Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[ercarp]

Okay, I finally found it!

Had to click on "dragonflight" in the left sidebar first (I was targeting something else which is why Ctrl+F didn't find anything), then Ctrl+F "cdn.optimiz" and then paste the link it finds (https://cdn.optimizely.com/js/8520856750.js) into my browser. That's how I found it.

[Soulwind]

Meanwhile, some web designer is sweating bullets at Blizzard.

[graysontum]

There we have it, very nice

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Oh wow yeah holy shit.

Also Dragonflight is kinda lame but idk it has that WoW expansion vibe

It's definitely reasonable as a name—it has a bit of a generic sound to it, but does also have something specifically connecting to a traditional WoW-related concept that is unmistakably associated with Warcraft in its own context. I think it fits with the names we've had so far.

World of Warcraft: Legion
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

It feels legitimate enough, i suppose. A little awkward and unwieldy, but I could see it working. I would expect something more distinct, though.

[FatCheeseMan]

Could still be placeholder of a sort, and its a simple enough name that the leak isn't 100% confirmed by just sharing it.

So I wouldn't jump onto that leak too hard. Dragon isles part is probably thoroughly confirmed at this point.

[Deventh]

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

TLDR
Main enemy is Chromatus, though lots of minor stories all about.
6 disconnected zones (2 of them being revamps).
4 new micro classes (1 spec each) instead of one full new class.
Class ‘skins’ for some preexisting classes.
Player housing.
Carpenter and Logger professions.
Dalaran capitol city.
No level cap increase.

Rewards from Shadowlands just get scaled down. Everything in 10.0 is max level content (level 60) with no level squish, so there is no need to level if you already have max level characters. Progression is just endgame progression.

Dragon Isles. Technically its own continent though it’s just one zone split into multiple maps. Floating islands between the Broken Isles and Northrend.
Lordaeron. Revamped Tirisfal/Plaguelands. Scarlet/Light focus.
Quel’thalas. Revamped Eversong/Ghostlands. Silvermoon is a hostile city like Suramar.
Undermine. City-zone beneath Kezan. Criminals and Uncrowned story. Fully underground.
Balor. Halfling race dealing with primordial fel enemies (think proto-demons, like what the Shadowlands creatures are to undead).
Uldaz. Second fully underground zone ever on Azeroth. Titan/Elune story here.

Dragon Knight. Only one tank spec. Uses two-handed weapons, fire, plate armor and shouts.
Tinker class. Only one damage-dealer spec. Uses guns, mail armor, gadgets and mech suits.
Minstrel class. Only one healer spec. Uses leather, lutes, violins and panflutes.
Chronomancer class. Only one healer spec. Uses cloth, time magic, and sand magic.
Dark Ranger skin for Hunters. Dark spell effects. Tames undead instead of animals.
Necromancer skin for Warlocks. Plagues instead of curses. Summons undead instead of demons.
Nightmare skin for Druids. Corrupted spell effects and animal forms. Can unlock wildly different forms (that play the same as normal druids) like snakes and spiders.
Dragonsworn skin for Shamans. Draconic spell effects and forms.
Warden skin for Demon Hunters. Uses arcane and holy magic instead of fel.

Continued Order Hall stories, though only a select few and you pick them like Covenants. There are no gameplay differences between them, just different campaigns, mounts, mogs and companions. The Silver Hand, Uncrowned, Kirin Tor, Valarjar, and Black Harvest. You are not considered the leader of the order.

Expansion announcement February 28th. Announcement for the announcement planned for the 18th. Goal is to release Q1 2023.

Reposting this for visibility and discussion.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Why? Class skins is million times easier than a brand new class. All it needs is new animations/theme. Nothing to balance as it's already part of an existing class.

Fair enough—I'm still suspicious, though. For one, I don't know if we'll get a Dark Ranger class or class skin after the whole lore revelation in Sylvanas that "Darkfallen" is a catch-all for Undead elves, and I also think that three single-specialization classes is impossible to swallow conceptually at all. It seems very likely that the name was just a lucky guess. Plus, it also got all the dates wrong anyway.

I'm all up for a Lordaeron revamp, though, and I do maintain that's the next expansion's setting.

[Soulwind]

Reposting this for visibility and discussion.

Even if they got the name right, I really, really doubt a leak with 4 new classes is going to be the one.

[Deventh]

Even if they got the name right, I really, really doubt a leak with 4 new classes is going to be the one.

Keep in mind this expansion is taking forever to come out, all the way into 2023 so it's entirely possible they could pull it off with a single spec as described.

[Local Ardenweald Faerie]

I can't believe I got to see another expansion name leak live again...

reminds me of the time when we were typing names into the website hours before Blizzcon and seeing which one would hyphenate itself. That's how we got BFA.

[Sharby]

Sighing with relief at the fact that the new epxansion is def Dragon-centered and not an underground expansion.

Could do it like a reverse Disc Priest. Make it a healing debt mechanic. So its not taking life in gameplay but it does add a well you need to fill before it counts again.

I think something similar to Brewmaster stagger but for healing would be appropriate. I have no idea how exactly it would be done but that's what comes to mind when I think fire-healer. You won't die and your wound will be mended but it's going to hurt and be unsightly until the process is complete.

[therumblings]

Well this is a pretty huge deal, we thinking new class or no?

[FatCheeseMan]

I mean placeholders happen months beforehand not randomly buried in the website.

Wouldn't it be possible for the to still use a working title when building stuff? I am not too knowledgeable about that process, so I won't claim any certainty. But even if placeholder is unlikely. I still think the leak isnt a certain confirmed leak.

[Khaza-R]

I still think the attached leak is fake.

So many leaks this season it seems like just a lucky guess. Now that we know a name and a theme I imagine the leaks are going really go into pure pandemonium.

[Soulwind]

Keep in mind this expansion is taking forever to come out, all the way into 2023 so it's entirely possible they could pull it off with a single spec as described.

If Blizzard did that, it would mean they're throwing everything at the wall, and hoping something sticks. Adding four half-baked classes that they'll have to deal with forever doesn't seem like a good idea.

[therumblings]

Pinging @Marlamin to see our massive discovery!

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Reposting this for visibility and discussion.

I can't quite swallow:

Four single-specialization classes. That's a whole lot of extra balancing and work for such little payoff. Blizzard has also never added a class that didn't very strongly connect to the central theme. A new class is a huge box feature—I could never imagine Blizzard sacrificing that for as little as four pseudo-classes. It's a hype-killer.

Being retconned out of Order Hall leadership.

The dates. They completely contradict everything we have.

Undermine in an expansion otherwise pretty solidly focused around upper Eastern Kingdoms.

Chromatus is likely to be a major antagonist, but I can't see the box art villain being a character that only ever existed as a book character.

Wardens using Arcane and Holy magic, as well as being a skin for Demon Hunters. Wardens have always been more like Plate-wearing Rogues conceptually. They've never used Arcane or Holy magic aside from the teleportation. They seem more associated with Shadow Magic through Avatar of Vengeance.

Finally, the general age of the leak makes everything seem unlikely. I think it's just a coincidence. The name is based on an established concept in lore and is a very easy guess to accidentally come upon. It's not as specific as, say, "Empire of Dragons". It's a single compound word that's very easy to presuppose based solely on the preexisting lore prevalence.

[Hugnomo]

Omg an actual real leak. Dragonflight. I buy that as an expansion name.
In4 this is all trolling 'cause I know nothing about code or web design.

[Vakir]

Well this is a pretty huge deal, we thinking new class or no?

New race and class or at least one or the other.

I'd love that leak but it seems too extensive to be real.

[shoc]

These wishlist leak larps just keep getting worse