Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Sondrelk]

Naw, there's no chance they willingly gamble with the expansion box cash-ins. That being said... I wouldn't mind seeing this type of content being added in addition to expansions. I'd gladly pay a few bucks to check in on the Dragonmaw Orcs or Jinyu or whatever and deal with their smaller stories. But WoW would really need to break away from the play-the-patch mentality to make that sustainable.

Or a patch that just sends us back to Stranglethorn to fight pirates.

Really when I think about it this is kinda the purpose the usual X.2 patches serve in an expansion. A break in the middle of an expansion to give some variety.
That variety, but no obligation or shackles that come from having to be stuck to an expansion.

Imagine Nazjatar, but no reason to keep the Azerite system, or ask players to stay in K Tiras or Nazjatar while waiting.

[Kiivar86]

Things are never as bad as people exaggerate them(Lawsuit not included)

Yeah, the lawsuit itself was far worse than I could've imagined, but otherwise yeah people always try to make things appear worse as a way to make it more salacious (which I mean, come on, look at the lawsuit and harassment, reality's bad enough that way)

Naw, there's no chance they willingly gamble with the expansion box cash-ins. That being said... I wouldn't mind seeing this type of content being added in addition to expansions. I'd gladly pay a few bucks to check in on the Dragonmaw Orcs or Jinyu or whatever and deal with their smaller stories. But WoW would really need to break away from the play-the-patch mentality to make that sustainable.

Reminds me a bit of Anarchy Online, they had both expansions as well as "booster packs" which were smaller than an expansion but decent sized (though I guess that'd really be more of what we consider a content patch nowadays, as this was just around 2000 so its antiquated to say the least).

[draugril]

Or a patch that just sends us back to Stranglethorn to fight pirates.

Really when I think about it this is kinda the purpose the usual X.2 patches serve in an expansion. A break in the middle of an expansion to give some variety.
That variety, but no obligation or shackles that come from having to be stuck to an expansion.

Imagine Nazjatar, but no reason to keep the Azerite system, or ask players to stay in K Tiras or Nazjatar while waiting.

Nazjatar would have been perfect for this kind of bite-size distraction. Not enough there to fuel an entire expansion, but more than enough to sustain its own narrative free from the shackles of an expansion's overall story.

[Nyel]

Sort of. The Warlock Order Hall tells us he wanted to make Azeroth like him, not kill her. But clearly he wasn't aware of the Jailer's plan to suckle at her Anima.

This doesn't sound right

[Darkarath]

Where is that chinese leak from? I am not totally against It. I think that they might make big changes to gameplay to make a faster and more appealing product for current players, while also making It easier to adapt on consoles.

So, to understand ourselves, a WoW closer to Genshin Impact than to current WoW.

[Ersula]

This doesn't sound right

The Scepter artifact research describes an almost sexual longing Sargeras has to fully corrupt Azeroth at which point he will possess her utterly. Again this contradicts the Jailer's plan but what else is new.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Where is that chinese leak from? I am not totally against It. I think that they might make big changes to gameplay to make a faster and more appealing product for current players, while also making It easier to adapt on consoles.

So, to understand ourselves, a WoW closer to Genshin Impact than to current WoW.

The game is already pretty fast paced(In terms of combat that is. Not including the scapegoat that is timegating). Besides, they don't need to change their content model. Its fine having 3 major content patches. Whats "painful" is the long wait time between each patch which I assume is Covid/WFH woes still.

[Teriz]

Ghuun was created in Uldir

.... and later imprisoned in Uldir.

[Kiivar86]

Where is that chinese leak from? I am not totally against It. I think that they might make big changes to gameplay to make a faster and more appealing product for current players, while also making It easier to adapt on consoles.

So, to understand ourselves, a WoW closer to Genshin Impact than to current WoW.

As I said earlier, it seems to be lifted from a "leak" from November:

This seems to be doing little more than parroting one of the early "leaks".

edit: This one, specifically

[Teriz]

Actually, the magical chains are.

The magical chains would also be considered Titan tech.

They made him in the first place, by experimenting on living creatures.
And i agree. Xal'atath could be a 5th (or 6th) Old God.

Yes, an artificial Old God created by the Titans. Still highly dangerous, still imprisoned by the Titans.

If MoP styled expansion happens and introduces the Blademaster, you gonna rage or what?

No, because a Blademaster class is never going to happen. We already have a Warrior class.

[Nyel]

"Season mode" for WoW sounds totally legit, ESO is doing this very successfully for 6 years now. It's not the best for the players though as content has become less and less and more feature-less.

[Revamp Man]

Why would you assume one specific administrative formation exists for all of these? It's safe to assume DISCORD had no authority figure at all until Sargeras took up that role as a monarch of that cosmic force.

Because it exists for 4 of the cosmic forces that we know of
Light is essentially a hive mind
The three pantheons we know about which are Order, life, and Death.

We also have seen with our Titans that they create mini pantheon style rulers (the keepers) and that means we have

First ones
Pantheon
Pantheon

Why not assume each force has a first one

As for Disorder we can assume the “Dark Titans” that Sargeras fears are nothing more than the equivalent of Titans

- - - Updated - - -

Have we discussed what was mentioned in an interview a while back. If i remember someone let it slip by accident something called "The Clockmaker" which I guess the one True God being in the warcraft universe that is even responsible for the first ones.

As far as current lore goes the First Ones are the tippy top

[Ersula]

Why not assume each force has a first one

You know that old adage about assumptions, yeah?

Also, wasn't "Dark Titans" just his word for the other titans when he was trying to convince new cultures he was good & the rest of the Pantheon were evil?

And I don't know why people keep saying "hivemind" in reference to the Naaru & Void Lords. X'era wasn't a Hivemind, nor is a Hivemind analogous to a "pantheon." It seems X'era's light-conversion is some kind of mind-control, but mind-controlling your minions isn't the same thing as forming a hivemind.

[draugril]

No, because a Blademaster class is never going to happen. We already have a Warrior class.

Yeah, I love stealthing around Arathi Basin on my squishy Warrior, picking out an out of place target, and taking them out with my Mirror Images before they can figure out which one is the real me.

Oh, wait. That's not Warrior. That's not even Rogue. That's a playstyle that doesn't exist in-game.

[datguy81]

No, because a Blademaster class is never going to happen. We already have a Warrior class.

Tinker is never gonna happen we have Engineering

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

"Season mode" for WoW sounds totally legit, ESO is doing this very successfully for 6 years now. It's not the best for the players though as content has become less and less and more feature-less.

I fail to see how in a game in borderline freefall how "worse for players" is "better for the game."

WoW's top priority needs to be pulling out of their tailspin and finding a stable playerbase, and that's going to mean giving into player demands. "We want less content more often" is not one of those demands.

[draugril]

I fail to see how in a game in borderline freefall how "worse for players" is "better for the game."

WoW's top priority needs to be pulling out of their tailspin and finding a stable playerbase, and that's going to mean giving into player demands. "We want less content more often" is not one of those demands.

Except... they've convinced themselves that they do have a stable playerbase. They invented this concept of an "expansion tourist" to explain away people that check back in hoping the game has what they want and quickly leave disappointed again.

[Teriz]

Tinker is never gonna happen we have Engineering

Engineering isn't a class. There is a difference between classes and professions.

Yeah, I love stealthing around Arathi Basin on my squishy Warrior, picking out an out of place target, and taking them out with my Mirror Images before they can figure out which one is the real me.

Oh, wait. That's not Warrior. That's not even Rogue. That's a playstyle that doesn't exist in-game.

The lore of the Blademaster is that they're so quick that they appear invisible, or appear to be at more places at once. That said, two abilities is not enough to build a three-spec class around. Other classes eat up whatever other concepts you could develop for it. Such a concept would be more shallow than the Demon Hunter class concept, which was so shallow they could barely come up with two specializations for it.

[Ersula]

"Season mode" for WoW sounds totally legit, ESO is doing this very successfully for 6 years now. It's not the best for the players though as content has become less and less and more feature-less.

Again I ask, why would they adopt the business model of a C-tier MMO, when FFXIV is facing far more success with the current subscription model?

Despite what you think, WoW is still way closer to FFXIV than ESO in terms of player retention.

[Sondrelk]

Except... they've convinced themselves that they do have a stable playerbase. They invented this concept of an "expansion tourist" to explain away people that check back in hoping the game has what they want and quickly leave disappointed again.

Expansion tourists are absolutely a real thing though. Loads of players join for maybe a couple of weeks at most, then either leave until the next big patch, or more likely until the end of the expansion if that at all.