Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Sondrelk]

While it's not the end of the world (heh), I don't think a revamp can have a meaningful impact unless zones are reshaped from the ground up.

First because they need to be much larger than they are today, especially with Dragonriding in mind.

Second because the biomes and mountain ranges are done really unnaturally in old zones.

Thirdly because they have a bunch of fundamental issues to solve from the Cataclysm, such as broken dams and volcanoes everywhere.

Lastly because there are lots and lots of storylines which need updating, like the fate of Gilneas and so on.

Ideally they would be down from the ground up, but hat would also easily quadruple the size of the continents. It's much easier then to group several zones into one megazone for the purposes of zone design.
Rather than thinking the Badlands needs to be large enough to be a full modern zone, you instead group it with Seating gorge and the Burning stepped, making it the less fire themed part of the greater Dark Iron Dwarf themed zone.

Many zones don't even need the artificial mountain barriers we used to have. Zones in WoW have long been absurd enough to not have to pretend like a dried out plain cannot be next to a swamp.

[Luck4]

Which, in my interpretation, implies there won't be an entirely new map as some have speculated, but updates to existing zones instead.

Yeah, I've been skeptical since Ion comment on DF replacing BFA for leveling, which is a shame.

But I expect World Revamp topic to be touched on Interviews/Q&A especially if the new expansion reveal fails to create hype.

[micwini]

new building azeroth goes into some of the view distance/fog changes in old zones.

Ending on...



Which, in my interpretation, implies there won't be an entirely new map as some have speculated, but updates to existing zones instead.

world revamp hype train back on track. Lets go.

[Reive]

I'm not understanding. is a world revamp coming or not?

[Luck4]

I'm not understanding. is a world revamp coming or not?

Seems unlikely, unfortunately.

[Sondrelk]

I'm not understanding. is a world revamp coming or not?

Impossible to say. Any proof that they are working on the old word is just as likely to be construed as proof they are only working on it because they don't plan to revamp.

This one is definitely more heavily leaning towards a revamp though, since they specifically mention changes to the old word that would be very useful if the old world is actually being used in any capacity.

[Nymrohd]

New Building Azeroth goes into some of the view distance/fog changes in old zones.

Ending on...



Which, in my interpretation, implies there won't be an entirely new map as some have speculated, but updates to existing zones instead.

I mostly read it as, they will do some piecemeal updates here and there but that's it.

[Ersula]

There's a difference between being in pieces like a Puzzle, and being in fucking PIECES PIECES.

How is that a meaningful distinction in your mind? That's like "if Frosty the snowman's hat gets taken off by a child he dies but if the hat gets blown off by the wind he's fine" logic.

Seems unlikely, unfortunately.

There's so many differences than what the lore says is happening in the old world & what we see in game it seems more necessary the more time goes by. Changing stuff very gradually creates a new problem in that it actively contradicts the quest narrative of Cataclysm content.

[Marlamin]

soon

[Sondrelk]

Not disagreeing, but that still doesn't solve the problem of having too little distance from coast to coast as you fly over it with Dragonriding.

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Ooh, hype!

East to west, sure. But you still have all of North to south, which in my mind feels much more worthy of Dragonriding than even the Dragon Isles felt.

To me it's all about justifying a massive world without needing to also have teleportation like what Cata did.

[Cheezits]

soon

Could it be getting announced today??

[Sondrelk]

It's useful to remind ourselves of the theory popularised by Taliesin, that Blizzard's take on a World Revamp might simply be to send us to the other side of the world, and pretty much reboot the lore over there.

Kalimdor and EK would still exist (with small enhancements), and purists could still play Classic for that true Azeroth experience. But for the retail crowd, the "WoW 1.5" experience might simply be found beyond the waves.

I really don't see what that would achieve. It just sounds to me like all the effort of revamping the old world without the actual benefits of being able to pull on established lore players are into.

[Cheezits]

There's too many old world questlines setup now for them to do a soft revamp on a new continent IMO. Like how do you reclaim Gilneas but then go elsewhere? How do you cleanse the House of Nobles?

[Marlamin]

What time is the patch live in the US BTW? I want cinematics!

Anywhere from now to like 5-6 hours from now depending if maintenance goes late or not.

[Raetary]

soon

Bring forth hype!

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Could it be getting announced today??

I very much doubt that.

We'll likely see it this thursday.
Announcing it today takes away the attention from 10.1.7.

[Draedarr]

The hype is back in town

[Hitei]

Bring forth hype!

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I very much doubt that.

We'll likely see it this thursday.
Announcing it today takes away the attention from 10.1.7.

10.1 was announced before 10.0.7 even released. The morning after its PTR was added to the battle.net selection(?).

[Cheezits]

They should announce 10.2 now before the new patch drops. For fun.

[Skildar]

Most issues people had with BFA from 8.2 onwards were self-inflicted.

That could unfortunately be said for many features.
One of the issue of World of Warcraft is that you have a lot of activities but some are more rewarding towards your power level and others are not at all. This creates a sense of time management that really hurts the game each patch release and especially on expansion release.

I remember that when Shadowlands released, each I ventured into the maw it felt like I wasn't doing the right activities filling up the jailer's eye. It's quite symptomatic of the game activities as a whole. You'll find very few people who targets pet battles at launch. It's the second expansion where if you burn yourself leveling up your professions at launch you can become a billionaire.

There are objectives that only world first guilds should target, others that mythic raiding guilds need their members to do and the rest should feel like there isn't a strong incentive to do it. The truth is that even casual players did feel a strong incentive to make choices that would reward them little.

talents, covenant, thorghast with intermediary powers, island expedition, nazjatar pearls and benthic gear, levels ahead of expected artefact power, etc.

[Ersula]

Bring forth hype!

The 10.2 ptr realms are online & playable but its just 10.1.7 that's weird right?