For the first time in a long while, players will be going into the final raid of an expansion with no idea of what's to come, both in regards to WoTLK Gold the actual boss encounters as well as how the story will take place.
"People don't know the details and they haven't heard the plot," Dawson said when asked if the conclusion of the current Sepulcher of the First Ones raid would give players a good indication of what the next expansion will be. "They do not know what's likely to take place. It's kind of a neat moment. We're always looking for ways to improve things. I think right now we're all focused on the ending of the story and bringing a satisfaction to the Jailer."
Although a large portion of the coming raid has been analyzed, combed through, and played-tested by the WoW community using the game's test realm The players will be totally green to fight the final three bosses.
"They haven't been on the PTR as of yet, so there's not a set of mods for it, or strategies put into writing," Dawson said. "People don't know what they'll be experiencing. There's adventure and exploration to come at the end of this raid."
Adding to the sense of mystery is that players will have to wait an additional week before facing the Jailer. While the raid itself will become available at the beginning of March (a week following 9.2's release on February 22) The final three bosses will not be available until March 8. This means that it'll be some time before players are able to learn the end of the story and also the fate of characters such as JAILER and Sylvanas, two of the main characters of Shadowlands who have divided many players in the game's community.
The story generally hasn't been very well-received by a large number of fans. The Jailer is the main antagonist of the expansion. It has been linked in retrospect to massive expanses of World of Warcraft lore dating all the way into World of Warcraft. The entire millennium-long scheme is more than confusing, leading some fans to buy WoTLK Gold refer to him as playing a board game called 4D Chess that no one else can comprehend.