Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Zankai27]

Age of the Mortals. So close.

Without the fucking article, it was an iffy, but acceptable title. I was almost on board until you ruined it in the simplest way possible.

[Sondrelk]

If you're at the point of complete disingenuousness that you're arguing "the last patch wasn't about the naval faction war anymore, so the logo makes no sense", then it's pretty obvious there's zero reasoning with you.

Empire of Dragons in this case would be set on the Dragon Isles to begin with, but have a slow pivot to void/old god stuff as the expansion went on.

Is it wrong in that case to have a purple, cosmic background? The expansion would unquestionable end on a theme that is perfectly fitting the logo, and for players who go into the expansion and see cosmic stuff there is the obvious connection between what they see on the logo and what they experience as the expansion goes on.

It's a perfectly solid argument. If you think that is wrong then I am not sure what you expect from logos really.
Should the logo be five colours, with dragon wings and horns to make it blatantly obvious to anyone seeing the empire of DRAGONS logo that they should expect dragons?
And of course, what then of the void theme in that is also important for the Infinite Dragonflight plot? Guess we better make half the logo infinite dragonflight and void themed then. No helping it.

[Chickat]

This is the colour of the Ren'dorei. You can expect this expansion to be Ren'dorei-focused.

Purple is the colour associated with the Ren'dorei AKA The Children of the Void.

You dont stop do you?

[Sondrelk]

Especially considering Legion, BfA and Shadowlands' logos are each themed very in-sync with, if not deliberately based upon, their respective reveal cinematics.

Legion logo first appears after Gul'dan's laughter waking Illidan. No title with it though at the reveal. This cinematic, and the main varian/sylvanas cinematic heavily feature Fel Green atmospheres. (the first example even moreso.)
https://youtu.be/hmHY6hERT3s

Battle for Azeroth's logo was revealed alongside the main Cinematic, (same presentation at least, trailer order differs.) and is strikingly similar to the aesthestics seen in the Battle for Lordaeron cinematic. ie Alliance gilding.
https://youtu.be/jSJr3dXZfcg

Shadowlands' logo was also revealed alongside it's main cinematic with Sylvanas and Bolvar, which of course features the Shattered Veil and the Orange glow of Sunet/Sunrise/Maw colours.
https://youtu.be/s4gBChg6AII

Empire of Dragons would probably follow a similar pattern at this point. Just not sure if I personally see the aesthetics translating to cinematic surroundings unless they're pretty heavy with the cosmic setting.

*Cinematic happens, pan up to a starry sky Empire of Dragons

Not that difficult to imagine.

[Soulwind]

So when are they announcing this Age of the Bolvar expansion?

[Hitei]

They pretty clearly stated that the same person that showed them the trailer was explaining stuff.

And yet seemingly the only thing explained was that, the new torghast being random encounters, and that there are also female versions of new race variants.

[Teriz]

We should stop for a moment and consider at the end of BFA before getting sidetracked in Shadowlands, we located chambers inside N’zoth where Vexonia’s super-crazy voided out offspring were being hatched and corrupted.

That sounds like a solid hint for the next expansion.

[Archmage Xaxxas]

We should stop for a moment and consider at the end of BFA before getting sidetracked in Shadowlands, we located chambers inside N’zoth where Vexonia’s super-crazy voided out offspring were being hatched and corrupted.

That sounds like a solid hint for the next expansion.

So how will Tinkers fight Void Dragons?

I only ask because I'm dying to see a tinker fan say something other than 'muh nuts and bolts'

Any cool magic involved with Tinkers? at all..?

[Holdodlig]

So when are they announcing this Age of the Bolvar expansion?

Only if the logo's style reminds us of subway sandwitch

[Santandame]

But you're still doing it Nyel, lol..

I just told you as honest and straightforward as can be the truth of my situation, far before any confirmation, and you refused that, and decided to -tell me- once again that I am projecting what I know -now.-

This is disrespectful behavior, it's patronizing. You're saying 'You don't know what you're talking about or how you felt, but I do.'

No hard feelings of course, but just chill a little lol

Ironic because your post here comes across as gaslighting.

[KainneAbsolute]

If any dragon expansion is true, which is the purpose of Wrathion?

- In MoP he was obsessed to defeat the Burning Legion. He had no role during Legion.
- He did not appear and said let's cure the wound of Sargeras Sword with the Dragon Isles.
- He appeared only to help against Nzoth.
- He did not participate against the Jailer, who wants to change creation.
- So...now he wants to cure Azeroth with the Dragon Isles?

Blizzard doesn't know what to do with Wrathion.

[Gloriandus]

I'd be fine with a totally unrelated-to-cosmic-jazz, short, "cool down" expansion. WoW: "Back to Azeroth", deal with some Defias-like stuff, maybe a few pesky world bosses. Yeah, people would view it as underwhelming. After all, 10.0 is expected to be the "all hands on deck to get people back" expansion, but stakes can only get raised so high before you have to keep making a bigger bad or just end the story.

[Nyel]

So when are they announcing this Age of the Bolvar expansion?

Right before Wrath of the Alexa Lady

[Hitei]

Empire of Dragons in this case would be set on the Dragon Isles to begin with, but have a slow pivot to void/old god stuff as the expansion went on.

Is it wrong in that case to have a purple, cosmic background? The expansion would unquestionable end on a theme that is perfectly fitting the logo, and for players who go into the expansion and see cosmic stuff there is the obvious connection between what they see on the logo and what they experience as the expansion goes on.

Yes. Extremely.

It is terrible design and marketing to have a logo that doesn't communicate what the expansion is about until a year+ into the expansion. That is why BfA's is not Ny'alotha colored and themed. Do you see how absolutely retarded that would be? A bunch of obelisks and eyes for an expansion that then, for a year, has nothing to do with that at all? An Orgrimmar-style logo for Mists of Pandaria?

It's a perfectly solid argument. If you think that is wrong then I am not sure what you expect from logos really.
Should the logo be five colours, with dragon wings and horns to make it blatantly obvious to anyone seeing the empire of DRAGONS logo that they should expect dragons?
And of course, what then of the void theme in that is also important for the Infinite Dragonflight plot? Guess we better make half the logo infinite dragonflight and void themed then. No helping it.

Should it be tacky? No. But I'm pretty sure beyond your strawman here you actually do understand that it being draconic would be much more coherent than an indesphirable theme that might have to do with old gods, or maybe the void, or maybe celestial forces and elune, or maybe ethereals potentially showing up in 10.2.5 or 10.3.

[Nyel]

So how will Tinkers fight Void Dragons?

I only ask because I'm dying to see a tinker fan say something other than 'muh nuts and bolts'

Any cool magic involved with Tinkers? at all..?

Yes, Azerite.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Can you all stop bickering like kobolds around a candle and get back to the actual speculation in a respectful manner? Thanks ♥

I'd be fine with a totally unrelated-to-cosmic-jazz, short, "cool down" expansion. WoW: "Back to Azeroth", deal with some Defias-like stuff, maybe a few pesky world bosses. Yeah, people would view it as underwhelming. After all, 10.0 is expected to be the "all hands on deck to get people back" expansion, but stakes can only get raised so high before you have to keep making a bigger bad or just end the story.

I'm really hoping for something more grounded as well

[Holdodlig]

If any dragon expansion is true, which is the purpose of Wrathion?

- In MoP he was obsessed to defeat the Burning Legion. He had no role during Legion.
- He did not appear and said let's cure the wound of Sargeras Sword with the Dragon Isles.
- He appeared only to help against Nzoth.
- He did not participate against the Jailer, who wants to change creation.
- So...now he wants to cure Azeroth with the Dragon Isles?

Blizzard doesn't know what to do with Wrathion.

Outside of Ebonhorne, he's the only black dragon with a background. And Sabelan or whatever is his name but he's been ignored since BC and I hardly see Danuser remember this guy.

[Nebron]

I agree. Legion is the closest thing to an exception. Legion also builds its entire theme around a very, very specific color palette (felfire green) that was established in WC3 in 2002 and has existed consistently reinforced hundreds/thousands of times throughout the lifespan of the game. It is less recognizable than the other logos to someone who has zero experience with warcraft, but immediately recognizable to anyone who has played WC3 or wow for any decent period of time.

Think of it this way. You could remove the name from Legion's logo, go to Blizzcon, and just show that black and green logo, and people would still cheer and know exactly what it meant: A Burning Legion expansion. Because that's what that glowing color means in the Warcraft universe. You could go to that same Blizzcon, show the EoD logo without "EoD" and everyone would just be extremely confused. Is it a void expansion? It has some vague void stuff in the background. Is it a K'aresh expansion? It has stars and the border is kind, really vaguely similar to the style and color of Ethereal technology. Is it about Naaru? Some particularly observative player might notice that the pieces fused into the border and nearly identical to pieces of a naaru. Is it about Elves or Elune? It kinda looks like Elvish armor and aesthetics, and maybe the stars are for Elune, a celestial expansion?

I doubt anyone would even guess dragons are involved.

No one is going to know what on earth it is. People will at best have vague, contradictor guesses. People who have played this game for almost 20 years and the series for 25+, with very good understanding are going to look at it and go "huh?" and then suss out, at best, tentative theories about what it might be.


I think you're arguing from a place of ignorance here. Large companies have people whose entire job is dealing with marketing materials and brand recognition. This is not something that the game devs just tossed together and then sent off to be made. It's something that was probably mocked up in a dozen+ different iterations and thematic styles by a couple people whose only job during that period was making some potential options, brought back to the team who looked through and decided on good ones, tested with multiple color palettes and details, narrowed down even more, cross-examined for readability and marketability and then iterated on more.

Oh, certainly there are people hired purely for the marketing stuff, I do not deny that fact. Especially, when it comes to something that's about to represent the brand, a millions-dollars-worth of brand. The thing is, I'm not sure if that applies for your logic here. The case for Legion logo - sure, people have a strong sense of what that color palette is all about. The fel is fundamentally established in that universum. But at the same time, that logic should be applicable for all the other logos as well. Take a Shadowlands logo as an example. If I had to guess without todays knowledge what is that about, I'd have no fkin clue. Definitely something about the death, because of the skull thing on the border, but apart from that? Who knows.

If you removed the title from WoD - what's left there? Some metal, wooden/fiery background. It only makes sense within as context. The globe as Draenor makes sense. The metals scraps make sense. Otherwise, it could be anything really.

Now, place EoD in the same position. Void? Maybe? Could be anything really as well.
And to be honest, I'm playing a little bit of a devil's advocate here, as I don't believe this logo is actually real
I don't have a problemed with figuring out the first impression of the theme - clearly it indicates to void forces as of my WoW genre understanding for today. What strikes me though is that strong contradiction between the color theme and the title itself. Pointed it out a few times already. If I made a dragons expansion, I will go ballz deep into that theme, even with logo, box, announcements, everything. I just hope it won't turn into void expansion with 10.1...

After all, dragons is the most fantasy thing you can go for, lazy..., but still fantasy.

[AcidX]

So, shouldnt they announce the addon soon? Shadowlands took 1 year? I guess 9.2 will last 9 months or much longer ...

[Marlamin]

So when are they announcing this Age of the Bolvar expansion?

It's already been announced in our hearts.