Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Timester]

Is... this a Broker patch more than it's an Ethereal patch?

We are overwhelming Broker allied than we are Ethereal allied. What happened to the Protectorate? The Consortium? I love the Brokers but it feels a bit odd to be told "You were right, Brokers and Ethereals ARE related!" to just have our long awaited Ethereal zone feel like a Broker zone.

They aren't just related, they are the same, it's explained during the 11.2 questing what happened.

[Joshuaj]

They added a Pyromancer achievement, lol:

Ugh...ofc they did

[milkmustache]

They aren't just related, they are the same, it's explained during the 11.2 questing what happened.

No no I understand that, but it's kind of insane how overwhelmingly Broker the patch is. I'm extremely happy with the revelation that they are the same people, I think that's a great way to utilize the best part of Shadowlands and bring it back into the fold, but to have Brokers be the main aesthetic in K'aresh is a bit jarring when most people loved Ethereals first.

A loose exapmle, but imagine if we were to get a patch about the Wildhammer clan after just learning that the Earthen of Khaz Algar are an offshoot, and when we go to Aerie Peak we're greeted with Earthen architecture instead of the Wildhammer aesthetic we had loved and wanted a patch for. Both are really cool, and it works lore wise, but it's just a bit jarring.

There must be 20 friendly brokers for every friendly ethereal here. Which all in is fine, but it's incredibly unexpected.

I hate... hate to be that person, but it really does seem like this patch smartly used a lot of old assets to put be together quicker.

[Hitei]

I hate... hate to be that person, but it really does seem like this patch smartly used a lot of old assets to put be together quicker.

Pretty much. That said, it's sort of the best version of "easier asset recycling final patch" that we've gotten. It has a decent number of new assets and mobs and at least a new pretty nice looking area (even if I do feel like it's on the slapdash side compared to a lot of recent zonework). Like it's certainly not as bad as 8.3, 6.2, or 5.4 in terms of just reusing existing things.

[Timester]

No no I understand that, but it's kind of insane how overwhelmingly Broker the patch is. I'm extremely happy with the revelation that they are the same people, I think that's a great way to utilize the best part of Shadowlands and bring it back into the fold, but to have Brokers be the main aesthetic in K'aresh is a bit jarring when most people loved Ethereals first.

A loose exapmle, but imagine if we were to get a patch about the Wildhammer clan after just learning that the Earthen of Khaz Algar are an offshoot, and when we go to Aerie Peak we're greeted with Earthen architecture instead of the Wildhammer aesthetic we had loved and wanted a patch for. Both are really cool, and it works lore wise, but it's just a bit jarring.

There must be 20 friendly brokers for every friendly ethereal here. Which all in is fine, but it's incredibly unexpected.

I hate... hate to be that person, but it really does seem like this patch smartly used a lot of old assets to put be together quicker.

Besides the eco-domes (which are used again), the Ethereals never had no WoW architecture design, so used Tazavesh a literal surviving piece of K'aresh.

And not going too much into heavy spoilers, there is major explanation of why the Ethereals use the ribbons and the Brokers the suits.

In a dev explanation, they just did what they always do in final patch, reuse the assets in the best way they can. Even dragons are being reused. As long the lore explanation is good, I honestly don't mind, makes the world more connected.

[Limayria]

Pretty much. That said, it's sort of the best version of "easier asset recycling final patch" that we've gotten. It has a decent number of new assets and mobs and at least a new pretty nice looking area (even if I do feel like it's on the slapdash side compared to a lot of recent zonework). Like it's certainly not as bad as 8.3, 6.2, or 5.4 in terms of just reusing existing things.

I mean they already had the models set up to pretty easily make friendly ethereals, using the new models, and we do spend most of the campaign quest working with the wastelanders who are a friendly group of etherals (and have quest full of dune references, the real way to tell Chris Metzen is back lolz)

Is... this a Broker patch more than it's an Ethereal patch?

We are overwhelming Broker allied than we are Ethereal allied. What happened to the Protectorate? The Consortium? I love the Brokers but it feels a bit odd to be told "You were right, Brokers and Ethereals ARE related!" to just have our long awaited Ethereal zone feel like a Broker zone.

The consortium are part of the K'aresh trust

Yep. Not as she intended, but at the end of the day she gets the Void energy she wanted.

Which makes me rethink, she is an Harbringer of What then? Another Void Lord? A Prime Naaru? Herself? Azeroth herself?

Xal is th former harbinger of Dimensius, she worked with locus walker and the Revel to try and kill Dimensius by they failed

I mean, the new Demon Hunter guy is literally a Void Elf (which granted, is just a reskinned Blood Elf, but still means they are open to expanding the races).

I could see Nightborne being the equivalent for Horde to keep it elf-y, and it would go with Midnight as well.

- - - Updated - - -



I still think he is an alt of him to post in here.

He isn't a void elf, he's a blood elf working with a void elf, he even calls the void elf "cousin" and he is explicitly working with a void elf who wants to use the illidari's secrets to help void elves maintain their sanity and not be controlled by the void

[Dracullus]

Yesterday was a pretty good example of that. My prediction about the announcement date ended up being just a week off, yet I’m still the one getting called out for being ‘wrong,’ while others who missed by a mile aren’t held to the same standard..

Other people didn't argue that their predictions are perfect. On the contrary, I tried to explain to you that, although very precise, 8 week rule can't be taken religiously because we had multiple patches that were 1/2 weeks longer/shorter. But you ignored every example from past and continued completely ridiculous claim that every patch must follow exactly same strict schedule to the day.

[Timester]

Xal is th former harbinger of Dimensius, she worked with locus walker and the Revel to try and kill Dimensius by they failed

Yes, the former of Dimensius. The present of whom or what although?

[Dracullus]

So what are we expecting from finale using "most obvious thing will happen" rule? Dimensius destroyed, Xalatath taking his power/running away, then simply attacking sunwell in pre-patch?

Also, judging from timewalkers campaign and how it teased Brokers involvement, N'zoth return in MD is very likely.

[Marlamin]

Could you provide me a specific example of me arguing that my predictions are "perfect," please?

Because in the (now rather infamous) list I've been sharing of future announcement dates pretty clearly stated that it could be off by 1-4 weeks.

I also mentioned on several occasions that I based my predictions on the War Within patch cadence, not Dragonflight, and so far we've only had one patch that was shorter than 8 weeks in War Within.

I think in general it is best to be less obsessed about your own predictions and to repost/reference them less as it gets annoying to other posts quickly. I think that's probably the general gist of it.

[Limayria]

Yes, the former of Dimensius. The present of whom or what although?

I think they just call her the harbinger because that's what the K'areshi know her as, she seems to be working for herself and is very interested in world souls

I also personally think she knows way more about the fucked shit the titans are up too than we do and is probably gonna be a legitimate ally in TLT

But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part, all her quest were really interesting imo and playing through this set of MSQ is some of the most fun I've had in wow in a long time

Phase diving is also super cool and the way k'aresh is built is very smooth with flying, it's very easy to boost constantly if you stick to ground skimming, I also think it's one of the most beautiful zones theyve put out in a while

Also Dimensius death animation to me looks like he's collapsing into himself like a black hole going super nova or something + they already said that the dungeon is gonna have more plot relevance so I wouldn't be surprised if Dimensius is pretty much gone for good here and the big reveal focuses on soul scribe hearing Azeroth or something

[Therougetitan]

Yes, the former of Dimensius. The present of whom or what although?

Of Azshara as per A Song of the Depths in Forbidden Reach.

When these things come to pass, the Harbinger will fulfill the final prophecy and complete the awakening.

Only then shall our Queen return to reign over sea and sky and earth. We must make ready.

Rise, rise! Soon all that was hidden will be revealed.

[Makorus]

I mean they already had the models set up to pretty easily make friendly ethereals, using the new models, and we do spend most of the campaign quest working with the wastelanders who are a friendly group of etherals (and have quest full of dune references, the real way to tell Chris Metzen is back lolz)



The consortium are part of the K'aresh trust



Xal is th former harbinger of Dimensius, she worked with locus walker and the Revel to try and kill Dimensius by they failed



He isn't a void elf, he's a blood elf working with a void elf, he even calls the void elf "cousin" and he is explicitly working with a void elf who wants to use the illidari's secrets to help void elves maintain their sanity and not be controlled by the void

Aw must have gotten that wrong, oops.

[Khaza-R]

No no I understand that, but it's kind of insane how overwhelmingly Broker the patch is. I'm extremely happy with the revelation that they are the same people, I think that's a great way to utilize the best part of Shadowlands and bring it back into the fold, but to have Brokers be the main aesthetic in K'aresh is a bit jarring when most people loved Ethereals first.

A loose exapmle, but imagine if we were to get a patch about the Wildhammer clan after just learning that the Earthen of Khaz Algar are an offshoot, and when we go to Aerie Peak we're greeted with Earthen architecture instead of the Wildhammer aesthetic we had loved and wanted a patch for. Both are really cool, and it works lore wise, but it's just a bit jarring.

There must be 20 friendly brokers for every friendly ethereal here. Which all in is fine, but it's incredibly unexpected.

I hate... hate to be that person, but it really does seem like this patch smartly used a lot of old assets to put be together quicker.

I agree to an extent. Why the lore with K'aresh was always uncertain on its status. They did have cities within the eco-domes and apparently fought Dimensius back for a time.

It seems they now changed it to where the eco-domes were just to save parts of the planets flora and most everything else was oblierated. No oasis nomad culture like people were expecting. Instead the big surprise is, "oh look you've already seen K'areshi culture before!". Makes sense for world-building but overall I can see why people are disappointed.

[milkmustache]

Pretty much. That said, it's sort of the best version of "easier asset recycling final patch" that we've gotten. It has a decent number of new assets and mobs and at least a new pretty nice looking area (even if I do feel like it's on the slapdash side compared to a lot of recent zonework). Like it's certainly not as bad as 8.3, 6.2, or 5.4 in terms of just reusing existing things.

You're right, tyhis is the best version of it. I guess as a fan of the Ethereals, I'm a bit bummed to see them overshadowed by Brokers. Here's to hoping they rebuild as "Kareshi" with a new combined model, perhaps playable.

Besides the eco-domes (which are used again), the Ethereals never had no WoW architecture design, so used Tazavesh a literal surviving piece of K'aresh.

And not going too much into heavy spoilers, there is major explanation of why the Ethereals use the ribbons and the Brokers the suits.

In a dev explanation, they just did what they always do in final patch, reuse the assets in the best way they can. Even dragons are being reused. As long the lore explanation is good, I honestly don't mind, makes the world more connected.

I agree, I also like the way they're doing it, I'm just a little surprised at it lorewise I suppose. But I like it!

I agree to an extent. Why the lore with K'aresh was always uncertain on its status. They did have cities within the eco-domes and apparently fought Dimensius back for a time.

It seems they now changed it to where the eco-domes were just to save parts of the planets flora and most everything else was oblierated. No oasis nomad culture like people were expecting. Instead the big surprise is, "oh look you've already seen K'areshi culture before!". Makes sense for world-building but overall I can see why people are disappointed.

I think another part of this that is proving hard to swallow is that the Ethereals are being portrayed mostly as antagonists, with Brokers as allies. Brokers I don't think will ever be playable. Ethereals always had a possibility to them, or at least a hope. Regardless of their new models being unusable by players, this is what feels like the nail in the coffin on playable Ethereals.

[Khaza-R]

Of Azshara as per A Song of the Depths in Forbidden Reach.

I think the prophecy is unclear whether Azshara, Iridikron and Xal are working together or if Azshara and the naga are simply aware of what Xal'atath is trying to do and will captialize on it.

[Hitei]

I think they just call her the harbinger because that's what the K'areshi know her as, she seems to be working for herself and is very interested in world souls

"The Harbinger" is a moniker she picked for herself, Locus-Walker's comments on the name suggest that when K'aresh fell, she wasn't actually explicitly called that, she was likely "a harbinger" rather than "The Harbinger"

[Limayria]

I agree to an extent. Why the lore with K'aresh was always uncertain on its status. They did have cities within the eco-domes and apparently fought Dimensius back for a time.

It seems they now changed it to where the eco-domes were just to save parts of the planets flora and most everything else was oblierated. No oasis nomad culture like people were expecting. Instead the big surprise is, "oh look you've already seen K'areshi culture before!". Makes sense for world-building but overall I can see why people are disappointed.

Tbh I was really hoping we'd get a dungeon or delve in some old preserved ruins of pre destruction k'aresh but I have a feeling we might get a glimpse of it in the final campaign chapter but we won't see that till after the raid releases I don't think, considering they said no final boss fight testing and you need to kill him to get to chapter 5

[Cheezits]

Yeah I can't be mad at this patch as it's a tastefully done 8.3. But damn, this truly was a 2 patch expansion. I had a feeling when the Khaz Algar orphan quest wrapped everything up so nicely.

[Hitei]

Yeah I can't be mad at this patch as it's a tastefully done 8.3. But damn, this truly was a 2 patch expansion. I had a feeling when the Khaz Algar orphan quest wrapped everything up so nicely.

I don't think there was ever any chance it wouldn't be. If they were going to have any hope of the "before 2030" thing and faster expansion cadence they reorganized the team for, there was never going to be 3 major patches for the WSS expansions. Even putting aside the timing meaning that expansions would struggle to be under 2 years, the resources needed to make the three patches would slow the simultaneous expansion development.