popular than every other area of PvP. They don't require you to even think about making a group and only a few people there are from the same server, so you can play as bad as you want; those people will never see you again! There are objectives, so you can significantly contribute even if you are not the best at PvP combat. The first thing you should be aware of is the new battleground in patch 3.2, Isle of Conquest. Amatera already posted a great breakdown of the battleground, so go check it out if you are completely unfamiliar with it! This new 40 versus 40 battleground is the first 40 man content we've seen since original WoW's Naxxramas, and fans of Alterac Valley should cheer at its introduction. It seems to be a great way to get honor, and it introduces yet another battleground token. These tokens appear to only be used for the repeatable quest For Great Honor or Concerted Efforts. Currently you can exchange one token from each of the five battlegrounds for 1241 honor. In patch 3.2, you'll need one from all six battlegrounds (Alterac Valley, Arathi Basin, Warsong Gulch, Eye of the Storm, Strand of the Ancients, and Isle of Conquest), and receive more honor. I'd suggest saving up marks from other battlegrounds, as if you want the next tier of gladiator gear that you want with honor, you are going to want as much honor as possible next season. Speaking of honor, one of the only ways to get the new epic gems in patch 3.2 is to buy them with honor. Its sure to be a goldmine, so if you enjoy battlegrounds and Wintergrasp, you can buy lots of epic gems at just 10,000 honor. You can use them yourself, throw them at your guild and have them love you, or fetch a high price on the auction house. Its like converting honor to gold! If you want ways to stockpile honor for patch 3.2, consider the following methods:

• You can save up to 5 Commendation of Bravery between patches. That will run you 500 arena points from this season and give you 10,000 honor for next season. 500 arena points is just 2 weeks of games regardless of your rating for 3v3 and 5v5 and 3 weeks for 2v2, so get a team together, lose all of your games if you have to, and get some free 3.2 honor!
• Stone Keepers Shards can convert to honor at the price of 30 shards for 2,000 honor. 9 Wintergrasp Marks of Honor get you 2,000 honor as well, both via Wintergrasp Commendation (which is BoA). There is no hurry to buy these, as you can save these items through to next patch.
• I say it again: Battleground marks! By running Isle of Conquest, if you have lots of other marks stockpiled, you will receive honor at a great rate!

If you are going to be doing any kind of PvP in the patch 3.2, be aware that resilience is much better than it is now. You may want to get more PvP gear if you have been using your PvE gear in battlegrounds. Resilience now reduces all damage received from players. If you are unfamiliar with the change, check out my post about arenas in patch 3.2. The way we fight in battlegrounds may change in patch 3.2 as well. You will receive additional honor if you are in the proximity of a capture point that you can defend in Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, or Isle of Conquest. Hopefully, now players will defend more. This change needs to be propagated to Alterac Valley, and badly. Hopefully this brings the honor gained from these battlegrounds in line with Alterac Valley and Wintergrasp. For Arathi Basin, there are two major changes. First off, capturing a base takes 8 seconds, instead of 10. For rogues, this is amazing. Using Sap on a player incapacitates them for 10 seconds, so there is a great window of opportunity for capturing bases now or forcing players to PvP trinket out of sap. Additionally, objectives should be changing hands a lot faster now. The other major change is that the first team to 1600 resources wins, instead of 2000. This is 20% less time in Arathi Basin, and while this seems like it'll be more fun, also be aware that the achievements like Arathi Basin All-Star may be difficult to do with less time. The reduced time to capture flags might have partially been a response to keep the achievements at the same difficulty level, but they will probably be more difficult with that much less time in Arathi Basin regardless. Here is a list of achievements you might want to grab in AB before the patch hits:

• Arathi Basin All-Star
• Arathi Basin Assassin
• Disgracin' the Basin
• Overly Defensive
• Resilient Victory

Eye of the Storm is getting similar changes, with the flag taking eight seconds to grab as opposed to ten, and the game plays to 1,600 resources instead of 2,000. This makes the flag much more valuable, as the towers will spend "less time" gathering resources over the course of a game. In addition to these implications, these achievements may be much harder:

• Bound for Glory (maybe)
• Stormtrooper (maybe)
• Stormy Assassin

The team that is attacking in Strand of the Ancients is now randomized, theoretically giving Horde players a more "fair" chance at winning the battleground since having fewer overall players gives the attackers an advantage, and there are fewer players at the start of battlegrounds. This means that many of the achievements for both factions may be easier and the battleground may see an increase in popularity, even though its already one of the most popular. Finally, Warsong Gulch has a time limit. The battleground will end after 20 minutes. The team with the most flag captures wins. If its a tie, then the team that got the first flag wins. If noone has captured a flag, its a tie. Its the first time a tie can happen in battlegrounds, and I'm not sure what kind of rewards it'll give. Again, this should change (wise) player behavior. If you are ahead, a "standoff" when both teams are hiding with the flag becomes advantageous to you. Additionally, the first flag capture becomes more valuable, so think about rushing the flag early on in the game. With a shorter game, and games ending before three flag captures, these achievements may be more difficult:

• Frenzied Defender
• Ironman
• Not in My House
• Warsong Gulch Perfection

In summary:

• Save up battleground marks for the next patch so you can get a head-start on honor.
• You want honor next patch for epic gems and better PvP gear.
• Save up Wintergrasp Commendation and Stone Keepers Shard.
• Do the time limited achievements now for Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, and Warsong Gulch.

What are you going to be doing now to prepare for PvP in patch 3.2?

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Could These Be The Faces Of The Future? Ever since MMO-Champion.com dug up those stupid masks the corner of the Internet that is home to WoW has been a storm of investigation.  Shortly after discovering the pair of Worgen and Goblins masks another four pairs, Naga, Ogre, Murloc, Vrykul were found.  The discovery dosed the fire surrounding Horde Goblins and Alliance Worgen, while at the same time fueling the idea of a third faction being introduced to World of Warcraft. In my opinion two factions suck.  Few games have implemented just a pair of competitors successfully.  This is in large part due to the grass is always greener effect.  If you are beaten badly by the opposing team, then the developer likes them more, they are overpowered or there are population problems.  Some of the complaints are certainly real, but one way developers, including Blizzard itself, has skirted the issue is by having more than two factions (see Starcraft's three factions and Warcraft III's four).  As such, I would love to see a third faction, but I don't expect it to play out as many would have us believe. Most of what I have seen points to the neutral faction being one in name only.  That somewhere down the line you would chose who to fight for, Alliance (obviously) or Horde (fail).  It sounds absolutely awesome, and I would love to see it happen, but I doubt it.  To implement this Blizzard would have to drastically change the stance on factions, again.  Specifically, the company would have to allow players to have characters of different factions on the same server (already allowed on non-PvP servers).  Otherwise my Goblin (duh) could never be truly neutral if Solidexplosion was forced to select Alliance down the road because of Solidsamm's and Solidsagart's affiliations. But that doesn't mean I don't see a neutral faction happening.  In fact I wrote the unique classes hoping this could come to fruition.  Blizzard could easily implement a third faction (based on the masks no less), one that stays out of the Alliance-Horde affairs.  One that watches from the sidelines offering refugee for any that may require it.  One that I will label as the "Swiss" faction.  These non-aggressors will act as diplomats between the warring sides, while still contributing to the often combined goals of said sides, such as killing the Lich King.  In the long run there'd be more work needed to create a separate entity, but the new content should be far more appreciated than tacking on a choice down the road. Certainly if a neutral faction was to happen, the cash flush Goblins would be the race in charge, with the battle hardened Worgen, brutal Ogres, and the swarm happy Murlocs lending a helping hand.  The multi-talented Vrykul are new to Warcraft, so their addition as a playable class would annoy this purist.  After how many times I creeped them, or grinded them for reputation, I believe the fifth slot should go to the furry Furbolgs. And yes, I know I ignored the Naga masks.  While there could be some sort of Forsaken-type branch or tribe, I write off their addition to the line-up of Hallow's End fun to the fact that they are the incoming bad guys. Again, I'd love it if Blizzard makes me eat this post with a side of 'in your face,' but I just don't see Blizzard revamping the PvP servers to allow them to go cross faction.  It'd be a bit of work, just for a choice down the line.  But they have done crazier things.  Speaking of the choice, let's hope it'll be a cool, lengthy quest line to prove your allegiance. What would some of the racial benefits be?  Goblins get extra gold from kills, Murloc has higher level fishing, and Ogres get, umm, kaleidoscope vision?  What is more likely, the labor intensive relative to reward faction choosing, or an entirely new faction?  What about blending the two, letting you chose a side, or remaining in the new faction?  That'd be interesting.

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Dorkins begins the dailies for his rep grind withThe Wyrmrest Accord. This time he needs to subdue a baby dragon and bring it back to be... well... you'll see. Find out what happens in this episode of Project Lore.

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Proverb is a column discussing the lore of Warcraft. Comment and let us know what you would like to see in future columns! Many lore-minded players have likely heard about the new Druid quest in patch 3.2 for Horde players. It starts in Dalaran, and it involves a badly injured warrior by the name of Aponi Brightmane who wants to return to fight the Scourge. When players arrive in Thunder Bluff, Aponi speaks with Tahu Sagewind, a Druid. Their conversation touches on the history of Tauren druidism, notably Mu'sha. The full text is provided below, with what I think are the important parts in bold: Aponi Brightmane says: Talk to me, Tahu. Something. Anything! I'm going stir-crazy. Tahu Sagewind laughs softly. Tahu Sagewind says: All right, Aponi. I've enough on my mind to share. Have you ever spoken to the elves of Moonglade? Aponi Brightmane says: Not much. Tahu Sagewind says: The elves speak of a moon goddess, did you know? They put great stock in the light given by the moon. Aponi Brightmane says: Like Mu'sha. Tahu Sagewind says: Just like her. The parallels I've heard are interesting. And it's no secret all druids, Shu'halo and elf alike, can call upon Mu'sha's light. Aponi Brightmane says: Where are you going with this? Tahu Sagewind says: I wonder. Hamuul has guided us well, and I've learned so much from him. The legends sasy that our people were druids when time began... Aponi Brightmane says: I hear the "but" in your voice... Tahu Sagewind says: ...but what Hamuul teaches is what the elves know. The night elves. They put such stock in their moon goddess, as creatures of the night. Aponi Brightmane says: Do you think his teachings are wrong? Tahu Sagewind says: No! No, nothing like that. He is an elder for good reason, sister. Mu'sha is one of the Earthmother's eyes, and she watches over us. That isn't sinister. Tahu Sagewind says: But we're nothing if not people who strive for balance. Our warriors fight only when there is need. Our hunters take only what the tribes require to live, and use all they can when they do. The shaman stand as guide and mediator to the elemental spirits. Tahu Sagewind says: And while we, as druids, are guardians of nature, I wonder if we've overlooked a key aspect of balance in all things. Aponi Brightmane says: So are you going to bring this up to the elder? Tahu Sagewind says: No, no. No need for him to trouble about a student's idle philosophizing while he entertains a friend. Aponi Brightmane says: I suppose so. It's not silly, though, what you said. Tahu Sagewind says: Well, it isn't exactly a new thought, sister. Aponi Brightmane says: I see that thoughtful frown, Tahu. Tahu Sagewind says: Sorry, sister. Its nothing to worry about. Aponi Brightmane says: But something is on your mind, right? Tahu Sagewind says: I'm thinking about the front to the north. The one you're so eager to return to. Aponi Brightmane says: What about it? Tahu Sagewind says: I know I'm counseling patience, Aponi, but I don't like remaining here any more than you do. Times are bleak, and failing to act only makes me worry that my idle hand may have been the one to turn the tide. Tahu Sagewind says: Still... there is balance in all things, even death. I simply hate the concept that such destruction and darkness might be necessary. Aponi Brightmane says: There's a phrase... "Its always darkest before the dawn." The dawn will come, though, Tahu. The sun will rise. The balance will shift back to where it should be. Aponi Brightmane smiles and gestures to the north. Aponi Brightmane says: Even on the glacier itself, the sun manages to peek through the gloom. I have hope, Tahu. I think we'll make it through this, no matter how dire it looks. Aponi Brightmane says: But I'd still rather be there on the front lines helping it happen rather than trying to placate myself with belief. We can't just sit around and hope it happens. Tahu Sagewind says: I know, sister. I know. We'll return to fighting one day. For now, though, maybe it's best to spread the word to others... give them the hope you have. Aponi Brightmane says: And through that hope, strengthen our side in the fight? Tahu Sagewind says: That's the idea. The quest is unfinished and we don't know if it will be extended before patch 3.2 goes live. However, there are LOTS of references to the sun and "a new dawn" in there, even when they aren't talking about An'she. It is generally accepted that Malfurion Stormrage was the first (mortal) Druid, and the druidism that the Tauren speak of that they claim predates Malfurion is false or in a drastically different form from Cenarius' teachings. In fact, the latter might be the case, with the Tauren originally practicing an entirely different form of druidism focused on some form of the light. It could be that An'she and/or Mu'sha (Elune to the night elves) are actually Naaru, and Tauren could come to wield the holy light through the worship of the Earth Mother. Tauren mythology claims that An'she, the goddess of the sun, was an eye of the Earth Mother, ripped out and tossed through the cosmos, perused by the Earth Mother's other eye, the goddess Mu'sha/Elune. We could see all of this develop. Currently the only Horde race capable of being Paladins are blood elves, and it could be that Blizzard would like to expand that to give Horde players more of a choice. The other obvious conclusion would be that a new type of druid may be in the works. Druids already come in many flavors in the Warcraft mythology. Druids of the Sun could be a real possibly, and this could be a new hero class in the expansion. Most players agree that "Arch Druids" would simply be "super Druids" and would leave no room for regular druids in the game. Current druids are "Druids of the Wild" and are focused on shapeshifting, while Druids of the Sun could be something completely new. Blizzard has stated that they don't want new classes to simply be hybrids of other classes. I don't know what precisely a Druid of the Sun would do. They could come up with a whole new resource system outside of mana, like they did with Death Knights, to make the class very unique. In addition, it makes sense for Death Knights to be any race, but most other classes that players theorize about should have race restrictions, so I don't think this idea is too far out. With most players looking to the Maelstrom and the Emerald Dream in the theoretical new expansion "Cataclysm", its likely that Night Elf and Druid lore could play a major role. I think either or even both of the conclusions I discussed could happen. As for other races, we could also see Dlood Elf Druids. There were high elf druids prior to the second war who erected the Runestones which hid the elven magic from the Burning Legion, as well as protected Quel'thalas from attack from Arthas during the third war. They wielded the powers of nature through the arcane, and many of them became high elven rangers. Some half-elven druids became more feral and turned into savagekin. The high elven rangers that we raised by the Scourge became Dark Rangers, who turned to shadow magic instead of natural magic for their powers. It seems that some blood elves kept up the practice, such as High Botanist Freywinn and many of the Bloodwarder and Sunseeker blood elves currently (previously?) in the Botanica of Tempest Keep. It could be that from their redeemed light-given powers from M'uru and A'dal and the revelations of the Tauren studying the light, blood elves players could see druidism in their future. The line from the dialog "strengthen our side in the fight" really makes me think this may be the case. As for the Alliance, Wildhammer Dwarves are sort of back in the Alliance with an Alliance friendly base in Aerie Peak as well as their gryphon riders in Outland. Wildhammer dwarves are known to often worship nature and the elements and become druids and Shaman. Allowing Alliance players to create Wildhammer Dwarves of these classes would open up the number of races able to be Druids and Shaman in the Alliance to two, a perfect analog to Blood Elf druids and Tauren Paladins. Finally, perhaps this means we will see the Cenarian Circle join the fight in Icecrown. It would make the Icecrown Citadel fight even more epic. What do you think? Is this a red herring, or are these clues to a bigger development? As the Tauren NPCs say, may the eternal sun shine upon thee!

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That's A Lot Of Classes! To date, our series of speculative creativity has relied upon some inkling of a rumor as the basis of most of the pieces.  I am going to pull a hard 180 and go completely off the cuff with this one.  No backroom discussion, drunken rant or friend of a friend who knows a guy that dated some girl who roomed with Chris Metzen sparked my neurons.  As such, the class details below are entirely fake! Currently we only know one thing about World of Warcraft's third expansion, that it exists.  Beyond that it's all been conjecture, speculation and well wishes, and yet none of these have touched upon any major gameplay feature.  Masks aside (and I consider that rumor a huge leap of faith) we lack the faintest idea of what could be announced as part of the official declaration of expansion the third. What you thought Sams would walk to the podium, whisper "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm" and walk away?  Fólkvangr no.  There will be a ridiculous amount of information given that faithful day, whenever it may be.  What I am trying to figure out is what the big gun is going to be?  Another new class?  A pair of new races?  An incredible amount of dungeons and raids spread across all levels?  A working Wintergrasp? I found the idea of new classes to be the most interesting despite the fact that Wrath just brought us one.  That and guessing classes is a shot in the dark. Alliance:

• Mountain King (Dwarf only) - The mighty Mountain King will be a tank of a different nature.  These steadfast warriors will be capable of absorbing obtuse amounts of damage no matter their specialty.  Their stocky stature enables them to create earth shattering Thunder Claps to frighten, disorient and slow foes in the immediate vicinity, and a well-timed Storm Bolt stops almost anything in its tracks.  Unfortunately the bulk is a defensive mechanism, causing overall DPS to be lower than other melee classes.
• Warden - Popularized by Maiev Shadowsong, the Warden makes a return to reclaim Fan of Knives from rogues hunt those who have done injustices to Night Elves, and the rest of the Alliance.  The nimble class' focus will be close-ranged AoE combat.  Single target DPS suffers when compared to the class' ability to handle two or more mobs via close range AoE attacks and spells.  Shadowstrike, a non-channeled, multi target Mind Flay can be used to lay waste to fugitives.

Horde:

• Dark Ranger (Undead only) - At the basic level Dark Rangers are to be compared to their bow-loving buddies, the Hunters, but DRs have a completely new set of spells and abilities.  The most notable difference would be the lack of a pet.  Instead of fuzzy companions these former Scourge officers have the ability to resurrect fallen corpses to fight for them.  However, these beings act more as fodder than DPS.  The devastation instead comes from the DR's Silencing abilities, Life Drain and an overall more powerful, yet slower, standard shot that is charged with dark energy.
• Dread Lord - The Nathrezim have played a large role in the Warcraft universe, but haven't received much press in WoW (at least as far as the Alliance can tell).  It's unlikely that they could be added as a class without the addition of the race itself, but the Dread Lord makes for an interesting class.  These dastardly beings are quick attacking, weaponless fighters that use a mix of instant or fast spells (one second or less) and strong claw-based attacks to drop foes.  A revamp of the Sleep spell that allows units to be damaged would be their stun and the Vampiric Aura adds fantastic group appeal.

Neutral (more on this tomorrow):

• Goblin Tinker - Another class that can only be applicable as part of a new race, the Goblin Tinker specializes in machine-based battle.  The short race makes up for its strength inadequacies by placing themselves in crazy battle mechs.  The new class will feature mindless, summonable minions which detonate on aggressive mobs if they are not killed quickly.  Attacks include a targetable rocket AoE stun, a slow swinging wrecking ball for white damage (also another weaponless class) and a personal buff along the lines of Inner Fire, but with damage attributes too, call Mechanical Mayhem.
• Goblin Alchemist - In an effort to once keep a solid number of healers being played at all times comes the Goblin Alchemist.  Instead of mechanical ingenuity, this diminutive class relies on its ability to create chemical and biological agents for offense and defense.  Alchemists specialize in short to mid-range AoE combat, with nearly all of their spells, healing or damaging, being targetable AoE abilities (think bombs).  Instead of mana, the class is reliant upon how fast the brews can be concocted, causing the cooldowns to be the only limiting factor.
• Demon Hunter - The DH would have made a more logical addition in The Burning Crusade, but one could argue that the amount of demons in the world then caused an vast increase in these heroes, on both sides of the fence.  With the threat largely neutralized the dedicated hunters have begun looking for other work.  Following the outcast class' lore, the melee (fist, swords and dagger) machines would subsidize their strikes with powers from the dark taint they hunger to banish from Azeroth, such as Immolation.  Spectral Sight allows Scourge and Demon tracking.  A fantastic chance for Blizzard to show our characters changing over the course of time (leveling) thanks to the demonic energies corrupting one's body.

Any Warcraft III fan can see that I picked the most applicable and unique heroes from the past lore and spiced them up with some World of Warcraft twists and mechanics.  What are the odds that one of these bad girls gets selected, assuming a new class is announced?  Who's the most likely candidate? Which toon would you want to play?  Personally I think the Goblin Alchemist sounds pretty freaking cool, but Storm Bolting never gets old.

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Just days after the hooplah surrounding the addition of Worgen and Goblin masks into the game as possible signs of new races in the theoretical expansion "Cataclysm", more masks have been discovered by MMO-Champion, seriously hindering the chances that any of these are going to be new races in the new expansion. The masks that have models in the game now includes all ten playable races, goblins, worgen, ogres, murlocs (!), naga, and vrykul. While two of these races could be playable in the next expansion, I doubt all of them will be. When Blood Elves and Draeni were announced as playable races in The Burning Crusade, everyone was very excited. New races and the introductions of paladins into the Horde and shamans into the Alliance was a huge change. Wrath introducing Death Knights was equally important; there had not been a new class added to the game since early beta. With the new expansion on the (distant) horizon, players are expecting a new playable race, and probably two (for each faction) at that. Blizzard has said that new playable races in the future will be familiar to us (contrary to the retconed Draeni in Burning Crusade), so expect lots of speculation. Pandareans are as good as retconed out at this point, so don't expect the to jump from obscurity to playable so soon. That leaves a lot of possibilities, and these masks may be some sign. As for the masks' actual role, I hope this is some sign of a revamped Hallow's End event. Blizzard added achievements for world events so that players would have incentives to experience the content they spent time and money developing, but players who already got all the achievements from last year would have little reason to participate in the festivities this year. With new masks, this may be a sign of new Hallow's End content and maybe even achievements! Or at least making A Mask for All Occasions doable. Would you re-roll one of these races? What if they started at, say, level 80 in their own starting areas in the new expansion?

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Dorkins continues his rep grind with The Oracles in the Sholazar Basin. This time he takes on a different form, one that Jimmy really likes, and then faces fifty frenzied foes. Find out what happens in this episode of Project Lore.

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