Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Ersula]

With the revamp of Azeroth some may wonder the fate of two of the core races.

Night elves will start in revamped Nordrassil as their main hub and a redone Hyjal as the starting zone. The initial night elf experience focuses on renewal and the greater part that Elune plays. Forsaken start with their main hub in Strathholme and focus on Calia and the light. This will be a reverse of the current landscape with the blighted Undercity as a new higher level dungeon.

A world revamp will very likely revamp Kalimdor & Eastern Kingdoms *for level 60-70*

Redoing the level experience in Cata took development time away from levelcap content & is something they would want to avoid, especially now after finally getting the leveling system to something they wanted in 9.0 so they wouldn't just revamp that *again*

So they might settle in new places but they're not going to design new starting hubs.

- - - Updated - - -

Unimportant question the Light and Void clashing, and were the first ones around before or after it. /tryingtokeepthethreadgoing

That the naaru also fought the legion & the way some of them talk about nature worship leading to corruption reminds us that the Light & Void are not particularly at war as much as they are at war with *all* the other forces.

In fact I'm calling it, the next villains will be Turalyon & Alleria doing a tyranny of the light storyline but it's them ushering in an alliance of light & void against all of creation

[Sharby]

Every time a Windrunner Sister gets mentioned I feel like the convo is gonna' get de-railed super hard.


OT:

The thing I feel like people are missing is that the Cata revamp was so drastic because the theme was Armageddon and they had to redo-each zone entirely to reflect this. There's nothing explicitly saying they have to be as extreme with 10.0 updates.

I wouldn't mind if they did the mini touch-ups they did to zones like Darkshore/Arathi/Vale/Uldum etc. I think that would be enough to make them feel "new" and would conserve resources for more important/new zones. Just updating the old environment graphics and perhaps re-touching the quests to be modernized would be cool.

This is purely my opinion but honestly if they applied the design mixture of world quests/bonus objectives/side quests idea to every zone instead of a central questline I think that would be neat. Would also tie into the whole "heroes for hire" fantasy instead of the PC being the one that always does everything.

Exile's reach showed that they aren't afraid to go out of their way to make a starting experience fun even if it might be costly (I mean the entire thing had two entire voice-overs per faction, that's pretty hefty.) Could be a one-off but I like to be optimistic that it is a sign of things to come.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

They didn't update every zone for Cata, thats the thing. I'm not saying they will now but every single zone didn't get updated. Kinda wish they did but were ambitious.

[Luck4]

They didn't update every zone for Cata, thats the thing. I'm not saying they will now but every single zone didn't get updated. Kinda wish they did but were ambitious.

I don't think Blizzard can revamp every zone this time either, but as I said in another thread, Cataclysm's revamp was more focused on preparing zones for flying and quests for leveling, and on top of that they made 5 new zones. This time around the focus needs to be on graphics, campaign quests (10-20 quests with huge lore importance), and high-level replayability (world quests and collectibles).

- Graphics

Think about BFA Arathi and the Battlegrounds Remasters:


- Campaign Quests

Instead of addressing local problems, finding lost people/animals, picking up droppings, and helping strangers, think about something more tied to big events, like 5 quests helping Dwarves rebuild their dam, and another 5 to fill up their lake, and another 5 to get rid of a threat in Loch Modan. Minor details and smaller stories of the zone can be maintained through the Cataclysm version.

I'm not gonna lie, I think this would be a huge improvement as well. Because after doing Loremaster of every single zone, I think it's boring that most quests carry little lore importance. Blizzard waste too many resources in quests.

- High-Level Replayability

World Quests could be used to incentive exploration in places that campaign quests don't show, and to avoid burnout Blizzard could enable a set of zones each day instead of all at once.

Rare spawns and treasures spread across Azeroth.

Dungeons and Raids are all located in the Revamped World.

[Chickat]

What about an expansion on the moons of azeroth?

[LordKharon]

Is there any semi current estimate of how many ppl work on WoW? Some ppl (art/music) will be shared amongst other Blizz games at least some of the time, but the rest? Is it <100 or more like 300+? This year especially it felt like there are just 10 devs left in a basement doing what they do...

Edit: Next expansion at least will be back on Azeroth. They said "more down to earth/good old WoW" content.

[Sondrelk]

What about an expansion on the moons of azeroth?

It's a cool idea, but without an actual firm understanding and buildup to what we would actually expect to find there it might as well be any random planet we have not yet visited.
Might be cool as a one-off raid or something if we learn there is a titan facility there or something similar, but it would really struggle to hold an entire expansion afloat. At least currently.

[KainneAbsolute]

A part of me would like order hall (maybe Allied Races) campaigns in normal Azeroth. I would like to know how some stories continue.

[ExiHext]

What about an expansion on the moons of azeroth?

Please not. I already hear the FFXIV fans: "Blizz copying Endwalker right after copying ShB!!!" Never understood where they copied Shadowbringers (and I played it myself) besides both expacs starting with "shadow". And I guess Blizz wasn't like: "ooh, squeenix calls their expac Shadowbringers, we have to do an expac in the shadowlands." Those things were decided long before and are merely a coincidence.

[Makabreska]

Please not. I already hear the FFXIV fans: "Blizz copying Endwalker right after copying ShB!!!" Never understood where they copied Shadowbringers (and I played it myself) besides both expacs starting with "shadow". And I guess Blizz wasn't like: "ooh, squeenix calls their expac Shadowbringers, we have to do an expac in the shadowlands." Those things were decided long before and are merely a coincidence.

I don't really think we should be bothered by opinions of fans from other games. But I personally wouldn't want some weird moon trips, it would be another instance of creating entire new lore on the fly plus retconning existing. Also, the thought of moons having actual ecosystems teeming with less and more sentient life (with settlements and such) is just weird. Not to mention this is quite far from grounded Azeroth expac devs been hinting at.

[huth]

Please not. I already hear the FFXIV fans: "Blizz copying Endwalker right after copying ShB!!!" Never understood where they copied Shadowbringers (and I played it myself) besides both expacs starting with "shadow". And I guess Blizz wasn't like: "ooh, squeenix calls their expac Shadowbringers, we have to do an expac in the shadowlands." Those things were decided long before and are merely a coincidence.

Wouldn't the timing have made that impossible anyway? Especially with the speed of Blizzard's dev pipelines.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't really think we should be bothered by opinions of fans from other games. But I personally wouldn't want some weird moon trips, it would be another instance of creating entire new lore on the fly plus retconning existing. Also, the thought of moons having actual ecosystems teeming with less and more sentient life (with settlements and such) is just weird. Not to mention this is quite far from grounded Azeroth expac devs been hinting at.

Any expansion at all will result in that, necessarily. Though i don't really see why they would have to retcon anything for us to go to the moons, and having a Un'goro/Sholazaar like facility there wouldn't be terribly surprising. Doesn't have to be high stakes or anything either, could be as simple as the Gnomes/Goblins building some way there and the Goblins/Gnomes not wanting to let them one-up them, so they ask us for help and it's mostly exploration.

[Lady Atia]

I don't think Blizzard can revamp every zone this time either, but as I said in another thread, Cataclysm's revamp was more focused on preparing zones for flying and quests for leveling, and on top of that they made 5 new zones. This time around the focus needs to be on graphics, campaign quests (10-20 quests with huge lore importance), and high-level replayability (world quests and collectibles).

- Graphics

Think about BFA Arathi and the Battlegrounds Remasters:


- Campaign Quests

Instead of addressing local problems, finding lost people/animals, picking up droppings, and helping strangers, think about something more tied to big events, like 5 quests helping Dwarves rebuild their dam, and another 5 to fill up their lake, and another 5 to get rid of a threat in Loch Modan. Minor details and smaller stories of the zone can be maintained through the Cataclysm version.

I'm not gonna lie, I think this would be a huge improvement as well. Because after doing Loremaster of every single zone, I think it's boring that most quests carry little lore importance. Blizzard waste too many resources in quests.

- High-Level Replayability

World Quests could be used to incentive exploration in places that campaign quests don't show, and to avoid burnout Blizzard could enable a set of zones each day instead of all at once.

Rare spawns and treasures spread across Azeroth.

Dungeons and Raids are all located in the Revamped World.

This - also give us an update to classic and tbc mounts with additional skin tones spread over the world.

Edit: Also I love the new Shadowlands mounts but I can't wait to see basic versions of stags, more spiders, whasps, wombats and more back on Azeroth!

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Moon exploration wouldn't bother me if it was more titan knowledge so on and so forth and a dash of Old god experiements. I realize for some Old gods are old hat but it wouldn't hurt to be reminded of them. We'll be back on Azeroth though and not on the moon in a year or so.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Is there any semi current estimate of how many ppl work on WoW? Some ppl (art/music) will be shared amongst other Blizz games at least some of the time, but the rest? Is it <100 or more like 300+? This year especially it felt like there are just 10 devs left in a basement doing what they do...

Edit: Next expansion at least will be back on Azeroth. They said "more down to earth/good old WoW" content.

The reality is that they have no incentive to make content in the game because they know that the period between the 2 year cycles is just a strain on cost. It is why they've essentially abandoned the game beyond a clear checklist of content for x.1/x.2/x.3 and made sure to make it as cost reduced as possible. (3x Raid + Megadungeon + 2 Content Islands somewhere in this ballpark)

The fundamental reality is that WoW only needs to be percieved as having content for people to not question it aka releasing seasons in a timely manner. Shadowlands has showcased that players won't question lack of content until it is so obviously clear to them. WoW has had a content problem for several expansions now.

Bobby Kotick has expressed his need for more development resources since the Legion Quarterly Earnings Reports, they've actively hired more and more developers but as always Team 2s' numbers and how they operate is a very good secret to keep because it lets idiots make narratives about the most ridiculous nonsense. If they've hired more why does the game feel like it gets less and less content over the years?

The next expansion doesn't seem logical to be what it is due to the lack of resources that has been clearly shown to the playerbase. The work necessary for a full scale Return to Azeroth expansion would require a much longer period of development than what is given to them with a estimated Q4 2022 release date.

Not to speak of the fact that people are leaving Blizzard Entertainment in droves due to the current ongoing issues that will also put a strain on production and its' a lot easier to quit when you're not holed up in the office where you're supposed to sleep at due to a Pandemic. Not to speak of future concerns with Leadership being Permanent WFH.

[UndedoKoleda]

So, do we expect PTR going up tomorrow(monday) or will they wait till the reset?

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

10_ZM_Saezurah_Awakens_STM = Just a scene



Transcript:

"
Midnir.
Rethul.
Kasaharu.
An'qoth.
Vessel.
Dormant above the sands.
Ascend.
"

The Fallen Oracles' name is Dausegne

Who's Saezurah? Any anagrams?

Likely this cinematic is tied to: "9.2.0_[OVI]_Oracle_Vision_IGC"

[Raetary]

Jesus, the cutscene is awkward.
They really need to start working on expanding on their standard model animations, its baffles me how they haven't done so already with how much they utilize cutscenes.


That the 'floating' animation is still just the characters swimming in mid air is ridiculous.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

I am so tired of one line sentences and mystery boxes as the driving force of the narrative.

They are writing the story as if they just got introduced to roleplaying and haven't learned about paragraphs.

[Makabreska]

Jesus, the cutscene is awkward.
They really need to start working on expanding on their standard model animations, its baffles me how they haven't done so already with how much they utilize cutscenes.


That the 'floating' animation is still just the characters swimming in mid air is ridiculous.

There is really no need for that. Current animations easily support proper game engine custom cinematic, they just don't use them when player character is involved.

Also, work in progress.

[Hugnomo]

Jesus, the cutscene is awkward.
They really need to start working on expanding on their standard model animations, its baffles me how they haven't done so already with how much they utilize cutscenes.


That the 'floating' animation is still just the characters swimming in mid air is ridiculous.

It's obviously still in a very early stage.