Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Lahis]

Announcing the next expansion must happen asap, even if they don’t have that much to show and just give us the main features. If it’s new class x new races x revamp x talent overhaul or whatever, we really need only the buzzwords to generate a massive hype.

I don't think that at this anything can generate massive hype for WoW or any Blizzard product.

[Sentynel]

Right now were about 1.5 mil subs away from wow being cancelled outright

And you got these numbers from where exactly?

Oh yeah, just as I thought...

[Nyel]

I don't think that at this anything can generate massive hype for WoW or any Blizzard product.

I doubt this. It just has to be massive. Another BfA or Shadowlands for sure would be a dud, but an expansion packed with features, especially if it's new races and a new class and more than that, will create goodwill and hope. Those things alone create hype. It just needs to be HUGE.

[Dwarfbeater]

And you got these numbers from where exactly?

Oh yeah, just as I thought...

Obviously straight from his behind

[Cosmic Janitor]

While on some level this makes sense, if were supposed to be in 9.2 for a full year I expect subs to drop so low WoW no longer becomes a viable property & they just end server support entirely. Right now were about 1.5 mil subs away from wow being cancelled outright. Like HotS

Bull, you can sustain an MMO with 200k subs easily, even less, especially if you filter them down to shop goblins and the hardcore addicts that plague this forum. I also think your 1.5m is rather high as an implied number of current (retail) subs. Then you also have alot of the classic subs that currently prop up the subscriptions anyway. Once there will be a wrath release we will see the last big rush for classic, that will keep them floating for another year easily.

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Maybe it started as project before Legion? We have no idea what Tom Chilton is doing since 2016.

That would also explain how SL is around 25% smaller by design.

Isn't chilton heading the icnubation unit that so far has produced nothing at all?

[Grimbold21]

Expansion reveal mid 2022? Are you folks nuts? That's a late 2022 release.

In the condition the game is in, with a coming patch that is nothing more than staying on the course the game has trekked so far, Blizzard is pretty much agaisnt a wall.

They either rush the next xpac out and deal with the aftermath of another half-assed product, or they take their sweet time polishing it while also dealing with the consequences of having their players play a..... empty patch.

[Marlamin]

Maybe it started as project before Legion?

There were new westfall terrain textures in BfA beta, if those are the first signs (that I remember) it might imply this having started during Legion.

[Lady Atia]

There were new westfall terrain textures in BfA beta, if those are the first signs (that I remember) it might imply this having started during Legion.

Well to be fair, there isn't a huge jump from Legion graphics to Shadowlands in terms of environment, so I would totally be fine with that.

[FenixAU]

Well to be fair, there isn't a huge jump from Legion graphics to Shadowlands in terms of environment, so I would totally be fine with that.

If they just updated the trees in the old world, I'd probably be a happy camper..

[micwini]

If they just updated the trees in the old world, I'd probably be a happy camper..

Yes! New feature for 10.0: Trees you can walk on.

[Zaganite]

Seems pretty accurate.
Although rating on WotLK, BC and Classic would be closer to 100 imo
And MoP could be head of Cata too.

MOP should be ahead of Cata. Does it say when those games were scored? I remember playing MOP and a lot of people didn't like it back then but then realised that it was actually really good.

For me, legion will still always be my favourite expansion solely down to class fantasy

[Lady Atia]

If they just updated the trees in the old world, I'd probably be a happy camper..

Honestly they just need to apply the Arathi/Darkshore formula to all zones from Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdoms and maybe even Northrend if they have the ressources. HD revamp, Rare spawns that drop mounts and toys, treasures, worldquests and maybe one bigger story zone questline that tells us what the current status quo of said zone is that leads into a Dungeon. Together with pet battles this would create evergreen content and a fresh way to level new alts.

Other things I would like to see in 10.0 (but I know we prolly won't get it ...):

- HD update for Classic/TBC mounts with additional new tints to farm in the world
- Covenant Allied Races (either as pre-order bonus or for 9.2.5)
- Solo Q for RBG's (I don't really care about arena, but there should be a way to get rating in battlegrounds without having to form a group manually. Make it so that only solo players q together and change the rating formula and you can revive the classic bg feeling)
- Class Skins that use the underlying mechanics of a class to make something new that would be too niche for a full class so you don't have to worry about balancing. F.e.:
Hunter -> Dark Ranger
Monk -> Blademaster
Druid -> Tinker
Warlock -> Necromancer
Shaman -> Spellblade
Paladin -> Voidknight
Mage -> Azuresworn (basically blue fire)
Demonhunter -> Night Warrior for Alliance (use Tyrandes star form instead of Metamorphosis)
-> Shadow Hunter for Horde (use Troll Loa forms instead of Metamorphosis)
- a third spec for Demonhunter that uses a bow (inspired by Hearthstone)
- Seasonal Elite sets for M+ (I wouldn't mind if they re-use the pvp appereances tbh ...)

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MOP should be ahead of Cata. Does it say when those games were scored? I remember playing MOP and a lot of people didn't like it back then but then realised that it was actually really good.

For me, legion will still always be my favourite expansion solely down to class fantasy

Cata had a great start but the last patch was quite bad outside of the Dungeons.

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Yes! New feature for 10.0: Trees you can walk on.

I wanted to say we already have that in Korthia but these weird trees have parts were you definitively can't walk on them and just fall of randomly ....

[Hitei]

There were new westfall terrain textures in BfA beta, if those are the first signs (that I remember) it might imply this having started during Legion.

I'll add my vote to before Legion, since Legion (alpha) itself contained a whole bunch of updated creature models from the old world.

[Dracullus]

Expansion reveal mid 2022? Are you folks nuts? That's a late 2022 release.

In the condition the game is in, with a coming patch that is nothing more than staying on the course the game has trekked so far, Blizzard is pretty much agaisnt a wall.

They either rush the next xpac out and deal with the aftermath of another half-assed product, or they take their sweet time polishing it while also dealing with the consequences of having their players play a..... empty patch.

If 9.2 is similar to 9.1, people will have waaaaay more to do than in 6.2 or even 5.4. We simply live in world with M+ and cosmetic game 10x bigger than in older expacs (which is evergreen, so content stack up if you don't complete it). And somehow game not only survived both these 14 months droughts, but also both WoD and Legion after this had huge launch hype, even bigger than BfA and SL.

But main problem is that many people are simply burned out with modern WoW formula (7.0-9.2). People need some break (especially streamers that played 24/7 15 years and whine that nothing is exciting anymore), devs need solid expac with fresh ideas.

[Ersula]

Bull, you can sustain an MMO with 200k subs easily, even less, especially if you filter them down to shop goblins and the hardcore addicts that plague this forum. I also think your 1.5m is rather high as an implied number of current (retail) subs. Then you also have alot of the classic subs that currently prop up the subscriptions anyway.

Yeah, like I said, exactly just like Hots.

How long has it been since HotS got new content? 2 years? Everquest hit those numbers & Sony sold it. That's the model I based my statement on.

[Kiivar86]

Demonhunter -> Night Warrior for Alliance (use Tyrandes star form instead of Metamorphosis)
-> Shadow Hunter for Horde (use Troll Loa forms instead of Metamorphosis)

Feels a bit odd for a Blood Elf to do that, honestly. Especially given history between them and trolls.

Problem is I don't really know what a BE would use instead.

[Hitei]

Yeah, like I said, exactly just like Hots.

How long has it been since HotS got new content? 2 years? Everquest hit those numbers & Sony sold it. That's the model I based my statement on.

HotS is nothing like an MMO. You can't compare their business models because their basic structure is completely different.

[draugril]

Feels a bit odd for a Blood Elf to do that, honestly. Especially given history between them and trolls.

Problem is I don't really know what a BE would use instead.

Anything Phoenix-based would be awesome. And I hate Elves.

[Lady Atia]

Feels a bit odd for a Blood Elf to do that, honestly. Especially given history between them and trolls.

Problem is I don't really know what a BE would use instead.

Of course the Shadow Hunter skin wouldn't be usable by blood elfs, but by Trolls and Zandalari Trolls. I would keep class skins totally seperate from their parent classes, similiar to Allied Races. You would be able to use a race change and switch to a class skin, or you have to level a new alt.

[Hugnomo]

Honestly they just need to apply the Arathi/Darkshore formula to all zones from Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdoms and maybe even Northrend if they have the ressources. HD revamp, Rare spawns that drop mounts and toys, treasures, worldquests and maybe one bigger story zone questline that tells us what the current status quo of said zone is that leads into a Dungeon. Together with pet battles this would create evergreen content and a fresh way to level new alts.

Other things I would like to see in 10.0 (but I know we prolly won't get it ...):

- HD update for Classic/TBC mounts with additional new tints to farm in the world
- Covenant Allied Races (either as pre-order bonus or for 9.2.5)
- Solo Q for RBG's (I don't really care about arena, but there should be a way to get rating in battlegrounds without having to form a group manually. Make it so that only solo players q together and change the rating formula and you can revive the classic bg feeling)
- Class Skins that use the underlying mechanics of a class to make something new that would be too niche for a full class so you don't have to worry about balancing. F.e.:
Hunter -> Dark Ranger
Monk -> Blademaster
Druid -> Tinker
Warlock -> Necromancer
Shaman -> Spellblade
Paladin -> Voidknight
Mage -> Azuresworn (basically blue fire)
Demonhunter -> Night Warrior for Alliance (use Tyrandes star form instead of Metamorphosis)
-> Shadow Hunter for Horde (use Troll Loa forms instead of Metamorphosis)
- a third spec for Demonhunter that uses a bow (inspired by Hearthstone)
- Seasonal Elite sets for M+ (I wouldn't mind if they re-use the pvp appereances tbh ...)

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Cata had a great start but the last patch was quite bad outside of the Dungeons.

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I wanted to say we already have that in Korthia but these weird trees have parts were you definitively can't walk on them and just fall of randomly ....

I love, love, love these ideas. On covenant races yeah, pretty straightforward, I've been wanting them since the announcement.
Your ideas for class skins are also really exciting! Demonhunters' really stood out to me, the idea of faction based night warrior/ shadowhunter is amazing! That's an incredible idea to me.
Dark Ranger - Hunter, Necromancer - Warlock, Tinker - Druid, are all great ideas as well that would fit very well. And they're still different enough to explore their own lore niche. Blademaster orcs, Gnomes and Goblins tinkers, Forsaken dark rangers, troll shadowhunters, etc. These are all very iconic to their respective races and cultures, it would be amazing to see them playable.

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Of course the Shadow Hunter skin wouldn't be usable by blood elfs, but by Trolls and Zandalari Trolls. I would keep class skins totally seperate from their parent classes, similiar to Allied Races. You would be able to use a race change and switch to a class skin, or you have to level a new alt.

Yep, completely agree.