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

[Ersula]

And guess who is at the helm now? The RPG lord himself whom will DOOMHAMMER someone into oblivion.

Game Director is above the Creative Director. Ion is still Metzen's boss.

So they've decided to tease all the new stuff in OW2 on a blog..

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/over...-blizzcon-2023

I wonder if one for WoW is coming.

...This isn't a tease at all. It's just an itinerary. There isn't any new information here.

[Nebron]

So they've decided to tease all the new stuff in OW2 on a blog..

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/over...-blizzcon-2023

I wonder if one for WoW is coming.

Nah, it’s just a damage control.

[Selorian]

No idea how that’s contradicting what I’ve said.

Your argument is DF didn't sell because it's mediocre, which ignores all factors outside of the quality of that specific expansion. It doesn't even make sense that people wouldn't preorder a game because it's mediocre, they'd have no way of knowing. Preorders and things like that are always a function of the quality of the product before it (in this case, BFA/SL).

And then there are a lot of other factors, such as that it didn't sell because people are wary about supporting Blizzard because of lawsuits.

It's the same argument people use about Wrath->Cata. Cata wasn't uniquely bad as to kill the growth of WoW, there were simply factors outside of the game's quality that made it stagnate. WoW was no longer the only big multiplayer game at the time (League came out during Cata) so it had to actually compete for players.

WoW has spent pretty much every expansion since then trying to adapt and evolve to the modern landscape, to varying degrees of success.

Even in this thread, people are going "I'm gonna skip 11.0 based off 4 screenshots." Is that an indictment of 11.0, which we know literally nothing about? Or is it because they are unhappy with the current state of the game and are predisposed to being negative and cynical?

[Nymrohd]

I wonder if they will update the Blizzcon App

[Nightshade711]

Lurker here.

Just wanna say that I hate bear, cat, horse mounts with flying.

Just a response to flying moon bear that people are praising.

For me it takes me out of the fantasy.

THEY SHOULD ONLY BE RUNNING.


Love the discussion tho

I’m on the opposite end.
Let every mount fly, even if you need to use the mount equipment slot to do so. (Which hasn’t been iterated on since BfA)

[Demonly]

Game Director is above the Creative Director. Ion is still Metzen's boss.

We don't have their org chart, but I would like to differ.

Ion is a "Game Director"

while Chris Metzen is an "Executive Creative Director" big distinction here. You don't become an executive unless you're at the tippy top.

[Woggmer]

There is literally no evidence that backs this up.

There are like 2 active RP servers per region, completely dwarfed by the number of people who don't care about RP at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Illidan-NA alone had more players than all the active RP servers combined.

When they tried to implement an RPG feature in Shadowlands (covenant locks) it was overwhelmingly unpopular. Like, one of the most unpopular features ever.

Even the RPers didn't like Shadowlands all that much either since the covenant system was too restricting and the whole concept of "Going into the Death Realm" was something people weren't interested in, especially if they were forced to spend 2 years in the death realm. So if anything, the covenant system was a flawed not a lot of people liked.

The real RPG aspect is the world itself and interacting with those of the environment... What's the point of being part of that environment if it's one that doesn't interest people?

[Raetary]

Ion is wows game director.

Metzens position encompasses the entire Warcraft franchise.
Literally sitting in the executive chair.

[micwini]

We don't have their org chart, but I would like to differ.

Ion is a "Game Director"

while Chris Metzen is an "Executive Creative Director" big distinction here. You don't become an executive unless you're at the tippy top.

Yeah I agree. Metzen is above Ion. Metzen is ECD of all of warcraft (retail, classic hearthstone, rumble, etc.). Ion is just game director for retail.

[Wangming]

So what exactly makes you think underground has a higher chance of being 11.0 than avaloren?

Cuz it's clear that avaloren will be heavy in titan lore based on it's books and right now we have a rogue elemental dragon who's going to use the world soul as bait to force the Titans to come back while the impending resurrection of tyr, the most famous of the keepers, both lorewise and with players.

Don't see how any of that hints at underground much less the capital of goblins.

The most underground we'll get is probably uldaz since that's probably where the world soul is. I don't see undermine being the focal point of the expansion we meet and save Azeroth (titan)

The most common argument against Avaloren as 11.0 is that it simply does not have enough buildup to really serve as a big draw in for an expansion. It was first mentioned in an easily missable ingame book less than a year ago. There isn't much anticipation for it.

[Demonly]

The real RPG aspect is the world itself and interacting with those of the environment... What's the point of being part of that environment if it's one that doesn't interest people?

THIS 100% What's the point of having 30 some-odd zones in Kalimdor & EK sitting collecting dust. That's content that can be used over and over again making the world "Living" rather than stale.

[Azalar]

The real RPG aspect is the world itself and interacting with those of the environment... What's the point of being part of that environment if it's one that doesn't interest people?

It's not like the Dragon Isles were super interesting either. It was interesting for dragons, and we're not dragons. It's hard to empathize with a race that doesn't care much about mortals like us.

If lore affects them and we don't care about them, it's no wonder we feel apathy towards the expansion as a whole.

[Teriz]

So what exactly makes you think underground has a higher chance of being 11.0 than avaloren?

Cuz it's clear that avaloren will be heavy in titan lore based on it's books and right now we have a rogue elemental dragon who's going to use the world soul as bait to force the Titans to come back while the impending resurrection of tyr, the most famous of the keepers, both lorewise and with players.

I think you already answered your own question. I believe Iridikron and Xal are going subterranean in 11.0 and we go after them. There's no reason to go to a new continent if Iridikron is gunning for the world soul.

To make this more itemized;

+Thrall on key art (Earth-based/elemental Shaman)
+Iridikron (Earth-based dragon)
+Khaz Algar (implied to be underground, run by Earthen)
+Xal'atath (Old Gods are underground)
+Uldaz (possibly an underground titan complex to protect the world soul)
+Undermine reference in 10.0.7
+Nerubian reference in 10.1
+Zaralek Caverns


Not to mention the simple fact of us going underground automatically gives us the ability to have an expansion on Azeroth that won't seem like a rehash of the previous expansion, since we'll be underground instead of another lost continent with titans and dragons.

But hey, we'll know for sure in less than a week. I could be completely wrong about all of this.

[Harbour]

I'm ready to listen to thunderous silence and crickets chirping in the Hall when Metzen will tell them that they are going to visit Avaloren.
Please, Blizzard, no. This would be such a suicidal move.

[IronWasher]

So what exactly makes you think underground has a higher chance of being 11.0 than avaloren?

Cuz it's clear that avaloren will be heavy in titan lore based on it's books and right now we have a rogue elemental dragon who's going to use the world soul as bait to force the Titans to come back while the impending resurrection of tyr, the most famous of the keepers, both lorewise and with players.

Don't see how any of that hints at underground much less the capital of goblins.

The most underground we'll get is probably uldaz since that's probably where the world soul is. I don't see undermine being the focal point of the expansion we meet and save Azeroth (titan)

I feel like you're onto something here

[PotHockets]

It's not like the Dragon Isles were super interesting either. It was interesting for dragons, and we're not dragons. It's hard to empathize with a race that doesn't care much about mortals like us.

If lore affects them and we don't care about them, it's no wonder we feel apathy towards the expansion as a whole.

I've found the Dragon Isles interesting. Honestly the biggest issue I've had with Dragonflight is that there's nothing to grind for anymore. I know people bitched and moaned about thing's like AP or Anima and I fully get the complaints but I liked them and I liked that no matter what you did there was always just something to do. I'm also not someone incapable of self control and willing to face grind or play the game past the point it's fun though so the addictive part never affected me.

[Wangming]

Ion is wows game director.

Metzens position encompasses the entire Warcraft franchise.
Literally sitting in the executive chair.

Thank fucking god. I'm really not a fan of what Ion (or Danuser for that matter) did to WoW

[Nyel]

Your argument is DF didn't sell because it's mediocre, which ignores all factors outside of the quality of that specific expansion. It doesn't even make sense that people wouldn't preorder a game because it's mediocre, they'd have no way of knowing. Preorders and things like that are always a function of the quality of the product before it (in this case, BFA/SL).

And then there are a lot of other factors, such as that it didn't sell because people are wary about supporting Blizzard because of lawsuits.

It's the same argument people use about Wrath->Cata. Cata wasn't uniquely bad as to kill the growth of WoW, there were simply factors outside of the game's quality that made it stagnate. WoW was no longer the only big multiplayer game at the time (League came out during Cata) so it had to actually compete for players.

WoW has spent pretty much every expansion since then trying to adapt and evolve to the modern landscape, to varying degrees of success.

Even in this thread, people are going "I'm gonna skip 11.0 based off 4 screenshots." Is that an indictment of 11.0, which we know literally nothing about? Or is it because they are unhappy with the current state of the game and are predisposed to being negative and cynical?

There are many reasons why Dragonflight in hindsight fell flat. The low of Shadowlands is definitely one of them, but not the entire reason Dragonflight wasn’t a huge success. The expansion itself, the premise, maybe even the features, were just too middling to generate interest for a large percentage of players that left the game either before or because of Shadowlands. There are many reasons why it happened and I never said Dragonflight being mediocre is the only one, it’s obviously not.

[Cheezits]

I'm ready to listen to thunderous silence and crickets chirping in the Hall when Metzen will tell them that they are going to visit Avaloren.
Please, Blizzard, no. This would be such a suicidal move.

NO CLASS
NO RACE
SMALLER EXPANSIONS FROM NOW ON AND DRAGONFLIGHT IS CANCELLED
OCSHIT EXPANSION #3 IN A ROW
NEW ISLAND EXPANSION #2 IN A ROW
NO NEW MODELS
LORE BUILDUP THROUGH TWO BOOKS IN PREPATCH

Clearly, the perfect time to bring Metzen back to drive hype!

[Harbour]

Yeah, Metzen is the main guy over the whole Warcraft franchise.
I personally hope they will announce Warcraft animated series about Arthas, in partnership with HBO, Netflix or Amazon. Would be a banger of an announcement.