9.X Patches & 10.0 Speculation Thread

[Le Conceptuel]

Fuck, I really really like this. I was thinking of class skins just altering a single spec, but if they altered all three specs as you described, I'd jump on the class skin wholeheartedly!

Even though I'm far from willing to call Blizzard generally "high-effort", I do believe that we've seen that they're more inclined to do something more mechanical and different from the source based on how they came up with Allied Races in place of a simple subrace dropdown option. It's for that reason why I'm particularly inclined to suggest something as vast as this—it's also why I thought replacing the damage type or other very minor gameplay changes would be a good idea, as well as the reason for the quests behind them. With all three specializations covered, it also practically gives you all of the utility of a new class with none of the actual gameplay repercussions or resource load.

[Therougetitan]

Thoughts:

Dragon Knights are unlocked in the Dragon Isles (duh).
Minstrels are unlocked in Balor (halflings).
Tinkers are unlocked in the Undermine.
Chronomancers are unlocked in Uldaz?

I think they wouldn't lock classes behind content. Races yeah but classes they will let you play even in the pre-patch.

[Villager720]

Didn’t the Primus square off against Helya, and take a hot minute to wrap it up?

I’m sorry but Sargeras wouldn’t need a moment to subdue Helya.

Also, Argus, fledgling Titan, took some of the most powerful weapons in history + Titan Pantheon aid to defeat.
The Jailer just lost to the murder hobos.

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Yeah small leaks like this are probably fine if not intentional. They just hate it when the whole expansion is leaked. /looks at boub.

I don’t think @Boubouille ever leaked something that wasn’t already floating around.

[Three Faced Goddess]

Even though I'm far from willing to call Blizzard generally "high-effort", I do believe that we've seen that they're more inclined to do something more mechanical and different from the source based on how they came up with Allied Races in place of a simple subrace dropdown option. It's for that reason why I'm particularly inclined to suggest something as vast as this—it's also why I thought replacing the damage type or other very minor gameplay changes would be a good idea, as well as the reason for the quests behind them. With all three specializations covered, it also practically gives you all of the utility of a new class with none of the actual gameplay repercussions or resource load.

If class skins were implemented as you suggest, I would be completely okay with Dark Ranger being a hunter class skin. It would feel like a new class, wouldn't limit me to the the marksman spec, wouldn't reduce the Dark Ranger fantasy, and the theme would make sense. Alone, hunters don't feel like Dark Rangers because of the obvious lack of certain elements. If we got the Darkfallen race in addition to the class skin (yes, I know I'm expecting too much) and the class skin permitted Forsaken/Humans as well then I'd be over the moon. All of this without the nightmare of balancing a new class.

[Snorlax]

I don’t think @Boubouille ever leaked something that wasn’t already floating around.

I thought the Cata leak was specifically originated here? Wasn't there talk of legal action about it too at some point?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

imagine class skins, we get a dragon class, you customize your mortal form+dragon form, the class skins let you choose your dragonflight

I'd rather they do optional class skins over "microclasses" any day of the week.

[draugril]

Indeed. The power level references we got are seemingly marketing fluff. The actual feats… not all that impressive, relatively speaking.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Thoughts:

Dragon Knights are unlocked in the Dragon Isles (duh).
Minstrels are unlocked in Balor (halflings).
Tinkers are unlocked in the Undermine.
Chronomancers are unlocked in Uldaz?

The fuck is a halfling? This ain't D&D.

[Snorlax]

I think they wouldn't lock classes behind content. Races yeah but classes they will let you play even in the pre-patch.

Yeah there's no way those aren't something they'd want to get in players hands asap if that one leak is true. It's the kind of thing they'd rather have people playing instead of theorizing how it's the worst thing ever in an exponentially growing doom cloud

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I just realized why are folks giving a leak about DRK/MIN/TNK/CHR any time of day 2 days after we got the Dragonflight name? Like this next week every leak we get is gonna be fake trying to capitalize on "I had the name right, see!?"

[Snorlax]

I'd rather they do optional class skins over "microclasses" any day of the week.

So the lowest effort and most meaningless way to do it?

[Knight of the Astral Star]

I just realized why are folks giving a leak about DRK/MIN/TNK/CHR any time of day 2 days after we got the Dragonflight name? Like this next week every leak we get is gonna be fake trying to capitalize on "I had the name right, see!?"

While one could argue that Dragonflight is a really easy name to guess (it is), the leak was posted a full 2 months before the name was datamined.

It has some semblance of credence.

[Snorlax]

While one could argue that Dragonflight is a really easy name to guess (it is), the leak was posted a full 2 months before the name was datamined.

It has some semblance of credence.

And also lines up with 9.2.5 content that came out of nowhere if were being honest. Like the QT stuff or the Hunter only questline that just happens to star two dark rangers. Etc.

[Chickat]

Wouldn't it be weird to make them pets?

I mean you have pandaren monk pets and mini rag pets etc. You even have children pets. Its not that weird.

[Dragons Are Bad Mkay]

I just realized why are folks giving a leak about DRK/MIN/TNK/CHR any time of day 2 days after we got the Dragonflight name? Like this next week every leak we get is gonna be fake trying to capitalize on "I had the name right, see!?"

As I said in another thread;

It's impossible it's not real at this point. This predates 9.2 coming out. Since then, 9.2.5 has come onto the PTR. The things it got right so far are;

The name World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
Dalaran update.
Lordaeron focus.
New quests in the Blood Elf lands have the zone in which the quest takes place called Quel'thalas, not Eversong Forest or the Ghostlands but both as one zone merged.
Dark Ranger stuff.

It's pure copium at this point to say it's fake.
Also it's funny how people are torn saying it's either far too much content (even though this is WAY LESS than TBC gave us) or far too little content, too mundane for Blizzard or too out there. No one can decide, they just know they don't like it.

You're being incredibly disingenuous and we all know you're going to pretend to have believed it after it's revealed like every other time (MoP trademark, WoD content leak, etc).

[Knight of the Astral Star]

As I said in another thread;

It's impossible it's not real at this point. This predates 9.2 coming out. Since then, 9.2.5 has come onto the PTR. The things it got right so far are;

The name World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
Dalaran update.
Lordaeron focus.
New quests in the Blood Elf lands have the zone in which the quest takes place called Quel'thalas, not Eversong Forest or the Ghostlands but both as one zone merged.
Dark Ranger stuff.

It's pure copium at this point to say it's fake.
Also it's funny how people are torn saying it's either far too much content (even though this is WAY LESS than TBC gave us) or far too little content, too mundane for Blizzard or too out there. No one can decide, they just know they don't like it.

You're being incredibly disingenuous and we all know you're going to pretend to have believed it after it's revealed like every other time (MoP trademark, WoD content leak, etc).

The things that put it into doubt are:

1: Dalaran update? Dalaran hasn't been touched since Legion.

2: With the exception of Cataclysm, an expansion has never been leaked in such detail before.

That said, there's a lot of coincidences that line up. Hmm! We'll see in a couple of weeks.

[Chickat]

Maybe if the Light invades through the Sunwell as suggested previously in this thread?

I could see a light or even void invasion in Silvermoon in a 10.1 or 10.2 patch. Not as the final patch, but a Nighthold or Dazar'alor sure.

[Dragons Are Bad Mkay]

2: With the exception of Cataclysm, an expansion has never been leaked in such detail before.

People love to forgot things that are inconvenient (which is weird because we're talking about a video game); mmo-champion . com/threads/ 1381172-Real-Warlords-of-Draenor-Leak-Inside

[Villager720]

I thought the Cata leak was specifically originated here? Wasn't there talk of legal action about it too at some point?

I’m pretty sure it had come out elsewhere, this was just the biggest platform to announce it first I think.
I remember him saying something like he always waited for “someone else to fire the first shot” or something like that. Not 100% I’m remembering it 100%, but I feel pretty confident he didn’t just blow open the doors on Cata by himself.

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People love to forgot things that are inconvenient (which is weird because we're talking about a video game); mmo-champion . com/threads/ 1381172-Real-Warlords-of-Draenor-Leak-Inside

Pretty sure BfA got leaked too with a decent chunk of details. I recall they even mentioned “Vol’jin is in an urn.”

[Chickat]

That, or desperate to save Silvermoon from the Scourge the BE summon the Army of Light through the portal… but after destroying the Scourge it decides it’s not going anywhere and takes over SM?

Yeah that would be a great mid tier patch. I really don't think the army of light could carry an expansion on their own, but they sure as hell could carry a great mid patch.

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At least Zereth Mortis already showed much better WQs than anything 9.0 had, no more 17 step World Quests that bait you into think it's a quick WQ and then you get to step 9 purely on a sunk cost fallacy. I think the 'worst' offender in Zereth Mortis was a two step world quest in the desert area where you had to kill spiders to get bait for a worm, and then a second step where you threw the bait on elites so that the worm would eat them - and that took five minutes total, completely fine. If they just keep up these WQ design improvements to 10.0 I'll be happy.

Yeah, I honestly believe ZM is the best patch zone they have done. Truly. The only things that could improve it IMO are more story quests like Suramar, and more minigames etc. Just more ZM with extra fun stuff and a better/longer story.