Games for Windows je dao ekskluzivan intervju (sa Blizzard Development timom) koji moze da se nadje u poslednjom magazinu (September 2007)

Zone koje su objavljene ranije su istinite.

Northrend je podeljen na 10 zona (level range je moguće da će se promeniti). Ulaskom u Howling Fjord ili Borean Thundra u istočnoj luci ili zapadnom delu, boriti se do puta ka IceCrown Glacier, gde vas čeka Arthasov Frozen Throne. Wrath of the Light King vam predstavlja novi kocept: Lake Wintergrasp je WoW prva Outdoor zona i Azjol Nerub, kuća paukolikih Neubian rase, je prvi "outdoor underground" zona - pećna u srcu Northenda, mesto veliko za masovne gradjevine i gradove...

    * Howling Fjord (68-72)
    * Borean Tundra (68-72)
    * The Dragonblight (71-75)
    * Zul'Drak (73-76)
    * Grizzly Hills (74-76)
    * Azjol-Nerub (74-78)
    * Sholazar Basin (75-78)
    * The Storm Peaks (77-80)
    * Icecrown Glacier (78-80)
    * Lake Wintergrasp (outdoor PVP)

"Sama igra više ne daje osećaj da grindate" govori glavni dizajner WoWa Tom Chilton. "Ne treba nikad bežati od questova" Mi ne očekujemo da će biti drastičnih izmena levelovanja od 60 do 70." Čak i najbolje opremljeni igrači će naći novu opremu odmah na početku. "Hardcore se resetuje odmah na početku" govori Chilton, "Ali je samo pitanje vremena pre nego što počnu sa EndGame guild raidovanjem ponovo."

Jedna od velikih WoW misterija će uskoro biti rešena: Šta su dodjavola radili ti Wizardi u zatvorenom ružičastom balonu od Dalarana? Ispada da su oni spremali Azerothov bitan grad da pomere u Northrend - ili malo preciznije lebdeće iznad Northrenda; glavni grad Horde i Alianse. Preporod Dalarana će sadržati jednu ili dve istance, slično Regefire Chasm u Ogrimaru ili Stockade u Stormwindu, i igrači će moći da koriste portale da dodju do svojih starih glavnih gradova. Ali nemojte da očekujete aukcijske kuće ili trenere za vašu klasu koji se kriju u zidovima Dalarana.

Pročitajte vest opširnije kako bi saznali više o zonama Northrenda kao i ostalih dodatnih informacija...

    * Borean Tundra: This flat, sprawling zone would be filled with snow from seashore to its most inland borders - if it weren't for those dang Naga. Half the zone is iced over, while the other half consists of semicircular pools of meltwater. The main inhabitants are a race of walruslike people called the Tuskarr - nomadic, tribal folk whose homes and structures are attacked to giant tusklike sliders so they can move their villages wherever they need to. Borean Tundra will also house a giant Horde citadel (Warsong Hold) - the largest in Northrend.

    * The Nexus: Both of Northrend's starter zones will contain a winged instance similar to Hellfire Citadel. Near Borean Tundra lies The Nexus, an instance hub and ancient home of the Blue Dragonflight. "After all of these years Malygos sees magic out of controla cross the globe," says Metzen. "So Malygos and the Blue Dragonflight are going to declare war on magic - if you use magic, you've gotta go." Acolytes of Malygos prepare for their arcane inquisition on the floating rings of th nexus - summoned into place piece by piece by Malygos - where instance goers will play out their adventure. The final raid wing will probably end in a fight with half-mad Malygos himself. "I wouldn't call him evil - but he's definitely gone off the deep end," says Metzen.

    * Howling Fjord: If you're averse to seeing snow the second you set foot in Northrend, you might want to set sail to Valgarde, one of the starting settlements in Howling Fjord. Norse themes dominate; metal-wrought structures shaped like Viking warships loom on the high cliff tops (also, expect to see new building models for old standbys such as inns). Oh, and 15 foot tall, protodragon-riding barbarians called the Vrykul, which bear more than a passing resemblance to Eric the Red and his ilk. With Wrath, Blizzar dplans on incorporating more of what they call 'micros' - dungeon like underground areas that aren't instanced, but play out more like a traditional dungeon crawl.

    * Utgarde Keep: Utgarde is a citadel owned and operated by Northrend's native Vrykul - and it serves as a hub for Howling Fjord's instanced dungeons and raids. The first dungeon, the three-boss Utgarde Keep, is similar to Hellfire Ramparts in both look and length. While the Vrykul-allied Lich King hordes don't play a huge part in the trash pulls, they're pervasive in the boss fights. One boss is a Lich, another is Vrykul who summons Scourge slaves to do some dirty ditch-digging for him.

    * Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme: Blizzard will be adding a new instance to the Caverns of Time. The latest instance will let you follow in the footsteps of Arthas as he slaughters the town of Stratholme - and, if any other Caverns of Time instances are any indication, your goal won't be to stop him, rather, to make sure he finishes his task. Arthas' appearance in the Caverns of Time won't be an isolated event. "We wish we had involved Illidan a bit more in the quest progress from 60 to 70" says Chilton.

Darth Vader's story ends in redemption, but what about poor old Arthas? "We don't want it to be predictable," says Metzen, "We don't want it to play like, 'Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected.'"

"There's a hook of The Burning Crusade that we never got to," says Metzen. "We never really had that final 'yeah, we kicked their ass; we ended the Burning Crusade; we saved the universe.' You kick Illidan's ass -- but he's not a fan of the Burning Crusade either. I don't know that we said everything we set out to say. Sunwell Plateau lets us end the sentence, at least."

    * Sunwell Plateau: On an island north of Silvermoon City, the Blood Elves toil away trying to reignite the source of their ancient power -- the Sunwell -- with crates of energy ported in from Netherstorm by Prince Kael'thas (turns out that's what the mana forges were for). Unfortunately, rebuilding the Sunwell is just an elaborate excuse to bring Legion lieutenant Kil-jaden -- right hand man of big baddie Sargeras and creator of the Lich King -- into the Old World from Outland. In game terms, this amounts to one last 25-man raid -- the Naxxramas of The Burning Crusade -- for players before Arthas is let loose.

"This is something [lead game designer] Jeff [Kaplan] and I wanted to do ever since Silvermoon," says lead level designer Cory Stockton, "because Silvermoon's art assets are so insanely gorgeous." Inside the shining red-and-gold walls of the Sunwell structure (using the architecture/style from Silvermoon City), expect tweaker Blood Elves, high on magic, and anywhere from six to eight bosses. At the end, you'll take on Kil'Jaeden himself -- something that, in the grand scheme of World of WarCraft lore, 25 level 70 characters shouldn't really be able to do.

"You have to rationalize a lot of things," says Metzen. Sunwell Plateau's requisite disbelief suspension: The whole thing only works because Kil'jaeden's just a half-formed abomination, stuck in the middle of some twisted birthing canal.