Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Nebron]

this leak season has been underwhelming for 2 reasons i think:

1) the algarian stormrider leak has mostly "set" the theme of the new expansion
2) the interest in the game is down

Altough true in essence, not sure about the latter being the cause. This forum was on fire whenever the Algarian Stormrider was datamined. It's more like there's really nothing to speculate about. We have absolutely no clue of what Khaz Algar really is, while with Dragon Isles, which were basically accepted as the theme for next expansion unanimously back then, it was much easier to get wild and still be partially correct. Please remember, that majority of 10.0 leaks were just re-iterations of Dragon Isles content, one way or another. Same happens for Khaz Algar / Avaloren these days, but everything about them is pretty much a blind guess - the closest to truth might be the existence of dwarves/earthrens and perhaps titan's influences. Other then that, as of today, is a fan fiction.

Also, the first serious "leak" happened with that weird looking creature, that sparked the debate whehter it's an orc / lightbound orc / stoneborn or something, and on the standards of previous leaks, that would be accepted as 100% legit with some refusing it as they always do. But since that one was debunked by the OP, the level of caution increased dramatically, so the spam of AI generated leaks met with much more resistence (for good reason) and if anything, I would consider that as a main reason for this season being "different" and less exciting

[Sondrelk]

i want either more "cosmic" stuff or a world revamp. the dragon isles were pretty boring. need a change of atmosphere

It might be a controversial opinion, but I think Dragonflight made the right call by being kinda boring. It could have risked it and gone harder on some aspects, but I don't think WoW could have handled another potentially damaging story. Much better to play it safe, ensure the people who strictly want a grounded expansion gets what they want, and then slowly dial it back up for future expansions.

In all honesty, the only thing I think back on as actually bad is the transmog from the first raid weirdly enough. Dawn of the Infinites wasnt amazing like I had hoped, but the only thing I look back on and don't care for at all is that transmog. It was just that bland.
It might be a weird thing to focus on, but I think it shows the overall quality of the expansion that my biggest gripe is those sets. BfA for instance easily have just as bad sets, but I barely think about it compared to the other stuff that expansion did wrong.

[ZyntosAran]

I'm sure Blizzard has had it in their back thoughts about the Microsoft deal happening before Blizzcon. Now that it has I can see Phil Spencer welcoming us into the Microsoft family. Does anyone think that will make any difference on the expansion to come? Or even if it ever will?

I can definitely see Phil Spencer on the Blizzcon Stage. I am actually 99% sure thats gonna happen.
But there is nothing changing the expansion regarding that. its so deep into development now.

[ercarp]

Agreed, I really enjoyed DF leak season, it was a lot of fun seeing all the speculations and people putting these logos up and them being dissected, this leak season has just been ai one ai image after another based on the achievement leak names and it's really muddied the waters.

Yeah, the AI stuff does take away from some of the excitement of seeing an image leak. Before AI image generators, it at least took some effort and know-how to create believable fakes so when you were presented with something that looked real, you had to ask yourself, "Would someone actually spend days working on this?"

Now you can just click one button and create more believable fakes than ever before. I genuinely believe both the Alexstrasza poster art and the Bolvar cinematic leak would have been dismissed as AI if they were leaked today.

[Izalla]

This thread is moving like molasses compared to a week ago.

Which means I can actually somewhat keep up with it! Turns out it's even harder to keep up when you have small children to look after D=

[Sondrelk]

Altough true in essence, not sure about the latter being the cause. This forum was on fire whenever the Algarian Stormrider was datamined. It's more like there's really nothing to speculate about. We have absolutely no clue of what Khaz Algar really is, while with Dragon Isles, which were basically accepted as the theme for next expansion unanimously back then, it was much easier to get wild and still be partially correct. Please remember, that majority of 10.0 leaks were just re-iterations of Dragon Isles content, one way or another. Same happens for Khaz Algar / Avaloren these days, but everything about them is pretty much a blind guess - the closest to truth might be the existence of dwarves/earthrens and perhaps titan's influences. Other then that, as of today, is a fan fiction.

It's almost fascinating how hamstrung leak discussion became from the Algarian Stormrider. It wasnt just that a location was confirmed, it was that the location was both one we knew nothing about, and also that said location was presumably away from everything else.

Had it referenced Tel'abim for instance it would have in theory confirmed just as much, but would also have opened a whole lot of discussion on how integral Tel'abim is to the main plot. Will it be a full sized continent? Will it be part of a South Seas expansion? Will it be added off the coast of Tanaris for a World Revamp? And what about the bananas!
Khaz Algar didnt have that. Its only known quality is that Dwarves live there, and that it's far away from Khaz Modan. It's simultaneously very specific, and leaves you no clue what to expect. Gives us plenty of info, yet nothing to go on.

[PotHockets]

It might be a controversial opinion, but I think Dragonflight made the right call by being kinda boring. It could have risked it and gone harder on some aspects, but I don't think WoW could have handled another potentially damaging story. Much better to play it safe, ensure the people who strictly want a grounded expansion gets what they want, and then slowly dial it back up for future expansions.

In all honesty, the only thing I think back on as actually bad is the transmog from the first raid weirdly enough. Dawn of the Infinites wasnt amazing like I had hoped, but the only thing I look back on and don't care for at all is that transmog. It was just that bland.
It might be a weird thing to focus on, but I think it shows the overall quality of the expansion that my biggest gripe is those sets. BfA for instance easily have just as bad sets, but I barely think about it compared to the other stuff that expansion did wrong.

I 100% fully believe that Dragonflight was necessary. There was never going to be a right time to do a chill breather expansion but it needed to be done. Dragonflight is great as a really good foundation going forward but the people that don't vibe because they think it's too mellow aren't wrong to feel that way but you need a calm before the storm or else it's just all storm and it loses all meaning.

I guess I would kinda look at it the way I view Dune Part 1. It's a really, really good movie with the caveat that it's also very much a Part 1 and needs Part 2 to feel whole. I think that the next expansion is going to determine just how well handled that breather actually is. I really hope we get some existential threat on the level of Legion or Warlords to deal with. It would help contrast with Dragonflight's focus on how the races of Azeroth want things to be and what they're actually fighting for.

[Catastrophy349]

You’re likely going to get an underground expansion full of elemental strife. We might get some old god craziness towards the end, but I believe the expansion theme is pretty much set in stone.

Seek help. It's very frustrating that you refuse to accept anyone's opinion but your own.

[Gigantique]

I'll be real happy if the next expansion, in some form, has the OG continents as its focus. How they do it I'm not too bothered with, just that personally the heritage quests are the most fun to me because it updates me on what's going on "back home".

Like imagine a setting where some really messed up shit is going down and different outposts require aid. Sending armies and aid fron Org/SW takes time so mages teleport us, the Champions, to give immediate aid until the faction forces arrive. Lets us do a questchain in each zone where shit hit the fan and then phases into a more "stable" version of the zone as we deal with the threat and get reinforced.

Rinse and repeat for other zones, hell with the armistice you can even flip it as SW sending us to aid Silvermoon/Eversong as we're closer than Orgrimmar, giving Alliance players a reason to experience the same zone story. Same for Horde players and Nelf lands (storywise the nelves would begrudgingly accept the help of the Champion as we've already proven ourselves by defending Amirdrassil even though they distrust the Horde in general etc)

Any setting that lets me experience what's been cracking in Duskwood since Darkshire got absolutely decimated in Legion etc is good to me.

[Skildar]

All I need for the cinematic is for it to hit like the end of the WoD one does with the slow zoom out and title reveal. I still don't think they've topped that moment combined with the music and I really don't see it happening anytime soon.

This cinematic sends chills every time. WE WILL NEVER BE SLAVES but We Will Be Conquerers!
The Dragonflight cinematic has a very strong start, it's the dragon rescue that falls flat :/

So I remain optimistic that the next one will be a good one

[PotHockets]

This cinematic sends chills every time. WE WILL NEVER BE SLAVES but We Will Be Conquerers!
The Dragonflight cinematic has a very strong start, it's the dragon rescue that falls flat :/

So I remain optimistic that the next one will be a good one

The Dragonflight one is rough. It looks beautiful sure but it feels like nothing happens. It's a shame too because if you compare it to the launch cinematic for Dragonflight it's a night and day difference. The launch cinematic still doesn't hit like say the MoP/WoD/BFA cinematics but it does get the hype going.

[Reive]

Altough true in essence, not sure about the latter being the cause. This forum was on fire whenever the Algarian Stormrider was datamined. It's more like there's really nothing to speculate about. We have absolutely no clue of what Khaz Algar really is, while with Dragon Isles, which were basically accepted as the theme for next expansion unanimously back then, it was much easier to get wild and still be partially correct. Please remember, that majority of 10.0 leaks were just re-iterations of Dragon Isles content, one way or another. Same happens for Khaz Algar / Avaloren these days, but everything about them is pretty much a blind guess - the closest to truth might be the existence of dwarves/earthrens and perhaps titan's influences. Other then that, as of today, is a fan fiction.

Also, the first serious "leak" happened with that weird looking creature, that sparked the debate whehter it's an orc / lightbound orc / stoneborn or something, and on the standards of previous leaks, that would be accepted as 100% legit with some refusing it as they always do. But since that one was debunked by the OP, the level of caution increased dramatically, so the spam of AI generated leaks met with much more resistence (for good reason) and if anything, I would consider that as a main reason for this season being "different" and less exciting

i think the lack of interest for the game can be seen more in the lack of effort for these "leaks". we didn't get many leaks and most of them were low quality

It might be a controversial opinion, but I think Dragonflight made the right call by being kinda boring. It could have risked it and gone harder on some aspects, but I don't think WoW could have handled another potentially damaging story. Much better to play it safe, ensure the people who strictly want a grounded expansion gets what they want, and then slowly dial it back up for future expansions.

In all honesty, the only thing I think back on as actually bad is the transmog from the first raid weirdly enough. Dawn of the Infinites wasnt amazing like I had hoped, but the only thing I look back on and don't care for at all is that transmog. It was just that bland.
It might be a weird thing to focus on, but I think it shows the overall quality of the expansion that my biggest gripe is those sets. BfA for instance easily have just as bad sets, but I barely think about it compared to the other stuff that expansion did wrong.

i think they went too safe. we're about to get the last (non confirmed) major of the expansion and the plot has barely moved since the start of the expansion. I also think they wasted a bunch of cool storylines like the one regarding murozond or the conflict with dragonkins.

[Teriz]

I find elements extremely boring. i really hope you're wrong lol

Lol! It seems you’re definitely not alone in feeling that way. I certainly understand. I think most people aren’t enjoying this leak season because the Algarian Stormrider pretty much knee-capped every one’s expectations.

[Villager720]

I'm glad speculation swung back towards revamp. Avaloren has been a dud for me so far.

Revamp remains the most logical thing for me. More and more assets in the files, employees posting about Azeroth “being home”, 20 year anniversary, blizzard super hyping this next announcement - it all just “makes sense”.
And the datamined stuff about Khaz’Algar doesn’t preclude a revamp either or require Avaloren - it can literally just be a new zone added to the old world a’la Cataclysm’s approach. It’s subterranean - can literally be under anything they want it to be and we’ve got tunnel tech now.

I have always been and remain team
Revamp.

[ercarp]

with the armistice you can even flip it as SW sending us to aid Silvermoon/Eversong as we're closer than Orgrimmar, giving Alliance players a reason to experience the same zone story. Same for Horde players and Nelf lands (storywise the nelves would begrudgingly accept the help of the Champion as we've already proven ourselves by defending Amirdrassil even though they distrust the Horde in general etc)

This would be such a cool narrative to explore in the game.

[Kiria]

Lol! It seems you’re definitely not alone in feeling that way. I certainly understand. I think most people aren’t enjoying this leak season because the Algarian Stormrider pretty much knee-capped every one’s expectations.

Curious, if you think that everyones expectations have been kneecapped what makes you think people will buy the expansion?

[PotHockets]

Revamp remains the most logical thing for me. More and more assets in the files, employees posting about Azeroth “being home”, 20 year anniversary, blizzard super hyping this next announcement - it all just “makes sense”.
And the datamined stuff about Khaz’Algar doesn’t preclude a revamp either or require Avaloren - it can literally just be a new zone added to the old world a’la Cataclysm’s approach. It’s subterranean - can literally be under anything they want it to be and we’ve got tunnel tech now.

I have always been and remain team
Revamp.

I agree. There's just so many indicators over the last few years that they've been cooking it up in the background and now is when it makes the most sense. The only reason Im not all aboard the revamp train is because I'm not getting my hopes up for it just in case. I dont wanna go into whatever this ends up being mad cause it wasnt exactly what I the individual want.

[matijwow]

The team is a lot bigger now than it was during Cataclysm. If they really wanted to do a revamp, I think they could, especially if they've been updating assets gradually.

Cataclysm added zones on top of the revamp, and we already saw one island west of Kalimdor get added in Legion (Seething Shore). I could see them adding an island west of Desolace as Khaz Algar and maybe a couple more new places on top of the old zones.

[slimyPufferfish]

WoW Stormfall
Max level is 80
New island continent with 6 zones and a giant hole in the middle. Capital city is a vertical Ironforge named Khaz Algar.
No new races and class. More customizations and support spec for shaman.
Open world faction free content. Warmode is open PvP.
Big feature is Exploration. Torghast like content where you explore themed dynamic dungeons. This time, it is infinite and has a leaderboard. Gives item for Great Vault and a lot of cosmetic.
Keyforging allow you to add modifiers to your key like Bloodlust has a 5 minutes CD but now enrages the nearby enemies.
Dragonriding for gryphons, hippogryph, wyvern and bats. Renamed into Sky Mastery.
Itemization revamped. New item modifier. Old gem system is back.
Spell cosmetic. You can disable them.

WoW Classic
Cataclysm is next. Launches in June 2024. Portal pass includes an Atramedes mount.
Season of Invasion is next. Each zone can be invaded by the Burning Legion, the Scourge, Elementals or Qirajis. Dungeon are impacted and gain a new boss while open world mostly have elite monsters roaming in already dangerous areas. Classic HC will have seasonal servers too. Raid bosses will gain mechanic based on the current invasion.
No Classic +.

Hearthstone
New expansion is Delights of Pandaria
New keyword is Simmer. Gain bonus effect the longer you keep the card in your hand.
Two legendaries per class : A chief who impacts your deck at the beginning of the game and a spell (Masterpiece)
Monk is coming to Hearthstone. Chen Stormstout is the monk hero.
Hero Power change with a new keyword : Stance. Can deal damage, heal or transfer damage to another target.
Mechanic is chi. You can store chi like mana and use it instead of mana. You can't play cards that cost more than your mana cost with excess chi.
2v2 is coming next year for the 10 years anniversary.

Warcraft 3
Going free to play. People who bought Reforged will have the two first campaign pack for free.
Soft Reforged reboot with paid new campaign for Q2 2024. Free to play. Graphisms are rebooted and are more cartoon like WoW.
Goal is 1 campaign every 3 months for 2 years.
Skins for units in store. Preordering campaign gives you campaign cosmetics for your units.
First campaign is NE and is centered around War of the ancient
Second campaign is Kel'thuzad and the cult of the Damned

Warcraft Rumble
Crossgame promotions will be shown
People with Blizzcon ticket will be able to play it after the opening ceremony

Overwatch 2
Baptiste short
Mauga is the new char. He's a tank with two laser canons.
New Control map Everest and Escort map in London
New PvE DLC is in Brazil. Overwatch fights talon and Mauga is a boss in this.
More free content released. Old season skins are coming back as free content. Buisness model is going into a Pay for exclusivity.
One Overwatch character will die in the game story. He will still be playable.

Overwatch : Recall
Overwatch anime on Netflix
Main char are Tracer, Winston and Mei.
Happens right after Winston cinematic of the same name.
Season 1 is centered around the return of Talon. Overwatch isn't back yet.
8 episodes centered about a different character and its nemesis.
Should be live in Q1 2024.

Diablo 4 Embers of Hatred
New Paladin class. Uses only blunt weapons and has holy shield.
New weapon types : Flay (Paladin, Barbarian, Druid), Morningstar (Paladin, Barbarian, Rogue, Druid), Scepter (Paladin, Necromancer, Sorcerer, Druid)
Introduction of holy damage and holy resistance
Kurast and Torajan Jungle
Last boss is Mephisto
Destiny of Hatred new feature. You can chain up to 15 dungeons. The more dungeon you clear, the harder it is, the better is the reward.
2 new parangon boards per class.

Diablo Immortal
New Ureh Campaign
Battle pass theme is mongol inspired
Echoes of the past event which bring back bosses
Memory of Mirakodus and Juris Khan are the main bosses

Odyssey
CGI trailer for the game
Game is procedurally generated
8 biomes at launch
Names are heavily inspired by greek mythology with a technological twist. Main story is pretty much old godly civilizations with highly advanced technology who fought for the Evermount and eventually died. Mortals now dwelves into the ruins of their people to gather technology and seek dominance over the world.
4 different races which are Dryads (forest elves), Ulyssians (ppl who put their soul into rusty robots), Sethers (evil satyrs), and Herenites (harpys)
5 tiers of construction. You first ride horses and end up flying with runic mech wings.
There is a creative mode.

Blizzard's Customs
HotS will have a new custom game mode using SC2 map editor.
New interface for custom Blizzard content like WC3 maps, HotS and SC 2 Arcade.
Blizzard's Custom includes assets of all 3 games.
You can choose between WC3, HotS or SC2 gameplay.

This guy didn't get the HS expansion right, but got the Diablo 4 new zone(s) right
Check last wowhead post about Diablo 4, can't post links qq

[ercarp]

This guy didn't get the HS expansion right, but got the Diablo 4 new zone(s) right
Check last wowhead post about Diablo 4, can't post links qq

Kurast was apparently something a lot of people had theorized would be the next zone regardless so I wouldn't put too much thought into it. Overall, they had a lot more misses than hits.