Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Sondrelk]

Because some Hordies still demand Siege of SW in any shape or form, after SoO.

But making MC'd Anduin do something nasty on Azeroth could be an interesting turn. People wouldn't buy MC excuse and he would be probably forced to quit the throne.

I am a fervent Alliance player, a d I would absolutely adore a Siege of Alliance raid.
There was so much attention and focus given to the Horde in the leadup to the SoO raid, and I would love to get the same for Alliance.

Losing important NPCs is a bitch, but you do get kickass moments like seeing those same known NPCs go out in a blaze of glory, or otherwise be given attention they wouldn't normally. Like how the warlocks trainers in Orgrimmar got to summon a giant doomguard to kill invaders.

[Cherry123]

Anduin attacking stormwind creates drama, imagine he returns to the kingdom and

[Khaza-R]

Because some Hordies still demand Siege of SW in any shape or form, after SoO.

But making MC'd Anduin do something nasty on Azeroth could be an interesting turn. People wouldn't buy MC excuse and he would be probably forced to quit the throne.

Would make for a semi-interesting twist at least. Like they make you think offing the Jailer will free Anduin but it doesn't and just goes full chaotic evil without the Jailer keeping his mind at bay.

[Nyel]

Eh, Burning Crusade, Cataclysm and Legion are plenty generic.

I think Cataclysm is the best expansion title yet. Short and telling us exactly what’s the entire theme.

[Hitei]

Eh, Burning Crusade, Cataclysm and Legion are plenty generic.

They refer to a specific crusade, a specific Cataclysm and a very, very specific Legion.

To put it another way, you're never going to ask "What <noun>?" with regards to a WoW expansion title, they are specific. No one has to ask "Which Legion?" or "What Cataclysm?" they are THE Legion and THE Cataclysm. Cataclysm by definition also indicates a singular important event. Burning Crusade, much like Lich King, is specified by its adjectival, not just any crusade, the Burning Crusade.

Compare that to "Return of the Hero(es)". Your immediate questions are "What/which heroes?", "Returning from what/where?"

In the same vein, "Awakenings" is an extremely unlikely expansion title. It's super nonspecific, like on a basic syntax level, that plural "s" removes any sort of specificity. You might be able to get away with (The) Awakening--because then you immediately know that there is one specific event called the Awakening, but certainly not Awakenings plural.

[draugril]

They refer to a specific crusade, a specific Cataclysm and a very, very specific Legion.

To put it another way, you're never going to ask "What <noun>?" with regards to a WoW expansion title, they are specific. No one has to ask "Which Legion?" or "What Cataclysm?" they are THE Legion and THE Cataclysm. Cataclysm by definition also indicates a singular important event. Burning Crusade, much like Lich King, is specified by its adjectival, not just any crusade, the Burning Crusade.

Compare that to "Return of the Hero(es)". Your immediate questions are "What/which heroes?", "Returning from what/where?"

In the same vein, "Awakenings" is an extremely unlikely expansion title. It's super nonspecific, like on a basic syntax level, that plural "s" removes any sort of specificity. You might be able to get away with (The) Awakening--because then you immediately know that there is one specific event called the Awakening, but certainly not Awakenings plural.

It's contextually specific. Not generally. You can throw "Cataclysm" onto virtually any property and it could work.

Avengers: Cataclysm.
Batman vs. Superman: Cataclysm.
Men in Black: Cataclysm.
Matrix: Re-Cataclysm.
Little Cataclysm on the Prairie.

I'd watch them all.

Try the same thing with a proper noun like "Pandaria" or "Draenor." It doesn't work. Your argument only makes sense if all the titles were as specific as those. Just because it has a specific meaning in-universe doesn't mean it isn't a generalized term. "Awakenings" could just as as significant as "Cataclysm" is in-game, but they're still general terms that aren't specific to the WarCraft universe.

[Kereberus]

There are rumblings.

9.2 is close

[Nyel]

There are rumblings.

9.2 is close

Your guts? Or what is rumbling.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

There are rumblings.

9.2 is close

Don't play with this forum's hearts >.>

[TheFirstOnes]

There are rumblings.

9.2 is close

The Old Gods are dead. What rumblings are you hearing?

[micwini]

Maybe today there will be an announcement of the upcoming announcement of 9.2?

[Proudmong]

Anduin culling Stormwind would be perfect. Have him murder Genn for that final Arthas parallel -- Tess can despise him for that and provide us with tension later on. He'll despise himself, and lead him down a more interesting path of dealing with that trauma and overcoming it to return stronger than ever.

As for the reasons to why? Perhaps the Jailer requires time to get through the defenses of the Sepulcher, and sending Anduin to raze his home not only wholly breaks his spirit, but distracts us from pursuing him and weakens one of the strongest factions on Azeroth.

A raid featuring a burning Stormwind, a necropolis hovering above and us trying to catch up with Anduin's deathmarch towards the throne would be amazing.

[Hitei]

It's contextually specific. Not generally. You can throw "Cataclysm" onto virtually any property and it could work.

Avengers: Cataclysm.
Batman vs. Superman: Cataclysm.
Men in Black: Cataclysm.
Matrix: Re-Cataclysm.
Little Cataclysm on the Prairie.

I'd watch them all.

Try the same thing with a proper noun like "Pandaria" or "Draenor." It doesn't work. Your argument only makes sense if all the titles were as specific as those. Just because it has a specific meaning in-universe doesn't mean it isn't a generalized term. "Awakenings" could just as as significant as "Cataclysm" is in-game, but they're still general terms that aren't specific to the WarCraft universe.

That's what I'm saying though, "Awakenings" can't be as significant or specific in-game, because the fact that it is plural immediately means it's talking about a bunch of different events.

The point is not that the title is ultra unique only something that can only make sense in Warcraft; you could have a Wrath of a Lich King in any fantasy game that has Liches, or a Legion in any IP that has a notable army. The point is that the titles are always very specific and singular, never something vague and ill-defined or difficult to pin down. Which is what "Awakenings" is.

A player interested in a revamp expansion made up a title they figured sounded mysterious and grandiose, that was more metaphor than anything else and fit in with the revamp/rebirth concept. But Blizzard coming up with a title isn't looking for mysteriousness, they want clear definition that communicates as much about expansion as possible in a few words that sound nice together. You can see this with MoP. MoP is an expansion that leans heavy into mystery, and even then, when trying to capture that sense of mystery, they picked a title that communicates that mystery AND specifies what the expansion is: Mists of Pandaria. They don't do floaty abstract titles, which is exactly what "Awakenings" is.

Like I said in the last post, if it were grounded in specificity, maybe; "The Awakening" (no plural), "The Great Awakening", "Awakening of Azeroth", "The Last Awakening". But Awakenings just isn't the expansion title style.

Anduin culling Stormwind would be perfect. Have him murder Genn for that final Arthas parallel -- Tess can despise him for that and provide us with tension later on. He'll despise himself, and lead him down a more interesting path of dealing with that trauma and overcoming it to return stronger than ever.

As for the reasons to why? Perhaps the Jailer requires time to get through the defenses of the Sepulcher, and sending Anduin to raze his home not only wholly breaks his spirit, but distracts us from pursuing him and weakens one of the strongest factions on Azeroth.

A raid featuring a burning Stormwind, a necropolis hovering above and us trying to catch up with Anduin's deathmarch towards the throne would be amazing.

Why would he care about the factions on Azeroth? The primary threats to his agenda are all in the Shadowlands and also the Alliance is only one of the strongest factions on Azeroth when dealing with Azeroth tier threats they can mobilize a regular army against. There are clearly much, much bigger potential hazards to his agenda and defenders of the planet, like the Watchers of Ulduar, the Dragonflights, the Kirin Tor.

Also attacking Stormwind would literally only distract us. That is, the (Alliance) players and like half a dozen leader NPCs currently involved. The covenants would still be focused on hunting him down, not worrying over a single city being razed.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Why would he care about the factions on Azeroth? The primary threats to his agenda are all in the Shadowlands and also the Alliance is only one of the strongest factions on Azeroth when dealing with Azeroth tier threats they can mobilize a regular army against. There are clearly much, much bigger potential hazards to his agenda and defenders of the planet, like the Watchers of Ulduar, the Dragonflights, the Kirin Tor.

Also attacking Stormwind would literally only distract us. That is, the (Alliance) players and like half a dozen leader NPCs currently involved. The covenants would still be focused on hunting him down, not worrying over a single city being razed.

edgyness and "PARRELELL TO ARTHAS" They just want Anduin to be bad or the Alliance bad.

[draugril]

Like I said in the last post, if it were grounded in specificity, maybe; "The Awakening" (no plural), "The Great Awakening", "Awakening of Azeroth", "The Last Awakening". But Awakenings just isn't the expansion title style.

Eh, agree to disagree on this one. "Cataclysm" and "Legion" could have a plethora of meanings. We only need the in-game context before. A new expansion could be called "Awakenings" or "Return of Heroes" or even "Dragon Isles" or similarly generic fantasy stuff. Even "Shadowlands" itself is incredibly generic. The developers need only to give it context in the build-up or actual release.

In fact, given their current drive toward constant mysteries and cliffhangers, I wouldn't put it past them to name an expansion "Revelations." The context comes later.

The greater point is, these types of titles don't disqualify an expansion name. Or we would have had "Cataclysm of Deathwing" and "Legion of Sargeras." Those don't have the same ring, though, so we got the generic subtitles.

[Proudmong]

That's what I'm saying though, "Awakenings" can't be as significant or specific in-game, because the fact that it is plural immediately means it's talking about a bunch of different events.

The point is not that the title is ultra unique only something that can only make sense in Warcraft; you could have a Wrath of a Lich King in any fantasy game that has Liches, or a Legion in any IP that has a notable army. The point is that the titles are always very specific and singular, never something vague and ill-defined or difficult to pin down. Which is what "Awakenings" is.

A player interested in a revamp expansion made up a title they figured sounded mysterious and grandiose, that was more metaphor than anything else and fit in with the revamp/rebirth concept. But Blizzard coming up with a title isn't looking for mysteriousness, they want clear definition that communicates as much about expansion as possible in a few words that sound nice together. You can see this with MoP. MoP is an expansion that leans heavy into mystery, and even then, when trying to capture that sense of mystery, they picked a title that communicates that mystery AND specifies what the expansion is: Mists of Pandaria. They don't do floaty abstract titles, which is exactly what "Awakenings" is.

Like I said in the last post, if it were grounded in specificity, maybe; "The Awakening" (no plural), "The Great Awakening", "Awakening of Azeroth", "The Last Awakening". But Awakenings just isn't the expansion title style.


Why would he care about the factions on Azeroth? The primary threats to his agenda are all in the Shadowlands and also the Alliance is only one of the strongest factions on Azeroth when dealing with Azeroth tier threats they can mobilize a regular army against. There are clearly much, much bigger potential hazards to his agenda and defenders of the planet, like the Watchers of Ulduar, the Dragonflights, the Kirin Tor.

Also attacking Stormwind would literally only distract us. That is, the (Alliance) players and like half a dozen leader NPCs currently involved. The covenants would still be focused on hunting him down, not worrying over a single city being razed.

The Maw-Walkers have been Zovaal's largest adversaries, and half of them belong to the Alliance. Not to mention Bolvar and Jaina too. The rest of the Shadowlands denizens have proven almost entirely inept. So distracting even half of us gives his forces a whole lot of freedom. Also, attacking Azeroth doesn't just have to be for Stormwind -- that can just be one of the primary objectives. If the Mawsworn launched an invasion from the rift in Icecrown, that's a whole lot of carnage to leave even if they just bee-line for Stormwind.

edgyness and "PARRELELL TO ARTHAS" They just want Anduin to be bad or the Alliance bad.

Uhm no, Anduin attacking Stormwind wouldn't make either of them bad. It'd just be an interesting development and cause some tragedy, you know, since its war?

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

I'm gonna just say that they did this exact same stunt for 8.1->8.2 drought. Throw Interview on PCGamer (But PCGamer bad boys now so VentureBeat it is!).

The week after we have a Livestream announcement titled probably "Patch Preview 9.2 and the Future of Warcraft" or "Future of Warcraft" "Presentation: Future of World of Warcraft".

The week after we get the Livestream/VOD whatever it is.

[TheFirstOnes]

"Let's have Anduin burn down SW"

You guys do realize Anduin's supposed to be what Arthas never was, yeah? That means he WON'T burn down fucking Stormwind, lmao.

[Lady Atia]

I'm gonna just say that they did this exact same stunt for 8.1->8.2 drought. Throw Interview on PCGamer (But PCGamer bad boys now so VentureBeat it is!).

The week after we have a Livestream announcement titled probably "Patch Preview 9.2 and the Future of Warcraft" or "Future of Warcraft" "Presentation: Future of World of Warcraft".

The week after we get the Livestream/VOD whatever it is.

Yeah, I also think it's either a surprise update today, or next week with a teaser at Monday.

[Kiivar86]

When it comes to expansion titles, I still remember the reasoning some people came up with to try and discredit Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria when they were first found.

Cataclysm's was along the lines of "previous expansions used multiple words! And also indicated who the threat was!"

MoP's was "The previous expansions all about the threat or event!"

Always makes me smile.