World of Warcraft 2
By Justariuss 53 Comments
It sounds crazy to some degree, but I think it's in the works. I think the unnamed Blizzard MMO confirmed to be in development is WoW 2. There are reasons against this, obvious ones, so I will keep this brief by excluding them. I will also say this upfront : I'm probably wrong - I just have this hunch...
We know Starcraft 2 and Diablo III are already in development. I think this supports the WoW 2 theory. Would Blizzard really develop a Starcraft or Diablo MMO at the same time as both franchises are undergoing development on new titles in the original lines? WoW's development did coincide with Warcraft 3, but I think the situation was a little different. Warcraft 3 was as much setup for WoW as it was it's own game - the vast majority of the lore for WoW was fleshed out in Warcraft 3. They could be doing that again, as Starcraft 3 is planned to have a set of 3, massive campaigns. I just have a hard time imagining Blizzard doing a Starcraft MMO though. There would be challenges presented because of the theme. The Zerg would almost have to be relegated to non-player status, unless Blizzard pulled something completely out of thin air. A Diablo MMO would be even more unlikely, I think. Diablo being a co-op RPG in the first place means it's too similar to an MMO to bother with it. It was possible before Diablo III's announcement, I guess. Not now. I am actually surest of this than anything.
WoW has made Warcraft the most valuable IP Blizzard has, by far. They're making an estimated $100,000,000 a month from subscriptions alone. Will they let development sag on a brand new game in this IP, like they did with DIablo and Starcraft after this success? I don't think people believe that - they believe Warcraft 4, an RTS, is in the future. I do not. How would they merge the plot and story events in a supposed Warcraft 4 with WoW? I think there is more motivation for any new Warcraft storylines to take place in World of Warcraft (or a WoW2) than a Warcraft 4 RTS. The formers are undeniably more lucrative and it just makes sense. I fear that many will be disappointed with this, but I think the Warcraft line has shifted fully into an MMORPG. In this day and age, I don't think Blizzard will be developing 2 real time strategy games. I believe they've redefined their properties. Warcraft:MMORPG, Starcraft:RTS, Diablo:RPG.
Then there is how all of this ties with World of Warcraft. Well, I think WoW is really winding down. After Arthas - is there really something to base multiple, full expansion packs? There are a few nooks and crannies in Azeroth as yet unlocked, like Gilneas, Hyjal, Grim Batol, and Kul Tiras. There are some more significant locations like the Maelstrom (oceanic areas like Undermine included here) and the Emerald Dream that create possibilities, but none of these really compare to Draenor and Northrend. I think they'll probably get a few of those nooks in the game via content patches but I believe they could be saving the Emerald Dream and the Maelstrom for WoW2. Remember, they originally had the Emerald Dream in the game but it was scrapped because it wasn't up to quality. I don't think Blizzard believes the current client is technically able to do the ED justice, the same could be said for the Maelstrom. They've also just shifted Jeff Kaplan (Tigole) over to this unnamed MMO. Kaplan was responsible for WoW's end game raid content. This move comes at an interesting time. Arthas is still months away from being in the game, but Kaplan's work on the encounter design is probably complete and with that, Blizzard wants him working on the new game? Nothing says more to me about WoW coming to something of a conclusion than this.
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