Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[therumblings]

I was under the impressions that many hate timetravel stuff

I hate time travel stuff, and I am a big fan of timewalking, I'm not doing it for lore or nostalgia.

It's simply opening up all of the game's content to be relevant, rather than only one expansion at a time.

[Fahrad Wagner]

I hate time travel stuff, and I am a big fan of timewalking, I'm not doing it for lore or nostalgia.

It's simply opening up all of the game's content to be relevant, rather than only one expansion at a time.

Exactly, old content remaining relevant is always a plus! And I hope they keep providing in that department.

[therumblings]

Exactly, old content remaining relevant is always a plus! And I hope they keep providing in that department.

Yep! And they don't even have to make the old stuff give the best gear either, simply making it scale (perhaps even a TW M+ one day), is all I really want.

[Edward Wu]

How could they make leveling relevant again but in a fresh way that didn't just replicate the old design?

I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of completely seamless design system where, let's say in a hypothetical revamped 10.0 Azeroth, even after hitting max level you went back and forth between max level zones and leveling zones and actually had reasons to want to group up with players of all levels? Like maybe in 10.0 they just keep the current cap at 60 and introduce an alternate leveling system that has more horizontal progression and rewards to it, with scaling baked in tastefully so they could link up the entire playerbase from 1-60?

[Alanar]

I hate time travel stuff, and I am a big fan of timewalking, I'm not doing it for lore or nostalgia.

That is fair.

Its hard to believe timewalkings main thing is nostalgia, but maybe for some it is...

[therumblings]

How could they make leveling relevant again but in a fresh way that didn't just replicate the old design?

I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of completely seamless design system where, let's say in a hypothetical revamped 10.0 Azeroth, even after hitting max level you went back and forth between max level zones and leveling zones and actually had reasons to want to group up with players of all levels? Like maybe in 10.0 they just keep the current cap at 60 and introduce an alternate leveling system that has more horizontal progression and rewards to it, with scaling baked in tastefully so they could link up the entire playerbase from 1-60?

Even if they only made the old instances relevant that'd satisfy me, doing old ass dungeons on mythic plus would be amazing.

[Edward Wu]

Even if they only made the old instances relevant that'd satisfy me, doing old ass dungeons on mythic plus would be amazing.

Yeah that'd be cool but I think the M+ system needs a serious revamp in terms of the PUG experience. It's just too toxic right now. You gotta wonder if it could be possible to have a queueable M+ system in place if there were appropriate prerequisites?

[Ivarr]

There's something unique about Shadowlands, though... I had no idea of where the X.1, X2, or X.3 patches would take us. But instead of that promoting investigation and speculation as it had for expansions past, I simply didn't - and don't - care this time around.

Aggravated by Blizzard pretty much handing themselves a carte blanche lore wise. The Shadowlands can be anything they say it is, and instead the patches are more Maw.

[Dracullus]

Exactly, old content remaining relevant is always a plus! And I hope they keep providing in that department.

That's something that sounds better on paper than in reality.

If old content is as rewarding as current tier, we have horizontal progression which would be disaster in WoW min-maxing community. And potential pool of players interested in harder PVE content would be split into countless pieces.

If old content is just one step behind, no one gives shit about it. Like current timewalking raids.

What I would propose (that is realistic):

1) Timewalking every two weeks, between them 3 "current expac" events at same time dungeons/world + arena/battleground + pet battles.

2) All dungeons put into mix. More badges and better chances for mount when you do dungeon first time this event. Random queue, but prioritze dungeons you haven't done current week.

3) LFR version of each timewalking raid - but Normal difficulty! Add some gimmicks to every raid similar to Black Temple.

4) 50% bonus rep is good start... make it 100%. And add portals to important reputation hubs during event + advertise which cosmetic items/achievs are for grabs.

5) Add PVP goals to the mix

6) For duration of event return of some gone questlines: especially WoD/MoP legendary questlines and all pre-patch questlines. With rewards of course.

[therumblings]

What I would propose (that is realistic):

All of this stuff generally sounds good. My expectations with Blizzard, especially as of late, have been low, so even just giving us more timewalking dungeons/raids/m+ would satisfy me.

[Sondrelk]

That's something that sounds better on paper than in reality.

If old content is as rewarding as current tier, we have horizontal progression which would be disaster in WoW min-maxing community. And potential pool of players interested in harder PVE content would be split into countless pieces.

If old content is just one step behind, no one gives shit about it. Like current timewalking raids.

What I would propose (that is realistic):

Generally I think Timewalking could work better if Blizzard really put the effort into it, and I don't really think making the gear better is the answer. What Timewalking needs, and Timewalking raids especially needs is better incentives to actually do them. Currently the only one worht even considering as anything but a nostalgia trip is Black Temple for the Warglaive transmog for DHs.

What I would do is really focus on making cosmetic rewards players would actually want. Special mounts, unique transmogs, titles. There is for instance a blue recolor of the Firelands mog, why not have that drop from Timewalking instead of it just being NM gear.
You mention going back to old quest hubs, but I would go one step beyond and add new unique quests only available during Timewalking. Maybe during Legion Timewalking you are sent to complete some Kirin Tor emissaries with a chance for another unique mount or similar.

What is the difficult challenge would be to find that sweet spot between having players do something once and never again, and having them come back to farm stuff without it feeling like you are just waiting endlessly for MoP timewalking to come back around. And honestly, maybe that is an unavoidable and unsolvable problem.


Generally Timewalking needs unique rewards that are not just the random drop infinite dragon mount, or badge items. The dragon is close to what Timewalking needs, but the badge items are really the only other string to Timewalkings bow, and really its just toys and a mount. And while the Mount is decently cool, the toys are rarely if ever used, nor something I feel like players care that much about.

The rep bonus is another thing which is problematic in the long term, simply because its a reward that is dependent on the player not having played before, as well as the rewards from the reps being worthwhile.
Sure the WotLK reps gave decent stuff that I wanted, but once we get around to Legion stuff I am already done with those reps, and there isnt really anything the game has to offer at that point other than a badge mount and maybe an unused armor piece or two.

[huth]

That is what happenends when multiple people feel the need to reply and the course changing. I have to go back to this:

"Whats up with people liking this timemachine stuff out of nowhere? Last time I checked people hated it"

It wasnt about time walking it wasnt about classic lol. I was under the impressions that many hate timetravel stuff and I believe It actually gave the impression it was about future timetravel features/maybe expansion even.

No, it mostly sounded like you were complaining about timewalking and classic, especially keeping your other comments in mind. If people don't understand you because you fail to express yourself understandably, that's entirely your fault.

[Alanar]

No, it mostly sounded like you were complaining about timewalking and classic, especially keeping your other comments in mind. If people don't understand you because you fail to express yourself understandably, that's entirely your fault.

Don't shove it my way when it was entirely your own flaw by missing the entire point before.

You quoted me like 3 times to (teach) correct me (incorrectly even) in a weird rude way, while also making claims about this appearntly huge playerbase. I fail to see how I failed to express myself when it was your own fault. I even got back to your point when you failed to do the same.

[Captain Proton Leaker]

Next expansion leak. Spoilers ahead.

World of Warcraft: Sanguine

The writing staff does not want to tell Azeroth-focused stories anymore. Vanilla through BFA is seen as the Azeroth arc (with Legion and BFA concluding nearly all classic stories like the Emerald Dream, the Legion, Azshara, the Old Gods, the South Seas, Kul’Tiras, Kezan, etc). Shadowlands onwards is the new First Ones arc.

The next expansion takes place primarily on Nathreza, continuing seeds planted in Legion and Shadowlands. The main enemy is the secret leader of the Dreadlords who through time disruptions manifested his own race into being by manipulating the Mawsworn. He is considered much more powerful than the Jailer. He was imprisoned in the Maw but accidentally unleashed by the player at the end of Shadowlands. His goal is to become as powerful as the First Ones themselves.

The ‘covenants’ of this expansion are more like Order Halls. There are three of them, each based around the three roles; heals, tanks and DPS. You will empower these factions (and yourself) by collecting Ash-Remnants.

A Torghast-style dungeon is in Sanguine and is necessary to upgrade your faction with the Ash-Remnants you earned through other content.

The game is launching with three large zones on Nathreza, 5 dungeons and a mini raid. No new BGs.

There are no plans to go to K’aresh or the Dragon Isles in the near future. Those are primarily built up as a red-herring because the writers think it is more exciting to get unexpected stories than ones people have anticipated for a while. Azeroth is being low key abandoned in favor of other stories.

No new races or classes. No allied races or new customization options. The focus instead is on heritage armor and weapons.

Lootbox/gacha style shit has been talked about since 2015. They’re still playing around with it for this expansion. It could be dropped again but it’s more likely than ever with how bad WoW is flopping.

The team is struggling to figure out how to program working ‘mount races’ and jumping puzzles. No, I am not kidding. They’re acting like this is some rocket science shit.

WoW’s budget is way down since BFA. Don’t expect much in the way of cutscenes or cinematics.

Yes, Sylvanas is one of the primary protagonists of this expansion.

Resources were being diverted to this expansion after 9.1 dropped, but even that has paused because of all the mayhem at Blizzard. I can’t say for certain but I would be really surprised if this launched in 2022, even if it is pretty small.

Also, almost the entire WoW team actually petitioned Blizzard to cancel WotLK Classic since they’re embarrassed by how much attention Classic gets compared to retail. Of course WotLK Classic is coming regardless.

[Orwell7]

5 dungeons seems reasonable, I'd gladly pay 90$ for it!
And another like 500 for boosts so I can see the content!

[vertigo12]

Generally I think Timewalking could work better if Blizzard really put the effort into it, and I don't really think making the gear better is the answer. What Timewalking needs, and Timewalking raids especially needs is better incentives to actually do them. Currently the only one worht even considering as anything but a nostalgia trip is Black Temple for the Warglaive transmog for DHs.

What I would do is really focus on making cosmetic rewards players would actually want. Special mounts, unique transmogs, titles. There is for instance a blue recolor of the Firelands mog, why not have that drop from Timewalking instead of it just being NM gear.
You mention going back to old quest hubs, but I would go one step beyond and add new unique quests only available during Timewalking. Maybe during Legion Timewalking you are sent to complete some Kirin Tor emissaries with a chance for another unique mount or similar.

What is the difficult challenge would be to find that sweet spot between having players do something once and never again, and having them come back to farm stuff without it feeling like you are just waiting endlessly for MoP timewalking to come back around. And honestly, maybe that is an unavoidable and unsolvable problem.


Generally Timewalking needs unique rewards that are not just the random drop infinite dragon mount, or badge items. The dragon is close to what Timewalking needs, but the badge items are really the only other string to Timewalkings bow, and really its just toys and a mount. And while the Mount is decently cool, the toys are rarely if ever used, nor something I feel like players care that much about.

The rep bonus is another thing which is problematic in the long term, simply because its a reward that is dependent on the player not having played before, as well as the rewards from the reps being worthwhile.
Sure the WotLK reps gave decent stuff that I wanted, but once we get around to Legion stuff I am already done with those reps, and there isnt really anything the game has to offer at that point other than a badge mount and maybe an unused armor piece or two.

there's a specific time and expansion to be precise that timewalking will be the main feature or forefront content and that is when time travelling will be the major theme or narrative. They will introduce pre-Legion dungeons to mythic roster and they will have rotating time walking raid. You can even experience several version of some of the dungeons before the got remade.

So it will all tie up with the next storyline of erasing current reality and rewriting/changing the future or history. We have to go back in time and make sure the well of eternity will not implode on itself the next time around and even stop Amanthul from interfering and cause the roots of all the complication he did when he pull out Y'shaarj.

[Vineman24]

Next expansion leak. Spoilers ahead.

-snip-

This is so shit I can actually see this coming. Also lack of CGI cinematics in SL confirms that budget is definitely was cut.

[Dracullus]

And today we have another fucked up quest in Korthia cause Blizzard throw all testing on playerbase. Seriously, best way to improve WoW at the moment would be if everyone decided to ignore PTR for next patch.

[Pheraz]

Next expansion leak. Spoilers ahead.

World of Warcraft: Sanguine

The writing staff does not want to tell Azeroth-focused stories anymore. Vanilla through BFA is seen as the Azeroth arc (with Legion and BFA concluding nearly all classic stories like the Emerald Dream, the Legion, Azshara, the Old Gods, the South Seas, Kul’Tiras, Kezan, etc). Shadowlands onwards is the new First Ones arc.

The next expansion takes place primarily on Nathreza, continuing seeds planted in Legion and Shadowlands. The main enemy is the secret leader of the Dreadlords who through time disruptions manifested his own race into being by manipulating the Mawsworn. He is considered much more powerful than the Jailer. He was imprisoned in the Maw but accidentally unleashed by the player at the end of Shadowlands. His goal is to become as powerful as the First Ones themselves.

The ‘covenants’ of this expansion are more like Order Halls. There are three of them, each based around the three roles; heals, tanks and DPS. You will empower these factions (and yourself) by collecting Ash-Remnants.

A Torghast-style dungeon is in Sanguine and is necessary to upgrade your faction with the Ash-Remnants you earned through other content.

The game is launching with three large zones on Nathreza, 5 dungeons and a mini raid. No new BGs.

There are no plans to go to K’aresh or the Dragon Isles in the near future. Those are primarily built up as a red-herring because the writers think it is more exciting to get unexpected stories than ones people have anticipated for a while. Azeroth is being low key abandoned in favor of other stories.

No new races or classes. No allied races or new customization options. The focus instead is on heritage armor and weapons.

Lootbox/gacha style shit has been talked about since 2015. They’re still playing around with it for this expansion. It could be dropped again but it’s more likely than ever with how bad WoW is flopping.

The team is struggling to figure out how to program working ‘mount races’ and jumping puzzles. No, I am not kidding. They’re acting like this is some rocket science shit.

WoW’s budget is way down since BFA. Don’t expect much in the way of cutscenes or cinematics.

Yes, Sylvanas is one of the primary protagonists of this expansion.

Resources were being diverted to this expansion after 9.1 dropped, but even that has paused because of all the mayhem at Blizzard. I can’t say for certain but I would be really surprised if this launched in 2022, even if it is pretty small.

Also, almost the entire WoW team actually petitioned Blizzard to cancel WotLK Classic since they’re embarrassed by how much attention Classic gets compared to retail. Of course WotLK Classic is coming regardless.

haha
seriously who spends 5 minutes of his life to pull such horrible ideas out of nowhere. Ofc this will NOT happen

[Makabreska]

haha
seriously who spends 5 minutes of his life to pull such horrible ideas out of nowhere. Ofc this will NOT happen

You could tell that by looking at the burner account who posted it. The "leaks" season is slowly starting, I guess.