Azshara Crater

Azshara Crater was planned as a future Battleground located in Azshara. It was likely to be in southern Azshara, in the Forlorn Ridge. It was intended to work in a similar fashion to Alterac Valley.

131. Warcraft Weekly - Episode 70 - Part II | 2007-03-01 12:34 |  Vaneras

Future battlegrounds/PVP

Azshara Crater
Why release Azshara Crater now? Well, for one, it contains Blood Elves buildings. Also it could be a good place to introduce a RTS based battlegrounds (build buildings and such, then duke it out).

Battleground entrances have already been placed within the zone, with the Alliance entrance on the south side of Forlorn Ridge, and the Horde entrance on the north side of Forlorn Ridge. They are currently inactive, as the Battleground itself has not been implemented, though the battleground itself exists in the game files.

Layout

From what can be seen from map viewers, the map seems to be a simple square divided into three areas, one Horde, one Alliance and one Neutral.

The Horde base featuring Orc and Tauren architecture. the presence of such a number of Tauren tents may indicate Tauren leadership. A separate fortress overlooks the base from above as seen to the top right.

File:Horde Base AC.JPG

Horde Base

The Alliance base is made up of Night elven structures with one oddity, the presence of an Orc Barracks within the center of the base. There is a large Night Elf tree cave similar to those in Moonglade.

File:Alliance Base AC.JPG

Alliance Base

Both bases are quite large; more spacious than those in Alterac Valley. Both also feature gates leading into the central field. The Horde base is built looking over a marshy area while the Alliance base is set within light forest. It's possible that the Battleground is set between Tauren and Elven forces based solely on the architecture used.

The third region is an undisclosed area featuring ancient Night Elven ruins, particularly a large temple behind two large statues of dragons.

From what can be anticipated, the center of the map is likely to be the battlefield with a number of different locations such as caves, pools and rivers that may function as flag capture points similar to those seen in Alterac Valley. An interesting feature is what some may call 'the sunken stair'. It is nearly identical to the stairs leading down into Blackfathom Deeps.

As for the goals of the battlefield, they are currently unknown.

Current status

It is assumed that Azshara Crater was put on hold because of difficulties balancing Alterac Valley. Now that the Valley appears to be at a point that the developers are more or less happy with, it's possible, but unlikely, that Azshara Crater may be worked on once again.^{[citation needed]} 

At Blizzcon 2007, it was stated during an Q&A question that they have not decided if the Azshara crater battlefield will be added. Developers stated that balancing Alterac Valley was a higher priority. A date was not given for the possible addition of the battleground.^{[citation needed]} 

In interviews, Jeff Kaplan confirmed that Azshara crater would not be included in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Blizzard has acknowledged that they might return to work on further developing the battleground.

MP: We've heard rumors about a battleground in Azshara, is it still on the table?

Tigole: We have worked on an Azshara battleground very early in WoW's development. At the same time we were building Alterac Valley we were starting production on a zone called Azshara crater which was in the mountain in Azshara. We halted development of that and we might go back to that at a future date, but we're currently putting that one on hold.

Geography

The battleground, or at an least early rendition of it, can only be accessed through WoW Map Viewer.

The area is divided into four distinct regions with one of the region in the center connecting to the other three.

1. The first one, where the only visible entrance seems to be located, has a fortified camp made of a peculiar mixture of orc and night elf architecture. This might indicate that the battleground was intended for an allied battle between joint forces of Horde and Alliance and unknown enemy. Alternatively, those structure may just be placeholders.
2. The middle region is dotted with numerous Furbolg camps, and a relatively expansive cave of Furbolg architecture. To the west is also a small camp of Satyr tents.
3. The region to the west is filled with structures with orc and tauren architecture. However, the only visible battleground entrance in this region is covered in dirt.
4. The final part, marked by the entrance adorned with two massive dragon statues, has a huge high elven structure, purple in color, surrounded with other highborne ruins, resembling the Naga temples in the eastern part of Azshara.
5. The alliance camp is night elven but its mini-map has human structures most likely due to a change before the project was put on hold.

History

• Mention of Azshara Crater happened as early as Patch 1.3 (released 7 March 2005), but it was apparently never turned on in any PTR.
• A few official mentions occurred in early and late 2007, but there has been effectively no news since.

External links

Blizzard Archive (official forums) 131. Warcraft Weekly - Episode 70 - Part II 03/01/2007 04:34:05 PST by Vaneras

Azzor.com Azshara Crater