Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Xilurm]

Nice they've actually made the Bel'ameth harbor active!

https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...transport_way/

[Ersula]

I think that you're right, they'll entirely move into seasonal content for certain events. Cataclysm Classic has to be a huge testing ground for interest in Classic post Wrath. I mean, Cataclysm alone is out of the "Classic" era of WoW. Most of the zones in Azeroth are currently the same as they were from Cata's update, so they're losing that old world feeling. SoD seems to be a big success occasional issues aside. Continuation of Seasonal events for Classic until they either commit to a Classic+ or move on seems to be the remedy.

My current theory is Remix was born from the prospect of extending SoD into TBC. (And that TBC will be the 2nd Remix season.) I believe the premise of Remix & keeping seasonal classic in the vanilla game would have been easier than trying to convert the rune system to new expansion meta.

[Sondrelk]

Nice they've actually made the Bel'ameth harbor active!

https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...transport_way/

Nice. I love Bel'ameth as a place to have my Hearthstone, and it's nice to make it even more thematically fitting.

[Murlocos]

Ideally, yeah, in terms of Druids/Paladins, each race should ideally have their own unique flavour, but realistically, what's the point?

Outside of the unique forms (which, don't get me wrong, I would still want them to have, and for Paladins to have unique mounts and Shamans to have unique totems), how relevant is the Wicker lore of the Kul'tirans? How relevant is the Sunwalker lore? How relevant is the Orc Priest lore? How relevant is Priestess of the Moon lore?

WoWs lore is too bloated as is, and introducing unique and cool reasons for classes is nice and all, but it just makes it way, way harder to write satisfying stories.

You already get it with stuff like the Emerald Dream, an uniquely Druidy experience. But oh wait, not all Druids work that way. So you either alienate half the playerbase, and make it "Night-Elf-Druid-flavoured" (which is, lets be honest, the "default") or you bloat it up by adding representation for all kinds of Druidism, but you have to make sure that everything is evenly represented or your local Troll Twitter User is gonna put you on blast for being biased.

Imagine a Light vs Void expansion, but somehow they need to make sure that every single source of Faith is represented and has a reason to fight, and it just turns into a big mess imo.

I understand the Orc Priest thing, it was a stupid way of doing it, but I honestly don't see the issues of certain races learning from other races they spend time with.
Why do Draenei need some super secret unknown sect of Druids, instead of the lore just stating that they've picked up Druidism from the Night Elves?

I don't think we're going to be able to reach common ground on this from the bolded.

What's the point of adding new races (playable or not), cultures, etc. at all? You can frame almost everything beyond just having wireframes fight cubes on an untextured flat square as an unnecessary burden on writers, quest designers, and artists, but obviously we know the value of those elements vastly outweighs the cost of adding them.

I honestly don't think most people are clamoring for every single possible race/class niche to be represented 24/7, but they're asking for something every now and then. These are people at fist pump at an An'she name drop in a trading post item, most of them aren't asking to completely derail the story to be about the intricacies of tauren ancestor worship. It's not in a vacuum; people are highlighting it in contrast to us getting the umpteenth Teldrassil trauma porn questline. It's against the backdrop of an "in-universe" book taking the time to laugh at how dumb shamanism is, then coincidentally the supposed elemental expansion DF comes out and there's like two Earthen Ring NPCs compared to an entire dedicated druid patch with a giant suite of new customizations.

Even if you're a night elf druid main, you're not here to just see nonstop night elf and druid stories. Variety is the spice of life and the popular races and classes are clearly going to be in the spotlight more often than not, but a massive chunk of your playerbase doesn't play those races and classes, and there's risk in neglecting them.

I just don't view expanding the depth of the world and the races and cultures in it as a burden on the writing, I see it as a benefit that allows them to craft more interesting stories and plots because the world they take place in is feels more like a real place and not just a cardboard backdrop. It helps you naturally create characters that all have different upbringings and beliefs rather than a cast that all feel identical to one another. You say that this stuff makes it much harder to write satisfying stories, but SL and DF have been tossing out a lot of this depth so that the writers can chase the exact stories they want to tell without prior lore getting in the way. Do you think they're succeeding?

[Cheezits]

I have always wanted playable Naga and tbh they are among the races I've struggled to come with a good way to make them friendly to the factions

They honestly have a very easy in on both factions. The Nelves are cool now with most of the redeemed bad sects of themselves (Highborne, Druids of the Flame) and Nightborne are Highborne of a different flavor. Also they have ties to the Illidari who are on both factions.

There are lore hooks less crazy than "N'zoth in the Xalatath blade incites a rebellion against Azshara to have player naga join the factions to do his bidding" but I think that would vs fun.

The biggest lore issue is "they all serve Azshara" which is already not exactly true and can easily be written away with a good plot hook. Their biggest issue in general is the tail and they can just Drac them, both with barbershop armor and maybe a visage form.

[Sondrelk]

My current theory is Remix was born from the prospect of extending SoD into TBC. (And that TBC will be the 2nd Remix season.) I believe the premise of Remix & keeping seasonal classic in the vanilla game would have been easier than trying to convert the rune system to new expansion meta.

Timerunning (I refuse to call it Remix) is also much more approachable and tempting to Retail players. Not just the rewards carrying over of course, but also how it's the classes you already know, from the character selection you already use, with the graphical quality you are used to.
I know I will be playing Timerunning, and I bet a lot of players who would like to try Classic, but just can't get into the game for a variety of reasons will be loving this feature.

[Xilurm]

Nice. I love Bel'ameth as a place to have my Hearthstone, and it's nice to make it even more thematically fitting.

Yes, and don't forget that this is just one ship. Wonder where the rest can go. Darkshore/Feralas/Suramar(which seems to be getting updated) are one of the few choices I can think that make sense.

Also what if Bel'ameth is the new starting zone for Night Elves with Gilneas having an updated starting zone for Worgen and those ships are like a choice give to the players to level in Dragon Isles or EK from level 10 onwards.

[Ersula]

Anyone see this? They've updated Legion Dalaran npcs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...pdates_on_ptr/

I'd guess it's because enough time has passed since the sunreaver purge in Cata. I know Umbric is recieving a new model but I don't think it would be him. I predict Vareesa might be getting a new model soon as well, but she's not a mage. Anyone have a guess who the new Dalaran council member it could be?

[Sondrelk]

Yes, and don't forget that this is just one ship. Wonder where the rest can go. Darkshore/Feralas/Suramar(which seems to be getting updated) are one of the few choices I can think that make sense.

Also what if Bel'ameth is the new starting zone for Night Elves with Gilneas having an updated starting zone for Worgen and those ships are like a choice give to the players to level in Dragon Isles or EK from level 10 onwards.

There are already portals to Feralas though. And while there isnt one for Suramar, there is one for Val'sharah.
Would be nice for flavor though.

- - - Updated - - -

I'd guess it's because enough time has passed since the sunreaver purge in Cata. I know Umbric is recieving a new model but I don't think it would be him. I predict Vareesa might be getting a new model soon as well, but she's not a mage. Anyone have a guess who the new Dalaran council member it could be?

Jaina returns is my best guess. Either that or a diversity hire Belf.

[Xilurm]

There are already portals to Feralas though. And while there isnt one for Suramar, there is one for Val'sharah.
Would be nice for flavor though.

And a portal for Darkshore too. Well if we assume they're going to use the harbor for places that don't have the portals then what could the other ports be for? I don't think SW makes sense, especially since Gilneas is so close. Could it be the way to get to the new expansion zones though, they did show us traveling from the Dragon Isles to the new place at Blizzcon. That's one at least.

[Cheezits]

I'd guess it's because enough time has passed since the sunreaver purge in Cata. I know Umbric is recieving a new model but I don't think it would be him. I predict Vareesa might be getting a new model soon as well, but she's not a mage. Anyone have a guess who the new Dalaran council member it could be?

99% chance the new council member will be Thalyssra or someone that works with her like Valtrois.

1% chance the new council member is Millhouse.

If they want Dalaran to stay Alliance, maybe it will be the Highborne leader?

[Ersula]

99% chance the new council member will be Thalyssra or someone that works with her like Valtrois.

1% chance the new council member is Millhouse.

I mean, it's supposed to be a citizen of Dalaran, and generally a mage. Maybe Khadgar comes back? I think they might give him a new model? 5 expansions should warrant a model update.

[Auxis]

So if Eternus is tied to the MoP Remix, what are the possibilities Xal is as well? Moreso, is this going to be tied into Dragonflight only with the Bronze/Infinite timetravel ability, or is this going to be tied into TWW and The Worldsoul Saga?

Either way... kinda mega cool idea. This is going to be a lot of fun. Can't wait for the inevitable pre-Midnight Legion Timerunning.

Only complaint.. not a fan of the name Remix. Such a small complaint in the grand scheme.

I heard a theory the other day that Xal appears in SoD because of her/Iridikron's deal with the Infinites. She's gone back to Vanilla and is interacting with us to some ends. Because AFAIK the dagger was missing in history for a while until we found it in Legion, and "Xal" has a distinct elven form in SoD, when she never had a form until she possessed that elf in BFA (unless I'm mistaken).

[Makorus]

I mean, it's supposed to be a citizen of Dalaran, and generally a mage. Maybe Khadgar comes back? I think they might give him a new model? 5 expansions should warrant a model update.

Doubt it'll be Khadgar. He is bound to die any expansion now, definitely in the Worldsoul Saga.

[Raetary]

I mean, it's supposed to be a citizen of Dalaran, and generally a mage. Maybe Khadgar comes back? I think they might give him a new model? 5 expansions should warrant a model update.

Khadgar is already part of the council, he's their leader.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/MrGMYT/status/17...tNyLcQfEA&s=19

Got the names for the Harbinger quests.

[Auxis]

On the heritage sets:

Love the draenei. Obviously inspired by the artwork from TBC showing their nomadic side, but also incorporating some signature plate/crystals as that is a pretty significant part of their culture aswell.

Troll looks good. The face cloth is a bit goofy looking, would look better if it went under the nose like people are saying. There's not much culture to explore with Darkspear trolls, they don't have prelates donning ornate plates, no fancy robes for their spirital caste - they are very much just masks, fetishes, light clothing, trinkets, etc. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Darkspear trolls.

[Cheezits]

Khadgar is already part of the council, he's their leader.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/MrGMYT/status/17...tNyLcQfEA&s=19

Got the names for the Harbinger quests.

Very nice, there is a Galakrond quest. Guess this is where we get in-game proof of Yogg's corruption.

[Auxis]

Khadgar is already part of the council, he's their leader.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/MrGMYT/status/17...tNyLcQfEA&s=19

Got the names for the Harbinger quests.

Says the tweet doesn't exist for me?

[Makorus]

Says the tweet doesn't exist for me?

Galakrond being there is interesting, guess we find out at least a bit about her plan.

Also, calling Void related stuff "Legacy of the Void" is getting old, Blizz. We get it, you made Star Craft 2.

[Sondrelk]

[IMG]

Galakrond being there is interesting, guess we find out at least a bit about her plan.

Also, calling Void related stuff "Legacy of the Void" is getting old, Blizz. We get it, you made Star Craft 2.

Sometimes it's nice to get a reminder that Blizzard made, and then subsequently stopped, making one of the best RTS game series we have.