They had avoided the topic with careful diction

Blizzard president Mike Ybarra seemingly confirmed recently that rumors saying the next WoTLK Gold expansion would be about pirates are inaccurate. Despite this, many World of Warcraft players are skeptical that his statement means these World of Warcraft rumors are wholly untrue.

With Dragonflight through over half its lifespan, and BlizzCon right around the corner, many World of Warcraft players have begun speculating on what the next expansion might be. One of the more popular theories currently points at a seafaring expansion, largely due to in-game lore referencing lost continents and pirate fleets, as well as several items in the World of Warcraft cash shop sharing a theme of waterborne exploration.

World of Warcraft fan and content creator Mr. Dave was one of the many voices weighing in on the rumor mill. Though the pirate-themed World of Warcraft expansion theory appeals to many, Mr. Dave was less enthusiastic. As he discussed his own thoughts on the matter with other fans who saw his post on Twitter, Ybarra appeared in the comments, adding two words to the discussion that seemingly brought an end to the expansion rumor: “No pirates.”

However, Ybarra’s comment is not actually as definitive as it might seem. In the past, World of Warcraft developers have intentionally misled the community to help preserve secrets using similar statements. During Battle for Azeroth, they insisted there were “no Old Gods in BFA” as a tongue-in-cheek joke, and before they revealed the Augmentation Evoker in Dragonflight, they had avoided cheap WoTLK Gold the topic with careful diction. While none of these were malicious lies, World of Warcraft has previously manipulated the truth intentionally, and also just by changing its mind on matters later on.