Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Steampunkette]

No. This thread is for speculation. Which is guessing possible outcomes based on known information. Not for making shit up from nothing like you're doing.

You're not speculating, you're just posting your headcanon and making predictions based entirely on your own imagination.

Ohhh... I see. So.

We DON'T know that Lothraxion is a Light-Infused Nathrezim, that Calia is a Light-Infused Undead, that Eonnar is a Titan of Life, that the Twilight's Hammer use Void-Infused Elementals, or that the Cosmology Book from Hallowfall explicitly reinforces the idea that it's incredibly common to have forces overlap like the Sacred Flame or Void Undead.

We DON'T know that Elun'ahir was planted in Khaz Algar. We DON'T know that there's Old God minions (Nerubians) within Khaz Algar. We DON'T know that every time we've ever seen Qiraji-Descended insectfolk there's an Old God (living or dead) nearby. We DON'T know that Map 4 is the "Rootlands" from Datamining material. We DON'T know that there's text about a Fifth Old God in game and in the new Chronicles Volume 4.

It's ABSOLUTELY specious to try and combine all of these things we just don't know into speculation!

Gosh. How foolish of me to try and speculate. Thank god you're here, Huth, to steer me right on what qualifies as speculation and what qualifies as a total asspull!

Anyway. Gonna just slip you onto my ignore list for unrelated reasons, now. Byyyyeeee! <3

[PenguinChan]

man i just LOVE pointlessly time gating shit. guess im not playing again till the 3rd.

It’s to let people who didn’t pay the extra cash to catch up to where those who did are at. The main advantage was to get leveled up and geared until the season started — including alts.

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One things for sure, im definitely more interested in TWW patch content than I was with DF.

Ditto. The story is infinitely more interesting just based on the dalaran intro.

[Mekkle]

It’s to let people who didn’t pay the extra cash to catch up to where those who did are at. The main advantage was to get leveled up and geared until the season started — including alts.

all that for an allied race? please.

[Khaza-R]

It’s to let people who didn’t pay the extra cash to catch up to where those who did are at. The main advantage was to get leveled up and geared until the season started — including alts.

It is a bit shady tho that they waited until the EA was over to clarify.

[Nymrohd]

I get they needed to give Thrall something to do and given he is a shaman he is the natural fit for the stormrooks but I just wish Kurdran was involved since the Stormriders and the Wildhammers have crazy thematic overlap.

Also the cinematic did not go off, once again proving the best way to see this game is to just watch the quests on youtube. . .
Also ofc Baelgrim was replaced by another female character. And ofc one that is presented as a younger person instead of Olbarig or Vokmar who actually were combat trained. But no, plucky young person is the obvious replacement for a warrior order even though she knows nothing of what she'd need to lead them in combat.
Which yes, shouldn't matter. But at some point it just feels too on the nose.

Also the cutscenes just fail to run constantly for anyone else?

[Houle]

No. This thread is for speculation. Which is guessing possible outcomes based on known information. Not for making shit up from nothing like you're doing.

You're not speculating, you're just posting your headcanon and making predictions based entirely on your own imagination.

Why exactly did this get your panties in such a bunch lol.
As far as outlandish theories in this thread go, that one is pretty tame. After posts upon posts of theories, fake leaks and whatever else, getting this worked up about something that would merely require a few retcons on blizzards art (something they do prett ymuch every xpac) seems like a personal issue you got there.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

So he's an old god but neither old, nor a god?

Wrong and wrong again. He is old by WoW's standards-- just not as old as the big 4 Old Gods. And he is in fact a "god" in the sense that Blizzard has described him as such, on more than one occasion.

Seems like it's a matter of semantics.

Semantics you are trying to argue that only exist if you are trying to disprove a credible source. And in this case, the source is the fucking people who created the character.
Weird.

Either way, the other old gods wouldn't consider G'huun an old god, so neither will I.

Let me be clear: it's completely fine for you to choose this.
But that's also you willfully choosing to ignore lore in favor of bias and/or head-canon. You don't have a great track record with keeping up with the lore whilst arguing it with people on this forum... but this is just dumb.

Blizzard has classified G'huun as an Old God - regardless of if G'huun was thrown across the cosmos by the Void Lords, or was accidentally created. And this was established years ago in IRL time. It's time to move onto another dead horse.

[Steampunkette]

You know... If that Fifth Old God was torn apart by the other Old Gods, maybe it's not -all- of him that gets infused with Life by the roots of Elun'ahir if my speculation is correct...

What if there's chunks of him that are gone, or rotted, or twisted into new horrors, and pieces of him under Azj-Kahet and other places in that living-unliving state like the heart of Y'shaarj...

It could be super interesting if part of Xalatath's plan has been to Humpty Dumpty his ass back together. Would also make Undermine a prime location to search for a second hunk of Dead Old God and help establish it as part of the Black Blood problem...

Of course, that's a little bit wilder on the speculation scale than before.

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Why exactly did this get your panties in such a bunch lol.
As far as outlandish theories in this thread go, that one is pretty tame. After posts upon posts of theories, fake leaks and whatever else, getting this worked up about something that would merely require a few retcons on blizzards art (something they do prett ymuch every xpac) seems like a personal issue you got there.

Would it require art retcons at all?

I'd be super interested to know which ones! Refining theories means confronting inconsistencies, after all.

[Kiivar86]

Also the cutscenes just fail to run constantly for anyone else?

I've had zero issues with cutscenes.

[Cheezits]

Also ofc Baelgrim was replaced by another female character. And ofc one that is presented as a younger person instead of Olbarig or Vokmar who actually were combat trained. But no, plucky young person is the obvious replacement for a warrior order even though she knows nothing of what she'd need to lead them in combat.
Which yes, shouldn't matter. But at some point it just feels too on the nose.

I think it makes sense for this council. The other three Earthen councilmembers are all ancient and experienced, there needed to be one who was inexperienced in comparison.

[Nymrohd]

I think it makes sense for this council. The other three Earthen councilmembers are all ancient and experienced, there needed to be one who was inexperienced in comparison.

Why would you want someone who has no experience whatsoever in combat to lead the military division of the Earthen???
It's like making a horse groomer the lead of your cavalry. She probably has solid potential as a shaman but you don't put a novice to lead in a time of war. Especially given Olberig gets Baelgrim's Stormrook at the end. This is some YA shit. I'd call it CW writing but no one is hot enough.

Like Brinthe was set up perfectly to take over. She was right below Eirich in the hierarchy, she is respected by everyone in Gundargaz and she makes it clear she knows what she is doing. Plus she is chosen by the people. Anyone who complained about her being a woman replacing a man should really consider wtf is wrong with them that they feel that way. But Lufsela? She was chosen by . . . Thrall of all people?

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I've had zero issues with cutscenes.

Both of the new ones just did not fire up for me which is annoying. I had to check them out on WoWhead.

[Ersula]

Blizzard has classified G'huun as an Old God - regardless of if G'huun was thrown across the cosmos by the Void Lords, or was accidentally created. And this was established years ago in IRL time. It's time to move onto another dead horse.

Blizzard does not consider G'hunn an old god in any way that matters. G'hunn did not rule the Black Empire & Xal'atath won't be trying to resurrect him. She literally did not care about G'hunn in the slightest during her BFA quests.

[Santandame]

I didn't know we were gatekeeping what's speculation now.

That guy has consistently and historically been the most contrarian and pedantic person in this thread. More often than not they don’t contribute anything to what’s going on in terms of speculation other than to purposefully antagonise people for no apparent reason. At this point, no one should bother engaging.

[Skytotem]

I get they needed to give Thrall something to do and given he is a shaman he is the natural fit for the stormrooks but I just wish Kurdran was involved since the Stormriders and the Wildhammers have crazy thematic overlap.

Also the cinematic did not go off, once again proving the best way to see this game is to just watch the quests on youtube. . .
Also ofc Baelgrim was replaced by another female character. And ofc one that is presented as a younger person instead of Olbarig or Vokmar who actually were combat trained. But no, plucky young person is the obvious replacement for a warrior order even though she knows nothing of what she'd need to lead them in combat.
Which yes, shouldn't matter. But at some point it just feels too on the nose.

Also the cutscenes just fail to run constantly for anyone else?

Doesn't Kurdran help train them in riding and thrall train them in element stuff?

[Steampunkette]

Doesn't Kurdran help train them in riding and thrall train them in element stuff?

Yup. Also Olbarig actively chooses her because he recognizes she's a better leader than he is since she was able to instantly resolve the argument he and Baelgrim had SO MANY TIMES by just having an outsider's perspective that hybridized their arguments.

Something they -should- have done at some point in their (insert millennia since the Titans left here) years they'd been arguing. But both were too stubborn and pigheaded to consider any viewpoint but their own.

Which, you know. BAD FUCKING TRAIT for a leader.

She was the only reasonable choice, in the end. Able to see things from a new perspective, first Earthen to be chosen by a Stormrook, had spent millennia caring for and protecting Stormrooks, used the relic to call more Stormrooks...

Nymrohd's just bitching 'cause she's a female character and thus automatically unqualified.

Had she been a dude this wouldn't even be a point raised.

[Jastall]

So far so good, midway through the Ringing Deeps but I keep disconnecting so I'll continue tomorrow. Blizzard took their time fleshing out the Earthern and it shows, they're already more interesting than any of the throwaway allies in Dragonflight were. Coupled with having actual stakes due to the Dalaran intro -on the nose as it was- and Xal being a better villain in one scene than anyone has been since Denathrius and I'm feeling hopeful the story can be enjoyable, even if not that great.

Also the High Speaker guy cracked me up with his throne. Kinda wish he'd become a recurring character dragging his oversized chairs to the unlikeliest of places to deliver a pompous speech then leaving after refusing to elaborate.

[Joszef Kiprich]

Just a tip, also do the side quests, most of them are even better then the campaign storyline.

[Nightshade711]

Looks like they didn’t add the Dragonflight PvP ensembles yet.

[milkmustache]

I love the Arathi reestablishing relations side quest. Really smart of them to include the Trading Post NPCs into the world rather than just being a player interacting group.

I'm impressed overall. The flow of these zones are incredible, the stories (particularly sidequests) are great, the worldbuilding and all is really well done. This is a dramatic step up from Shadowlands and Dragonflight, definitely gives more of a Warcraft feel. There's a lot of remnants of the SL/DF narrative writers in some of these quests, but I think it's scaled back in the heavy handedness.

I'm impressed with how well done the Earthen are. The dragonkin in Dragonflight were so misused, but the Earthen are absolutely incredible, there's a real society here that feels tangible. I think once Earthen get characters established in factions, it'll be hard to imagine them without it. Also, Tinker please.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

World of Warcraft: The War Within

I have been playing for 2.5 hours. I finished the Isle of Dorn questline and was at the part where you go underground, but I decided to turn back and go complete the sidequests up above on the surface.

My current chief complaint is that the expansion is braindead easy. Be it fighting overworld mobs or delves or doing the first dungeon. I don't think my HP has ever gone below 90%, not even when I was mass pulling everything in sight as a DPS spec. For the story delve, you are FORCED to pick the tier 1 difficulty. And then for the dungeon, you are FORCED to go through the dungeon with NPC followers, and again I could pull everything in sight and just not care, and the bosses died so fast I didn't even get to see all of their mechanics or RP. Even FF14 Dawntrail was more challenging than this, when mass pulling FATE mobs while levelling up my other jobs, or the threatening and engaging dungeon bosses where you have to be paying attention and can't be absent mindedly playing. That being said, the moment to moment gameplay of TWW is a little more engaging than Dawntrail was, as Dawntrail was hours and hours of a visual novel with a very boring, low tension story occasionally punctuated by an exciting dungeon or boss fight, vs WoW The War Within where you are constantly running around clicking on objects in the game world and constantly killing stuff.




The story had me engaged early on with the tension of the sudden devestating attack on Dalaran with people dying in the streets, people being kidnapped and carried away by evil spiders, buildings collapsing, etc. And then you and the survivors fighting for your lives on a beach, and then when Baelgrimm arrives it seemed he was going to arrest us and throw us in prison and we were going to have to break out. But after that it turns out that the Earthen are chill with us, and the tension dissipates and the story becomes kinda boring as you run around doing whatever.




The destruction of the Cinderbrew Meadery was underwhelming. I was expecting a huge, devestating explosion that would leave nothing but a smoking crater left, but then in the cutscene the stonework and even the wooden barrels that supposedly exploded are still intact. EDIT: upon rewatching the scene, apparently Baelgrimm actually kills the Nerubain lieutenant with just his leap, and there weren't any other living Nerubians around, so why did we blow up all of this mead again?

I finished the prologue AND the first zone storyline in only 2.5 hours? We only have three more zones to go and then the raid? How short is this expansion's campaign?

It is disappointing that we haven't heard word about what is going on the rest of the world at this moment. Dalaran - one of the most advanced cities/nations of the world and the world's center of magical learning, and a pillar of the world's infrastructure - was just wiped out in 20 minutes. There should be world wide panic and every nation going on red alert and mobilizing their flying cavalry, airships, mage portals, etc, and sending an immediete punitive expedition. Not just the nations, but also military orders such as the Ebon Blade, the Silver Hand, the Tyr's Guard, etc.

There is a moment in the storyline when a character says "Storm" three times in a row. "The stormborn" and "the stormriders" and "the storm something".

Aggravating feminist writing where the strong man who does his job and protects everybody gets shat on in favor of the woman girlboss who deserted her post. Also, women with beards. Won't waste more words on that.









I like how verdant the new city of Dornogal is, and I like the celtic knot designs in the trim. I do not like how overall blocky/square the architecture is, though. So Valdrakken and Oribos was preferrable in that regard. There was some neat stuff such as gardeners spraying water magic to water the plants instead of using a watering can or a hose.






It's cool how the Earthen do the Utawarerumono thing and have use crystals for lighting, embedding it into their walls or having it in place of candles on top of stables or on lampstands, but the glow/lighting effect is not very strong/good.




I find it unbecoming that Madam Goya has set up shop in a small room in a dilapidated alleyway filled with litter and rats and common ruffians. The same Madam Goya who ran the Black Market Auction house out of a nice house on a mountaintop next to a hot springs resort in Pandaria, and was using a palatial stone alcove house in Valdrakken. She has been exchanging highly coveted magical weapons and dragons that sell for millions of gold each for 10 years. She can afford some place nicer. It's like a bank. Going to an auction house is like going to a bank; it needs to look nice and prestigious so when you feel confident about handing over lots of your hard earned money. This is bad form.



Music: haven't heard anything that would make it onto my favorite's playlist so far. I noticed that they are using a hammered dulcimer which is nice, but it isn't Timothy Seaman tier music. There was a playful sounding part around the Cindebrew Meadery, will have to look that up later. The inn music is okayish.

I have been mining and picking herbs and thus far haven't found any cool fantastical stuff like in Dragonflight like the air herbs that blew you back or the frost herbs that froze you.