BlizzCon Keynote - WoW: Warlords Of Draenor Announced

It was going to happen. Of course it was going to happen. World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers might be deflating, but that won't stop its loot-and-gizzard-laden frontiers from expanding. Blizzard mega-personality Chris Metzen took the stage to discuss WoW's "next chapter," sadly lacking his sunglasses that typically raise the convention's net sex appeal by 400 percent. He went on to announce that the new expansion, titled World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, is rooted in the stories of Warcraft's RTSes, Warcraft I, II, and III. Yep, we're going back to the good old days - but, you know, in MMO form.

Metzen pointed out that the original RTSes - Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans, Warcraft II, Warcraft III - are the reason WoW's here today. But there are a huge number of WoW players who never lived those events. Then he shouted at the crowd a bunch, because he is a human cartoon. "YOU ARE THE ALLIANCE. SONS OF LORDAERON. I CANNOT HEAR YOU HORDE ROOOOOOARRRRR."

"We asked ourselves: what if those dark days could come again?" he said after stuffing his lungs back into his torso. "What if a pantheon of Warcraft's most vicious villains threatened our homes and ways of life again? How would the Alliance respond? The conflict to come, I believe, will be the Alliance's finest hour. How do you fight a savage enemy without remorse without becoming a savage yourself?"

"To forge a brighter future, sometimes you must confront the ghosts of the past."

The expansion features a new world, Draenor, graphical overhauls for all character races, the ability to defend your own garrisons, a new level cap, and the ability to boost to level 90 immediately and go from there.

More soon.