Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

And so it begins.

Glad they're at least acknowledging the dissonance between the story and the gameplay on that now.

Knowing Blizz, their solution will be to start another faction war.

[Osmeric]

- Game is moving toward "Accessbility" which hopefully means no more artificial engagement borrowed powers.

It could mean "no design that rewards using add-ons to play it." Or perhaps it just means "we're getting rid of add-ons."

- "Mindful of bloat" makes me worried though. The game needs more bloat especially in the class design department. Even with the unprune core rotations are still too simplified for me.

If they are trying to attract back low engagement players, even the current class designs may be too complex.

Further extreme simplification is also likely if they're intending to move to mobile platforms.

[Sondrelk]

"What if we added in the missing Vanilla zones" was probably their thoght process on that.

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The fact he singled out the Inn we have an HD model for feels like winking directly at us.

I think their thought process for Cataclysm didnt even consider how the old zones would be relevant for max-level content. So when they had added Hyjal and Gilneas they ended up adding random zones like Uldum (which was kinda hinted at) and Twilight Highlands, which was most definitely not a thing.

[Lolites]

There is no Azshara or KJ this time to be a second big boss: only Zovaal is left.

ehm... Helya? or dominated Anduin perhaps? or Malganis and other dreadlords? or some "sidestep" like Yog saron was during our campaign against lich king, or zulaman during BC...
or no raid in 9.2 but just dungeon(s) like in cata (trolls) or legion (kara)
and those are just things they ALREADY DID, they can do something completely different... seems like you have SERIOUS lack of imagination...

[Sondrelk]

Glad they're at least acknowledging the dissonance between the story and the gameplay on that now.

Knowing Blizz, their solution will be to start another faction war.

I'll honestly take another faction war over poorly implemented cosmic stuff like Shadowlands. At least I hated the story of BfA with a passion that was fun to talk about. Shadowlands is just really boring.

[Cosmic Janitor]

But Azshara & Xalathath have old God vibes: The Old Gods weren't particularly aligned with the Void Lords, only that they had mastered shadow magic & used to try to take over the world

Your read on the lore is like meeting someone from a parallel universe in which bugs run the show.

[EbaumsTipster]

BFA existed to pump money from faction war fans before Classic came out. The ending of BFA says FACTION COOP and now Ion says FACTION COOP: I was right that, for whatever fucking reason, they couldn't implement it in Shadowlands and needed years to figure it out?

Why? I don't know. Factions don't even matter this expansion. I can only assume its a mess to code and they needed two more years.

But yeah after BFA I do not expect another faction war ever again, the closest thing we'll get is an Alliance leader (Turalyon) needing to be fought by both sides. Classic exists to keep the faction war forever and it is now "too problematic" for modern players.

[Fahrad Wagner]

That Ion interview has me very hopeful for 10.0 being a world revamp! Come on, third time is the charm!

[Makabreska]

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.

I guess we couldn't have just an orc as a final xpac boss. He needed some extra juicing up.

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"MUCH MORE planned"

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

Daily reminder not to overhype yourself over such a flimsy info and then burst out in rage when the reality is different.

[Azxza]

So now that 9.3 is confirmed it also confirms a Summer 2023 release for 10.0

[Marlamin]

"x is confirmed"

C'mon, MMOC. You're better than that. Use the word properly.

[Makabreska]

This could be an opportunity to implement a time skip for when we return to Azeroth... if they have decided that time moves so differently to explain it that way.


For example, you could say 30 or 50 (hell, even 100 years would be decently believable) years have passed and us the "heroes" have become legends/myths that generations of people have passed down. Specifically, our generation to the next generation.


Then all of a sudden we the heroes and the faction leaders who are also apart of those legends/myths/stories re-appear in an unfamiliar Azeroth that moved on while we were away.


I know a lot of people are dead set against a time skip, but I'm just pointing out it could be a vehicle to help return us the "simple core fantasy" and help deal with the power creep that has been happening for the past 3 expansions with us, the adventurers heroes.

That's what I am secretly hoping for. So many new possibilities. But the world revamp alone to accommodate the skip would have to be grand.

- - - Updated - - -

Parsed through the Ion interview a bit, some snap thoughts.

- 9.2 is the final patch is basically now confirmed with Ion saying we'll hear about the "Conclusion of Shadowlands."

Ye and other people have a completely different take so make up your mind y'all.

[Sondrelk]

So now that 9.3 is confirmed it also confirms a Summer 2023 release for 10.0

9.3 is by no means confirmed. The lack of a direct statement on 9.3 even being a thing when that is the expectation WoW players have for every expansion is far more indicative of 9.2 being the last major patch if anything.
What comes after 9.2 could easily be everything rfom what stuff will be in 9.2.5, to a full announcement on 10.0.

[Ersula]

Your read on the lore is like meeting someone from a parallel universe in which bugs run the show.

At no point do the Old Gods ever talk about serving the Void Lords, only that they know who the Void Lords are: Old Gods & Void Lords are two totally different groups with their own specific goals, who just use the same power: The Twilight Hammer also use Shadow & Void too & are easy to be manipulated by the Void, but specifically they serve the Elemental Lords. Any of these could be Void antagonists, but Alleria is the most direct Void Figure in the game.

[Makabreska]

And so it begins.

And thank fucking god if it happens.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Seriously guys, you just take whatever you want out this interview and ignore all the rest and just claim that whatever you want is already confirmed. Speculating is one thing, claiming confimation is just delusional though.

[Azxza]

9.3 is by no means confirmed. The lack of a direct statement on 9.3 even being a thing when that is the expectation WoW players have for every expansion is far more indicative of 9.2 being the last major patch if anything.
What comes after 9.2 could easily be everything rfom what stuff will be in 9.2.5, to a full announcement on 10.0.

First it was “all the devs left to work on 10.0 that’s why 9.1 was so small and why it took so long to come out”
Now it’s “Yeah he said 9.2 is not the end and that there’s much more to come but that still doesn’t mean they didn’t WoD this expac!”

[EbaumsTipster]

Have we started to hear people pretending to be mad that Shadowlands is (likely) only two major patches?

[Makabreska]

If they are trying to attract back low engagement players, even the current class designs may be too complex.

Further extreme simplification is also likely if they're intending to move to mobile platforms.

LOLWUT? WoW on mobile?

[draugril]

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.

It was completely unneeded. As you note, they could explore other avenues for his pursuit of power. Having him get to the same place in a different way - while overtly avoiding his father's failures - would have been excellent. And different.