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

[Santandame]

I tend to agree with the suggestion that the name is too vague to instantly pique the interest of lapsed subscribers, but then again Cataclysm exists.

I don’t understand this idea.

Why does the name being relevant to known lore figures or themes matter to bringing back relapsed subscribers? This thread is the minority in the WoW player base. To be frank, most former players don’t care about the lore, all they care about is game play. My friendship group returns for every expansion and they don’t give a shit about the lore and the name of the expansion has never been a factor for them or something that’s ever entered their mind. They re-sub for launch because there’s a new expansion to sweat for a couple of months then they unsub again until the next expansion.

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While there are valid arguments against some titles, the one for "it doesn't fit previous patterns" really just makes me laugh since I've seen that particular argument brought forward so many times for previous expansion title leaks.

"Cataclysm can't be the title, no expansion's had a single word title before." "Mists of Pandaria can't be the title, all previous expansions referenced the main threat!" "Battle for Azeroth sounds like a patch title/spinoff!" Etc.

Stormbreaker works as a title just fine.

This. It’s a pretty meaningless argument at this point. If Blizzard like the sound of it, they’ll use it. They aren’t sat there thinking about whether it loops back to a lore character or theme. Rule of cool trumps all.

[Nymrohd]

It's more mythological in a sense. I certainly wasn't expecting Cenarius to have a harem of dryads that he can breed every so often.

I mean, you'd assume they are not all his actual daughters. I do wonder if the same is true for Keepers.

[vintage79]

thats the one

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/2639284-Eclipse

It's from late july

tbh it looks most legit from all the fanfics shown so far, + not any new class or race = so overall it doesn't blow your mind. Also - it well allign with everything what has been found so far..

[Santandame]

It's not about patterns, it's just stupid name. Every other expansion title at least tell us something about it's theme or setting. People saw name of heroic mount and are not very imaginative, hence so many 'leaks' is storm that, storm this, stormbreaker, voidstorm xD.

Just like people said Mists of Pandaria was a stupid name for an expansion and would be the name of a book, and then a mobile game. Just like Battle for Azeroth was a stupid name and would be the name of a mobile game. Just like Dragonflight was a stupid name.

People in this thread have awfully short memories.

[Nymrohd]

On the issue of the expansion name . . .imo it doesn't matter. Anyone who is interested in WoW will see the expansion trailer. That is the primary marketing material for the expansion. If they are interested in that, they will find the feature trailer and check that as well. The logo is very much secondary.

[Santandame]

On the issue of the expansion name . . .imo it doesn't matter. Anyone who is interested in WoW will see the expansion trailer. That is the primary marketing material for the expansion. If they are interested in that, they will find the feature trailer and check that as well. The logo is very much secondary.

This is literally it.

[Dismayxz]

tbh it looks most legit from all the fanfics shown so far, + not any new class or race = so overall it doesn't blow your mind. Also - it well allign with everything what has been found so far..

What hits me is the mention of a troll/nightelf mixed race in one Zone and the specific Loa mention, with that Loa of Change Owl and all the mystery surrounding that one. As far back as July, that's a pretty wild one to hit even with just very generic info.

The Leak itself doesn't look bad either at all. Not sure what people are saying. Done right, building up a city could come with a lot of Content on it's own. Very New World-y. And Multiclass Challenges sound lit. Multiclassing is a big thing, but doing it as an actual thing would just throw balance completely out the window, but in a limited fashion? NP.

[Mace]

Not exactly.

One of the dryads says this.

@Annihilas Technically Cenarius came first, then the night elves. Before the troll retcon. Night elves were the first humanoid race to "awaken" on Azeroth from the Well of Eternity - Chris later changed this primarily because he was teased that his work was too much like LOTR.. as if fans would care - in fact, I'd argue that is why they love Warcraft, it isn't original, it has all these races and features from pop fiction existing in a world together that a story weaves out of it.. a story that's cool. He didn't need to change it - but he was also very much into big twists back then, and that was too much to resist apparently.


Anyway, originally the assumption is Elune is mother of Cenarius, and also creates the night elves from the Well of Eternity, which is why they look that way. The troll retcon doesn't necessarily change this, it just begs the question how. Is it a transformation or a re-creation . Does Elune use the well to transform the trolls to elves, or does she recreate them into elves. One thing is clear, elves are neither an evolution nor mutation of troll, they are a species change when you follow the new lore.

But when the lore is changed for Elves to come from trolls, then it is a well of eternity . But much of it is still left intentionally vague.

[Nymrohd]

Maybe Cenarius pollinates the Ancients who created Dryad acorns

[Teriz]

They said they plan on connecting expansions to eachother and have been since WoD

I don’t disagree with that. I disagree with the notion that we’re going to another hidden continent with Titan and Draconic leanings.

The problem with the concept of Avaloren is that outside of some minor details, it’s pretty much the same concept as the dragon isles.

Which is why I’m leaning towards an underground expansion. Heck, even Iridikron and Xal’atath point towards it, since he’s earth based, and old gods are all subterranean or under the surface of something.

[Worldshaper]

I don’t understand this idea.

Why does the name being relevant to known lore figures or themes matter to bringing back relapsed subscribers? This thread is the minority in the WoW player base. To be frank, most former players don’t care about the lore, all they care about is game play. My friendship group returns for every expansion and they don’t give a shit about the lore and the name of the expansion has never been a factor for them or something that’s ever entered their mind. They re-sub for launch because there’s a new expansion to sweat for a couple of months then they unsub again until the next expansion.

Really?

Imagine a 30-45 year old dude with a family and stressful job.

15-20 years ago, he and his mates used to play WoW all the time in college, or after school. They ran a raiding guild and defeated C'Thun, Illidan, and Arthas together. But somewhere down the line, things fell apart. A few lost interest during Cataclysm or Mists of Pandaria. One or two kept going through Warlords of Draenor or Legion, but by the time Shadowlands came around most had quit. These days, WoW is just a nostalgic memory to them. They look up videos on YouTube every now and then, listening to the music and getting all teary eyed.

What scenario do you think is the most likely to pique their interests, causing them to look up more information online and possibly even return to the game?

A) Our dude is on lunch break at work and hears somebody mention that there's a new WoW expansion coming: "Return of the Lich King". Or he's just aimlessly browsing YouTube on the toilet and sees an ad with the Lich King's glowing eyes, and a logo with this name.

B) Our dude is on lunch break at work and hears somebody mention that there's a new WoW expansion coming: "Stormbreak". Or he's just aimlessly browsing YouTube on the toilet and sees an ad with some random Iridikron dude he's never heard of, and a logo with this name.

Speaking as a dude who fits right into that demographic (except I'm the only one left of my friends), option A immediately brings a sense of familiarity and nostalgia, while option B just sounds like another expansion in modern WoW. I don't know what it's about, but it doesn't sound like a return to the lore I knew.

[Plehnard]

That angle is really unflattering for the elf on the right. She looks like Voldemort.

The whole model isn't that good. Her face looks nothing like the average night elf

[Wangming]

Yo! People. Can anyone pretty please catch me up?

[Alanar]

Yo! People. Can anyone pretty please catch me up?

If you just read the last page, you will be pretty much always up to date.

I never understand this question.

[Raetary]

Yo! People. Can anyone pretty please catch me up?

Dryads may not or may not come to be by Cenarius regularly cumming on a bunch of acorns.

[Floot]

Yo! People. Can anyone pretty please catch me up?

Currently considered the most plausible leak:

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/2639284-Eclipse

[Wangming]

Currently considered the most plausible leak:

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/2639284-Eclipse

Thank you kindly

Although I don't think this leak is plausible at all. Too much info. Geunine leaks don't tend to know every zone name, major factions and even the dungeons of each zone. But I like the title.

[Ximothy]

Dragonflight: Conclusion to the story of Nordrassil through a protagonist not referenced at the time (The Dragon Aspects did not exist until WoW) (The blessing the aspects gave Nordrassil before it lost it in W3 is given back to them, restoring what they lost in Dragon Soul)

The Dragon Aspects pre-date WoW. Heck they pre-date Warcraft III, Alex and Deathwing first apperead in WCII but were basically just intelligent animals. The novel Day of the Dragon, which came out before Warcraft III, introduced all five of the original Aspects. The novel introduced the Aspects and how each Flight had different jobs.

Alextrasza, Ysera and Nozdormu blessing Nordrassil was actually first stated in the WCIII manual that released with the game, so that aspect of Nordrassil has existed the entire time Nordrassil had existed in lore, with the Aspects pre-dating the World Tree's first appearance. Also Alextrasza and Ysera got mentioned by Tyrande in The Frozen Throne briefly when talking with Malfurion about ways to heal Nordrassil.

Many things about the Dragon Aspects, such as their names, personality, the fact the Titans empowered them, the fact three of them created and blessed Nordrassil, Deathwing nearly destroying the Blues and his real name being Neltharion, stuff like that was all in the lore before WoW came out.

Just to put out, Day of the Dragon and the War of the Ancient Trilogy, all four of which heavily involve dragons and is the foundation of their lore from Aspects to the Dragon Soul, all pre-date WoW.

[NikolaiShade]

Thank you kindly

Although I don't think this leak is plausible at all. Too much info. Geunine leaks don't tend to know every zone name, major factions and even the dungeons of each zone. But I like the title.

From the leak:

First Zone: Khaz Algar
A giant underground cove, with a landmass atop of it. both places are full with quests and activities. Residents are dwarf like creatures, the Azgar. They are the descendants of Earthen that got lost ages ago while forming the underground. New Dungeons: Archives of Ul, Defense of Algar.

Azgar - a mob in Revendreth, and I would say if the mount is the Algarian Stormrider, one could infer the name of the people coul be Algarian instead of Azgar

while forming the underground - the leaker is so informed but got the story of theese Earthens all wrong

[Teriz]

Really?

Imagine a 30-45 year old dude with a family and stressful job.

15-20 years ago, he and his mates used to play WoW all the time in college, or after school. They ran a raiding guild and defeated C'Thun, Illidan, and Arthas together. But somewhere down the line, things fell apart. A few lost interest during Cataclysm or Mists of Pandaria. One or two kept going through Warlords of Draenor or Legion, but by the time Shadowlands came around most had quit. These days, WoW is just a nostalgic memory to them. They look up videos on YouTube every now and then, listening to the music and getting all teary eyed.

What scenario do you think is the most likely to pique their interests, causing them to look up more information online and possibly even return to the game?

A) Our dude is on lunch break at work and hears somebody mention that there's a new WoW expansion coming: "Return of the Lich King". Or he's just aimlessly browsing YouTube on the toilet and sees an ad with the Lich King's glowing eyes, and a logo with this name.

B) Our dude is on lunch break at work and hears somebody mention that there's a new WoW expansion coming: "Stormbreak". Or he's just aimlessly browsing YouTube on the toilet and sees an ad with some random Iridikron dude he's never heard of, and a logo with this name.

Speaking as a dude who fits right into that demographic (except I'm the only one left of my friends), option A immediately brings a sense of familiarity and nostalgia, while option B just sounds like another expansion in modern WoW. I don't know what it's about, but it doesn't sound like a return to the lore I knew.

If Thrall is in the cinematic (and he more than likely is), none of that is going to matter.