Recently, a fan argued against popular speculations surrounding the Blizzard Entertainment trademark: Cataclysm; and some of my articles about it.  No one knows for certain what Cataclysm will turn out to be.  I simply applied some of my lore knowledge into the mix to give it form as a “possible” World of Warcraft expansion.

On my first article announcing the trademark, I clearly stated that Cataclysm could be the name of Battle.net 2.0 or the platform that connects all Blizzard games’s achievements, and other data (think of Steam).  Or it could be the Unannounced Game (based on a brand-new IP).  It could be Warcraft IV for all we know. Diablo III: Cataclysm (since Mt. Arreat exploded creating a massive crater), or who knows what else.

I am not going to say I am infallible, because I have been wrong in the past, and will in the present and future.  My duty is to offer entertainment, analyze, predict and inform based on my knowledge.  Those who know me from Blizzplanet, I have reported news of most Blizzard licensed products for the past seven years.  I keep contact often with Tokyopop, Pocket Books, Sideshow Collectibles, Upper Deck, DC Comics, and other companies.

I have all the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo novels. I am a subscriber of the WoW and Starcraft comic books. I have all the volumes of the Warcraft Legends and Starcraft: Frontline mangas. I have all the Blizzard games (minus the Arcade and GameBoy Advance ones).

My Cataclysm speculation was based on the things I have read in the novels, and what I have seen in World of Warcraft.  I have been playing since closed beta 2004, and know my way around questlines.  I have a lot of dots, but not all of them. Let’s be creative and attempt to put some of these dots together.

I am not saying Cataclysm is 100% the next WoW expansion, but I do have some lore knowledge that somewhat matches conveniently this particular trademark vibe.

For example, those who have read the backstory of The Sundering of the World on the official website, or read Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy Archive by Richard A. Knaak know that 10,000 years ago the Well of Eternity imploded, sundering the land of Ancient Kalimdor.

This cataclysm divided its single-mass of land into three separate continents, and all the central mass became the Great Sea, with an immense marine vortex known as the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom is the former Well of Eternity, a continuous storm of chaotic arcane magic. Everyone knows the Sundering story, hopefully.

The next clue comes from Silithus, as mentioned in our recent article.  Ralo’shan the Watcher said the following words: “Ancient forces stir – forces that have not been seen or felt for thousands of years.  The world weeps.  Perhaps a new sundering comes.  A sickness born from within. The foulness has begun to seep into our lands.  From the Dream come nightmares.  Nightmares to befoul us in our waking hours …