Leaks and Datamined Stuff for Expansion Seven - One Week Until Blizzcon

With Blizzcon one week away, we WoW fans are looking forward to a nigh-guaranteed expansion announcement.

Many in-game hints suggest an expansion that has us setting sail to fight Azshara and her Naga and the forces of the Old God N'zoth, with a strong emphasis on the Void in patch 7.3 suggesting we might get a clearer picture of just how the Old Gods and the Void fit together.

But none of that is concrete - it's all speculation based on what is already readily visible in-game. So what evidence, then, do we have of actual stuff from expansion seven? And how much should we read into them?

Kul Tiras Textures:

Weeks ago, dataminers discovered a set of textures that were labeled as "Kul Tiras Quest," appearing to be textures for use on cloth armor pieces, and several other textures that seemed appropriate to the "doodads" found decorating a zone. The nomenclature of "Kul Tiras Quest" is consistent with other quest reward items - for example, you might see textures for "Leather Stormheim Quest" stuff. The strong implication here seems to be that Kul Tiras is likely to be a zone in the next expansion.

How Much to Read In? 10/10. Given that the first time we heard "Iron Horde" was on the name of a texture that looked like just a field of vaguely mottled grey, this is a far more concrete piece of evidence. I would be, frankly, shocked if Kul Tiras is not a location for the next expansion.

Subrace Data:

Recently, dataminers discovered files for four races: specifically Lightforged Draenei, Nightborne, Highmountain Tauren, and Void Elves. These sort of files exist for any race - playable or NPC - and it would make sense for Legion to have these as they all show up in-game (though Alleria's Void Elf form only in a cutscene,) but the thing getting people excited is that these seem to have non-zero entries in a category that directs to a background image for a character select screen, which is something most NPC races do not have. Given that players have long speculated about the possibility for sub-races, this could indicate that Blizzard is moving forward with the idea (perhaps in place of a new playable race.)

How Much to Read In? 6/10. This, honestly, could just be an error, or perhaps a half-baked idea in the works. I can't really imagine adding Highmountain Tauren as playable without adding, for example, Dark Iron Dwarves. Now, if this is real, it could also just be incomplete. Still, I could see this as an error, a proof of concept, or some some other thing. It's certainly possible, but I wouldn't stake everything on it.

Tottle Pet:

A battle pet named Tottle who seems to be a Tortollan (as introduced in the Secrets of Un'goro Hearthstone expansion) could suggest the introduction of these turtle-folk to the game (it wouldn't be the first time - Sir Finley Mrrgglton showed up in Stormheim,) which would then imply some kind of jungle zone, which would fit well in an island-hopping expansion.

How Much to Read In? 3/10. Even if this is highly likely to be true, it doesn't really tell us much about any major expansion features, and if Tortollans show up, we really don't know what that means.

Seabraid Stallion Mount:

The name for a mount called a Seabraid Stallion was datamined. The going speculation is that this could easily be a Kul Tiras-affiliated mount, given how it namedrops the sea and is also a horse (the human mount.)

How Much to Read In? 2/10. Like Tottle, this could have a million explanations.