Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Chickat]

By the way we don't even know how will the reveal go or have I missed something ? During Blizzcon they usually talk about each zone, the new systems and give some lore insight during the different panels. Will we get one big 1 hour video just about WoW like the conf they had for Legion ?

Legion was like 2 hours wasn't it? Thats enough especially if Alpha is within the next 2 months.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

People don't mind the void elves and that plot. People mind you treating it as the holy grail to story and future content. Its fine to discuss it some. Its not okay to form your entire personality and every topic you post in around it. It gets old. Just like The T class. Its fine. It might be coming. No one wants to talk and argue about it for 40 pages.

Do not engage.

[Chickat]

One idea I've long liked as far as guild vs. player housing is the idea of instanced guild neighborhoods. Picture this: each person has their own house that they can build up, but always takes up X amount of space. Guild halls are a thing, but around the guild halls are a certain amount of plots for players where such houses can be placed. For those not in guilds and/or not in the neighborhood, they can access their housing plot via some sort of portal near a capital city. Those in a guild however can opt to bring their house into the neighborhood in a specific plot, perhaps with some sort of setup agreed with the GM or the like in case they want to have an officer wing or whatnot.

In that setup, we'd still have the social aspects of guild housing, but players could control their own area as well. Getting kicked out of or leaving a guild doesn't make you homeless, it just means your house reverts to the portal area. That also means that a guild can really build up their guild hall as well for events and advertising their guild to potential recruits.

A guild neighborhood with 100 plots would be dope. Each account would have the same house, so that is probably enough plots for most guilds. IN the center of the city is the guild hall where the GM and officers decorate and decide which convenience features are there.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I see you have a spreadsheet going! I wonder if any of them proposed guild housing, specifically.

The problem with guild housing is that Blizzard is so individualistic. Could you imagine the whining on the forums because a Blood Elf player needs to "live" in an Orcish Stronghold? Maybe a personal neighborhood for a guild would be appropriate, to give more people a "say" in the system. But I can't see it happening, since Blizzard has functionally abandoned guilds as a system.

Guild housing without individual player housing is a stillbirth system anyway, certainly for the cross gameplay implementation with other areas of the game. Allowing individuals to engage with a system opens it up to way more people than just having the 1 or 2 dedicated guild decoraters hog it all for 20+ people. I've seen how it goes in various MMOs over the years, the key is to make it player housing while giving guilds some priviledges.

[FossilFree]

A crazy high-end profession updated would be interesting to see integrated into housing if it would ever be added. The sheer amount of things that could be added to that space that would have demand to be able to personalize in some way. But moreover, seeing it resemble 14's crafting system having a lot of different actions and planning involved in making higher-quality equipment would be awesome.

Hopefully they don't go TOO far as in Legion in terms of ranks/quests.

You could do a lot with professions. Some ideas off the top of my head:

Alchemy - windows, stained glass
Blacksmithing - hinges, doorknobs
Enchanting - magic brooms for cleaning (like Silvermoon has), magic locks
Engineering - architectural blueprints, technical decorations (like plumbing)
Inscription - land/building deeds, paintings
Jewelcrafting - light fixtures, statues
Leatherworking - furniture upholstery, taxidermy
Tailoring - tapestries, carpeting

Archaeology - cultural and/or historical decorations
Cooking - food, kitchen, and storeroom decorations
Fishing - kitchen and den decorations, taxidermy supplies
Herbalism - garden plants, yard decorations
Mining - landscaping decorations, stone plaques
Skinning - fur rugs, taxidermy supplies

And they could add:

Carpentry - furniture, wood trim and accents for buildings
Masonry - stone trim and accents for buildings
Quarrying - source of stone (could be rolled into mining too)
Forestry - source of wood (could be rolled into herbalism too)

[Das Thora]

I think people are picturing the Dragon Isles as too cohesive, like a big continent of primarily just dragons (whereas not even Pandaria was just Pandaren). Look at how diverse the Broken Isles were, let alone the Shadowlands. Dragonkin will of course likely be the the most populated species on the Dragon Isles, but we'll likely meet a lot of new humanoid species we've never seen before, and likely some new civilizations made up of races we have seen before (think Broken Isles Vrykul and Tauren, Kul Tiran Quilboar, etc). The Dragon Isles will look a lot different than we're likely picturing, unless it's just one zone in which case yeah probably just dragons.

[Hitei]

I think people are picturing the Dragon Isles as too cohesive, like a big continent of primarily just dragons (whereas not even Pandaria was just Pandaren). Look at how diverse the Broken Isles were, let alone the Shadowlands. Dragonkin will of course likely be the the most populated species on the Dragon Isles, but we'll likely meet a lot of new humanoid species we've never seen before, and likely some new civilizations made up of races we have seen before (think Broken Isles Vrykul and Tauren, Kul Tiran Quilboar, etc). The Dragon Isles will look a lot different than we're likely picturing, unless it's just one zone in which case yeah probably just dragons.

I don't think anyone is expecting there not to be new races and mobs? That is true of every expansion. They are just focusing on the Dragons because, like Pandaren, Dragons will likely be the unifying culture and creature visible in every zone, and it seems self-apparent that a hypothetical Dragon IsleS will involve individual regions for the flights.

[Lahis]

November 2022

No way November is happening with the 8 month Season 4 extension.

[Ersula]

No way November is happening with the 8 month Season 4 extension.

Why would season 3 and 4 be 8 months? The dev said "Seasons will reasonably be 6 to 8 months long"

Shadowlands seasons 1 and 2 were both 8 months long. That means they intend 3 and 4 to be 6 months long. There's no reason for season 3 to be 8 months long because theres no (substantive) new content for season 4. Season 4 will only be longer than 6 months if there's delays.

So their ideal release for Dragonflight is Late Feb 2023, with 10.0 coming earlier than that. Maybe as early as November. Alpha for the next expansion almost always starts the same time the last minor retail patch of an expansion is on the PTR (That's right now.)

- - - Updated - - -

I truly do not understand, why are people here ignoring the fact that the "Thalassian Conflict" plotline, so to say, is one of the longest and oldest in the game? Already in Classic we had High elves who remained loyal to the Alliance while the rest of the country was closed-off and left the Alliance at the end of the Second War. In TBC the Sin'dorei joined the Horde, In WotLk the Silver Covenant are introduced as the main militant faction of the Alliance elves, their rivalry continues in Cataclysm at the gates of Zul'aman, and culminates in bloodshed at the Purge of Dalaran. But two events have changed everything.

The Return of Alleria Windrunner has changed everything, the legendary hero of Quel'Thalas and eldest sibling of the Windrunners, always looked up by her countrymen, she has charisma, popularity, and strength that Vereesa could never hope to match, giving rekindled hope to the Alliance elves.

The Rise of the Ren'dorei, the "Children of the Void" led by Magister Umbric, who were cast out and exiled, but turned defeat into victory by finding a source of great power. For the first time, we have a faction of Thalassian elves in the Alliance who have grown so much in numbers and strength as to become playable and encompassing many Quel'dorei scholars and Sin'dorei travellers. The Silver Covenant could never match the Ren'dorei in numbers, resources, and strength, which is why they were never made playable.

Now the storyline started all the way back in Classic will soon reach the culmination as the Alliance will march on Quel'Thalas and reclaim it for the Alliance, as it should have been done long ago, when Lor'themar Theron plotted to rejoin the Alliance.

You and I agree this is where they story will go, but you seem to not understand this is a villain's story. In WoW if you're actually a competent tactician they make you the villain; they've done this 4 times already.

[TriHard]

Micro classes gonna happen bois

[Syegfryed]

I think people are picturing the Dragon Isles as too cohesive, like a big continent of primarily just dragons (whereas not even Pandaria was just Pandaren). Look at how diverse the Broken Isles were, let alone the Shadowlands. Dragonkin will of course likely be the the most populated species on the Dragon Isles, but we'll likely meet a lot of new humanoid species we've never seen before, and likely some new civilizations made up of races we have seen before (think Broken Isles Vrykul and Tauren, Kul Tiran Quilboar, etc). The Dragon Isles will look a lot different than we're likely picturing, unless it's just one zone in which case yeah probably just dragons.

i would not mind dragon isles being primarily dragons and doubling down on that, there is many species and kinds fo dragons to focus, is something that will never get old.

Other races should show up, but im not a fan of how broken isles was, it was too disconnected and nonsensical to me, especially of how a big place with so many races was totally unknown to us.

[Das Thora]

i would not mind dragon isles being primarily dragons and doubling down on that, there is many species and kinds fo dragons to focus, is something that will never get old.

Other races should show up, but im not a fan of how broken isles was, it was too disconnected and nonsensical to me, especially of how a big place with so many races was totally unknown to us.

How many new races did the Broken Isles have? I mean there were a lot of subraces like Highmountain and Nightborne, but ultimately all I can think of are Drogbar.

[Nymrohd]

I find it funny that Raeshalare didn't even make it out of Shadowlands before being surpassed and replaced. Yet a few people were convinced that its inclusion in game was a permanent substitute for a certain player fantasy and excluded a certain class from happening ever. Even the daggers were replaced before this expansion's end. I wonder what legendary items are going to be like in Dragonflight? I can see some of them being based on each of the five Aspects while others are based on class aesthetics. Please no more ass ugly hunter sets. I don't want to be wearing dragon parts during my dragon themed adventures. The dragons I'm allying with might take umbrage to that and eat me.

S4 will likely make both BiS again tbh.

[Chickat]

I hope Dragonflight actually takes place in the 10,000 years ago Well of Eternity-verse from Cataclysm, I love time travel expansions

Imagine how mental it would be if its set 10k years in the past in Ancient Kalimdor. We get to raid and see all the events of the War of the Ancients.

- - - Updated - - -

pls don't remind me of the way they ruined yrel almost entirely off screen and in a way an alliance player will never see lol My favorite new lore character to be introduced up to that point and then they do that to her.



She toyed with us during the well of eternity dungeon and she's had a long time to get more powerful. We needed the power of the heart to be able to take on azshara during BFA and she still survived and escaped.

But then I'm biased and still hold out for her to be treated as a proper threat by blizzard.

She only Survived because Nzoth "saved" her.

[Syegfryed]

How many new races did the Broken Isles have? I mean there were a lot of subraces like Highmountain and Nightborne, but ultimately all I can think of are Drogbar.

i don't mean "new races" but "many races", like, taurens, nightborne, vrykul, night elves, nagas and more, i can't see they being so disconected with the outside world, when they are right there in the map

Pandaria at least had the mists to cover up

[therumblings]

i don't mean "new races" but "many races", like, taurens, nightborne, vrykul, night elves, nagas and more, i can't see they being so disconected with the outside world, when they are right there in the map

Pandaria at least had the mists to cover up

The Broken Isles was never a lost continent though, it never was disconnected from the outside world, other than Suramar. Drogbar and Nightborne being the only real thing that was new to us. People tend to forget Pandaria is the only continent on Azeroth added in an expansion that was hidden and discovered as brand new to the world in the game's story.

[Wangming]

Glad we are still on profession discussions. As hard as it is to believe, even I tire from the FFXIV vs WoW discussions way before they end. At least we are on topic now.

Besides I do consider professions to be the weakest part of WoW. Yes, even weaker than the story. And there is so much that could be done with them. You could integrate them into housing to make furniture, gardens and fish tanks. You coul use the investigation feature I plan for the expansion concept I'm gonna pitch to Mike, you could do your own take on treasure hunts and treasure dungeons, you can try to create group content for them. Or just at the very least make them more interesting mechanically instead of just two clicks.

- - - Updated - - -

The Broken Isles was never a lost continent though, it never was disconnected from the outside world, other than Suramar. Drogbar and Nightborne being the only real thing that was new to us. People tend to forget Pandaria is the only continent on Azeroth added in an expansion that was hidden and discovered as brand new to the world in the game's story.

Yeah. The Broken Isles was just irrelevant. We knew where it was, we just had no reason to go there.

[Revamp Man]

Sure, but we would have the help of the dragons, plus likely khadgar again as well IMO. We haven't truly been on our own with a threat since MoP. Even then we had the Pandaren helping us as well as the Wrathion leggo cloak. We had help in Cata. We had help in Wrath, although I would arguer much less help.
.

yeah that is kinda my point right because we will see players say "oh my god we shouldnt be just slaying dragons we fought gods" not taking into account according to the story we lost the god slaying powers

[Nymrohd]

Imagine how mental it would be if its set 10k years in the past in Ancient Kalimdor. We get to raid and see all the events of the War of the Ancients.

Tbh if I had a choice for a timewalking campaign in Azeroth's past, my only choice is Troll vs Aqir war. We know much less about everyone involved, possibly all of the Aqir races involved, we'd have the Hunt for Kith'ix, the Siege of Ahn'qiraj and the Conquest of Zul'drak, possibly other races having to deal with the fallout as well

And still think the three Cata dungeons from 4.3 should just have been part of the raid. Cut some of the weaker bosses in Dragon Soul and add insane faction leaders, Murozond, Azshara, Mannoroth, Benedictus? Yes please.

[LemonDemonGirl]

I kind of pictured The Maw as the perfect place for our 10.0 big bad to escape from but unfortunately that didn't happen.

I think a Light vs. Void expansion would be a big waste since they both could have their own expansions.

The Light has
1. Yrel and the Lightbound with Xe'ra/Light Mother returning from the AU (Shattrath raid?)
2. The Scarlet Brotherhood (and in turn their plans for Genn and the worgen)
3. Calia and Lordaeron, and in turn a crossroads for the Forsaken (Lordaeron raid?)
4. Turalyon vs. Anduin (Stormwind raid?)
5. The Sunwell
6. Elune
7. More on the Naa'ru in general

Though honestly I expected this to come after BFA since IMO it would be perfect for continuing most of the stories BFA put forth.

The Void has;
1. Void Lords
2. Xal'atath
3. Azshara
4. The realm of the Void itself
5. Void elves and Locus-walker
6. Ethereal + the remains of K'aresh?

Y'know, It would be fun to see what a 'Void realm' would look like. Would it be all purple, or would there be various colorful nebula clouds, and planets?