Imagining 5.5: Aftermath

The major raids of Mists are over - of that much I am convinced. We have ended the war, and we have defeated the last of the Sha.

However, given that it's still over two weeks until the next expansion is even announced, I could imagine that there will be another transitional, story-based patch, like 5.1 and 5.3.

But what would it be? Well, I can't claim to have any knowledge of what will happen. There's no guarantee that 5.5 will even exist, but here's what I was thinking:

Assuming we're drawing a distinction between 5.5 and whatever pre-expansion event the next one will have (I hope they do one. Mists' lack of a prologue - other than the underwhelming Theramore's Fall scenario - was kind of sad, especially after the awesomeness of the Wrath and Cataclysm prologues,) I could see a kind of Aftermath, showing the two factions moving on from the war.

Horde-side, you would basically go to work rebuilding. First off, Vol'jin (spoilers) needs to establish himself as Warchief. While I'm sure that Baine and Thrall will back him up, and Lor'themar's unlikely to give him any problems, he will need to prove himself to Sylvanas, who will almost certainly take this as an opportunity to assert her independence.

The other major thing is the Orcs. While I'm sure that Thrall will play a part in winning the Orcish people back over to Vol'jin (who I imagine will be a truer successor to Thrall's governing style,) there will still probably be some Garrosh loyalists holding out. I could even imagine some kind of Kor'kron insurgency that needs to be taken down.

So I could imagine a set of daily quests or Timeless-Isle-style tasks that involve repairing the damage to the city from the siege, arresting or fighting insurgents, and burying the dead.

Alliance-side, I think it's time to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms. Gilneas has been a dangling thread for a long time, and I think that this is the perfect time to go rebuild there. With the Horde forced to rebuild, the Alliance can take this opportunity to cleanse the plague out of the Worgen homeland. This seems especially prudent given that, with Garrosh out of the picture, Sylvanas is now the biggest threat to Alliance safety.

Gilneas could be a powerful bulwark against further encroachment by the Forsaken, and it seems like a strategically smart thing to turn Gilneas into a serious bastion of Alliance power from which they can project it over all of Lordaeron.

So I'd like to see Alliance players head to Gilneas to start cleaning up the plague, rebuild some of the ruined parts of the country, and fight off any Forsaken troops that are trying to occupy it.

Both of these things could work very similar mechanically, but you'd have a nice opportunity for Horde to feel like they were doing something Horde-specific, and Alliance to feel like they were doing something Alliance-specifc.

Throw in some cool vanity items, like mounts and pets, and some nice little story moments (I'd love to see Genn reclaim his throne, and perhaps see Saurfang return as head of the Kor'kron - though we might just wind up seeing the Kor'kron abolished,) and it would be a fitting epilogue to Mists of Pandaria.