World of Warcraft Development Plan, Shane's Battle Plan

Our development team is devoted to continually providing fresh and exciting gameplay experiences for all our players, and it makes improvements and additions to the game on a regular basis. This includes opening new lands, introducing new monsters, creating new quests, and ultimately evolving the overall story of World of Warcraft. This page offers a sneak peek at the features and enhancements players can look forward to in the future.
Please note that the New Features list is a sneak peek. It does not contain every addition, change, or bug fix going into the next patch.

On the Horizon

We plan on implementing these features in the future. Please be aware that these are in the concept stage, and the final results may be different than originally described.
Wrath of the Lich King

World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, will add a host of epic content to the existing game.
Death Knight - World of Warcraft's first hero class
Ten More Levels - Level cap increased to 80, along with potent new abilities and equipment
New Profession - Inscription allows you to customize your favorite spells and abilities
Northrend - A harsh new continent in Azeroth, packed with new zones, quests, monsters, and dungeons
Character Customization Options - change your character's hairstyle and dance animations.

World of Warcraft - Shane's Battle Plan

since the last World of Warcraft Battle Plan, much has happened in the Warcraft universe. We’ve launched Blackwing Lair, the highest level dungeon in the game, we launched World of Warcraft in China and Singapore with great success, and work continues on adding even more content for our players.
BlizzCon is quickly approaching, and we're preparing the lineup of programs, dev chats, and the concert to be held at our inaugural event. I’m very happy to announce that we'll have the first public showing of the expansion for World of Warcraft at BlizzCon. Attendees will be able to view the work that is going into the project and hear some of the eagerly awaited details. To those of you who won’t be able to make it to the show, please keep an eye out for the game magazines that will be hitting newsstands right around BlizzCon, because some of them will feature in-depth articles on the expansion with plenty of information about how World of Warcraft will be evolving.

For this Battle Plan, we want to take the opportunity to look ahead to what our players can expect in the coming months leading up to BlizzCon and the expansion announcement.

Raid Content
since day one, our take on World of Warcraft has been that it should be accessible to a wide audience, whether it’s players who crave epic battles; fast and furious action; or casual, social interaction. We already have a wide variety of activities that players can enjoy, and we want to continue building upon content already in the game.

One feature we’re excited about is the addition of mid-sized raid dungeons. While the epic 40-player encounter is challenging and rewarding, we feel that a mid-sized raid can serve as a dynamic and fun departure from 40-player raids as well as the standard 5-player parties. The tactics necessary for a successful mid-sized raid group will feel different from those for a larger raid group, but good organization will still be required, and each member of the group will be an important contributor to its success. This new raid style will also serve as a stepping stone up to 40-player raids for many players.

Two examples of this new smaller-scale style of raid encounter are the upcoming Zul’Gurub and Ahn’Qiraj content additions. Many of you have already learned about Zul'Gurub from the recent preview we posted and from helping us test this new content on the Public Test Realms. Ahn’Qiraj, which is subdivided into two different encounters, actually takes the small-raid concept a little further. The exterior area is a challenging 20-man raid dungeon, and the interior location presents the next top-tier 40-player raid experience after Blackwing Lair.

Beyond the doors of Ahn’Qiraj, Silithus is being fleshed out as a major quest hub with episodic storylines that extend into its depths and past its borders. Players have frequently requested more small-party and solo content, and we’ve focused our efforts to meet those desires around Silithus. Everyone should definitely check out the new quest and storylines when the Silithus content is released in patch 1.8.

In addition to those new areas, we’ll also be adding some outright terrifying world raid encounters. Along with Azuregos and Lord Kazzak, the names of four green dragons—Ysondre, Lethon, Emeriss, and Taerar—will come to be feared throughout Azeroth.