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

[Samin]

For some reason, i can't help but think of Odyn taking Ulduar for a joyride when reading this. And then challenging you to a race.

For inexplicable reasons it has lowrider suspensions

[Nymrohd]

A new raid maybe? Entered through Algalon's room. Some sort of Titan palace in a place between space and time. Just speculating.

We could always fight the Titans somewhere else indeed. Maybe the Seat of the Pantheon acts as a gateway to Zereth Ordos. Or the structure becomes much more expansive and we fight them in a giant open area raid in the middle of space.

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I assume this interview has been discussed?
https://www.wowhead.com/news/wowhead...na-wang-335929

Excited to quest with Dagran Also apparently Anduin is an idiot who never read my reports and Thrall never asked anyone what happened with the Azerite when he came back?

[Worldshaper]

That is suicide. I am fairly certain that a lot of people are just playing WoW by habit because of how much time they've sunk in the game. We have massive mog collections, multiple alts and so much history in this game. Unless you somehow translate all my collections and bring my main into this new game, I am not sure I'd invest in it

I think it's helpful to keep a few things in mind:

• Players who feel very passionate about their collections aren't wrong to feel that way. But they are a vocal minority. Most players don't give a damn. We're talking about the players that have turned WoW into a lifestyle, farming the same old raid dungeons for 10 years just to get another mount, or logging in everyday because some of their best friends play WoW, or because their partner plays and it's kind of a thing in the family. Most players aren't like that. They come and go.
• WoW currently has <1 million players AFAIK. Even if its more, let's say up to 3 million, that's still not a lot of people. Blizzard's Warcraft franchise goes back 30 years. I, myself, have played all the games for the majority of my life. I no-lifed all the RTS games as a kid, I've been there for every BlizzCon and every WoW expansion midnight release, I love Hearthstone, and so on. While WoW has been and remains very important to me, it is the IP I care more about. Games come and go, as I've witnessed over the decades. But the IP remains. Warcraft has touched millions upon millions of people. This group of gamers outnumber the current players of WoW by far.
• On top of that, Blizzard is increasingly interested in tapping into the gaming community as a whole, with mobile games, F2P, Battle Passes, inclusiveness, and so on. You bet Phil Spencer and Xbox encourage this as well. Now we're no longer talking millions of players, but potentially billions.

I'm not saying they will just kill WoW all of a sudden. Even decades old games can endure, and sometimes prosper, with a dedicated fanbase that sticks with it over the years. But, the way to grow Warcraft, and to grow Blizzard, is by making new games. New experiences.

Currently, WoW is the big Warcraft game. If somebody is curious about the franchise, that's where they'll have to go in order to get the best and most immersive experience. I doubt Blizzard will want it to remain that way for much longer. They want big AAA RPGs like all the other developer studios. They want games that can live on many platforms, and be accessible whenever and wherever to billions of players. They want competitive multilayer experiences to go alongside the PVE, because that brings longevity at a fraction of the cost.

So yeah, long story short, there's no way they'll avoid making a new mainline Warcraft game just because it'd risk upsetting collectors in WoW.

[Raetary]

Excited to quest with Dagran Also apparently Anduin is an idiot who never read my reports and Thrall never asked anyone what happened with the Azerite when he came back?

Ah yes, what truly competent leadership.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Ah yes, what truly competent leadership.

yeah, not gonna lie, that whole thing is a bit weird

[Lady Atia]

I think it's helpful to keep a few things in mind:

• Players who feel very passionate about their collections aren't wrong to feel that way. But they are a vocal minority. Most players don't give a damn. We're talking about the players that have turned WoW into a lifestyle, farming the same old raid dungeons for 10 years just to get another mount, or logging in everyday because some of their best friends play WoW, or because their partner plays and it's kind of a thing in the family. Most players aren't like that. They come and go.
• WoW currently has <1 million players AFAIK. Even if its more, let's say up to 3 million, that's still not a lot of people. Blizzard's Warcraft franchise goes back 30 years. I, myself, have played all the games for the majority of my life. I no-lifed all the RTS games as a kid, I've been there for every BlizzCon and every WoW expansion midnight release, and so on. Warcraft has touched millions upon millions of people. This group of gamers outnumber the current players of WoW by far.
• On top of that, Blizzard is increasingly interested in tapping into the gaming community as a whole, with mobile games, F2P, Battle Passes, inclusiveness, and so on. You bet Phil Spencer and Xbox encourage this as well. Now we're no longer talking millions of players, but potentially billions.

I'm not saying they will just kill WoW all of a sudden. Even decades old games can endure, and sometimes prosper, with a dedicated fanbase that sticks with it over the years. But, the way to grow Warcraft, and to grow Blizzard, is by making new games. New experiences.

Currently, WoW is the big Warcraft game. If somebody is curious about the franchise, that's where they'll have to go in order to get the best and most immersive experience. I doubt they'll want it to remain that way for much longer. They want big AAA RPGs like all the other developer studios. They want games that can live on many platforms, and be accessible whenever and wherever to billions of players. They want competitive multilayer experiences to go alongside the PVE, because that brings longevity at a fraction of the cost.

So yeah, long story short, there's no way they'll avoid making a new mainline Warcraft game just because it'd risk upsetting collectors in WoW.

Again, stop the fearmongering because THIS WONT HAPPEN FOR ANOTHER 20 years atleast. Holy Moly.

(And btw, we all saw how great it went for the Diablo franchise to basically kill of D3 and go with Diablo Immortal and D4 , and that wasn't even a MMO with a huge collection)

[Raetary]

yeah, not gonna lie, that whole thing is a bit weird

It just makes no sense.

Even if Anduin was too busy in his angst to read up on current events, someone should've told him at some point.

And Thrall has been partly leading the horde for multiple years now, even if he himself didn't go "hmmm, what happened to the glowy rocks that popped up everywhere?" surely a.n.y.o.n.e. could've have informed him about it.

[Valysar]

"Yeah, speaking of which, 10.2 is not the last patch of Dragonflight. We have so much more story to tell and you guys don't even know. Oh my god, I can't wait for you to see it."

Hype at patch 10.2.5 / 10.2.7

[Lady Atia]

It just makes no sense.

Even if Anduin was too busy in his angst to read up on current events, someone should've told him at some point.

And Thrall has been partly leading the horde for multiple years now, even if he himself didn't go "hmmm, what happened to the glowy rocks that popped up everywhere?" surely a.n.y.o.n.e. could've have informed him about it.

Also, Anduin is friends with Magni so they surely spoke about Azeroth, right?

[Worldshaper]

Again, stop the fearmongering because THIS WONT HAPPEN FOR ANOTHER 20 years atleast. Holy Moly.

(And btw, we all saw how great it went for the Diablo franchise to basically kill of D3 and go with Diablo Immortal and D4 , and that wasn't even a MMO with a huge collection)

You think WoW will last a total of 40+ years, and that Blizzard won't release a new mainline Warcraft game in the next two decades?

Are you being serious?

[MCMLXXXII]

After hearing for 5 years after Vanilla WoW was going to die and now we are here, almost 20 years later, no it wouldn't surprise me if WoW would last that long.

[pacotaco]

Friendly reminder that magic wells tend to have a history of being used as fancy portals in this franchise.
Xal is likely gonna use the Sunwell to summon a Void Lord.

It's also connected to every blood elf in Quel'thalas.
If the thing gets corrupted, it'd basically corrupt most of the Kingdom immediately.

Specifically, magic wells imbued with the power of the blood of Azeroth. Remember that all of them use the waters of the original Well of Eternity.

[Lady Atia]

You think WoW will last a total of 40+ years, and that Blizzard won't release a new mainline Warcraft game in the next two decades?

Are you being serious?

Yes, WoW will always be the mainline game for Warcraft. I would expect them to release other warcraft games though, like you know, they just did with Warcraft Rumble. But they won't kill off WoW to make a WoW 2, especially now that we already have Classic and it's variants. Just because you don't give a fuck about your collections doesn't mean the other million people that play the game aren't either.

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After hearing for 5 years after Vanilla WoW was going to die and now we are here, almost 20 years later, no it wouldn't surprise me if WoW would last that long.

This. Especially after Metzen "another 20 years" comment.

[crusadernero]

You think WoW will last a total of 40+ years, and that Blizzard won't release a new mainline Warcraft game in the next two decades?

Are you being serious?

Why wouldnt it? Terrible MMORPGs (for todays standards) like Everyquest is still going and thats over 20 years. Aslong as Blizzard keeps working on wow, it wont go anywhere. It will only end if they choose to take a different path and put wow on the shelf.

But they might release a game that can exists within the warcraft universe - like HS & rumble. But to expect a huge new game buildt around Warcraft when theres wow.. Doubt.

[Makorus]

WoW2 makes no sense. They can upgrade the engine without rebooting. Who actually wants a WoW 2?

[Xilurm]

Yes, WoW will always be the mainline game for Warcraft. I would expect them to release other warcraft games though, like you know, they just did with Warcraft Rumble. But they won't kill off WoW to make a WoW 2, especially now that we already have Classic and it's variants. Just because you don't give a fuck about your collections doesn't mean the other million people that play the game aren't either.

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This. Especially after Metzen "another 20 years" comment.

Or John Hight's 30 years.

[Paula Deen]

Double edged sword.

Announce three expansions to build hype around the future of your franchise and assure players that there is a plan.

Doomers on a Curse-Goblin Internet Forum will claim your game is going to be over afterwards or die before it ends.

Truly hilarious.

[Lady Atia]

I just had a thought - since Midnight will be centered around the elven tribes, what better time than that to have the Illidari teach the other races to become a DH? Of course we could get them before that during some minor patch, but I think it kinda would make sense. This time, they would use their fire not against the Burning Legion, but the Void and they would want any help they can get with defending the Sunwell.

Also also ..... aren't Naga and Satyr also kind of part of the Elven Tribes? I smell some potential for allied races there.

[Foolicious]

It just makes no sense.

Even if Anduin was too busy in his angst to read up on current events, someone should've told him at some point.

Remember back in shadowlands when some people were confused why anduin knew about the fate of bolvar? Everyone was thinking its because he is the highking of the alliance and must be the most informed human on the planet. Guess we were wrong.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Double edged sword.

Announce three expansions to build hype around the future of your franchise and assure players that there is a plan.

Doomers on a Curse-Goblin Internet Forum will claim your game is going to be over afterwards or die before it ends.

Truly hilarious.

Being myself something of a cynic about Blizzard, I'm personally a fan of this. While it sadly means the death of leak season and has a symptom of making me far more interested in the expansion that comes out five years from now than the next one, I think it's better to have a roadmap and forced commitment than not.