9.0 General Discussion

[Syegfryed]

Sylvanas will be Kerrigan 2.0 easy and Death will be the Zerg. That comic really gave that away with this whole Void being apparently terrified of her.

I can only imagine that Death is some sort of hard counter to Void and we will see it eventually come to pass.

the void wasn't terified by her, not even close

but she will prob be, because they even said sylvanas is the enemy of life, this exact same line was said to Kerrigan.

[Ophenia]

This might’ve been already mentioned, sorry for asking again, if that’s the case.

With the recent announcement that N’Zoth(in some capacity) is the last boss of the supposedly last patch of BfA, how can they announce new expansion without massive spoilers?

Unless it’s something super unrelated like “while we were battling old gods something-something happened somewhere-somewhere”. Proud to announce next expansion World of Warcraft: Lords of somewhere”

Well technically, BfA's opening cinematic never talked about Argus, Sargeras' Sword, or Teldrassil at all.

Lich King's cinematic didn't need to talk about any TBC events either and MoP's didn't care about Cataclysm's event. Sure, that's technically a spoiler from MoP's cinematic that the world is still there so technically we defeated Deathwing, but still

[Hitei]

Shadowlands is canonically just our world but grey

No, canonically they are "nightmarish realms of decay, labyrinthine spiritual planes teeming with the souls of the dead."

Sylvanas will be Kerrigan 2.0 easy and Death will be the Zerg. That comic really gave that away with this whole Void being apparently terrified of her.

I can only imagine that Death is some sort of hard counter to Void and we will see it eventually come to pass.

Reminder that the void actively uses necromancy and people are probably just reading way, way too hard into a whisper trying to get Alleria to kill her sister. Also a reminder that the void is literally just a cosmic force that exists beyond the boundaries of reality and time, it can't die because it isn't even alive, and if anything "the enemy" here is no different than Sargeras, it's an enemy just because it plans on killing everything and then the void will have nothing to do not because the eternal, primordial force that must always exist is scared of some shitty death arch-loa on Azeroth.

[Tiradon]

Though I’m inclined to agree with others. A lot of 8.3 looks like clever reuse of assets. Meaning they are working heavily on 9.0. Which I’m all for. Here is to hoping it is indeed a world revamp.

Nice to finally see someone who shares my opinion. Not only didn't they create a new zone but actually reused older ones.. I wonder if this means we'll get 9.0 quicker than we expect...?

[Shadochi]

Nice to finally see someone who shares my opinion. Not only didn't they create a new zone but actually reused older ones.. I wonder if this means we'll get 9.0 quicker than we expect...?

Most of the Black Empire assets are NEW, just because they aren't all bunched up in one new zone doesn't mean they aren't new. No new zone != no new assets. Just take one of those pictures from the raid and tell me how it's mostly reused stuff. They probably could've made a new zone but did't see how it would fit with the theme (at best I assume we would be in some small part of Nyalotha similar to the Firelands questing zone in Cata, which is just bland AF). And I also think Nyalotha is too hostile of an environment for us to set up a foothold there, from what I've seen on the PTR it can only be entered from a Pillar in one of the two zones with Titan engines.

Fact is, we are very much on the defensive and we are the ones being assaulted this patch, meaning it's more important to protect what we have than to scatter off making footholds.

As for it being an indicator if 9.0 will come sooner because of this, no. For example 7.3 dropped during August of 2017 and people were claiming it's because 8.0 will come earlier than 2 years but it didn't (Both were released in august, 2 years apart, give or take a week).

[Omniclass]

Again, You CANNOT tell me how I should feel. You cannot tell me how I do feel. Your opinions are just that, opinions, not fact.

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No, those are just one of many. But they are my accomplishments that are being taken away from me because people are scared of big numbers.

Bro, who hurt you?

But for real, a game that is 15 years old is going to have some major revamps. Attracting a newer generation and keeping current subs is their only goal. I get how you might find the level squish unnerving, in practice it will mean nothing and the entire leveling xp could feel more rewarding as a result.

[Shadochi]

I'm pretty sure everyone is comfortable with August/September releases every 2 years, I doubt they'll push it earlier. May? Before summer? Can't happen.

Talking about 9.0 prepatch or 9.0 expansion launch? For the expac launch it seems best to stick with the AUG/SEPT schedule, while prepatch could happen June/July.

[Gaidax]

Reminder that the void actively uses necromancy and people are probably just reading way, way too hard into a whisper trying to get Alleria to kill her sister. Also a reminder that the void is literally just a cosmic force that exists beyond the boundaries of reality and time, it can't die because it isn't even alive, and if anything "the enemy" here is no different than Sargeras, it's an enemy just because it plans on killing everything and then the void will have nothing to do not because the eternal, primordial force that must always exist is scared of some shitty death arch-loa on Azeroth.

Death is as much of a major cosmic force as is Shadow and Light. Chronicles made it plenty obvious.

We don't know anything yet, it could be indeed that Death is arch-nemesis of the Void, because after all Void Lords probably can die too, just like Old Gods do and who knows what happens to those who pass there, it could very well be that indeed with every death their power grows. If there is indeed some alternate plane of existence where all the dead find themselves, then it can be quite an unstoppable force at the right hands.

[Newname1234567890]

The visions are alternate reality

But the system is the same. Instanced versions of Azeorth with a colour filter

[Tang0]

Well technically, BfA's opening cinematic never talked about Argus, Sargeras' Sword, or Teldrassil at all.

Lich King's cinematic didn't need to talk about any TBC events either and MoP's didn't care about Cataclysm's event. Sure, that's technically a spoiler from MoP's cinematic that the world is still there so technically we defeated Deathwing, but still

Guess I was just hoping expansion would have some clear-cut connections, Like WoD did with Legion. So if the next expansion was old god/nzoth related that would be a hard thing to present without spoiling the end of bfa in a major way.

[Newname1234567890]

No, canonically they are "nightmarish realms of decay, labyrinthine spiritual planes teeming with the souls of the dead."



Reminder that the void actively uses necromancy and people are probably just reading way, way too hard into a whisper trying to get Alleria to kill her sister. Also a reminder that the void is literally just a cosmic force that exists beyond the boundaries of reality and time, it can't die because it isn't even alive, and if anything "the enemy" here is no different than Sargeras, it's an enemy just because it plans on killing everything and then the void will have nothing to do not because the eternal, primordial force that must always exist is scared of some shitty death arch-loa on Azeroth.

I've never got the argument for shadowlands or Emerald dream cant be an expansion but 'it's just a green/gray version of Azeroth' but both are abstract realms. The dream has layers and doesn't really work like the physical realm. Blizzard could basically do anything with it

[Ophenia]

Guess I was just hoping expansion would have some clear-cut connections, Like WoD did with Legion. So if the next expansion was old god/nzoth related that would be a hard thing to present without spoiling the end of bfa in a major way.

Could be an opening cinematic focused on Sylvanas doing evily things or Anduin&friends traveling to somewhere, that wouldn't spoil a lot

[Shadochi]

Could be an opening cinematic focused on Sylvanas doing evily things or Anduin&friends traveling to somewhere, that wouldn't spoil a lot

To be honest by the time blizzcon roles around we probably will already know stuff relating to the end of the expansion (seeing how raid testing is set to start soon). But they could do a MoP styled cinematic with a set of characters we know are not in danger or a Wrath style cinematic just showing the big bad villain to avoid spoiling stuff.

Depending if the expansion theme is directly connected to the ending it might be harder to avoid spoilers, but if it contains something we already know is happening/happened then it wouldn't be an issue

For example if the cinematic showed the world changing/world revamp. We would only know that the black empire had some effect on the world, but not if we stopped the empire or not.

But on the topic of World Revamp, I hope the 2nd if it happens isn't like it was in Cata where most zones got devastated by Deathwing (or the Black empire for example) but instead is more about bringing the world up to date. Having the zones be adapted with settlements of new races that joined since then (random Pandarend villages in some zones as questing hubs), each zone gets a new unique storyline (unlike in Cata how most were related to the aftermath) and we see repairs of the Cata aftermath (Bridge over the barrens ravine, dwarfs build a dam on 1k Needles and water level dropped significantly, etc.). And since a lot of the leveling dungeons are related to the threats of the old world make them only accessible through the instance portal in the old version of zones (NPC to switch between new/old continent) and Random Dungeon. New zones with new threats shouldn't be dealing with old dungeon threats.

[Role Unknown]

How come i dont see any of these leaks....or any leaks that mention Murozond? with what we know now for 8.3 with Wrathion, Chromie, and maddening Old God visions....one might think this may be pointing towards a Nozdormu/Murazond storyline.

[Wangming]

Most of the Black Empire assets are NEW, just because they aren't all bunched up in one new zone doesn't mean they aren't new. No new zone != no new assets. Just take one of those pictures from the raid and tell me how it's mostly reused stuff. They probably could've made a new zone but did't see how it would fit with the theme (at best I assume we would be in some small part of Nyalotha similar to the Firelands questing zone in Cata, which is just bland AF). And I also think Nyalotha is too hostile of an environment for us to set up a foothold there, from what I've seen on the PTR it can only be entered from a Pillar in one of the two zones with Titan engines.

Fact is, we are very much on the defensive and we are the ones being assaulted this patch, meaning it's more important to protect what we have than to scatter off making footholds.

As for it being an indicator if 9.0 will come sooner because of this, no. For example 7.3 dropped during August of 2017 and people were claiming it's because 8.0 will come earlier than 2 years but it didn't (Both were released in august, 2 years apart, give or take a week).

That being said the PTR does seem a bit rushed. The new allied races don't have voices, Vulpera don't have an opening scenario, some of the racials are not implemented yet and Vulpera Satchels are in a desperate need of a nerf.

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How come i dont see any of these leaks....or any leaks that mention Murozond? with what we know now for 8.3 with Wrathion, Chromie, and maddening Old God visions....one might think this may be pointing towards a Nozdormu/Murazond storyline.

Maybe it doesn't. I know Dragon fans want this to be about dragons, but 9.0 will be about Sylvanas. The rebels and the Alliance agreed to fight N'Zoth first and go after Sylvanas soon after. Tyrande and Genn want no peace till Sylvanas is dead. And even Azshara might want to kill her. And not just because she is Azshara.

[DeicideUH]

Could be an opening cinematic focused on Sylvanas doing evily things or Anduin&friends traveling to somewhere, that wouldn't spoil a lot

Or no opening cinematic at all. BfA having both reveal trailer and opening cinematic in its announcement was an oddity. We may get something else instead this time.

[Shadochi]

That being said the PTR does seem a bit rushed. The new allied races don't have voices, Vulpera don't have an opening scenario, some of the racials are not implemented yet and Vulpera Satchels are in a desperate need of a nerf.

So what you are saying is they put out stuff on the PTR that they want tested and are ready for testing so far?

PTR isn't a feature complete thing, it is a testing ground. Seems like every time it comes around people claim "this PTR is rushed since X isn't finished".

And seeing how raid testing is starting soon, PTR is definitely not rushed since that is usually the last thing to get covered. They might've just wanted to test other stuff over AR stuff that has been added many times before (how much stuff do you need to really test regarding voices? also I don't think any music is in yet).

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Or no opening cinematic at all. BfA having both reveal trailer and opening cinematic in its announcement was an oddity. We may get something else instead this time.

It is hard to do either of those things (reveal trailer and cinematic) without spoiling the end of the expansion tho. I think the person that brought it up just took the cinematic as an example.

Tho IIRC we found out officially about the stabbing of silithus after the BfA announcement so it is possible.

[TheFirstOnes]

Death is as much of a major cosmic force as is Shadow and Light. Chronicles made it plenty obvious.

We don't know anything yet, it could be indeed that Death is arch-nemesis of the Void, because after all Void Lords probably can die too, just like Old Gods do and who knows what happens to those who pass there, it could very well be that indeed with every death their power grows. If there is indeed some alternate plane of existence where all the dead find themselves, then it can be quite an unstoppable force at the right hands.

It doesn't matter what Cosmic Force is out there. Bring them on. I'll beat them with my blade.

[Wangming]

PTR isn't a feature complete thing, it is a testing ground.

Not really. It's for marketing. Just like the beta test. Or did you not read all the complaints that bugs people have been reporting for months ended up going live?

FFXIV works just fine with only internal testing. I'm sure WoW could manage. But getting an early preview at features could hype people up.

[Shadochi]

Not really. It's for marketing. Just like the beta test. Or did you not read all the complaints that bugs people have been reporting for months ended up going live?

I'm well aware of all of the reddit posts whenever someone brings up a bug in the game since patch X.

And have you seen the post from Blizzard about how many tens of thousands bugs got reported during the BfA Alpha test period?

Truth is, of course they can't get them all out with their 15 year old messy code, but to say that PTR is purely for marketing is wrong.
There would be more bugs without the PTR (especially in Raid Encounters).

And if anything, with 8.2.5 they showed us that PTR ISNT a feature complete environment to play the patch before it comes out.

Sure, there is some PR stuff there, but they also collect a ton of data while people play that could be gamebreaking in a live environment.