Midnight 12.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Marlamin]

Well, yeah, 10.2.5 got datamined.

In January, so plans could have changed since, don't treat it as 100% fact.

[Super Dickmann]

Just CONFIRMED that 10.2 is not the last patch in MrGM interview. "There's more story to tell"
Edit: He specifically asked if it was the last MAJOR patch

Inevitable Dickmann W. Doubters will need to ritually write anti-Sadfang posts to admit defeat.

[Darkarath]

Just CONFIRMED that 10.2 is not the last patch in MrGM interview. "There's more story to tell"
Edit: He specifically asked if it was the last MAJOR patch

Honestly I am watching the interview and I do not see that as a confirmation of a 10.3 at all.

But if there is not a 10.3, they would be killing the game faster than ever IMO.

[Cheezits]

Inevitable Dickmann W. Doubters will need to ritually write anti-Sadfang posts to admit defeat.

Hey, Team Blizz would absolutely say 10.1.5/future 10.2.5 are major patches. No negativity in the dojo!

[Woggmer]

Well, if you want hope, that formula doesn't make much sense when "Dragon" supposedly represents wotlk when cataclysm had way more dragon stuff than void stuff. Two expansions usually have some kind of throughline. This & 11.0 could be elementals. 10.0 & 9.0 was Pantheons. 9.0 & 8.0 was Sylvanas. 8.0 & 7.0 was ancient history. 7.0 & 6.0 was Demons, etc.

See that's what I thought too, the Dark Iron acquisition quest story was when the Cult of Ragnaros showed up, Smolderon the Fire Lord (the one the shaman players put in charge as Fire Lord) was mysteriously gone by the time the cult showed up. So it would've been something like the Cult took the new Fire Lord and hold him as a puppet until they can get Ragnaros back.

BUT... since Smolderon is a boss in the 10.2 raid, that plotline is thrown out the window... not to mention that this is the first time an Elemental Lord is working with the Incarnates, which there wasn't any prior interaction between the two until today so it only raises more questions of why he (Smolderon) is even involved in all this in the first place.

Maybe they can do something with the Cult of Ragnaros and turn it into some big radical group of Dark Irons that don't like the direction that Moira is taking the kingdom and try to usurp her... but I don't know how they'll do it if they don't have the Fire Lord with them. (I was hoping they could use them to make a Mega Dungeon for Shadowforge/Blackrock Depths where we have to fight through the city.. but with 8 bosses as opposed to....however many BRD had.)

[Santandame]

It's about the fact of the patch, not what it is. Notwithstanding that the natural DF ending is killing Iridikron and fighting knaifu. He has been built up since day one and his utility to non-dragon stories is let's say limited to say the least. A year of no content from november on will waste all the good will, with timewalking arrangements, as per @Sondrelk being just bandaids.

I'd argue against Xal'atath. She's not had any presence in the story. Iridikron possibly, but there's also the possibility he is being utilised for a future expansion.

Based off everything we've gotten in Dragonflight so far, Fyrakk has been the more central antagonist to the expansion. Much moreso than Iridikron who's been in the background.

[micwini]

In January, so plans could have changed since, don't treat it as 100% fact.

It was specifically about "major patch".

[Loreguy126]

Honestly I am watching the interview and I do not see that as a confirmation of a 10.3 at all.

But if there is not a 10.3, they would be killing the game faster than ever IMO.

I take “more raids/story” to come as a confirmation of at least a 10.3. I feel like some people in this thread are just pessimistic, or want DF to end…

Ofc me on the other hand, really is happy to see where DF actually goes~~

[Cheezits]

I'd argue against Xal'atath. She's not had any presence in the story. Iridikron possibly, but there's also the possibility he is being utilised for a future expansion.

Based off everything we've gotten in Dragonflight so far, Fyrakk has been the more central antagonist to the expansion. Much moreso than Iridikron who's been in the background.

I was going to say: Fyrakk has now been in more patches than Iri. Iri isn't the main antagonist of Dragonflight, and if they won't even show Xalatath yet I doubt she's in 10.3.

[Super Dickmann]

Hey, Team Blizz would absolutely say 10.1.5/future 10.2.5 are major patches. No negativity in the dojo!

Fake news, seasons are in big special boxes.

[Deatnshadow]

Elsewhere in the Dragon Isles, we will also have a new (and conclusive) chapter of the Tyr Reforged questline.

Wrathion and our new ally Vyranoth take us on an adventure to recruit aid from other dragonflights—specifically the Netherwing of Outland, and the Thorignir Storm Dragons of Stormheim.

The Blossoming Dreamstag will serve as the Keystone Master (KSM) mount reward for Mythic+ players.

Fyrakk mounts: Normal fire version as a rare drop like the Sarkareth and Raszageth drops, Shadowflame version from Ahead of the Curve and a Fire Owl as a mythic drop.

TBH should be like this every raid tier. I Wish they would add some new rewards past 2500 for Mythic+, maybe another version of the PVP Gladiator sets that are different from the Tier sets from the raid? Can't post links as a new poster/past lurker on this thread.

[Santandame]

I was there, in the forums. There were serious doubts. It was the first time that an expansion did not have a x.3 patch, so many would not even believe it.

Also, we are getting in 10.2 a solo rated BG weekly event.

Gearing will be around 40% slower. Items to level gear go to the currency tab. We will be able to exchange lower crests for higher crests at a 6:1 ratio.

Then the serious doubts were in the minority because no one with any common sense theorised we'd continue WoD after wrapping up the main story and its main villains. No less to go galivanting off on Farahlon to fight Botani which had been confirmed to be cut at launch.

[Sondrelk]

What's the idea behind this not feeling like a final patch? I agree its very underwhelming but so was the Zereth Mortis patch, going further back to that so was the Hellfire Citadel patch.

I don't think we can completely rule out that this is the final ''big'' patch and that the expansion ends with a juicy 10.2.5 which wraps up the majority of the story content.

It doesn't actually conclusively end the main Dragonflight story, which is very much what the purpose of dragons are, as exemplified by them trying to resurrect Tyr.

It doesn't make narrative sense that we resurrect Tyr and everything goes to plan. Even more so after so much back and forth on whether his intentions were perfectly in line with the Dragons current ideals. Not to mention the dragons putting him on a pedestal.

The fitting final raid of DF is in a Titan facility of some kind, where the Aspects learn about their true origins.

[huth]

Inevitable Dickmann W. Doubters will need to ritually write anti-Sadfang posts to admit defeat.

Can't they just ritually commit Sudoku?

[Super Dickmann]

I'd argue against Xal'atath. She's not had any presence in the story. Iridikron possibly, but there's also the possibility he is being utilised for a future expansion.

Based off everything we've gotten in Dragonflight so far, Fyrakk has been the more central antagonist to the expansion. Much moreso than Iridikron who's been in the background.

The very first cinematic mentions "Iridikron's hunger" I don't think Fyrakk even appears in a voiced line until 10.1 and his every appearance with Iridikron emphasizes how Iridikron is the big cheese and Fyrakk is Starscream. He's the most evil dragon in the dragon expansion and hence has dibs. Knaifu's silhouette is teased in a way made for marketing and screencaps. The expansion is also a Cataclysm retread with this being a Firelands repeat, leaving Deathwing open, with this raid pointedly not featuring caves or void, which were prominent before and will be in an Iridikron encounter. Blizzard has a decent amount to gain and everything to lose from not following this to its conclusion.

Dealing with the Iron Horde and fighting the Bald Man were both endings of their respective stories. Those stories might be shit, those antagonists might be unimpressive, but they are definitely dealt with at the end of the respective expansions. Iridikron is AWOL after flashing a big "to be continued" sign and running away with a dragon-focused plot device.

- - - Updated - - -

Can't they just ritually commit Sudoku?

Acceptable, if they post proof.

[Ersula]

Are we absolutely sure about that? You can see elf buildings in the footage of the zone. That's directly against the concept of the Emerald Dream.

I went back & analyzed what they said. We're both right: They're treating it like some sort of fey circle. The zone both is & isn't in the Dream: The buildings are the adjacent towers from Ohnahran Plains. It's an outdoor zone next to the existing Dragon Isles zones. Kind of like in Forgotten realms two planes of existence can touch allowing you to walk from one to another without a portal.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

To be fair if there is a 10.3, we've got the x.3 Standard back. I would be happy with that outcome.

[Cheezits]

Just saw a snippet from an interview where Ion says that, yes, the Emerald Dream isn't varied enough for an entire expansion.

Apparently an Old God expansion got canned as well, for similar reasons.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ho.../1100-6517529/

HOLY SHIT

Next year will mark WoW's 20th anniversary. That would seem an opportune time for Blizzard to revamp WoW's original continents, the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, much in the way it did with 2010's Cataclysm expansion. Hazzikostas said an old world revamp is something that is "likely to happen" in the future, but that the team would learn lessons from Cataclysm, which was criticized for essentially deleting parts of 2004-era WoW, and use modern solutions to preserve currently existing pieces of the game were it to become a reality.

"We are definitely open to it at some point," Hazzikostas said. "It is a shortcoming, if you take a step back and think about World of Warcraft as an ongoing living world, if we've kind of painted ourselves into a corner where we have all these iconic locations but we can't really use them because they've already been used."

[Reive]

Just saw a snippet from an interview where Ion says that, yes, the Emerald Dream isn't varied enough for an entire expansion.

Apparently an Old God expansion got canned as well, for similar reasons.

he also said a world revamp is "likely to happen".

[Santandame]

The very first cinematic mentions "Iridikron's hunger" I don't think Fyrakk even appears in a voiced line until 10.1 and his every appearance with Iridikron emphasizes how Iridikron is the big cheese and Fyrakk is Starscream. He's the most evil dragon in the dragon expansion and hence has dibs. Knaifu's silhouette is teased in a way made for marketing and screencaps. The expansion is also a Cataclysm retread with this being a Firelands repeat, leaving Deathwing open, with this raid pointedly not featuring caves or void, which were prominent before and will be in an Iridikron encounter. Blizzard has a decent amount to gain and everything to lose from not following this to its conclusion.

Dealing with the Iron Horde and fighting the Bald Man were both endings of their respective stories. Those stories might be shit, those antagonists might be unimpressive, but they are definitely dealt with at the end of the respective expansions. Iridikron is AWOL after flashing a big "to be continued" sign and running away with a dragon-focused plot device.

- - - Updated - - -



Acceptable, if they post proof.

I don't know if we know enough about Iridikron to gauge that he's the most evil Incarnate. We just know that he made dark bargains in the past and as you said, something in regards to his hunger. We don't know what he plans to do in regards to the Titans too. In may end up being revealed that he has legit reasons for wanting the Titans gone, or that they've wronged him somehow. It doesn't make him good, but there's a lot more capacity there for someone with at least some potential noble intentions as opposed to Fyrakk who is just seemingly chaos and destruction incarnate.