The War Within 11.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[flan1337]

so what I am reading is we are actually getting a northern revamp. Now that we have Classic Wrath they can go ahead and delete the map.

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Sundering: ~10,000 BDP
Earliest reference to the Curse of Flesh ~15,000 BDP

We do know no Earthen were actually immune to the curse of flesh, just that putting themselves in suspended animation seemed to prevent it, even though the Vrykul did the same thing & the curse still changed them.

What if the frostborn are?

[Cheezits]

Also consider the following:

Wildhammer: Storm
Dark Iron: Fire
Bronzebeard: Earth
Frostborn: Water/Ice

Frostborn complete the quartet of elements for dwarves.

The Saronite vibe on the gryphon textures, the "Diamond Dwarf" hints from the DF leaks, the super ambiguous lore for both the Frostborn and Khaz Algar, the "old subraces" stuff that's going on now (Broken)... I'm kind of suspicious that's where this is going. Not to mention the Titan ties with DF.

[Ersula]

From what I understand, dwarves were not a thing until the changed earthen from Uldaman came out after the Sundering, so if the report mentions dwarves, it therefore has to be written post-Sundering. It also talks about the dwarven language and behavior, which would be stuff that came about after the Sundering.

Yes, given where this log was found Archaedas & Ironaya had access to it. And from it they deduced that the curse of flesh was inevitable: That is why they put themselves into hibernation because they believed it was the only way to stop the curse from advancing. We know this from the original Uldaman.

Add that information Blizzard intended the audience to infer with the fact that an Earthen riding a gryphon would be silly, tells us the Algarians are definitely dwarves by now.

What if the frostborn are?

But the Frostborn aren't Earthen either. They're dwarves.

[Revamp Man]

I think, if the reading of the Khaz Algar excerpt really is that the Earthen there arrived with the Curse of Flesh but only mentally fleshified and remained physically distinctively Earthen, then there are only a couple options for what the fissure is:

• Decay. On Draenor, Spirit is what caused the Breakers to eventually turn to flesh, so it's possible that the Curse of Flesh works in the same way, and it's cancelled out by Decay. This would be a follow-on from the Gnoll Decay storyline that has yet to be returned to in DF
• Elemental energy. An obvious tie-in to DF and might explain the Primalist insurgence that we still know nothing about. The "elemental energy" could also be Azerite, which we know affects the mind and we don't know its long-term effects on flesh

And it probably depends on why the dwarves developed their culture. Was it the Curse of Flesh alone, or did the energies of the Well of Eternity reach them in Uldaman and affect them as it did the races everywhere else? If the former, I think it's Decay, if the latter, Azerite/elemental energy.

That said, I'm not convinced that the reading that they haven't changed physically is necessarily correct. It only says that they developed very similarly to dwarves but remain physiologically distinct. There isn't anything to suggest that their physiological distinctiveness is distinctively Earthen, unless I'm missing something.

So an alternate origin for Skardyn is a strong candidate, with the fissure being Xal'atath's body or a dead darkened Naaru or something. But I'm not sure how or why a Void-warped Earthen would behave similarly to a dwarf.

If it didn't effect their mind imagine it just being a horse of a different color

[Paula Deen]

Also consider the following:

Wildhammer: Storm
Dark Iron: Fire
Bronzebeard: Earth
Frostborn: Water/Ice

Frostborn complete the quartet of elements for dwarves.

The Saronite vibe on the gryphon textures, the "Diamond Dwarf" hints from the DF leaks, the super ambiguous lore for both the Frostborn and Khaz Algar, the "old subraces" stuff that's going on now (Broken)... I'm kind of suspicious that's where this is going. Not to mention the Titan ties with DF.

Elaborate 10char

[Cheezits]

Elaborate 10char

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post53699489

This poster was leaking things with Scaleface. As we never got Crystal Dwarves, it was kind of passed over. But they mentioned things like this a few times.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

so what I am reading is we are actually getting a northern revamp. Now that we have Classic Wrath they can go ahead and delete the map.

I get the vibes from the gryphon, but I don't see how Thrall could figure into it. I'm still skeptical, and all my talk about Northrend is presently fantasy unless we get real confirmation soon.

[Cheezits]

I get the vibes from the gryphon, but I don't see how Thrall could figure into it. I'm still skeptical, and all my talk about Northrend is presently fantasy unless we get real confirmation soon.

If we're getting maybe Broken, maybe Jinyu, and maybe Frostborn, it's definitely an "All Over the World" expansion so Thrall fits as it would be Cata 2.

[flan1337]

If we're getting maybe Broken, maybe Jinyu, and maybe Frostborn, it's definitely an "All Over the World" expansion so Thrall fits as it would be Cata 2.

Interesting note - does a world revamp include wrath? why not include it in an over arching optional story. Maybe even have something start there.

[Chickat]

Oh and another interesting fact...

In the Twilight Highlands, the Cataclysm zone arguably the most affected by the Old Gods, what themes did we have?

• Wildhammer Dwarves and Gryphon aviaries.
• Dragonmaw Orcs.
• Dragons (particularly Red and Black).
• Twilight Cultists attempting to usher in the Void.
• The Earthen Ring.
• Elementals bound to the Void.
• The Twilight Citadel, which is Cho'gall's chosen base of operations for the cult due to its proximity to the Old Gods below.
• Fissures in the ground with Void-energies seeping out of them.
• A great storm brewing on the horizon all around the zone.

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me this sounds like a description of 11.0.

As I've been theorizing for a long while, 11.0 will be a supercharged version of Cataclysm, just like Legion was to TBC and Shadowlands was to WotLK.

From Blizzard's point of view, that probably means they're looking at all the ingredients they had back then, and think to themselves: "Hmm, how can we do this, but twice as awesome?"

I agree with you for once.

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I think from here on out I’m just going to read, not post. These comments are on fire.

Comments like this are why you cant shake the "blizzard employee" status.

[Worldshaper]

Ooh, I love all the talk about the four elements and how they each seem to fit a Dwarf clan!

I guess they'll have to update the old saying: "Storm, Earth, and Fire [and Frost, woo!]. Heed my call!"

I agree with you for once.

Finally, I am able to retire.

[Woggmer]

Interesting note - does a world revamp include wrath? why not include it in an over arching optional story. Maybe even have something start there.

If it was a revamp, it would be in the Eastern Kingdoms and/or Kalimdor being the focus. There really isn't much we could do in Northrend aside from exploring Azjol'Nerub but unless Yogg Saron makes a come back, or if there's something screwy going on with the Titan Keepers back in Ulduar... then I don't see any reason for us to go back to Northrend. (Especially since we were just there for the Shadowlands launch event when the Veil was torn open... [it's still left torn open btw.. we never figured out how to fix that.]

The Heritage Armor questlines, the Allied Race acquisitions (mostly Dark Iron and Mag'har), that one Ghostland questline from SL and the Kyrian questline in Redridge mountains all keep pointing us back to Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor as if hinting a bunch of stories that are happening there that we aren't aware of.

[PaladinBash]

Just putting it out there but this is by far the most excited anyone has been over a damn gryphon reskin. God knows there have been a lot of those.

[Revamp Man]

Just putting it out there but this is by far the most excited anyone has been over a damn gryphon reskin. God knows there have been a lot of those.

Idk man Taliesin jizzed his pants for that gryphon in BfA

[Chickat]

Ooh, I love all the talk about the four elements and how they each seem to fit a Dwarf clan!

I guess they'll have to update the old saying: "Storm, Earth, and Fire [and Frost, woo!]. Heed my call!"



Finally, I am able to retire.

I know right? You finally have my approval. You can die in peace.

[flan1337]

If it was a revamp, it would be in the Eastern Kingdoms and/or Kalimdor being the focus. There really isn't much we could do in Northrend aside from exploring Azjol'Nerub but unless Yogg Saron makes a come back, or if there's something screwy going on with the Titan Keepers back in Ulduar... then I don't see any reason for us to go back to Northrend. (Especially since we were just there for the Shadowlands launch event when the Veil was torn open... [it's still left torn open btw.. we never figured out how to fix that.]

The Heritage Armor questlines, the Allied Race acquisitions (mostly Dark Iron and Mag'har), that one Ghostland questline from SL and the Kyrian questline in Redridge mountains all keep pointing us back to Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor as if hinting a bunch of stories that are happening there that we aren't aware of.

Well I think updating assets to be HD would rock still - including outlands. I think there is still so much we can do to make that content useful to spice things up. I believe blizzard has also talked about how they could use timewalking to bring us back into those areas.

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Funny enough I just played that song today as its been forever since I heard it. All this dwarves talk does feel more nostalgic

[Annihilas]

Absolutely. There could be a massive cave beneath Alterac (we never saw the Titan ruins the entire fight happens for). We know Uldaman extends further below, it could open into a vast cavern system. The land around the sword could collapse, opening tunnels underground. And yes, it could just be that we just get a new continent/island like Avaloren and one of the zones there is underground.

Almost similar to this fake leak... I feel like Metzan himself wrote the transcript draft tbh?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...tic-Transcript

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But yeah, there's a TON to possibly explore, even in the OG zones!

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BTW, I have to say Nym, I like your style, these are theories I hope do see the light of day within the Warcraft space!

[ImTheMizAwesome]

I think there's a big potential in timewalking beyond TW dungeons and raids - Like let's say some time cracks happen and old areas will have a world boss spawning connected to that expansion and it would drop maybe some no longer available items plus completely new items, maybe some rare armor set essemble that specific world boss wears.

just one idea from the top of my head.

Of course world quests could be fun in old areas when certain timewalking is on to farm timewarped currency that will allow buy a lot of new items from vendors, not everything has to be tied to trading post(even tho i love the system).

[Nymrohd]

I will say that Northrend absolutely could use a graphical revamp. I think Blizzard only reached a level of detail with their graphics that could merge with the current ones during MoP, maybe with the few areas of Cata that were completely new also getting there (The elemental planes were the few places that only had new textures and doodads while other places in Cata used a mix of new and old). Northrend absolutely could use a visual update.

As for why go there again?
We could be joining the Iskara Tuskar reconnecting with their Northrend cousins.
Azjol Nerub is always there, what is happening to it with the Scourge and Yogg gone?
Perhaps the Zandalari are trying to reclaim Zul'drak (I was so disappointed that they did not have an ice cap at the summit of Mt Mugamba where Tal'Drak could be)
Whatever happens at the end of DF could give the dragons reasons to visit Dragonblight, perhaps to start moving things back to the Ossuary?
Storm Peaks should be where Odyn currently is and we can catch up with the other Keepers.

[Ferlion]

Earthen is a supergroup of Dwarves. Dwarves are Earthen. Earthen are not Dwarves. They aren't equal because Earthen also covers beings other than Dwarves, not because Dwarves aren't Earthen.

A bit of a nitpick, but Earthen are also "Dwarves"

Kind of.

So, Dwarves didn't start calling Themselves Dwarves until post sundering. But technically "Dawrf" is an old Darnassian word we don't know the definition of.

"Dwarf" was a derogatory term Night Elves used for the Earthen that the Earthen adopted when they woke up changed.

It would be more accurate to say all Earthen are Dwarves, but not all Dwarves are Earthen.
But Earthen are definitely Dwarves in tge original usage of the word