Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Luck4]

Still hoping for a world revamp...

[Nymrohd]

I dunno, if an MMO I wasn't currently playing announced a class with a name I recognized and knew I liked that concept of (Necromancer, Bard, etc) or at least was descriptive like Astrologer is in your example, I might look into it. I wouldn't look into a class of a game I'm not currently playing that was practically called Glogoobigowjqalla for all I'm concerned.

ESO's Morrowind got attention because of Morrowind, not because of a class called Warden which is entirely undescriptive. Meanwhile Necromancer got attention from people who weren't even playing ESO.

A class' name is the starting point of its branding. It needs to communicate what the class does. Most people would either not know what an evoker is or would expect an energy mage. Now WoW has class trials and if the class is a hero class it will have a starting experience as well which can do most of the job but you still need a reason to even try it.

And yeah ESO's warden never made sense. And while I get it was released with Morrowwind, the fact that they themed almost all the animal summoning spells after the local creatures with the exception of the bear was imo a very bad call. They should have shipped it together with accessible cosmetics so people could reskin it to fit Bosmer and Bretons (both of which have very prominent Warden cultures) instead of just Argonians and Dunmer.

[Luck4]

People forget how freaking exciting this was at the time.

I still remember re-experiencing the old zones for the first time while questing.

"Holy shit, there's a forest grove in Desolace!"
"Whaat, Western Plaguelands is starting to heal? That music!"

This was me everywhere.

Me too, I know that Cataclysm falls short on endgame content, but I had blast doing Loremaster and exploring the world again.

I'm so eager to see more of Vanilla/Cataclysm lore being developed further, because for me that's where the Warcraft essence is, on Azeroth with the races that we love, Orcs, Humans, Elves, Tauren, etc. Not this cosmic nonsense that is devouring all the screentime.

[Nymrohd]

I really don't understand why there's been this large apprehension by fans for Dragon Isles to be the next continent. From the first mentions in BfA to the clear signals in Exploring Kalimdor, every step people keep hoping it's just an endgame zone (or back in BfA, a Island Expedition Island ). It just sticks out to me as we've gotten closer and closer and it's all but basically a foregone conclusion, alot of people don't want Dragon Isles to be "the" continent.

Honestly my concept for Dragon Isles from back in 8.2 speculating for 9.0 was five islands at least three of which would be floating around Uldorus, a Titan Facility that is effectively an access shaft to the World Soul. Uldorus as capital, N'zoth as main threat, it's island assaulted by a different form of Aqir plus Twilight Dragons, Odyn as a secondary threat trying to kill the Aspects. Jetpack-style flight available immediately, zones designed to be explored vertically since they were made for winged creatures (helps that most of the Aqir can fly)

[Therougetitan]

A class' name is the starting point of its branding. It needs to communicate what the class does. Most people would either not know what an evoker is or would expect an energy mage. Now WoW has class trials and if the class is a hero class it will have a starting experience as well which can do most of the job but you still need a reason to even try it.

And yeah ESO's warden never made sense. And while I get it was released with Morrowwind, the fact that they themed almost all the animal summoning spells after the local creatures with the exception of the bear was imo a very bad call. They should have shipped it together with accessible cosmetics so people could reskin it to fit Bosmer and Bretons (both of which have very prominent Warden cultures) instead of just Argonians and Dunmer.

WoW will set a new standard for what an evoker is that will be known for years to come. They are visually distinct. Blizzard will change the definition of what evoker means in games just watch.

[Nymrohd]

People forget how freaking exciting this was at the time.

I still remember re-experiencing the old zones for the first time while questing.

"Holy shit, there's a forest grove in Desolace!"
"Whaat, Western Plaguelands is starting to heal? That music!"

This was me everywhere.

I remember spending close to two months playing the world again. A full revamp would probably mean I'd actually get most of the heritage armors for the allied races by actually leveling all those toons.

[Mferna]

Oh yea, the “I pulled out my phone, and only had a 1 second window to take the poorest possible quality pic” always at the same angle. To me the leaked art doesn’t quite look like Blizzard art, but maybe it is and I’m just making the reveal more spicy for myself, but at the same time I really do think it could be something we’re not expecting completely.

Nothing in life is going to bring me more solace than when on tuesday; the first thing that will grace everyone’s denying eyeballs on the livestream is alexstrasza holding a staff with flames behind her and the logo dragonflight appears and brands itself into the very fabric of their minds for all of eternity. I don’t know who, in the right mind, can not come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no chance that artwork is fake. Not only is it high quality, utilizing the new logo font, and consistent with blizz art style, it literally was produced less than a few hours from when the dragonflight website Java script was leaked. There is no way anybody, not even sylvannas, could create that artwork in two hours. *sigh*

[Scaleface]

WoW will set a new standard for what an evoker is that will be known for years to come. They are visually distinct. Blizzard will change the definition of what evoker means in games just watch.

Exactly this

[Das Thora]

A class' name is the starting point of its branding. It needs to communicate what the class does. Most people would either not know what an evoker is or would expect an energy mage. Now WoW has class trials and if the class is a hero class it will have a starting experience as well which can do most of the job but you still need a reason to even try it.

And yeah ESO's warden never made sense. And while I get it was released with Morrowwind, the fact that they themed almost all the animal summoning spells after the local creatures with the exception of the bear was imo a very bad call. They should have shipped it together with accessible cosmetics so people could reskin it to fit Bosmer and Bretons (both of which have very prominent Warden cultures) instead of just Argonians and Dunmer.

To get people to play a class trial you need to get people to install your game, and a class can be a great way to get people back to try WoW again, but it needs to be something that draws their attention right off the bat.

[Nymrohd]

WoW will set a new standard for what an evoker is that will be known for years to come. They are visually distinct. Blizzard will change the definition of what evoker means in games just watch.

Eh, I am unsure that WoW in its current state has a greater reach than D&D which is at its peak and growing every day with far deeper reach in popular culture than WoW does. WoW was an extremely unflattering joke in Southpark and a flop movie. D&D has been transcending its origins from games for 40 year old virgins and teenagers in urgent need of a wedgie to being played in very popular streams by cool actors and a key point of geek culture.

[ercarp]

People forget how freaking exciting this was at the time.

I still remember re-experiencing the old zones for the first time while questing.

"Holy shit, there's a forest grove in Desolace!"
"Whaat, Western Plaguelands is starting to heal? That music!"

This was me everywhere.

It was exciting to see the old zones in a new light but I feel like the novelty of it wore off pretty quickly and we were left with a destroyed Azeroth that was permanently on fire in many places...

They also messed up big time by making every zone connected to Deathwing or the Twilight Cultists in some way. If they had designed each zone with self-contained storylines in mind instead of "OMG DEATHWING!", they wouldn't feel as dated as they do now.

So when/if they do another revamp of the old zones, that's what I want to see. Self-contained storylines that don't constantly make references to the current expansion.

[Nymrohd]

Yeah there are so many potential upsides.

From people experiencing every zone again and perhaps finding more reason to level old alts. To people doing gathering, exploring, and perhaps new forms of world content.

For me, the most obvious approach would be to make KA and EK evergreen and dynamic. So in this expansion and forevermore, you will be able to return there and do relevant endgame world content.

A huge thing they could do is a profession revamp (especially if linked to housing). Make gathering in the entire planet relevant.

[m4Zzo928]

Nothing in life is going to bring me more solace than when on tuesday; the first thing that will grace everyone’s denying eyeballs on the livestream is alexstrasza holding a staff with flames behind her and the logo dragonflight appears and brands itself into the very fabric of their minds for all of eternity. I don’t know who, in the right mind, can not come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no chance that artwork is fake. Not only is it high quality, utilizing the new logo font, and consistent with blizz art style, it literally was produced less than a few hours from when the dragonflight website Java script was leaked. There is no way anybody, not even sylvannas, could create that artwork in two hours. *sigh*

Relax man, I’m just having a bit of fun speculating. Don’t take me too seriously.

[Nymrohd]

It was exciting to see the old zones in a new light but I feel like the novelty of it wore off pretty quickly and we were left with a destroyed Azeroth that was permanently on fire in many places...

They also messed up big time by making every zone connected to Deathwing or the Twilight Cultists. If they had designed each zone with self-contained storylines in mind instead of "OMG DEATHWING!", they wouldn't feel as dated as they do now.

So when/if they do another revamp of the old zones, that's what I want to see. Self-contained storylines that don't constantly make references to the current expansion.

Yeah a revamp should focus on world building, not on telling the expansion's story.

[Mferna]

Relax man, I’m just having a bit of fun speculating. Don’t take me too seriously.

Where’s the fun in denial?

[Luck4]

I think it's useful to think of 10.0 as the anti-Cataclysm honestly. Or what they imagine Cata would be in 2023.

All the set pieces are in place.

• Wrathion is here, seemingly a better version of his father.
• The Dragon Aspects seem to be relevant again.
• Hints of a world revamp.
• Devs mentioning a return to basics etc.
• Rumblings in the lore about future threats from the Void.

Deathwing broke the world in Cata, and the Dragon Aspects lost their powers. I think Wrathion will help rejuvenate the world in 10.0, and the Dragon Aspects will regain their powers (or gain new ones).

The Dragon Isles could be a new continent, but it could also be a small endgame patch zone, or zones simply built into Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms like Uldum and Twilight Highlands in Cata. Or they could be some sort of mini-hub for people who follow a certain Flight. Like, all devotees of the Green Flight gain access to a "green dragon island", which could either be a pocket-dimension inside the Emerald Dream or a literal island somewhere in the sky. But instead of a full zone it could be where such players meet up to collect rewards, pick up quests, interact with various systems etc.

That would be a dream scenario, for sure.

[Buliwyf the Omen]

Who's hyped to be a fire spitting, wings flapping, polearm wielding mail clad Lizard as of tomorrow?

[ercarp]

Nothing in life is going to bring me more solace than when on tuesday; the first thing that will grace everyone’s denying eyeballs on the livestream is alexstrasza holding a staff with flames behind her and the logo dragonflight appears and brands itself into the very fabric of their minds for all of eternity. I don’t know who, in the right mind, can not come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no chance that artwork is fake. Not only is it high quality, utilizing the new logo font, and consistent with blizz art style, it literally was produced less than a few hours from when the dragonflight website Java script was leaked. There is no way anybody, not even sylvannas, could create that artwork in two hours. *sigh*

I'm still a bit iffy on the logo (if it's real, I hope they change it), but the artwork looks too good to be fake. So it's either real or a painting by a professional artist.

It could also be a 3D render which would make the process a bit "faster"—not saying making 3D models is easy but it is still relatively faster than making a painting from scratch, especially since they could have worked with template models to further speed up the process.

But even so, the composition and everything else is very professional-looking so if it is a fake, it wasn't made by an amateur.

[ercarp]

Who's hyped to be a fire spitting, wings flapping, polearm wielding mail clad Lizard as of tomorrow?

Heck yes.

[Super Dickmann]

People forget how freaking exciting this was at the time.

I still remember re-experiencing the old zones for the first time while questing.

"Holy shit, there's a forest grove in Desolace!"
"Whaat, Western Plaguelands is starting to heal? That music!"

This was me everywhere.

There was nothing like it before then and nothing after it since. For all that Cataclysm's end game content blew, the revamp was the boldest and best step they'd done story and setting wise.