Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Lady Atia]

Its meant to sound grandiose, is all.



I am completely unsurprised. But I am curious.

Hope the ability to solo Legion raids is one of them because I'm jonesing to do it (well, I can already do LFR and normal but I'd like to do more).

I really hope they make old content easier farmable with 9.1.5. I don't even need to be able to solo it .... just make it easier than in BfA lol. It's quite sad that you don't even see more than 5 groups listened for old content because it's quite frankly harder to clear BfA raids now than it was before the Prepatch ...

[Sondrelk]

According to Towelliee 9.1.5 will have alot more changes the community has been asking for for years, and that Blizzard haven't announced yet.
https://clips.twitch.tv/ReliableCall...sQYbeuMmooGG54

Ahh yes, the streamer who attempts to build a fanbase around being in the know tries a desperate attempt at a non-answer that could mean anything.
I mean honestly, this would be true for pretty much any change that's coming.
More souls? Blizzard listened.
Intro skip? Blizzard listened.
Brawler's guild returns? Blizzard listened.
Stormwind Skybox changed? Blizzard listened.

This is about as revolutionary as claiming that 9.1.5 will give classes a long-needed tuning pass. The parameters set are so vague, and the odds of general tuning is so high that only something completely out of left field would void the claim.

[Nagawithlegs]

Fate is a commonly used word in SL, it's close to being this expansions equivalent of "Savage". If the Jailer wins then that is eternal, the infinite dragonflight is also mentioned at times in the expansion.
So exrtapolating then Fate of Eternity would be a more flowery way of ssaying "End of all things".

It’s insanely suspicious that the Infinite Dragonflight got a new model (albeit with pirate stuff glued on it) before ANY of the other Azeroth associated flights. I’m pretty sure the last patch of SL, whatever it is, will tie in the Dragonflight to either the Jailer or the First Ones as our dragon-themed tie to 10.0 which will definitely be associated with dragons (see: Cata 2 vibes and the Dragon Isles tease)

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My hope is, should we get a Dragon Isles expansion, they do exactly this - have the islands be suspended among the clouds for whatever reason above existing zones.

I’m thinking it’s likely based on the hints that there will be flying involved (winged monkeys, bird dragons in SL, new bird model in 6-month), as well as the complaints about the endgame zones in Cata being so disconnected.

[Sondrelk]

I’m thinking it’s likely based on the hints that there will be flying involved (winged monkeys, bird dragons in SL, new bird model in 6-month), as well as the complaints about the endgame zones in Cata being so disconnected.

If Blizzard could somehow design zones that actually move relative to the ground beneath then that truly would be amazing.
I would be happy with a solution in which the Dragon Isles are in a separate instance, but falling off them lands you in a random zone on Azeroth. Sure it would be slightly annoying and probably more work than its worth, but damn if it wouldnt be fun.

[huth]

I seriously don't understand why they won't do it. it's like the perfect space solution because you can vertically stack areas. No need to add an "island" for Mechagon off the shore that for some reason was hard to find when instead you can make that same space in a cave under your existing landmass ezpz.

Because the engine can't actually do that. You cannot stack regular terrain in it. Any flying islands are doodads.

Besides, remember that the world is heavily compressed, and Mechagon was actively defended from anybody but Gnomes. It probably wouldn't actually be visible from Kul Tiras if the world was accurate to lore.
It's easy to understand why, though; if the world was lore accurate, flying from Borean Tundra to Howling Fjords in Northrend would take the better part of a day (around 15 hours). Never mind traveling such distances on the ground. You'd spend a few play sessions just traveling for every quest.

[Hitei]

Because the engine can't actually do that. You cannot stack regular terrain in it. Any flying islands are doodads.

Besides, remember that the world is heavily compressed, and Mechagon was actively defended from anybody but Gnomes. It probably wouldn't actually be visible from Kul Tiras if the world was accurate to lore.
It's easy to understand why, though; if the world was lore accurate, flying from Borean Tundra to Howling Fjords in Northrend would take the better part of a day (around 15 hours). Never mind traveling such distances on the ground. You'd spend a few play sessions just traveling for every quest.

It doesn't need to be direct terrain. Look at Undercity, Caverns of Time, Siege of Orgrimmar, Neltharion's Lair, AQ40, etc. Large-scale underground spaces are entirely possible in engine. I was not complaining about the distance to Mechagon being unusual, but rather that the entire issue could have been side-stepped with an underground space.

[Nyel]

Zovaal and Murozond somehow working together wouldn’t surprise me at all. Or maybe not working together, but sharing a similar goal. This would be kinda neat and a great interlude to - if it will come next - a dragon focused expansion that’s more based on stuff we already know and less on cosmic travesty. I already see the next Covenants coming with the Dragonflights being exactly that.

Other games did have flying continents and I cannot understand why this should be impossible for WoW. Final Fantasy XIV did it back in 2015 and it worked, in 2022 it would work for sure if they’re dedicated to it - and hell, make flying a mandatory part of the expansion where it’s basically required to travel from the moment you set foot there.

[draugril]

I already see the next Covenants coming with the Dragonflights being exactly that.

So do I, but I would honestly probably quit entirely if that were announced. My dedication to WoW is running on fumes, and a couple of those fumes are hopes for a draconic class and/or playable race. Such a system would quash those hopes.

[Nagawithlegs]

Zovaal and Murozond somehow working together wouldn’t surprise me at all. Or maybe not working together, but sharing a similar goal. This would be kinda neat and a great interlude to - if it will come next - a dragon focused expansion that’s more based on stuff we already know and less on cosmic travesty. I already see the next Covenants coming with the Dragonflights being exactly that.

It’s been noted that Nozdormu hasn’t made the chance to Murozond in the timeline yet, and it was previously cited to happen because of Old God influence. Considering all 4 are dead it has been posited that there may be a new reason for his change OR Xalatath is waiting to corrupt him at the right moment, who we last saw on Azeroth.

[Sondrelk]

It’s been noted that Nozdormu hasn’t made the chance to Murozond in the timeline yet, and it was previously cited to happen because of Old God influence. Considering all 4 are dead it has been posited that there may be a new reason for his change OR Xalatath is waiting to corrupt him at the right moment, who we last saw on Azeroth.

Or the Old Gods are not completely dead. The influence of Yogg-saron still infests Ulduar, and the whole deal with N'zoth is difficult to decide conclusively.

[huth]

It doesn't need to be direct terrain. Look at Undercity, Caverns of Time, Siege of Orgrimmar, Neltharion's Lair, AQ40, etc. Large-scale underground spaces are entirely possible in engine. I was not complaining about the distance to Mechagon being unusual, but rather that the entire issue could have been side-stepped with an underground space.

Those are all enclosed with limited view distance, though. And most of them are instances anyway.

And what issue? There is no actual issue, that only comes from the game world being out of scale and Blizz deciding that most people probably wouldn't want to spend half an hour flying over empty ocean to get there. Besides, Mechagon city is underground. The only people living on the surface are the Prince's resistance forces.

[Hitei]

Those are all enclosed with limited view distance, though. And most of them are instances anyway.

And what issue? There is no actual issue, that only comes from the game world being out of scale and Blizz deciding that most people probably wouldn't want to spend half an hour flying over empty ocean to get there. Besides, Mechagon city is underground. The only people living on the surface are the Prince's resistance forces.

????? How would an underground space not be enclosed, hello?

[huth]

Or the Old Gods are not completely dead. The influence of Yogg-saron still infests Ulduar, and the whole deal with N'zoth is difficult to decide conclusively.

Just remember Y'shaarj. Simply killing them isn't remotely enough to get rid of theír influence.

[Nagawithlegs]

Or the Old Gods are not completely dead. The influence of Yogg-saron still infests Ulduar, and the whole deal with N'zoth is difficult to decide conclusively.

Ulduar is a good point and may tie into the Wrath theme of SL, but the devs seemed to make it clear that Nzoth was dead/reforming in his original plane. He could have some of him in the Xalatath dagger though, which he was eager to acquire and disappeared after Wrathion stabbed him.

[huth]

????? How would an underground space not be enclosed, hello?

Missing the point. Being enclosed mitigates some of the issues of building them that way. A flying island would be a whole different issue - there's a reason they had to leave Crystalsong almost entirely barren and put Dalaran over open water in Legion.

[Nyel]

So do I, but I would honestly probably quit entirely if that were announced. My dedication to WoW is running on fumes, and a couple of those fumes are hopes for a draconic class and/or playable race. Such a system would quash those hopes.

I guess the next expansion definitely needs more than just another borrowed power system players were curated to hate at this point. But the chances for a dragon-like race seems to be very… well, non existing. A class that’s based on draconic power though? Sounds neat. Black for Tanking, Red for Healing and Blue for ranged DPS. Well, you could technically fit everything into such class based on the Dragonflights.

[Nagawithlegs]

I don’t think covenants are going to reappear in the way people think, it seems more likely to me that they will be the new way reputations work: join a faction, work with them, get rewards themed around them. I can’t see them forcing PICK A FLIGHT nor do I think that each dragonflight will have its own island for the covenants.

[draugril]

It was overtly stated that Drakonids were potentials for Cataclysm additions, much like Ogres were. I doubt we'd get Dragonspawn or the like. Also, if they were really feeling crazy, we could just borrow from Worgen and have actual playable Dragons with you choosing their mortal form from the playable options.

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I don’t think covenants are going to reappear in the way people think, it seems more likely to me that they will be the new way reputations work: join a faction, work with them, get rewards themed around them. I can’t see them forcing PICK A FLIGHT nor do I think that each dragonflight will have its own island for the covenants.

I mean, the Sanctums are already pretty much the perfect set up for Covenant hubs. I don't want them to go in this direction, but it does seem like low-hanging fruit for them to pluck.

[Sondrelk]

I have to agree on covenants not reappearing in the same way we have now. Blizzard doesnt really have a history of bringing a system over wholesale unless it worked exactly like it should, and I doubt that anyone could say that Covenants is a feature that couldnt do with improvements.

I do tend to agree that Covenants might just be given an update as the next step in Reputations, with the players instead just getting a regular area to spend time in, similar to how BfA removed the Class halls and stories, and instead replaced them with faction war themed stories to remove the issues of the plot being spread too thin in Legion.

[Nagawithlegs]

I think people are sleeping on the "starting gear" items, as it's the first mention of new players receiving any kind of armor past the NPE that isn't from BFA or Shadowlands.

New leveling quests sound veeeeery likely for 10.0. Which makes sense: why would you make new players go through BFA - SL when the arc is kind of self contained in Legion - BFA - SL?