Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Nightshade711]

I thought the M+ mounts were the earthen mechs? Of what mount do you speak?

Yeah they're the crystal mounts. One is the standard Earthen/Magni coloration. The others are void/light themed.
I imagine they're similar to how the DF M+ mounts were all the same skeleton - but they had themes/colors that seemed to match the patch's theme.

- - - Updated - - -




The other mentioned colorations.

[Cheezits]

Yeah they're the crystal mounts. One is the standard Earthen/Magni coloration. The others are void/light themed.
I imagine they're similar to how the DF M+ mounts were all the same skeleton - but they had themes/colors that seemed to match the patch's theme.

- - - Updated - - -




The other mentioned colorations.

DF's Armoredons were drastically different models each time, these are just color swaps. I'm not sure what path they'll go. SL was color swaps.

I kind of hope they continue the DF idea where it's one kind of mob but the theme changes to reflect each patch, so in this case it would be a robot themed after each patch (Goblin, Roots, ???) instead of recolors.

[Santandame]

DF's Armoredons were drastically different models each time, these are just color swaps. I'm not sure what path they'll go. SL was color swaps.

I kind of hope they continue the DF idea where it's one kind of mob but the theme changes to reflect each patch, so in this case it would be a robot themed after each patch (Goblin, Roots, ???) instead of recolors.

Why would we get three major patches when the last two expansions have indicated that the pattern is two major content patches?

[Hitei]

didnt kara get revealed like almost immediately after launch

Two weeks before launch.

[Golden Yak]

Perhaps the 'goblinraid' item is from a goblin boss (like the 'etherealraid' items are from the ethereal boss in the first raid).
I could see the goblins trying to exploit the roots for profit, but in doing so unknowingly weaken the roots for Xal'atath to corrupt them/use them as a sort of pathway to the world soul.

Yeah, I think that could work. Hrm... if we get some Undermine lore, we might address the long-standing Kajamite question, and whether or not it's really associated somehow with the Old Gods, a very old speculation. And if it is, it would also give Xal an avenue to exploit the goblins.

Maybe...

Launch Content - We tangle with the nerubians first, and ultimately Xal'atath was just using them to gather up the Old God blood for her own use. Maybe building a body for the essence of Galakrond.
Minor Patch - Xal goes into hiding, but we get rumblings of Undermine with the goblins showing up.
Major Patch - Kezan zone and Undermine raid, tracking down Xal and dealing with goblin lore.
Minor Patch - Beledar-related megadungeon. It opens the pathway to the Worldsoul. Gets us more Arathi Empire lore as a build-up to Midnight.
Major Patch - 'Hollow Azeroth' zone (Rootlands/Roots of Elun'ahir) and Worldsoul raid, we fight Xal as the final boss.

We stop her from corrupting the Worldsoul, but not from undoing the 'Ordering' the Titans infused into it. It's now 'up for grabs,' torn from the grasp of the Titans like Iridikron said it would be. Leads us into Midnight as the Void makes an attack to seize it before the Titans come back.

[Enrif]

Yeah, I think that could work. Hrm... if we get some Undermine lore, we might address the long-standing Kajamite question, and whether or not it's really associated somehow with the Old Gods, a very old speculation. And if it is, it would also give Xal an avenue to exploit the goblins.

Maybe...

Launch Content - We tangle with the nerubians first, and ultimately Xal'atath was just using them to gather up the Old God blood for her own use. Maybe building a body for the essence of Galakrond.
Minor Patch - Xal goes into hiding, but we get rumblings of Undermine with the goblins showing up.
Major Patch - Kezan zone and Undermine raid, tracking down Xal and dealing with goblin lore.
Minor Patch - Beledar-related megadungeon. It opens the pathway to the Worldsoul. Gets us more Arathi Empire lore as a build-up to Midnight.
Major Patch - 'Hollow Azeroth' zone (Rootlands/Roots of Elun'ahir) and Worldsoul raid, we fight Xal as the final boss.

We stop her from corrupting the Worldsoul, but not from undoing the 'Ordering' the Titans infused into it. It's now 'up for grabs,' torn from the grasp of the Titans like Iridikron said it would be. Leads us into Midnight as the Void makes an attack to seize it before the Titans come back.

I don't think we will fight Xal in TWW. She has to be dealt with in Midnight.

[Lady Atia]

DF's Armoredons were drastically different models each time, these are just color swaps. I'm not sure what path they'll go. SL was color swaps.

I kind of hope they continue the DF idea where it's one kind of mob but the theme changes to reflect each patch, so in this case it would be a robot themed after each patch (Goblin, Roots, ???) instead of recolors.

Tbf, while it was cool that the Amordeons were slightly different it makes sense to make all the m+ mounts recolours to bring them in line with gladiator mounts (who will also just be recolors again HOPEFULLY). Limited Seasonal mounts should never have unique models each season - either make them atleast recolours you can get through a whole expansion (so its not as bad if you miss out on one season), or make them unique but farmable after 2 expansions like mythic only mounts (or vicious mounts who have unique models too but can be farmed later).

Besides that, after two expansions they should make both gladiator and m+ mounts be farmable via a seasonal renown system anyways, just without a catch-up so you can get one per season if you missed but people who got them originally will always have more. Hell, you could even make it a generic fomo token system and add stuff like the naxx protodrakes in there if you really want the pool big enough in order to dilute the mount picks (although I would prolly still prefer a seperate pve and pvp renown).

- - - Updated - - -

In other news, I was a bit sad about the skin tone they choose for the trading post old god fish only to realize today that the purple+green is actually based upon Y'shaarj's hearthstone artwork.





Interesting, interesting.

[Golden Yak]

I don't think we will fight Xal in TWW. She has to be dealt with in Midnight.

Could be both, like Garrosh. Final boss of one xpac, second banana in the following one.

I cannot see us not fighting Xal at the climax of WW. Unless the final boss is something she sends after us, like Argus in Legion.

In other news, I was a bit sad about the skin tone they choose for the trading post old god fish only to realize today that the purple+green is actually based upon Y'shaarj's hearthstone artwork.

Ooo, neat. One might even say... fishy? Hurf hurf hurf.

[Enrif]

Could be both, like Garrosh. Final boss of one xpac, second banana in the following one.

I cannot see us not fighting Xal at the climax of WW. Unless the final boss is something she sends after us, like Argus in Legion.

If i go by the current informations and datamine, the last boss will be either something with the rootlands (but i think that is unlikely) or, a void shifted light creature that is in the beledar. This void shifted light creature would perfectly fit into a etherealraid. It could be a mini-Dimensius, thus bringing information to players about what a true Dimensius could mean if Xal is sucessfull at the Sunwell.

[Lahis]

The best argument against the login screen so far.

[micwini]

The best argument against the login screen so far.

It all makes sense now. It's supposed to be a butthole because the login screen is so shit.

[Ielenia]

I don't think we will fight Xal in TWW. She has to be dealt with in Midnight.

We can still fight her. If we do, it only means she'll likely escape near the end of the fight.

[Eldryth]

I fully expect us to kill Xal'atath in TWW, but still have it be a victory for the Void overall, and have it be part of her plan. Could tie it into that "hour of her third death" think- the first death being when she was sealed in the dagger, and the second being when we sacrificed her power in Silithus.

[micwini]

I fully expect us to kill Xal'atath in TWW, but still have it be a victory for the Void overall, and have it be part of her plan. Could tie it into that "hour of her third death" think- the first death being when she was sealed in the dagger, and the second being when we sacrificed her power in Silithus.

I unfortunately don't think we will ever get closure on most whispers.

[Villager720]

I fully expect us to kill Xal'atath in TWW, but still have it be a victory for the Void overall, and have it be part of her plan. Could tie it into that "hour of her third death" think- the first death being when she was sealed in the dagger, and the second being when we sacrificed her power in Silithus.

I actually think we won’t get her until Midnight. As of now, we’ve only really got 2 villains (Xal & Iridi) for 3 expansions.
I expect Azshara will show up, but I don’t see her as an expansion end boss - especially with not build up this far.
That said, we 100% lose TWW regardless of who does or doesn’t die.

- - - Updated - - -

I unfortunately don't think we will ever get closure on most whispers.

I concur.
I think they might weave a few in when they can, but I don’t think they’re even remotely shaping the narrative.

[Cheezits]

I think that when the whispers were written, some of them were based on things the devs knew would happen (the BFA themed ones in Legion, the SL themed ones in BFA) while some of them were very basic concepts they wanted to do in the future (roots = "there is a new world tree somewhere", lord of ravens = "one of the bird/wing themed characters will do something" so Odyn with the Valkyr, Khadgar etc). I also think some of these got canceled like the queen with the scepter of bone and the boy king lies... unless boy king got transferred to Dagran.

I do think that every time they do a new expansion or plot arc they look back at the unsolved whispers and see if they can use them. Roots could've been tied to Amir'drassil, and may have been the original plan, but I think they backtracked when they realized they wanted the Nelves to have a clear win with no downsides. So this lead to another story about another new world tree, this time in the past, and this may have even lead to the entire Khaz Algar lore conception in the first place.

Which is why Orwenya is such a big part of marketing and may even be the eyes of green, despite not being that big in launch. They started with "old gods using roots" to "hole made by pulled out world tree" and worked from there.

[Samin]

I unfortunately don't think we will ever get closure on most whispers.

People won't accept closure unless Xal turns to the camera and says "THIS is what the old gods were whispering about".

In reality, most of the things in those whispers have already happened. But due to the vague nature, actually several incidents fit the whispers and more future situations will apply as well - and because people want to speculate and there won't be an "official" closure, people will keep refusing to accept the whispers as covered and take them as open prophecies that are so vague that fitting scenarios keep coming up.

[Makorus]

So they released some of Tarot cards for their new books, and while most of them are really obvious (Silithus Sword for Tower, Malfurion as Emperor, Thrall as Hierophant which is kind of dubious), one of them has interesting design decisions:



The World (which is Azeroth, which I guess you can interpret in the context of Tarot Cards) still has the four corner symbols indicating the cyclical nature of the world. The top left one is Nature, bottom right is Death, honestly can't tell what the other two mean.

Interestingly enough, the World Arcana comes at the end of a deck and represents the end of a journey, or completion/unification.

[Scyth]

I'm fairly confident Xal will survive TWW, she has to tbh. They can't keep killing off villains after one xpac and given that next xpac is Void vs Light I'm sure she will survive and be in it.

[Samin]

The World (which is Azeroth, which I guess you can interpret in the context of Tarot Cards) still has the four corner symbols indicating the cyclical nature of the world. The top left one is Nature, bottom right is Death, honestly can't tell what the other two mean.

Interestingly enough, the World Arcana comes at the end of a deck and represents the end of a journey, or completion/unification.

Either bottom left is supposed to be Titan architecture and represent Order making the top right Disorder

Or the top right is supposed to be Netherstorm (I see Crystals and a Manaforge), which actually would make it more Arcane, which is supposed to be Order. It could also stand for Void (Twisting Nether, also Dimensius) which would make bottom left represent light through some Cathedral-like (but I think background looks more like stars rather than light-glimmers). I guess because of Netherstorm's thing is kind of "being destroyed" it could also represent Disorder, but it would be a really weird pick imo.

I'm interested in what people think the two planets next to Azeroth are. Just Argus und Draenor? Any wilder ideas?