Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Varodoc]

Previous expansion announcements have also had a strict deadline in the form of Blizzcon. 10.0 is in a unique situation where it could be announcement at any time.
It could be announced right now with the trailer dropping on YouTube, or it could be announced at a big livestream in 2 months. At this points it's impossible to say.

Who the hell wants to wait 2 months for the next expansion reveal? Lol.

[Valysar]

Yeah boys, good things are coming

[Sondrelk]

Who the hell wants to wait 2 months for the next expansion reveal? Lol.

Noone does, but it could happen regardless.

[Jokubas]

Doesnt strike me as drakonoid form... more likes hes transforming into a drake and they tried to show that.

That's what I thought as well, but then, with the leak in mind, something else caught my attention about these images.

He has the molten blood.

As I mentioned when we first got that leak, molten blood was a corruption thing. The only time Wrathion had molten blood, it was because he was a fake. A reference to that fight is fine, but half his portraits being based on an impostor? Normally I may not have even noticed, or just complained about it being a mistake if I did, but after recent events it stands out.

I'm not saying this confirms that leak by a longshot, but getting that leak before this artwork is certainly more interesting than if we got it afterward.

Been thinking more and more about a possible dragon race like last week's leak.

If it happens, wouldn't it be better, customization wise, to have them be chromatic dragons instead. This way players can customize their dragon form to fit which ever dragonflight they like best.

That's definitely how I feel about it, even without having any particular investment in dragons. I'm always pro-customization, and 4/5 of dragon fans will feel deflated by a dragonflight-specific race.

But there's also totally been precedent for this sort of thing. "Wrathion is repopulating his people without his father's corruption" is definitely the kind of plot hook that would be used to give a race a strong hook and deeper customization at the cost of more varied customization. I'd prefer the alternative, but this is definitely the sort of thing that could happen.

[Edward Wu]

90% sure Ion will step down as Game Director of WoW now.

I have nothing against him personally, but dude has been way too quiet for way too long for it not to be weird at this point. What's even stranger is that he hasn't even played the game for months:
https://www.wowprogress.com/characte...anis/Gurgthock

Last logout 5 months ago. I understand being busy, but not playing the game you design for even once in 5 months? Suspect as hell.

[TheHodedOne]

90% sure Ion will step down as Game Director of WoW now.

I have nothing against him personally, but dude has been way too quiet for way too long for it not to be weird at this point. What's even stranger is that he hasn't even played the game for months:
https://www.wowprogress.com/characte...anis/Gurgthock

Last logout 5 months ago. I understand being busy, but not playing the game you design for even once in 5 months? Suspect as hell.

Pretty sure he should have many accounts for playing and testing things, but either way we know the does not give a damn about the game, they are all there for the money, that is why the game sucks so much, there is no passion left in that team.

I would bet he and almost every lead/director is going to leave Blizzard Once the fiscal year is over.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Of course there's passion on the team, good grief people.

[Arcinatoss]

Passion to drive this game into the ground maybe. gottem.

[infinitemeridian]

Maybe we'll get a d4 release date next week. Or the 5th class at least.

[Edward Wu]

They're the WoW version of oldheads. Best to do is just ignore it imo.

The amount of people who quit in the last 2 years vastly outnumber the people still playing.

You are in the minority with your opinion. This thread is literally a small safe space among a sea of criticism and sometimes hate for the game.

You are wrong. Sit down. Be humble. Shadowlands sucks.

[Nokster10]

Hey good for them for leaving. Shadowlands is actually dope as fuck though.

It's a bottom 2 expansion with wod

[Luck4]

Ok, guys, this leak doesn't leave my mind regardless of what I do, so I'm going to show you guys some "connections"...

But, hopefully, someone will find something that breaks it.

The Endless Dream
- Level 70
- Cross-faction grouping for all new content but not older stuff

It makes a lot of sense for me because Blizzard is lazy, and many dungeons and raids have different NPCs, dialog, cutscenes, and play out differently depending on the faction (SoO and BoD are a few examples).

- Two new races - Elarian and the Solline - they are very pale alien-looking people and cat people who worship the sun

Elarian probably has something to do with Elunaria/Elune, and that's why they look like aliens, pale, etc. Maybe the new set has something to do with it?

Solline is probably related to An'she, and the store cat mount could be tied to them?

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- 6 zones revamped - Hyjal (Alliance only), Lordaeron (Horde only), Silithus, Duskwood, Barrens, Hinterlands - although many other zones aren't updated but used as part of the story

Hyjal is well known to be the current home for some of the Night Elves refugees, and this could also explain the scene from the 9.0 pre-patch that everybody refuses to forget...

There's also something bothering me a lot recently about the Skyblazer mount:

It's literally the Night Elf Sentinel helmet. I mean, couldn't it be one of the new creatures of a revamped Hyjal?

And we shouldn't also forget about Blinky:

Lordaeron as a major zone makes a lot of sense considering that the Undead are homeless, scattered, and leaderless. There's much stuff to cover now that Sylvanas is gone, Calia is back, Undercity is more ruined than before, and we have Night Elves and Blood Elves dark rangers set loose. And we shouldn't forget that the zone was revamped, but only used for one scenario:

Silithus for me is a no-brainer, I mean, the fact that seems like everyone kinda forgot about that freaking sword there really bothers me...

Duskwood is interesting because it could be related to both the Dream portal there, the new Human buildings...

... and the fact that one of the new supposed dungeons are in Westfall, more on that that below.

Barrens is also a no-brainer for me because these were one of the few places that the Emerald Dream made manifest in the past...

...and Wailing Caverns is also known for having a connection with the Emerald Dream.

Hinterlands is a weird one, the only thing I can think of is the Dream portal, other than that, the lore is more about Dwarves and Trolls. There's also a High Elf hub there that was extensively talked about recently, but while popular that place would not have anything to do with the overall theme of the expansion. Sorry, HE fans.

- New dungeons will be very nostalgic - Wailing chasm, Tyr's Fall, Timbermaw depths, Moonbrook cellars, AQ dungeon, Maraudon, and some others

Most of these dungeons are related to the Emerald Dream, Night Elves, or Dragons to some extent.

Wailing Chasm: Wailing Caverns in Barrens has a connection with the Emerald Dream, the Chasm could be another branch in the same place?

Timbermaw Depths: Nothing big here other than the fact that it's probably located in/near Hyjal, the Timbermaw is the name of a faction of furbolgs, and this bearish race is said to be related to Ursoc, a Wild God. R.I.P Ursoc

Tyr's Fall: Tyr was the titan-keeper that helped Ysera, Alexstraza, Nozdormu, Malygos, and Neltharion against Galakrond.

Moonbrook Cellars: Moonbrook is the name of a small town in Westfall, while this place feels out of place, maybe this is the answer for the data-mined grass?

AQ Dungeon is a bit hard to tell but the War of Shifting Sand's main protagonists were the Night Elves and the Bronze Dragonflight, but since Sargeras's Sword is still there the story could be about it.

Maraudon is the burial place of Zaetar, one of the sons of Cenarius, another Wild God, and the place is filled with dryads, nymphs, and centaurs, fitting the general theme of the expansion like Timbermaw Depths.

- There's a dream world / living world type of element to all the zones which has to do with the Emerald Dream fading away after the events of the Shadowlands. The dream world is easily twisted by outside forces is seeping into the living world allowing them to create a new reality. The pantheon of the living are revealed to all be the myths and legends from the various races of Azeroth. They help you restore the dream piece by piece

I think this one makes a lot of sense because the Dream is connected with Azeroth's soul ("a dream born from Azeroth’s slumbering world-soul"), and since Zovaal will attack her heavily during the encounter, and she is still healing from Sargeras stab and we don't know how much time has passed, maybe this time she'll show different symptoms instead of bleeding Azerite she is going to have "fever dreams", hallucinations, coma, which will destabilize the Emerald Dream.

This plot would also fit really well with the lore build-up going on with Elune, Tyrande, and Ysera in 9.0.

This could also explain the data-mined "living" strings?

"LivingWorldProximityEnter",
"FlyLivingWorldProximityEnter",
"LivingWorldProximityLoop",
"FlyLivingWorldProximityLoop",
"LivingWorldProximityLeave",
"FlyLivingWorldProximityLeave",

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- Alliance and Horde races reconnect with each other - Dwarves help Tauren find their titan origin, humans and undead discover their ancestry and the sacred line of kings, trolls and night elves uncover the schism that Elune created and why some rejected her

Interesting bit considering that Azeroth will be at peace now that Sylvanas is gone? and Tyrande joined Anduin's/Jaina's team of letting Horde go unpunished with their repetitive/ongoing war crimes.

- The end of the Battle for Azeroth will be very important

This is the only one that feels weird to me, because the end of BFA was all about N'zoth and Nya'lotha followed by Sylvanas hunting, and I fail to see where the connection is. Did I miss something?

- Raid is Elunaria but starts out on Azeroth's white moon in a titan facility, have to save Elune from forces of oblivion

Elunaria isn't a random place, we visited it in Antorus briefly to save Eonar:

Btw, the left side of the pic is Zereth Mortis, I just put it there to mess with your heads guys.

You know... gaming industry... asset recycling...

- Tyrande will die but is reborn as Elune's daughter and watch over Azeroth on the Blue Child

I think this is BS, but I don't think everything on this leak will end up being true.

So, which mount would you choose for such expansion...

I mean, what else could it be?

PS: I dunno guys, if it's not near the real thing then this was the best leak I've seen so far for a VERY long time.

Which also could mean nothing!

[Vakir]

It's pretty good. It might be true, but it's also important to realize that the connections you made could've also been made backwards by the person who constructed it. They also know about the Living World, shop mounts/mogs, and emerald drake. From there it's some decent fan-fic.

[TheFirstOnes]

“Asset recycling”

They’re not the same in any form of manner. One is the Workshop of Death itself which holds the Sepulcher aka the very core of Deaths very origin and it’s purpose and reasoning for existing and being shaped, while the other is some hiding sanctuary world the Titan maintaining the order of Life within reality and the realms reality’s connected to from either the legion, Death, or the more “primal” forces like the Light, Life itself, the Void, and the Automa which wield powers and a force that predates and is the maker of the other 6 through thought and other irl expames humans, realistic examples of God, the Overvoid and Final Heaven, the Monitors, Record Keeper from FF, etc etc would provide for crazy scaling for such incomprehensible beings that can print out entire realms of infinitely complex layers that are transcendences above or beyond themselves or are pocket realms but share a ver similar effect and all that crazy shit lol

[Aeluron Lightsong]

They reuse assets....like all the damn time its also not Blizzard specific.

[TheFirstOnes]

It being green can be a meme all it was. You’re still got getting anyone here to laugh, nor are you making a relevant point regardless.

[Luck4]

@Luck4

God fucking damn it. Now that's gonna live rent free in my head for months.

That's why I decided to make this post, this "leak" is attached to my head. XD

[Vakir]

They reuse assets....like all the damn time its also not Blizzard specific.

The person in question specifically said "gaming industry," not "Blizzard Entertainment." Put away the shield and cape, Galahad.

In any event, people would probably be significantly less harsh on Zereth Mortis if they hadn't verbally hyped it so much in the reveal. It's a serviceable zone and that is about it.

But yeah. The sun, moon, and dream stuff is suspect in how often it comes around, but it also means people can make the same conclusions with that information.

[Luck4]

They’re not the same in any form of manner. One is the Workshop of Death itself which holds the Sepulcher aka the very core of Deaths very origin and it’s purpose and reasoning for existing and being shaped, while the other is some hiding sanctuary world the Titan maintaining the order of Life within reality and the realms reality’s connected to from either the legion, Death, or the more “primal” forces like the Light, Life itself, the Void, and the Automa which wield powers and a force that predates and is the maker of the other 6 through thought and other irl expames humans, realistic examples of God, the Overvoid and Final Heaven, the Monitors, Record Keeper from FF, etc etc would provide for crazy scaling for such incomprehensible beings that can print out entire realms of infinitely complex layers that are transcendences above or beyond themselves or are pocket realms but share a ver similar effect and all that crazy shit lol

I was not referring to the objects but the biome, the vegetation even uses the same lush green palette of Elunaria.

I mean, we've seen this before, 3.3.5 Ruby Sanctum with stuff from Twilight Highlands, 5.4 SoO and BRF were so aesthetically close that some people complained about it, 6.2 some objects were used in Broken Shore. But, ofc it's not a rule, I don't remember CATA 4.3 using MOP stuff, LEGION 7.3 using BFA stuff, or BC 2.4 with WOTLK stuff.

- - - Updated - - -

The person in question specifically said "gaming industry," not "Blizzard Entertainment."

Yeah, it's everywhere.

https://kotaku.com/the-clever-ways-g...urn-1835358385

- - - Updated - - -

It's pretty good. It might be true, but it's also important to realize that the connections you made could've also been made backwards by the person who constructed it. They also know about the Living World, shop mounts/mogs, and emerald drake. From there it's some decent fan-fic.

True, I'm not sure if it's true, but it's messing with my head.

[Revamp Man]

A broken clock is right twice a day.
If he keeps saying it then chances are that it will eventually be correct, if only because of random chance and the fluctuations of the universe.

My point is that he made the same statement that we have had since 5.4
Lore said it multiple times in interviews
Ion has said it
The previous president said it (can’t remember his name)
We have heard the same “we will do better and listen better” for over a decade and honestly it’s just fanfare at this point

I would happily be wrong because I do think that with bare minimum effort the company could produce more than hot garbage. I want devs that don’t treat customers like unwashed peasants that don’t understand how the games work until months later then say something like “that shit system actually made your experience better” or say “we changed this in testing weeks before launch so you are wrong” or “if you are worried about content delays over the aftermath of our sexual misconduct being exposed then you are the problem”

I want the dev attitude from MoP where it wasn’t “we will slow you down so much that the gap between the top and bottom players seems smaller” and where it was “you don’t need more gear to clear normal you need better play”

Rep grinds that felt rewarding and weren’t time gates by the amount of WQs available so I could spend hours killing a mob if I wanted to get the rep to buy the 4 colors of the same mount instead of a single mount and maybe a unique pet with a half-assed tabard all for the same price as the 4 mounts combined.

Patch content that I didn’t mind hanging out in and doing stuff with that felt meaningful instead of “you have done the 30 minute quest for the week come back Tuesday”

I want to believe him but history shows that people in his position lie