Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Nyel]

Someone pointed out, and I wonder if this might actually be the "best" end to Sylvanas.
What if at the end of Shadowlands we just leave Sylvanas in the Shadowlands to search for Nathanos. She doesnt come back, she doesnt get a fancy new title. She is just left in exile in the Shadowlands searching for Nathanos and we never see or hear from her again?

But we will see her again. If they leave her untouched, she's about to come back sooner or later. That's the point to keep her, isn't it?

[olddog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMcU1zWnws4

The new crown looks like trash.

Oh....God...



no.....

Blizzard...please stop this madness.

[Nyel]

Yeah I think they should have had her in the background for an expansion or two with just voice lines and trickles of lore about the jailer to get us used to him. Then give him much more screen time.

Exactly. She should have said some mysterious sh*t years ago, maybe not calling out Zovaal but saying something about a greater being of death or whatever. I mean this expansion, while technically Zovaal > Sylvanas, was Sylvanas > Zovaal with maybe factor 2:1. The entire exposure Sylvanas gets should have been focused on the Jailer instead.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh wow, Bolvar got some lines in this patch, outstanding.

[Super Dickmann]

Exactly. She should have said some mysterious sh*t years ago, maybe not calling out Zovaal but saying something about a greater being of death or whatever. I mean this expansion, while technically Zovaal > Sylvanas, was Sylvanas > Zovaal with maybe factor 2:1. The entire exposure Sylvanas gets should have been focused on the Jailer instead.

This entire plot hinges upon Sylvanas' interaction with the Jailer and how her view of death and her status relative to him changes as a result of seeing his endgame. The writing, from the way she explains her plans, to how he's presented and her moment of turning on him are all written through the lens of this groundwork being there. However, he didn't exist until 2 years ago and Sylvanas' prior status with him is something we're informed about only in the context of this expansion, when that status is no longer in place. It's a sequel building off material that doesn't exist or, with the upcoming book, may possibly exist after the entire plot has already run its course. It's uncanny.

Also hot fucking damn that new crown is hideous, even in the context of it just being a glorified key to open up the last wing. I do appreciate though that after the entire rigamarole about needing Sylvanas to save Anduin and then needing Anduin to fight the Bald Man the entire issue ends up being solved by the Primus and the DKs while those two contribute nothing. Sadly the characters won't take this opportunity to dunk the pair into Hell once they realize this.

[ExiHext]

Am I the only one not mad at the cinematic? Of all ways to partially redeem Sylvanas but still punish her, this was probably the best compromise.

To me, this is not a full redemption at all and that's the whole point of this video: it doesn't matter the best part of her soul was gone or locked away, those were still HER actions. They were unforgivable and she realises (and accepts?) she will have to pay for them and face consequences.

I don't know, I was expecting to hate whatever they'd come up with regarding Sylvanas, and I kind of like this. Let's wait and see, hoping they don't screw it up with the last chapter.

No, you are not. I like it, too. The thing is sh*tting on SL's story has become prevalent because people like being edgy it seems. At this point I ignore that constant bitching...it's like background noise to me.

Edit: Seeing how people get already mad at the crown is a perfect example...perhaps they should wait for WotLK servers to live their nostalgia. I couldn't care less about the crown or the helm...but there will surely be someone swinging the fanboi bat soon.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Its not for the Lich King anymore, the helm is mostly for the arbiter role now.

[ExiHext]

Its not for the Lich King anymore, the helm is mostly for the arbiter role now.

But..but...my precious helm!!!111

[Raetary]

I don't necessarily mind the fact that they changed the crown, but good god the new model is bad.


They could've at the very least kept the Silhouette.
Idk why they needed to turn it into some weird Tiara-esque thing.

Its not for the Lich King anymore, the helm is mostly for the arbiter role now.

Ah yes, its not for the LK anymore, so the terrible design is justified.

Lul, alright.

[UndedoKoleda]

Am I the only one not mad at the cinematic? Of all ways to partially redeem Sylvanas but still punish her, this was probably the best compromise.

To me, this is not a full redemption at all and that's the whole point of this video: it doesn't matter the best part of her soul was gone or locked away, those were still HER actions. They were unforgivable and she realises (and accepts?) she will have to pay for them and face consequences.

I don't know, I was expecting to hate whatever they'd come up with regarding Sylvanas, and I kind of like this. Let's wait and see, hoping they don't screw it up with the last chapter.

Next expansion should be about the Horde and Alliance starting a journey to find a way to split Sylvanas' soul again, so they can properly punish whichever part burned the damn tree, plague bombed Undercity, killed Saurfang and nearly split the Horde for second time. Someone has to answer for all these.

I, personally, will be rooting for a beheading in front of the gates of Orgrimmar.

[Diatribe]

Look Bob the Janitor worked hard in those precious 20 minutes it took him to model that new Crown. Cut him some slack, he's never even touched a computer before since coming out the bayou, but he's a fast learner.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Ah yes, its not for the LK anymore, so the terrible design is justified.

For the arbiter role, its fine and is more thematically correct. The person handling all the souls shouldn't really have this menancing look on it and I don't even know what you expected. the model isn't really bad, just a more "beautiful" esque design they went with.

[Sondrelk]

But we will see her again. If they leave her untouched, she's about to come back sooner or later. That's the point to keep her, isn't it?

Well yes, in the grand comic book tradition noone is ever gone forever unless you literally remove all traces of them.
However in the case of Sylvanas I would at least prefer if she is kept as far away as possible from the main plot as possible, so that when she returns it isn't in a grand fashion as someone important, but just someone who went away for a while.

Medivh is a good example. Blizzard wrote him so that he isn't important to the plot at all, but if they want to reuse him they can.
He isn't the grand overseer of the cosmos, or being the jailer of Sargeras. He is just kept out of the plot organically in a way that means he won't be relevant to anything we usually do, but can still be readded if we want.

[Hitei]

Exactly. She should have said some mysterious sh*t years ago, maybe not calling out Zovaal but saying something about a greater being of death or whatever.

I mean...

Helya the sorceress was doubtful of the keeper's plan. "Beings of death are ancient and powerful, great Odyn," she said. "To meddle in their realm is dangerous, even for one such as you." But Odyn would not be swayed, and so they began a ritual to see into the Shadowlands.

...

And yet still he saw death. He saw souls in torment, and souls in anguish, and the husks of the dead lay all around him. He saw ghostly wraiths with no face, and others with no form, and all were made of death itself. And as he saw, even the great Odyn, master of the Halls of Valor, chosen of Aman'Thul, was afraid.

Also,

Oh man. All this work put into one single character this expansion, it's insane. Think about it, Sylvanas was the center of most of BfA and now Shadowlands. I don't think they give her a new model just to kill her off in 9.2. So we're stuck with her for many more years. Not even Jaina got this much exposure.

At this point she is way more prominently featured than the Jailer. The Jailer, while being above her and everything else, just feels like a random dude next to Sylvanas' screentime.

I've pointed this out before, but no, Sylvanas was not even remotely the "center" of BfA. She barely shows up at all except at the very start, and then at the very end. The early expansion is about Kul Tirans and the Zandalari, not Sylvanas (And she's not even around for most of it because she just delegates to Nathanos), with Saurfang being the uncontestable center, and Magni's issues as a side plot. It transitions into Azshara, where again, Sylvanas is not really around or much involved, and then finally towards the end she shows up just long enough to get chased off (and even then, it's more focused around Saurfang than her). And then the rest of the expansion is about N'zoth and Titan/Azeroth stuff.

She was never a focus in BfA. Just rent free in people's heads because they never stopped obsessing over how she initially started the conflict.

[micwini]

Helm looks ugly and it seems that some material was lost, since it doesn't have any cover on the bottom of the face, like the domination helm.
However, this new headpiece might have something to do with this Ilgynoth line: "The golden one claims a vacant throne. The crown of light will bring only darkness."

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Helm looks ugly and it seems that some material was lost, since it doesn't have any cover on the bottom of the face, like the domination helm.
However, this new headpiece might have something to do with this Ilgynoth line: "The golden one claims a vacant throne. The crown of light will bring only darkness."

Or Turalyon on Anduin's throne atm since well there is an actual throne and well the arbiter is a role but no throne. Still not a bad theory though.

[AngerFork]

Helm looks ugly and it seems that some material was lost, since it doesn't have any cover on the bottom of the face, like the domination helm.
However, this new headpiece might have something to do with this Ilgynoth line: "The golden one claims a vacant throne. The crown of light will bring only darkness."

Perhaps, though really none of the people there fit the role of golden one & that isn't really a crown of light, despite it's shininess. I still think that line refers more to Turalyon who was remade by the Light, sits on the Stormwind throne that was vacant when Anduin was Mawsworn'd up to the Shadowlands, & seems very much like he could start a war on a few fronts at any point.

[Vakir]

God, it's a fucking quest green.

[shoc]

Oh....God...



no.....

Blizzard...please stop this madness.

Sad that this is what they come up with when we know they are capable of good shit like this:

[Raetary]

Should've just kept it as a helmet, somewhat like this:



Keep the antenas and weird, floating metal-plate-cheeks, just don't turn it into some oversized tiara.

[Edoll]

Better yet, don’t reforge the crown at all. Let it stay broken and fragmented. Just make a new crown altogether.