Wow Will Invasions Still Continue Into the Next Expac

As a developer, Blizzard has created a lot of popular game franchises, but even they could not have imagined that they would have created the most popular and successful MMORPG of all time. World of Warcraft was first released in 2004, and it was a continuation of the story that was told in the original RTS games which were simply called Warcraft.

WoW is known for focusing on the conflict between The Horde and The Alliance, but the game is far more than that. The game's lore is incredibly deep and complex, and it includes a multitude of different characters, races, classes, factions, and locations. The lore is so vast in fact, that Blizzard could never hope to tell the full story in a single installment, which is why they will never run out of material for expansions.

Updated on September 1, 2022, by Kristy Ambrose: As the Achievement says, what a long strange trip it's been. Not only are players counting the expansions to what is now known as Retail WoW, but also counting the hours until the Classic version of the game relives the glory days of the past. The new versions of the expansions are slightly different from their historic counterparts despite the vocal #NoChanges movement.

Each expansion has multiple patches because it takes time to tell the full story, and these stories almost always have major implications for the lore and the world of Azeroth as a whole. There are always one or two events that reshape Azeroth to some degree, and tracing the World of Warcraft expansions in order is like a history lesson.

9/9 The Burning Crusade (2007)

• New Races: Blood Elves & Draenei
• New Area: Outland

The Burning Legion is an army of ravenous demons who have invaded countless worlds while being led by some of the strongest beings in the WoW universe. Burning Crusade focused on the Legion's latest attempt to invade Azeroth, which happened because the Doom Lord Kazzak reopened the Dark Portal to Draenor, otherwise known as Outland, the original Orc homeworld.

The Horde and The Alliance fought the Legion and even went through the portal to deal with the enemy at its source. This ultimately led to the defeat of Illidan Stormrage at the top of the Black Temple, who had declared himself the ruler of Outland. The expansion also saw the troll warlord Zul'jin declare war on The Horde and The Alliance, and he summoned ancient Gods to destroy both factions. The disgraced Blood Elf prince, Kael'thas Sunstrider also tried to summon Kil'Jaeden through the Sunwell.

Retail World of Warcraft

When the original expansion was released, the developers were thinking as much about fixing the original game as they were to add new material. There were some complaints from the gaming community about the new areas looking better and more modern, but most players were impressed by the improved content that included a whole new continent to explore, several new raids and dungeons, and ten more levels to gain.

Classic World of Warcraft

Following the historic path of WoW expansions in order, The Burning Crusade came to Classic WoW in June 2021. More than a decade after the expansion first went public and developers and PR people alike now had the benefit of hindsight. This time around, issues with graphics and endgame content were easy to avoid, with the hurdle instead being players who already knew the content and had to be impressed by something else. Blizzard came through by instating new rules that put an end to boosting and bots, present-day problems that were a lot more detrimental to the game than a LFG function.

8/9 Wrath Of The Lich King (2008)

• New Class: Death Knight
• New Area: Northrend

Wrath of the Lich King is still considered to be the best WoW expansion, and for good reason. Players familiar with the lore of the RTS games know all too well how Arthas Menethil became the Lich King, and during his assault, he caused the original deaths of Sylvannas Windrunner and Dranosh Saurfang.

Many consider Icecrown Citadel to be WoW's best raid, and it ended with Arthas' defeat. This defeat included the destruction of the runeblade, Frostmourne, which had the power to dominate everything, especially the undead.

Retail World Of Warcraft

If The Burning Crusade made WoW the President of all MMORPGs, this expansion made it Emporer Of The Universe For Life. The bug fixes and tweaks finally completed quality-of-life improvements that players had been asking about for years, including the dual-spec option and an upgraded LFG feature. This latter change was seen as little more than a detail of convenience at the time, but it would become one of the most important issues in the future.

Classic World of Warcraft

TBC blew past the players without much attention, and the nostalgia was strong with this one, enough to carry the fanbase for a while. With Wrath of the Lich King set to drop again in September of this year, however, the voices expressing concerns about certain changes, like the LFG function, are much louder this time.Plans to include LFG were initially scrapped because of the backlash from the community, but then a counter-backlash compelled the devs to reinstate them, just as an example of how this dialogue has been evolving. There's also the looming question of how the next expansion will progress if it does at all.

7/9 Cataclysm (2010)

• New Races: Goblins & Worgen
• New Areas: Kezan, The Maelstrom, Twilight Highlands, & Gilneas

Cataclysm brought forth a lot of changes, as the evil dragon aspect, Deathwing the Destroyer, caused a massive cataclysm that reshaped Azeroth. Volcanic eruptions drastically altered areas, along with fearsome fires and powerful earthquakes. This event also brought Azeroth closer to the Elemental Plane, which is why Ragnaros and other elemental lords attacked. As a result, evil elemental spirits invaded Azeroth, and tensions between The Horde and Alliance were reignited.

Aside from dealing with Deathwing, players needed to help Vol'jin stop the Zandalari trolls from attacking both factions. Players also banished the Firelord Ragnaros from Mount Hyjal and then traveled to the elemental plane to defeat him once and for all. During the final battle with Deathwing, the other Dragon Aspects sacrificed their powers, thus leaving Azeroth's protection in the hands of both faction's heroes.

6/9 Mists Of Pandaria (2012)

• New Races: The Pandaren (for both Horde & Alliance)
• New Area: Pandaria

Mists Of Pandaria introduced players to a new, mysterious island, but it also introduced the Pandaren race. With the Alliance and Horde in conflict again, they engaged in a major naval battle which left their forces to wash up on the island.

As the Horde and Alliance fought, the Mogu allied themselves with the Zandalari trolls and resurrected Lei Shen the Thunder King to reclaim Pandaria. The expansion saw the fall of Warchief Garrish Hellscream, whose thirst for power turned him into a Pandaren war criminal, but he also turned against the Horde and formed his own "True Horde" comprised of just orcs. The Alliance and Horde besieged Orgrimmar to stop him, and when they did, both factions agreed to stop fighting.

Pandaria was hidden from the rest of the world for thousands of years, but that all changed when the Horde unintentionally chased Anduin's ship unto the continent's shores. The actions of the Horde and Alliance also released the Sha, which are physical manifestations of doubt, despair, fear, hatred, and anger.

5/9 Warlords Of Draenor (2014)

• New Races: None
• New Area: Draenor

Before Garrosh could be judged, he was rescued by a Bronze Dragon named Kairozdormu, who allows him to travel back in time 35 years to an alternate Draenor. There, he warns the orcs that they will become slaves if they accept Gul'dan's gift of power. This new Iron Horde conquers Draenor and builds a new Dark Portal which allows them to invade present-day Azeroth.

This expansion sees the return of many old faces, and it has the Horde and Alliance join forces with the Draenei. Garrosh meets his end when he battles Thrall, his former Warchief and friend, as well as Gul'dan who goes on to take control of the Iron Horde.

Thrall and Garrosh were extremely close, and when he killed him at the end of the Draenor expansion, the emotional impact caused him to lose his connection to the Elements. The former Warchief then decided to go into hiding to spend more time with his family. This has significant ramifications because Thrall essentially decides to walk away from the Horde, and without his leadership and guidance, the faction goes down a questionable path.

4/9 Legion (2016)

• New Races: None, but introduced the Demon Hunter class
• New Areas: Argus & The Broken Isles

The next demon invasion occurred in the Legion expansion when Gul'Dan stole Illidan's body and opened a portal at the Tomb of Sargeras. The demons used this portal to pour into Azeroth which forced the Wardens to release the fel-enhanced demon hunters. When the Horde and Alliance go to meet the Legion's forces, they take heavy losses, including Warchief Vul'jin and King Varian.

Players end up defeating Gul'Dan again and bringing Illidan back to life. The story comes to a climactic end when they travel to Argus by using a massive ship called the Vindicaar. The Horde and Alliance continue to battle the Legion on Argus, where they defeat Kil'Jaeden and two titans.

Argus was Legion's final raid boss, and he would have destroyed everything if the Titan Pantheon had not intervened. Once the Titan World-Soul was defeated, the Pantheon used the last of Argus' power to imprison Sargeras, the Titan who served as the franchise's overarching villain. Before he was imprisoned, Sargeras attempted to destroy Azeroth by plunging his sword into the planet, an act that resulted in the planet bleeding Azerite.

3/9 Battle For Azeroth (2018)

• New Races: Void Elves, Lightforged Draenei, Dark Iron Dwarves, Kul Tiran, Mechagnome, Nightborne, Highmountain Tauren, Mag'har Orc, Zandalari Troll, & Vulpera.
• New Areas: Zandalar, Kul Tiras, & Nazjatar

Many fans were not pleased with Battle for Azeroth, which saw the Alliance and Horde in conflict after Warchief Sylvannas burned Teldrassil, the home of the Night Elves. The expansion brought players to the troll kingdom of Zandalar and the human kingdom of Kul'Tiras, but it also introduced Warfronts which were massive PVE events.

Players end up dealing with a blood troll uprising, which leads to the release of the Old God, G'huun. Trouble also stirs in the depths, leading both factions to Nazjatar, where they finally battled and defeated Queen Azshara. This act led to the release and eventual defeat of the powerful Old God, N'Zoth.

After Sylvannas betrays the Horde and kills Saurfang, she travels to Icecrown Citadel, where she battles Bolvar Fordragon, who was still the Lich King at the time. Bolvar loses the fight, and Sylvanas ends up taking the Helm of Domination from him. Instead of wearing the Helm herself, she breaks it in half, and this causes the veil between Azeroth and the Shadowlands to shatter.

2/9 Shadowlands (2020)

• New Races: None
• New Area: The Shadowlands

Shadowlands brings players to the realms of Bastion, Ardenweald, Revendreth, and Maldraxxus. As the story progresses, longtime fans get to see the spirits of characters who died a long time ago. Players learn that Sylvannas has joined forces with the Jailer, who is a God of Death, that is trying to conquer the entire Shadowlands.

Players have rescued every hero so far except for King Anduin. They have defeated Sire Denathrius, another God who betrayed the Arbiter and sided with the Jailer. The expansion also added an endlessly playable, ever-changing dungeon called Torghast, Tower of the Damned. Additionally, the discovery of beings much greater than the Titans, who are called The First Ones, brings the universe of World of WarCraft into an even wider perspective.

1/9 Dragonflight (2022)

• New Races: Dracthyr
• New Area: Dragon Isles

It's possible that the expected release date will change, as it tends to do in the turbulent gaming industry, but the next expansion for Retail World of Warcraft is scheduled for December 2022. That's a few months away yet but controversy is already swirling on the interwebs about the next WoW expansion. This time the story goes deep into the ancient history of Azeroth to the memory of the various Dragonflights, and although it's chronologically the earliest this is the last of the WoW expansions in order.

Players are excited about the new content, which includes a new class, a new race, and revamping the professions. The talent system is also getting a total renovation, again, and not everyone is happy about the idea of all the changes taking place. This being the ninth and most recent expansion, the pressure is on Blizzard to improve after the exodus to Final Fantasy XIV and the lukewarm response to the Dragonflight expansion.

World of Warcraft is available on PC. Wrath of the Lich King Classic launches September 26.

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Source: https://gamerant.com/world-of-warcraft-every-expansion-chronological-order/

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