BfA Patch Speculation thread (8.3 and later).

[Nathanyel]

And if these events truly are so large that they're basically a world boss in add form, then people would just form a crossrealm group to invite people, and treat it like another world boss.

I can't see any "dynamic event" that wouldn't be trivialized by the playerbase.

The problem is not that WQs are "repeated quests", original ones would become boring shortly later, too, and look at the minigames, original content, but often reviled.
The problem is that WoW at its core is an action RPG: "kill something, get rewards". This was already abstracted several times into variations of "interact with something, perform tasks", but anything really complex would clash with the MMO concept.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

And if these events truly are so large that they're basically a world boss in add form, then people would just form a crossrealm group to invite people, and treat it like another world boss.

I can't see any "dynamic event" that wouldn't be trivialized by the playerbase.

The problem is not that WQs are "repeated quests", original ones would become boring shortly later, too, and look at the minigames, original content, but often reviled.
The problem is that WoW at its core is an action RPG: "kill something, get rewards". This was already abstracted several times into variations of "interact with something, perform tasks", but anything really complex would clash with the MMO concept.

Players will always seek the path of least resistance. And if those paths are removed, will quit.

Best part is folks are mad at players for using Cross-Realm Group Finder as intended.

[Nathanyel]

The rifts in Rift took a bit to form and then the event lasted a decent amount of time. The issue with WoW rares is that you sneeze at them and they fall over. They had 5 or 7 waves?

But was it more than "kill mobs, destroy their doodads"?

And to make up for how easy the rares die, we also have so many of them so people feel pressured to kill them even faster so they can be ready to go for the next one.

Yeah that's why I prefer the WQ system, there are X current rares, you go there, and kill them with others, semi-short respawn.
But alas, it's not too bad to have something different in Mechagon, except for the 3 mount rares. The 4 minibosses in Tanaan already wore me out, and I still don't have one of the mounts.
These should be on a reliable respawn, either short, or a set time across all realms.
Scarcity can be added by only having them spawn every other day.

I admit that the feeling of need to "farm" these rares is self-imposed, but that's hardly the only issue of that kind in WoW.

[derpkitteh]

Ah yes, "old good, new bad".

to an extent, it's true.

there's obviously exceptions, but the popularization of gaming has damaged it irreparably. gaming was generally better back when it was seen as something for nerds and losers. rpgs in general had more depth, games with a historical basis were kept true to the history, many examples to be had. there are of course modern games that are decent, but it's usually few and far between.

this is demonstrable with wow. bfa gameplay has hit a point that is beneath every other expansion's gameplay, and it doesn't even have rpg mechanics to excuse it. but of course, your one sentence quips probably show you're not worth interaction with much beyond this.

I enjoy that there was also a "s o u l l e s s" stuck in there.

i don't mean in the /v/ soul meme way, i mean that in general people are just garbage. most people are hardly even capable of being called human, they're so unfeeling beyond the next few hours or days worth of thought. 0 abstract conceptualization of life, to appreciate deeper meaning and need for complexity. they'd rather get their small dopamine fix for the hour and move on.

for the most part, i genuinely hate the existence of most people, for what their banality has done to the things i loved growing up. but i try to pity, more than hate.

[Nathanyel]

Best part is folks are mad at players for using Cross-Realm Group Finder as intended.

Even Blizz, see the WQGF&Co. nerf in 9.0

How about this: dynamic events spawn as WQs, possibly a shorter duration, and players are encouraged to join groups for them. They have some phases/waves with a "boss" at the end, killing which completes the WQ. The event restarts after some minutes.

Actually, that sounds like a non-instanced version of the Invasions on Argus, pimped up and in a larger area.

[matrix123mko]

https://twitter.com/Diablohu/status/1161925486752088064

Chinese Sylvanas voice actor dubbed next CGI cinematic. She seems to be unpleased by story direction.

[Nathanyel]

I have to ask, what exactly are people expecting then? This is the gameplay this engine allows.

Which is exactly my point. People say WQs are boring because they're the same basic gameplay as other content, but never say what they want instead.

I'm all for providing more flavor and quasi-story framing, but the core gameplay will remain the same.

[derpkitteh]

https://twitter.com/Diablohu/status/1161925486752088064

Chinese Sylvanas voice actor dubbed next CGI cinematic. She seems to be unpleased by story direction.

idk, she doesn't seem too unhappy with those emojis.

seems more like she's amused at sylvanas being a bastard in some way. again.

[Nathanyel]

A big part of the problem with world content is hopping. Shard hopping has absolutely broken the way we experience the world.

Which is sad and true, but like with Flying, it's better to deal with an opened Pandora's box than trying to seal it again.

A system allowing to directly search for the current WQ would allow for better matching, it could prefer groups that are at a similar percentage of progression. Make players perform a few more actions (well, clicks) to find the 'perfect' group for them.

Reduce random spawns across different realms (see my post about the mount rares above) to reduce the need to realm-hop, except to find more players for the elite mob.
Or (e.g. for events) require personal progression for eligibility to tag the final mob.

[matrix123mko]

Which is exactly my point. People say WQs are boring because they're the same basic gameplay as other content, but never say what they want instead.

I'm all for providing more flavor and quasi-story framing, but the core gameplay will remain the same.

My problem with world quests is that they are frozen in time. I don't know why should I kill blood trolls for Rastakhan after Jaina killed him.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Even Blizz, see the WQGF&Co. nerf in 9.0

How about this: dynamic events spawn as WQs, possibly a shorter duration, and players are encouraged to join groups for them. They have some phases/waves with a "boss" at the end, killing which completes the WQ. The event restarts after some minutes.

Actually, that sounds like a non-instanced version of the Invasions on Argus, pimped up and in a larger area.

TBF being able to one click auto-group wasn't part of the intended design.

If they could nerf the new WQGF they would, but they can't stop you from just searching for a series of numbers instead of the quest by name.

But grouping cross-realm to make hard world content easy is the intended design.





Also I'm always down for short-run WQs. I don't know why they all need to have like 12 hour uptimes with like 24 hour downtimes. Encourage me logging in dammit!

[FlubberPuddy]

My problem with world quests is that they are frozen in time. I don't know why should I kill blood trolls for Rastakhan after Jaina killed him.

There can't be a successful persistent world for MMOs because the general playerbase playtimes are too sporadic and people will bitch about missing it. Look at the people complaining about the Vale of Eternal Blossoms when Blizzard tried that.

The best would be phasing it like how they do with new/old Darkshore, Silithus, and Tirisfal Glades. But that's probably not worth it for Blizzard to add in layers/phases each patch tier and splits up the playerbase even more.

Just gotta take in some of the realities of game development and limited resources.

[Nathanyel]

https://twitter.com/Diablohu/status/1161925486752088064

Chinese Sylvanas voice actor dubbed next CGI cinematic. She seems to be unpleased by story direction.

Tweet says "complicated", which is already a translation. Could be bittersweet because Sylvanas' arc and (un)life is coming to an end, could also mean Sylvanas does more questionable things, which she is uncomfortable with.

Even if Sylvanas dies/disappears, the voice actress will likely still have a job with Blizzard, though. Recently played Legion Assaults (AR levelling) and Argus (WQ farming for rep during the bonus rep event, finally got the last goddamn elekk) again, and it was unreal to hear "Reinhardt" every two minutes when aggroing a male Eredar

[FlubberPuddy]

The more I really thought about it, I realized that its a mirror image of the Void elves. A recolor of one factions most popular race, sharing history/silhouette/model, but where a simple color swap and smaller changes can completely change its theme and make it unmistakable on the other side.

The Void Elf trade were the Nightborne.

They're not going to put the most iconic race of the Alliance onto the other side (aka Humans) just like you wouldn't see Orcs on the Alliance. Doesn't matter if Blood Elves are the most picked race.



Blood Elves are not iconic to the Horde. Not to the level that Humans are for the Alliance.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I tend to takeanything translated from Chinese with a grain of salt. As someone who learned Chinese a solid decade ago now.

[derpkitteh]

Tweet says "complicated", which is already a translation. Could be bittersweet because Sylvanas' arc and (un)life is coming to an end, could also mean Sylvanas does more questionable things, which she is uncomfortable with.

Even if Sylvanas dies/disappears, the voice actress will likely still have a job with Blizzard, though. Recently played Legion Assaults (AR levelling) and Argus (WQ farming for rep during the bonus rep event, finally got the last goddamn elekk) again, and it was unreal to hear "Reinhardt" every two minutes when aggroing a male Eredar

reinhardt is basically 90% of the orcs in wod. idk how the man doesn't have permanent throat damage. the vocalist of dying fetus puts his voice through less strain that this man.

[FlubberPuddy]

Tweet says "complicated", which is already a translation. Could be bittersweet because Sylvanas' arc and (un)life is coming to an end, could also mean Sylvanas does more questionable things, which she is uncomfortable with.

Even if Sylvanas dies/disappears, the voice actress will likely still have a job with Blizzard, though. Recently played Legion Assaults (AR levelling) and Argus (WQ farming for rep during the bonus rep event, finally got the last goddamn elekk) again, and it was unreal to hear "Reinhardt" every two minutes when aggroing a male Eredar

That she ends with "damn you writers!" can also potentially mean she voices stuff she wouldn't have wanted for Sylvanas's character (in a lighthearted way). Like maybe say, Sylvanas turns out to be a villain after all.

[Vasoka]

She doesn't seem upset, more like amused. Look at the emojis. The "damn you writers!" is clearly comical and lighthearted.

[Sondrelk]

That she ends with "damn you writers!" can also potentially mean she voices stuff she wouldn't have wanted for Sylvanas's character (in a lighthearted way). Like maybe say, Sylvanas turns out to be a villain after all.

Basically this. Her words coupled with teh emojis could mean basically anything trhat involves Sylvanas.

She could be annoyed that she is becoming a villain, or she could be annoyed that she is Kerrigan 2.0.
For all we know she could be annoyed she just has a cameo instead of anything substantial.

Hopefully we will find out soon though. After another week of basically nothing on the PTR, i am now a believer in the theory that Blizz is intentionally not adding anything to the PTR to hype up Classic, in which case it will be a couple more weeks still. (Honestly cannot remember when Classic releases)

[Vasoka]

Basically this. Her words coupled with teh emojis could mean basically anything trhat involves Sylvanas.

She could be annoyed that she is becoming a villain, or she could be annoyed that she is Kerrigan 2.0.
For all we know she could be annoyed she just has a cameo instead of anything substantial.

Hopefully we will find out soon though. After another week of basically nothing on the PTR, i am now a believer in the theory that Blizz is intentionally not adding anything to the PTR to hype up Classic, in which case it will be a couple more weeks still. (Honestly cannot remember when Classic releases)

Yep. They basically forgot their core audience in order to appease the Classic neckbeards and bring in that sweet, sweet $$$$. Things will be back to normal around Blizzcon, not before that.

Pretty sad actually.