Brainstorming: if there will be 8.3, what will it contain?

[Vynestra]

Pretty sure they've been working on 8.3 internally for quite some time now - would make absolutely no sense to cut it.

They're dedicated to this patch cycle.

WoD was abandoned to make legion, they already planned for a full xpac in bfa, they wouldn't abandon it as the next xpac wouldn't be ready in time anyway.

They have a very set cycle at this point.

[gioderpington]

Most of these comments seem pretty accurate
Only wild one I might guess is seeing a complete redo of the factions (err a story line leading up to it)
Most hopeful would be a mage tower or completion of the warfront system (solidifying it as a consistent and long standing game mechanic (like battlegrounds) by fixing issues and balancing rewards)

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I still honestly think the final raid will be in Silithus. That sword, and the Titan it's stabbing, and the blood it's oozing, has been too important to not be where all this ends.

[Queen of Hamsters]

There is no "If".

There will be an 8.3. 8.2 is the middle-patch. Duh.
And no matter how much less than intellectual individuals like to pretend otherwise, BfA is in no shape or form WoD.

[spalernTJ]

I would like to see a new cataclysmic event, cooed with the level squish. N'zoth wins, the heroes of Azeroth loses. New expansion is about rebuilding and fighting our way up against the now corrupted Azeroth.

[Druitz]

There will be 8.3 because new expansion will be in 2020, revealed on blizzcon 2019 and 8.2 cant last for so long.

We will get new world quests for sure

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

There will be 8.3 because new expansion will be in 2020, revealed on blizzcon 2019 and 8.2 cant last for so long.

We will get new world quests for sure

"But maybe they'll put the next expansion out faster than ever before!"

Says people who did not learn the lesson of BFA beta.

[AngerFork]

First, completely agree that 8.3 will not be near the size of 8.2. It seems like Blizz gives us one crazy large patch with a ton of content each expansion and 8.2 seems to be that patch for BfA. Because of this, I'm not entirely sure that we'll get Nyalotha or N'Zoth as our enemy for an 8.3 raid. I'm not entirely sure we'll get a new continent/land mass to explore. But there are a lot of other plot points that could very well be closed up to prep us for the next expansion in an 8.3 patch.

Personally, I see it actually going to Eversong/Azuremyst for most of our content. Moving those two zones to be connected to the rest of the vanilla continents (same server, etc) would line up perfectly for plenty of future plans Blizz might have. You could use the warfront-style setup (though I wouldn't go with an actual warfront) to update the continents and give them a proper fresh coat of paint. I'd throw in some World Quests and some new items from Nazjatar, plus something like the Mage Tower where we can earn Heritage Weapons for each race.

The raid would take place specifically within the Exodar to begin, then go to Silvermoon. The bosses would follow the same setup as the first few BoD bosses...same mechanics, different looks. The Exodar portion for the Horde would be trying to eliminate/remove the Exodar from Kalimdor, whereas the Alliance would be trying to drive the Horde away long enough for the Exodar itself to escape. The Silvermoon portion then would be the reverse...the Alliance trying to drive the Horde from Silvermoon and the Sunwell while the Horde would be defending both. The last fight would be Sylvanas using the Sunwell along with the Blade of Xalatath for power...a wound which allows the Old Gods and Void access to the Sunwell, fatally wounds Azeroth causing her "third death", and brings the Black Empire to the surface.

Which sets us up well for the next expansion.

[A Chozo]

Yet Azeroth still bleeds, Azerite is still active and Magni, the Earthen Ring and the Cenarion Circle are still working at the Wound.

If the Sword is truly dormant, it must be removed. If it isn't, then it must be completely shut down.

[iamthedevil]

Sylvanas is going to kill and resurrect the Lich King, making her the Galactic Lich Emperor and she will wield the sword of Sargeras. It will contain new power as she consumes the remaining Old Gods into the blade.

[Nyel]

There will be 8.3 because new expansion will be in 2020, revealed on blizzcon 2019 and 8.2 cant last for so long.

This is not true at all. 8.2 with its scope could very well last for so long. The usual downtime between expansions is 11-12 months. 8.2 won't be here sooner than June and the raid not before July. That means if the next expansion launches next early Summer it would totally fit into their usual expansion schedules. The only time they achieved a shorter downtime was Legion -> BfA and that was just because they released BfA in a beta state and 8.1 or even more so 8.2 are the state in which BfA should have launched several months later.

So when it comes to time it's totally legit that they cut 8.3, as I pointed out in another thread right now we are in the exact time frame from 6.2 back 4 years ago. PTR for 6.2 in April, launch in June. Next expansion launched the following August (Legion).

Nevermind this thread is not to talk about 8.3's likeliness or not, it's more about what 8.3 would be about. In that regard it is very well possible to just end BfA with 8.2 and Azshara as it would make sense. They can dive deeper into N'zoth's story this expansion or delay it for the next, wouldn't make any major difference. 8.2's content could work well for a BfA closure. That's why I opened this thread. 8.2 gives us basically everything an expansion ending patch does.

[Powerogue]

Surely Journey to The Center of Azeroth as we confront either the corruption plaguing Azeroth (N'zoth) or Azeroth herself.

Could always be both, that'd make one hell of a raid to rival Argus.

[Tyrathius]

The thing about WoD is, it was developed back when they were trying to move to yearly expansions. So, there wasn't some planned-but-cut 6.3 that never saw the light of day. 6.2 was always planned to be the end of WoD. Then they realized that they couldn't make expansions that quickly even if they cut out an entire raid tier, and they went back to the 3 tier cycle with Legion.

BFA is going to get 3 tiers. The last one may end up being totally half-assed like Dragon Soul, but there will be one.

[Elias01]

N'zoth. But whether he'll die or not, I do not know. He might die, but usher in the return of the Old Gods. Or he might succeed, and will outlast this mess of an expansion.

But knowing Blizzard, it wouldn't surprise me if the main villain of 8.3 is some asspull like Crazy Yrel.

Well since not even titans dare to kill old gods as it would propably destroy azeroth. We definitly wont defeate him. Maybe his manifestation or somethibg just like when we fought all other "old gods". Dont forget that non of old god we defeated were actual old gods. Those were just "avatars".

[Khaza-R]

Really difficult to say what 8.3 is because they seem to be trying to open up multiple future plotlines in BfA after Legion concluded so many loose ends.

From what I've gathered so far

- Sylvanas and N'zoth will join forces at some point like 8.2.5
- Some plot twist with Azshara - I assume this will be that Azshara betrays N'zoth and has just been using him
- Someone is going to steal the Heart of Azeroth by 8.3 and use it against us - my guess is Xal'atath or Sylvanas
- 8.3 will probably be Ny'alotha

[Nyel]

The thing about WoD is, it was developed back when they were trying to move to yearly expansions. So, there wasn't some planned-but-cut 6.3 that never saw the light of day. 6.2 was always planned to be the end of WoD. Then they realized that they couldn't make expansions that quickly even if they cut out an entire raid tier, and they went back to the 3 tier cycle with Legion.

I don't think this is true. There was planned a lot more for WoD and got cut due to various reasons (Shattrath raid, the landmass which name I forgot, fighting Grommash etc.).

[Daikoku]

A post-it

I.O.U
Content
-Ion

/10

[Queen of Hamsters]

I don't think this is true. There was planned a lot more for WoD and got cut due to various reasons (Shattrath raid, the landmass which name I forgot, fighting Grommash etc.).

"Various reasons" sort of encompass the fact that Blizzard back then had this fetish for yearly expansions that they couldn't meet. Not to mention the frankly insultingly low levels of development put into that expansion in terms of world building and non-instanced content after MoP being what it was.

Tyrathius is 100% more plausible than most on why WoD went down like it did.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

I hope 8.3 is not Nzoth and instead is Battle of Stormwind which leads to Silithus where we fight some corrupted version of Azeroths Avatar

[Lawlhero]

Nzoth looks massive, so I hope the next raid is actually inside of N'zoth and the last raid is his heart or something.