The Burning Crusade
The name is a registrated trademark of Blizzard listed as "computer software", thus confirming their plan to use it. This was also printed clearly on the magazine cover which was quickly removed from the TGM website.
Source #1: TGM Magazine
The Italian game magazine had an expansion preview and this is what was written:
New territory: Outland.
New instance: Karazhan, a 5-man instance in Deadwind Pass.
Level cap raised to lvl 70, just as written on the cover.
New profession: Jewelcrafting, gives ability to craft gems, to be used on armor and weapons, similar to enchanting.
Two new races:
Blood Elves for the Horde (yes, I'm sorry, the screens are true). Alliance race still unknown.
Atmospheric effects:
Rain and snow added to the world.
The Expansion Set is scheduled to be released due May 2006.
Thanks to silkfire on the forums for the information. TGM removed their cover image and all information from what we could tell a day or two after it had been published on their online website.
Level Cap
The level cap will be raised to level 70. This was first seen on a magazine cover from TGM, which was only available for viewing for about 48 hours before the site removed the headline and replaced it with the new Brother in Arms headline.
New Races
So far all speculation points to the Blood Elves as the new Horde race. The new Alliance race does not have any factual basis so far, the only clear guesses we can make are the Panderan, which would be very unlikely in our standing opinion.
Over at 1UP there was a post on someones blog describing how he has played the expansion, and has seen "everything". The new Alliance race was not disclosed but he was able to play as the new Horde race and there was a lot of new content in the expansion. As well as there being an upcoming painting of the new Horde race. Maybe this will be shown off at Blizzcon.
So, as soon as Blizzard gives me the okay, I will replace my desktop picture with our December cover, which pictures an awesome painting from one of the Blizzard artist's of the new Horde race. I hate being a tease (well, okay, it's a little fun), but I just can't tell ya yet. But soon!
This goes into a little bit of detail, but there is "open space" in the games data files, which store the class/race information. Leaving open two slots for new races, one for Alliance and one for Horde. This could once again, point to preparation for new races in the Expansion.
Sent in by one of our users, Swift, it seems there is a bit more speculation that the Alliance race could very well be Panderan.
There are 3 children in Stormwind that i ran into the other day, having a conversation about the Panderan. I did not catch it all (ran off too fast) but it at least started with 1 boy saying there was rumor that one had been sighted, then another of the boys replies that they are just a myth/rumor.
It may be nothing, but it also may be a subtle hint regarding the new alliance race. Once the servers come back up, i will try and find the boys again and screenshot the entire conversation.
Follow-up
Ok. These 3 kids were found on a pier inbetween the dwarvern district and garden district in Stormwind city, doing a spot of fishing. As you can see from the screenshot, Justin seems to be full of tall stories, Bradon doesnt seem to be able to believe them, and Roman is entirely uninterested in them.
The last 'tall' story has Justin claiming that people have seen Panderons.
This might just be something Blizzard threw in as a sort of joke (just like one of the previous comments from justin of "There is no spoon"), or it may be something more. Guess we wont really know until Blizzard make an announcement
Update:
This seems to be legitment, at least for Blood Elves as we have been required to pull all related images which were submitted to the site.
Blizzcon Releases
Blizzard announced on the official forums recently that a new starting area will be showcased at Blizzcon, which may also mean that they'll give much more information as well as possibly a demo of what's to come in the expansion.
The new starting area may not specifically be the new races starting area, but speculation points to the Blood Elves starting location. We may not know anything else until Blizzcon arrives.
Dark Portal
It is rumored that the dark portal will open in the expansion. Thus giving way to the new races starting locations, as well as new zones and instances. This would most likely be done from a World Event right before the release of the expansion in which players would participate in events in-game to help open the Dark Portal.
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