IF 5.2 is a Zandalari Raid..

[huth]

Wrathion hints highly next patch we're taking down the Thunder King, but Blizz has also hinted we're doing a Zandalari raid.

If that's the case I'd imagine the raid is a Mogu/Troll Raid.

Given that they are allies, that seems highly likely.

As for the Wrathion line... keep in mind that the very last part will probably not be for everyone, so it'll likely end up being a Feat of Strength, not an achievement.

[Illintent420]

No way to go to 5.6. I believe in 5.3.

This guy must be smoking dope.

[theWocky]

And if you honestly believe a word Blizzard says by now concerning patching, you've got to be naive.

I must agree with this man. I will be most surprised if the momentum stays the same once this next patch hits. Content appears to have become less and less with each expansion. I think this expansion will go to no more than 5.4 or so, if that. Pure speculation, but this from a player who's lost faith in the dev team.

[Lamoot]

The main reason I say 5.3 may be the Siege of Orgrimmar is due to the fact on live, currently, for the 4 part Wrathion Questline, there is an achievement for each, and it ends at 5.3.

Also a lot of the people I've spoken to think 5.3 is Siege.

Which makes me wonder how the hell with this work out.

I agree that the expansion is going to go a lot higher than 5.3. But to put it bluntly, no one knows how high it's going to go. Period.

[Deleted]

If 5.2 is a Zandalari Raid...

I will like it. Chances are many people will kill themselves however; trolls are the only race to consistently have a dungeon or raid dedicated to them in each expansion since the dawn of WoW. Beating a dead horse, perhaps.

Perhaps people like Trolls ?, just saying.

[TheWindWalker]

No way to go to 5.6. I believe in 5.3.

Hate to break it to you, but several of the Devs have pointed out that this will expansion will follow a "faster, lighter patch schedule to avoid long periods without new content." It's gonna go farther than 5.3.

[Count Zero]

Siege of Org will be no earlier than 5.4.

5.1 non-raid patch, 5.2 Rise of Zandalari, 5.3 non-raid, 5.4 Siege of Org. At the earliest.

[klaps_05]

actually there hasnt been a PROPER troll raid ever, ZG/ZA were too small and irrelevant, need something much bigger like the Gundrak raid that was scrapped.

[Ferocity]

5.3 will not be the final raid patch.

Don't forget that next x-pack is planned for end of next year. 5.3 might very well be the final raid patch. Especially if to take into account that MoP wasn't recepted well in general, so Blizzard brings Rob Pardo back to continue working on WoW (as everyone already knows that GC and his team aren't improving game) and perhaps will try to make this expansion not last for too long.

So 5.2 might be some small troll raid and Mogu raid. 5.3 dailies (of course) and Siege of Orgrimmar (heavily gated and unlocked in 5.3.1).

[Kazlofski]

Indeed it would be too short to end at 5.3, I think there is a reason why they made the legendary quests say, in 5.1 and the other 2 coming soon, because they aren't sure yet how things will turn out with development time and finalizing their ideas so they didn't want to blindly write 5.2 and 5.3 but rather keep it opened in case they go beyond that.

[leviathonlx]

How do you guys think that'll wrap up the story so that 5.3 is the Siege of Orgrimmar?

Every way I've thought of it makes it seem like something bad has to happen in the 2nd Major patch for the Alliance and Horde to come together to go and take down Garrosh.

Only way I really see that happening is another major patch before the Siege, causing Siege to be coming out in 5.4.

Any thoughts on how this could be accomplished in 5.2?

Technically 5.4 will be the Siege of Orgrimmar since they are splitting the patches.

Course 5.2 won't be a full out 'Zandalari' raid. It'd be more a Mogu/Zandalari raid as the boss will be the Thunder King.

[TheWindWalker]

Don't forget that next x-pack is planned for end of next year. 5.3 might very well be the final raid patch. Especially if to take into account that MoP wasn't recepted well in general, so Blizzard brings Rob Pardo back to continue working on WoW (as everyone already knows that GC and his team aren't improving game) and perhaps will try to make this expansion not last for too long.

Would you mind explaining where you're pulling this information from? Specifically the change of Devs? (We can argue all day about how well this expansion was received and the sudden influx of subscribers.)

[Kraenen]

We need a human raid imo. But there's not many humans powerful enough.

[Kalmageddon]

Miss having lots of patches.

1.12.1 anyone?

An expansion doesnt mean it has to stick by 3-5 patches.

[wariofan1]

I would prefer if it made it to 5.4. I would also love if they added another raid, instead of skipping one again, but I fear the Cataclysm model is here to stay.

The Zandalari raid and the whole Thunder King deal just doesn't seem like it can lead up to the Siege of Orgrimmar in any way. It would have been better with something like the last Sha, seeing that Garrosh is trying to harness the Sha and bend it to his will, it could easily lead up to it, but that would require an additional raid, or at least a questline, and that just wouldn't fit in with the Zandalari story.

Miss having lots of patches.

1.12.1 anyone?

Vanilla only had that many patches because it was laying the ground for the game itself. 3 of the patches were dedicated to introducing battlegrounds to the game. One was for Maraudon. Some fixes here and there. And then there were 4 for raids; Zul'Gurub, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj (two raids) and Naxxramas.

That would mean if MoP was to surpass Vanilla in PvE content patches, it would have to go to at least 5.5, and all content patches would have to include a raid, one of them would need to include two. That's not going to happen obviously, but there's a valid reason for that, and it's because Blizzard puts more effort into making raids today. Vanilla, TBC and Wotlk raids all had tons of filler bosses, and even though the amount of bosses have decreased since then, the amount of filler bosses has too. I mean, does anyone even remember Auriaya, Void Reaver or Sulfuron Harbinger as necessary bosses for their raids? They were all filler bosses who weren't necessary or interesting, but they were there to prolong the raid, and there's tons of other ones. Today we have more interesting encounters in my opinion, I think that all the bosses inside Mogu'shan Vaults, with the exception of Gara'jal, have been worth it. The first three bosses of Heart of Fear are also awesome (although Ta'yak is a little odd with the wind phase).

In short, quality over quantity.

[delus]

How do you guys think that'll wrap up the story so that 5.3 is the Siege of Orgrimmar?

Every way I've thought of it makes it seem like something bad has to happen in the 2nd Major patch for the Alliance and Horde to come together to go and take down Garrosh.

Only way I really see that happening is another major patch before the Siege, causing Siege to be coming out in 5.4.

Any thoughts on how this could be accomplished in 5.2?

Scenarios. They seem to be a really simple and quick way to propel story forward without having to expend a ton of resources..

[leviathonlx]

I would prefer if it made it to 5.4. I would also love if they added another raid, instead of skipping one again, but I fear the Cataclysm model is here to stay.

The Zandalari raid and the whole Thunder King deal just doesn't seem like it can lead up to the Siege of Orgrimmar in any way. It would have been better with something like the last Sha, seeing that Garrosh is trying to harness the Sha and bend it to his will, it could easily lead up to it, but that would require an additional raid, or at least a questline, and that just wouldn't fit in with the Zandalari story.

I feel pretty safe in saying that the sha story is over.

[Mad_Murdock]

Hate to break it to you, but several of the Devs have pointed out that this will expansion will follow a "faster, lighter patch schedule to avoid long periods without new content." It's gonna go farther than 5.3.

Well, this could just be a case of semantics. When we\they say 5.3, it could be implied or inferred that what is really being said is 3 Major content patches. If 5.2 and 5.3 are just to add sparkle ponies and a updated JP conversaion vendor I don't really consider them as real patches. If 5.2 and 5.3 are stated to include raids with X amount of bosses and new heroics, than I consider those more real patches or at least in terms of what is being discussed here.

So 5.3 is possible if it's implied .2 and .3 are major raid patches. If 5.3 is just a break\fix patch and 5.4 is SOO, then it's all kind of the same to me. I expect 2 major raid patches and 2 other patches with random stuff. I also expect at Blizzcon 2013 they are going to be announcing a new Xpac in 18 months and we'll get the initial details, since by Oct 2013 the next Xpac will be about 9 months away.

[TheWindWalker]

I would prefer if it made it to 5.4. I would also love if they added another raid, instead of skipping one again, but I fear the Cataclysm model is here to stay.

Not unless the next expansion comes out next Summer or they simply lied about rapid patches being the new model.

I feel pretty safe in saying that the sha story is over.

We're still missing one Sha and the continent's secrets certainly haven't been fully explored yet.

[leviathonlx]

Not unless the next expansion comes out next Summer or they simply lied about rapid patches being the new model.



We're still missing one Sha and the continent's secrets certainly haven't been fully explored yet.

I think you'll find out about the whereabouts of the last 'Sha' in the coming months on the main site. Remember, Shaohao never got rid of all 7 Burdens. He got rid of six and then became one with the land to create the Mist which protected Pandaria.