Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Scyth]

Slightly different topic focus, but Midnight has some of the best WoW tracks imo. The Alleria boss music, the Midnight Battle music, the Troll battle music, the Void battle music, and the Light's ost in particular are fucking glorious!

The music is absolutely incredible imo, the Alleria one is also my favourite but I do love all the Belf themed ones too, even if they are at times different than the TBC ones.

[Enrif]

BlizzCon aside and the obvious need to save some big announcements...

It's still crazy how WoW, the big cash cow and mega famous franchise going back to the 90s...

Is still so 'meh' when it comes to announcements.

There's so much they could being out every year.

- New Warcraft 1/2/3 maps or expansions. Hell, build Warcraft 3.5 inside that engine as a new campaign.

- Shows and movies.

- New mobile games.

- New PC and console games in other genres.

- Surprise WoW patches shadow dropped packed with fan service, like character customisation or new (requested) allies races.

- Board games and CCGs.

- Refreshing the graphics of Classic.

- I could go on.

It's like they're stuck on this schedule of expansion, patches, and new Classic editions, like clockwork. No attempts to innovate or amaze.

I hope I'm proven wrong at BlizzCon, though!

You have to consider: WoW gets mayor content patches very frequently, which takes a lot of manpower to make it work in a 20 year old game. While also working on the one after that, and after that, and new expansions, adding a lot of assets too

Compare that to: a new class for a old game, it is not even in the same ballpark

Even Overwatches new heros are rather small additions in the grandscheme

MMOs in the style of WoW need a lot of work to be done

[Darkarath]

I agree that it's fair to say that the information and announcements that we got of WoW were a joke compared to Overwatch and Diablo.

I also agree with the notion that Blizzcon's protagonists will be WoW and Starcraft.

For WoW, I feel that the BIG thing will be Classic +. That's it, don't expect more.

Even if Blizzard reveals TLT cinematic and features, I doubt that the last expansion of the WSS will have something that really hypes up the community. It might have a new class, but something bigger than Housing? No chance.

Blizzard's big bet is Classic +, and I have an infinite amount of doubts regarding this new version of WoW. No matter what they do it won't be the Classic + that the community wants, because everyone has a different opinion of what it should be.

My hope is that Blizzard would have the balls to make Classic + something really different. A new ecosystem both for PC and consoles. But it's incredibly unlikely that Blizzard would do something like that.

So, maaaybe an animated TV Show?

BTW we are living the best moment in WoW's history. We never got so much content so fast. The thing is that players get used to good things VERY quickly, and get bored of the same structure even if it's a very solid one. Blizzard is failing hard regarding hype, both in gameplay and story, but that doesn't mean that WoW is in a bad moment at all.

[Jaggler]

To be frank, The whole thing was in a bad timeslot for WoW. A month ahead of an expansion there isn't really anything new to announce, and you also don't want to take away the thunder of the expansion release by also talking about 12.1 in detail already.

The music is absolutely incredible imo, the Alleria one is also my favourite but I do love all the Belf themed ones too, even if they are at times different than the TBC ones.

I think people are referreing mostly to the music in the neutral part of Silvermoon (Eversong still has quite a bit of the OG Belf vibe). I get that they were going for a more uplifting music, now that the Belves have clawed their way back from extinction with the help of their new allies, but people have a certain expectation when talking about Blood Elf music and neutral Silvermoon doesn't really capture that. It misses the gravitas and melancholy the old soundtrack had, which makes sense in concept, but i think there certainly would have been better ways to incorporate old motifs in the new track.

[Reive]

Overwatch and diablo are also getting better cinematics

Come on blizzard, do better for wow

[Scyth]

For WoW, I feel that the BIG thing will be Classic +. That's it, don't expect more.

Having only a Classic+ announcement for WoW at Blizzcon would be a massive letdown tbh. As much as some Classic fans like to delude themselves into thinking Classic is what is saving WoW, the reality is that it's very niche and nowhere bing enough as retail.

But I also don't see them showing a TLT cinematic, it's way too soon. There's a chance they talk about some upcoming stuff in TLT though, without spoiling story elements.

[NikolaiShade]

But I also don't see them showing a TLT cinematic, it's way too soon. There's a chance they talk about some upcoming stuff in TLT though, without spoiling story elements.

If I was in Blizzard's shoes, I would risk some spoilers to hype the playerbase

[Nymrohd]

BTW we are living the best moment in WoW's history. We never got so much content so fast. The thing is that players get used to good things VERY quickly, and get bored of the same structure even if it's a very solid one. Blizzard is failing hard regarding hype, both in gameplay and story, but that doesn't mean that WoW is in a bad moment at all.

But is it quantity over quality? Are the many small events we get fun events? Do they have beautiful collectibles? Or are we just incrementing collectible counters doing mediocre content?
Now I don't think all of it is mediocre, there are good parts here and there. But imo what saved TWW was solid reward systems, consistent new ways of improving your gear (with Turbo Boost prolonging progression per season by several weeks), unprecedented access to gear rewards for solo players and reasonably good gameplay. It wasn't the content. The raids and dungeons are at most fine. What raid or dungeon from TWW will make it into a top 10 list? Meanwhile S2 of TWW WILL make it into such a list not because of the dungeons (the content) themselves but because of the polish of gameplay and systems.

I don't know, I feel the world and the instances just are lacking and they are propped up by the gameplay and reward systems.

- - - Updated - - -

If I was in Blizzard's shoes, I would risk some spoilers to hype the playerbase

The thing is, spoilers and hype don't mean much. Diablo did not announce the Paladin, it told you prepurchase and play it NOW. It announced the Warlock and also made it playable the same moment (not in D4 but still). Overwatch did not just announce something, it launched it. For many reasons, probably having to do with the engine and the complexity, Blizzard just cannot do that. They cannot just announce a spec and drop it. Paladin in D4 played well instantly; sure it had bugs and needed polish but the gameplay was smooth on day 1. Can you imagine Day 1 alpha Devourer spec going live? Months of tuning after and it still doesn't play smoothly.

[NikolaiShade]

The thing is, spoilers and hype don't mean much. Diablo did not announce the Paladin, it told you prepurchase and play it NOW. It announced the Warlock and also made it playable the same moment (not in D4 but still). Overwatch did not just announce something, it launched it. For many reasons, probably having to do with the engine and the complexity, Blizzard just cannot do that. They cannot just announce a spec and drop it. Paladin in D4 played well instantly; sure it had bugs and needed polish but the gameplay was smooth on day 1. Can you imagine Day 1 alpha Devourer spec going live? Months of tuning after and it still doesn't play smoothly.

I mostly agree with you, but still even just announcing something bigger and juicier than what they announced this time would have been better than nothing. We can presume they will add some new spec and class, some new allied race or customization, but technically, basing our presumption on the road map alone, it is just what they announced,nothing else. If they have some ace up their sleeves it would be better to show it honestly, not just vaguely hint at it being shown at BlizzCon.

[Nymrohd]

I mostly agree with you, but still even just announcing something bigger and juicier than what they announced this time would have been better than nothing. We can presume they will add some new spec and class, some new allied race or customization, but technically, basing our presumption on the road map alone, it is just what they announced,nothing else. If they have some ace up their sleevesiwould show it honestly, not just vaguely hint at it being shown at BlizzCon.

I think they pretty much told us, don't expect classes. We might get a spec or two but they will only be released on prepatch. With Allied Races I have no expectations; when has Blizzard done fan service with new race options? At best Zandalari?

[Sondrelk]

I think they pretty much told us, don't expect classes. We might get a spec or two but they will only be released on prepatch. With Allied Races I have no expectations; when has Blizzard done fan service with new race options? At best Zandalari?

Void elves were pretty blatant fan service back when they came out. Even more so when they added the options to just look like a regular non-void elf to them.

The problem with arguing for fan service in this context is that there are a myriad ways in which what the players want (or think they want) could be lost in translation, or not be to the taste of most players.

Take Dracthyr for instance. Talked about as a disappointment. But on the surface is a solution to all players who want to play a dragon. You get to use dragon themed abilities like deep breath. You get extremely in-depth customization for both dracthyr and visage form. You get a racial ability to become a flying mount.
Loads of bullet points that would normally point to a slam dunk case for what some players would consider pure fan service. And yet small issues plague it, and it becomes known more so for it's failings than its strengths.

[Darkarath]

But is it quantity over quality? Are the many small events we get fun events? Do they have beautiful collectibles? Or are we just incrementing collectible counters doing mediocre content?
Now I don't think all of it is mediocre, there are good parts here and there. But imo what saved TWW was solid reward systems, consistent new ways of improving your gear (with Turbo Boost prolonging progression per season by several weeks), unprecedented access to gear rewards for solo players and reasonably good gameplay. It wasn't the content. The raids and dungeons are at most fine. What raid or dungeon from TWW will make it into a top 10 list? Meanwhile S2 of TWW WILL make it into such a list not because of the dungeons (the content) themselves but because of the polish of gameplay and systems.

I don't know, I feel the world and the instances just are lacking and they are propped up by the gameplay and reward systems

Some patches were released in a bad state, but most issues were solved pretty quickly. I think that here, again, players tend to forget how bad it was a few years ago, when some problems wouldn't be solved until the next patch, and thus remained for months.

The quality of the content and collectibles is probably an all time high, although I guess that this would be a highly subjective and pointless debate. Only for the amount of content and collectibles, surely there would be something for everyone.

At the same time, this is precisely the issue. Do someone still gets excited when getting a new mount / pet / toy / achievement / transmog?

I'm a collector myself but I really don't care anymore. I know that I won't use 99'9% of the collectibles that I get.

I believe that it's hard for WoW to make its playerbase excited. Blizzard made an amazing feature with Housing, but the game is really old.

Sometimes a fresh start it's the best option for a franchise. There is 0 chance of that happening of course. But maybe do something new with Classic +?

[Enrif]

If blizzards wants to show off WoW for Blizzcon, it won't be TLT, as that would be too early, it will be 12.2. And to make that work, 12.2 needs to be something really big and bombastic. With 12.1 we very very likely go to Atal'Utek. Something else needs for 12.2 to be really big to create a homerun event. And from all the things we see for Midnight beta, i can see one thing, but i'm not sure how they will handle it. We know of the achievement to die in lordaeron/undercity, and the loading screen shows of a lot of the northern EK. And there is a tease that Sylvanas might return.

So, something about Lordaeron / northern EK. The question would be what.

Now, we know that 12.0 end with Xal and her host entering the world, and 12.1 likely deals with trolls. So 12.2 would logically call for us to chase Xal down into the core, right? Well, what if evil wins? 12.2 is not us chasing down, but Xal succeeding down below and things up there change? Change, in such a way, that Nozdormu turns to Murozond and creates a time fracture to prevent what xal is doing? This causing Lordaeron to turn back in time, the time the scourge just ravaged lordaeron and were marching onto Quel'thalas?

And with Nozdormu breaking and time line broken, the Titans need to return to fix the one true timeline and stop xal.

[extasy]

If blizzards wants to show off WoW for Blizzcon, it won't be TLT, as that would be too early, it will be 12.2. And to make that work, 12.2 needs to be something really big and bombastic. With 12.1 we very very likely go to Atal'Utek. Something else needs for 12.2 to be really big to create a homerun event. And from all the things we see for Midnight beta, i can see one thing, but i'm not sure how they will handle it. We know of the achievement to die in lordaeron/undercity, and the loading screen shows of a lot of the northern EK. And there is a tease that Sylvanas might return.

So, something about Lordaeron / northern EK. The question would be what.

Now, we know that 12.0 end with Xal and her host entering the world, and 12.1 likely deals with trolls. So 12.2 would logically call for us to chase Xal down into the core, right? Well, what if evil wins? 12.2 is not us chasing down, but Xal succeeding down below and things up there change? Change, in such a way, that Nozdormu turns to Murozond and creates a time fracture to prevent what xal is doing? This causing Lordaeron to turn back in time, the time the scourge just ravaged lordaeron and were marching onto Quel'thalas?

And with Nozdormu breaking and time line broken, the Titans need to return to fix the one true timeline and stop xal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMT3bgU-fs

I don't know how can anyone watch this trailer and think we're not getting TLT showcase at blizzcon. We'll see in about 7 months, We're one major wow patch cycle away from the event.

[Enrif]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMT3bgU-fs

I don't know how can anyone watch this trailer and think we're not getting TLT showcase at blizzcon. We'll see in about 7 months, We're one major wow patch cycle away from the event.

well, snow and ice, mean also Lich King, or rather Arthas. Which would be featuring in my idea, as it would be the scourge marching onto Quel'thalas

Also, BLizzard a.k.a. a Snowstorm? Ice and Snow is the theme for Blizzard forever

[Jaggler]

If I was in Blizzard's shoes, I would risk some spoilers to hype the playerbase

Hyping the playerbase is fine, but you don't want to hype them away from the current content. You don't want to focus on TLT with Midnight not even halfway done

[Valysar]

Overwatch and diablo are also getting better cinematics

Come on blizzard, do better for wow

One of my friends started playing WoW again two weeks ago; he's played all of TWW and said "Wtf are those temu cinematics"

[Ersula]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMT3bgU-fs

I don't know how can anyone watch this trailer and think we're not getting TLT showcase at blizzcon. We'll see in about 7 months, We're one major wow patch cycle away from the event.

I think its about 50/50 on whether or not they do anything with TLT. In september we'd be about a year away from TLT's release, which they've shown the cinematic to an expansion with a year to go before. If its done they might as well show it. 12.1 will be out by Blizzcon, so covering 12.2 is a given.

Hyping the playerbase is fine, but you don't want to hype them away from the current content. You don't want to focus on TLT with Midnight not even halfway done

But they do that all the time. They showed off 7.3, WoW classic & the Battle for Azeroth reveal at blizzcon 2017 - It's Blizzcon, presuming the TLT cinematic is done It's safe to assume they're going to show it. We probably won't get footage of actual gameplay though, like after the Sylvanas Bolvar fight cinematic they showed us about 20 seconds of Blue people and that was it. But that was the beginning of the expansion hype cycle.

[Jaggler]

But they do that all the time. They showed off 7.3, WoW classic & the Battle for Azeroth reveal at blizzcon 2017 - It's Blizzcon, presuming the TLT cinematic is done It's safe to assume they're going to show it. We probably won't get footage of actual gameplay though, like after the Sylvanas Bolvar fight cinematic they showed us about 20 seconds of Blue people and that was it. But that was the beginning of the expansion hype cycle.

what are you talking about? 7.3 was on the PTR since june 2017 and was released august 2017, over a month before Blizzcon which revealed BfA.

I really don't see a lot of TLT news, unless they drop a feature early like they did with housing for Midnight. Maybe they'll unveil the 4th specs they teased in the surveys or something similar.

[Ersula]

One of my friends started playing WoW again two weeks ago; he's played all of TWW and said "Wtf are those temu cinematics"

I get that people react this way but people really need to check their perspective. We get about 5 minutes of huge fully rendered cinematics every two years. Plus about double that of pre-rendered cinematics using assets that look more like the in-game assets, (wrathgate style cinematics) these usually appear at the end of raids & campaigns ....but now, in addition to that, we have new, more elaborate in-engine cinematics: But these are the ones people are complaining about.

But they're only complaining about them because they look worse, and because we've never had them before. Of course they look worse; they're rendered in real time, in-engine. But they also allow actually our player characters to appear in the scene.

In comparison they look bad. But we're getting them in addition to what we usually get & overall its actually a major technical step forward. People just aren't appreciating that they've started doing real-time cutscenes 20 years into the game's lifetime.