9.X Patches & 10.0 Speculation Thread

[Teriz]

You ramble about titan technology, yet forget that the Tinker is largely based on Goblin\Gnome tech.

I didn't forget. Also, I'm pretty sure I haven't brought up Tinkers in this entire discussion.

Titan technology would be Mimiron's. Did he imprison the Old Gods?

No, but the Circle of Stars, Ulduar, and Uldir were Titan tech, and they did imprison Old Gods.

Just like that border "imprisons" the twilight/void in that logo.

[Le Conceptuel]

...Why not? The Jailer apparently shattered a part of the pattern, prolly as a result of him literally slamming Azeroth to the fucking ground and tryna dominate the other Hearts of each Cosmic Force using Domination + Azeroth's own Titanic power...

And from it, Firim fucking fears that something can leak in and absolutely make that CRACK within it further by that 1 force applying relentless pressure, that in itself doesn't have to mean the other 5 or even Death once more could try and take that advantage, per say. Just that something that may be the 7th could try and consume all, even Shadow/Void. But first...

We gotta restore the Balance, hence why 10.0 may be smaller, and COULD give us the Dragon Isles.

You seem to be very heavily misunderstanding what I'm saying. What I'm suggesting is that the seventh force will be very disinteresting.

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When has Warcraft ever acted super deep and shakespearian(I know you didn't say that but your wording expresses otherwise).


TLDR: The game isn't going to be super artsy fartsy about its narrative and such.

That's precisely what I'm saying. There's no way to handle Le Seventh Force without going in that direction, and I doubt the writers have the talent to do so.

[Teriz]

I could think of a gazillion ways this statement is false.

N'Zoth had his essence stored within the Black Blade, and defeat is said to often work in his favour.

Yogg-Saron's presence is felt in in Ulduar.

There have been various references to different cultists trying to bring back the Old Gods.

We just visited the Shadowlands and learned that nothing ever stays dead.

The Old Gods are literal blobs of doom, with tendrils which buried deep into the planet. It is easy to imagine ways they either cling to life somewhere down below, or have linked themselves to the planet by infesting it.

Y'shaarj was "alive" when all that remained was his heart. Clearly they do not require fully operational bodies.

Let's also not forget that Blizzard can just pull Old God crap out of their butts like they did with Ghuun.

[Archmage Xaxxas]

Oh lol, the image got out.
Guess it was inevitable.
It's fake:

Kek! Man I even made it 1:1 with SL's so that it was the dead ringer it's not real, and labeled those on imgur "not real."

I like this one even better, great job Xaxxas!

Lol, my thanks.

Among those fakes, very few, if not none have custom borders like the Empire of Dragons.
Of course, they all have added custom elements to borders, for example those ones :
But the thing is : under the added features (skulls, tentacles), it is ALWAYS the initial border that is shown on the logo, (that's also the case for the Dragonmire logo)
The only logo that totally custom borders like Shadowlands, BFA, .. is Empire Of Dragons.
This is the one. I believe it.

Your examples highlight something important though,
the only reason EoD is being taken remotely seriously is BECAUSE it's faked with that precise logic in mind.

After Shadowlands, people will only be fooled by completely original logo artwork, (whether or not Blizzard follows this trend we'll see) and that's why that's ALL EoD is. It's designed to be the LAST fake-able option.

I'm no painter, so my technical skill isn't quite where it ought to be to make something like that myself, but we all know a talented Digital Painter, and there are SO many out there who are diehard WoW fans.

Whoever put it together knew damn well that the days of people believing simple Photoshops would be over, and that they're painting talent would somehow be the only trick.
However, for one of Blizzard's painted pieces, it would be lacking severe polish compared to SL.

I'm seriously dying for an artist more talented to just make a fake painted logo for us, to put EoD to rest as people's snap-to.

[Skildar]

I'm not talking about the leaks or the hype around them, I love that too, but those pretty much clinging to their opinions about the leaks as if they were already a confirmed fact.

I'm completely with you on this

[Val the Moofia Boss]

not even gonna try to 'leak' but pretend it was, how would you pick it apart?

*snore*

First impressions are essential. If this is true, then Blizzard has decided to try to attract players by... inviting them to explore the most bland fantasy landscape possible. Showing off literally any other feature of the expansion, like 4th specs or a new class, would be more effective at drawing people in.

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Also, as much as people push for Dragon Isles as the next expansion, I just don't think it's likely. The writers seem to be more interested in their "What if the angels were actually baaaaad, and the cthulu void lords weren't actually evil? OOOOOHHHH!", and they already did a dragon heavy expansion with Cata. WoW isn't a stranger to retreading expansion themes (BC being an expansion about fighting green lava demons, and then the Legion expansion. BFA being a retread of the Cata/MoP faction war. Shadowlands retreading Scourge aesthetics), but at least those themes were at least somewhat popular. The dragon subplot was a major part of the first half WoW, and yet I hardly see anyone reminisce about it. People aren't really nostalgic for the Dragonflights. I do believe that an expansion does have to be somewhat appealing to get approval by the marketing department, and pretty much any other idea has more appeal than generic dragons. So I sorta doubt this is real.

[TheFirstOnes]

You seem to be very heavily misunderstanding what I'm saying. What I'm suggesting is that the seventh force will be very disinteresting.

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That's precisely what I'm saying. There's no way to handle Le Seventh Force without going in that direction, and I doubt the writers have the talent to do so.

And I'm saying it may not lol

[Teriz]

Also, as much as people push for Dragon Isles as the next expansion, I just don't think it's likely. The writers seem to be more interested in their "What if the angels were actually baaaaad, and the cthulu void lords weren't actually evil? OOOOOHHHH!", and they already did a dragon heavy expansion with Cata. WoW isn't a stranger to retreading expansion themes (BC being an expansion about fighting green lava demons, and then the Legion expansion. BFA being a retread of the Cata/MoP faction war. Shadowlands retreading Scourge aesthetics), but at least those themes were at least somewhat popular. The dragon subplot was a major part of the first half WoW, and yet I hardly see anyone reminisce about it. People aren't really nostalgic for the Dragonflights. I do believe that an expansion does have to be somewhat appealing to get approval by the marketing department, and pretty much any other idea has more appeal than generic dragons. So I sorta doubt this is real.

I would be interested in an expansion where Titan facilities were turned on us, and we had to stop an Ultron-type adversary hellbent on exterminating all organic life on Azeroth because it views it as a threat, and corrupted by the Old Gods. Kind of like a more scary, determined, sentient, and dangerous version of Mother.

[Le Conceptuel]

And I'm saying it may not lol

Give an example at what such a concept may feasibly be.

[Archmage Xaxxas]

I would be interested in an expansion where Titan facilities were turned on us, and we had to stop an Ultron-type adversary hellbent on exterminating all organic life on Azeroth because it views it as a threat, and corrupted by the Old Gods. Kind of like a more scary, determined, sentient, and dangerous version of Mother.

I too, am a fan of Halo: CE
343 Warcraft Spark will make a fine addition to this franchise.

[draugril]

Also, as much as people push for Dragon Isles as the next expansion, I just don't think it's likely. The writers seem to be more interested in their "What if the angels were actually baaaaad, and the cthulu void lords weren't actually evil? OOOOOHHHH!"

That's the crux of it. So many of these "leaks" are written while paying close attention to the lore of the universe, and progressing those narratives respectfully. The current WoW team does neither. Like all too many people who enter a well-established workplace, the current team seems to be engrossed in "making their mark" rather than actually picking up the reins. Some of these leaks need to start stroking their own ego a little if they want to be seen as legitimate.

They need to make retcons. Ignore inconvenient plot points, or simply forget them entirely. Take credit for the well-received bits of history within the universe with a new OC. This is the only way to make it believable.

[Sondrelk]

That's the crux of it. So many of these "leaks" are written while paying close attention to the lore of the universe, and progressing those narratives respectfully. The current WoW team does neither. Like all too many people who enter a well-established workplace, the current team seems to be engrossed in "making their mark" rather than actually picking up the reins. Some of these leaks need to start stroking their own ego a little if they want to be seen as legitimate.

They need to make retcons. Ignore inconvenient plot points, or simply forget them entirely. Take credit for the well-received bits of history within the universe with a new OC. This is the only way to make it believable.

I disagree. The best leaks are the ones that are vague, but still seems like it wants to present the story like it's the second coming of Christ.
Merely being dismissive or praising it into high heavens is a dead giveaway of it being fake. You need that specific blend of humblebrag.

[draugril]

I disagree. The best leaks are the ones that are vague, but still seems like it wants to present the story like it's the second coming of Christ.
Merely being dismissive or praising it into high heavens is a dead giveaway of it being fake. You need that specific blend of humblebrag.

Don't get me wrong - it can't come across as cynical or dismissive. It needs to be proud of the pile being presented.

[Makorus]

I could think of a gazillion ways this statement is false.

N'Zoth had his essence stored within the Black Blade, and defeat is said to often work in his favour.

Yogg-Saron's presence is felt in in Ulduar.

There have been various references to different cultists trying to bring back the Old Gods.

We just visited the Shadowlands and learned that nothing ever stays dead.

The Old Gods are literal blobs of doom, with tendrils which buried deep into the planet. It is easy to imagine ways they either cling to life somewhere down below, or have linked themselves to the planet by infesting it.

Y'shaarj was "alive" when all that remained was his heart. Clearly they do not require fully operational bodies.

They are as dead as Y'shaarj was during MoP. Which is pretty fucking dead. Y'shaarj was considered dead after being plucked.

Old Gods can still exert some type of influence (Qiraji still being active, saronite still having effect, Sha still spawning) while dead, but they are dead.

It's not easy for them to come back else Cho'gal wouldn't have tried so hard to resurrect C'thun. They are dead. The fact that cultists try to bring the Old Gods back kind of implies that they are dead.

There is nothing indicating that they are alive. There's quest text, dialogue (such as Yogg literally saying that the shadow of corpse will choke the land) and developer interviews that indicate that they are dead.

The Old Gods are dead. Just because they are called "Old Gods" does not mean that they aren't killable. We didn't destroy an "avatar" of them, we didn't just "put them to sleep", they are dead.

Can they come back? Sure. Blizzard can think of a million ass pulls to bring them back. Death is meaningless. But as of at the moment, they are dead. They are as dead as Uther or Draka or Vashj are. They are as dead as Kil'Jaeden or Archimonde are.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

not even gonna try to 'leak' but pretend it was, how would you pick it apart?

It's lovely, but the problem is that it's the exact same than that Shadowlands leak

[Kiivar86]

It's lovely, but the problem is that it's the exact same than that Shadowlands leak

There are some differences, actually.

Also its an admitted fake.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

@Jokubas fantastic breakdown of the logos.

The Shadowlands leak looked impressive (and looking back on it, we didn't really get anything like the building shown in it, did we?)

Yeah, Jimmy Lo's art for Bastion looked great!

Why doesn’t purple fit for dragons? What does fit better? We have five Dragonflights. We have infinite, chromatic, void and many more. What color would a dragon related expansion have? Green? Red? Why? So boring. Purple is intriguing as it is an indirect hint towards something related to the void.

If a dragon expansion was made in the 2000s, a rainbow colored logo of blue/red/green/yellow/orange and black could have worked to symbolize the 5 dragonflights, but today that'd probably get nixxed by the marketing department due to giving off the wrong connotations.

The EoD logo was pretty cool, though.

It has to be Dragon Isles. It's the last major Azeroth landmass that exists in the lore but has not been explored yet.

There is still the other side of Azeroth. It has been implied that there is something going on there, as ships that sail too far into the Veiled and Forbidding Seas do not return. Warcraft lore also has more than enough meat to support an underground expansion with 6 zones, as the adventurers trawl through Drogbar tunnels, Y'shaarj's dead guts, Nerubian cities, meet the Titan Azeroth herself, etc.

We also had its companion pet the Timeless Mechanical Dragonling come out in June of 2021. I would implore people to read the lore behind both of these items. They are….. interesting..

Fighting timetravelling clockwork dragons powered by the souls of demons would be pretty rad. Dunno if that could carry an entire expansion, though.

the expansion is called Light's Dawn

...

starting zone revamps from bc to cataclysm

Silvermoon being repaired would be great, and so would be seeing the Exodar up and running like it's been in lore since Cata. I don't see how Gilneas and Kezan could be revamped, though.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Steve continues pointing out Time and Cycles. Also apparently he decided to tell us in the last quarter!

Fuck Entropy

[Le Conceptuel]

Steve continues pointing out Time and Cycles. Also apparently he decided to tell us in the last quarter!

Fuck Entropy

The use of the term "ephemeral synergy" almost makes it sound like they're trying to associate luck with an underlying geometry—I suppose "ephemeral synergy" is fully descriptive of luck on its own, but it's odd to point this out so effectively.

[Makorus]

lmao, so his plan literally hinged on luck?