9.0 General Discussion

[Revamp Man]

Quoting this for emphasis. Conduits and Soulbinds don't seem complicated at all.

they arent

some are straight rips from glyphs and others are the same as the artifact traits that did X% more damage

- - - Updated - - -

They really are not. They are a thin veneer of RPG elements and certainly won't offer any actual tangential "return to RPG" mechanics and gameplay. They are a single feature that Ion labeled RPG mechanics because he felt he could only justify investing into actual RPG stuff like story if he somehow tied it to player power. But we can just agree do disagree I can't be arsed to go on pages and pages of fruitless internet crusade like some other people here.

On another note: The end of Maldraxxus is still so weird. You get send back to Maldraxxus after getting Andros Morgraine, you challenge Kyvas (?), kinda get overrun, then Draka pulls only your ass out of the fight (at least their scripting makes it look like that), then you open the door to the seat of the Primus and suddenly it's all over. The fighting stopped despite everyone just barely holding off the hordes of constructs a second earlier, Morgraine is suddenly also back and everyone is chilling in the seat of the Primus followed by a massive info dump from the Primus. Such an abbrupt ending to the whole story. I thought maybe something was missing originally, but it seems like this is the version they intend to go with; strange.

likely a cutscene not in the game yet

[Toybox]

Quoting this for emphasis. Conduits and Soulbinds don't seem complicated at all.

To play devils advocate here, you're seeing it from the POV of someone who has played Legion and/or BfA. Without that, how do you best explain soulbinds & conduits? "Well there's this guy/gal you kinda have the powers of... No they're not companions, they're just... There, y'know? Like friendly ghosts, giving you their powers n shit. Also you can get these gem things from dungeons & stick them inside the soulbind. Where? Uhh, hmm. Whatever they just absorb the gems & give you powers from the shadows or something. You make them better by collecting this resource from The Maw. Anyway, you get more ghostly powers if you do more world quests, so go do world quests to get more slots on your ghosts to put in the gems you've upgraded by farming the maw. Ya dig?"

(Shadowlands end game looks nice & chill - I've no complaints at all apart from The Maw is absolutely terrible).

[TomatoBisque]

To play devils advocate here, you're seeing it from the POV of someone who has played Legion and/or BfA. Without that, how do you best explain soulbinds & conduits? "Well there's this guy/gal you kinda have the powers of... No they're not companions, they're just... There, y'know? Like friendly ghosts, giving you their powers n shit. Also you can get these gem things from dungeons & stick them inside the soulbind. Where? Uhh, hmm. Whatever they just absorb the gems & give you powers from the shadows or something. You make them better by collecting this resource from The Maw. Anyway, you get more ghostly powers if you do more world quests, so go do world quests to get more slots on your ghosts to put in the gems you've upgraded by farming the maw. Ya dig?"

(Shadowlands end game looks nice & chill - I've no complaints at all apart from The Maw is absolutely terrible).

how is the lore relevant to the complexity of a game system?

[Toybox]

how is the lore relevant to the complexity of a game system?

Well it's easier to explain a game system if it makes sense Gemming gear makes sense, enchanting armour makes sense, farming currency to improve the rank of a random conduit to slot into a hidden character that gives you powers kinda makes less sense. Coming from Legion/BfA makes the whole thing a lot simpler to look at, & don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we're looking at a PoE style system here, but it definitely isn't the simplest of systems either.

[LemonDemonGirl]

They could add Thros, Realm of the Drust ^.^

Would it be a patch zone? They could do like, 4 or 5 new smaller zones per patch if they really want to right?

Also, I'd like a bigger version of the Other Side that shows all of the troll spirits enjoying their eternity

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and while we're on the top of 'other afterlives' how about something like the Aaru/Field of Reeds/Duat from Egyptian mythology? It could work for a Shamanistic afterlife somehow, just need to add some elements

[Hitei]

To play devils advocate here, you're seeing it from the POV of someone who has played Legion and/or BfA. Without that, how do you best explain soulbinds & conduits?

"You get a mini tree of bonuses that you can socket additional bonuses into. They drop from bosses and such and can also be upgraded from materials in the Maw."
Wow, so complicated. How would anyone ever understand this elaborate system.

[Toybox]

"You get a mini tree of bonuses that you can socket additional bonuses into. They drop from bosses and such and can also be upgraded from materials in the Maw."
Wow, so complicated. How would anyone ever understand this elaborate system.

Like I said in my first post, I was just playing devils advocate, but I do think there will 100% be people confused by the system for a while. Hell, I still think there's a decent chunk of the WoW playerbase that doesn't know 9.0 is coming, never mind a new expansion It's always been like that though. I remember doing a dungeon with someone back in Legion who didn't socket a leggo ring because he/she didn't know how to do it.

[Revamp Man]

Like I said in my first post, I was just playing devils advocate, but I do think there will 100% be people confused by the system for a while. Hell, I still think there's a decent chunk of the WoW playerbase that doesn't know 9.0 is coming, never mind a new expansion It's always been like that though. I remember doing a dungeon with someone back in Legion who didn't socket a leggo ring because he/she didn't know how to do it.

oh dude just wait until those people hit the week long CD on swapping conduits

[Cosmic Janitor]

likely a cutscene not in the game yet

Not so sure about that. If a missing cutscene is supposed to play the game usually freezes up for a few seconds which was not the case for me. There is also ingame scripting when the info-dump starts. I guess it's supposed to imply that this caused the fighting to cease, but the execution is just weird.

Another thing, after seeing Draka's afterlife clip being played I have to wonder if the bastion one was supposed to play at some point as well. I don't think there was any obvious place where it would have fit. In this regard I can't help but be astonished with Blizzard's approach to beta testing. Since there is no stated intention it's practically impossible to report anything but the most severe and obvious bugs. Also that I can't open the report for finished quests like you could in the past drives me up the wall .

[Sondrelk]

Not so sure about that. If a missing cutscene is supposed to play the game usually freezes up for a few seconds which was not the case for me. There is also ingame scripting when the info-dump starts. I guess it's supposed to imply that this caused the fighting to cease, but the execution is just weird.

Another thing, after seeing Draka's afterlife clip being played I have to wonder if the bastion one was supposed to play at some point as well. I don't think there was any obvious place where it would have fit. In this regard I can't help but be astonished with Blizzard's approach to beta testing. Since there is no stated intention it's practically impossible to report anything but the most severe and obvious bugs. Also that I can't open the report for finished quests like you could in the past drives me up the wall .

Usually the animations are hidden secrets. Things like the Jaina Warbringers animation being hidden on a ship in the Siege of Boralus raid. Or the Sylvanas Warbringer one being available if you go to where Delaryn died in Darkshore.

[Revamp Man]

Usually the animations are hidden secrets. Things like the Jaina Warbringers animation being hidden on a ship in the Siege of Boralus raid. Or the Sylvanas Warbringer one being available if you go to where Delaryn died in Darkshore.

also very interesting at least for me

draka was replaced in oribos

[Sondrelk]

also very interesting at least for me

draka was replaced in oribos

I guess maybe they want to replace the Oribos emissaries with someone more generic. Might be difficult to both have questlines where Draka is supposed to be in Maldraxxus while at the same time have her in Oribos.

[Nyel]

Quoting this for emphasis. Conduits and Soulbinds don't seem complicated at all.

They themselves aren’t, but all the implications your Covenant choice brings are - and that’s the problem

I find it funny how people here downplay this although it’s been the single biggest issue with Shadowlands (aka infamously known as Systemlands). Systems within systems over systems that all rely on one single choice. How can you not see the many problems coming with it?

[huth]

Like I said in my first post, I was just playing devils advocate, but I do think there will 100% be people confused by the system for a while. Hell, I still think there's a decent chunk of the WoW playerbase that doesn't know 9.0 is coming, never mind a new expansion It's always been like that though. I remember doing a dungeon with someone back in Legion who didn't socket a leggo ring because he/she didn't know how to do it.

There are people that get confused by a straight corridor with no doors except at the opposite ends. I don't think we should use those as a base.

oh dude just wait until those people hit the week long CD on swapping conduits

Then they weren't paying attention to the popup confirmation when you lock them in and deserve what they get.

[Dracullus]

Hopefully they won't hold with Icecrown event too long after pre-patch launch. I have maaaany shitty alts that leveled through last year anniversary or Freehold, would be nice to get 90-100 purple in every slot.

They themselves aren’t, but all the implications your Covenant choice brings are - and that’s the problem

I find it funny how people here downplay this although it’s been the single biggest issue with Shadowlands (aka infamously known as Systemlands). Systems within systems over systems that all rely on one single choice. How can you not see the many problems coming with it?

Lol "infamously KNOWN as Systemlands" like whiners who invent nicknames for every expac decide how people feel about SL. No I don't see many problems coming from fact I will have vampire party or easier transport in one zone vs garden and easier transport in another zone.

Skill + soulbinds + conduits, this is all that matter for your covenant choice. Rest may convince you to pick different covenant only if you don't care about numbers that much.

Of course there is still problem from people that want to play two different specs at highest level, but it has nothing to do with "system overload" (or rather lack of it).

[Sondrelk]

Hopefully they won't hold with Icecrown event too long after pre-patch launch. I have maaaany shitty alts that leveled through last year anniversary or Freehold, would be nice to get 90-100 purple in every slot.



Lol "infamously KNOWN as Systemlands" like whiners who invent nicknames for every expac decide how people feel about SL. No I don't see many problems coming from fact I will have vampire party or easier transport in one zone vs garden and easier transport in another zone.

Skill + soulbinds + conduits, this is all that matter for your covenant choice. Rest may convince you to pick different covenant only if you don't care about numbers that much.

Of course there is still problem from people that want to play two different specs at highest level, but it has nothing to do with "system overload" (or rather lack of it).

Don't forget that Soulbinds are mostly fun utility that doesnt have much impact on your DPS, with the few exceptions being ones where you are given a direct choice between a utility and DPS ability, with the option always being there to pick 3 of the spec specific conduits which I imagine will sim higher most of the time.


Also, I imagine the pre-patch will last 6 weeks, with 2 weeks of levelling followed by 4 weeks of event. Though that being said I don't think Icecrown was supposed to be available from the beginning, but instead only open after a week of Zombie Invasions in SW/Org.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Dumb question. When the pre-patch hits, are our character all going to be scaled from 1-50?

[huth]

Dumb question. When the pre-patch hits, are our character all going to be scaled from 1-50?

Yes. Pre-patch should contain all systems that apply to everybody, only omitting the SL-specific ones.

[Revamp Man]

They themselves aren’t, but all the implications your Covenant choice brings are - and that’s the problem

I find it funny how people here downplay this although it’s been the single biggest issue with Shadowlands (aka infamously known as Systemlands). Systems within systems over systems that all rely on one single choice. How can you not see the many problems coming with it?

the easiest way to describe it is

one ability
gems that give bonuses
3 trees per covenant with mostly generic buffs or useless abilities

venthyr soulbind ability OP for all specs using a certain stat?? well you can nerf it but doing so then nerfs the players who arent OP due to it

the execute buff from the night fae soulbind OP for everybody??? ok rework it to not exist thus having a useless buff

healing buff from kyrian soulbind make all HoT healers OP?? ok nerf it but then you nerf it for the tanks that use it


they really did make it harder for themselves

[Valysar]

Not so sure about that. If a missing cutscene is supposed to play the game usually freezes up for a few seconds which was not the case for me. There is also ingame scripting when the info-dump starts. I guess it's supposed to imply that this caused the fighting to cease, but the execution is just weird.

Another thing, after seeing Draka's afterlife clip being played I have to wonder if the bastion one was supposed to play at some point as well. I don't think there was any obvious place where it would have fit. In this regard I can't help but be astonished with Blizzard's approach to beta testing. Since there is no stated intention it's practically impossible to report anything but the most severe and obvious bugs. Also that I can't open the report for finished quests like you could in the past drives me up the wall .

There is a cinematic when you open the door