Blizzard continues to tease the next Hearthstone expansion with a new "issue" of the Gadgetzan Gazette, which suggests that there is more trouble afoot in the Goblin-run trading outpost than was first suspected. Last week's edition of the paper hinted that the expansion might take a bank heist theme, but it turns out that other parts of the town are suffering from a crime wave too.
Gadgetzan plans to open a "world-class museum" in the very near future, so the story goes, and it's already loaded up with artifacts. It will provide free appraisals to all visitors, and offer gold rewards for (and accept donations of) artifacts for the upcoming Mysteries of Pandaria exhibit. "For generous citizens who choose to donate their finds, curator Madam Goya promises to credit the finder on a nifty plaque," the report says.
There's just one problem. "The museum may have difficulties putting the finishing touches on its jade exhibition," the paper explains. "The demand for the precious green stone has gone up in Gadgetzan recently, as residents report a spate of jade curios and jewelry disappearing across the city. Could the thefts be related to nighttime sightings of shadowy masked figures leaping from rooftop to rooftop? Be sure to buy next week's edition of the Gadgetzan Gazette to find out!"
Related, perhaps, is a front-page ad for "Jade 4 Gold!" offering "cold hard coins" for your jade, be it in the form of trinkets, amulets, statues, baubles, curios, or doodads.
So Hearthstone is going to Gadgetzan, that much is clear—but what isn't so easy to figure out is what exactly you'll be doing thematically when you get there. Things of dubious legality, no doubt. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough: BlizzCon officially gets underway on Friday, and one of the first panels is entitled simply, "Hearthstone: What's Next." The odds of getting through that without the next expansion being revealed? Three words: Not gonna happen.
