The Queue: Furious refutations

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Today we'll talk about planets, dimensions, and expansions.

tomfromhr asked:

Okay, so bit of a timeline/lore question. As I understand it, we shut the original Dark Portal in WCII, right? And in doing so we trapped a sizeable force of Alliance (and Horde?) guys on the other side? Was this when Alleria and Turalyon ran through a portal? And did a Horde force run through that portal too?

Is there a good book to read up on this particular moment in Warcraft history?

And what were the Alliance/Horde forces doing while the DP was closed?

Alleria and Turalyon were part of a larger group known as the Alliance Expedition, which was sent out on a mission to get the Book of Medivh back from Ner'zhul and stop him from opening portals to worlds besides Azeroth. The group also included Khadgar, Danath Trollbane, Kurdran Wildhammer, and others. By the time they actually tracked down Ner'zhul he had already learned all he needed to know to lay siege to other worlds, so they made the tough decision to destroy the Draenor-side Dark Portal, sealing Draenor (now Outland) off from the rest of the universe. The remaining Horde forces either splintered into their old clans or joined up with Kargath Bladefist at Hellfire Citadel. The Alliance forces attempted to make some semblance of a life for themselves while enduring skirmishes with natives, with varying degrees of success.

You can read the complete story in the Beyond the Dark Portal novel.

JohnDoe18 asked:

So.... Sargeras is in the Twisting Nether.... We killed Arthas and he went there, I assume Deathwing did too.... Should we worry about feeding an Almighty Army to the one guy who is hell bent on wiping us (and everything for that matter)?

Neither Arthas nor Deathwing ended up in the Twisting Nether. They're dead. The Twisting Nether, despite some confusing quotes about it by the Scarlet Crusade, is not hell or the afterlife. It's sort of an adjacent dimension to ours that overlaps in places. Outland can still support life because it's sort of submerged in the Twisting Nether, held together by the dimension's powerful magical energy (which is also the source of mages' arcane power!).

Revnah asked:

If Blizzard are going to announce the next WoW expansion at BlizzCon, surely they must have a title trademarked somewhere? But aren't trademarks searchable? Wouldn't it be possible to look through them and find it? It just makes me suspiscious - no leaks is one thing, but a trademark should be visible. Dun dun DUN!!

Some countries don't have searchable online trademark databases, so what Blizzard likely did is register the trademark there; then, they can transfer it over here after the announcement. Keeps things under wraps.

Treadstone asked:

I worry that the reason there hasn't been any expansion name or detail leaks is because there won't be an announcement at Blizzcon.

They'll show off some preview of 5.5, maybe give us a sneak peek at the updated character models, and of course spend a good long time going over Hearthstone integration and how amazing it is that we'll be getting an in-game cash shop!

Maybe they'd even be audacious enough to give us a preview for 5.4. "I know many of you are raiding Orgrimmar as we speak, but for those of you who have yet to scratch the surface, here's a closer look at THE SIEGE OF ORGRIMMAR!"

Then, after the video, Chris Metzen walks off the stage. And there is silence.

They're definitely announcing an expansion at BlizzCon. Don't worry about it.

MichaelEKirby asked:

I'm not trolling here, but will WowInsider recant their furious objections for months if it turns out the expansion is The Dark Below?

I won't need to, because The Dark Below is not a real trademark nor a real product of any kind, much less a World of Warcraft expansion.

Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!