Blizzard has been steadily updating and hotfixing Warlords of Draenor, the latest expansion to World of Warcraft. The release was beset by a number of challenges, namely an especially devastating DDOS attack back in November. It seems silly to look ahead when there is still much to correct and add behind us.
PAX South Live Stream Schedule Released. Not Going? Sit At Home And Watch Along
But that is precisely what we will do. Before last year's Blizzcon, the annual convention of all things Blizzard, the company registered the trademark 'Eye of Azshara'. We - incorrectly - assumed that it might be the next expansion to Hearthstone, the company's new CCG game. That expansion ended up being titled Goblins vs Gnomes and has been pretty great.
That has left us with the ominous name and not much else. Until today, when a battle.net user named Sharandra led us down the trail. A search of the United States Patent And Trademark Office has revealed that no such trademark currently exists. This does not in and of itself mean that the next expansion will not be called this (a similar search of Goblins v Gnomes, and all potential spellings, comes up empty as well).
The World Ends With You Arrives On Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Last October, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) had a picture of the trademark filing for Eye of Azshara posted on imgur, found HERE. No such term exists anymore in that database, either.
So, what does all this mean? It is hard to say. Trademark filing takes several months, so it feels odd that Blizzard would abandon something they had to wait for. On the other hand, they are one of the most successful companies in the world and can therefore afford it.
There is still plenty of time until the next expansion, whatever it may be called. The last three, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor, were released roughly two years apart. The next one should be upon us during the late autumn of 2016.
Still, given that the last expansion radically realigned the game's timeline by preventing the Burning Legion's influence over the Orcish hordes of Draenor, which then led to a much different assault through the Dark Portal between it and Azeroth, the former Night Elf region of Azshara could be key. It is implied in the Warcraft Roleplaying game that during the War of the Ancients, which predates the events of WoW by several millennia, a second Dark Portal allowed the Burning Legion access to the world.
That Dark Portal is said to be lost beneath the seas, just waiting to be brought back once again.
If one timeline is messed up via one trans-dimensional portal, it stands to reason that you can fix it via another one.
We will find out when Blizzard deigns it to be so. Until then, there's plenty more Warlords of Draenor to play.
