Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Teriz]

Xal'atath is a logical villain to utilize for TWW. Azshara is benched until Midnight, as she is better fit as the villain of an Elf-based expansion. Denathrius is too recent, and a Void Lord is too important to be the villain of TWW, which is just a set-up expansion.

I'm not surprised that Xal'atath was promoted from "tertiary character that only Shadow Priests interact with" to "box art main villain". There's barely any villains left for Blizzard to utilize. The Legion is dismantled, the Old Gods are """""""""""dead""""""""""""", and the Scourge is a meme. So who, if not Xal'atath, for TWW?

Well, I guess we could have another expansion about the Horde being the main villains.

Dragonflight proved that Blizzard could create some interesting villains on the fly if necessary. The primal incarnates were rather fun villains.

[Throren]

So, when beta??? It's the 5th in a few hours here.

As Im sure you know, Blizzard is a US company, so you gotta wait another day

there's always a chance the build gets pushed early, but servers probably wont be up for another 24 hours at least

[Varodoc]

Dragonflight proved that Blizzard could create some interesting villains on the fly if necessary. The primal incarnates were rather fun villains.

By the way, Why did you suddenly turn into an Elf hater out of nowhere? Are you holding a grudge because many Elf fans correctly pointed out to you that Elves also utilize technology for war purposes?

[Lady Atia]

So, when beta??? It's the 5th in a few hours here.

When the new build is ready? Could be overnight or tomorrow.

[Teriz]

By the way, Why did you suddenly turn into an Elf hater out of nowhere? Are you holding a grudge because many Elf fans correctly pointed out to you that Elves also utilize technology for war purposes?

I've been an elf hater for years, partially because of the obsession with Illidan, but also because of the nauseating High/Blood Elf nonsense.

I kind of like Nightborne (mainly because of their city, aesthetics and tech), but they get the shaft constantly.

[Cheezits]

But in the context of how the idea was introduced, they had every reason to just make generic Tyr's guard mounts. 10.2 came with new generic forms for Druid. Nobody actually uses the racial forms anymore. It would be insane to make racial forms now.

If they released Paladins for All and Druids for All and Shamans for All without unique art assets the butthurt would be much, much, MUCH bigger than it would generate excitement from people who don't care about those. Wow's biggest fans hated the primalists and Tyrs Guard the second they were datamined because they are boring homogenous groups.

I think there may have been plans to use Primalists, Tyrs Guard and the Dream for "X for All" with limited forms but walked it back when people started realizing what was going on and started complaining. They make more money and have more resubs if the class unlocks are an "event" dripfed over the years with snazzy models than if they just unlock all classes tomorrow and Orc Paladins ride a human charger.

Also, lets be honest, the only especially heavily requested combo is Nelf Paladin. Not Worgen Shaman, Gnome Druid or the million other unlocks this process would involve. There's just one or two(?) people have actually heavily demanded while the others are not.

[Xilurm]

I've been an elf hater for years, partially because of the obsession with Illidan, but also because of the nauseating High/Blood Elf nonsense.

I kind of like Nightborne (mainly because of their city, aesthetics and tech), but they get the shaft constantly.

What's with the Elf hating anyway. You don't honestly think the other races are ever gonna be more important than the races that basically started this whole mess 10k years ago in-universe and the races that are clearly most popular in-game, right?

[Lady Atia]

And the alpha servers are shutting down right now.

[Ersula]

Also, lets be honest, the only especially heavily requested combo is Nelf Paladin.

If they wanted to do it race by race, they could have. They introduced "the first Nelf Paladin" almost 10 years ago. I doubt people would spend more energy complaining there are no racial assets than the people do asking for the class option in the first place.

[Cheezits]

If they wanted to do it race by race, they could have. They introduced "the first Nelf Paladin" almost 10 years ago. I doubt people would spend more energy complaining there are no racial assets than the people do asking for the class option in the first place.

I really think most people asking for open "special" classes are expecting what came with them in Cata and BFA, including the new lore and assets, but are also not considering that the only effective way to do this quickly is to not focus on the lore and assets. So they are setting themselves up for disappointment.

There's also the fact this probably isn't happening quickly because the amount of people asking are not actually enough for Blizz to spend time on it. How many people are going to sub for Gnome Shamans? Not enough to make them a totem, and Blizzard doesn't want to risk fandom tantrums if they just get a generic totem.

[Dracullus]

And the alpha servers are shutting down right now.

Then say goodbye to your char cause it's wipe time.

[Ersula]

There's also the fact this probably isn't happening quickly because the amount of people asking are not actually enough for Blizz to spend time on it. How many people are going to sub for Gnome Shamans? Not enough to make them a totem, and Blizzard doesn't want to risk fandom tantrums if they just get a generic totem.

Ergo, it makes the most sense to just add generic customization options for them. They already committed to doing it, they shouldn't be spending years on making gnome totems. Totem Customization. Charger Customization. And the Druid Customization is already done.

[Hitei]

I honestly don't get the Xal'atath obsession. There is no depth there. I guess it is just the voice acting together with them making her an elf?

How is there no depth? She has a great deal of characterization in Legion as a snarky and informative companion for the entire expansion. She has really interesting background lore/mystery, she is an antagonist but also isn't willfully turbo-edgy-evil or classically power hungry since she operates on the idea of the Void's cosmic inevitability rather than "I, individually, am the bestest", which makes her smug but not come across as directly arrogant as a lot of WoW villains. She's had a long, steady development that players were a part of at multiple points so she feels familiar and personal instead of the detachment or abruptness that many villains suffer from. Her aesthetic and new model are top notch.

She's pretty easily ahead of the majority of wow's big bads in terms of depth and development, and significantly less annoying/more amusing to deal with than most of them.

[Alanar]

She was called "knaifu" way before she got a physical form. It was her voice.

It was cringe, but ye that name was before that simply because of the voice.

[Mekkle]

What's with the Elf hating anyway. You don't honestly think the other races are ever gonna be more important than the races that basically started this whole mess 10k years ago in-universe and the races that are clearly most popular in-game, right?

this is why we hate them, bruh. so damn annoying.

[Santandame]

I argued it with you in pre-announcement times, but you seem to be on track.

I do kind of lean towards Articifer over Tinker, but it could go either way. The Earthen being far more technologically advanced than I anticipated and a probable Undermine makes it feel like a no brainer, opposed to 13.0.

I highly doubt it, buuuut.. I dunno. It could be.



The thing I can't land on is if they go race agnostic and give it to all, or argue the Druid/Paladin side with special art and give it to some.

Off the bat I'd think Goblins, Gnomes, Draenei, Lightforged, Blood Elves, Mag'har, Dwarves (all 3), Nightborne? There'd be a faction imbalance I think.

Alliance:

Humans
Dwarves
Gnomes
Draenei
Lightforged
Dark Irons
Mechagnomes

Horde:

Orcs
Goblins
Blood Elves
Forsaken
Vulpera
Mag’har
Nightborne

Neutral:

Earthen

There’s your Tinkers/Articifers.

[Ersula]

There’s your Tinkers/Articifers.

If Lightforged can be warlocks, you have include everybody.

[Makorus]

If Lightforged can be warlocks, you have include everybody.

Just like with Warlocks or Mages or Wariors, there is no reason not every race should be able to be a Tinker.

[Gurahk]

What's with the Elf hating anyway. You don't honestly think the other races are ever gonna be more important than the races that basically started this whole mess 10k years ago in-universe and the races that are clearly most popular in-game, right?

You literally just described why people dislike elves.

[Nymrohd]

It was cringe, but ye that name was before that simply because of the voice.

It is a female character with a deep voice. It triggers the "mommy, sorry, mommy, sorry" response on so many gamers.