Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[therumblings]

This mount was added in (encrypted obviously) 8.3, if that helps with theorizing.

Damn that's a long time. Is there anything else encrypted that could be future mounts/pets ?

[Luck4]

Another piece in the chart...

Another hint towards a boring cosmic expansion...



Hopefully, we will have Cross-Faction gameplay including guilds, right? RIGHT???

[Three Faced Goddess]

Or its a model used for the next expac, as most shop mounts tend to be...

Aren't most store mounts introduced this late in an expansion cycle usually indicative of the next expansion? The sylverian dreamer was released late BFA and happened to be linked to Ardenweald in the Shadowlands.

The mount has large tufted ears like a lynx or bob cat and the colors remind me of the prominent reds and oranges of the perpetually autumnal Quel'thalas. The eyes are also fel green which makes it have Sin'dorei feel to it. The tail throws me off because neither lynx or bobcats have long bushy tails. The saddle however makes me think Night Elves. But then I remembered that cats, symbols of mystery, femininity and fertility, have strong association with the Norse Goddess of Femininity, magic/sorcery, war and death, Freyja.

Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two male cats named Bygul and Trjegul who were gifted to her by Thor when they were kittens. But her cats aren't so brightly colored as the sunwarmed furline being blue and gray in color, but perhaps the warm sunny colors could be explained by the jewel, brisingamen which she wear upon her breast. Brising means fire and men means jewel, translating to fire jewel. Both Freyja and cats (at least in ancient Egyptian mythology) are associated with the sun. Freyja also serves as the light source of her realm, Folkvanger, meaning she has some control over light. So the cat might be representative of the light side of light and void expansion or part of the realm of life.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Aren't most store mounts introduced this late in an expansion cycle usually indicative of the next expansion? The sylverian dreamer was released late BFA and happened to be linked to Ardenweald in the Shadowlands.

The mount has large tufted ears like a lynx or bob cat and the colors remind me of the prominent reds and oranges of the perpetually autumnal Quel'thalas. The eyes are also fel green which makes it have Sin'dorei feel to it. The tail throws me off because neither lynx or bobcats have long bushy tails. The saddle however makes me think Night Elves. But then I remembered that cats, symbols of mystery, femininity and fertility, have strong association with the Norse Goddess of Femininity, magic/sorcery, war and death, Freyja.

Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two male cats named Bygul and Trjegul who were gifted to her by Thor when they were kittens. But her cats aren't so brightly colored as the sunwarmed furline being blue and gray in color, but perhaps the warm sunny colors could be explained by the jewel, brisingamen which she wear upon her breast. Brising means fire and men means jewel, translating to fire jewel. Both Freyja and cats (at least in ancient Egyptian mythology) are associated with the sun. Freyja also serves as the light source of her realm, Folkvanger, meaning she has some control over light. So the cat might be representative of the light side of light and void expansion or part of the realm of life.

Some of that is Nordic mythology and part of that is related to Titans(Thorim is a titan Keeper of Ulduar). So..... if I wanted to tinfoil hat it, more titan stuff?

[Three Faced Goddess]

Some of that is Nordic mythology and part of that is related to Titans(Thorim is a titan Keeper of Ulduar). So..... if I wanted to tinfoil hat it, more titan stuff?

That could also be a possibility. I believe there was similarly named Titan Watcher who was corrupted by Yogg'Saron and is an encounter in Ulduar. Like someone else said the sun element of the cat could also reflect the cosmic force of light.

[TheFirstOnes]

Another piece in the chart...

Another hint towards a boring cosmic expansion...



Hopefully, we will have Cross-Faction gameplay including guilds, right? RIGHT???

This just looks like a hint towards 9.2. Lifelands won’t fit an Expansion imo. But who knows.

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Aren't most store mounts introduced this late in an expansion cycle usually indicative of the next expansion? The sylverian dreamer was released late BFA and happened to be linked to Ardenweald in the Shadowlands.

The mount has large tufted ears like a lynx or bob cat and the colors remind me of the prominent reds and oranges of the perpetually autumnal Quel'thalas. The eyes are also fel green which makes it have Sin'dorei feel to it. The tail throws me off because neither lynx or bobcats have long bushy tails. The saddle however makes me think Night Elves. But then I remembered that cats, symbols of mystery, femininity and fertility, have strong association with the Norse Goddess of Femininity, magic/sorcery, war and death, Freyja.

Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two male cats named Bygul and Trjegul who were gifted to her by Thor when they were kittens. But her cats aren't so brightly colored as the sunwarmed furline being blue and gray in color, but perhaps the warm sunny colors could be explained by the jewel, brisingamen which she wear upon her breast. Brising means fire and men means jewel, translating to fire jewel. Both Freyja and cats (at least in ancient Egyptian mythology) are associated with the sun. Freyja also serves as the light source of her realm, Folkvanger, meaning she has some control over light. So the cat might be representative of the light side of light and void expansion or part of the realm of life.

Not always, no. And we’re not really “late” into the expansion cycle either, tbf. Doesn’t help that this Mount was found encrypted in the files during 8.3, etc.

Lifelands would be cool to see, but I don’t want to see Blizzard milk WoW so much, as to where they’d have to make an expansion on every Cosmic realm. That’d be dumb imo.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Not always, no. And we’re not really “late” into the expansion cycle either, tbf. Doesn’t help that this Mount was found encrypted in the files during 8.3, etc.

Lifelands would be cool to see, but I don’t want to see Blizzard milk WoW so much, as to where they’d have to make an expansion on every Cosmic realm. That’d be dumb imo.

We wouldn't see each cosmic realm back to back. I think they intend to go deep in the cosmic stuff but it won't be back to back, but thats just based Blizzard's pattern, I expect another "Wait why we going there?"

[TheFirstOnes]

We wouldn't see each cosmic realm back to back. I think they intend to go deep in the cosmic stuff but it won't be back to back, but thats just based Blizzard's pattern, I expect another "Wait why we going there?"

I expect Zereth Mortis + Lifelands for the MAJOR parts of 9.2.

[Hitei]

Aren't most store mounts introduced this late in an expansion cycle usually indicative of the next expansion? The sylverian dreamer was released late BFA and happened to be linked to Ardenweald in the Shadowlands.

The mount has large tufted ears like a lynx or bob cat and the colors remind me of the prominent reds and oranges of the perpetually autumnal Quel'thalas. The eyes are also fel green which makes it have Sin'dorei feel to it. The tail throws me off because neither lynx or bobcats have long bushy tails. The saddle however makes me think Night Elves. But then I remembered that cats, symbols of mystery, femininity and fertility, have strong association with the Norse Goddess of Femininity, magic/sorcery, war and death, Freyja.

Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two male cats named Bygul and Trjegul who were gifted to her by Thor when they were kittens. But her cats aren't so brightly colored as the sunwarmed furline being blue and gray in color, but perhaps the warm sunny colors could be explained by the jewel, brisingamen which she wear upon her breast. Brising means fire and men means jewel, translating to fire jewel. Both Freyja and cats (at least in ancient Egyptian mythology) are associated with the sun. Freyja also serves as the light source of her realm, Folkvanger, meaning she has some control over light. So the cat might be representative of the light side of light and void expansion or part of the realm of life.

Going way too deep. Most of the relevant mounts are just mobs native to the continent, not some elaborate reference. Look at basic visual and naming traits and their in-game associations.

Sylverian Dreamer = some connection to nature (sylv) and druidic (dream) themes, feathers double down on it = a druidic zone
Runesaber = arcane magic and a night elf traditional creature = Arcane Night elves
Heart of Aspects = chinese dragon = chinese-themed zone

Most light-based things in the game have a fairly unified aesthetic and this doesn't really match, particularly with the bright green eyes. The saddle is fairly elven, but that is the easiest bit of the model to switch. I agree with other people's first impression, which is that it is very Red Dragonflight. The flight leans really hard into bright reds and bright greens, and the catfox is both appropriately colored, a bit firey and good fit for a theoretical red dragon zone (you'd want nature and life based, but not druidic and plant-based like green dragons)

[Luck4]

This just looks like a hint towards 9.2. Lifelands won’t fit an Expansion imo. But who knows.

One thing is certain, if these assets are from the next expansion then elves will play a major role.

[Three Faced Goddess]

Going way too deep. Most of the relevant mounts are just mobs native to the continent, not some elaborate reference. Look at basic visual and naming traits and their in-game associations.

Yeah, I thought I might've gone too deep, but since I love building my own worlds/universes and creating fleshed out characters I tend to bog myself in the details. Very detail oriented, the big picture I'm not so good at. I forgot that is Blizz we're talking about, so you're probably right. It was just a fun bit of speculation of my part. Still trying to figure why cats of all creatures would be in a red dragon zone, though. Not everything has to make sense I guess. I still hope that this model becomes a hunter pet sooner or late. It's the best looking cat in the game and actually looks like a proper cat.

[LemonDemonGirl]

It even has similar markings to the fox mount... Hmm..

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Can we see Bwonsamdi's wife? Please Blizzard?

[Hitei]

Yeah, I thought I might've gone too deep, but since I love building my own worlds/universes and creating fleshed out characters I tend to bog myself in the details. Very detail oriented, the big picture I'm not so good at. I forgot that is Blizz we're talking about, so you're probably right. It was just a fun bit of speculation of my part. Still trying to figure why cats of all creatures would be in a red dragon zone, though. Not everything has to make sense I guess. I still hope that this model becomes a hunter pet sooner or late. It's the best looking cat in the game and actually looks like a proper cat.

I don't think it's about cat so much as Foxcat is just a sort of standard new mob that would be at home in a very traditional, magical forest zone. Like the animal would be a really good fit for Eversong, or Elwynn if Elwynn was more magical and less normal forest. Which is exactly what you'd expect a red dragon zone to be, based on their shrine in dragonblight and the redoubt in Twilight Highlands.

[Three Faced Goddess]

I don't think it's about cat so much as Foxcat is just a sort of standard new mob that would be at home in a very traditional, magical forest zone. Like the animal would be a really good fit for Eversong, or Elwynn if Elwynn was more magical and less normal forest. Which is exactly what you'd expect a red dragon zone to be, based on their shrine in dragonblight and the redoubt in Twilight Highlands.

I can't say it's not a good mixture of the two animals. Foxes, while in the canine family, behave in ways similar to cats. Plus they're both super cute animals. I guess I can how they'd make sense for a red dragon zone which you can bet would be amazingly gorgeous.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Ok, veryyyyyy confused by the cat mount. Like, I wasn't expecting this at all.

I mean one the one hand it seems like they're just doing this every 6 months now.

Which means it's a LOT harder to figure out what the hell any of it means because instead of 2 mounts an expansion we're getting like 4-6.

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Another piece in the chart...

Another hint towards a boring cosmic expansion...

https://i.imgur.com/mzH3Icg.png[/IMG]

Hopefully, we will have Cross-Faction gameplay including guilds, right? RIGHT???

No, sorry, you get borrowed power instead.

[Ersula]

I don't think it's about cat so much as Foxcat is just a sort of standard new mob that would be at home in a very traditional, magical forest zone. Like the animal would be a really good fit for Eversong, or Elwynn if Elwynn was more magical and less normal forest. Which is exactly what you'd expect a red dragon zone to be, based on their shrine in dragonblight and the redoubt in Twilight Highlands.

Between the Phoenix & Furline, I think we'll finally get a Silvermoon Remodel: The two most likely premises for the next expansion are:

1.) We beat the Jailer, but in the middle of her redeption arc, sylvanas betrays us again, activates the Sepulcher to remake the Mortal realm & Shadowlands... into a Version of Azeroth where they never hid Frostmorne on Azeroth: So we see what the world would be like if the Third War never happened (Kalimdor & Eastern Kingdoms update, though Post-Cata version will still exist in game)

2.) We beat the Jailer, Sylvanas becomes the new Jailer or Arbiter or whatever. Expansion is about Turalyon & Alleria attacking the Sunwell. (I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with a faction war storyline. The Teldrassil thing was just stupid & people hated the mechanics of BFA more than the actual story)

Honestly I'd rather have a cosmic storyline

[TheFirstOnes]

Between the Phoenix & Furline, I think we'll finally get a Silvermoon Remodel: The two most likely premises for the next expansion are:

1.) We beat the Jailer, but in the middle of her redeption arc, sylvanas betrays us again, activates the Sepulcher to remake the Mortal realm & Shadowlands... into a Version of Azeroth where they never hid Frostmorne on Azeroth: So we see what the world would be like if the Third War never happened (Kalimdor & Eastern Kingdoms update, though Post-Cata version will still exist in game)

2.) We beat the Jailer, Sylvanas becomes the new Jailer or Arbiter or whatever. Expansion is about Turalyon & Alleria attacking the Sunwell. (I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with a faction war storyline. The Teldrassil thing was just stupid & people hated the mechanics of BFA more than the actual story)

Honestly I'd rather have a cosmic storyline

…Where did those ideas even come from?

[Ersula]

…Where did those ideas even come from?

They're the story threads built up in the last book, because honestly there's not much to build on where we are now. So either building upon the characterization from the non-shadowlands characters from the last book, or they use whatever happens in the last raid to propel us into the next expansion: So why establish "the Sepulcher" as this thing that can remake both the realm of the living & the realm of the dead, if they're not going to do anything with it?

Or, I am reminded of Alleria literally keeps referring to "Can we attack the Sunwell now, papi?" almost everytime shes had in game dialog in the last 4 years.

[Nyel]

Patch 9.2 tl:dr
- 2 Legendary's can be equipped
- Renown 120
- Sylvanas Novel spoilers her Destiny, hence why it was delayed
- Jailers plan is to consume Azeroth and becoming "life and death" to "rewrite reality"
- Molten Front Style Zone in Boren Tundra
- Faction "The Ossian Redoubt" name still not final
- 9.2 will be the last Patch, Jailer is the Final Boss as mentioned often

Nothing about this sounds unlikely. It's a rock solid fan theory yet could be real. We still have the pic with the Necrolord necropolis hovering over Borean Tundra. We still need the connection to Azeroth / Icecrown. We still need to face and kill the Jailer. Sylvanas novel delay etc. - this outcome is the most likely.

All the Zereth Mortis / Sepulcher stuff could be basically nothing in the end, there's zero indication that Zereth Mortis will be a playable zone or Sepulcher be the raid. It could be something the Jailer visits in a cinematic and then heads to Azeroth and that's where the patch starts.
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And I can't believe how y'all try to turn this cat mount into an indicator of what the next patch / expansion is, lol. Self-fulfilling prophecy, you see what you want to see in that regard. At the end of the day it's still just a store mount and they've deluded us before.

At best, as others have said before, the Foxcat or whatever you might call it looks very reminiscent of Blood Elf / Quelthalas stuff. The heavy involvement of Kaelthas in Shadowlands is another fitting piece. This mount is absolutely not indicative of anything regarding "Lifelands" or "Garden of Life" or whatever you might call it (fanfiction). Honestly, who thinks that John Doe is interested to visit Lifelands after being stuck in the Shadowlands? Not even the Blizzard writers are silly enough to do something like this (please call me out if I'm wrong though and they indeed announce this in the next months, maybe I give the writers still too much credit).

By the way, it's hilarious how bad the announcement of the mount has been received, ~ 430 likes vs. ~ 3400 dislikes on the YouTube trailer. And they unlisted the video. You can't make this up, it's so funny.

[TheFirstOnes]

They're the story threads built up in the last book, because honestly there's not much to build on where we are now. So either building upon the characterization from the non-shadowlands characters from the last book, or they use whatever happens in the last raid to propel us into the next expansion: So why establish "the Sepulcher" as this thing that can remake both the realm of the living & the realm of the dead, if they're not going to do anything with it?

Or, I am reminded of Alleria literally keeps referring to "Can we attack the Sunwell now, papi?" almost everytime shes had in game dialog in the last 4 years.

The Sepulcher does more than that, besides the Sunwell shit, while important, has like no barring on this mount at all. Hell, the Cat within the thumbnail is specifically behind Ardenweald, with its fur being all sun and flame, and its eyes Emerald. Doesn't help that this Cat doesn't fit with anything we've seen on Azeroth atm, so that's why a lot of people here are thinking about the Realms of Life being next, and NOT Azeroth. I personally think we'll go to Zereth Mortis as the main area for 9.2, with the Lifelands being like a zone we'll go through during the 9.2 questline, but that's it.

Also, LOTS of Alliance shit is going on, and I think that, once Anduin returns to Azeroth, he's gonna be out on the leadership test of his Life, with Turalyon, Genn, Yrel, etc starting shit (I know damn well Yrel's returning), Alleria likely going insane through the Void (Been implied more than once), the Void Lords likely doing their thing, etc. It's one of the reasons why I think Light and Shadow's plot may be a 2 parter, with Light being primarily Part 1, and Shadow primarily being part 2. Granted, it could also be a 1 parter, but I doubt it.

As for the Sepulcher, I REALLY think that this plotline's going to end up with the Sepulcher tearing the Cosmos apart. Not like destroy per-say, but rip apart in a way that'll allow the Void Lords proper access to Reality. Life and Death will be saved by the end of this expac imo (Hell, the balance between the 2 forces is brought back to Harmony by the end of 9.1), but SL will lead into the conflict with Light and Shadow, as Il'gynoth's whispers implied. 5 Keys to open our way, 5 Torches to light our path.

5 Sigils = Sepulcher unlocks.

Zovaal is defeated = Sepulcher doesn't unmake the Cosmos yet does enough damage to tear it a bit.

Sepulcher tears holes across the Cosmos = Door is opened within Reality.

Door's opened within reality = Hello Void Lords.

Hello Void Lords = Light gets pissy, and so does the Dark Titan.

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Nothing about this sounds unlikely. It's a rock solid fan theory yet could be real. We still have the pic with the Necrolord necropolis hovering over Borean Tundra. We still need the connection to Azeroth / Icecrown. We still need to face and kill the Jailer. Sylvanas novel delay etc. - this outcome is the most likely.

All the Zereth Mortis / Sepulcher stuff could be basically nothing in the end, there's zero indication that Zereth Mortis will be a playable zone or Sepulcher be the raid. It could be something the Jailer visits in a cinematic and then heads to Azeroth and that's where the patch starts.
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And I can't believe how y'all try to turn this cat mount into an indicator of what the next patch / expansion is, lol. Self-fulfilling prophecy, you see what you want to see in that regard. At the end of the day it's still just a store mount and they've deluded us before.

At best, as others have said before, the Foxcat or whatever you might call it looks very reminiscent of Blood Elf / Quelthalas stuff. The heavy involvement of Kaelthas in Shadowlands is another fitting piece. This mount is absolutely not indicative of anything regarding "Lifelands" or "Garden of Life" or whatever you might call it (fanfiction).

By the way, it's hilarious how bad the announcement of the mount has been received, ~ 430 likes vs. ~ 3400 dislikes on the YouTube trailer. And they unlisted the video. You can't make this up, it's so funny.

Would be neat to enter Zereth Mortis through Northrend, ngl. Though I do kinda wish they'd use a more...clever means of getting there lol. This theory has some stuff that can definitely be possible, but that's it. I have always thought that Zovaal wanted to be Life and Death itself since Day 1 regardless lol.

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Hell, he's kinda almost there already.

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Imagine going to Zereth Mortis, and seeing this massive ass area across the zone, that'd be sick.