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

[Luck4]

A weekly cap that rolls forward! So if I could not do it one week I am not permanently behind. Just let me binge later on.

Pretty much.

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More four ish months before 11.0 speculation starts to kick in.

I'm setting myself up for a huge (heart-break/soul-crushing) disappointment.

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I hope the FAKE leak season is a little bit tamer this time, and I'm never trusting a good-looking logo ever again.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Those have always been there, in the game files Forest Trolls and Vrykul (and there's a few more) races have always been on the 'player race' list cause they are some of the few mob races that can wear player gear.

I'd figure. However, it is odd that other cases—such as Thin Humans and Naga—aren't there as well. My best guess is that the icons may be a placeholder for something new. With no visible Dracthyr icon, I figure they may also just be internal icons that are being used for Dracthyr Visage forms for some reason, but that just further demands inquiry as to where the Dracthyr model proper is.

[Nymrohd]

I hope the FAKE leak season is a little bit tamer this time, and I'm never trusting a good-looking logo ever again.

AI-generated images will make this the WILDEST leak season. Anyone with the will and the time to make a convincing mock up of a beta reveal will be able to do an extremely good job at it.

[Alanar]

I also had exact same thoughts. Rastakhan was flawed but he wasn't as moronic or incompetent as some people claim. He did slack, but after assasination attemptempt from Zul he easily rallied forced and cleared the city. It's such a pity because I believe that this character out of all in Warcraft lore deserved proper redemption arc.
He had amazing personality, charisma and had a beaming pwerful presence.

Talanji is fine as a character, but she would serve better as a support. She could've be elevated to be in charge of Golden fleet so she would be free to roam the world and to undo damage Zandalari previously did. That would be the story I'd love to see.

With Rastkhan's death, Zandalar kinda lost it's glamour to me.

Its a damn shame, nice to see people think the same. I understand the impact of hes death, but I think he would have been such a cool character to have around. Shame it was so short. I really hit me, when we were finally be able to make a zandalari, but notice fairly quickly the hype was kinda gone already for me.. Next to that, I agree a big part of their coolness was because of Rastakahn which is gone now. Talanji doesnt generate that hype at all for me.

Some had a cool explanation and was nice to argue with, but I am bias when it comes to rastakahn tbh

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I think that is supposed to be a Vrykul not Yeti.

I think its an ogre on the left of the troll.

I dont see Vrykul there, but cant zoom in much.

Anyway as some one else said, these models have been on there since forever. It doesnt mean anything.

Also Yeti, you cant be serious if you believe that>.>.

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AI-generated images will make this the WILDEST leak season. Anyone with the will and the time to make a convincing mock up of a beta reveal will be able to do an extremely good job at it.

O god, I believe you are right. AI ia scary.

[Lady Atia]

AI-generated images will make this the WILDEST leak season. Anyone with the will and the time to make a convincing mock up of a beta reveal will be able to do an extremely good job at it.

Idk, all the weird "ai images" I have had to look at so far are easily spotable as such, and feel like soul-less crap.

[Scyth]

I hope the FAKE leak season is a little bit tamer this time, and I'm never trusting a good-looking logo ever again.

Can't wait for all the fake stories ChatGPT will create

[Nymrohd]

O god, I believe you are right. AI ia scary.

I mean traditionally, this was what we used to tell if a leak had legs or not. It's easy to make text predictions and format them decently. But the believable leaks either had support from datamining OR had support from visuals that looked like they could come from a press pack; things like concept art or potential screenshots. Screenshots are probably much easier to make these days than ever before; private server tech for building your own zones is much more accessible and at a much higher level than it was a decade ago. But concept art is just hard to fake; if you just grab it from somewhere, reverse image page will let everyone now within a page or two of the thread depending on traffic. But generating concept art for the fake leak you want to sell and picking whatever looks closest to Blizzard's art style is not that time consuming. And it is fantasy art so curious body proportions or a sixth finger don't really help.

[Raetary]

Idk, all the weird "ai images" I have had to look at so far are easily spotable as such, and feel like soul-less crap.

Take a well generated AI image, give it to someone with some Photoshop/illustrator skills to fix all the inconsistencies and make adjustments.

Voila, you got yourself a believable Expansion logo with minimal effort.

[Biomega]

Idk, all the weird "ai images" I have had to look at so far are easily spotable as such, and feel like soul-less crap.

Because 99% of them ARE soulless crap.

But 1% of them just make it through somehow, especially if they're manually adjusted on top.

A prominent photography competition just has the winner reject the prize because they entered an AI image and it won 1st place. And these are professionals in the field.

[Nymrohd]

Take a well generated AI image, give it to someone with some Photoshop/illustrator skills to fix all the inconsistencies and make adjustments.

Voila, you got yourself a believable Expansion logo with minimal effort.

And let me say, the obsession with logos is stupid. Usually the actual leak does not include a logo.

[Ramz]

In a way that's why Rastakhan's death worked so well for me. He had just got his head back in the game, he was finally taking charge of the situation, and then he was gone. He really was struck down on his prime which made his death even more impactful were he had been just incompetent. Yes, it's crueler, but also made it so more memorable.

My issue is that BfA kinda failed use that to galvanize Talanji as the new Queen. She just kinda faded away from the narrative as a major player.

It didn't work for me, because he was gone almost instaly after being introduced. He literally lasted for one patch span. I wanted more of him, and you saying that Talanji election eventually lead nowhere is even bigger proof that this change was for nothing.
I'd rather if Fleet was destroyed but Jaina died. Jaina dying there would be better story for me.

[Luck4]

AI-generated images will make this the WILDEST leak season. Anyone with the will and the time to make a convincing mock up of a beta reveal will be able to do an extremely good job at it.

Can't wait for all the fake stories ChatGPT will create

Oh boy... I forgot about AI...

[Darkarath]

Its going to be an amazing leak season.

Honestly I cannot wait to know what the next expansion is about. DF is really good and I am pretty sure that we will get a 10.3 patch. I am excited to see how It ends, but I feel that next expansion would raise the bar even more.

I still dream about the world revamp, but the other possibilities, IMO, the South Seas or Avaloren, could be awesome as well.

[Nymrohd]

Its going to be an amazing leak season.

Honestly I cannot wait to know what the next expansion is about. DF is really good and I am pretty sure that we will get a 10.3 patch. I am excited to see how It ends, but I feel that next expansion would raise the bar even more.

I still dream about the world revamp, but the other possibilities, IMO, the South Seas or Avaloren, could be awesome as well.

I don't really know. I was hoping for Dragon Isles to recapture the world building of MoP. And they did make the effort, especially with the Maruuk. But it just did not land for me. It lacks the whimsy of Halfhill, the Renown questlines don't have the impact of the Klaxxi attacking the Heart of Fear or the zone wide battle vs the Mogu in the Vale or even the end of the Shado Pan questline with the black drakes. It is a vast land but it somehow feels disconnected; Pandaria had a unifying theme with a variety of clear east Asian influences in the architecture, the landscape and the music that Dragon Isles lack. And most importantly there was a wealth of new lore that somehow managed to click right in place in the old lore without being disruptive. Dragon Isles just doesn't talk about the past; the Tuskar and Maruuk almost seem transient and we get so little information on what the Dragons and their servants did in the isles and what happened in these 10k years. Honestly the only point were I felt invested in the story because it was tying well with the world of Azeroth is with Veritastrasz (sp?). It's not even that it is shallow. The Maruuk have so much detail. But they feel like someone made a table of clans and just added one element on each column (role, character, favourite color, favored combat style)

It might just be me.

Avaloren would logically be something similar; a new land that should be all about world building and integrating its lore with the rest of WoW. And I just don't have faith that the team that did DF will do something better.

[Shadowferal]

I don't really know. I was hoping for Dragon Isles to recapture the world building of MoP. And they did make the effort, especially with the Maruuk. But it just did not land for me. It lacks the whimsy of Halfhill, the Renown questlines don't have the impact of the Klaxxi attacking the Heart of Fear or the zone wide battle vs the Mogu in the Vale or even the end of the Shado Pan questline with the black drakes. It is a vast land but it somehow feels disconnected; Pandaria had a unifying theme with a variety of clear east Asian influences in the architecture, the landscape and the music that Dragon Isles lack. And most importantly there was a wealth of new lore that somehow managed to click right in place in the old lore without being disruptive. Dragon Isles just doesn't talk about the past; the Tuskar and Maruuk almost seem transient and we get so little information on what the Dragons and their servants did in the isles and what happened in these 10k years. Honestly the only point were I felt invested in the story because it was tying well with the world of Azeroth is with Veritastrasz (sp?). It's not even that it is shallow. The Maruuk have so much detail. But they feel like someone made a table of clans and just added one element on each column (role, character, favourite color, favored combat style)

It might just be me.

Avaloren would logically be something similar; a new land that should be all about world building and integrating its lore with the rest of WoW. And I just don't have faith that the team that did DF will do something better.

They should have connected everything to Wyrmrest Temple.
Sure, it's manipulative...to get a shine and reflective tone from the most popular expansion. But there were plenty of dragons involved, and a focus on Malygos, and the green dreamer Ysera, and the idea of an undead dragon in the form of Sindragosa. Ideas could have been expanded upon...

Yea, I could write an anthology, "woulda...coulda...shoulda..."

[Nymrohd]

They should have connected everything to Wyrmrest Temple.
Sure, it's manipulative...to get a shine and reflective tone from the most popular expansion. But there were plenty of dragons involved, and a focus on Malygos, and the green dreamer Ysera, and the idea of an undead dragon in the form of Sindragosa. Ideas could have been expanded upon...

Yea, I could write an anthology, "woulda...coulda...shoulda..."

There is nothing wrong with the concept of the Dragon Isles. Nothing wrong with the Tuskar there either. There are issues with the Maruuk but you could see them as an entirely new race that largely lived there and it would work. What is lacking is not a concept or a theme, it's history and it absolutely could have been done in the Dragon Isles.

[Fahrad Wagner]

AI-generated images will make this the WILDEST leak season. Anyone with the will and the time to make a convincing mock up of a beta reveal will be able to do an extremely good job at it.

I agree, we're in for a juicy leak season!

[Alanar]

I mean traditionally, this was what we used to tell if a leak had legs or not. It's easy to make text predictions and format them decently. But the believable leaks either had support from datamining OR had support from visuals that looked like they could come from a press pack; things like concept art or potential screenshots. Screenshots are probably much easier to make these days than ever before; private server tech for building your own zones is much more accessible and at a much higher level than it was a decade ago. But concept art is just hard to fake; if you just grab it from somewhere, reverse image page will let everyone now within a page or two of the thread depending on traffic. But generating concept art for the fake leak you want to sell and picking whatever looks closest to Blizzard's art style is not that time consuming. And it is fantasy art so curious body proportions or a sixth finger don't really help.

It will be much easier to pump these things out, I would imagine there is just going to be a lot more then we previously had in leak season. The guessing game, I mean in a way this is going to be either a lot of fun finding out if things are real or its just going to be so obvious and slightly off then we will notice it way sooner.

Its been a while since we had some fun mockups and I hope we will see some nice work done with or without AI.

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Take a well generated AI image, give it to someone with some Photoshop/illustrator skills to fix all the inconsistencies and make adjustments.

Voila, you got yourself a believable Expansion logo with minimal effort.

Yea, photoshop on top of AI would make for some scary believeable images. But we got some serious pros here, who are able to spot these pretty fast I would imagine. Skeptism is also strong, but who knows.

Its kinda interesting.

[Darkarath]

I don't really know. I was hoping for Dragon Isles to recapture the world building of MoP. And they did make the effort, especially with the Maruuk. But it just did not land for me. It lacks the whimsy of Halfhill, the Renown questlines don't have the impact of the Klaxxi attacking the Heart of Fear or the zone wide battle vs the Mogu in the Vale or even the end of the Shado Pan questline with the black drakes. It is a vast land but it somehow feels disconnected; Pandaria had a unifying theme with a variety of clear east Asian influences in the architecture, the landscape and the music that Dragon Isles lack. And most importantly there was a wealth of new lore that somehow managed to click right in place in the old lore without being disruptive. Dragon Isles just doesn't talk about the past; the Tuskar and Maruuk almost seem transient and we get so little information on what the Dragons and their servants did in the isles and what happened in these 10k years. Honestly the only point were I felt invested in the story because it was tying well with the world of Azeroth is with Veritastrasz (sp?). It's not even that it is shallow. The Maruuk have so much detail. But they feel like someone made a table of clans and just added one element on each column (role, character, favourite color, favored combat style)

It might just be me.

Avaloren would logically be something similar; a new land that should be all about world building and integrating its lore with the rest of WoW. And I just don't have faith that the team that did DF will do something better.

DF is shining in content, the cadence of that content, the improvements to systems, the visuals, dragonriding, and in general the positive philosophy shift.

It is definitively not shining lore-wise. But is has improved (was not difficult at all, to be honest). I found side quests more enjoyable than usual, more interesting, but the main story of 10.0 is just not there, there is no story at all.We are questing just to eventually have the chance of seeing a cool cinematic, which is practically the only moments when shit happens, besides the lore books here and there, which are interesting clues for the future, but do not enrich in any way the story that DF is trying to tell.

As always, we do not get the chance to see our favorite characters a lot. It is a pity, because every time I see Emberthal, Wrathion, Sabellian, Khadgar, etc. I just love It. They should have way more cinematics, of just people talking, no need to have a spectacular combat in them, we just want them to say something meaningful and to know them more.

For the moment, the Incarnates are saving the day regarding lore. They are simple, they are cool, they do not seem fucking idiots. It is that easy, I do not expect an amazing story or narrative, but I expect something, and we should expect cool and interesting characters, I just wish that they do more things with them.

[Shadowferal]

What is lacking is not a concept or a theme, it's history and it absolutely could have been done in the Dragon Isles.

Well, I always knew I was never alone in my own rewrite of lore.

Like a few others, you can do the same?