Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Jokubas]

Eh it's about as dumb as it always is.

Yeah, and that always has me torn about "leak season."

I used to look forward to the leaks because, early on, I only ran into one or two, and one of them was legitimate. The reason I originally came to MMOChampion was because the Cataclysm leak was reposted on the official forums from here, and after dismissing the real Wrath of the Lich King leak back in the day (I thought Death Knight being called a Hero Class meant that it was a faker who didn't know what a Hero Class was, I was too young to consider that Blizzard could just change the definition) I adapted and immediately pegged the MMOChampion Cataclysm leak as the real one (it originated somewhere else, but that's as far back as I followed the trail). At some point (honestly, around that same time, I think), it seems like that reputation caught on and people starting trying to exploit it by making their own "leaks" to trick people.

That made it a lot less fun because you weren't getting a real scoop. Since it only seemed to get worse every expansion cycle from then on, however, I tried to roll with it. These days I try to have fun with them by saving them and then comparing them to the real thing later on. It's fun to see the ones that try really hard to convince you they're real after you can compare them directly. It's also fun to sometimes see ones that ended up close by coincidence but clearly didn't know. Then there are things like an early Legion one which boiled down to "a friend of a friend told me about this thing he saw" that, in hindsight, I think actually was real, but the third hand information part of it was so honest that it meant the information was corrupted telephone game-style.

In general though, I don't care much for the "leaks". I still enjoy speculation, but I'd rather have things like Kul Tiras armor textures as the basis. ;P

[WheresT]

Forgot about the Westfall texture, but so did Blizzard so I don't feel that bad about it. Fair point on the night elf buildings.

Is it still in the files??

[AOL Instant Messenger]

My money is on being able to actually play Hearthstone or connect to the game within WoW.

That could be interesting, but it would be a weird decision. Then again, this is the company who tried Twitter integration, so I'm not surprised that they may try something weird and seemingly-superfluous like that.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Yeah, and that always has me torn about "leak season."

I used to look forward to the leaks because, early on, I only ran into one or two, and one of them was legitimate. The reason I originally came to MMOChampion was because the Cataclysm leak was reposted on the official forums from here, and after dismissing the real Wrath of the Lich King leak back in the day I adapted and immediately pegged the MMOChampion Cataclysm leak as the real one (it originated somewhere else, but that's as far back as I followed the trail). At some point (honestly, around that same time, I think), it seems like that reputation caught on and people starting trying to exploit it by making their own "leaks" to trick people.

That made it a lot less fun because you weren't getting a real scoop. Since it only seemed to get worse every expansion cycle from then on, however, I tried to roll with it. These days I try to have fun with them by saving them and then comparing them to the real thing later on. It's fun to see the ones that try really hard to convince you they're real after you can compare them directly. It's also fun to sometimes see ones that ended up close by coincidence but clearly didn't know. Then there are things like an early Legion one which boiled down to "a friend of a friend told me about this thing he saw" that, in hindsight, I think actually was real, but the third hand information part of it was so honest that it meant the information was corrupted telephone game-style.

In general though, I don't care much for the "leaks". I still enjoy speculation, but I'd rather have things like Kul Tiras armor textures as the basis. ;P

I definitely noticed with the last leak cycle Blizz got better at not leaving "accidental" clues and as such the leaks got a lot more boring to me. It wasn't multiple interpretations of something we knew for a fact, it was just scrolling down a fanfiction site and seeing everyone's headcanons and AUs.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Forgot about the Westfall texture, but so did Blizzard so I don't feel that bad about it. Fair point on the night elf buildings.

Those I'd think are cut Warfronts, though it does seem odd that they'd choose Westfall of all places, or add Night Elf buildings, which implies another Night Elf warfront, which is very superfluous. It sounds like something to prod at, at least, given that it's something that doesn't make sense if you take the most logical explanation.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Oh I just realized. Could World Tree 2 have been related to that HD Nordrassil that people noticed in some Shadowlands cinematic?

[WheresT]

That could be interesting, but it would be a weird decision. Then again, this is the company who tried Twitter integration, so I'm not surprised that they may try something weird and seemingly-superfluous like that.

It doesn’t seem superfluous to me, it seems similar to the Golden Saucer. People want more chill stuff to do in WoW so they can “live” in the game, Hearthstone accessible in the game itself sounds like it would fit that niche.


And probably come out faster than housing.

[Marlamin]

Is it still in the files??

All of them are, yes.

Oh I just realized. Could World Tree 2 have been related to that HD Nordrassil that people noticed in some Shadowlands cinematic?

Very possible, but those cinematics are usually done outside of the game engine so unless they wanted it to appear in-game at some point it wouldn't really have a place in the client.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Oh I just realized. Could World Tree 2 have been related to that HD Nordrassil that people noticed in some Shadowlands cinematic?

That's wholly possible, but it is a cinematic asset—I honestly maintain that it was probably just a single scene for the cinematic, and I wouldn't take it as absolute proof of anything regarding a Hyjal revamp. However, I would definitely hope it indicates a world revamp—as in the spirit of the Sylvanas cinematic background, which look very much like a world revamp would to me.

[WheresT]

Those I'd think are cut Warfronts, though it does seem odd that they'd choose Westfall of all places, or add Night Elf buildings, which implies another Night Elf warfront, which is very superfluous. It sounds like something to prod at, at least, given that it's something that doesn't make sense if you take the most logical explanation.

I don’t think they would use the updated inn for a warfront, is a place to give quests and everything. The new model is actually very very pretty and I believe it comes in multiple colors: there’s a green roof version in the files, which fits some areas, and then a darker color for the Darkshore one.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

It doesn’t seem superfluous to me, it seems similar to the Golden Saucer. People want more chill stuff to do in WoW so they can “live” in the game, Hearthstone accessible in the game itself sounds like it would fit that niche.


And probably come out faster than housing.

As awkward of a specific choice that would be, I could see the need for more RPG elements to make the world living. It's definitely seemed like the case to me that people vastly enjoy roleplay servers more than normal servers, and adding as many roleplay elements as possible could draw more people in.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

All of them are, yes.



Very possible, but those cinematics are usually done outside of the game engine so unless they wanted it to appear in-game at some point it wouldn't really have a place in the client.

That's what I'm thinking. It might not be a new World Tree so much as an updated Nordrassil model, to go with the updated Elwynn models, and the updated Westfall textures.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

I don’t think they would use the updated inn for a warfront, is a place to give quests and everything. The new model is actually very very pretty and I believe it comes in multiple colors: there’s a green roof version in the files, which fits some areas, and then a darker color for the Darkshore one.

Multiple recolors? Now I'm intrigued.

[WheresT]

That's wholly possible, but it is a cinematic asset—I honestly maintain that it was probably just a single scene for the cinematic, and I wouldn't take it as absolute proof of anything regarding a Hyjal revamp. However, I would definitely hope it indicates a world revamp—as in the spirit of the Sylvanas cinematic background, which look very much like a world revamp would to me.

The houses in the Sylvanas cinematic are the old house models, which was honestly confusing to me as Nathanos cinematic has a new model entirely for his house. But that one isn’t in the files, while the recolor human ones were in the files before the cinematic.

Either it was done before those models were created or they were left out deliberately so the mass audience wouldn’t notice the new models.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

That's what I'm thinking. It might not be a new World Tree so much as an updated Nordrassil model, to go with the updated Elwynn models, and the updated Westfall textures.

What I was thinking is that the cinematic model for Nordrassil isn't strictly hinting at anything. However, if there is a "WorldTree2", that has me thinking for sure. I'm not sure if that would be a new one, or if it's simply an updated Nordrassil.

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The houses in the Sylvanas cinematic are the old house models, which was honestly confusing to me as Nathanos cinematic has a new model entirely for his house. But that one isn’t in the files, while the recolor human ones were in the files before the cinematic.

Either it was done before those models were created or they were left out deliberately so the mass audience wouldn’t notice the new models.

So they are. I just rewatched Shattered Legacies and they are indeed the old models. I think the lighting had me fooled.

[WheresT]

What I was thinking is that the cinematic model for Nordrassil isn't strictly hinting at anything. However, if there is a "WorldTree2", that has me thinking for sure. I'm not sure if that would be a new one, or if it's simply an updated Nordrassil.

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So they are. I just rewatched Shattered Legacies and they are indeed the old models. I think the lighting had me fooled.

Now go check out the Nathanos vs Tyrande cinematic and notice how his house has a brand new HD model that I believe isn’t in the files.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Now go check out the Nathanos vs Tyrande cinematic and notice how his house has a brand new HD model that I believe isn’t in the files.

I would probably use my same argument for that as I did for Nordrassil, though—it's possible it's only for the sake of the cinematic. Occam's Razor and whathaveyou—however, I wouldn't take it entirely out of the equation that it could be a sign of updates to old zones, or reuse of old assets for something new.

[Marlamin]

It's always tough to tell if an asset was made purely for a cinematic or is based on a "revamped" in-game version of the model. These kind of things have go back a while, the tower used in the cinematic with Anduin/Saurfang is custom as well and hasn't appeared in the game either and you can probably go even further back to find stuff like this.

These could show up at one point, but I don't think that's happened yet for anything of which an updated model first appeared in a cinematic.

[WheresT]

I would probably use my same argument for that as I did for Nordrassil, though—it's possible it's only for the sake of the cinematic. Occam's Razor and whathaveyou—however, I wouldn't take it entirely out of the equation that it could be a sign of updates to old zones, or reuse of old assets for something new.

The only argument I have against the “is for the cinematics” is that the updates to old stuff in cinematics is all over the place. Nordrassil looks different as do the trees and grass of Hyjal, but Orgrimmar is in your face and looks Cata-era shitty. They update Nathanos’s house but they don’t update the buildings in the Sylvanas one (despite updating them in the files, which is very suspicious. they even have updated interiors!)

There’s too much weirdness and they seem too polished for window dressing IMO.

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It's always tough to tell if an asset was made purely for a cinematic or is based on a "revamped" in-game version of the model. These kind of things have go back a while, the tower used in the cinematic with Anduin/Saurfang is custom as well and hasn't appeared in the game either and you can probably go even further back to find stuff like this.

These could show up at one point, but I don't think that's happened yet for anything of which an updated model first appeared in a cinematic.

Isn’t there an updated watchtower in the files though? I remember seeing a picture of it.

[Marlamin]

Isn’t there an updated watchtower in the files though? I remember seeing a picture of it.

Yep, that's not it though.