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

[ercarp]

Why is it so credible

The more vague and cryptic a leak is, the more credible it tends to appear. It's much easier to point out the flaws in a "leak" that shares intricate details about lore and systems, but when the leak is reduced to a few cryptic sentences it becomes much harder to discredit it.

Doesn't mean it's real, but historically speaking (with the exception of something like WoD), most leaks have been fairly light with details. But as I mentioned in my other reply, they could just be deliberately emulating Scaleface's style.

[Well Done Steak]

The more vague and cryptic a leak is, the more credible it tends to appear. It's much easier to point out the flaws in a "leak" that shares intricate details about lore and systems, but when the leak is reduced to a few cryptic sentences it becomes much harder to discredit it.

Doesn't mean it's real, but historically speaking (with the exception of something like WoD), most leaks have been fairly light with details. But as I mentioned in my other reply, they could just be deliberately emulating Scaleface's style.

Ugh, now we gonna get posters who will deliberately do this in mas.

Basically like how AI killed cinematic leaks

[ercarp]

We should make a likelihood chart on specific themes.

Example:

Elemental expansion: 100%
Heroic Mount is Gryphon: 99%
Thrall focus: 97%
Iridikron first boss: 81%
Azshara involved: 75%
Undermine zone: 65%
Tinkers: 1%
etc

Arbitrary numbers, but would be fun.

I kind of did something like this last year by assigning lower scores to any leak that mentioned the level cap wasn't being raised since I personally considered that a very unlikely change in direction.

For this year, I'm less sure about the direction they're going with 11.0 so it's been harder to think of what Blizzard would not do. I mean, they added a random dragon race/class combo never mentioned in the lore so clearly anything's possible.

But I agree, that would be fun to do.

- - - Updated - - -

Ugh, now we gonna get posters who will deliberately do this in mas.

Basically like how AI killed cinematic leaks

I wouldn't mind. I love speculating on all the "leaks" so if we get more believable sounding leaks (even if they're all fake), I'll consider that a win.

[Lahis]

I would take that over "spend an entire expansion underground with stone people" or "random island that has been isolated from the rest of the world since the sundering back can understand you and willing to take your currency in exchange for services."

Honestly the currency is easy to explain. Gold is gold, the value is in the metal itself, not in anything that has been stamped on it.

[Demonly]

The "credibility score" is just based on my personal hunch (as it tells you when you hover over the column) so I wouldn't take it too seriously.

I also keep going back and changing my score on it because I can't quite make up my mind on it. It's very reminiscent of the cryptic style of Scaleface's past leaks which immediately makes my brain go "ah yes, this must be the real deal", when it could just as easily be a hoaxer who's deliberately emulating Scaleface's style.

I still think it's at least above 3/5 (therefore still more plausible than most other leaks) but I've lowered it down a bit from my initial score of 4/5 as I think that was a bit premature. The vague/cryptic leaks tend to stand out as the most credible because our brains can fill in a lot the gaps and make them seem more credible than they actually are.

Where are these images at that you've linked for scaleface?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post54262137

I do not see them on the comment.

[Houle]

Ugh, now we gonna get posters who will deliberately do this in mas.

Basically like how AI killed cinematic leaks

Nah, this was already known for years, and said multiple times before in this very thread. The more detailed a leak is, the bigger are the chances its fake. But most fake leakers cant help themselves, they want to flesh out their little fan fiction. Saying it again now prolly wont suddenly cause people to spew out more of them.
And weve already been getting these types of leaks en masse for weeks as well, they just dont gain as much traction as the detailed ones most of the time.

[ercarp]

Where are these images at that you've linked for scaleface?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post54262137

I do not see them on the comment.

I just linked to that post because it's where I first saw them (they were an imgur link Scaleface had pasted into their "Location" in their profile). The mirror should link to the album with the actual images.

[Kiivar86]

@22mage22
Among other things, he said :

Ahh those, I did see those.

Is there any particular reason this leaker can be considered trustworthy?

Edit: I see the whole credibility score thing discussed above, nevermind.

[Nightshade711]

I would take that over "spend an entire expansion underground with stone people" or "random island that has been isolated from the rest of the world since the sundering back can understand you and willing to take your currency in exchange for services."

I mean the alternative to not using gold is blizzard making yet another currency that’ll be irrelevant in a patch or two.

[pacotaco]

Yeah but I mean, he's no elemental lord and the Incarnates have come out of the blue. Where exactly in the balance of power do Incarnates stand?

Incarnates are between unpowered and powered Aspects. Fyrakk goes beyond (probably just behind Deathwing at the ened) after absorbing shadowflame. And the special axe allows him to defeat and absorb Smolderon powers and becoming the new Fire Elemental Lord.

[D4NNYB0Y]

Were the images Scaleface linked discussed?

https://i.imgur.com/zV7wqyX.jpeg

Looks void-themed, in-engine, with an eclipse in the background.

[ercarp]

so according to the leaker:

- shaman (tank) and demon hunter (dps, no support) will receive a new specialization
- eastern kingdoms revamp
- no housing (not surprising, unfortunately)
- new glyph system
- new races (plural, so minimum 2)
- new personalizations for current races
- elements are a theme of the expansion
- Khaz Algar is deep underground

would you be satisfied if it were real?
for me, no housing = huge disappointment

I'll be honest, new Demon Hunter spec sounds kind of random especially if it's just another DPS spec. But I can kind of see them doing it considering they went and added a third spec to Evokers within the same expansion the class was released while DHs have been rolling with two specs for like 6 years now.

As for housing, I think Blizzard decided a long time ago that it's never going to happen in WoW so I'm not too surprised (or disappointed) about that. I don't think we'll ever get housing in WoW, it just doesn't fit the kind of game WoW is.

The expansion sounds a bit meh just based on this list and I'm worried the new races (something I would normally be somewhat excited about) would be something completely new (Algarians and... Avaloreans?) like Dracthyr instead of something popular that players actually want like Vrykul, Tuskarr, Ogres, High Elves, etc. I have no interest in another random race that hasn't been established in the lore.

[Well Done Steak]

Were the images Scaleface linked discussed?

https://i.imgur.com/zV7wqyX.jpeg

Looks void-themed, in-engine, with an eclipse in the background.

Oh I remember those a few weeks back...

That's either Karesh or Nathreza.


Ooooooooo boy.

I already dropped my Yrel karesh certainty ever since the Algerian stuff was datanined.

If scaleface is referencing this then, I could still be right.

- - - Updated - - -

yes, he said 50/50 chance of AI (and it is)

Can AI create wow-like in-game art?

[D4NNYB0Y]

yes, he said 50/50 chance of AI (and it is)

I'm not good at identifying AI artwork. Are there any obvious signs that the images are AI-generated?

[Lady Atia]

I'll be honest, new Demon Hunter spec sounds kind of random especially if it's just another DPS spec. But I can kind of see them doing it considering they went and added a third spec to Evokers within the same expansion the class was released while DHs have been rolling with two specs for like 6 years now.

As for housing, I think Blizzard decided a long time ago that it's never going to happen in WoW so I'm not too surprised (or disappointed) about that. I don't think we'll ever get housing in WoW, it just doesn't fit the kind of game WoW is.

The expansion sounds a bit meh just based on this list and I'm worried the new races (something I would normally be somewhat excited about) would be something completely new (Algarians and... Avaloreans?) like Dracthyr instead of something popular that players actually want like Vrykul, Tuskarr, Ogres, High Elves, etc. I have no interest in another random race that hasn't been established in the lore.

We already got High Elves with Dragonflight.

[Selorian]

There's not a doubt in my mind that those images aren't AI

[ercarp]

Can AI create wow-like in-game art?

Craiyon absolutely can and I'm 99% convinced those screenshots were specifically made using Craiyon (with the watermark edited out). The screenshots all have the same rounded corners as well.

EDIT: Example using the prompt "world of warcraft screenshot of a zone with purple sky and blue rivers". They're not all perfect, but neither is the prompt. It still does a fairly decent job of capturing the WoW aesthetic. Much better than DALL-E, Midjourney, or StableDiffusion anyhow.

[Cherry123]

Oh I remember those a few weeks back...

That's either Karesh or Nathreza.


Ooooooooo boy.

I already dropped my Yrel karesh certainty ever since the Algerian stuff was datanined.

If scaleface is referencing this then, I could still be right.

- - - Updated - - -



Can AI create wow-like in-game art?

everyone is talking about magical AI, but I still don’t know anything about it. So I have hands like two sticks and I can draw fantastic art? Is this some kind of website or program? In my understanding, AI is the Terminator from the movies

[ercarp]

We already got High Elves with Dragonflight.

I'm not looking to get into a pointless argument about high elves, I was just using it as one more example of a highly requested playable race and an obvious W that Blizzard could take instead of coming up with another random creature that hasn't been established in the lore and no one has asked for (i.e. Dracthyr).

[pacotaco]

Hard to really call them "dying" when they made Death, ya know?

Maybe they just fizzled out idk? But I don't think it's akin to the Titans where they themselves "died" ya know?

By dying I meant a dying race, going extinct.