Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Hellspawn]

They are really not that alien in design.
I'd argue Shaladrassil with its almost tentacle-esque branches and the crystalized trees in Crystalsong are a lot more otherworldly looking than the anima trees.

They may fit but I would not like them in Ashenvale, it does not really fit with this existing Zone that has a different aestetic.

However, I think some of the WoD Zones could fit into Kalimdor.

[Kiivar86]

I mean I picked Ashenvale chiefly because it was the densest forest I could think of with a supernatural element to it. You could slot the zone anywhere as its own zone instead if you wish.

Main point was that it wasn't that otherworldly.

[draugril]

This would have been AMAZING and it really looks like Torghast is the key and Icecrown is the lock. Unfortunately they didn't do anything with this.

MoP won me back when it "reconnected" the narrative with stuff we were already familiar with. I would like SL to do the same, but I definitely don't expect it to.

[Nyel]

MoP won me back when it "reconnected" the narrative with stuff we were already familiar with. I would like SL to do the same, but I definitely don't expect it to.

Yeah something like Torghast activates some devide in Icecrown which turns every living into Undead or unleashes Domination magic where everyone gets enslaved or whatever... I mean, give us something. That picture with Torghast above Icecrown was just epic and to not have any connection or in game "event" would be such a wasted opportunity.

[Soon-TM]

Not "crippling problems" - one problem, but huge one. Content drought. It's caused both by delays and abandoning Legion model that worked so well (small patch - raid/season, big patch - catch up zone to previous raid, dungeon, story).

The Legion model worked quite well apparently. Why in the Eternal Sun's name did they throw it aside?

[draugril]

Yeah something like Torghast activates some devide in Icecrown which turns every living into Undead or unleashes Domination magic where everyone gets enslaved or whatever... I mean, give us something. That picture with Torghast above Icecrown was just epic and to not have any connection or in game "event" would be such a wasted opportunity.

You can summarize all of WoD as "Gul'dan was resurrected" and not lose any momentum in the main narrative. Nothing of consequence happens outside of that. My guess is we'll be able to summarize SL just as abruptly, with "Sylvanas was (redeemed/resurrected/killed)."

There's a lot of potential for messing with death to affect things back on Azeroth... I just highly doubt we'll see any of it. They seem to be happy with their story in a bubble.

[Lahis]

They are really not that alien in design.
I'd argue Shaladrassil with its almost tentacle-esque branches and the crystalized trees in Crystalsong are a lot more otherworldly looking than the anima trees.

I think it could, I mean we have freaky trees in Crystalsong Forest. Just have some lore like "the Dream blended over" or something, I dunno. We've got weirder shit.

But yeah either way it isn't that different from what we've seen in some place.

Crystalsong trees aren't alive. They were killed and crystallized by arcane explosion.
Shaladrassil has been corrupted by the Nightmare AKA the Void and even it doesn't have floating spinning branches.

[draugril]

The Legion model worked quite well apparently. Why in the Eternal Sun's name did they throw it aside?

Legion gave them a model to milk for subsequent expansions, putting fewer and fewer resources into them to maximize profit. Until the numbers say they need to reivent the paradigm again, they're not going to do it. And if they can be lazy while still making the investors happy... they're just going to get lazier and lazier.

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Crystalsong trees aren't alive. They were killed and crystallized by arcane explosion.
Shaladrassil has been corrupted by the Nightmare AKA the Void and even it doesn't have floating spinning branches.

This is an opinion thing. The trees in Crystalsong being "alive" or not has no bearing on how alien they feel to a specific person. The absence of floating, spinning branches does not mean that something feels less alien to a specific person.

As a sidenote... is anything native to the Shadowlands "alive" in any case?

[Lahis]

This is an opinion thing. The trees in Crystalsong being "alive" or not has no bearing on how alien they feel to a specific person. The absence of floating, spinning branches does not mean that something feels less alien to a specific person.

As a sidenote... is anything native to the Shadowlands "alive" in any case?

Point is, neither Crystalsong or Shaladrassil's current state is natural occurrence.

[Lady Atia]

Legion gave them a model to milk for subsequent expansions, putting fewer and fewer resources into them to maximize profit. Until the numbers say they need to reivent the paradigm again, they're not going to do it. And if they can be lazy while still making the investors happy... they're just going to get lazier and lazier.

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This is an opinion thing. The trees in Crystalsong being "alive" or not has no bearing on how alien they feel to a specific person. The absence of floating, spinning branches does not mean that something feels less alien to a specific person.

As a sidenote... is anything native to the Shadowlands "alive" in any case?

But the thing is .... they aren't using the legion model anymore. Neither their patch style nor their approach to making people want to play one of each class, including a bunch of expansion only FOMO weapons (keep in mind Balance of Power was originally going away too ...). The only thing that actually survived from legion is M+, and even that went through many changes. Oh, and I guess one *could* argue that Covenants are a watered down version of Class Halls, but once again, there is no FOMO for playing a covenant during Shadowlands (so far). Why should anyone care for these cosmetics if you can farm all of it down the line? Btw, I'm not a fan of FOMO but it clearly works for keeping subs ^^

[Dracullus]

The Legion model worked quite well apparently. Why in the Eternal Sun's name did they throw it aside?

Imo biggest factor was delay of 8.1 (4 months after launch) and enormous delay of 9.1 (7 months). At this time both world content and raid needed update. Legion released world content update very fast (maybe even slightly too fast, month later would be perfect).

Also I don't have any proof it worked better for subs, just it worked better from POV of people who play regularly. Maybe throwing everything in patch works better for bringing back "tourists" for month or two and regular players.. well they stay anyway.

[Nyel]

I guess Legion had the luxury to already have a dedicated end game zone and end game storyline right at launch. Something both BfA and Shadowlands are lacking. They tried with the Maw, but that place was just awful and had nothing going for it. Suramar was just something they could build upon and make it better with each patch just until Nighthold opened and the storyline was resolved. I have no idea why they’re launching their expansion without something similar. I guess they tried with the Maw? I don’t know, that design approach failed harder than Islands and Warfronts. I’ve no idea what they were aiming for here.

[draugril]

Point is, neither Crystalsong or Shaladrassil's current state is natural occurrence.

That's your point, I understand. But it's not relevant to their point.

[Dracullus]

I guess Legion had the luxury to already have a dedicated end game zone and end game storyline right at launch. Something both BfA and Shadowlands are lacking. They tried with the Maw, but that place was just awful and had nothing going for it. Suramar was just something they could build upon and make it better with each patch just until Nighthold opened and the storyline was resolved. I have no idea why they’re launching their expansion without something similar. I guess they tried with the Maw? I don’t know, that design approach failed harder than Islands and Warfronts. I’ve no idea what they were aiming for here.

7.0 Suramar was nice as place where you can progress story and very spectacular visually, but it didn't served same purpose as patch endgame zone. Once you finished story it worked just as any Legion zone. No achievs, rares, treasures to hunt, no casual gear to get. Just world quests and withered army training. But story was amazing.

So BfA/SL replacement aren't Islands, Warfronts or Maw - it was max level campaign (War in 8.0, Covenant in 9.0). In Legion your class campaign was just 2 story chapters + some chores/mission table in between, all doable in single week. Funny thing that BfA could carve even bigger Suramar out their 8.0 leveling content, cause basically they created two completely separate paths.

Similar with 7.1 "building up on Suramar" - again just more campaign, I will say 8.1 and 9.1 campaign are on par. In Legion/BfA X.2 had little amount of story, but X.1 always deliver in that part.

Something with visuals/story from Suramar/Argus, sandbox elements from Mechagon/Korthia and catch up gear from Korthia/Nazjatar would be my perfect patch zone.

[Three Faced Goddess]

Once we take out Lord Nipples- I mean the Jailer, I get the feeling that we're going to reforge the Helm of Domination which we use to close the rift, then travel back to Azeroth and crown a new Lich King/Queen which ends the Scourge rampage (which is definitely still happening.) Easy peasy. Plus, I miss having a Lich King/Queen.

I believe we stop the Jailer in 9.2 at the Sepulcher of the First Ones or Zerith Mortis and then we tie up loose ends in the Shadowlands (The Helm and the Scourge rampage), return home, save Azeroth from destruction by the Scourge and then we get foreshadowing for the next big bad.

[Luck4]

I know some people are not gonna like this post, but around this time in every other expansion, we would be having leaks dropping everywhere, left and right.

Also, nothing but radio silence about Blizzconline. I wonder if we're going to have one after all...

I'm sad. I'm starting to think that things aren't going to get back to normal anytime soon. I mean, it's been three months already since the exodus begun and two months since the drama started, but it feels like we're still at day one.

It's 25 September already, time is flying, Q4 is already here.

[pewpmeiser]

9.1.5 is currently planned for November.

[Luck4]

9.1.5 is currently planned for November.

New World in three days... September 28th...

Endwalker FFXIV November 23rd...

[Edward Wu]

This post will probably upset some people, but I hope no one is delusional enough to think 9.1.5 can compete with Endwalker. WoW will continue bleeding subs until at the very earliest 9.2, and that's only if the patch brings actual fundamental change to the game design.

So far, they have only catered to the people who still stuck with Shadowlands but didn't enjoy it quite as much as they wanted to. They haven't even begun catering to the millions who quit since launch of the expansion who found SL to be completely unpalatable.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

This post will probably upset some people, but I hope no one is delusional enough to think 9.1.5 can compete with Endwalker. WoW will continue bleeding subs until at the very earliest 9.2, and that's only if the patch brings actual fundamental change to the game design.

So far, they have only catered to the people who still stuck with Shadowlands but didn't enjoy it quite as much as they wanted to. They haven't even begun catering to the millions who quit since launch of the expansion who found SL to be completely unpalatable.

Why is it hard to believe that people who still enjoy playing the game would be excited for it's next patch?


It seems the only delusion are people who immediately jump to the offensive to say how bad the game is currently, how bad the company is, how it's bleeding subscriptions, and how any other MMO is literally better, can't fathom why people who still find enjoyment in the game don't take any of you seriously lmao