Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[RahEndymion]

Is this thread hidden or something? Doesn't seem to show in forums anymore?

On topic:

It would be fitting for Blizz to offer Dragonkin allied race at the end of DF. I know it would make a lot of players happy.

Personally, I am hoping for a little more and perhaps getting a Forbidden Reach style zone with some corruption/trinket/annulet style rotation breaking effects. Doesn't have to be huge but enough so that if there is a S4 or a fated season, it gives a bit of varying gameplay.

Perhaps even go a bit deeper on professions and give farmable / unlockable recipes that do fun things from cosmetics to toys etc.

Outside of raiding there is a lot that can be done to make the game a bit more fun and varied.

[Revamp Man]

Interesting that it says the next 3 expansions are "as large as DF, SL and BFA". BFA was far larger than the other 2

Was it?
A single raid more but noticeably less playable content

[Lorgar Aurelian]

You have literally no idea of any of that, because none of that knowledge has been revealed to us. You know Il'gynoth is a postule of N'Zoth, but show me the dialogue that says: "Hey Il'gynoth. N'Zoth here. Listen, could you pop over to Un'Goro for a bit and infest its World Tree? Okay thanks."

From our good friend the knife, its literally a part of him.

It appears the prison of N’zoth is not as strong as it once was. What you see is a tiny growth of the behemoth that may yet consume your world.

We also had a full novel about Sylvanas getting told what to do by the jailer.

And from the ultimate visual guide.

Archimonde raged and brooded for ten thousand years in the dark recesses of the Twisting Nether as they planned for a new invasion as per Sargeras's will. Again, their target would be the second Well of Eternity.

Nothing like any of this exist for the aspects as the titans were dead and so was Tyr there contact to the keepers.

So again thanks for proving my point.

[Dhomeli]

I wonder what they will do with Earthen death knights?
Toss them in the allied race dk starter area and call it good, toss them in the Earthen starting area and ignore it or make a new little area explaining how/why they were raised.

Interesting question. Perhaps they play it off as Bolvar raised some of Northrend’s Earthen dwarves?

[UndedoKoleda]

Was it?
A single raid more but noticeably less playable content

It absolutely was.

[Nymrohd]

Was it?
A single raid more but noticeably less playable content

Are you serious?
7 Large zones, 1 small zone, 4 revamped zones
38 raid encounters
10 dungeons, 1 megadungeon
2 warfronts, 11 island expeditions, 2 Visions
1 Battleground, 1 revamped battleground, 2 zones revamped as epic battlegrounds, 3 new arenas

[Ersula]

Nothing like any of this exist for the aspects as the titans were dead and so was Tyr there contact to the keepers.

He's clearly just headcanoning, but the way Blizzard feels if they keep things vague enough, they can retcon anything, we can't put these ideas past them.

Are you serious?
7 Large zones, 1 small zone, 4 revamped zones
38 raid encounters
10 dungeons, 1 megadungeon
2 warfronts, 11 island expeditions, 2 Visions
1 Battleground, 1 revamped battleground, 2 zones revamped as epic battlegrounds, 3 new arenas

This is true. BFA & Legion were about 150% the size of Shadowlands & Dragonflight. And TWW is looking like its going to be the latter, not the former.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

When the universe formed, Light and Shadow clashed endlessly. Shards of Light were flung into the physical universe, and seeded Life on the worlds that they crashed into. One crashed into Azeroth and is now located in Hallowfall. That's when the worldsoul and the Elementals sprung to life on Azeroth.

Actually, I didn't think of it until you mentioned it, but that would make sense. It looks more "primordial" in nature than other Light-based objects, so it could've been one of those shards mentioned in Chronicles.

[Vakir]

Me'dan was a comic ordeal, so it not being canon was almost a given regardless, and Rhonin dying is whatever, since he didn't do much in the actual game.

They disregarded him moreso as a result of his poor reception, not because it was a comic. The comic is still the bedrock for much of Varian's origin and continuing characters from that same story such as Reh'gar.

Rhonin not doing much in game also doesn't change the amount of influence resultant from how deeply unpopular he was.

Fans can be stupid and shouldn't have total control over everything, especially since sometimes they don't even understand what they want, but on rare occasions the writing is on the wall that a certain direction wasn't the best.

It's extrapolation in some ways, I know, but I really don't think it's a coincidence that they're framing the Worldsoul Saga as a 3 part finale about a vast conspiracy dating back to the beginnings of Warcraft, closing the chapter on the last 20 years... not long after they said SL's final patch was the finale of a chapter stemming from the last 20 years and...if you count Sylvanas being appointed by Vol'jin in Legion and her actions surrounding that, it was a 3 expansion setup surrounding a similar "vast conspiracy" dating back to Warcraft's beginnings.

Only now it's more about the beings we were built to care about over 20+ years, not some fucking 3D printers made by a lazy attempt at creating a bigger fish in the lore.

Sometimes big changes and retcons create story opportunities, like the Draenei back in 2006, but sometimes they just suck shit and need to be taken out back.

[Revamp Man]

He's clearly just headcanoning, but the way Blizzard feels if they keep things vague enough, they can retcon anything, we can't put these ideas past them.

This is true. BFA & Legion were about 150% the size of Shadowlands & Dragonflight. And TWW is looking like its going to be the latter, not the former.

We know 0 about the size of tww

[Ersula]

Actually, I didn't think of it until you mentioned it, but that would make sense. It looks more "primordial" in nature than other Light-based objects, so it could've been one of those shards mentioned in Chronicles.

Which doesn't actually explain why or how it seeded life on Azeroth. Chronicles itself establish Life & Light are two unrelated things. How did a shard of light seed life on any worlds? Or are we supposed to take a scientific angle to this creation myth? Was the Shard covered in terrestrial bacterias?

We know 0 about the size of tww

Well, considering the amount of actual game footage they showed was about an eighth of what it was for Legion's reveal...

[Revamp Man]

Are you serious?
7 Large zones, 1 small zone, 4 revamped zones
38 raid encounters
10 dungeons, 1 megadungeon
2 warfronts, 11 island expeditions, 2 Visions
1 Battleground, 1 revamped battleground, 2 zones revamped as epic battlegrounds, 3 new arenas

I can't lie I forgot about most of that
Like most expansions
Great content
Crap systems that effect the content

[Lorgar Aurelian]

As for the Aspects, we don't really know what their connection to the Titans' directive really is. You're assuming they're just walking around blindly, but for all we know they may have been given precise orders by their makers. Tyr might have instructed them exactly how to place enemies they do not want to see dead inside stasis chambers.

Mate we literally just had a novel release that addresses all of this.

We know for a fact that they were doing things blindly and that they didn’t even have vague orders let alone precise ones nor was there even any instincts imparted on them in how to deal with things, they also had no contact with the keepers beyond Tyr’s death hundreds of years before the prisons were even thought up, this is all brought up in the novel multiple times.

Not only do your ideas have no basis in the lore they are are directly refuted by blizzard them self in there latest release.

[Revamp Man]

Which doesn't actually explain why or how it seeded life on Azeroth. Chronicles itself establish Life & Light are two unrelated things. How did a shard of light seed life on any worlds? Or are we supposed to take a scientific angle to this creation myth? Was the Shard covered in terrestrial bacterias?
Well, considering the amount of actual game footage they showed was about an eighth of what it was for Legion's reveal...

Yes legion the expansion with a new class and essentially an overhaul of every spec

We know
8 dungeons
4 zones
1 raid
13 delves
1 new race

That's it

[Lorgar Aurelian]

He's clearly just headcanoning, but the way Blizzard feels if they keep things vague enough, they can retcon anything, we can't put these ideas past them.

it is all head canon ya but blizzard hasn’t been vague on this stuff they make it all rather clear in there novel which they could of course still retcon.

[Zaganite]

I think it's possible (but not guaranteed by any means) that Sargeras initially wanted to destroy Azeroth's worldsoul in order to prevent her from being born as a super powerful Titan, who would threat upending his plans to create a Dark Pantheon and be unstoppable in the universe.

But then he had a vision of the worldsoul inside the core, and understood something significant about her.

Perhaps he saw her vast potential.
Perhaps he saw that she was being kept in stasis by the Titans, unable to do anything, and figured he needs to set her free.
Perhaps he saw that she was already consumed by darkness, and setting her free would benefit him.

We don't know, but it's fun to think about.

I think "The Last Titan" could refer to Sargeras or Azeroth, but I'm currently leaning to the former.

I thought it was pretty clear since Legion that Sargeras was aiming for Azeroth. Now with the alluded "Azeroth is a prisoner" theories going around, my new belief is he was aiming to free her from the prison. Only time will tell.

[Ersula]

I can't lie I forgot about most of that
Like most expansions
Great content
Crap systems that effect the content

"Great content" I think you forgot you're talking about BFA. We don't need retroactive cope here.

[Nymrohd]

Yes legion the expansion with a new class and essentially an overhaul of every spec

We know
8 dungeons
4 zones
1 raid
13 delves
1 new race

That's it

Still, delves alone suggest we get more content than we got in DF

- - - Updated - - -

"Great content" I think you forgot you're talking about BFA. We don't need retroactive cope here.

I liked almost all of the content in BfA and did when it was current too. My issue was Azerite and certain elements of the story (not all, BfA also had some amazing storytelling like e.g. Jaina up until the end of the second raid when Anduin's presence somehow lobotomizes her) and to a lesser extent, Corruptions (on one hand, I loved the power fantasy on the other I felt they relied too heavily on procs when designing them).

That said, I feel TWW will have more content than DF by virtue of the delves alone.

[Vakir]

Regarding content density differences, it's important to remember the old addage of "Fast, Quality, Cheap. Pick 2."

BFA had a lot more but the cadence was bad. It also had a contentious theme, as the faction conflict tends to feel pretty unsatisfying, and add the syrup of bad systems and you get a poor reception even if the amount of content is better.

Dragonflight has a better cadence and a more sustainable model, it's just universally agreed the tone and theme are bland as hell. I think it's a more sustainable model overall provided they keep making improvements that carry between expansions rather than abandon them.

[Nymrohd]

Regarding content density differences, it's important to remember the old addage of "Fast, Quality, Cheap. Pick 2."

BFA had a lot more but the cadence was bad. It also had a contentious theme, as the faction conflict tends to feel pretty unsatisfying, and add the syrup of bad systems and you get a poor reception even if the amount of content is better.

Dragonflight has a better cadence and a more sustainable model, it's just universally agreed the tone and theme are bland as hell. I think it's a more sustainable model overall provided they keep making improvements that carry between expansions rather than abandon them.

I just cannot be convinced that the same amount of development hours went into DF compared to BfA.