A year and a half ago, we learned that Blizzard was hiring for an infinitely titillating "Next-Gen MMO," one which we assumed would be based on brand new intellectual property (as repeatedly hinted at by Blizzard COO Paul Sams). We haven't heard much about the project since then. However, the silence was recently broken by Blizzard community manager Zarhym, who confirmed on the official WoW forums that the upcoming MMO will "be a brand new franchise."
While this is the first official confirmation of the franchise's freshness we've heard, it's still up in the air as to what the genre of said project will be. If you'll remember, the game is reportedly being developed on the World of Warcraft engine until its developers work up a fittingly new interface. Therefore, we think it's safe to assume it won't be an online dating sim.