Blizzard Trademarks Cataclysm
This week gets more and more interesting every day. First it was the Faction-Change service announcement, then the latest PTR build sheding light on the Crusaders' Coliseum raid bosses, and now news of Blizzard Entertainment filing trademarks for "Cataclysm." World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, anyone?
We've already speculated a bit about a Maelstrom expansion, and it looks like Blizzard is readying their ammunition to head into BlizzCon with guns blazing. Companies usually only tip their hand on a game title when they're ready to announce it, so whatever Cataclysm is, we'll surely find out at BlizzCon. Sony Online Entertainment did this with their EQ and EQ2 expansions a few weeks before announcing them, and Blizzard will likely follow suit by sharing Cataclysm -- whatever it may be -- with the world in August.
So, again... how does World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sound? And would this be related to the Maelstrom? The Sargeras sound clip from yesterday suggests he's already gone from Azeroth (and was trying to get summoned back), so it likely won't involve him. Unless, of course, he's the cause of the cataclysmic events in this expansion. Another hint that this will be Maelstrom-related is this entry on WoWWiki:
Quote from: WoWWiki (Source)
The Great Sundering, also known as simply the Sundering or the Cataclysm,WRPG 185, 211 was a world event which reshaped Azeroth approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the War of the Ancients. This event was triggered due to the Well of Eternity being destroyed.
Prior to the Sundering, there was only one continent on Azeroth, referred to as Kalimdor. In the catastrophic explosion, eighty percent of the land mass was destroyed,W3Man #? leaving behind the major continents and scattered islands that are known today: Northrend, Kezan, the Eastern Kingdoms, and the remnant still referred to as Kalimdor.
The site of the Well of Eternity became a swirling vortex of power known as the Maelstrom.
At any rate, here are the three trademarks, which in some ways support this being World of Warcraft-related:
