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

[Marlamin]

Not sure why that person deleted their post, but for reference some things I noticed:


The birds in the first screenshot are identical to "Living World" models from Dragonflight (1 2 3 4).


The butterflies in the last one are also "Living World" models from Dragonflight but reskinned to be bluer.


The sitting cat resembles but isn't the same as one of the 9.2 cat form cheetah skins with a more snow-focused skin and no ornaments.


The harpy is based on the existing harpy model but is a currently unavailable reskin with fancy lighting/edge effects.


The golem is based on the existing golem model but is a currently unavailable reskin with gold runes/rings.

So at least a few reskins of existing models going on which (even when ignoring the amount of work that would go into making a custom environment like this with proper retail fog/lighting) is a lot of work to do for a leak. Not impossible, but definitely a good amount of work.

If you can read this you might be quoting the entire post with images and stuff, please don't do that and just keep the above paragraph, thanks!

[Trad skeleton]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

[locketto]

Not sure why that person deleted their post, but for reference some things I noticed:

It was me, the host I've used has strange policies. Wanted to avoid possible problems.

[keelr]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

I'm not disappointed because its not revamp etc., but because these images, which, if the leak is true, made it into the reveal video, are literally recolours of exisiting models and the areas itself are like AI generated: "make WoW zones that we haven't seen before, using the existing terrain. It just feels like these are already in the game, absolutely boring.

[Wangming]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

Yes. Is That what you want to hear?
The answer is yes. Oh yes.


Bonus internet points to anyone who gets the reference.

[Holdodlig]

I mean, at this point we've already visited all kind of zone. It's going to be hard for Blizzard to innovate in a 19yo game.

[Dancaris]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

Like, yes? another pandaria, after 3th in a row?
Extreme amount of copuim here.
Actually, maybe that is revamped zones?
1th is Gilneas,
2 - somewhere in Alterack/Hinterlands border?
3 - Durotar or Tanaris
4 - Un'goro

Yes, not gonna happen, but alas, I can dream.

[Viridiel]

So at least a few reskins of existing models going on which (even when ignoring the amount of work that would go into making a custom environment like this with proper retail fog/lighting) is a lot of work to do for a leak. Not impossible, but definitely a good amount of work.

Is "living world" an internal name used in models or something?

[locketto]

I...guess I'm not sure why we would want something new in the drastic sense. If I wanted something new I'd go play a different game that does stuff differently than WoW.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have swamps, or dark creepy forests, or a tropical rainforest island. But ultimately if this does turn out to be real, I'm not going to discount getting those just because they don't shop up in 4 screencaps. Look at the variety of biomes in some of the Dragonflight zones. Some are pretty different. Others are admittedly the same throughout.

But a new planet? Or trying new things? I don't think that's overly likely outside of patch content after the reception to Shadowlands.

Or put a different way...

Even with this leak, if it's real, we know pretty much nothing about anything else.

Well, a black empire themed exp for example.

New Old God: Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss

Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss, is a newly awakened Old God lurking deep within the heart of the Black Empire. This monstrous entity is a creature of darkness, hunger, and insatiable appetite. Its form is an ever-shifting mass of writhing tendrils and endless maws, each lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Unlike its brethren, Xalgrath hungers not only for power and chaos but also for the very fabric of existence itself.

Story:

Xalgrath's awakening came with cosmic disturbances that reverberated throughout the known realms. Its emergence from the shadowy depths of the Void was subtle at first, with only a few ominous signs that troubled the minds of the most astute scholars. Unbeknownst to the denizens of Azeroth, the world of Xalgrath began to grow within the abyss, a realm that embodied its insatiable hunger.

Deep beneath the Black Empire, where N'Zoth, Yogg-Saron, and C'Thun once ruled, Xalgrath's tendrils began to reach out, ensnaring the minds of the willing and the weak. Xalgrath's voice, a cacophony of whispers filled with promises of ultimate power, seduced those who sought forbidden knowledge. Mages, warlocks, and even the most devout priests found themselves drawn to this newfound source of dark and alluring power.

As Xalgrath's influence spread, its cultists, known as the Devourers, gathered in hidden enclaves, seeking to bring about their eldritch master's ascent. They believed that by feeding Xalgrath with forbidden knowledge, they could hasten its awakening. The Devourers deciphered cryptic runes and unearthed forbidden tomes from ancient libraries, amassing forbidden knowledge to sate Xalgrath's hunger.

As Xalgrath's strength grew, the boundaries between its realm and the physical world began to blur. It spawned grotesque aberrations and nightmarish creatures that began to emerge from the void rifts, terrorizing the lands of Azeroth. The chaos unleashed by Xalgrath's influence drew the attention of the Alliance and Horde, as they scrambled to combat this new, emerging threat.

The battle against Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss, had just begun. Heroes and champions from across Azeroth united to thwart the cultists' efforts and seal the void rifts that threatened to consume their world. But Xalgrath, a force of insatiable hunger and unfathomable darkness, remained a formidable adversary. Its otherworldly tendrils continued to worm their way into the minds of the vulnerable, promising power in exchange for loyalty.

The fate of Azeroth now hung in the balance, as the forces of light and darkness clashed in an epic struggle against the emergence of the Devouring Abyss. As Xalgrath's power and influence continued to grow, the world trembled under its malevolent gaze, and the heroes of Azeroth faced their most daunting challenge yet, combating the hunger that threatened to devour their very existence.

This story from Chat GPT will probably generate more hype than what we will see.

[Hitei]

I, startlingly, have the ability to look back before I make a statement. Full potato, like trashy AI art of Old God knockoffs with a work in progress X? No. Potato relative to someone standing right there that could've taken a better picture? Oh absolutely.

It didn't look flattering on the logo end of things, to the point that it was a huge factor of contention. And then we got the logo early in HD via I believe website assets before the stream reveal and just about everyone loved how it looked.

Even Alex's dragon design, looking awesome, was held up with a ton of scrutiny, even when this was after the entire expansion's name was known, just because it didn't correspond to where they thought her horns and jewelry should've been. The artist should've been obvious too, and was even named, and tons of people still denied it.

People never learn anything, even when you have proof that's actually definitive, compared to things like this which can very easily be fake, but also are not 100% discredited for the very loose reasons people give.

It was a regular phone picture.

The issue with Alex's dragon design wasn't that it looked fake, it's that it looked like it might not have been Alex. I know because I was one of the people commenting on the difference between her horns and the horn decoration in the two forms, and I was also the person that recognized and pointed out that it looked like a Bayard Wu painting.

I dunno why you're taking this weird "you can't point out anything potentially off about leaks, because they might be true!!!" stance. Anything is possible. We get dozens and dozens of fakes every cycle, and every cycle some of them are quite convincing, and every cycle, there are problems with those fairly convincing fakes. Given that leaks end up being 1-2 right out of 50, it's better to be skeptical.

[Marlamin]

Is "living world" an internal name used in models or something?

Yeah, kinda, it's a name for the models that 'activate' when you get near them. The birds can be found in the Dracthyr starting zone for example (amongst other places) and they fly away when you come near them and land back down when you are far enough away.

[Aradur]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

Yes. I want to do something in the massive landscape we already have in the game. I want them to focus on features to extend the exisiting world and make them meaningful again instead of pumping out another fucking island every 2 years. Where is the WORLD of Warcraft?

[Kiria]

Is "living world" an internal name used in models or something?

Yes, its the naming conventions the use for birds/butterflies will scatter when your player model walks close to them.

This is the legit leak by the looks of it, No caverns and Underground is a huge win to me.

[Pheraz]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

Well, either some kickass villain theme as the void or the evil light and/or a revamp of at least a part of the current zone with for example a known villain faction going berserk
For example lordaeron revamp with scarlet crazy crusade
Ofc we've only seen 4 shots and there could totally still be a good villain, but I'm a bit sceptical as I fear they go full dwarf

[Ferlion]

Well, a black empire themed exp for example.

New Old God: Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss

Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss, is a newly awakened Old God lurking deep within the heart of the Black Empire. This monstrous entity is a creature of darkness, hunger, and insatiable appetite. Its form is an ever-shifting mass of writhing tendrils and endless maws, each lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Unlike its brethren, Xalgrath hungers not only for power and chaos but also for the very fabric of existence itself.

Story:

Xalgrath's awakening came with cosmic disturbances that reverberated throughout the known realms. Its emergence from the shadowy depths of the Void was subtle at first, with only a few ominous signs that troubled the minds of the most astute scholars. Unbeknownst to the denizens of Azeroth, the world of Xalgrath began to grow within the abyss, a realm that embodied its insatiable hunger.

Deep beneath the Black Empire, where N'Zoth, Yogg-Saron, and C'Thun once ruled, Xalgrath's tendrils began to reach out, ensnaring the minds of the willing and the weak. Xalgrath's voice, a cacophony of whispers filled with promises of ultimate power, seduced those who sought forbidden knowledge. Mages, warlocks, and even the most devout priests found themselves drawn to this newfound source of dark and alluring power.

As Xalgrath's influence spread, its cultists, known as the Devourers, gathered in hidden enclaves, seeking to bring about their eldritch master's ascent. They believed that by feeding Xalgrath with forbidden knowledge, they could hasten its awakening. The Devourers deciphered cryptic runes and unearthed forbidden tomes from ancient libraries, amassing forbidden knowledge to sate Xalgrath's hunger.

As Xalgrath's strength grew, the boundaries between its realm and the physical world began to blur. It spawned grotesque aberrations and nightmarish creatures that began to emerge from the void rifts, terrorizing the lands of Azeroth. The chaos unleashed by Xalgrath's influence drew the attention of the Alliance and Horde, as they scrambled to combat this new, emerging threat.

The battle against Xalgrath, the Devouring Abyss, had just begun. Heroes and champions from across Azeroth united to thwart the cultists' efforts and seal the void rifts that threatened to consume their world. But Xalgrath, a force of insatiable hunger and unfathomable darkness, remained a formidable adversary. Its otherworldly tendrils continued to worm their way into the minds of the vulnerable, promising power in exchange for loyalty.

The fate of Azeroth now hung in the balance, as the forces of light and darkness clashed in an epic struggle against the emergence of the Devouring Abyss. As Xalgrath's power and influence continued to grow, the world trembled under its malevolent gaze, and the heroes of Azeroth faced their most daunting challenge yet, combating the hunger that threatened to devour their very existence.

This story from Chat GPT will probably generate more hype than what we will see.

While I do understand your point on this, BFA was basically a Black Empire expansion in the second half. But even at the start, it had massive Old God themes throughout leveling.

And what I mean by this is that if Blizzard does do a Black Empire/Old God/Void expansion, I don't think it'll tie into the Black Empire. But honestly, I could totally do a neon and bright and crazy void expansion. I think that would be fun as hell.

[Worldshaper]

The only way in which I could make these landscapes fit the expansion is if the storm has died out as part of the intro experience, because those skies look tranquil as hell. But if that's the case, I don't see what the unique theme of the expansion is, because "storm" seems to be the big thing in all the official information.

[Hitei]

I mean, at this point we've already visited all kind of zone. It's going to be hard for Blizzard to innovate in a 19yo game.

Yeah, but you'd still expect them to try and keep subsequent expansions fairly different. Weird choice to immediately make a mountainy pine forest zone right after Azure Span.

[Harbour]

Everyone that's talking about how disappointed and bad the leak is: What were you wanting? Team revamp? I'm curious, tbh.

Well, i think DF was enough of the 'we are simple adventurers exploring the dragon isles and dealing with local threats' room to breath, and i want something big, sounding and epic for the next chapter of the game. Especially since apparently its turned out many players actually didnt want to be a simple adventurers, its boring and too safe.

I had my breakfast, now i want a good fucking dinner with three dishes.

Something that i can relate to, something i always wanted to explore, that bears some weight in lore and potentially will make up for a good dramatic story.

1)Yrel being the Light Hitler, taking over AU Draenor and coming to Azeroth? Would be hype and fun and a lot of room for character drama.

2)K'aresh being the long time unexplored gem with very cool Ethereal Nexus Princes, making up for a great political driven story, SURAMAR 2.0? All while Void Lords are conspiring in the background. GIVE ME THAT.

3)World revamp with Scarlet Crusade being led with unknown Menethil who turned out to be a charismatic cool anti-villains? At the same time Old Gods reshaping the part of Kalimdor? All the while Y'rel Light Crusade spreads around the Dark Portal, readying to take on their sworn enemies? I would be HYPED.

Island #23235 based on the excerpt of some in-game book, that didnt exist in lore and canon and was never adressed before barely year ago? No thanks, i dont care. Thats why i believe those pics are well made fake, maybe even made by Blizzard to screw with us.
No way they are THAT delusional about what players want.

[locketto]

I mean, at this point we've already visited all kind of zone. It's going to be hard for Blizzard to innovate in a 19yo game.

Undermine for ecample

[Zulggun]

Wow, DF already had boring zones but this... I would take Shadowlands zones over this any day. They might have been annoying to traverse at times but were new, interesting and memorable.
If this is real, I'm skipping next expansion because looks like even art team is dead and buried under layer of boring. Just like they are now, with every zone and every raid looks like copy-pasted from order one.