Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Myrrh]

Delves, yeah, that's new, and I hope it's cool, but didn't excite me too much sounds a bit like mainly a single player scenario that will get boring after a month or two.

Sounded more like a reboot of scenarios to me; flexible content for smaller groups that can be made challenging without an m+ timer, and possibly for those with shorter time availability (think quick arena matches). Like Torghast but more classically dungeon-themed.

I'm not hyped about them, but I would not be surprised if they are a bit of a sleeper hit with at least a portion of the playerbase.

[Sondrelk]

Gorschalach is explicitly non-canon as the origin of the two swords. So taeschalach's existence in the game has no bearing on the sword of sargeras

Old canon isnt automatically disqualified from being brought in. A bunch of stuff in BfA was only in the old non-canon RPGs, like Lucille Waycrest.
Taeshalach is a broken sword wielded by Aggramar. Sargeras has a sword like he did in the old canon. It's not a stretch to assume that when the sword is actually given a name, that the name will be Gorribal to reference teh sword Sargeras has in the old canon.

[Stonecloak]

He also said he expects another 20 years of World of Warcraft, so, I wouldnt be too worried about a finale.

Ya for sure. I just mean there does seem to be an emphasis on somewhat of a separation, what I've seen people mention as Wow2, or a sequel of sorts. If it's not going to be a sequel, maybe Azeroth changes completely as we know it.

[Nebron]

Looks like Hallowfall is the best looking zone

Fresh, non-claustophobic, with an elegant twist of changing between a light and void themed zone as a replacement of day-night mode? It wins by a wide margin.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Fresh, non-claustophobic, with an elegant twist of changing between a light and void themed zone as a replacement of day-night mode? It wins by a wide margin.

Definitely one of the more creative ideas we've seen lately. I have to appreciate the creativity.

[Myrrh]

I'm watching it again, because I'm nuts. Yea, Metzen is making it clear this is like a finale. His own words "A storyline in almost every way, that feels like the culmination of the first 20 years of our storytelling" This is right after he's talking about the titans and what their "true" intentions may be since the dawn of civilization.

I tihnk it's a finale in the sense that FFXIV's Endwalker was a finale. Not over for the game/IP, but a culmination of the story to date that then allows them to move on to something new.

[Vakir]

Even if they know there is a Titan inside Azeroth, why would they immediately assume the voice is said Titan? Sure, it's a possibility, but it could be any number of things with a world as weird as Azeroth.

They're also seeing a glowy orb when they're being spoken to. There are no small amount of adventurers who, as of now, canonically killed a big bad that was visibly in front of a glowy orb that they know is the world soul.

Really this is all BFA->SL's fault for blowing that load early. This is what should've been built to all along without those individual stories (give Anduin some other source of trauma that was actually his fault, get Thrall back in the game some other way) without Chronicle being randomly called into question and Watsonian.

Better late than never.

Gorschalach is explicitly non-canon as the origin of the two swords. So taeschalach's existence in the game has no bearing on the sword of sargeras

Then what's Gorschlach? It's not confirmed or anything, it's not 100% or absolute canon, but it's stated by name in the trinket the same guy drops as the other sword in question.

[Cherry123]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

[kavikor]

Fresh, non-claustophobic, with an elegant twist of changing between a light and void themed zone as a replacement of day-night mode? It wins by a wide margin.

I mean, Khaz Algar and the Isle of Dorn is beautiful

[AOL Instant Messenger]

I'm watching it again, because I'm nuts. Yea, Metzen is making it clear this is like a finale. His own words "A storyline in almost every way, that feels like the culmination of the first 20 years of our storytelling" This is right after he's talking about the titans and what their "true" intentions may be since the dawn of civilization.

To be fair, they said something similar to this about Shadowlands, too. Could just be empty hype.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

He also said he expects another 20 years of World of Warcraft, so, I wouldnt be too worried about a finale.

The only idea I found outright 'concerning' was with Midnight when he stated we'd 'destroy the void for good' or whatever the exact quote. The Void feels like too big a force to just never have again.

Villains need to be vanquished, permanently. No more of this "you beat them but they escape to continue haunting the franchise in the future" stuff. Blizzard needs to be creative and come up with new original factions, and they need to relearn how to execute good storytelling to get people invested in those new factions again.

[Marlamin]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

At that resolution? Probably nobody. AI could simply not.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

I think I wouldn't. The designs are too immediately-recognizable for me to imagine them as AI-generated. Usually, AI-generated art can't replicate preexisting designs that well.

[Polybius]

I feel that way, as well. A bit of Shadowlands flashbacks on that front.

On the bright side, we won't get filler. They'll probably skip over and jump into the final raid.

[blaatschaap]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

I can see the fringing around the edge. Fake!

[Varodoc]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

Most of us would have called it fake.

Who amongst us was seriously expecting Anduin to return?

Certainly not I.

[George Lucas]

Ok, if this screenshot had leaked before Blizzcon, how many people would have called it AI ?

Ok, 27 people

[Sondrelk]

Have to say I'm pretty unexcited about The War Within; the latter two expansions sound far more interesting on every possible level.

I find it makes more sense if you look at them like an expansion. You have the intro with a bunch of setup in a more standard area. Then you have the X.2 patch that gives some narrative breathing room by dealing with a B plot. And then finally you have the big finale that brings the main plot back from the initial bit.
The difference in this case would be that you have an "expansion" that presumably lasts 3+ years.

[Cosmic Janitor]

To be fair the mystery box really is strange. The obivous answer is that Azeroth is a titan world soul and she is talking to them. But the very fact that they act like it is a mystery suggests otherwise.

I mean we'd literally only have to ask Magni about it. It certainly seemed like a weird setup, given how I had hoped that Thrall and Anduin remembered what our damn planet actually is. The cinematic also certainly evoked Azeroth the world soul with the glowing, supposedly giant ball of blue/yellow energy that was constantly shown.

[Nebron]

I mean, Khaz Algar and the Isle of Dorn is beautiful

Oh yeah, these are all really well put together zones, no doubt about it. But to me, Hallowfall seems, at least for now, to be a top notch level design compared to the others.