Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Varodoc]

I'm hearing that since Legion. No, it's not close and no, it won't come. With all the stuff going on in 9.2.5 a world revamp would have made most sense. For 11.0 with a supposed Light/Void/Space theme? Uhm... no.

Is there anything wrong with a Light/Void/Space theme, btw?

It seems like a natural expansion setting that has been set up at least since 7.3, which, as a reminder, the community loved.

Sargeras was terrified of the Void Lords.
Alleria and Turalyon, who returned from Argus, now lead the Alliance.
Locus-Walker, first met in Mac'aree, remains a major player aligned with Alleria's Ren'dorei. In Mac'aree, a band of evil Etherals worshippers of the Void is discovered.
Xal'atath's whereabouts are still unknown.

It seems like a natural setting for an expansion.

[Sondrelk]

I honestly don't see it happening. Why revamp the world when Chromie Time exists? It made sense with Cataclysm because they didn't have the technology at the time but now it is just wasted resources and they didn't even revamp everything. So would we get a revamp of EK and Kalimdor again with out every zone being touched? What about Nothrend, Outland, Pandaria?

The way Blizzard has been doing it makes the most sense. Update an old zone when it makes sense for the story otherwise leave them be.

A revamp makes sense because you need somewhere to spend the expansion, and now that the Dragon Isles are used there isn't really anywhere obvious for the next expansion to take place.

You would do the same things you do in s normal expansion, just with a world revamp instead of an entirely new continent conjured from the ether.

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Is there anything wrong with a Light/Void/Space theme, btw?

It seems like a natural expansion setting that has been set up at least since 7.3, which, as a reminder, the community loved.

Sargeras was terrified of the Void Lords.
Alleria and Turalyon, who returned from Argus, now lead the Alliance.
Locus-Walker, first met in Mac'aree, remains a major player aligned with Alleria's Ren'dorei. In Mac'aree, a band of evil Etherals worshippers of the Void is discovered.
Xal'atath's whereabouts are still unknown.

It seems like a natural setting for an expansion.

I doubt Blizzard is going to risk another cosmic expansion set outside Azeroth or Draenor again so soon after the failure of Shadowlands.

Space travel stuff should be a chunk of an expansion, not the biggest part.

[Varodoc]

A revamp makes sense because you need somewhere to spend the expansion, and now that the Dragon Isles are used there isn't really anywhere obvious for the next expansion to take place.

You would do the same things you do in s normal expansion, just with a world revamp instead of an entirely new continent conjured from the ether.

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I doubt Blizzard is going to risk another cosmic expansion set outside Azeroth or Draenor again so soon after the failure of Shadowlands.

Space travel stuff should be a chunk of an expansion, not the biggest part.

The difference between Shadowlands and K'aresh is that people have wanted to go to K'aresh since TBC and the Ethereals are the most requested non-playable race.

Meanwhile, no one cared about the Shadowlands until BfA started dropping heavy hints in 8.1 with the Vol'jin questline.

Back in Legion, no one cared about Shadowlands (Helya wasn't associated to it back then, btw). Go back to the Legion forums and no one was talking about it, while you would probably come across many posts/threads asking for playable Ethereals.

[Dracullus]

Taking half a year from announcement to alpha only makes sense when their announcements are tied to Blizzcon.

This time they had nothing preventing them from announcing the game straight into alpha. The PR reels they showed us on the reveal contain pathetically little info so they can't even get any feedback from the reveal.

And nothing prevented them from revealing Legion on Blizzcon. They do this so people have something to wait for. Do you seriosly bitch that we are not stuck with 9.2/9.2.5 news? Because this is what you asking if reveal would happen right before Alpha.

[Lady Atia]

The difference between Shadowlands and K'aresh is that people have wanted to go to K'aresh since TBC and the Ethereals are the most requested non-playable race.

Meanwhile, no one cared about the Shadowlands until BfA started dropping heavy hints in 8.1 with the Vol'jin questline.

Back in Legion, no one cared about Shadowlands (Helya wasn't associated to it back then, btw). Go back to the Legion forums and no one was talking about it, while you would probably come across many posts/threads asking for playable Ethereals.

I surely cared more for the Shadowlands (which are actually awesome btw) than I do for boring K'aresh. I would rather get the propper realm of light and void than some random ruins.

[Varodoc]

I surely cared more for the Shadowlands (which are actually awesome btw) than I do for boring K'aresh. I would rather get the propper realm of light and void than some random ruins.

Of course you did, I had no doubt about it. Shadowlands are so awesooome batchest

[Sondrelk]

The difference between Shadowlands and K'aresh is that people have wanted to go to K'aresh since TBC and the Ethereals are the most requested non-playable race.

Meanwhile, no one cared about the Shadowlands until BfA started dropping heavy hints in 8.1 with the Vol'jin questline.

Back in Legion, no one cared about Shadowlands (Helya wasn't associated to it back then, btw). Go back to the Legion forums and no one was talking about it, while you would probably come across many posts/threads asking for playable Ethereals.

Pretty sure players have talked about the Shadowlands ever since WotLK actually, so not really that far off from K'aresh.

Besides, the problem with K'aresh and other cosmic expansions like that isn't really whether players want them or not but whether players engage with it when it's out, and this tends to require a good mix of elements they know alongside new stuff. Shadowlands had far too little focus on stuff we knew so it fell flat, and while you could have K'aresh as a interstellar roadtrip it's still more alien than even Argus, and that was just a single patch.

[Varodoc]

Pretty sure players have talked about the Shadowlands ever since WotLK actually, so not really that far off from K'aresh.

Nope, I was very active on the Official forums back then in Legion and no one talked about it.

Besides, back then, the Shadowlands were depicted as just a ghostly version of Azeroth and/or some endless dark forest.

it's still more alien than even Argus

People loved patch 7.3.

[Sondrelk]

Nope, I was very active on the Official forums back then in Legion and no one talked about it.

Besides, back then, the Shadowlands were depicted as just a ghostly version of Azeroth and/or some endless dark forest.



People loved patch 7.3.

Players loved parts of Argus, mostly I remember players disliked how you had two of the samey black and green zones everyone was already tired of.

And beyond that I think players liked it because it was a patch. They didn't need to spend too much time there compared to Shadowlands where you spend two years growing progressively more bored of it.

[rhorle]

A revamp makes sense because you need somewhere to spend the expansion, and now that the Dragon Isles are used there isn't really anywhere obvious for the next expansion to take place. You would do the same things you do in s normal expansion, just with a world revamp instead of an entirely new continent conjured from the ether.

They can do that with out a world revamp though. Just do a few zones for the expansion like with Cataclysm and not the full revamp. There is no reason to revamp zones outside of expansion leveling and end game. Everything is essentially conjured from the ether even a world revamp. Because they are creating the "threat" or story from nothing to justify whatever.

A revamp or a new continent/zone is just the same thing.

[Nyel]

Is there anything wrong with a Light/Void/Space theme, btw?

Huh? Light / Void / Space doesn't fit a world revamp narrative, that was my point. I understand the wish for a world revamp and I was totally on board, but anyone who thinks we're getting one - after Dragonflight doesn't revamp sh*t - is delusional, sorry. This was their last and most likely chance to do it. They don't. Give up the dream, another world revamp is never going to happen.

[rhorle]

Huh? Light / Void / Space doesn't fit a world revamp narrative, that was my point.

Why couldn't it? I think a cata style revamp will never happen but there is nothing saying that void, light, and space are themes that can't exist for an "end-game" revamp. The void could take over zones. The Light could take over zones. A cosmic/space threat could take over zones. For example we could have the Alt-Light take over some zones and we have to fight them off for the expansion. Or we could have Void Lords land on the planet and corrupt some zones.

Any theme works with a revamp because that is the entire point of a revamp, right? To create something new. Not to mention Old Gods are void-related so we could just have yet another old god threat.

[Lahis]

Is there anything wrong with a Light/Void/Space theme, btw?

It seems like a natural expansion setting that has been set up at least since 7.3, which, as a reminder, the community loved.

Sargeras was terrified of the Void Lords.
Alleria and Turalyon, who returned from Argus, now lead the Alliance.
Locus-Walker, first met in Mac'aree, remains a major player aligned with Alleria's Ren'dorei. In Mac'aree, a band of evil Etherals worshippers of the Void is discovered.
Xal'atath's whereabouts are still unknown.

It seems like a natural setting for an expansion.

Light/Void/Space expansion will come someday, but after shitty reception Shadowlands they are taking long break from cosmic anime escalation bullshit

[Varodoc]

Huh? Light / Void / Space doesn't fit a world revamp narrative, that was my point. I understand the wish for a world revamp and I was totally on board, but anyone who thinks we're getting one - after Dragonflight doesn't revamp sh*t - is delusional, sorry. This was their last and most likely chance to do it. They don't. Give up the dream, another world revamp is never going to happen.

Obviously, I'm not saying World Revamp expansion would be the same as K'aresh expansion.

I'm just saying that I am expecting the reception of a K'aresh expansion with playable Ethereal to be very good, much better than the reception that Shadowlands got for sure.

The community loves the Void and Ethereals.

[Lady Atia]

Obviously, I'm not saying World Revamp expansion would be the same as K'aresh expansion.

I'm just saying that I am expecting the reception of a K'aresh expansion with playable Ethereal to be very good, much better than the reception that Shadowlands got for sure.

The community loves the Void and Ethereals.

Yeah sure, mummies that don't have any customization options will surely be loved. I think the community would rather get Brokers than Ethereals at this point, they are far cooler anyways.

Also, after BfA no one wants another void expansion soon, and after Shadowlands people would rather get more azeroth stuff anyways.

[Sondrelk]

They can do that with out a world revamp though. Just do a few zones for the expansion like with Cataclysm and not the full revamp. There is no reason to revamp zones outside of expansion leveling and end game. Everything is essentially conjured from the ether even a world revamp. Because they are creating the "threat" or story from nothing to justify whatever.

A revamp or a new continent/zone is just the same thing.

You cannot realistically just create new zone that were always there to begin with unless you want to make them islands, at which point it becomes more of a South seas island exploration deal.

Point is that even creating new zones is just a stalling tactic compared to just taking a preestablished continent, slapping a fresh new cost of paint, continuing the storylines that you already had, and then have the expansion in that revamped continent.

Pirates will be just as relevant on Ogrezonia as they would be in Stranglethorn, and with the latter you have preestablished character and places players already enjoy like Zul'gurub. The only difference at that point is just whether you want the shiniest newest toy at all times, or whether you want practically new zones with some extra nostalgia sprinkled on top.

And of course there are storylines that cannot really be done outside EK and Kalimdor that should be resolved. Cant for instance imagine a Gilneas reclamation storyline working that well from the Undermine, no matter how many Worgen settlers you place there.

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Yeah sure, mummies that don't have any customization options will surely be loved. I think the community would rather get Brokers than Ethereals at this point, they are far cooler anyways.

Also, after BfA no one wants another void expansion soon, and after Shadowlands people would rather get more azeroth stuff anyways.

Can we take this time to acknowledge how pointless it was to differentiate Brokers and Ethereals? They both do the same thing, and both seem fully capable of teleporting both into and out of the Shadowlands with no issue whatsoever. You could have had all Brokers in Shadowlands replaced with Ethereals and it would have meant squat in terms of flow.

[Nymrohd]

Can we take this time to acknowledge how pointless it was to differentiate Brokers and Ethereals? They both do the same thing, and both seem fully capable of teleporting both into and out of the Shadowlands with no issue whatsoever. You could have had all Brokers in Shadowlands replaced with Ethereals and it would have meant squat in terms of flow.

We'd also have avoided the tired culture trope of the middle eastern merchant.

[Lahis]

Can we take this time to acknowledge how pointless it was to differentiate Brokers and Ethereals? They both do the same thing, and both seem fully capable of teleporting both into and out of the Shadowlands with no issue whatsoever. You could have had all Brokers in Shadowlands replaced with Ethereals and it would have meant squat in terms of flow.

When have Ethereals teleported into the Shadowlands?

[The Stormbringer]

I think Monks have several unique animations? So maybe the races need to have those animations added first?

Goblins and Lightforged should have them already I think - not so sure about Worgens tbh.

I'm sure this has been addressed, but every playable race has Monk animations. The reason being, there are toys and potions that can transform you into other races.

[rhorle]

You cannot realistically just create new zone that were always there to begin with unless you want to make them islands, at which point it becomes more of a South seas island exploration deal.

Twilight Highlands? Uldum? Mt. Hyjal? Slapping a fresh coat of paint on existing zones is the same thing as creating a new zone because you are creating a new zone. They don't need to revamp the world in order to zones for an expansion because we've already seen them do so for Darkshore, Arathi Highlands, and Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Where they revamp just what is needed for the story.

There is no real story line to continue in existing zones.