Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Wangming]

Wildhammer Dwarf Druids are the peak of my WoW desires, I'd do anything to get those!

Let's make a deal. You get Wildhammer druids. and Gilneans druids also get proper distinct druid forms. Before the whole worgen thing, they were harvest witches, after all.

[Teriz]

Also, seeing the Emerald Drake as a "lol Elune/Lifelands" thing is missing the point I think. Emerald Drakes are heavily tied to Vanilla/Classic and their themes are way more broad than "Elune". Could be a green drake included because they are the closest thing to Anti-Cataclysm (rebirth/healing) which is what the theme of 10.0 may be.

I believe that's a valid interpretation. I could definitely see the next expansion be sort of a reverse Cataclysm where things progress forward and we see some actual changes in the game world; Southshore, Eastern/Western Plaguelands restored, Westfall being lush again, the aftermath of Redridge getting sacked by the Scourge, Night Elves retaking Azshara from the Horde, Gadgetzan expansion, Goblins returning to Kezan/Undermine, Worgen returning to Gilneas, Gnomes finally back in Gnomeregan, Stratholme retaken/restored, Lordaeron's fate getting determined, etc.

That's a pretty good way to start a new chapter in WoW. Further, the hints we're seeing point in that direction, like the Emerald Drake mount.

[ercarp]

Meanwhile, Blizzard has put the last patch of the expansion on the PTR with a lot of new hints/unexplained things that are actually deserving of speculation/analysis.

Hilarious how most of the thread just ignored the one post that was trying to bring the discussion back to speculating and continued arguing instead, lol.

What's happening in Tirisfal? Why is Calia involved? There's a LOT of VO and things encrypted there.

Sylvanas gone. Forsaken have no faction leader. Calia steps up and becomes the new faction leader. Might also have something to do with the Desolate Council plot they introduced in Before the Storm, but probably not.

Is the way between SL <-> Azeroth canonically wide open now? Khadgar popped up as well as a (now removed) quest where we give a tour of Stormwind to creatures from the Shadowlands.

I thought this was debunked as Khadgar was proven to have been in Oribos before they sealed the veil. I never saw him when I was playing, but someone on the internet said he was there, so it must be true. As for giving SL creatures a tour of SW... Well, that just seems silly and I hope that's why they removed the quest.

Why is there another encrypted Anduin model?

Could point towards a potential time-skip if there's an Anduin model that has a beard or something, lol.

What's the encrypted item set for?

No idea what you mean by this (I'm a bit out of the loop), but it's probably Collector's Edition stuff for 10.0, no?

Why are there still two encrypted achievements from 9.2? Are those for next reset's content?

Also no clue.

[Wangming]

I'd imagine all the people who make fake leaks are plotting to drop them around the weeks before the announcement to add credibility. Seems like they all went missing when it was announced we'd have to wait over a month for the expansion announcement.

I have one, but I didn't even pretend it is legit.

[Sondrelk]

You should look forward to the weekly (?) 9.2.5 builds in the meantime. We’re still waiting on a single mention of Kalimdor to see if we’ll even visit it at all next expansion.

Even though it’s silly to call it early, and the other thread is probably a troll, ignoring the Nelves would be a baaaaaad idea...

I mean, it's an option, but really there is no reason to think this isnt Silithus 2.0, where it was important for a single minor patch in Legion, and otherwise was just a slightyl out of the way reputation hub for Magnis faction in BfA. Even counting the Heart Chamber as a part of Silithus that still doesnt leave us with much actual content there, even compared to just the 7.3.5 quests.

As much as I really want a world revamp there isnt actually a whole lot of reason to assume we will get one just because it's the interlude between SL and 10.0. Even the Scarlet Crusade could be moving shop to the Dragon Isles for whatever reason and we just fight them there.

[PhillyCheese]

I think the "Tattoo" ARs would make sense if we got large amounts of them honestly. Though mostly much of this falls down on wanting unique Heritage armor, racials, and most importantly class options. Wildhammer dwarves being a decent fit for Druid is a good example. It makes no sense why a classic WoW Dwarf would be a druid, but a Wildhammer one absolutely could be, in addition to having completely different racials and aesthetic.

Dwarf Shaman are taught by Wildhammer as of Cata, it would make perfect sense to give them Druids in the same way. The Wildhammers don’t have a magic druid gene exclusive to them.

It’s similar to how “Troll” encompasses all the non Zandy trolls besides Amani now but they can still shapeshift into each other’s loa.

[therumblings]

I wish that Blizzard instead of Allied Races as they exist now, had created some kind of sub-races (just called differently) system, as imagined at the time by many in the community.

For example, Humans being able to choose between Stormwind and Kul'Tiras at creation, same goes for Troll tribes, Dwarven clans, etc. This would have allowed a much smoother addition of races such as the Lightforged, which to me are so redundant of the draenei (yet I absolutely adore their customisations) or Highmountain Taurens, Mag'har Orcs, etc.

More "unique" races not falling under such categories such as Vulpera, Nightborne, etc. could have been introduced as either normal races or allied races as they are now. This would have added a lot to the immersion, for example choosing your clan as you create a Dwarf character (allowing for the Wildhammer to truly exist instead of just adding feather customisations to Ironforge dwarves) or an Orc one.

I think the allied races concept and split could have been done in a much smarter way, at least in the way the interface is created, allowing for even further customisation in the future and a less "heavy" interface.

I could see them revamping/merging some races eventually, right now the biggest issue is racials. If they ever addressed or changed racials I could see, for example, Lightforged being merged under the Draenei label. IIRC @Marlamin and some dataminers found evidence of changing the actual race tag on some races to show up as something else like High Elf for Void Elf for example. There are a lot of possibilities and ways to address this.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Wildhammer Dwarf Druids are the peak of my WoW desires, I'd do anything to get those!

We got robbed of a decent AR with Wildhammer. In my ideal world, the first two Alliance AR should have been Wildhammer Dwarves and High Elves (with later Void Elves customisations, and not the other way around).

[therumblings]

Let's make a deal. You get Wildhammer druids. and Gilneans druids also get proper distinct druid forms. Before the whole worgen thing, they were harvest witches, after all.

I'd always be down for more druids and druid forms, I'd love to see old races get unique druid forms. The way they added druid stuff to the barber in SL has been amazing.

[Ielenia]

Zandalari were never known mostly for their seafaring prowess prior to BfA.

They've lived on an island since the Sundering. That pretty much heavily implies they become a seafaring race.

[Catastrophy349]

I agree that we will likely see a lot of “leaks”, whether real or fake (most likely fake, obviously), the closer we get to April 19th. We are only 3 weeks out now (technically Tuesday is 3 weeks to be specific). So, maybe not this week but the next week (and following week) for sure.

[therumblings]

We got robbed of a decent AR with Wildhammer. In my ideal world, the first two Alliance AR should have been Wildhammer Dwarves and High Elves (with later Void Elves customisations, and not the other way around).

Same here. As I said in my previous reply to you, I think they have a lot of possibilities to fix this, so in a way I'm actually optimistic about it.

[Teriz]

You can already unlock allied races just by doing quests now, so I hope they're done with rep locking them. At the very least what they should do IMO is make super old allied races be treated like core races and playable by everyone but doing their unlock quests/reputation instead reward the heritage armor.

I agree. Hopefully that happens in 10.0. Frankly, Kul'tirans and Zandalari should never have required a rep grind.

[Fahrad Wagner]

We need another leak. Even if it is a blatantly fake one. Those always spice up the conversation.

I'm praying to the Speculation Gods, but my prayers have been met with silence. I believe we have offended them.

I could see them revamping/merging some races eventually, right now the biggest issue is racials. If they ever addressed or changed racials I could see, for example, Lightforged being merged under the Draenei label. IIRC @Marlamin and some dataminers found evidence of changing the actual race tag on some races to show up as something else like High Elf for Void Elf for example. There are a lot of possibilities and ways to address this.

Now that's something that I have been thinking about for a long time: do you have the source for the race tag thing? I really was curious as if to something like this was possible or not.

[Raetary]

"fine"


yeah, they are not going to happen

??????




If these 2 exist, Tuskarr can happen just fine.

[Sondrelk]

Let's make a deal. You get Wildhammer druids. and Gilneans druids also get proper distinct druid forms. Before the whole worgen thing, they were harvest witches, after all.

It really is a crying shame Worgens predated the BfA mindset of giving unique druids unique druid forms, isnt it?
A proper wolf themed Feral form. Maybe a variant of the Mage Tower bear form. A more harvest witch inspired caster form.
Would have been great. The variants we have now really seem like such a waste compared to Kul Tirans Wicker forms, or even just HM Tauren getting moose horns on their forms.

[ercarp]

That being said... I am still very excited for the 10.0 announcement. I won't be available that week so I won't be posting over here too much but I'll definitely follow it up closely.

Same! As cynical as I am about the current state of the game and the company behind it, I'm always going to be excited to see what's next for WoW. And I will always hope that it's something good because why would I want my favorite game to be garbage. :P

[Fahrad Wagner]

Same! As cynical as I am about the current state of the game and the company behind it, I'm always going to be excited to see what's next for WoW. And I will always hope that it's something good because why would I want my favorite game to be garbage. :P

This precisely. Cynical, yet hopeful.

[therumblings]

Now that's something that I have been thinking about for a long time: do you have the source for the race tag thing? I really was curious as if to something like this was possible or not.

I vaguely remember Marlamin and other popular dataminers talking about it, I don't have a source on hand, but I'm hoping it was a thing and not just a dream I had lol.

[Fahrad Wagner]

I vaguely remember Marlamin and other popular dataminers talking about it, I don't have a source on hand, but I'm hoping it was a thing and not just a dream I had lol.

@Marlamin any specifics birb friend? I'm really interested in that point raised by our dearest dwarf here