WoW Bard Class Concept

[Andromedes]

The Bard has……. ???

Lorewalker Cho?

[Teriz]

Devour was a core part of Kodo. I would agree if you used Devour as an example.

Yes, the KODO devouring a unit. The ONLY reason you trained Kodoriders was to have it eat large units like Tauren, Chimera, Knights, and Frostwryms.

Drums playing music buffs is already in the game with Leatherworking Battle Drums. But its a one-use item that only does one thing, once per use in combat sharing cooldowns with Bloodlust and Timewarp.

Once again showcasing that Bards add nothing to the game. We already have multiple classes providing this buff, and we have other classes that provide other buffs.

So on one hand we an unworkable mechanic (Kodoriding) and on the other we have a buff that’s already granted by existing classes.

And if you think Prancing is absurd, then we should agree that Bards would not prance around. It isn't even in the OP's class concept.

Neither is Kodoriding, for good reason.

- - - Updated - - -

Lorewalker Cho?

He’s a Lorewalker, not a Bard. He’s more like a Pandaren librarian. People here are advocating for the guys playing lutes and wearing puffy outfits.

[Zyrinx]

Man some people have this biblical devotion to wc3 at the expense of everything else. Pretty clear the game company doesn't.

I mean we all pick our hills, just seems so odd to me.

Even balance, which I hate, is a better argument.

[Triceron]

Once again showcasing that Bards add nothing to the game. We already have multiple classes providing this buff, and we have other classes that provide other buffs.

Whatever you say, Mr. Game Designer

[Zyrinx]

Whatever you say, Mr. Game Designer

Based on the sig, I would assume this poster assumes (probably correctly) that if wow gets another class it will be the last one. So it's a zero sum game.

[Triceron]

Based on the sig, I would assume this poster assumes (probably correctly) that if wow gets another class it will be the last one. So it's a zero sum game.

He's been arguing for Tinkers for over 13 years, non stop. Since Pandaria.

And he'll make up any argument to dismiss any other possible class to do so. Only 'recently' has he opened up on Dragonsworn, but even then it doesn't have any of his actual respect in regarding that concept. Tinker is the only possible class in his mind, and for whatever his reasons, he feels he has to dismiss every other concept.

He even dismissed Demon Hunters for years until Legion came around and added em. And even then, he still criticizes the decision for Demon Hunters being added.

[Zyrinx]

He's been arguing for Tinkers for over 13 years, non stop. Since Pandaria.

And he'll make up any argument to dismiss any other possible class to do so. Only 'recently' has he opened up on Dragonsworn, but even then it doesn't have any of his actual respect in regarding that concept. Tinker is the only possible class in his mind, and for whatever his reasons, he feels he has to dismiss every other concept.

He even dismissed Demon Hunters for years until Legion came around and added em. And even then, he still criticizes the decision for Demon Hunters being added.

Like I said, we all have our hills!

I just wanna see if the crumbs of " shit people actually want" trickling out in 9.1.5 is somehow a sea change, or just Lucy presenting the football to charlie brown.

[username993720]

In that case, in all honesty, you'll never see a Bard in World of WarCraft. Music has its place in this franchise, but those "ancient musicians" and skalds and the like... they're just not a part of the fabric of the franchise. You need to transpose the rock aesthetic to get something that actually fits in this universe.

But you're both right - Rock 'n Roll is a joke, just as Pandaren were.

What the hell are you talking about?
It's a game based on mythologies and history. placing a modern music genre over a historical one doesn't make sense in that kind of game.

Pandaren, on the other, are not a joke, as they are based on ancient china and the like.

So it comes down to your inability to RP. Right.

It comes down to you forcing a role on characters that were never really such.

Disagree. You aren't the one who would be defining what is meaningful or not. Blizzard could have designed a straight fantasy Monk without any drunken fist references. Blizzard could design a Bard without heavy metal. But if they do add those references as core mechanics, then it is meaningful to the type of character/class they want to design. Just as kegs and brews are a meaningful part of Monk design.

You think Drunken Fist style is a joke?
"Drunken boxing (Chinese: 醉拳; pinyin: zuì quán) also known as Drunken Fist, is a general name for all styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate the movements of a drunk person. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the Buddhist and Daoist religious communities. The Buddhist style is related to the Shaolin temple while the Daoist style is based on the Daoist tale of the drunken Eight Immortals. Zui quan has the most unusual body movements among all styles of Chinese martial arts. Hitting, grappling, locking, dodging, feinting, ground and aerial fighting and all other sophisticated methods of combat are incorporated."

And al Hunters have access to these pets. You acknowledge it relates, but you do not think ot os absurd that your Forsaken Hunter can have a robot chicken pet?

Gameplay reasons, which usually triumph over lore.

Druids are not Druids of the Flame though. Why are you okay with this but not any Heavy Metal references at all? Why the zero tolerance policy here?

Because they are actually a lore thing and not just an inside joke.
In the end, it's just a cosmetic - like your Rock N' Roll suggestions.

I never said they should make it core, did I? I argued that it could still be a part of the claas, be an homage, and be optional through talents. At most it would be like how Alcohol is represented in Brewmaster, which is less than 10% of the spec, and less than 5% of the overall Monk class. Yet you are arguing zero tolerance for any of it, even the most remote connection to anything possibly silly, even though you fully allow it for other classes.

Talents are part of a class core gameplay. I was thinking more in the lines of cosmetics.
Again with the Brewmaster's brews. There's nothing wrong with alcohol in the Monk. Brewmasters create brews. Drunken martial arts are based on imitating drunken gestures.

I mean what about having music specifically tied to Instruments? Example, Horns for Tauren style music, Drums for Orcs, Harps that play Night Elf style music, etc. If you find unique ones, they play unique music like maybe a magical Accordian that plays Brewfest music, or a gnomish Electric Guitar that plays metal.

So it wouldn't be a core mechanic, but player choice just like taming a Mech pet or using Flame Kitty effect.

Would you find that acceptable for a Bard class?

I wouldn't have a problem with that.
You see, now you start using your head.
Gnome, Goblins and Mechagnomes are the most likely to use something resembling an electric guitar.

[Teriz]

Man some people have this biblical devotion to wc3 at the expense of everything else. Pretty clear the game company doesn't.

I mean we all pick our hills, just seems so odd to me.

Even balance, which I hate, is a better argument.

It’s not a biblical devotion, it’s pointing out that the last three expansion classes came from WC3. The last of the WC3 heroes just happens to have abilities not found in existing classes, and fills a niche that isn’t present in the class lineup. Meanwhile, there have never been any Bard heroes in WoW.

Unfortunately, Blizzard has never expressed any interest in a Bard class throughout its history. This includes the tabletop games which included pretty much every class imaginable.

A Bard class? Nowhere to be found.

[draugril]

What the hell are you talking about?
It's a game based on mythologies and history. placing a modern music genre over a historical one doesn't make sense in that kind of game.

Pandaren, on the other, are not a joke, as they are based on ancient china and the like.

Warcraft is historical now?

And Pandaren ultimately stem from Samwise Didier's proclivity toward hiding panda doodles in his artwork. Everything else came later. If one artist's Easter egg can turn into a hero unit, class, race, and entire setting... I think anything is possible. Even if it starts out as an Easter egg.

[Triceron]

You think Drunken Fist style is a joke?

lol, I'm Chinese so you don't have to 'mansplain' things in my culture to me :P

And yes, it is a joke in the context of why Alcohol references are in the Monk class to begin with.

The Pandaren Brewmaster was the product of making the April Fools Pandaren playable. The reason why it's a drunken Panda is a direct reference to Samwise Didier, one of the lead artists of WC3. The Pandaren Brewmaster is a condensed version of the Pandaren Empire April Fools joke, as a playable Hero. Yet when they originally designed it, it was a clearly Japanese influenced designed Hero. They had to course correct when fans outcried on cultural appropriation of Pandas being depicted by the wrong Asian culture that they derive from, and so they changed the Pandaren's entire culture to be styled more around Chinese culture. The Martial Arts influences didn't even enter until Mists of Pandaria, and the formal introduction of the Monk. So Drunken Fist was not part of the WC3 Brewmaster's original design. It was literally a 'Drunk Panda' because it referenced Samwise Didier, who loves to drink and had the nickname of 'Panda' through a funny story. Drunken Fist martial arts was brought into Mists of Pandaria's Monk design as a means to build a stronger bridge between the Alcohol and Martial Arts themes of the Brewmaster spec. If they chose to, they could have designed a Monk Tank spec that had no Alcohol references at all; yet they deliberately chose to do so because they wanted to homage the Brewmaster, which itself was designed to be a one-off Hero.


https://www.engadget.com/2011-10-21-...-bringing.html

"Does the portrayal live up to what Didier envisioned? "Yeah, and then some," he says. "There was only a few Pandaren pictures, and most of them were of Chen [Stormstout], a big fat sweaty heavy, beer-drinking Pandaren. Well that's not the entire society. He's sort of the anomaly. He likes to go to the outside world. So what do the normal Pandarens do, what is their normal culture like? A lot of sweat went into designing that."

The 'Drunken Panda' depiction itself was never intended to be more than a one-off Easter Egg. It was designed as a one-off hero playable in Multiplayer and as an easter egg in the campaign. When MoP rolled around, they had full creative freedom to do what they wanted with Pandaren and Pandaria. So the decision to fold Brews and Kegs into the Monk as a class mechanic is a deliberate decision to tie it into their culture after all. The decision to add in 'Stagger' and brews as a core mechanic is all deliberate, even though it was never actually planned that way from the get-go. We see two Monk specs that have zero alcohol references, so we know they could have made the Tanking spec completely alcohol-free too. But they did it as a direct homage to Brewmasters, which in itself is a direct reference to Samwise's whims and funny stories.


And if we look at the context of why we have Drunk Pandas in Warcraft? It's also absurd. It's a direct reference to the Brewmaster Hero that was created out of Samwise's whims.

Since Pandaria, we've seen all sorts of Pandarens who are not drunk or who do not drink alcohol. But when you play the Monk class? It will always have Alcohol in its core mechanics. And the Alcohol references are not added because of Drunken Fist style Martial Arts, it all ties back to the origins of the Brewmaster Hero (Japanese inspired, thus no Drunken Fist martial arts connection) and how Samwise imagined it as a one-off concept. Drunken Fist was added in MoP as a means of more realistically tying it into the Monk Class, keeping the Alcohol references as an homage to the fan favourite Brewmaster hero.

I wouldn't have a problem with that.
You see, now you start using your head.
Gnome, Goblins and Mechagnomes are the most likely to use something resembling an electric guitar.

You know that this all boils down to just your personal gauge of what you accept and what you aren't willing to, right?

My point from the beginning was that Heavy Metal fits the aesthetic of WoW. By you having no problem with this shows that you also have no problem with Heavy Metal fitting the aesthetic of WoW, or fitting being used by Classes.

It's all about your hangups on it being tied to what you consider to be core mechanics, and your inability to regard anything Heavy Metal related in a serious manner.

You don't need to literally do Power Slides and whip out an electric Amp to be Metal. Just having a Talent called 'Power Chord' or an ability called 'Encore' that strikes funny pose would be enough. And it's really not going to break the Bard at all, since it's broad enough to apply to any style of music. Yet if you choose to play your Bard as a rock star, you totally could do it, and there would be talents and mechanics that support a more dramatic style of play without being in-your-face Glam Rock.

I don't think this is anything about me 'using my head' to come up with ideas that would satisfy you, rather it's your own lack of imagination and creativity to come up with scenarios or solutions that you'd be satisfied with and you're unable to express any measure of leniency towards regarding Heavy Metal unless someone else comes up with an idea that satisfies you first.

I mean, couldn't you just say "I don't want to see Heavy Metal as a core mechanic, but I'd be fine with Heavy Metal inspired instruments/weapons, since we already have those in the game"? Yet you didn't ever come close to saying that. All you did was complain that Heavy Metal doesn't fit the Warcraft aesthetic, and doesn't fit classes, and implied a zero-tolerance to anything related to Heavy Metal. Any means of me explaining that we have Heavy Metal references in the game were aptly dismissed by you, so how would I ever understand that you are actually okay with Heavy Metal influences in the game at all? You say now that you wouldn't have a problem with it, but you really need to acknowledge that the way you were arguing before would never communicate any means of tolerating any Heavy Metal connections to a Bard whatsoever, even if it meant having instruments that were completely optional.

You really need to work on your communication skills. If you are actively dismissing a certain idea and not communicating a personal tolerance for anything regarding that idea, then no one is going to know what you're 'okay' with.

[DatToffer]

The Bard has……. ???

L70ETC and the Darkmoon Faire

[ThatsOurEric]

I think people are too focused on the idea that if a Bard is introduced, it will be called a "Bard", furthermore that it will
operate with all the same semblances that we understand the Bard class to be. It won't. It will have to be WoW's
version of what a Bard is.

But either way, they'd be so different, that they wouldn't be anything remotely close to what we'd know as a Bard anyway.
The most "realistic" version of a Bard they'd go is something akin to Dragon Age's version of Bards. But seeing as how
Bards in those games are basically Rogues (which are already fully covered lore-wise in WoW), and the whole singing &
dancing aspect is very out of place for WoW, there's no viable way to introduce that classic Bard motif into Warcraft.

Also, Tinkers are never going to be a thing.

[username993720]

Warcraft is historical now?

Yes, many of its stories are actually based on real-world histories.

And Pandaren ultimately stem from Samwise Didier's proclivity toward hiding panda doodles in his artwork. Everything else came later. If one artist's Easter egg can turn into a hero unit, class, race, and entire setting... I think anything is possible. Even if it starts out as an Easter egg.

Yes, but there are differences between them.
The WC3 Tinker, for example, was an April Fool's joke that turned out to be real. There is not a shred of doubt of how they fit into the world. Rock N' Roll and heavy metal Bards, on the other hand, are as out of place as anime girls would be.

lol, I'm Chinese so you don't have to 'mansplain' things in my culture to me :P

And yes, it is a joke in the context of Warcraft. The Pandaren Brewmaster was the product of making the April Fools Pandaren playable. The reason why it's a drunken Panda is a direct reference to Samwise Didier, one of the lead artists of WC3.

I mean it's the same as if I asked you if you regard Heavy Metal, in real life, as a joke. Well, Heavy Metal isn't a joke. But the context of it being in Warcraft? It's an absurd inclusion to the game.

And if we look at the context of why we have Drunk Pandas in Warcraft? It's also absurd, and we know it to be because the entire race and its fictional culture is based on direct references to a funny drawing Samwise did that eventually got extrapolated into an April Fools joke. And the Brewmaster condensed that April Fools joke into a playable neutral Hero in multiplayer (alongside mercenary Pitlords, Firelords and Sea Witches) and as an easter egg in Rexxar's campaign, which only had its events rendered canonical in MOP.

They did an entire expansion based on that race. Can they do the same with your Rock N' Roll Bard? i doubt it, unless we go a weird FFXIV route and lose all Warcraft connections.

Sketch or not, Pandaren could bring an entire ancient chinese culture and landscapes into the game. What could a Rock N' Roll Bard bring? a concert stage and some whacky hairstyles?

You know that this all boils down to just your personal gauge of what you accept and what you aren't willing to, right?

My point from the beginning was that Heavy Metal fits the aesthetic of WoW. By you having no problem with this shows that you also have no problem with Heavy Metal fitting the aesthetic of WoW, or fitting being used by Classes.

It's all about your hangups on it being tied to what you consider to be core mechanics, and your inability to regard anything Heavy Metal related in a serious manner.

You don't need to literally do Power Slides and whip out an electric Amp to be Metal. Just having a Talent called 'Power Chord' or an ability called 'Encore' that strikes funny pose would be enough. And it's really not going to break the Bard at all, since it's broad enough to apply to any style of music. Yet if you choose to play your Bard as a rock star, you totally could do it, and there would be talents and mechanics that support a more dramatic style of play without being in-your-face Glam Rock.

I don't think this is anything about me 'using my head' to come up with ideas that would satisfy you, rather it's your own lack of imagination and creativity to come up with scenarios or solutions that you'd be satisfied with and you're unable to express any measure of leniency towards regarding Heavy Metal unless someone else comes up with an idea that satisfies you first.

I mean, couldn't you just say "I don't want to see Heavy Metal as a core mechanic, but I'd be fine with Heavy Metal inspired instruments/weapons, since we already have those in the game"? Yet you didn't ever come close to saying that. All you did was complain that Heavy Metal doesn't fit the Warcraft aesthetic, and doesn't fit classes, and implied a zero-tolerance to anything related to Heavy Metal. Any means of me explaining that we have Heavy Metal references in the game were aptly dismissed by you, so how would I ever understand that you are actually okay with Heavy Metal influences in the game at all? You say now that you wouldn't have a problem with it, but you really need to acknowledge that the way you were arguing before would never communicate any means of tolerating any Heavy Metal connections to a Bard whatsoever, even if it meant having instruments that were completely optional.

You really need to work on your communication skills. If you are actively dismissing a certain idea and not communicating a personal tolerance for anything regarding that idea, then no one is going to know what you're 'okay' with.

I should have explained myself more. Despite the possibility of technological races using electrical instruments, it doesn't mean it has to be Rock N' Roll or heavy metal. It could be their own version of music.

The Japanese version of the Brewmaster was just an alternate version that didn't make canon. I don't think it was an earlier draft. Beside, we have the Blademaster to fill that niche.

Ask yourself this: if the Bard is to be a Rock N' Roll and heavy metal musician, should it be Pop, Classic, Country, Electronic, Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Reggae, Soul and R&B, Folk and so on and so on, as well?
If not, why do players have to cater to one music style that the developers were fans of 20 years ago?
If yes, where would it end? would they need to cater to every music style out there?
In short, they should just stick to the original fantasy.

P.S. - god damn, you edit a lot.

[draugril]

Rock N' Roll and heavy metal Bards, on the other hand, are as out of place as anime girls would be.

I could see this argument working if not for their existence in-game already.

[Triceron]

They did an entire expansion based on that race. Can they do the same with your Rock N' Roll Bard? i doubt it, unless we go a weird FFXIV route and lose all Warcraft connections.

They don't need to do a full 'Rock N Roll' Bard.

You're just strawmanning the conversation at this point.

As I said, you said it was absolutely okay with a Bard that uses an Electric Guitar that changes the music they play in combat. That would literally be a depiction of a 'Rock and Roll' Bard that you are completely okay with.

So you aren't actually bothered by this concept at all, you're only fixated on a Bard that has to have all of its core mechanics based on Rock and Roll, which frankly no one is talking about having as a class.

We are simply debunking your ultimatum that it can't be part of any of the Bard's core mechanics at all. Yes, it could absolutely be added as a core, if it is subtle enough to be considered optional rather than mandatory. That is exactly how Brewmaster is handled in Monk Class; if you don't want to play as the Drunken Tank then you don't have to, there are two specs that are completely absent of anything related to Alcohol. The Brews in Mistweaver and Windwalker are broad enough to be regarded as Teas. And that's the level of ambiguity I'd expect any Heavy Metal or Rock influences to permeate the full class. Enough to support Heavy Metal or Rock influences in a spec or in some talents, but otherwise broad enough to support a traditional Bard as well. An ability like 'Encore' could apply to either a traditional Minstrel or a heavy metal Rockstar.

I should have explained myself more. Despite the possibility of technological races using electrical instruments, it doesn't mean it has to be Rock N' Roll or heavy metal. It could be their own version of music.

Yes, and I think that's acceptable if Blizzard allows the options, while having players define how they want to present themselves in the game.

At no point am I saying Bards *need* to all look like ETC in WoW. I pointed to those as examples of Rockstars *existing* in Warcraft, and debunking your claims that it doesn't fit WoW's aesthetics. Which let's be clear - you DID make this claim even though you are now elaborating that you're okay with it as an aesthetic.

The Japanese version of the Brewmaster was just an alternate version that didn't make canon. I don't think it was an earlier draft. Beside, we have the Blademaster to fill that niche.

No, it was an earlier draft. Dude, I followed WC3 like a hawk and was in the forums when that shit was all being developed.

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/His...en_in_Warcraft

"In the beta, pandaren wore samurai armor but as the panda as an animal is linked to China rather than Japan, some Chinese players complained and this was soon fixed."

Ask yourself this: if the Bard is to be a Rock N' Roll and heavy metal musician, should it be Pop, Classic, Country, Electronic, Funk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Reggae, Soul and R&B, Folk and so on and so on, as well?

No, I won't. Because I don't think a Bard would be designed *around* Heavy Metal or Rock and Roll.

I've always made the argument that the Heavy Metal aesthetic fits in WoW, and that the Bard class can *pay homage* to Heavy Metal with some influences to its design.

P.S. - god damn, you edit a lot.

Yep, can't be helped if I have to be *extra clear* on my communication with you, since you can take a simple statement like 'Heavy Metal aesthetic fits WoW' and run with it thinking that it means I'm talking about a Bard that *has to have all its mechanics* designed around Heavy Metal. No, it just means I'd be fine If Blizzard added a Bard Class and allowed players to obtain an Electric Guitar Instrument/Weapon that plays Heavy Metal music, and I don't think that would *break* WoW's aesthetic considering we already had this kind of stuff as far back as TBC. I would be completely okay if they threw in a couple talents or mechanics that homaged Heavy Metal or Rock in the class mechanics, similar to how Alcohol was homaged in the Brewmaster spec. I don't think that breaks WoW, and frankly, neither do you.

Why are you still choosing to argue against a fully-blown Heavy Metal Bard class when I never proposed that idea? You can go back however many pages, and you won't ever see me mentioning a Bard that is designed solely around Rock n Roll or Heavy Metal. I've always said that there's nothing wrong with simply being a part of the class. Like a traditional RPG Bard class that has 5% Heavy Metal influence is what I consider completely acceptable, especially considering how much Heavy Metal and Rock already influences WoW.

I'll even repost someone else's response to you with the context of literally just saying Heavy Metal fits WoW's aesthetics, and NOT talking about about making a Bard that is completely built around Heavy Metal


You: No. Heavy metal does not fit the aesthetic of WoW (outside of jokes)

AKCephalpod: Warcraft has involved rock and roll as an aesthetic for a long time. Remember when you beat the Warcraft 3 campaign and were rewarded with a rock concert staring Arthas as the lead guitarist or ETC? What about the quest at the Darkmoon Faire with the band Blightboar? Or how so much of the early aesthetic of Warcraft was based on heavy metal album covers?

If you're looking for lore or aesthetics for the bard to be based around, the Darkmoon Faire is chocked full of it, not to mention how much the setting itself owes to the aesthetics of heavy metal.

---

You can see that he isn't talking about making Bards completely based on Heavy Metal. He's just addressing your own statement that it doesn't fit the aesthetic of WoW. And that's pretty much the same statement I've been making; that Rock and Heavy Metal do fit WoW because we literally already have that in the game. That you consider it a 'joke' is really your personal interpretation, because you also choose not to view Drunk Pandas as a joke even though it directly references April Fools Joke and to Samwise's own funny stories, and not as a reference to realistic depiction of Martial Artists and Monks. Drunken Fist was brought in as a bridge to make sense of how Drunk Panda Tanking would fit as a class mechanic for Monks. Your choice to ignore the former and fixate on the latter is literally how you choose to interpret the Monk class's references to Alcohol. That you don't consider it a joke is likely because you were unaware of the origins of the tie-ins between Pandas and Alcohol in the first place. It was literally as I linked to you - meant to be a one-off character who did not represent all of Pandaren Culture, yet became so popular that it ended up *defining* an entire branch of Martial Arts within the Monk class.

[Teriz]

L70ETC and the Darkmoon Faire

Okay, so let's explore this further;

How do you create a class based on ETC? What races since there's no indication of this class existing within any other races. What specs? The ETC hero in HotS is a melee warrior with no ranged DPS abilities, so are we looking at yet another melee DPS class?

With the setting; How do you build an expansion around a faire? Where would we explore, since the faire is always in a small area? Who would be the villain? How would the Darkmoon Faire create such a huge problem that would require the champions of Azeroth to stop?

These questions are easy to answer with Tinkers, Dark Rangers, and Dragonsworn.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, Tinkers are never going to be a thing.

They already are a thing. Unlike Bards, Tinkers have a rather robust history in Warcraft.

[Triceron]

Okay, so let's explore this further;

How do you create a class based on ETC? What races since there's no indication of this class existing within any other races. What specs? The ETC hero in HotS is a melee warrior with no ranged DPS abilities, so are we looking at yet another melee DPS class?

With the setting; How do you build an expansion around a faire? Where would we explore, since the faire is always in a small area? Who would be the villain? How would the Darkmoon Faire create such a huge problem that would require the champions of Azeroth to stop?

Darkmoon Faire has a lot of horror undertones, like what they did with the Hearthstone expansion. They could tie in some Old God references to it, and have Music and Bard's style of entertainment be a counter to that Old God's dark whispers and evil influence. Basically countering mind control.

It also reminds me of an arc in Berserk where Guts is fighting a ancient Sea God (Lovecraftian Kraken), and he gets inside to the heart but he's unable to deal the finishing blow because the literal Heartbeats were sending shockwaves through his system and paralyzing him. Eventually a bunch of Merrow (Mermaids) gathered around to fight the Sea God by singing, and their songs neutralized the reverberations caused by the Heart. It was some super creative stuff, how an Old God could literally be brought to defeat through music (and a big fucking sword).

[Teriz]

Darkmoon Faire has a lot of horror undertones, like what they did with the Hearthstone expansion. They could tie in some Old God references to it, and have Music and Bard's style of entertainment be a counter to that Old God's dark whispers and evil influence. Basically countering mind control.

So the basis for a WoW expansion is the heroes exploring an amusement park for….. what exactly? Solving a cheesy mystery ala Scooby Doo? Would one of the dungeons/raids be a rollercoaster or a fun house?

[DatToffer]

Okay, so let's explore this further;

How do you create a class based on ETC? What races since there's no indication of this class existing within any other races. What specs? The ETC hero in HotS is a melee warrior with no ranged DPS abilities, so are we looking at yet another melee DPS class?

With the setting; How do you build an expansion around a faire? Where would we explore, since the faire is always in a small area? Who would be the villain? How would the Darkmoon Faire create such a huge problem that would require the champions of Azeroth to stop?

These questions are easy to answer with Tinkers, Dark Rangers, and Dragonsworn.

Well now that's a nice exercise.

Yeah, I'd see that being a melee mid-range class, mostly. Emphasis on crowd control. I never understood why Bard was so much associated to an archer.

What races ? Well all of them. Music is universal. And the Faire is multicultural.

The Faire is an accursed land that would be perfect as a start zone, where you could explore and unveil its mysterious and dark secrets. As for an expansion, if we go for a return to Azeroth and a focus on bringing peace, a class of astute storytellers and party bringers is a good thing to see roaming the world, singing the great achievements and stories of its inhabitants.

If we are to really tie the theme of this expansion to the Faire, then that theme would be dark secrets, lurking in the shadows. Mischievous creatures, old enemies attacking the weakened Horde and Alliance, cultists trying to bring back the old gods. Knaifu could very well be a villain and that expansion could lead to a Void incursion on Azeroth. Bards have quite the exploration theme associated to them, so they would be a good motor in the unveiling of dark mysteries.