New maps have been dug up from the patch 5.4 PTR, covering both the new raid and the new zones we'll see in the upcoming patch. One of the maps is for an area called the Isle of Giants -- home to a new world boss buy wow gold, Oondasta. The map, shown above, looks like a mountainous island with a sunken center and the possible existence of tar pits.
In fact, it looks a lot like a crater. One that is pretty similar to two fairly substantial craters we already have in game: Un'goro Crater over on Kalimdor, and Sholazar Basin up in Northrend. Given what we've been told so far in regards to the new raid, and how the developers wanted to make something in the style and scope of Ulduar, this raises a few questions. The biggest one being -- what if that similarity to Ulduar isn't just a matter of size and scope?
Un'goro Crater and Sholazar Basin
Un'goro Crater was thought to be an anomaly in vanilla -- the lush green landscape stuck out in stark contrast to the deserts that surrounded it. It was later revealed to be a kind of experimentation area for the Titans. In fact, Khaz'goroth himself once stood in Un'goro and shaped creations, testing them in the crater as his own personal petri dish of sorts. Although a few of the creatures roaming in Un'goro were created by Khaz'goroth, many existed long before the Titan's arrival.
Sholazar Basin is basically the Northrend version of Un'goro Crater. Whether or not Khaz'goroth spent time there as well is unknown. However, the Avatar of Freya makes it clear that the Basin is an experimental area, which points to the same "petri dish" purpose of Un'goro Crater. In addition, the two zones are linked together via a Waygate, and players can travel from one to the other simply by stepping through.
The fact that there were not one, but two of these areas in the world suggested that perhaps others existed as well. Although none were discovered on the Eastern Kingdoms, the fact that the world used to be united as one continent could explain the absence of a crater on that side of the world -- at the point in time of the Titan's experiments, all continents were linked together.