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

[Izalla]

Even if we limit it only to "encryption fuckups" (which we dont even know if the gryphon texture falls under), 10.2 alone has at least 4 things I would classify as larger fuckups than a skin for an unknown creature that has nothing tied to it other than the focus of this thread.

It doesn't even make the damn list. If it ends up being a skin for an encrypted mount that they simply forgot, then it could be considered a fuckup in retrospect, but still not as bad as most of the encryption mishaps they had this expansion.

My favourite screw up (can't remember if actually encryption related or not) was them accidentally letting us find out about the underground zone way back before Dragonflight even launched and it having something like "RENAME THIS" attached to it. That was a silly yikes moment.

[Ferlion]

Btw...have we ever met these spirits?

Us the players, or us the characters?

What I mean is, we've seen these spirits in the lore. Nobundo and Thrall both encountered them.

In game, I don't think we've actually ever seen a traditional life elemental or spirit elemental. In fact, I think the only place we've ever seen something like that is Hearthstone.

The same is, I believe, true for Decay on Azeroth.

Which makes a certain amount of sense.

Both Spirit and Decay are presented less as traditional elementals and more as fundamental forces of reality. Even when Nobundo was first introduced to the Elements, his reaction was "Man, the Spirit of Life is huge.. I'm nowhere near ready for this".

And also, Spirit and Decay both control the other elementals/elements of Azeroth. Life/Spirit keeps the Elements in balance. Decay is used to force Elementals to do something.

[Explicit Teemo Nudes]

Even if we limit it only to "encryption fuckups" (which we dont even know if the gryphon texture falls under), 10.2 alone has at least 4 things I would classify as larger fuckups than a skin for an unknown creature that has nothing tied to it other than the focus of this thread.

It doesn't even make the damn list. If it ends up being a skin for an encrypted mount that they simply forgot, then it could be considered a fuckup in retrospect, but still not as bad as most of the encryption mishaps they had this expansion.

Are you sure all of these things are actually fuckups then, and not their way of building some "hype" because speculation and leak season builds hype?
You would think they would learn eventually after so many fuckups.

[Teriz]

Considering we're supposedly getting a whole cup with it, it might be an npc that uses the texture. But the leak that we're getting a "Stormrider" dragonriding cup with the pre-order should tell you it's definitely not an Elemental. Elemental mounts aren't even on the pipeline of getting dragonriding animations. I'm guessing the texture is actually the basis for one of the Algarian Stormriders multiple color customization options.

Nothing says that the heroic mount for the expansion needs to be a dragonriding mount. I also seriously doubt that Blizzard would make the heroic mount a dragonriding mount since you wouldn't be able to fully utilize the mounts features until later levels, and you wouldn't be able to fully unlock any storm riding features until the next expansion. Meanwhile, heroic mounts that you get when you pre-order the next expansion are available as soon as you pre-order.

[Ersula]

"Yogg Saron manipulated Spirit to create the Curse of Flesh."

I believe that!

But we know how he created the Curse of Flesh: He hacked the Forge of Wills. He basically (ironically) used a backdoor encryption on the Titan's wifi that tells their constructs what to do; which was "grow lungs"

Nothing says that the heroic mount for the expansion needs to be a dragonriding mount. I also seriously doubt that Blizzard would make the heroic mount a dragonriding mount since you wouldn't be able to fully utilize the mounts features until later levels, and you wouldn't be able to fully unlock any storm riding features until the next expansion. Meanwhile, heroic mounts that you get when you pre-order the next expansion are available as soon as you pre-order.

Did you miss the "Storm Rider" cup Feat of Strength achievements? You're saying that you can't use the mount the dragonriding cup is named after, in that dragonriding cup?

[Ferlion]

But we know how he created the Curse of Flesh: He hacked the Forge of Wills. He basically (ironically) used a backdoor encryption on the Titan's wifi that tells their constructs what to do; which was "grow lungs"

But that isn't exactly how the Forge of Wills worked, right?

Titanforged didn't just start getting pumped out as flesh beings. They turned into flesh over time. What I mean by "Manipulated spirit to create the curse of flesh" is Spirit is what he used to hack said Forge of Wills.

[Marlamin]

My favourite screw up (can't remember if actually encryption related or not) was them accidentally letting us find out about the underground zone way back before Dragonflight even launched and it having something like "RENAME THIS" attached to it. That was a silly yikes moment.

Not an encryption screw up but still a pretty good one, yeah. Another good one is the map literally named "10.0 Emerald Dream - zone2 Scenario" zone 2 being the zone for the second patch being in the first ever Dragonflight build, but nobody picked up on it until way later when the builds surfacted to the public (it was the same build that had the giant tree in the empty bit in Ohn'aran Plains where the zone now is). Wasn't discussed publicly until 10.2 was announced.

Are you sure all of these things are actually fuckups then, and not their way of building some "hype" because speculation and leak season builds hype?
You would think they would learn eventually after so many fuckups.

I don't subscribe to the "Blizzard intentionally leaks stuff" theory, at least not for 90% of the stuff that leaks out. The work they've done to improve the encryption systems has helped a lot, but it is still extremely finicky and things slip through the cracks all the time.

Actively trying to partially encrypt stuff so parts leak out is something I'm not sure they'd go through the effort of doing. Same goes for the web API stuff or other avenues of things leaking out, they're all far too obscure for someone to put time into making systems work that way. In most cases I can even speculate on how something could have slipped through the cracks of the (largely automated) encryption system as there's usually some obscure edge case or missing link between files that would have caused it, at least for DB2 files.

[Teriz]

It wouldn't exactly be out of character for this to be yet another expansion leak.

While true, I simply don't believe this is one of those times. I believe this is unfortunately another case of posters on this forum latching heavily onto an item with little evidence to support their assertions. Just like those void pictures a few weeks ago.

[Ersula]

Titanforged didn't just start getting pumped out as flesh beings. They turned into flesh over time. What I mean by "Manipulated spirit to create the curse of flesh" is Spirit is what he used to hack said Forge of Wills.

What is all this spirit talk? Spirit is the same thing that made the Elementals live in the first place so why would it exist as its own thing? Eonar could make animals so we know they can do these things on their own. It naturally would have taken a long time to grow lungs, a circulatory system, bones, etc.

[Ferlion]

"According to the Codex of Blood, Murmur was born long ago in a dimension of the cosmos unfathomable to mortal minds. It was so powerful that its entrance into existence shattered all reality around it. Mindless and existing only for chaos, its barest whisper was enough to destroy entire worlds"

Honestly, Murmur COULD be an element of Disorder that manifested into the Physical Universe. Sound is an aspect of disorder and confusion of course. But it is likely we could see a Cosmic Elemental domain, idk...

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I mean, that's fair, but it is likely he used the Forge of Wills and utilized both Void and Spirit energies to create the curse of Flesh to begin with. I wouldn't be shocked. Galakrond's situation was the result of Void and Decay magics seemingly mixing, namely due to Yogg-Saron. So, him utilizing both Spirit and Void would make sense.

Right. See.

The Elemental Lords we see in Azeroth (And I think Draenor is the same base ones) are all things that exist, but aren't really seen as fundamental forces of creation. Fire, Water, Air, Earth.

Life/Spirit is seen as a fundamental force of creation, similar to Decay/Death, Light/Void.

Now, we've seen Light Elementals, which does indicate that these forces can manifest directly. Hell, Voidwalkers are just that.

I think Murmur is a great example, because he is flat out said to be a creature from outside of reality, from a different dimension. I think it's more than fair to say Murmur was likely a force from one of the other fundamental forces as represented by Blizzard.

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What is all this spirit talk? Spirit is the same thing that made the Elementals live in the first place so why would it exist as its own thing? Eonar could make animals so we know they can do these things on their own. It naturally would have taken a long time to grow lungs, a circulatory system, bones, etc.

Because it IS it's own thing.

This is undisputable. It's directly stated in lore, several times. It's not only directly stated, it's actively represented as being a unique and primary elemental source that can be used by people.

Monks get their powers from tapping into the spirit element within their own bodies.

[Teriz]

Did you miss the "Storm Rider" cup Feat of Strength achievements? You're saying that you can't use the mount the dragonriding cup is named after, in that dragonriding cup?

I'm saying that if the heroic mount is a gryphon and its designed for "storm riding" in 11.0, then the full features associated with that mount won't be available until 11.0, because that's when the options for the gryphon come into play, because they're no doubt related to the thematic of 11.0, not 10.2.

For example, imagine if the Tangled Dreamweaver mount was a dragonriding mount. Pre-purchasers had access to that mount in 9.2, before dragonriding was even implemented and Dragonflight was released. So you would have had a mount with limited features until dragonriding opened up in 10.0.1. However, since the Dreamweaver was a standard mount, pre-purchasers got the full features of the mount regardless of level and regardless of patch.

That's the point; The heroic expansion mount is going to be available in 10.2, LONG before the next expansion releases, so the idea that it's going to be using dragonriding features from the next expansion is a bit far-fetched.

[Izalla]

Isn't the reason we don't see spirit manifestations because we have so little of it running amok because the world soul gobbled it up? No idea about decay. But I thought that was the difference between the elements on Draenor and Azeroth was that they had plenty of spirit on Draenor and Azeroth was lacking in spirit.

[KayRule]

Nothing says that the heroic mount for the expansion needs to be a dragonriding mount. I also seriously doubt that Blizzard would make the heroic mount a dragonriding mount since you wouldn't be able to fully utilize the mounts features until later levels, and you wouldn't be able to fully unlock any storm riding features until the next expansion. Meanwhile, heroic mounts that you get when you pre-order the next expansion are available as soon as you pre-order.

They're backporting it to the older zones and we already know Gryphons are getting the animation set, and we know from the texture of the gryphon that it has multiple beak textures for different customization options like a Dragon mount.

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That's the point; The heroic expansion mount is going to be available in 10.2, LONG before the next expansion releases, so the idea that it's going to be using dragonriding features from the next expansion is a bit far-fetched.

You basically just argued for it here. If it's available in 10.2, where 90% of players are in zones that only use Dragonriding 99% of the time, why would they make it a non-Dragon Riding mount?

[KayRule]

While true, I simply don't believe this is one of those times. I believe this is unfortunately another case of posters on this forum latching heavily onto an item with little evidence to support their assertions. Just like those void pictures a few weeks ago.

This has literally happened consistently the most out of any other one of leak. This is live in-game assets, not blurry AI pictures posted to twitter.

[Myrrh]

I'm saying that if the heroic mount is a gryphon and its designed for "storm riding" in 11.0, then the full features associated with that mount won't be available until 11.0, because that's when the options for the gryphon come into play, because they're no doubt related to the thematic of 11.0, not 10.2.

For example, imagine if the Tangled Dreamweaver mount was a dragonriding mount. Pre-purchasers had access to that mount in 9.2, before dragonriding was even implemented and Dragonflight was released. So you would have had a mount with limited features until dragonriding opened up in 10.0.1. However, since the Dreamweaver was a standard mount, pre-purchasers got the full features of the mount regardless of level and regardless of patch.

That's the point; The heroic expansion mount is going to be available in 10.2, LONG before the next expansion releases, so the idea that it's going to be using dragonriding features from the next expansion is a bit far-fetched.

Not to wade into whether it is or is not a gryphon, but remember that they are already introducing a non-dragon dragonriding mount in 10.2 (the mythic burny owl). They can easily design a mount to have dynamic flight enabled and run off current day 'rules' for dragonriding, especially for commercial purpose such as a collector's edition.

Yes it would be wonky in the old world, but let's be frank - a lot of things are wonky in the old world and that hasn't slowed the devs down before.

That doesn't mean it is a gryphon, but that this factor is probably not a consideration either way.

[Ferlion]

Isn't the reason we don't see spirit manifestations because we have so little of it running amok because the world soul gobbled it up? No idea about decay. But I thought that was the difference between the elements on Draenor and Azeroth was that they had plenty of spirit on Draenor and Azeroth was lacking in spirit.

It's been a while since I've read Chronicles 1, but I believe it was said the Titans got that under control.

[Marlamin]

Nothing says that the heroic mount for the expansion needs to be a dragonriding mount.

We know for a fact that there's a customizable dragonriding-supported mount under the key for 11.0 and the same key also contains the Heroic Edition: Algarian Stormrider achievement (and 22 other achievements, which include the 3 Storm Rider achievements and the Squally one).

You're right in saying that there's currently no (easily accessible) data to verify that the Heroic Edition: Algarian Stormrider mount is the same mount encrypted by that key, but given there were no other encrypted mounts added in the same build (10.1.7.50442) as well as them historically encrypting these rewards together (even the level boost and armor set is in there), I'm inclined to believe that encrypted mount is indeed the Algarian Stormrider.

The only wildcards right now are the other mounts "Unknown mount A" (the non-customizable dragonriding-supported mount added in 10.1.5) and "Unknown mount B" (added in 10.1.7.51059, don't know much about this one).

[Ersula]

I'm saying that if the heroic mount is a gryphon and its designed for "storm riding" in 11.0, then the full features associated with that mount won't be available until 11.0, because that's when the options for the gryphon come into play, because they're no doubt related to the thematic of 11.0, not 10.2.

If the Storm Rider cup wasn't going to be added till 11.0 the achievement wouldn't be encrypted right now. What's more likely its like Allied races & part of the pre-order promotion. Dragonriding Gryphons aren't currently testable but they are ready to go in 10.2. Most of the expanded Dragonriding catalog was ready in 10.1.5

Though I would say "Expanded Dragonriding Catalog" would be a disappointing pre-order bonus but only compared to Allied Races.

This is undisputable. It's directly stated in lore, several times. It's not only directly stated, it's actively represented as being a unique and primary elemental source that can be used by people.

Spirit/Life is a cosmic force. Fire isn't a cosmic force. Water isn't a cosmic force. They aren't analogous. Cosmic Forces /= Elemental Lords

[Bwgmon]

That's the point; The heroic expansion mount is going to be available in 10.2, LONG before the next expansion releases, so the idea that it's going to be using dragonriding features from the next expansion is a bit far-fetched.

I mean, if they're adding a new system for some reason, they could probably let it do both, or temporarily hook it up to the Dragonriding tree until the expansion activates.

Or they could just screw it over like they did the Dreamweaver, and leave it out of either system altogether until they throw the switch.

[Teriz]

They're backporting it to the older zones and we already know Gryphons are getting the animation set, and we know from the texture of the gryphon that it has multiple beak textures for different customization options like a Dragon mount.

I'm not saying that that gryphon isn't going to be using dragonriding features, I'm talking about the heroic mount.

You basically just argued for it here. If it's available in 10.2, where 90% of players are in zones that only use Dragonriding 99% of the time, why would they make it a non-Dragon Riding mount?

Because players will want to show off their fancy new mount in all zones. Not just zones that allow dragonriding.