Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Vakir]

Nah those are totally obtanaible sets, this image is more of a armor set preview than a npc race preview, they are even sorted in the classic Plate > Mail > Leather > Cloth order.

It goes with every other new zone preview of armor.

Just do it justice, please. The Barbarian-fur kind of armor skirt. It's so perfect.

[Raetary]

Can characters of different factions(Alliance/Horde) be in the same warband?

Your Warband emcompasses every single one of your characters, regardless of faction or realm.

[Vakir]

Eventually, maybe Illidan and Sargeras end up being pivotal in defeating the Void, I don't know. But we finally purge Azeroth from evil. I doubt she'll be born as "The Last Titan". I think the Worldsoul will be free, unaffected by other forces, or perhaps equal part each of them, in harmony. Meanwhile, Sargeras is the Last Titan standing.

Would definitely be pretty neat. It's either this or Azeroth is born and corrupted, we defeat (but don't kill) her, and the world doesn't end as a result and it becomes basically a tabula rasa of "whatever we hope for it to be" and untethered from pure order, chaos, etc. forces.

Because Metzen really, really, REALLY loves the whole "age of Mortals" concept so much he did it 2 times.

Very curious where that armor is going to come from, it's very detailed so I doubt it is the leveling gear. But maybe not?

Delves armor because the Delve mount is an Arathi machine?

Renown?

[allegrian]

Very curious where that armor is going to come from, it's very detailed so I doubt it is the leveling gear. But maybe not?

Delves armor because the Delve mount is an Arathi machine?

Look at the leveling gear for the upcoming 10.2 patch, is even more detailed than most tier sets. I'm sure some recolors will be harder to get but it should be the "open world set".

[Vakir]

I thought the open world set would be less specific to it, or perhaps even more Dwarven. Since there's usually only one per armor type now, and the Arathi are far from the most important faction in this. Who knows.

[Cheezits]

Look at the leveling gear for the upcoming 10.2 patch, is even more detailed than most tier sets. I'm sure some recolors will be harder to get but it should be the "open world set".

I think leveling gear will be dwarf stuff, the Earthen are already wearing it and it looks pretty low-res. But maybe it will be renown gear.

I was not happy about how the racial gear in DF ended up being low-res (Djaradin, Centaur, Tuskarr, Watcher) and tied to one type each. At least we got good dragon gear in 10.1.

[Kiivar86]

Y'know, with the marriage between Lor'themar and Thalyssra, and time passing, Silvermoon could become a real interesting blend of architecture, huh?

[Ersula]

Have you run ICC lately?

Some of those are Death Knight analogs. Some of them are casters. They are all elves. One would presume if you're not playing an elf, you're just a vampire. In fact in the Storm Peaks the Vrykul just call it vampirism.

Proto-dwarves. Proto-nerubians. Proto-Scarlet-crusaders. Just slap "proto" on something that already exists for a new & exciting culture for your underground expansion.

I'm trying to be optimistic but the pessimist in me is saying these features are quality of life things that should have come in a minor patch.

[Sondrelk]

Would definitely be pretty neat. It's either this or Azeroth is born and corrupted, we defeat (but don't kill) her, and the world doesn't end as a result and it becomes basically a tabula rasa of "whatever we hope for it to be" and untethered from pure order, chaos, etc. forces.

Because Metzen really, really, REALLY loves the whole "age of Mortals" concept so much he did it 2 times.



Renown?

Renown is a good guess. Though DF has certainly increased the amount of high quality sets overall, so who knows. Could be the equivalent of the Dragon themed gear we got in DF from crafting, primal storms, and all of that.

[Fahrad Wagner]

"With the mention of specific zones in Midnight, should we expect continent-wide updates or more local updates?
Mostly local. With the detail put into modern zones, it's just not feasible to do full updates. Really want to focus and put our full effort into the specific areas related to these expansions. Expect a fresh coat of paint on specific area, but also that older versions likely won't be completely removed. Think Chromie Time."

And with that quote dies the world revamp dream

[hattahat]

If they're super smart about all of this, which I think they are, then they'll speed things along a bit quicker than we all thought.

11.0 - Set the stage for this new chapter of the story, and turn Xal'atath into a major threat. At the end of the expansion, as we begin to transition into the next, she makes her move and claims Quel'thalas. The Sunwell becomes something shadowy instead (no, not the Nightwell, or the Moonwell ).

12.0 - Azeroth is covered in darkness. Not just Quel'thalas, but all of it. We're in some sort of "the Void has won" kind of era. Queen Azshara might return along with the Void, heralded by Xal'atath. Xal'atath rules from Silvermoon. Quel'dorei united with the rest of Azeroth and reclaim the world, and Silvermoon, bit by bit. But we still fail, because Xal'atath has completed her ritual to awaken Azeroth as a Void Lord or whatever.

13.0 - Azeroth is screwed. The Titans return, but too late. Eventually, maybe Illidan and Sargeras end up being pivotal in defeating the Void, I don't know. But we finally purge Azeroth from evil. I doubt she'll be born as "The Last Titan". I think the Worldsoul will be free, unaffected by other forces, or perhaps equal part each of them, in harmony. Meanwhile, Sargeras is the Last Titan standing. Anyway, this is the expansion we get the revamp now that the darkness is gone.

That's pretty much what I was thinking, so I'll write down what I wrote down before. It's this.

At the end of The War Within, Xal'atath succeeds in corrupting Azeroth into a Void entity, resulting in Azeroth being engulfed by the Void and the beginning of Midnight.
The heroes of Azeroth rely on the power of light to drive back the Void, and they use the Sunwell as a means to do so. And no matter what the outcome of that war, Titans arrive who realizes this too late: The Last Titan.
As expected, Azeroth is not inherently a Titan; the Worldsoul can embrace any of the six cosmic powers, and the current Azeroth is simply being Titanized because the Titans got to it first (or last).

The difference, I think, is that in expansion 13.0 we're going to be fighting the Titans, because they're going to be trying to just destroy Azeroth, which has been taken over by the Void. And we're going to be defending Azeroth against the Titans, with the sense that the enemy and the ally are reversed.

[Vakir]

"With the mention of specific zones in Midnight, should we expect continent-wide updates or more local updates?
Mostly local. With the detail put into modern zones, it's just not feasible to do full updates. Really want to focus and put our full effort into the specific areas related to these expansions. Expect a fresh coat of paint on specific area, but also that older versions likely won't be completely removed. Think Chromie Time."

And with that quote dies the world revamp dream

Was literally about to post this.

Write that down, guys. :/ It was always the fate. Tried to make that clear. 2023 visual fidelity and the costs of making a AAA game, especially on an ancient spaghetti engine, is not what it was in 2010-2011.


14.0 is a possibility, but not a certainty.

This is also just not the same Blizzard as the Cataclysm era. Not objectively worse "bobby bad, updoots to the left," but not the same.

[Varodoc]

If they're super smart about all of this, which I think they are, then they'll speed things along a bit quicker than we all thought.

11.0 - Set the stage for this new chapter of the story, and turn Xal'atath into a major threat. At the end of the expansion, as we begin to transition into the next, she makes her move and claims Quel'thalas. The Sunwell becomes something shadowy instead (no, not the Nightwell, or the Moonwell ).

12.0 - Azeroth is covered in darkness. Not just Quel'thalas, but all of it. We're in some sort of "the Void has won" kind of era. Queen Azshara might return along with the Void, heralded by Xal'atath. Xal'atath rules from Silvermoon. Quel'dorei united with the rest of Azeroth and reclaim the world, and Silvermoon, bit by bit. But we still fail, because Xal'atath has completed her ritual to awaken Azeroth as a Void Lord or whatever.

13.0 - Azeroth is screwed. The Titans return, but too late. Eventually, maybe Illidan and Sargeras end up being pivotal in defeating the Void, I don't know. But we finally purge Azeroth from evil. I doubt she'll be born as "The Last Titan". I think the Worldsoul will be free, unaffected by other forces, or perhaps equal part each of them, in harmony. Meanwhile, Sargeras is the Last Titan standing. Anyway, this is the expansion we get the revamp now that the darkness is gone.

It feels like the Void will not be featured in The Last Titan.

Metzen said that Midnight's endgame is to banish the Shadow forever, so I think Midnight's final patch will be the conclusion of the Void storyline.

Then Last Titan will be about the aftermath of the Void and Light war, but the Void itself will already have been banished by that point.

There will never be a Void-corrupted Titan, because otherwise the Cosmos would just end as nothing can stop that monster.

So 12.0 concludes the Void storyline with the final banishment of the Shadow and The Last Titan is about the aftermath of the Void+Light war and revolves around the Titans (but Void is already defeated and banished at that point).

[Sondrelk]

Some of those are Death Knight analogs. Some of them are casters. They are all elves. One would presume if you're not playing an elf, you're just a vampire. In fact in the Storm Peaks the Vrykul just call it vampirism.Proto-dwarves. Proto-nerubians. Proto-Scarlet-crusaders. Just slap "proto" on something that already exists for a new & exciting culture for your underground expansion.

I'm trying to be optimistic but the pessimist in me is saying these features are quality of life things that should have come in a minor patch.

It's a variant of Dwarves, sure. But the Arathi are hardly proto-scarlet crusaders given their far higher level of technology. And the Nerubians are the new and improved variant if anything, given they literally split off from the main branch in Northrend.

[Cheezits]

"With the mention of specific zones in Midnight, should we expect continent-wide updates or more local updates?
Mostly local. With the detail put into modern zones, it's just not feasible to do full updates. Really want to focus and put our full effort into the specific areas related to these expansions. Expect a fresh coat of paint on specific area, but also that older versions likely won't be completely removed. Think Chromie Time."

And with that quote dies the world revamp dream

Huh? It will be fully revamped, but they aren't doing all of EK.

We weren't going to get a full EK/Kalimdor revamp until 14.0 at the earliest. But this was interesting:

"There's still so much more to dive into and to announce with each expansion that should help keep players engaged including a strong cohesive narrative. Features in Midnight are expected to blow players' socks off."

Housing maybe? Revamped cities?

[Vakir]

Huh? It will be fully revamped, but they aren't doing all of EK.

They're saying there will not be a full update of modern zones. Not in Midnight is the context, but Midnight is still a modern expansion.

The continual, gradual asset update until most of Azeroth is covered in time for questing updates seems more likely. i.e. 14.0 or 15.0

[Kiivar86]

One of the cosmetic helms they showed off for the delves gets me thinking, "the terrifying new undersea creature, kobyss".

Interesting that we're also getting a new deep sea creature (well undersea but that's clearly based on a deep sea fish).

[Sondrelk]

It feels like the Void will not be featured in The Last Titan.

Metzen said that Midnight's endgame is to banish the Shadow forever, so I think Midnight's final patch will be the conclusion of the Void storyline.

Then Last Titan will be about the aftermath of the Void and Light war, but the Void itself will already have been banished by that point.

There will probably be some void in The Last Titan, though generally I think this is following more so the pattern we have for expansions. We start with introducing the A plot, have a showdown of some kind there. Move onto the B plot, big showdown. Then back to the A plot for the big finale.
Hard to say how much this is the case for Dragonflight given the unfocused storylines in general, but still.

TWW is the introduction of the main A plot with Azeroth and Titan stuff.
Midnight is the B plot with the Void and their shenanigans.
Then The Last Titan is back to the A plot with Titans interracting with Azeroth directly.

[Cheezits]

They're saying there will not be a full update of modern zones. Not in Midnight is the context, but Midnight is still a modern expansion.

The continual, gradual asset update until most of Azeroth is covered in time for questing updates seems more likely. i.e. 14.0 or 15.0

I don't know how anyone was expecting a full world revamp in any of the three expansions announced. As unfortunate as it is, SOMEHOW we are getting a Northrend revamp before Stormwind.

[Eldryth]

It would be cool if the expansion starts out with Silvermoon being this dark (yet beautiful) bastion of the Void, from whence Xal'atath rules and controls the Sunwell. Perhaps a bit too similar to Suramar thematically, but hey. Quel'dorei from all over Azeroth must unite under one banner, along with other allies, to breach their ancient city and reclaim the well before all is lost.

I'm expecting the reverse. The title sounds really ominous when you compare it to a certain event that the Void has been working towards- the Hour of Twilight. Twilight comes just before night (or dawn but night fits better), so I expect Midnight will be what comes next after Xal'atath succeeds in finally causing the Hour of Twilight at the climax of The War Within (we might manage to kill her in the process, but whether she lives or dies, I think she will win).

We will still control the Sunwell, but it will become the sole bastion of Light left on Azeroth, and our only hope of restoring the corrupted Worldsoul. The expansion will be our last stand to defend it.