Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Raetary]

The Shadowlands had a prior background tf???

One paragraph of text in chronicle 1 that barely describes the place is not an established background.

[Sondrelk]

One paragraph of text in chronicle 1 that barely describes the place is not an established background.

It has been consistently mentioned as the afterlife in the WoW universe, and it has been a place that could be visited at least since the DK intro scenario back in WotLK.

It's dumb to visit, and I wish we never make the same mistake of spending a full expansion in a cosmic realm, or otherwise somewhere other than Azeroth, but the Shadowlands have been mentioned several times.

[draugril]

Oof, "Vanilla did it better strikes back". We didn't have a focused story, because Blizz was new to the genre and wasn't even sure if the game will succeed. They just threw w/e story lines left from Warcraft they had into the pot. They even said it themselves, devs were inexperienced enough that they released Black Temple way to soon (while also wasting Illidan, turning him into a villain randomly) and were forced to cook up Sunwell as a final chapter. Now they just plan way ahead and intersect main story lines. But I would appreciate MoP-like xpac with low stakes, or some kind of a soft reset.

Even MoP didn't have the balls to just make Garrosh a bad guy. They had to get the Old Gods involved. Make him corrupted. Escalate the stakes while making them dramatically impotent.

Additionally, more to the point... if they can't tell a single story well, they might as well swing for the fences and tell dozens of them. The odds are better that everyone will find something that resonates with them.

[Makabreska]

Even MoP didn't have the balls to just make Garrosh a bad guy. They had to get the Old Gods involved. Make him corrupted. Escalate the stakes while making them dramatically impotent.

Ummmm, what? Garrosh is definitely a bad guy in his own rights and was a cunt way before Old Gods. In Dormazain cut scene he states he would easily repeat all he has done.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Ummmm, what? Garrosh is definitely a bad guy in his own rights and was a cunt way before Old Gods. In Dormazain cut scene he states he would easily repeat all he has done.

Yeah he was a bad guy in Mist.

"PAINT THIS CONTINENT RED" is a very defining statement.

[draugril]

Ummmm, what? Garrosh is definitely a bad guy in his own rights and was a cunt way before Old Gods. In Dormazain cut scene he states he would easily repeat all he has done.

He was an excellent villain. Then they kneecapped him with an Old God's influence. Made his crowning moment void of any dramatic value. They can renege on that decision all they want, but throwing him to the Old Gods instead of allowing his villainy to be purely his completely undercut the narrative.

[Kiivar86]

Venture Beat had an interview with Ion about the current game, a bit about the future, and "soul searching".

I browsed through it and, content wise at least, there's nothing much beyond "we're working on stuff." He indicates there's more beyond 9.2 but won't say what so that leaves whether or not they plan a 9.3 up in the air.

Also indicates 9.2 news soon.

[Makabreska]

He was an excellent villain. Then they kneecapped him with an Old God's influence. Made his crowning moment void of any dramatic value. They can renege on that decision all they want, but throwing him to the Old Gods instead of allowing his villainy to be purely his completely undercut the narrative.

Ye, ok. But he was still a bad guy, and Old Gods had nothing to do with it. After being freed from their influence he, out of petty revenge, jumped to another world and started a full scale invasion on Azeroth. Blizz didn't feign a thing here.

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Venture Beat had an interview with Ion about the current game, a bit about the future, and "soul searching".

I browsed through it and, content wise at least, there's nothing much beyond "we're working on stuff." He indicates there's more beyond 9.2 but won't say what so that leaves whether or not they plan a 9.3 up in the air.

Also indicates 9.2 news soon.

Isn't this his first time speaking after the scandal?

[Kiivar86]

Isn't this his first time speaking after the scandal?

I believe so. At the least, I recall people saying we haven't heard from him in 4 months.

[Sondrelk]

He was an excellent villain. Then they kneecapped him with an Old God's influence. Made his crowning moment void of any dramatic value. They can renege on that decision all they want, but throwing him to the Old Gods instead of allowing his villainy to be purely his completely undercut the narrative.

Really? I thought him using the power of Y'sharrj was the perfect ending to his storyline. At least in theory. He was almost literally making the same mistake his father was simply because he was too proud to realize that he was wrong about his heroes.
Sure, he could have focused solely on orc supremacy for power, but that was alreayd a bit of a moot point with using goblin technology. He was ambitious, and at the first chance of grasping more power he underestimated just how potent the power was since he was so certain he could control it.
His ambition to control the uncontrollable was putting him on a path of subjugation, similar to how Grom thought the demon blood was a power to be used, not a choice that would enslave him.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Garrosh wasn't ruined by using Ysharrj's heart. His villainy was the thing thats still talked about. He doesn't talk about that thing when he's tortured in the Maw. He's basically "I DO WHAT I WANT AND HAVE NO REGRETS"

[AngerFork]

Venture Beat had an interview with Ion about the current game, a bit about the future, and "soul searching".

I browsed through it and, content wise at least, there's nothing much beyond "we're working on stuff." He indicates there's more beyond 9.2 but won't say what so that leaves whether or not they plan a 9.3 up in the air.

Also indicates 9.2 news soon.

That cross-faction piece is really interesting to me. IMO, it more or less confirms that cross faction raiding will be coming to WoW at some point. He's at least gotten past the mental block of factions working together, so it seems at least.

Quoting here for those that can't view the article for any reason:

I’d say that is a bit more on the radar, yes. That’s one of those areas where, a lot of things to solve, a lot of things to figure out to make it happen, but at the end of the day, if Jaina and Thrall are working alongside each other in the raid, why can’t Alliance and Horde players also work alongside each other in that raid, especially when we know it’s going to solve a lot of the social problems people are grappling with? Particularly trying to keep a high-end Alliance guild together in North America or a Horde one in Oceania.

[Sondrelk]

Venture Beat had an interview with Ion about the current game, a bit about the future, and "soul searching".

I browsed through it and, content wise at least, there's nothing much beyond "we're working on stuff." He indicates there's more beyond 9.2 but won't say what so that leaves whether or not they plan a 9.3 up in the air.

Also indicates 9.2 news soon.

From how Ion talked about the future of Shadowlands it seemed to me that if we are getting a 9.3, it likely isnt going to be a fully fledged major patch with a raid and whatever. He did say the expansion wouldnt end at 9.2, but I think everyone expected that given the usual final minor patch of an expansion to stave off drought.
If I were to guess solely off of what he says I would imagine that we are getting the "ending" to Shadowlands in 9.2, but we are getting more plot happening afterwards in the forms of quests and maybe a mini-raid.
Obviously Ion doesnt want to perjury himself by saying that 9.3 is definitive when the unstable enviroment could scuttle those plans no matter what, but I would have had to imagine that if 9.3 was going to happen then Ion would be more willing to say that it was a thing.

The whole thing just seems to me like Ion doesnt want to say 9.3 isnt going to happen. Or at least not in the way we expect in a random interview, and would rather wait and say that in a more fitting dedicated announcement stream.

[Azxza]

He can’t outright say 9.3 is happening because it would instantly spoil 9.2 and reveal that we don’t take down the jailer in that patch.

9.2 Anduin
9.3 is Jailer

[Triceron]

I can see how there is an implication that he may have been manipulated by the Heart of Y'shaarj/Old God influence, but the story (and devs themselves) have suggested otherwise, that Garrosh was always in full control and everything is his doing despite the all dark corrupting magic he was making use of.

My beef with that is that I don't think Garrosh should have used it at all, since it wouldn't have been considered 'honorable' to resort to such power.

[Sondrelk]

Garrosh wasn't ruined by using Ysharrj's heart. His villainy was the thing thats still talked about. He doesn't talk about that thing when he's tortured in the Maw. He's basically "I DO WHAT I WANT AND HAVE NO REGRETS"

The blood of Y'sharrj also seemed to fit Garrosh and his general trajectory since Cata. He steadily amassed more and more powerful and dangerous tech, seemingly conquering it all until he finally went in over his head with a power that backfired.

Not to mention it also fits with the general theme of Pandaria, where your negative emotions gets the better of you.

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He can’t outright say 9.3 is happening because it would instantly spoil 9.2 and reveal that we don’t take down the jailer in that patch.

9.2 Anduin
9.3 is Jailer

Or the opposite. If he says 9.3 isnt happening then we know for certain that 9.2 will be the last big raid of Shadowlands, and therefore where the Jailer is being stopped.

[Azxza]

The blood of Y'sharrj also seemed to fit Garrosh and his general trajectory since Cata. He steadily amassed more and more powerful and dangerous tech, seemingly conquering it all until he finally went in over his head with a power that backfired.

Not to mention it also fits with the general theme of Pandaria, where your negative emotions gets the better of you.

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Or the opposite. If he says 9.3 isnt happening then we know for certain that 9.2 will be the last big raid of Shadowlands, and therefore where the Jailer is being stopped.

No not really because that’s exactly what the current story beat is pointing towards. It wouldn’t be spoiling anything in that case.

[Ersula]

That cross-faction piece is really interesting to me. IMO, it more or less confirms that cross faction raiding will be coming to WoW at some point. He's at least gotten past the mental block of factions working together, so it seems at least.

I figured they'd just make Jaina, Thrall, Baine & Anduin neutral like Khadgar. But Cross-Faction raiding would solve the representation issue in top tier raiding.

So maybe in addition to a "PVP & PVE" dichotomy there will also be a "War & Peace" dichotomy. Maybe give us a Cross Faction raid were we fight a big bad & a pvp-themed pve raid that used Warfront technology where we attack some stronghold held by the other faction.

[Varodoc]

9.2 is coming, and we will hear about it soon. They have much more planned after that, but it's hard to say too much more without spoiling some of the story that is coming.

"MUCH MORE planned"

I didn't think they'd actually do it, but at this point World Revamp is all but confirmed.

[therumblings]

"MUCH MORE planned"

I didn't think they'd actually do it, but at this point World Revamp is all but confirmed.

you forgot the /s