Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Cheezits]

I think it happened the way it was deployed.

Shadowlands > Removing the Blight > Time Skip > Scarlet Crusade Siege

Although what is extremely jarring is for any new players, it feels like the Dark Ranger Customization questline & the Heritage Armor Questline is one questline. So immediately after fighting the Giant Blight Kaiju the city is getting sieged by Scarlets, with nothing indicating there is a 5 year time skip between those two quests.

Except Voss claims "just as we got settled" or something similar when you first talk to her, and EVERYONE is in the same place as they were in the first questline. Nothing implies that five years passed and as you said it feels and acts as though the two quests are just one long megaquest.

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Based on Tyr's transcripts, he seems like they were setting him up to be a twist villain, but then they showed him sacrificing his life to defend the mortals. I think that eliminated the possibility of Tyr being a Villain.

That very same quest hints that Tyr will fight Alexstrazsa, implying he will be an antagonist.

[Ersula]

You don't lose your recipes or progress. And it doesn't have to be account-wide, if only way to earn knowledge will be quests on max level, it will be exactly as limiting at it is now.

I don't think that's a good idea because it suddenly feels like a disadvantage to have alts. That's my problem with FFXIV: My character can be anything so they feel like they don't have much of an identity & making an alt is going to make me re-do a ton of content that was only fun exactly once. Maybe if they could balance it perfectly where its neither adventageous or disadventageous to have one character or many characters it could work, but if not, full stop.

Except Voss claims "just as we got settled" or something similar when you first talk to her, and EVERYONE is in the same place as they were in the first questline. Nothing implies that five years passed and as you said it feels and acts as though the two quests are just one long megaquest.

Then when did the Scarlet Propaganda get put up? Why are they attacking Lordaeron City if it was just uninhabitable minutes ago? That doesn't make sense.

That very same quest hints that Tyr will fight Alexstrazsa, implying he will be an antagonist.

If one of them gets mind-controlled, sure, but Blizzard has never been big on creative foreshadowing.

[Scyth]

I'm ready to be disappointed when blizz announce Druids and Paladins for all races this week, leaving Shamans in the mud.
At least give me an updated Ascendance model, please. Current one has not been touched since Cata ffs..

[huth]

That very same quest hints that Tyr will fight Alexstrazsa, implying he will be an antagonist.

Even presuming the claim is true to begin with, there is no guarantee there will be any sort of fight nor would it be clear which side if any would be antagonistic from our perspective.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I would guess something like fueling all knowledge from multiple chars into one tree. But honestly if I think about it, people who need stuff like that are doing exactly same mass alt leveling for splits.

Ok. I don't hate people leveling alts but.... I don't think gameplay should keel before alt levelers. I don't know how that translates into gameplay but sometimes I feel like if you just have one main char and thats mostly your gametime and alts are minimal at best, sometimes its very limited.

[Ersula]

I'm ready to be disappointed when blizz announce Druids and Paladins for all races this week, leaving Shamans in the mud.
At least give me an updated Ascendance model, please. Current one has not been touched since Cata ffs..

It seems like they're planning "Paladins for All" to be the conclusion to the Tyr Storyline.

"Druids for All" will probably play into the Emerald Dream storyline, so I'd guess 10.2

"Shaman for All" can be included in 11.0 with Thrall reclaiming his Shaman identity, if we're correct & he's going to be a major figure of the next expansion. Shaman for all would be a good Pre-patch-event feature.

[Gurahk]

This has been the only good expansion since Mists of Pandaria, are you fucking stupid?

The dragons really have not been portrayed that well, I feel like they leaned hard into the "comfy vibes" after Shadowlands. I'll have to agree with the others, it's just not that exciting, even if the expansion and gameplay itself is fine. I really hope with Chris Metzen back, they can find a balance between some of the DF storytelling that people like as well as the Warcraft roots, instead of leaning too hard into Danuser's storytelling.

[Myrrh]

Tomorrow's announcement is so close, I can taste it.
Predictions for the raid bosses:

- Emerald Dream native creature(s) that's gone feral, stressed out by the invaders.
- Some type of thicket with wild plants seeking to keep everyone out. Thorns, strangling vines, toxins, etc. Perhaps it's the tree itself lashing out at anybody in desperation.
- A green dragon that has been corrupted in Fyrakk's vision, bursting with Shadowflame and twisted Life magic.
- A Keeper of the Grove, perhaps with Dryads and stuff aiding it, turned by the living flame and now serving Fyrakk.
- Some Druid of the Flame badass who's just pure fire and pure rage. Maybe a Night Elf or former dragon.
- Possibly a manifestation of Death, inspired by the Night Elf souls and Ardenweald. Maybe some spirits turned bad and need to be cleansed from the tree?
- Some unexpected type of event boss. Maybe a Moonwell or some shrine of Elune which just spouts out wild Life magic. A bit like the Dreamsurges.
- Some ultimate manifestation of the Shadowflame, with emphasis on Shadow. Perhaps a being of the Void, just to remind us of that part of it.
- Any remaining leaders of the Primalists and Druids of the Flame. Not sure who remains atm. They might be in charge of corrupting the tree and all wildlife around it.
- Fyrakk himself, obviously. Perhaps we're being aided by Vyranoth in this one. Probably at the heart of the tree, up top or magically inside of it.

I don't think we'll get a full sweep of druid races, but 1-2 new ones seems reasonable for a major patch. Druids unfortunately bring a lot of design time baggage due to all the forms.

Boss list seems pretty in line with what I'd expect, though I like the idea of an Ardenweald/death-themed boss sneaking in there - they might even go with a Drust incursion. There will 100% be some sort of shadowflame corrupted being - an Ancient seems like a likely candidate, or could go a different direction and infuse a satyr. If the void theme starts to take over later into the raid, a spicy faceless general wouldn't be surprising. Re: your green dragon point - I think if they ever play around with another Valithria-style healer fight, it will be here.

Igira is still around, plus there is whatever weapon the djaradin claim to be constructing in the suffusion camps. I like to think a giant ballista would be pretty in character for them as habitual dragonslayers. Unfortunately this would probably mean another Hellfire Assault type boss. Sorry for putting that thought out there.

Decatriarch Wratheye from Brackenhide was weirdly left alive, and it would make sense for her to make a return and try to spread decay through the new world tree and/or Dream. Not as a Fyrakk ally or anything, just opportunistic and would serve as a bit of a thematic break from the fire and brimstone.

On Fyrakk, either he'll be split into two fights or his fight will have him dynamically transition into/out of his humanoid model. It's just too good not to use compared to yet another protodrake with annoying wings that get in the way of mechanics.

[Cheezits]

Random late thought: Female Satyr model, for sure.

[Kiivar86]

- A green dragon that has been corrupted in Fyrakk's vision, bursting with Shadowflame and twisted Life magic.

I wouldn't mind a callback to the firehawks since at least Alysrazor was a green dragon and all that before being reborn. I love those mounts. Plus if they do finally expand the dragon riding system to compatible mounts, they're among them after all.

[Ersula]

I don't think we'll get a full sweep of druid races, but 1-2 new ones seems reasonable for a major patch. Druids unfortunately bring a lot of design time baggage due to all the forms.

If what they're doing with Paladins is any indication. Who wants to bet they just add one set of generic druid forms everyone has access too, customizable in the barbershop. Say, the Nelf druid forms extend to all elves. The Tauren druid forms extend to all shamanistic races. The Kul Tiran druid forms extend to the human offshoots, etc. Maybe they'll make a cyborg set of druid forms for Gnomes & Goblins.

[Sondrelk]

If what they're doing with Paladins is any indication. Who wants to bet they just add one set of generic druid forms everyone has access too, customizable in the barbershop. Say, the Nelf druid forms extend to all elves. The Tauren druid forms extend to all shamanistic races. The Kul Tiran druid forms extend to the human offshoots, etc. Maybe they'll make a cyborg set of druid forms for Gnomes & Goblins.

Depends on how the devs want to approach it. If they want to give everyone druids quickly then they will do what you said, with maybe more forms coming over time.
If what they want is to really show off how exciting it is for druids to be available then they will take their time and only give everyone druids once they have the basic forms for each one.

Hard to say which one is more likely. Do they want druids ro be exciting because it's available now, or do they want druids to be exciting because of all the new stuff?

[Ersula]

Re: Druids, I think they'll work around this problem by simply introducing a set of forms for all races, based on the Dream. It wouldn't make much sense to try and make Goblin Druid forms, Mechagnome Druid forms, etc.

Actually, Dream forms would be cool but who wants to bet they limit it to three new sets? Mecha, High Elf & Alien Druid Forms are the only new ones they make? They could go generic, and they should be giving us more form options since adding the customization feature, but I think this is better. A Mechagnome turning into a regular bear wouldn't feel right.

Elune Druid Forms: Night Elves, Nightborne
Darkspear Druid Forms: Trolls
Zandalari Druid Forms: Zandalari Trolls
Drust Druid Forms: Kul Tirans, Humans, Forsaken
Earthwalker & Spiritwalker Druid Forms: Tauren, Highmountain Tauren, Orc, Mag'har Orc (interchangable, but orcs get version without horns)
High Elf Druid Forms: Blood Elf, Void Elf
Mecha Druid Forms: Gnomes, Goblins, Mechagnomes
Argus Druid Forms: Draenei & Lightforged Draenei

[Cheezits]

I am PRAYING that DF doesn't end with Shamans, Druids, and Paladins for all because it will just mean the new races get generic druid forms, totems and chargers for everyone with minimal lore.

Do people actually want new races for these classes if they don't get race-accurate models for their special attributes? Where everyone looks the same and has the same crappy lore as Tyrs Guard?

[Reive]

I am PRAYING that DF doesn't end with Shamans, Druids, and Paladins for all because it will just mean the new races get generic druid forms, totems and chargers for everyone with minimal lore.

Do people actually want new races for these classes if they don't get race-accurate models for their special attributes? Where everyone looks the same and has the same crappy lore as Tyrs Guard?

i didn't even want cross faction tbh. the more they "open up" the game, the more it loses its personality.

[Santandame]

I am PRAYING that DF doesn't end with Shamans, Druids, and Paladins for all because it will just mean the new races get generic druid forms, totems and chargers for everyone with minimal lore.

Do people actually want new races for these classes if they don't get race-accurate models for their special attributes? Where everyone looks the same and has the same crappy lore as Tyrs Guard?

Totally agree. What’s the point in Druids for all races if we’re just going to get generic forms? I don’t understand why anyone would want that as opposed to just waiting longer for the alternative.

Most of the desire for more races for Druids came down to the different forms for each races too… why forsake that?

- Brown bears and lions for Humans
- Baby forms for Gnomes
- Boars and wolves for Orcs
- Decayed animals for Undead
- Mech forms for Mechagnomes
- Elekk and panthera for Draenei

Surely it would be better to just wait?

[Ersula]

Do people actually want new races for these classes if they don't get race-accurate models for their special attributes? Where everyone looks the same and has the same crappy lore as Tyrs Guard?

It would be nice but establishing a race-specific order for every single race would take an eternity. But a new/ancient non-denominational paladin order that is actively recruiting works too. They need to give it its own vibe & aesthetic though. Get Travard out of that Silver Hand tabard already. What developer in their right mind put a Zandalari Troll into an Alliance Order tabard? Don't say "it was invented for the neutral paladin order in Legion." It's still a silver fist: That's the Stormwind Church logo.

They should hurry up & implement those race-specific transmog items and add more of them. That would also help people establish their racial identity if that's what they want.

[Cheezits]

Get Travard out of that Silver Hand tabard already. What developer in their right mind put a Zandalari Troll into an Alliance Order tabard? Don't say "it was invented for the neutral paladin order in Legion." It's still a silver fist: That's the Stormwind Church logo.

They already did, there's a golden variation with no blue to represent Tyr.

One of the reasons I'm praying this Tyrs Guard is a red herring and that Tyr is bad/not as good as they are hyping him to be is so it doesn't become bait for all new paladins.

[Reive]

I think everyone is taking Metzen's return too literal. He's may do a lil more than advise in creative stuff, but he's definitely not returning as the Blizzard powerhouse he once was.

idk if he's only advising for post dragonflight content, but since his return the story has actually gotten worse. he probably doesn't have much impact on writing decisions

[user1224357]

i have been hearing some things