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

[Fahrad Wagner]

I hope that SoA leak ends up being the one, it sounds awesome :3

[Merryck]

I think they're sticking with one word expansion titles

[ercarp]

I think they're sticking with one word expansion titles

I think so too, easier to market that way. But I don't think a three-word expansion title is completely out of the question.

[Sondrelk]

I think they're sticking with one word expansion titles

I think that's up for debate. One word expansion titles are not inherently any better or worse than ones with several words. And if the developers decide it would bring more attention if they went back to several word expansion titles then I don't think they would have any issue doing that.

[Totembrah]

I think they're sticking with one word expansion titles

I miss the expansions with "___ of ____" titles.

[Fahrad Wagner]

I think that's up for debate. One word expansion titles are not inherently any better or worse than ones with several words. And if the developers decide it would bring more attention if they went back to several word expansion titles then I don't think they would have any issue doing that.

This exactly, it could be a one word expansion name... or not!

[Merryck]

I miss the expansions with "___ of ____" titles.

I don't. I hate acronyms like wotlk and bfa

[Cheezits]

I think the title will only be more than one word if there's a word that communicates fanservice. Azeroth would fit the bill "hence Secrets/Shadows of Azeroth" but I also think Lordaeron, Kalimdor, Titans etc would work.

I really really doubt Avaloren will be used or anything else that is inherently new. Even Shadowlands was a very old term.

[Totembrah]

I don't. I hate acronyms like wotlk and bfa

Based.

Long as the expansion is good, idgaf what it's called.

[Cheezits]

I also think the idea of World of Warcraft: Harbinger has been slept on as a possibility.

[Totembrah]

World of Warcraft: Beyond the Storming Sea has a lot of charm.

[Azalar]

I also think the idea of World of Warcraft: Harbinger has been slept on as a possibility.

But Harbinger sounds terrible for a name

I like Eclipse and Beyond the Storm. Heck, if Metzen is around it'd be weird for it not to be something something of the Storm or storm related lol

[D4NNYB0Y]

World of Warcraft: Beyond the Storming Sea has a lot of charm.

Journeying to Avaloren seems like DF 2.0 to me with very similar themes. I'm not sure why they would do that as the immediate follow-up to a chill expansion like DF.

Historically, when they allude to something it's the expansion after the next expansion. This is assuming Avaloren is another "lost continent" style of expansion vs something more unusual like the entrance to hollow Azeroth or something.

[Totembrah]

Journeying to Avaloren seems like DF 2.0 to me with very similar themes. I'm not sure why they would do that as the immediate follow-up to a chill expansion like DF.

Historically, when they allude to something it's the expansion after the next expansion. This is assuming Avaloren is another "lost continent" style of expansion vs something more unusual like the entrance to hollow Azeroth or something.

Very true. They always seem to be world building in anticipation for a later expansion.

[Sondrelk]

Journeying to Avaloren seems like DF 2.0 to me with very similar themes. I'm not sure why they would do that as the immediate follow-up to a chill expansion like DF.

Historically, when they allude to something it's the expansion after the next expansion. This is assuming Avaloren is another "lost continent" style of expansion vs something more unusual like the entrance to hollow Azeroth or something.

Avaloren as it currently exists does seem suspiciously like the same expansion as DF, just with Dwarves. In the way that it could have been 10.3.

We will see once we get it though. At the very least one hopes it's visually distinct from Dragonflight by having less mountains, though that would probably clash with the Dwarf aesthetic. Or being underground, which would also feel very reminiscent of Zaralek Caverns.
The only way I could see them make it sufficiently different (besides having different biomes) is making it an archipelago of some kind.

I guess we can only wait and see.

[Azalar]

I'm down for an underground expac as long as it is a "world inside the world" rather than a cave.

[GhostFish]

So, to bring this back on topic...

What are your expectations for 11.0 vs. what you actually want 11.0 to be?

I'm expecting Avaloren/Khaz Algar, but I'm hoping (and coping) for a world revamp, or better yet, a tropical jungle adventure expansion in Tel'Abim. I also wouldn't mind going back to space (K'aresh?) or dealing with Yrel's Lightbound, but it feels a bit soon for either of those.

I don't want anything. I haven't actually played this game in years, but I have a soft spot for the art content and I've enjoyed watching them make a beautiful fucking mess out of the lore. On that note, some of you people need to take it down a notch with how you regard the lore. Almost everything in Blizzard's lore is stolen, borrowed, and bastardized. It's never been high quality. It's just entertaining. Appreciate it for the ridiculous and sometimes accidentally deep and poignant mess that it is.

What I think is coming is that "Eclipse" leak from July. Delving into Elune and the history of the Night Elves and Trolls makes sense for exploring topics that interest people, and they have to do it sooner rather than later. The game is twenty years old now, so it's almost now or never. Doing it with a lost civilization on a new continent makes sense, because then the history can be explored without the grossly exhausted time travel bullshit or AU Draenor method of bringing the past into the present.

Having a new continent that isn't sundered and that can be explored through many patches and expansions give them a future that can look different than just discovering more and more and more lost island chains.

Thematically, I think it makes sense considering where DF is ending. I think it's possible that the Sentinels of the New Moon are the equivalent of Blood Knights and Sunwalkers. The Night Warrior is the template for Night Elf Paladins.

And I think everyone is very much overlooking the significance of Q'onzu. It's an owl, but Aviana doesn't seem to know it well or like it or trust it. How is the wild-god of birds threatened or irritated by another bird? Q'onzu has to be something bigger and stranger than just another wild-god.

I think you're all going to Avaloren, like it or not.

[Woke it Up]

World of Warcraft: Beyond the Storming Sea has a lot of charm.

Beyond the storming sea feels like it has too many syllables. The rhythm is a bit weird too. It's also fairly unambiguous with not a heap of mystery.

[Cheezits]

I'm down for an underground expac as long as it is a "world inside the world" rather than a cave.

Yeah I think if that is the route, they will do something like "Elun'ahir + Azeroth World Soul turned it into Hollow Earth" with minimal "you are in a cave/underground" imagery (so fake skies, water, lots of plants, holes to the outside, etc)

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And I think everyone is very much overlooking the significance of Q'onzu. It's an owl, but Aviana doesn't seem to know it well or like it or trust it. How is the wild-god of birds threatened or irritated by another bird? Q'onzu has to be something bigger and stranger than just another wild-god.

Q'onzu is probably an Eternal One from the Lifelands, or one of their lieutenants considering it isn't a Loa (so probably not a "wild god" by Azeroth terminology) but decided it likes the name. Also the moon imagery on it (plus owl) is an obvious Elune nod.

[Azalar]

Yeah I think if that is the route, they will do something like "Elun'ahir + Azeroth World Soul turned it into Hollow Earth" with minimal "you are in a cave/underground" imagery (so fake skies, water, lots of plants, holes to the outside, etc)

That reminds me of the Roots of the Elden Tree and Nokstella in Elden Ring, which I enjoyed much. I dunno if such a theme would make up for many areas. Everything's possible, but who knows.