WOW: Intermission (Emptylord)

:Spoiler Bot!!!
:* Minor spoilers for the pre-patch.
:* Blue posts about the story in Shadowlands.
:* Speculations about the direction of future expansions based on the previous points. 
During the pre-patch, it's readily and plainly established that time within the Shadowlands does not progress at the same rate as time outside the Shadowlands. This is stressed to the player. So far as we are currently aware, the Shadowlands campaign is self-contained and does not extend to beyond the Icecrown Citadel. Blizzard has already confirmed that many of the consequences of the Fourth War, such as the Forsaken Night Elves, Calia and the vacant leadership position within the Undead are unlikely to be addressed during Shadowlands "because these things take time to develop". 
I believe that Shadowlands will function as a time-skip, and that post-Shadowlands will be comparable to Cataclysm in its scope. During the time skip, huge changes will affect mainland Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. New capitals will be built; old homes reclaimed; and new borders established. All races, including those currently time-locked in the Burning Crusade and Cataclysm, will receive new starting experiences that reflect their race's personal position in the story. Allegiances will change as a result of Before the Storm and the War of the Thorns. 
However, one of Cataclysms biggest issues was that the "old" content vastly out-shone the new content. This is a fear I have for Shadowlands, too, since the new levelling experience provides so much new content for newer players (e.g. I have never played Classic, Burning Crusade, Wrath and Cataclysm from start to finish) and I'm worried I'll be too engrossed in the old content to enjoy the new Shadowlands content. 
So, my suggestion: an intermission. Rather than a standard one month pre-patch, the pre-patch for the Tenth would last much longer - perhaps extending a full year in advance of Tenth's release date. This gives players plenty of time to absorb the new world, and also gives the developers plenty of time to give us a content-rich expansion on top of all the work required to rebuild the base game. The intermission could still have content patches that unlocks dungeons and raid-tiers - but the intermission would be end-game light.
The intermission would provide the following new content:
* Reworked Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, including Burning Crusade and Cataclysm zones.
** Potentially rework Outland, if the location can be tied into the new expansion. 
* New "Backgrounds" customization option, which affects the starting experience.
** Backgrounds necessitated a rework to some allied races. Affected characters would be given a free race-change service to an applicable alternate race.
* New allied races, including a new neutral race.
** Some existing races are no longer faction-locked.
* New starting experience for all races up to the Mists of Pandaria that is set in current content.
Category:World of Warcraft
Category:Emptylord