Any recent news on Thal'Dranath?

[Deleted]

In January, I believe it was, it was removed from the world map in the alpha. Blizzard stated way earlier that it was meant as an endgame zone, much like Tanaan Jungle is now. However, I don't think there has been any developments concerning the island, and Tanaan, unlike Thal'Dranath, was never removed from the world map of Draenor. It just wasn't accessible until 6.2. It looks to be another Farahlon. But since I don't have alpha access, I wonder if there's people around that do have access and also have some info on this matter? Like, is the island physically in the game at the moment, etc etc? Thanks!

[Dungo]

It's going to be the Isle of Thunder of the expansion

[Deleted]

Right now if u go to where the island should be, you will discover it just as fatigue is about to kill you(Discovered Thal'Dranath message, etc). However, there's just water there for now and Khadgar teleports you away afterwards.

[Supercool]

and Tanaan, unlike Thal'Dranath, was never removed from the world map of Draenor.

Because it's literally attached to the rest of Draenor. Like how Hyjal wasn't erased from the Kalimdor map even though we couldn't access it for six years.

[nazrakin]

In January, I believe it was, it was removed from the world map in the alpha. Blizzard stated way earlier that it was meant as an endgame zone, much like Tanaan Jungle is now. However, I don't think there has been any developments concerning the island, and Tanaan, unlike Thal'Dranath, was never removed from the world map of Draenor. It just wasn't accessible until 6.2. It looks to be another Farahlon. But since I don't have alpha access, I wonder if there's people around that do have access and also have some info on this matter? Like, is the island physically in the game at the moment, etc etc? Thanks!

Back when they introduced it they said that it would be patched in later so i wouldnt expect any developments during beta/launch.

[Nevcairiel]

Like, is the island physically in the game at the moment, etc etc? Thanks!

It used to be in the game, but it was nothing but a flat piece of land with Thal'Dranath written on it (yes, actually written on it ingame).
It was then removed later on, and Blizzard do have officially stated that its coming in a later patch. We do not know if they are working on it internally or how far it is, since the Alpha does not include it at this time. Its very well possible that the zone artists are already working on it, now that the art for the existing zones is done.

Speculating on post-launch content at least 4-6 months after the expansion launch (if its in the first content patch and not a later one) seems a bit premature at this point, when the expansion itself is still developing in front of us

[Bullerick]

It was only in the alpha for a while as a flat piece of land as a placeholder, testing the location and the distance from the mainland, kind of like a blueprint. They 100% said at BlizzCon and in blue posts that it's going to be patch content. And don't be negative about it. They will add it, WoD was a flop, they had problems, they won't do it again for a long time. Thal'Dranath will be added in a patch and that's that tyvm.

[TriHard]

My guess is that Thal'dranath will be more like Quel'Danas / Isle of Thunder, so it'll probably have a big ass raid (Troll or Elf inspired?) with a huge structure like Ulduar. Probably with N'zoth as the end boss. I think it was said that he could be imprisoned there.

[Hyrja]

But 1 thing. If they knew they were gonna add Thal'Dranath in a later patch, why did they add it to the world map and show it to us at blizzcon and a month later remove it entirely from the game?

[Raetary]

But 1 thing. If they knew they were gonna add Thal'Dranath in a later patch, why did they add it to the world map and show it to us at blizzcon and a month later remove it entirely from the game?

so they can work on it without letting people see it?
if i remember correctly, isle of thunder also got removed from the world.

[Bullerick]

But 1 thing. If they knew they were gonna add Thal'Dranath in a later patch, why did they add it to the world map and show it to us at blizzcon and a month later remove it entirely from the game?

Refer to post #7

[Aeluron Lightsong]

It was only in the alpha for a while as a flat piece of land as a placeholder, testing the location and the distance from the mainland, kind of like a blueprint. They 100% said at BlizzCon and in blue posts that it's going to be patch content. And don't be negative about it. They will add it, WoD was a flop, they had problems, they won't do it again for a long time. Thal'Dranath will be added in a patch and that's that tyvm.

Was it even textured or just blank land that was there?

[In Ogres We Trust]

Personally, I'm in love with the speculation in this thread:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...hread-SPOILERS

[Hyrja]

Refer to post #7

You're just speculating. No1 knows why it got removed

[Bullerick]

You're just speculating. No1 knows why it got removed

Yeah but others also pointed out they did this before in previous expansions. This situation happened during WoD development, but it also happened in Pandaria and we got plenty of islands. My speculations go with the previous occasions. It's how the devs work, it's their way of doing it.

Was it even textured or just blank land that was there?

It was not blank and untextured. It was flat and it had a single texture from a tileset that I'm not sure about but it was not detailed. It also had "Thal'Dranath" written on it [the flat landscape itself], which is something they do to mark the different zones on a landscape during development. They do this on the mainlands as well with borders drawn along etc. I've seen some footage of WoD alpha builds that had this.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

It was not blank and untextured. It was flat and it had a single texture from a tileset that I'm not sure about but it was not detailed. It also had "Thal'Dranath" written on it [the flat landscape itself], which is something they do to mark the different zones on a landscape during development. They do this on the mainlands as well with borders drawn along etc. I've seen some footage of WoD alpha builds that had this.

Ok, I was curious and this does sound familar. Blizzard writing the name of the zone or whatever during development. Kinda cool honestly. Thanks for the infos.

[Rivin]

You're just speculating. No1 knows why it got removed

Uh, we do know why it was removed. It's patch content; Blizzard explicitly said it was patch content when they revealed it. They're not going to leave it on the map or, worse yet, leave a big placeholder landmass in the game world until 7.1 or whenever it gets added.

The real question is why it was on the map in the first place if they knew it wasn't going to be there at launch.

[Deleted]

They're not going to leave it on the map or, worse yet, leave a big placeholder landmass in the game world until 7.1 or whenever it gets added.

The Isle of Thunder was a placeholder landmass till 5.2, though I can't remember if 5.1 added it or if it was always there.

Here is someone glitching to it in 5.1.

Edit: Granted having a placeholder area might not work as well with the increased render distance now the Isle of Thunder was just far enough to be hidden for most.

[Rivin]

The Isle of Thunder was a placeholder landmass till 5.2, though I can't remember if 5.1 added it or if it was always there.

Here is someone glitching to it in 5.1.

Edit: Granted having a placeholder area might not work as well with the increased render distance now the Isle of Thunder was just far enough to be hidden for most.

That Isle of Thunder wasn't really a placeholder; it was an actual landmass with terrain and structures. It just ultimately wasn't the one they decided to use. The Thal'dranath that was in the alpha before it was removed was just a flat area with nothing on it except its name scribbled on.

[nazrakin]