The Most Convincing 11.0 Expansion “Leak” So Far

Many have been surprised by the lack of convincing leaks so close to BlizzCon, but here we go! We’ve seen some manufactured leaks for WoW’s next expansion already, but they’ve either been just text or your usual new logo varieties (and of course all the AI art ones). However, today we have the first even slightly convincing one. 

Avaloren and the Storm Riders

There’s no expansion title attached to this one, but it does offer the name of the new continent we’ll be exploring: Avaloren. There’s no source for any of the images, only those that posted them first, starting with Upset-Setting-501 who added these images to reddit with the title Is this 11.0??.

 

Avaloren is an actual place already mentioned in the lore. It was talked about in the Uldum: Legacy of Tyr dungeon added in Dragonflight, where a text talks about Odyn sending expeditions there to hunt down “heretics” for their crimes against Keeper Innaria. The second image shows what are presumably the Storm Riders, which is the one solid hint we do have about the expansion, namely a datamined Storm Rider mount and race achievements. The third image is also interesting in that the lamps present there resemble ones from a teaser image for BlizzCon (as spotted by cinamonjackz?

Now, the fact that all these things have some relation to actual facts and already leaked or shared details makes sense both if the leak is real and if it’s fabricated. All three images could have been created simply based on these facts we know and lore teases from within the game. 
 

The Expansion Website Laptop Images

Then there’s the laptop images (also from an unknown source, but posted on the MMO Champion forums). This one looks like the expansion landing page, but interestingly it’s using the “default” Dragonflight zone art as background. Now, this may just be a temporary image and is to get replaced, but it also points to it being fake. The “Mobile ready” part refers to the site page being ready for mobile formats. 

The Khaz Algar reference is also one that we’re already aware of, also from Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr. This one was more circumstantial, however, as it is only relevant because it refers to a separate race/clan of dwarves, which was linked to the Storm Rider datamining information. 

 

So, actual leak just over a week ahead of BlizzCon or (sort of) convincing fake? If it is a fake someone really went to a fair amount of trouble to make it! Also keep in mind that the two aren’t necessarily linked either, as the laptop photo did appear a little after the reddit one.