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

[Cheezits]

Frankly, Midnight -> TLT is such a random pivot that I have no idea how it tracks.

I'm guessing Xal dies and the Void is banished but Azshara wins and does something awful to the point we need the Titans back to stop her and Iridikron.

[Chickat]

I have to admit: I have this weird feeling of worry regarding the upcoming plot and the fact that its core events have been spoiled three expansions ahead. It can work incredibly well in a particular set of circumstances, but it can be ruined (or watered down, made boring) with ease, too.

I dont think they will do that again. I think it was to instill faith in us, and to let us know of their philosophy shift. They are moving to the FF14 model of arcs. After 13.0, they may announce a new arc, but they wont name all expansions again. We will be used to it, and wont need to know the other expansions. If they pull off the World Soul arc, we will trust them.

[ZyntosAran]

I might be blind and deaf, but I'm pretty sure Ion showcased a UI screenshot (mock-up probably) that showed a list of characters added to your Warband, and then below that was a normal list of other characters.

He also said you can add characters from different realms. Not sure why he'd say that if they're automatically included anyway.

No, thats just a "favorite chars" selection in the camp on the login screen. All chars will use the warband features. It says "Camp" on top of the 4 chars in the list.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Maybe. But generally speaking, we always knew that Arthas was going to bite it, Deathwing was going to be defeated, that Garrosh wasn't going to succeed in sustaining a fascist dictatorship, that the Iron Horde was probably fucked, the Legion wasn't going to destroy the universe, etc.

Like, we didn't necessarily KNOW AU Gul'dan would bring the Legion, but we had a pretty good inkling that the theme wasn't going to be orcs or pandas and was going to involve Gul'dan as soon as we knew he wasn't a 6.2 raid boss.

Knowing we're going to Quel'Thalas next doesn't really change the main question of the expansion, besides stopping Xal'atath (which we will). Will Alleria fall to the Void? Is she going to be an antagonist for the elf expac after? Will Xal'atath even die in the first place in her rivalry with Alleria? Will Sylvanas come back to help Vereesa bring back her sister? Who knows!

Frankly, Midnight -> TLT is such a random pivot that I have no idea how it tracks.

People were speculating that Legion would end with Sargeras destroying the planet and we would have to evacuate to another world, that BFA would end with N'zoth taking over the surface world and forcing everyone underground or Sylvanas killing everyone, that Shadowlands would end with the Jailer destroying Azeroth and us having to travel back in time or go to a post-destruction revamp world, etc.

[damonskye]

I don't think they confirmed that.

Ion most certainly did. He said that the character screen was a selection that YOU make about which ones you want featured (in the "camp" as it's called), and that the rest of your character list would be there too, regardless of realm (in fact he said there is no way to select a particular realm on the character selection page.)

He also mentioned during the warbands part of the talk that there was a warband bank shared across ALL your characters, again no matter the realm, and that their goal was that you would never have to send your other characters mail ever again.

No, thats just a "favorite chars" selection in the camp on the login screen. All chars will use the warband features. It says "Camp" on top of the 4 chars in the list.

Exactly, and that that was just a convenience thing as well as a fun way to display your top 4 characters that you play, around that campfire.

[Cheezits]

https://www.wowhead.com/news/dracthy...-10-2-5-335915

Dracthyr get full flight in 10.2.5! Finally!

Best announcement of the day, holy shit. No Running Wild Static Flying yet.

[Chickat]

They did take away flying in WoD though. And they did so because they recognized it was detrimental to the experience.
I would argue that Dragonriding has a similar issue due to the Vigor regen. Dragonriding should look and feel impressive, and if some players are not into that gameplay then that is why you have slower old flying, as well as flight paths.

Or maybe I am just crazy, and that seeing a zone filled with speed boosts and updrafts to play around with is genuinely less fun than pressing the spacebar four times and aiming towards Valdrakken.

More fun sure. Less convenient, yes. Maybe I'm wrong. I wouldn't care that much either way, but there would be Massive complaining if they did what you want, and in the end they would renege on it imo.

If it happens, Ill be happy for you and admit I was wrong. I personally don't care either way.

[Vakir]

People were speculating that Legion would end with Sargeras destroying the planet and we would have to evacuate to another world, that BFA would end with N'zoth taking over the surface world and forcing everyone underground or Sylvanas killing everyone, that Shadowlands would end with the Jailer destroying Azeroth and us having to travel back in time or go to a post-destruction revamp world, etc.

Yes, and those people are stupid.

Those things are neat for a little while, but generally that's not the Warcraft vibe outside, what, WC1's ending? It's also a logistical nightmare to start an expansion that way. Even when we "lose" it's always more of a slow-burn Pyrrhic victory with maybe a named character dying. TFT ends with a shredding guitar solo of fused-LK sitting on a badass throne...and absolutely nothing happens for years.

Is it possible to see, say, the world get destroyed halfway in and then we pull a going back to past-Ethyris? Maybe. But at the end of an expac, no.

[Zers Editor]

Frankly, Midnight -> TLT is such a random pivot that I have no idea how it tracks.

From what I've got from Metzen's speech, whatever will take place in Midnight will show itself to be so severe and terrible for Azeroth's wellbeing that it will prompt the Titans to return.

[Varodoc]

People were speculating that Legion would end with Sargeras destroying the planet and we would have to evacuate to another world, that BFA would end with N'zoth taking over the surface world and forcing everyone underground or Sylvanas killing everyone, that Shadowlands would end with the Jailer destroying Azeroth and us having to travel back in time or go to a post-destruction revamp world, etc.

But those expansions were never presented as anything else but simple expansions.

This is different. This is a multi-expansion saga that is presented as the showdown and conclusion of 20-yo-old storyline and the beginning of a truly new chapter for the franchise. It is the culmination of the major storylines of Warcraft, the stories involving the World Soul, Void, Light, and Titans.

So, it makes sense that people have much higher expectations for the aftermath of this saga.

[Wazooty]

See, a blademaster comes with a very specific set of abilities that do not current coexist in any single class. Arms has bladestorm, Enchancement has elemental wolves, Monk effectively has Mirror Image.

Mirror image could easily be a thematic rework of an existing ability ie whirlwind now causes a mirror image of you to hit every target it hits instead of swirling your blade around. Or even sweeping strikes - while active a second copy of you hits a nearby target for whatever dmg sweeping strikes does. Purely visual but does the job.

[Zers Editor]

I'm guessing Xal dies and the Void is banished but Azshara wins and does something awful to the point we need the Titans back to stop her and Iridikron.

I don't think Iridikron will make himself known unitl the Titans actually show themselves.

[Samin]

Okay, so there's the Camp and there's Warbands. I understand that they're two different things now, being released simultaneously.

So do we know how many characters you can display in the Camp, then?

I honestly wouldn't put to much weight into the camp feature. It feels like something rife for being cut for time. It's currently just a mockup of "what could be". As such there aren't really any details like "how many characters can be shown in camp"

[Vakir]

From what I've got from Metzen's speech, whatever will take place in Midnight will show itself to be so severe and terrible for Azeroth's wellbeing that it will prompt the Titans to return.

Oh, I heard him. It's still a pretty random pivot on the whole. Maybe the Void hits Azeroth, maybe the vision speaker isn't Azeroth and it was a more complex feint (lol doubt it, but imagine if it was Azshara tricking us).

But knowing we're eventually going to Northrend and dealing with Titans doesn't really interfere with the ability to speculate.

Frankly, Iridikron is so mid that I hope he gets absolutely annihilated as a pawn by Xal/her handlers, with their machinations being way, way above his whiny little vendetta. He looks stupid, he is generally dollar store Neltharion, and I really don't want to have to anticipate the return of a rock drake for 6 years.

He may be a 5-man end boss for 10.3, even. Amir is the final raid, not necessarily the final piece of content.

[Chickat]

With respect, that's the most glass-half-empty thing I've seen written on this thread in the past 48 hours.

As I said above, why do we need new systems? All people have done is complain about them. This new expansion feels like a culmination of all the things people have been ASKING for for years: alts treated as player agency, shared benefits like reputations and reagents, open world progression, dragonriding made universal, and much more. Doesn't sound lackluster to me at ALL.

Yeah, some players are already complaining about "bloat". WoW has SO much more to do than it did even 10 years ago. Even SL has more content than Wrath or TBC all things considered. Theres nothing wrong with the way they are doing expansions. 1-2 cool new things, and more of the same great stuff. If players dont like that, I think they need to quit wow.

[damonskye]

Okay, so there's the Camp and there's Warbands. I understand that they're two different things now, being released simultaneously.

So do we know how many characters you can display in the Camp, then?

It looks like four, and it's just the ones you want featured on your login page, and therefore most easily accessed. Doesn't appear to be anything other than that.

I genuinely think they would have been better served by simply telling us they were changing how are characters interact with each other (shared bank, achievements, reputation, etc.), because "warband" may imply some new content that really doesn't exist. That said, I am 10000% on board with these changes because they are long, LONG overdue.

[Rathwell]

.

Like, no Blademaster for Warrior or Necromancer for Death Knight is a bit silly to me.

Some of them are really cool though, I like the fantasty behind Keeper of the Grove, Dark Ranger, Sunfury, Templar, Shado-Pan, Farseer, Stormbringer, Mountain Thane and Soul Harvester.

most of these have an unclear class fantasy. No Blood mage for mages? But Warlock's Soul Harvester, Hellcaller and Diabolist are extremely vague titles that seem almost interchangeable.

[Chickat]

Did they say anything about how many characters can be included in the Warband?

Every character on your account is included. They are even adding all your characters on different realms to the list, so you dont have to swap realms anymore. The 4-5 you see is just how many are shown on the character screen. The rest are in a list on the side like today, but all characters get the same benefits.

[Sondrelk]

More fun sure. Less convenient, yes. Maybe I'm wrong. I wouldn't care that much either way, but there would be Massive complaining if they did what you want, and in the end they would renege on it imo.

If it happens, Ill be happy for you and admit I was wrong. I personally don't care either way.

There would be complaining for sure, but I think in this case it would definitely be worth it. Especially when you have old flying to deflect to.

[Samin]

Almost as good as removed transmog unlock restrictions: No more dragon on dragon action (unless you're into that) already in 10.2.5