Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[therumblings]

Is it possible to have my own rank come the 19 and all my predictions come true.

Was thinking "prophet". Or "the chosen one".

If we get Tinkers in a Dragon expansion? Then definitely.

[Wangming]

Yes, because not understanding something and not knowing something are two completely different matters. And not "what the story is about". They're ignorant of what the story is. I.e. they don't know the story proper, their complaints are just based on some random bits they snapped up.

For that matter, this lack has nothing to do with the story being to hard for them to understand (because it really isn't that complex) and a lot with them not bothering to even check what it is.

Well, ideally the story wouldn't be that hard to "check". This is another failing of the story. Important chunks are delegated to novels, short stories, manga and the like. It is fine to flesh out the world in extra material, but how Sylvanas was convinced to go along with this mad scheme is vital to the story of not just Shadowlands but BfA as well. Only really answering that in a book is a SIN.

Now since I'm off work I had time to sit down with some tea and carefully read the whole post that started this whole argument. And I'm still not convinced. To those with a similarly tight schedule, here is the TL;DR:

1) The story was always kinda shit.
2) Shadowlands has a central message that is actually presented well.

Which is fine and all, but the meaning of a story, the plot, and the storytelling are three very different things.

1. The Meaning: This is the message conveyed. In Shadowlands there are two messages. The first is that vengeance sucks, it will destroy your life, you should let it go and live your life to the fullest. The second is that guys and dickheads and can't relate to the everyday struggles of people (which is incidentally also why people want to go back to simple stories that relate to people).

2. The Plot: You follow a villain you are sick of, into a place you are no business being in while you are alive, to rescue characters you don't care about, and this way stop an evil plan that won't be revealed untill much much later. I get it, the second point is subjective, and I know Anduin has lots of fans for some reason, but seriously if the story left it up to you, who would go to hell to bring back Baine? Or even Thrall who hasn't really been that interesting these past ten years. Now people here generally agree that the story of SL is still miles better than in BfA. And I totally agree with that. But as it is, it is really hard to care about what happens to any of these people. Tyrande was the best part for sure, but even with her new ripped shoulders she can't carry this whole mess on her back.

3. The presentation: I have already touched upon this, but this is honestly where Shadowlands fails the hardest in my opinion. Tie in books aren't new, I know. ÍBut come on, not only is "Let them buy a book that explains the story of a subscription based MMO" kinda scummy from a business standpoint, but "I will not explain the motivation of the central figure. That's Christie's job." is just sloppy storytelling.

So TL;DR: Shadowlands is a boring story with cool themes, told badly.
That is not colossally bad, but out of the things that are actually in the game, the story is the worst. Many agree that by 9.2.5 the gameplay managed to outgrow most of the hiccups that beta testers complained about. The main problem is that too little was given with too much space between them.

- - - Updated - - -

If we get Tinkers in a Dragon expansion? Then definitely.

Don't you mean Dragons in the Tinker expansion? You know, all expansions since MoP were Tinker expansions. Their release is just being delayed constantly.

[ClassicPeon]

I feel like the expansion is still in super early development. Just a time, thats it. No schedule even. I'm not expecting the usual 2x 1 hour panel going in depth about the new expansion. I feel like there will just be some trailers; an 30 min event max. With actual in depth stuff coming 6 months from now.

I never really expected more then 30 minute talk about it tbh. Not even a trailer.

I dont know how far they are with the expansion but i am hoping for a little info on what we will be doing/where we will be going on what they are going to be doing to classes. We havent had any meaningfull class changes since Legion and this game revolves mostly arounds its gameplay.

[Dracullus]

Youtube AND twitch, so we at least can expect something more than just 20 minutes video drop.

[Varx]

If we get Tinkers in a Dragon expansion? Then definitely.

Ty for the support! I'm open to suggestions though.

Oo how about "frosty fool" given my high profile reference on the 1st by a multi billion dollar company.

[Valysar]

https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/ne...al-on-april-19 Guess Towelliee was right

Anyone could have said that, it's so obvious they were going to do an encore a week before.

[ClassicPeon]

If that is the case why not wait 6 months to announce the expansion? There's absolutely no reason to announce now if they have nothing to show.

Could be because Sepulcher hype has died down and peopel are unsubbing again tbh.

[Calfredd]

Most likely they are just going to post a video on YouTube. Like how they did the 9.2 developer update video.


Hopefully a livestream though.

Front page announcement said youtube and twitch.

[Raetary]

Front page announcement said youtube and twitch.

It can still be a pre-recorded premiere.

[Valysar]

Yeah, imo it's gonna be Ion talking, showing us the CGI cinematic then the "what's new" trailer, finishing with the "Pre-orders are open as we speak" blabla, nothing really long, but hopefully exciting (even if we say that every time)

[Catastrophy349]

Anyone could have said that, it's so obvious they were going to do an encore a week before.

Does it bother you that he was right? Don’t attack me. I simply pointed out that he was right about something he said. This forum is for fun. It’s not wowhead comment section.

[ercarp]

No see, we killed Murozond in Endtime, but we still need to have Nozdormu turn into him in the first place.

Two posts below that, I said exactly the same thing.

Now that I think about it, we still haven't seen the present-day Nozdormu become corrupted, go mad, and become Murozond as he said he would, so that could very well be a plot point for 10.0. I wouldn't hate that at all actually.

EDIT: Showing this happen in the expansion cinematic would also be cool as fuck visually.

[Lazarel]

I just noticed a small new design choice in the next expansion reveal logo
The word "World" has a different font than the usual

[Fahrad Wagner]

I just noticed a small new design choice in the next expansion reveal logo
The word "World" has a different font than the usual

The R and the of are diffferent too

[Ferlion]

I feel like the expansion is still in super early development. Just a time, thats it. No schedule even. I'm not expecting the usual 2x 1 hour panel going in depth about the new expansion. I feel like there will just be some trailers; an 30 min event max. With actual in depth stuff coming 6 months from now.

I disagree. While we "might" get something later, I think the expansion is likely further along than usual.

8.3 BFA was a lot of reused assets.

9.2 as the last major patch for Shadowlands.

It's very possible that they knew Shadowlands wasn't going to be received as well as normal and put resources to 10.0 considering how far ahead they start working on expansions.

[Valysar]

Does it bother you that he was right? Don’t attack me. I simply pointed out that he was right about something he said. This forum is for fun. It’s not wowhead comment section.

Haha it's not an attack don't worry, just saying :P

[ercarp]

I was gonna chill with the "Blizzard bad" posts, but the way they pat themselves on the back for the storytelling of Shadowlands is too hilarious to ignore. Like, seriously, what is this?

World of Warcraft has ignited imaginations through rich storytelling and expansive worlds that prevail throughout the Shadowlands expansion.

Shadowlands single-handedly mangled almost twenty years worth of lore. They can't seriously believe that Shadowlands "prevailed" in anything except somehow being worse than WoD. I'm sorry, but this is just hilariously tone-deaf and completely in contrast to all of the player and critic reception of Shadowlands' lore and storytelling for the past ~2 years.

[Kiivar86]

Does it bother you that he was right? Don’t attack me. I simply pointed out that he was right about something he said. This forum is for fun. It’s not wowhead comment section.

Not particularly, more just the idea that its of any note is kinda silly to me. Like, yeah they would post a reminder a week out. They'll post something on Monday the 18th too, I'm sure.

[Hypester]

Shadowlands single-handedly mangled almost twenty years worth of lore. They can't seriously believe that Shadowlands "prevailed" in anything except somehow being worse than WoD. I'm sorry, but this is just hilariously tone-deaf and completely in contrast to all of the player and critic reception of Shadowlands' lore and storytelling for the past ~2 years.

Apologies aren’t a thing in corporate culture, especially not in the West.

[Ersula]

The fact that you have to explain that to someone seriously makes me wanna push my palm through my forehead.

Wasn't it explicitly stated that that Murozond was specifically from a different timeline? So no, he doesn't have to turn into him.

I'm already exhausted so I hope Endtime is just the end of it.