Various sources confirm that the next expansion will indeed be Into The Maelstrom. A source from 2007 said that, "Blizzard officials told IGN on tuesday that a new expansion has been confirmed, but the content has yet to be decided. It is being debated whether they should release Into The Maelstrom or Wrath of The Lich King, but one thing we do know is that they promise is the hero class." Since WoTLK has been released it is obvious what they are considering for the next expansion. 

It also has been confimed by another source dated in January of 2009 that Blizzard has already began planning for another expansion, which is set for release in 2010 or early 2011. Now I think everyone expexted this next expansion but was wondering whether it would be The Maelstrom or The Emerald Dream. A confimed source said that Blizzard is considering releasing both areas as their final expansion, and that they plan for Sargaras and The Burning Legion to head the story in the next expansion. It has also been said that they are considering placing a neutral auction house within the next major neutral city. Not only will they be adding that, but one or several new hero classes are planning to be added. It has not been confirmed though whether they plan to release these new classes through patches or all at once with the expansion pack. Along with this new expansion the level cap will be raised to 90 so that players can experience the new areas fully. 

Players can only hold their breath to see what else Blizzard has in store for us in the next expansion, but from the looks of it, it is going to be quite interesting. 

Originally posted by Newsguy

 Various sources confirm that the next expansion will indeed be Into The Maelstrom. A source from 2007 said that, "Blizzard officials told IGN on tuesday that a new expansion has been confirmed, but the content has yet to be decided. It is being debated whether they should release Into The Maelstrom or Wrath of The Lich King, but one thing we do know is that they promise is the hero class." Since WoTLK has been released it is obvious what they are considering for the next expansion. 

It also has been confimed by another source dated in January of 2009 that Blizzard has already began planning for another expansion, which is set for release in 2010 or early 2011. Now I think everyone expexted this next expansion but was wondering whether it would be The Maelstrom or The Emerald Dream. A confimed source said that Blizzard is considering releasing both areas as their final expansion, and that they plan for Sargaras and The Burning Legion to head the story in the next expansion. It has also been said that they are considering placing a neutral auction house within the next major neutral city. Not only will they be adding that, but one or several new hero classes are planning to be added. It has not been confirmed though whether they plan to release these new classes through patches or all at once with the expansion pack. Along with this new expansion the level cap will be raised to 90 so that players can experience the new areas fully. 

Players can only hold their breath to see what else Blizzard has in store for us in the next expansion, but from the looks of it, it is going to be quite interesting. 

Final expansion?

As in they're not going to continue WoW after that?  

That would be kinda lame considering even EQ 1 is still having expansions made for it...

Level Cap 90 ? 

I remember them saying they were not going to raise the level cap with "every" expansion, if this is their last one and they do that then that would be against that as well.

I dunno I kinda feel like this is all heresay.

 It is only being considered as their final expansion, they plan to lose alot of their WoW base to the new mmo which they are working on, whatever that is going to be. Consideration does not mean it is final. :) 

Originally posted by Newsguy

 It is only being considered as their final expansion, they plan to lose alot of their WoW base to the new mmo which they are working on, whatever that is going to be. Consideration does not mean it is final. :) 

could you please source some of your information?

 I will find the links for you, some of the information comes from a friend who is a journalist for a gaming magazine, I will check their website to see if any of it is posted .

Final expansion?

I think not. There is still too much story to tell and too much Blizzard can and wants to do in the game.

Personally I think we will see 3-4 more expansions. This one will be Maelstrom and could possibly involve the Emerald Dream in some manner.

Next will be the Emerald Dream followed by one dealing with the various other worlds/Planes and then finally one where you confront the Burning legion head on.

I think trying to focus on all of the bosses plus Sargeras plus Deathwing in one expansion is too much.

Not to mention, Blizzard is still actively developing the game. They are putting new stuff in and developing new alternatives and options for the player (faction transfers for example).

A game would only plan to end if it was on a downward spiral or slope that players were fleeing the game like a sinking ship. I am sorry you just don't plan to stop development on a game series with 11 million players or heck, even 1 million players.

 Like I said earlier, it is under consideration, it is not finalized, they want to see how the new MMO which they are working on is going to affect WoW. They also plan for a huge player loss with the release of SWOR, SQO, FF14, and so forth, also known as the next gen mmos. Blizzard is not a wayward thinking company, they don't just see, "New players, still making money, lets make 4 more expansion packs", they are considering all the factors which will affect their large player base in the next 2 years. 

Originally posted by Newsguy

 Like I said earlier, it is under consideration, it is not finalized, they want to see how the new MMO which they are working on is going to affect WoW. They also plan for a huge player loss with the release of SWOR, SQO, FF14, and so forth, also known as the next gen mmos. Blizzard is not a wayward thinking company, they don't just see, "New players, still making money, lets make 4 more expansion packs", they are considering all the factors which will affect their large player base in the next 2 years. 

I think that SW:TOR will be a major cause of players leaving WOW but it is too soon to plan a business strategy around it. I am not sure what SQO is and FF14 will not hurt WOW at all. That game is going to make Free Realms look like a a great , deep, involved game. I am sorry but all FF 14 has going for it is the name. Some of the game design concepts and things they plan on doing seem to be really questionable.

SW: TOR could be a major player, it just depends on the game design. It sounds awesome to me and I plan on playing (considering Bioware is 1 of the 2 companies I inherently trust in gaming land) but I have to really question its staying power. From what I have read and seen, the game sounds incredible, but I am curious about the end-game. With it being story based and player focused, I am curious just how much they can put at the end-game to keep players around. Does that make sense?

 Alot, but knowing the business world some, Blizzard probably has a few plans to work off from for the near future, that was only one plan which I was told about. It is evident that Blizzard is creating this new MMO based off fresh IP to rival the new gen mmos which are coming out, and with new MMOs comes quite a bit of spending, obviously money isn't an issue for Blizzard, but I am sure they are still thinking ahead in case they lose any player-base. The final expansion idea for WoW is just one possible plan, seeing as it is reaching the age of an elderly MMO, and is sure to feel quite a hit as MMOs advance more. It all depends on where the player-base goes. So we will see.

I really can't see this being the last Xpac.  They have 11 million people, and even if TOR/FFX or whatever else takes most of it, I think wow will always have the asian fanbase.

I dunno how big Star Wars is in Asia, but a Story based game does not seem like it would be all that huge over there.

 True, I am just posting information which was told to me via phone conversation with a journalist and information which I found throughout the internet. 

Originally posted by Swanea

I really can't see this being the last Xpac.  They have 11 million people, and even if TOR/FFX or whatever else takes most of it, I think wow will always have the asian fanbase.

 

I dunno how big Star Wars is in Asia, but a Story based game does not seem like it would be all that huge over there.

Due to WoW being down in china, Blizz no longer has the 11 millon mark.  I'm sure they'll be back and growing as soon as its back up over there, but right now they're down to probably around half of that.

Blizz is working on WoW 2 (yes WoW2 not GW2)  have been for some time. So i wouldn't be shocked if this was the last xpac for first game.  WoW 2 was rumored to be released around nov 2012.

 They haven't confirmed WoW 2, because they are afraid of losing a player base, so don't hold your breath for that one. What has been confirmed is Cataclysm, the next new MMO IP that will be produced by Blizzard. No information is confirmed about Cataclysm other than it's name.

Post these "Confirmed source" links please and I'l begin to take these rumours more seriously, other than that your talking alot of hogwash at the moment and pure speculattion, anyone can come here and spout the same stuff about other well known games without proving their sources.

Originally posted by Wookiee6648

Blizz is working on WoW 2 (yes WoW2 not GW2)  have been for some time. So i wouldn't be shocked if this was the last xpac for first game.  WoW 2 was rumored to be released around nov 2012.

Everquest keeps getting exp packs even though EQ2 is out.

So everyones thinking its cool for Blizz to just discontinue a product?

Originally posted by qbangy32

Post these "Confirmed source" links please and I'l begin to take these rumours more seriously, other than that your talking alot of hogwash at the moment and pure speculattion, anyone can come here and spout the same stuff about other well known games without proving their sources.

I am working on it, I called back to my source, and she said that they can't post any of the information because they signed something with their Blizzard contact not to publish the information till a given date.

Originally posted by Laughing-man

Originally posted by Newsguy

 It is only being considered as their final expansion, they plan to lose alot of their WoW base to the new mmo which they are working on, whatever that is going to be. Consideration does not mean it is final. :) 

 

could you please source some of your information?

link were posted last night in wow here just check a bit

and yes it was confirmed that it will be maelstrom how when  in the instory nobody know

1 thing is sure just the history of that event is epic so dont be surprised if its linked in some way to cot

Originally posted by drbaltazar

Originally posted by Laughing-man

Originally posted by Newsguy

 It is only being considered as their final expansion, they plan to lose alot of their WoW base to the new mmo which they are working on, whatever that is going to be. Consideration does not mean it is final. :) 

 

could you please source some of your information?

link were posted last night in wow here just check a bit

and yes it was confirmed that it will be maelstrom how when  in the instory nobody know

1 thing is sure just the history of that event is epic so dont be surprised if its linked in some way to cot

The part I'm having trouble believing is the "Final expansion" part.

Originally posted by Crenait

Originally posted by Swanea

I really can't see this being the last Xpac.  They have 11 million people, and even if TOR/FFX or whatever else takes most of it, I think wow will always have the asian fanbase.

 

I dunno how big Star Wars is in Asia, but a Story based game does not seem like it would be all that huge over there.

 

Due to WoW being down in china, Blizz no longer has the 11 millon mark.  I'm sure they'll be back and growing as soon as its back up over there, but right now they're down to probably around half of that.

yes the main problem blizard face is the anti-porn thing ,blizzard has yet to find a way to make wow accesible to china

but at the same time making china official happy too

where theres honey theres bugs

same thing with money

 It is just going under advisement laughing man, like I said and will say once more, it is not finalized, but it is being considered.