Summary
Blizzard president Mike Ybarra seemingly confirmed recently that rumors saying the nextWorld of Warcraftexpansion would be about pirates are inaccurate. Despite this, manyWorld of Warcraftplayers are skeptical that his statement means theseWorld of Warcraftrumors are wholly untrue.
WithDragonflightthrough over half its lifespan, and BlizzCon right around the corner, manyWorld of Warcraftplayers have begun speculating on what the next expansion might be. One of the more popular theories currently points at a seafaring expansion, largely due to in-game lore referencing lost continents and pirate fleets, as well as severalitems in theWorld of Warcraftcash shop sharing a themeof waterborne exploration.
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World of Warcraftfan and content creator Mr. Dave was one of the many voices weighing in on the rumor mill. Though thepirate-themedWorld of Warcraftexpansion theoryappeals to many, Mr. Dave was less enthusiastic. As he discussed his own thoughts on the matter with other fans who saw his post on Twitter, Ybarra appeared in the comments, adding two words to the discussion that seemingly brought an end to the expansion rumor: “No pirates.”
However, Ybarra’s comment is not actually as definitive as it might seem. In the past,World of Warcraftdevelopers have intentionally misled the community to help preserve secrets using similar statements. DuringBattle for Azeroth, they insisted there were “no Old Gods in BFA” as a tongue-in-cheek joke, andbefore they revealed the Augmentation Evoker inDragonflight, they had avoided the topic with careful diction. While none of these were malicious lies,World of Warcrafthas previously manipulated the truth intentionally, and also just by changing its mind on matters later on.
Needless to say,World of Warcraftfans are already searching for the loopholes in Ybarra’s comment. Many pointed out that saying “No pirates” doesn’t actually discount the idea of a seafaring expansion, and that a journey to an unknown continent could still happen. Others said that, regardless of what the expansion was, the chances of a pirate character appearing somewhere in it seems pretty high, so fans shouldn’t take Ybarra’s words as law.
Either way, players won’t have to wait long to find out what is next forWoW. BlizzCon starts on November 3, and fans believeWorld of Warcraftwill be announcing the next expansionat the convention. Regardless of what it is, players are looking forward to seeing whatWorld of Warcrafthas learned fromDragonflight, and if it can keep up the momentum it has created for itself.
World of Warcraftis available now on PC.
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