Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Reive]

Prediction:

Cataclysm beta and "cool" stats about player deaths in Self-found mode next week.

Hearthstone Event the week after (11th).

10.2.6 the week after that (19th).
S4 hits PTR later that same week, along with a developer article outlining its features and how they connect to 10.2.6's Season of Discovery-esque style.

TWW Alpha the week after that (around the 28th). Very limited early on so players keep testing S4, but lots of datamining.

Blog posts, interviews, videos and stuff scheduled for the week after that (April 2nd).

S4 launches the following week (April 9th).
10.2.7 hits the PTR the same week.

10.2.7 launches in May.

pretty good prediction, but i expect an announcement about patch 10.2.6 next week. they cannot drop a patch without any kind of previous announcement

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So it's a good thing, at the very least, the developers know that in some instances giving the players what they want will only hurt the game.

The real solution will be in 12.0 they add a new Goth hero tree for survival, a blood magic hero tree for shadow, and a Loa hero tree for Balance. Problem solved.

yes and no. they need to be able to filter the feedback from players, because most of it is garbage, but they also need to not half ass something, especially long requested features like garrison before and now hero talents. it's this "we have x feature at home" approach that creates problems. they need to learn that sometimes you either fully commit to something or you just don't do it. the middle ground doesn't always work, and this is the case with hero talents. from the moment they announced them i knew people would start complaining because they're not the class skins they were expecting

[Kiivar86]

https://twitter.com/Wowhead/status/1763636466469486879 the ashadar mount from the first travelers log reward is on the shop now

idk it feels wrong but also it was available pretty easily for free, what do u guys think? im mixed on it

Eh its there for a limited time, it won't surprise me if it shows up on the trading post at some point because of that.

As for the dreadlord thing, eh, doesn't do anything for me. Especially those wings. I wish they'd ditch those dinky wings. I was kinda hopeful for much larger wings with the dragonflight ones but they're just little better than the Kyrian ones.

[Ersula]

Eh its there for a limited time, it won't surprise me if it shows up on the trading post at some point because of that.

As for the dreadlord thing, eh, doesn't do anything for me. Especially those wings. I wish they'd ditch those dinky wings. I was kinda hopeful for much larger wings with the dragonflight ones but they're just little better than the Kyrian ones.

We already know paid cosmetics would appear in the trading post at a later date. Are people surprised the opposite would also happen?

[Woggmer]

I see what they mean. He's a big lore character but they've also entrenched him into having one motivation: Orc racism.

Or y'know... They want to focus on Anduin after the fact that he was mind-jacked by a bald blue death god, and went missing for almost 3-4 years since Shadowlands and is now suffering from P-SL-TSD (Post-Shadowlands-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

I've only seen Turalyon be entrenched in the motivation that he only serves the Light. That he's willing to betray everyone if the Light told him to.. That he's willing to kill anyone who dares kill a Naaru. Because he's THAT blindly devoted to his beliefs.

It just seems silly to me if THAT is the main reason why they shelved Turalyon and not just the fact they want to focus on Anduin. (Especially since Blizz can just as easily edit out and remove anything that is deemed racist. Just like how they changed Genn Greymane from an asshole isolationist king into a sad sympathetic king that only wants to avenge his son's death.)

So I'm expecting him to play a bigger role in Midnight, especially since he'll probably want to defend the Sunwell more than any person on the planet because of his devotion to the Light.

[Kiivar86]

We already know paid cosmetics would appear in the trading post at a later date. Are people surprised the opposite would also happen?

Not particularly. I expect it to pop up in both from time to time. It has a very small window on the store right now, that's what makes me think it.

[Darkarath]

What do you think about WoW coming to consoles this year? Yes, in 2024, with the launch of TWW.

That WoW is coming to consoles is, at this point, guaranteed IMO. What better moment that WoW's 20th anniversary? It would be the best moment to do it, to engage players with the story that will be developed with Midnight and TLT.

If they don't do it now, they probably won't bother with it until the trilogy is done, and who knows how WoW's state will be by 2028.

They have already stated that they think about this possibility all the time and that there are not technical issues that prevent it from happening.

What form do you think that WoW will take in consoles? Same servers as PC players or exclusive console servers? Would an offline version of WoW for consoles be a possibility? Dragon Quest X is doing just that. It would be interesting now that they are implementing AI companions to explore that possibility.

[Reive]

What do you think about WoW coming to consoles this year? Yes, in 2024, with the launch of TWW.

That WoW is coming to consoles is, at this point, guaranteed IMO. What better moment that WoW's 20th anniversary? It would be the best moment to do it, to engage players with the story that will be developed with Midnight and TLT.

If they don't do it now, they probably won't bother with it until the trilogy is done, and who knows how WoW's state will be by 2028.

They have already stated that they think about this possibility all the time and that there are not technical issues that prevent it from happening.

What form do you think that WoW will take in consoles? Same servers as PC players or exclusive console servers? Would an offline version of WoW for consoles be a possibility? Dragon Quest X is doing just that. It would be interesting now that they are implementing AI companions to explore that possibility.

no way wow comes to consoles in the war within. you'd need a lot of changes and a lot of pruning to make it work properly. maybe they can do it for midnight, but not before

[Woggmer]

no way wow comes to consoles in the war within. you'd need a lot of changes and a lot of pruning to make it work properly. maybe they can do it for midnight, but not before

WoW already has key-bindings designed for Xbox console controls... So it would make sense for them to be able to jump to console platforms. Pruning and spell bloat isn't an issue as the trigger buttons can open new key bindings.
The real problem is the fact that Sony uses different servers, which is the big reason why a lot of online games on PS4/PS5 don't have cross-progression. So if you're gonna be playing on PS4/PS5 then you'll have to start from scratch. And probably not a good idea to showcase a game that still has graphics from 2004 on a modern system.. Like even games like FF14, ESO, DC Universe Online, TERA Online (surprisingly still alive on console yet died on PC), despite being dated really showcase what console run MMOs can do accomplish.

And the other issue being the Nintendo Switch which is just... a whole other mess that would take too long to explain it, and we'd be better off writing every reason why it wouldn't work and hammer it on the door of Blizzard HQ for everyone to see.

In short, if it's on Xbox Series X/S? Very possible.
If it's on PS4/PS5? That's debatable.
If on the Nintendo Switch? ...Not a chance.
If on Steam? ...Probably not, unless they want to get overwhelmingly negative reviews.

[Makabreska]

In short, if it's on Xbox Series X/S? Very possible.
If it's on PS4/PS5? That's debatable.
If on the Nintendo Switch? ...Not a chance.
If on Steam? ...Probably not, unless they want to get overwhelmingly negative reviews.

I can't really see WoW players suddenly switching from mouse and keyboard to gamepad and be able to comfortably do harder content on par with PC players. Not even talking about keybinds, but rather the ability to quickly move character/target proper mobs. Like, how would gamepad healers be able to handle quick healing of Nelf spirits on Fyrakk?

[Darkarath]

I can't really see WoW players suddenly switching from mouse and keyboard to gamepad and be able to comfortably do harder content on par with PC players. Not even talking about keybinds, but rather the ability to quickly move character/target proper mobs. Like, how would gamepad healers be able to handle quick healing of Nelf spirits on Fyrakk?

We might get a new WoW Retail version with proper changes to make It work. There are a ton of WoW Classic versions of the game so I guess that It is just a matter of time until they start taking the same approach with Retail.

They can do this in multiple ways. Maybe just releasing TWW for consoles, and the rest of expansions will be adapted overtime, or the other way around.

[Dracullus]

Making game more gamepad friendly is one thing, but I can't imagine them selling game on consoles that is pretty much "oh you can level and run around but for the love of god don't touch any group content".

[Reive]

WoW already has key-bindings designed for Xbox console controls... So it would make sense for them to be able to jump to console platforms. Pruning and spell bloat isn't an issue as the trigger buttons can open new key bindings.
The real problem is the fact that Sony uses different servers, which is the big reason why a lot of online games on PS4/PS5 don't have cross-progression. So if you're gonna be playing on PS4/PS5 then you'll have to start from scratch. And probably not a good idea to showcase a game that still has graphics from 2004 on a modern system.. Like even games like FF14, ESO, DC Universe Online, TERA Online (surprisingly still alive on console yet died on PC), despite being dated really showcase what console run MMOs can do accomplish.

And the other issue being the Nintendo Switch which is just... a whole other mess that would take too long to explain it, and we'd be better off writing every reason why it wouldn't work and hammer it on the door of Blizzard HQ for everyone to see.

In short, if it's on Xbox Series X/S? Very possible.
If it's on PS4/PS5? That's debatable.
If on the Nintendo Switch? ...Not a chance.
If on Steam? ...Probably not, unless they want to get overwhelmingly negative reviews.

those games all have few abilities and/or dog combat. you need to change the way combat works in wow to make it work on consoles. i'd rather keep wow on pc only than do that. the combat system is the best thing wow has

edit: you also need to ban addons, make a fully functioning ui and many other things.

[Nymrohd]

Ah yes, play WoW with limited buttons and no mods. People will love that. And clearly Blizzard was preparing for that by doing a talent revamp and then adding Hero Talents bringing most specs to the largest number of keybinds they ever had.

I know we ain't gotten any news for a while but you can do better than this.

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I've only seen Turalyon be entrenched in the motivation that he only serves the Light. That he's willing to betray everyone if the Light told him to.. That he's willing to kill anyone who dares kill a Naaru. Because he's THAT blindly devoted to his beliefs.

? We've seen him do exactly the opposite of what you suggest here.

[Makorus]

FFXIV on consoles work because the pace of the game is sooooo much slower.

[Reive]

Ah yes, play WoW with limited buttons and no mods. People will love that. And clearly Blizzard was preparing for that by doing a talent revamp and then adding Hero Talents bringing most specs to the largest number of keybinds they ever had.

I know we ain't gotten any news for a while but you can do better than this.

yeah, that's the point. they would prune the crap out of every class if they were preparing to release wow on consoles

[Nymrohd]

yeah, that's the point. they would prune the crap out of every class if they were preparing to release wow on consoles

Now what could work for consoles would be SoD but I doubt it would have a market.

[Reive]

Now what could work for consoles would be SoD but I doubt it would have a market.

maybe with a full classic+ because sod is already dying. phase 2 was disappointing

[Viridiel]

What do you guys think is up with the scarab desert kingdoms referred to in the Trading Post items? It could just be the qiraji, but it seems to be describing some ancient humanoid desert kings who use scarab mounts and none of it really looks like anything qiraji, other than some shapes that look like the Scarab Wall. Was there an ancient civilization of humanoid qiraji riding scarabs and wearing shields who were all killed off and forced back into Ahn'Qiraj, was there an ancient civilization of actual humans in Southern Kalimdor with connections to the Hallowfall arathi (and/or the Wastewander?), or is there another scarab-based civilization in a desert region we haven't visited yet?

I feel like it could be 1 or 2, since 1 sets a precedent for the evolved nerubians (other than the precedent set by the Twin Emperors) and 2 could tie in to the Hallowfall arathi who have like a thousand years of history unaccounted for. 3 is unlikely to me because we aren't likely to visit a new continent until after the World Soul Saga. It's possible we discover a previously hidden desert region in one of the expansions in the Saga, but I don't think we need ANOTHER previously-shrouded-area-becomes-unshrouded when we just had the fourth or fifth version of it with the Dragon Isles.

[Enrif]

My newest theory about TWW and into Midnight:

Alleria and Thrall were the bosses of the Visions of N'Zoth, Anduin was (request by blizzard to the Author of the book) in the post BfA book showing dark magic on his hands.

All three of them are the faces of TWW? and the expansion after wards is full on void focus? No coincidence. All three of them might fall to the void and Xal'atath might win the war within these characters, even if we beat the bosses in the expansion.

[Makabreska]

My newest theory about TWW and into Midnight:

Alleria and Thrall were the bosses of the Visions of N'Zoth, Anduin was (request by blizzard to the Author of the book) in the post BfA book showing dark magic on his hands.

All three of them are the faces of TWW? and the expansion after wards is full on void focus? No coincidence. All three of them might fall to the void and Xal'atath might win the war within these characters, even if we beat the bosses in the expansion.

So, Anduin MC'd and turned into a boss again? Not very appealing, especially considering he is already plenty damaged by SL events.