With World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King set to launch next month, it's not too early to start thinking about the next possible expansion to World of Warcraft. And, let's face it, with 11 million subscribers and counting, it'd be shocking if there wasn't one. Combine that with the fact that there are pretty much no secrets or features left to reveal in Wrath of the Lich King at this point, and it's time to break out the wish list for what's to come next. So without further ado, here's our Top 10 things that we'd love to see in the next World of Warcraft expansion.
Better Default UI
It used to be that World of Warcraft was the standard for MMO user interfaces, but other games have surpassed it over the past four years. Consider Warhammer Online's elegant Tome of Knowledge as well as the handy map system that highlights the borders of each and every quest in the game. An interface revamp or overhaul could be a very good thing.
More World PVP
Who doesn't like huge battles? We'd like to see more meaningful incorporation of world PVP along the lines of the epic realm-versus-realm conflict found in Warhammer Online. Lake Wintergrasp in Wrath of the Lich King is a first step toward this, as it's a zone dedicated to PVP. However, we'd like to see these elements integrated more with the game, perhaps in the persistent worlds themselves.
New Starting Areas
Yes, the expansions provide plenty of elder game content for those who are level 70 and higher, but it'd be nice if we got a new starting area for newcomers that covered the 1-60 range. It would encourage even veteran players to start over to check out the new content, while giving newcomers another reason to buy the expansion right away.
More Scripted Stuff
There are moments in Wrath of the Lich King where you stumble upon an honest-to-god invasion; you see ships full of NPCs come ashore, and you get drawn into the fight. It's pretty glorious, and a far cry from the standard MMO situation where enemies just stand around and wait for you to kill them. Tabula Rasa was a game where the missions were set amidst giant battles with all sorts of crazy things going on, like alien dropships appearing out of nowhere. It'd be nice if WoW got a little imaginative and had comparable events more often.