BlizzCon 2007 Begins This Friday
Rumors of a second WoW expansion abound.

July 30, 2007 - This year's convention, to take place August 3rd and 4th in Anaheim's Convention Center, will prominently feature World of Warcraft and StarCraft II. Like we've already reported, attendees will get a chance to go hands-on with the recently announced sci-fi RTS sequel, as well as participate in World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Warcraft III tournaments. Blizzard already has brackets up for the competitive events.

Rumors have, as you might expect, been swirling around whether Blizzard will announce a new expansion pack for World of Warcraft. Considering the sales records shattered by the game's first expansion, The Burning Crusade, another seems inevitable. Blizzard passed on E3 2007 as a venue for announcing anything substantial, preferring instead to detail dungeons and features coming with future patches. It would make sense that such a decision was made so they could bask in the spotlight of their own, private event.

Recently we've been receiving emails regarding the rumored second expansion. One came in from an anonymous "blizz guy," whatever that means. He claimed to have inside knowledge of what Blizzard was going to announce, which we've highlighted below. Please keep in mind that this list is entirely unsubstantiated.

* That expansion pack is called World of Warcraft: Into the Maelstrom

* The Maelstrom area of Azeroth will be opened up for play. Will consist of various islands and Undermine will have a new neutral city.

* The islands will include questing zones, raid dungeons, that city, and a new arena.

* The level cap is being raised to 80 with the expansion but there will be no new talents.

* Advancement after level 70 will be through Hero Classes rather than talents. Hero classes will function as subclasses and each existing class will have 3 of these hero classes to choose from. These hero classes will not be limited by talent choices. Players will be able to choose these new subclasses at trainers when ItM goes live.

* Currently the Priest and Druid hero classes are complete and the Warrior and Mage are close to completion.

* Hero classes will be demonstrated at BlizzCon

When contacted, a Blizzard representative responded with, "we haven't announced any details on a second expansion. We also can't comment on rumors or speculation."

Regardless of what's announced, Blizzard will have to vie for the public's attention as QuakeCon 2007 will be going on at same time, August 2nd - 5th, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas. id Software certainly isn't holding back - information on the new Wolfenstein game, id's Tech 5 game, and more should come out of it.

It's going to be one hell of a weekend. Keep checking IGN for all the latest updates, as we'll be bringing you written impressions and running around with HD cameras at both events.