Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Makabreska]

Well out next year, but at least the end is in stone.

Shame he's getting a golden parachute on the way out, though. The guy should have been out on his ass last year.

It was always bound to happen like this. With the money he amassed, his shareholder buddies protection and his other ventures, the only thing that would be gained from his departure were his wounded pride and players satisfaction. Well ok, and the possibility of brighter future. And I would not be surprised if he was quickly picked up by some other gaming company.

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We had the leaks craze, now we'll have the "Microsoft will revolutionize WoW" craze, when realistically this would take years to even be felt.

And not even "revolutionize". It will be a hands free approach, like they have with Ubisoft. Which may be a good thing actually, less breathing down the necks of devs to grab that every penny from players.

[Xboxxer]

I wonder if we’ll see a return of the many devs that went on an exodus from WoW in the past few months. Considering a Lore (lol her sucks) implied Mike told none of the employees about this, maybe some of the ones that left are kicking themselves for running away?

[Shadochi]

Hopefully this gives Blizzard a big morale boost. Knowing that one of the key characters in the scandal is gone would be a huge relief for employees on the fence. I know I feel better about playing WoW knowing Kotick is out. Though it is a shame he will likely still profit from it.

I imagine this might cause a needed exodus of the ones left related to the scandal. I don't know how many are left one either way.

[Jokubas]

All the others yeah just seem like look at this wacky idea haha how wacky these leaks are.

Yeah, as the popular observation goes, unintentionally bad can be funny, but intentionally bad is usually just sad. I can enjoy some ridiculous ones, but if they're acting self aware it just sort of ruins the joke for me.

[The Stormbringer]

I swear, every week that passes without an announcement, we just get more and more crazed. Ugh... Blizzard please.

[Shadochi]

That first 10.0 Leak about the Dragon Isles with an awakened Azeroth got instabanned and the only one thats sounded plausible so far. All the others yeah just seem like look at this wacky idea haha how wacky these leaks are.

To be fair MMO-C mods have stated multiple times every leak season that they will not ban an expansion leak, the mods probably dont have this info so how would they know if real or not. (and just deleting the thread would be better if they had actual insider info).

The ban was probably an automated process to counter people making fake accounts for the 1-post-andy leaks. Have previous leaks been from users with 1 post or more? I believe Legion was from a older user, but BfA might've been from a new account.

[Valysar]

Apparently Blizzard must announce 3 things at the end of January. Someone on my discord said it. Any sources ?

(10.0, 9.2 release date, Wotlk classic ?)

[Shadochi]

Apparently Blizzard must announce 3 things at the end of January. Someone on my discord said it. Any sources ?

(10.0, 9.2 release date, Wotlk classic ?)

I feel like it is too early for WotLK classic announcement.

Maybe like they usually do on Blizzcon, the Whats Next announcement has info for expac (10.0) and the next patch (if we were to get 9.2.5)

[Revamp Man]

To be fair MMO-C mods have stated multiple times every leak season that they will not ban an expansion leak, the mods probably dont have this info so how would they know if real or not. (and just deleting the thread would be better if they had actual insider info).

The ban was probably an automated process to counter people making fake accounts for the 1-post-andy leaks. Have previous leaks been from users with 1 post or more? I believe Legion was from a older user, but BfA might've been from a new account.

They check to see if it’s an alt then ban it and in serious cases ban the main for like a month

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I feel like it is too early for WotLK classic announcement.

Maybe like they usually do on Blizzcon, the Whats Next announcement has info for expac (10.0) and the next patch (if we were to get 9.2.5)

The HS team I think has an announcement coming but idk if they are just doing it via Twitter

[Shadochi]

They check to see if it’s an alt then ban it and in serious cases ban the main for like a month

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The HS team I think has an announcement coming but idk if they are just doing it via Twitter

Ah my bad, I misread thinking you said 3 wow announcements.

[TBCCLOL]

Does it really sound credible? Black dragons as a race will never happen. First because it would be too much work trying to adapt all the regular race forms, next because it lists all classic classes as available options. This further means that they need to make room for a ton of new combinations of animations and gear. For example if a Black Dragon looking like a Night Elf rolled Shaman or Paladin.

No?

Just add horns to all race and is basically a worgen switch.


Rest is not even an issue since Blizzard never bother to fix the previous class/race combo animation and or gear animation and we can see it in the simple fact that 90% of the time the new sets or gear are displayed on humans.








Also until mid 2023 Microsoft will not be the "director" of WoW so the mediocre show will continue for at least 1 year.

[Vasoka]

Does it really sound credible? Black dragons as a race will never happen. First because it would be too much work trying to adapt all the regular race forms, next because it lists all classic classes as available options. This further means that they need to make room for a ton of new combinations of animations and gear. For example if a Black Dragon looking like a Night Elf rolled Shaman or Paladin.

Sure thing, buddy. Black Dragons as a race will never happen. And Shadowlands was fake too.





















Oh wait.

[Revamp Man]

Ah my bad, I misread thinking you said 3 wow announcements.

I mean they could pull 3 WoW announcements but if they announce 9.2.5 then they can’t announce a lot of what is coming because those are normally where they fix the issues they cause in patches

[TBCCLOL]

But anyway, yeah. Black dragons as a race will never happen, for the same reasons Worgens never happened. It's too impractical and the number of compromises they would have to make in order for it to work would just render the whole idea pointless.

Big true idd

[TheFirstOnes]

They really tryna soft reboot WoW huh?

[Jokubas]

I'll elaborate on the reason I think the black dragon race (if it's the leak I think we're talking about) sounds plausible to me. It's all about precedents.
1) Worgen set a precedent for a race with two forms.
2) Demon Hunter set a precedent for race customization that is not available to the normal members of that race.
3) One of the reasons Blizzard was excited for the new customization was because it made it a lot easier for them to break the standard mold.
4) Animations were mostly homogenized awhile back when it comes to combat.

Putting that together, it's not hard to imagine that the sort of the work they did on Demon Hunter, without the burden of class balance, and with a much more open customization system on the dev end, could be used to make a "race" that's basically deluxe customization for any other race. Also, black dragons come in with a solid built-in story hook of "rebuilding the black dragonflight while struggling with their dark past."

While I've been crossing my fingers that the unusual body elements the new customization allows would be used for things like two-headed ogres or naga tails, the dragon thing at least is consistent with that improved capability.

[She of Three Faces]

So what about the dragon mount pack they released before that..? Yeah 10.0 is 100% about dragonS OR dragons just play a big role in the story.

If you think about it, most of the dragons featured in the pack aren't true dragons, they mostly just resemble dragons in form. I don't think the pack means anything at all as to the theme of the next expansion. Packs are just bundles promoted to sell discounted mounts and pets. They had cat bundle some time ago selling all the cat mounts. I do, however believe that dragons will be major players in it. There are a lot of hints that imply it to be so. Did you read the part where I said I think the expansion is going to be about Dragons and the dragon isle, but not in totality? I think there will elements of life and renewal as well as rebuilding. It could be a neat expansion if they do it right.

[Luck4]

Do you guys think that other than announcing/promoting Activision/Blizzard titles on E3, Xbox/Microsoft will change anything on the company going forward?

People used to say that was Activision who destroyed the "good" old Blizzard, but how much truth is on that? I think now we're going to find out.

Btw, Microsoft is on a wild hunt, first Bethesda, now Activision Blizzard, who's next? EA? Ubisoft? Geez...

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Back on the thread...

I dunno guys, I still see very few reasons for why everyone thinks the next expansion is Dragon Isles. I mean, despite all the leaks, I'm barely seeing any dragon hints on the game.

The only good ones that I can think of are that pirate dragon model from Taza'vesh and the IE quest about Dragon Isles. I'm not even counting the Emerald Drake because, in my opinion, that drake is hinting more towards Lifelands/Gardens of Life/Emerald Dream than Dragon Isles.

[Jokubas]

Shadowlands was indeed fake when I made this account, because it was in response to the fake leak with ghostly ships in Stormwind Harbour that everybody gobbled up.

That screenshot is a good way to illustrate how the whole leak culture keeps changing.

Way back in the beginning, getting a leak at all basically meant it was real. There was no reputation around it, so no one really went out of their way to fake things. Oh there were a few jokes, but they tended to be pretty sloppy and intentionally humorous. If you saw a leak, it was probably real.

When the Mists of Pandaria trademark came out, fake trademarks wasn't really a thing. Afterward it inspired so many that Blizzard seemed to have found a way to just hide the real ones which is the only thing that really stopped those. In other fandoms I hang out in, though, no one bothers to fake trademarks, so they're still a real leak.

Before that Stormwind Harbor thing, fake cutscene screencaps weren't really a thing (and they still really aren't). That makes something notable all on its own. I'm not sure anything like that ever turned out to be real, but there's good reason to see it, especially at the time, as something on a different level.

It's really unfortunate that World of Warcraft's leaks have become such an infamous thing, because it means people actively try to make better and better fake ones. It's to the point where another leak tradition is the thread that asks if we've ever gotten a real one. Yeah, there's a real one pretty much every time, but every time they get drowned out by a larger and potentially better made deluge of fakes.

[Shadochi]

Do you guys think that other than announcing/promoting Activision/Blizzard titles on E3, Xbox/Microsoft will change anything on the company going forward?

People used to say that was Activision who destroyed the "good" old Blizzard, but how much truth is on that? I think now we're going to find out.

Microsoft is on a wild hunt, first then Bethesda, now Activision Blizzard, who's next? EA? Ubisoft?

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Back on the thread...

I dunno guys, I still see very few reasons for why everyone thinks the next expansion is Dragon Isles. I mean, despite all the leaks, I'm barely seeing any dragon hints on the game.

The only good ones that I can think of are that pirate dragon model from Taza'vesh and the IE quest about Dragon Isles. I'm not even counting the Emerald Drake because, in my opinion, that drake is hinting more towards Lifelands/Gardens of Life/Emerald Dream than Dragon Isles.

From what I read from various threads and reddit post comments, seems like MS Games does give leeway to acquired studios to take the time to deliver the product (cant remember exactly which studios and games were mentions), cutting short term profits for better long term returns.
But I don't personally see how this could be bad seeing the direction Acti-Blizz was heading. It will either help the studios get back up or just speed up the direction they were already going in, if it was the second I doubt even MS would just throw 70 mil.
It will probably not be until the next cycle of releases that we see noticeable changes. Don't know when the deal should be finalized. But come a patch season or two across all products we will hopefully be seeing effects. And hey maybe even earlier if Blizz employees see this as a good thing and it boosts morale.

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That screenshot is a good way to illustrate how the whole leak culture keeps changing.

Way back in the beginning, getting a leak at all basically meant it was real. There was no reputation around it, so no one really went out of their way to fake things. Oh there were a few jokes, but they tended to be pretty sloppy and intentionally humorous. If you saw a leak, it was probably real.

When the Mists of Pandaria trademark came out, fake trademarks wasn't really a thing. Afterward it inspired so many that Blizzard seemed to have found a way to just hide the real ones which is the only thing that really stopped those. In other fandoms I hang out in, though, no one bothers to fake trademarks, so they're still a real leak.

Before that Stormwind Harbor thing, fake cutscene screencaps weren't really a thing (and they still really aren't). That makes something notable all on its own. I'm not sure anything like that ever turned out to be real, but there's good reason to see it, especially at the time, as something on a different level.

It's really unfortunate that World of Warcraft's leaks have become such an infamous thing, because it means people actively try to make better and better fake ones. It's to the point where another leak tradition is the thread that asks if we've ever gotten a real one. Yeah, there's a real one pretty much every time, but every time they get drowned out by a larger and potentially better made deluge of fakes.

But one of the first "leaks" has been The List that people thought was real but was an elaborate fake list based on info like lore not yet explored, zones cut from dev or not visited yet