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

[Dancaris]

I'm a bit out of the loop after BlizzCon.

But Midnight should feature (assuming the area around Quel'thalas is revamped):

• Main hub: Silvermoon revamped as a neutral city with different wings for different kinds of Quel'dorei, as well as Horde and Alliance. Sort of like embassies. Early on it might be a hostile city like Suramar, but then we push the enemy back to Quel'danas over the course of the campaign. I think it's fine if the Horde loses exclusivity on Silvermoon, because that's essentially what the Night Elves are going through with Amirdrassil and its surrounding areas.
• Endgame raid zone: Quel'danas revamped with a re-purposed Sunwell raid, featuring Queen Azshara or whomever ends up being in charge. Perhaps a ceaseless battle between forces of the Light and the Shadow for control over the Sunwell?
• Zone revamp: The Ghostlands and Eversong Woods are revamped and combined into one zone (Eversong Forest), essentially the heart of Quel'thalas. Some parts retain the yellow/orange/red hues from TBC, while other areas are more green and lush like in Warcraft 3. Probably pockets of undead remaining, like some rogue Necromancer working from a cave or something. Also forest troll incursions. Windrunner Spire and all that stuff will be found here.
• Zone revamp: The areas west and south of the Ghostlands are revamped, i.e. "Northeron" and both of the Plaguelands. New Stratholme. A harbour for elven and human ships in the west. The Silver Hand church is updated as a place where Tyr and players devoted to the Light are active. This zone should represent half-elves, and the elves' relationship with humans and other races (trade, culture, etc).
• New zone: Zul'Aman becomes an entire new zone to the east, full of lush forests as well as temples and such. Some of them are hostile, while others might end up joining the Horde. From their point of view, Silvermoon needs to look a bit like this large, oppressive city on the horizon, towering over their ancient forests. We as players need to get a feeling for why Quel'thalas seemed like such a threat to their existence.
• New zone: I think the expansion would need at least one more new zone, so it doesn't just feel like a rehash of old content. I'm not sure where they'd place it unless they're ready to drastically expand this peninsula, but maybe it could be some type of archipelago, large island, or even and underwater zone to the northeast of Quel'thalas. This could be a naga stronghold, and perhaps feature some vast brilliant and ancient Quel'dorei harbour from whence their war ships in the Second War would sail. Sea elves confirmed.
• New Allied Race: Quel'dorei, neutral. Essentially High Elves, full of cool features such as ranger tattos and runes, cool hairstyles, headbands, unique quivers, etc. It would make sense if Blizzard found a way to unify all current playable Quel'dorei races under this race, and then you simply customised it. But I don't think that's technically feasible at this point. So instead, both factions will probably gain access to a sort of "pure" High Elf race, untained by Fel, Void, Light, Death, or whatever else. If they're not doing an Allied Race, then a lot of new customisation options for Void Elves and Blood Elves would be the least they could do.
• Visual theme: The expansion obviously can't be set at night all of the time, because players moan enough as it is when they have to endure a few hours of darkness in the current system. So I think either a certain region will be covered in darkness, or perhaps it'll shift between Light and Dark like an extreme version of Hallowfall in War Within. Or maybe, it'll be dark but with a twist, sort of beautiful and voidy. Like how they're able to make the underground seem tolerable in War Within.
• Antagonists: Guessing the Harbinger of the Void will have filled its purpose at this point, so Queen Azshara and her naga make a lot of sense, on top of a bunch of creatures from the Void, and some who swapped sides. Maybe there's some Void Lord or whatever being summoned in the Sunwell. It's interesting to consider that the Old Gods' prophecy for conquering the world is called The Hour of Twilight, which is before nightfall if you think about it. So this needs to feel like a world in which they won, or are on the cusp of doing so.

Lol at that Ally focus and phantom pains over BE. You have your High elves, Void Elves is to you.
And lol on neutral Silvermoon (never gonna happen, only after Stormwind neutral)
Will look how Amirdrassil will be neutral (never gonna happen, NE fans are too loud)

[Nymrohd]

I'm a bit out of the loop after BlizzCon.

But Midnight should feature (assuming the area around Quel'thalas is revamped):

• Main hub: Silvermoon revamped as a neutral city with different wings for different kinds of Quel'dorei, as well as Horde and Alliance. Sort of like embassies. Early on it might be a hostile city like Suramar, but then we push the enemy back to Quel'danas over the course of the campaign. I think it's fine if the Horde loses exclusivity on Silvermoon, because that's essentially what the Night Elves are going through with Amirdrassil and its surrounding areas.
• Endgame raid zone: Quel'danas revamped with a re-purposed Sunwell raid, featuring Queen Azshara or whomever ends up being in charge. Perhaps a ceaseless battle between forces of the Light and the Shadow for control over the Sunwell?
• Zone revamp: The Ghostlands and Eversong Woods are revamped and combined into one zone (Eversong Forest), essentially the heart of Quel'thalas. Some parts retain the yellow/orange/red hues from TBC, while other areas are more green and lush like in Warcraft 3. Probably pockets of undead remaining, like some rogue Necromancer working from a cave or something. Also forest troll incursions. Windrunner Spire and all that stuff will be found here.
• Zone revamp: The areas west and south of the Ghostlands are revamped, i.e. "Northeron" and both of the Plaguelands. New Stratholme. A harbour for elven and human ships in the west. The Silver Hand church is updated as a place where Tyr and players devoted to the Light are active. This zone should represent half-elves, and the elves' relationship with humans and other races (trade, culture, etc).
• New zone: Zul'Aman becomes an entire new zone to the east, full of lush forests as well as temples and such. Some of them are hostile, while others might end up joining the Horde. From their point of view, Silvermoon needs to look a bit like this large, oppressive city on the horizon, towering over their ancient forests. We as players need to get a feeling for why Quel'thalas seemed like such a threat to their existence.
• New zone: I think the expansion would need at least one more new zone, so it doesn't just feel like a rehash of old content. I'm not sure where they'd place it unless they're ready to drastically expand this peninsula, but maybe it could be some type of archipelago, large island, or even and underwater zone to the northeast of Quel'thalas. This could be a naga stronghold, and perhaps feature some vast brilliant and ancient Quel'dorei harbour from whence their war ships in the Second War would sail. Sea elves confirmed.
• New Allied Race: Quel'dorei, neutral. Essentially High Elves, full of cool features such as ranger tattos and runes, cool hairstyles, headbands, unique quivers, etc. It would make sense if Blizzard found a way to unify all current playable Quel'dorei races under this race, and then you simply customised it. But I don't think that's technically feasible at this point. So instead, both factions will probably gain access to a sort of "pure" High Elf race, untained by Fel, Void, Light, Death, or whatever else. If they're not doing an Allied Race, then a lot of new customisation options for Void Elves and Blood Elves would be the least they could do.
• Visual theme: The expansion obviously can't be set at night all of the time, because players moan enough as it is when they have to endure a few hours of darkness in the current system. So I think either a certain region will be covered in darkness, or perhaps it'll shift between Light and Dark like an extreme version of Hallowfall in War Within. Or maybe, it'll be dark but with a twist, sort of beautiful and voidy. Like how they're able to make the underground seem tolerable in War Within.
• Antagonists: Guessing the Harbinger of the Void will have filled its purpose at this point, so Queen Azshara and her naga make a lot of sense, on top of a bunch of creatures from the Void, and some who swapped sides. Maybe there's some Void Lord or whatever being summoned in the Sunwell. It's interesting to consider that the Old Gods' prophecy for conquering the world is called The Hour of Twilight, which is before nightfall if you think about it. So this needs to feel like a world in which they won, or are on the cusp of doing so.

Sadly have to agree with Silvermoon. It will suck for Horde but I don't see how you do a Quel'thalas expac without Silvermoon as a capital. A Silver Covenant embassy as the Alliance side of the city with the guards remaining Unfriendly makes the most sense I guess.
For extra zones beyond the clear Amani area (Hills of Maisara going by the older lore), I'd love an underwater area as well. But I think we will get a zone or two in the Void.
I will reiterate my love for the concept of a zone that exists in two phases; I think that having a VOID version of the zones as the void is encroaching would absolutely work and would effectively double the area and really embrace the Midnight concept since there would be a version in perpetual darkness.

I do think the expansion will be Quel'thalas only. Not Quel'thalas and Eastweald or Quel'thalas and Lordaeron. So no Stratholme bay.

I just don't see them doing an underwater zone though. I am one of those who never understood what the problem was with Vashj'ir and loved the zone (and give me an underwater version of dragonriding for the extra speed and I'd love it even more).

- - - Updated - - -

Lol at that Ally focus and phantom pains over BE. You have your High elves, Void Elves is to you.
And lol on neutral Silvermoon (never gonna happen, only after Stormwind neutral)
Will look how Amirdrassil will be neutral (never gonna happen, NE fans are too loud)

What would the capital be in a Quel'thalas expansion if not Silvermoon?

Also, Shattrath, Dalaran are both Neutral. By all accounts should be Alliance.

[Worldshaper]

Lol at that Ally focus and phantom pains over BE. You have your High elves, Void Elves is to you.
And lol on neutral Silvermoon (never gonna happen, only after Stormwind neutral)
Will look how Amirdrassil will be neutral (never gonna happen, NE fans are too loud)

Haha, look at this guy still treating the Blood Elf debate like we're in 2012. "Muh Hrode Blud Elfs!"

1. Amirdrassil is in a neutral area already, whether it stays in the Emerald Dream or moves to the Ohn'ahran plains. Horde will be all around it, even if the Night Elves retain some unique little hub inside (we'll see what hapens there). A neutral Silvermoon (at least parts of it) makes complete sense. It's just Blizzard fixing one of the great lore inconsistencies of WoW, one they admitted was created out of the necessity to even out the faction balance in TBC.

2. Blizzard has said this is the expansion to unify the elves of Azeroth. I seriously doubt they'd approach that with your outdated mindset of "High Elves = Horde!111". They will want to do something interesting and give players something they can't wait to get their hands on. Just like they're doing something a little bold in War Within by giving the Horde access to "dwarves".

- - - Updated - - -

Sadly have to agree with Silvermoon. It will suck for Horde but I don't see how you do a Quel'thalas expac without Silvermoon as a capital. A Silver Covenant embassy as the Alliance side of the city with the guards remaining Unfriendly makes the most sense I guess.
For extra zones beyond the clear Amani area (Hills of Maisara going by the older lore), I'd love an underwater area as well. But I think we will get a zone or two in the Void.
I will reiterate my love for the concept of a zone that exists in two phases; I think that having a VOID version of the zones as the void is encroaching would absolutely work and would effectively double the area and really embrace the Midnight concept since there would be a version in perpetual darkness.

I do think the expansion will be Quel'thalas only. Not Quel'thalas and Eastweald or Quel'thalas and Lordaeron. So no Stratholme bay.

I just don't see them doing an underwater zone though. I am one of those who never understood what the problem was with Vashj'ir and loved the zone (and give me an underwater version of dragonriding for the extra speed and I'd love it even more).

Fair points.

I agree, it would be neat with a zone existing in two versions. Although, both the Emerald Dream and the Shadowlands were once said to be sort of... alternate dimensions layered on top of the mortal world. So something tells me the Void will be treated the same and just get its own physical space.

The reason I think they might include the bits around Quel'thalas are these:

1. It gives the Alliance some love, and the Forsaken players that have yet to recieve the same type of reimbursment as the Night Elves are getting for losing their capital city.

2. It makes sense with Tyr in mind, whom I'm guessing will be an active characters for the next few years.

3. I don't see how they can expand the physical landmass of Quel'thalas by too much without making things weird as you zoom out to see the entire continent. Quel'thalas would look way too much compared to the rest. Your idea of adding new Void zones could be a good workaround, though. It makes sense if they want to give us some new flavour.

[Dancaris]

Haha, look at this guy still treating the Blood Elf debate like we're in 2012. "Muh Hrode Blud Elfs!"

1. Amirdrassil is in a neutral area already, whether it stays in the Emerald Dream or moves to the Ohn'ahran plains. Horde will be all around it, even if the Night Elves retain some unique little hub inside (we'll see what hapens there). A neutral Silvermoon (at least parts of it) makes complete sense. It's just Blizzard fixing one of the great lore inconsistencies of WoW, one they admitted was created out of the necessity to even out the faction balance in TBC.

2. Blizzard has said this is the expansion to unify the elves of Azeroth. I seriously doubt they'd approach that with your outdated mindset of "High Elves = Horde!111". They will want to do something interesting and give players something they can't wait to get their hands on. Just like they're doing something a little bold in War Within by giving the Horde access to "dwarves".

"Dwarves" are not dwarves. You had your high elves, as Void Elves. Same as Earthen is somehow Horde (lol on that) - original dwarves are Alliance and Bronzebeard will not be in Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff.
And ingame Quel'Danas is neutral too, but lorewise it is Horde. And Thunder Totem too. And Suramar is hostile for everyone.
So even if Amirdrassil raid or even small camp in ED is neutral for now - There is no way to make in-Azeroth World Tree will be neutral, now after War of Thorns.
Same with Silvermoon. It really depends on what stance devs have at Amirdrassil. Will it be neutral with sort of hub for NE and other place will be neutral - we will see, and know what will it be for Silvermoon. If Suramar-style (hostile) - or Thundertotem one(lorewise Horde but neutral).

[Alanar]

I'm a bit out of the loop after BlizzCon.

But Midnight should feature (assuming the area around Quel'thalas is revamped):

• Main hub: Silvermoon revamped as a neutral city with different wings for different kinds of Quel'dorei, as well as Horde and Alliance. Sort of like embassies. Early on it might be a hostile city like Suramar, but then we push the enemy back to Quel'danas over the course of the campaign. I think it's fine if the Horde loses exclusivity on Silvermoon, because that's essentially what the Night Elves are going through with Amirdrassil and its surrounding areas.
• Endgame raid zone: Quel'danas revamped with a re-purposed Sunwell raid, featuring Queen Azshara or whomever ends up being in charge. Perhaps a ceaseless battle between forces of the Light and the Shadow for control over the Sunwell?
• Zone revamp: The Ghostlands and Eversong Woods are revamped and combined into one zone (Eversong Forest), essentially the heart of Quel'thalas. Some parts retain the yellow/orange/red hues from TBC, while other areas are more green and lush like in Warcraft 3. Probably pockets of undead remaining, like some rogue Necromancer working from a cave or something. Also forest troll incursions. Windrunner Spire and all that stuff will be found here.
• Zone revamp: The areas west and south of the Ghostlands are revamped, i.e. "Northeron" and both of the Plaguelands. New Stratholme. A harbour for elven and human ships in the west. The Silver Hand church is updated as a place where Tyr and players devoted to the Light are active. This zone should represent half-elves, and the elves' relationship with humans and other races (trade, culture, etc).
• New zone: Zul'Aman becomes an entire new zone to the east, full of lush forests as well as temples and such. Some of them are hostile, while others might end up joining the Horde. From their point of view, Silvermoon needs to look a bit like this large, oppressive city on the horizon, towering over their ancient forests. We as players need to get a feeling for why Quel'thalas seemed like such a threat to their existence.
• New zone: I think the expansion would need at least one more new zone, so it doesn't just feel like a rehash of old content. I'm not sure where they'd place it unless they're ready to drastically expand this peninsula, but maybe it could be some type of archipelago, large island, or even and underwater zone to the northeast of Quel'thalas. This could be a naga stronghold, and perhaps feature some vast brilliant and ancient Quel'dorei harbour from whence their war ships in the Second War would sail. Sea elves confirmed.
• New Allied Race: Quel'dorei, neutral. Essentially High Elves, full of cool features such as ranger tattos and runes, cool hairstyles, headbands, unique quivers, etc. It would make sense if Blizzard found a way to unify all current playable Quel'dorei races under this race, and then you simply customised it. But I don't think that's technically feasible at this point. So instead, both factions will probably gain access to a sort of "pure" High Elf race, untained by Fel, Void, Light, Death, or whatever else. If they're not doing an Allied Race, then a lot of new customisation options for Void Elves and Blood Elves would be the least they could do.
• Visual theme: The expansion obviously can't be set at night all of the time, because players moan enough as it is when they have to endure a few hours of darkness in the current system. So I think either a certain region will be covered in darkness, or perhaps it'll shift between Light and Dark like an extreme version of Hallowfall in War Within. Or maybe, it'll be dark but with a twist, sort of beautiful and voidy. Like how they're able to make the underground seem tolerable in War Within.
• Antagonists: Guessing the Harbinger of the Void will have filled its purpose at this point, so Queen Azshara and her naga make a lot of sense, on top of a bunch of creatures from the Void, and some who swapped sides. Maybe there's some Void Lord or whatever being summoned in the Sunwell. It's interesting to consider that the Old Gods' prophecy for conquering the world is called The Hour of Twilight, which is before nightfall if you think about it. So this needs to feel like a world in which they won, or are on the cusp of doing so.

I have to be honest, I just dont see silvermoon being changed much in a neutral way.. even with a unification, its highly possible that will be a moment in the story that could easily happen on quel'danas or sunstrider isle. If anything, maybe they will all go home after that aftermath and thats it. We dont know.

Silvermoon could still be primarly function as a horde city, well the outskirts are for the campaign etc. Maybe have a few quests inside for void elves. I have a feeling, the story will be around silvermoon and the lands, but not really about the city itself. We dont know yet how the void and alleria will function and if she is a problem/danger for Silvermoon still.

To early to tell ofc, but if we follow the story and what we know right now, then void elves living in Silvermoon is wishfull thinking. I also think high elves are off the table. We are not really missing any playable elven kinds, besides maybe the felfury, I think the ethereals are more likely, giving their silence about them in midnight.

I am just interested in seeing how Nightborne and Blood elves have melted together. In architecture and the whole feel of the city. We will likely see their banner hanging as well. I am more interested in that chemistry, then anything else at the moment.

[Lahis]

That cutscene was pre-rendered. Notably its using a more detailed version of Sylvanas & Anduin's in game models. I know it's hard to tell the different between in engine cutscenes & pre-rendered cutscenes that use in-game assets & environments but there is a difference.

No that cutscene is not prerendered. It is in engine with cinematic models.

[Varodoc]

Haha, look at this guy still treating the Blood Elf debate like we're in 2012. "Muh Hrode Blud Elfs!"

Agreed.

There is absolutely no way Silvermoon will remain a Horde-only city. Blizzard doesn't care about faction divide anymore, Silvermoon will either fall to the Void or be shared hub between the two factions.

This is not 2007 anymore.

[Scyth]

[*]New Allied Race: Quel'dorei, neutral. Essentially High Elves, full of cool features such as ranger tattos and runes, cool hairstyles, headbands, unique quivers, etc. It would make sense if Blizzard found a way to unify all current playable Quel'dorei races under this race, and then you simply customised it. But I don't think that's technically feasible at this point. So instead, both factions will probably gain access to a sort of "pure" High Elf race, untained by Fel, Void, Light, Death, or whatever else. If they're not doing an Allied Race, then a lot of new customisation options for Void Elves and Blood Elves would be the least they could do.[/LIST]

What is the point of adding a 3rd race that looks exactly like Belfs though? Other than to stop people from whining on the forums.
More likely we get some more customisation options for belf/velf, which is what they should do imo.

Silvermoon as a neutral city is 50/50 imo. They will need to give a very good reason for it. How do they allow velves back in after Alleria almost messed up the Sunwell last time? Although if the void does attack from it, chances are it will have been messed up already so they can go back maybe?
But you can bet there will be a ton of angry belf players if they do make Silvermoon neutral.

I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the Belf/NB relationship. Very curious what a race that is a mix of belf and NB would look like lol

[Lahis]

But you can bet there will be a ton of angry belf players if they do make Silvermoon neutral.

"I never used it for anything, but now I'm angry that I have to share it."

[Sondrelk]

I'm a bit out of the loop after BlizzCon.

But Midnight should feature (assuming the area around Quel'thalas is revamped):

• Main hub: Silvermoon revamped as a neutral city with different wings for different kinds of Quel'dorei, as well as Horde and Alliance. Sort of like embassies. Early on it might be a hostile city like Suramar, but then we push the enemy back to Quel'danas over the course of the campaign. I think it's fine if the Horde loses exclusivity on Silvermoon, because that's essentially what the Night Elves are going through with Amirdrassil and its surrounding areas.
• Endgame raid zone: Quel'danas revamped with a re-purposed Sunwell raid, featuring Queen Azshara or whomever ends up being in charge. Perhaps a ceaseless battle between forces of the Light and the Shadow for control over the Sunwell?
• Zone revamp: The Ghostlands and Eversong Woods are revamped and combined into one zone (Eversong Forest), essentially the heart of Quel'thalas. Some parts retain the yellow/orange/red hues from TBC, while other areas are more green and lush like in Warcraft 3. Probably pockets of undead remaining, like some rogue Necromancer working from a cave or something. Also forest troll incursions. Windrunner Spire and all that stuff will be found here.
• Zone revamp: The areas west and south of the Ghostlands are revamped, i.e. "Northeron" and both of the Plaguelands. New Stratholme. A harbour for elven and human ships in the west. The Silver Hand church is updated as a place where Tyr and players devoted to the Light are active. This zone should represent half-elves, and the elves' relationship with humans and other races (trade, culture, etc).
• New zone: Zul'Aman becomes an entire new zone to the east, full of lush forests as well as temples and such. Some of them are hostile, while others might end up joining the Horde. From their point of view, Silvermoon needs to look a bit like this large, oppressive city on the horizon, towering over their ancient forests. We as players need to get a feeling for why Quel'thalas seemed like such a threat to their existence.
• New zone: I think the expansion would need at least one more new zone, so it doesn't just feel like a rehash of old content. I'm not sure where they'd place it unless they're ready to drastically expand this peninsula, but maybe it could be some type of archipelago, large island, or even and underwater zone to the northeast of Quel'thalas. This could be a naga stronghold, and perhaps feature some vast brilliant and ancient Quel'dorei harbour from whence their war ships in the Second War would sail. Sea elves confirmed.
• New Allied Race: Quel'dorei, neutral. Essentially High Elves, full of cool features such as ranger tattos and runes, cool hairstyles, headbands, unique quivers, etc. It would make sense if Blizzard found a way to unify all current playable Quel'dorei races under this race, and then you simply customised it. But I don't think that's technically feasible at this point. So instead, both factions will probably gain access to a sort of "pure" High Elf race, untained by Fel, Void, Light, Death, or whatever else. If they're not doing an Allied Race, then a lot of new customisation options for Void Elves and Blood Elves would be the least they could do.
• Visual theme: The expansion obviously can't be set at night all of the time, because players moan enough as it is when they have to endure a few hours of darkness in the current system. So I think either a certain region will be covered in darkness, or perhaps it'll shift between Light and Dark like an extreme version of Hallowfall in War Within. Or maybe, it'll be dark but with a twist, sort of beautiful and voidy. Like how they're able to make the underground seem tolerable in War Within.
• Antagonists: Guessing the Harbinger of the Void will have filled its purpose at this point, so Queen Azshara and her naga make a lot of sense, on top of a bunch of creatures from the Void, and some who swapped sides. Maybe there's some Void Lord or whatever being summoned in the Sunwell. It's interesting to consider that the Old Gods' prophecy for conquering the world is called The Hour of Twilight, which is before nightfall if you think about it. So this needs to feel like a world in which they won, or are on the cusp of doing so.

I still stand by my old prediction that the revamp is everything north of the Thandol Span.

Arathi Highlands is already revamped, and could probably be ignored completely if need be.
Hinterlands could reuse Dwarf assets from TWW, as well as give emphasis to the Trolls if Quel'Danas is purely about the Elf storyline.
Gilneas could be retaken if you want an Alliance capital.
Lordaeron could include Tyr, and reuse the Arathi assets for the Scarlet Crusade.
The Plaguelands to give a final closure on the whole Silvermoon being attacked by Arthas thing. Finally laying that storyline to bed once and for all.
Ghostlands, Eversong, and Isle of Quel'Danas as a final purely Elf themed zone. You could even add more to if near the coast if you want the Naga to be there.

To me this makes much more sense than just massively expanding Quel'Danas into a full suite of zones.
You could still have that increased size, but now without putting too much pressure on just that one theme.

[Jekyll]

Agreed.

There is absolutely no way Silvermoon will remain a Horde-only city. Blizzard doesn't care about faction divide anymore, Silvermoon will either fall to the Void or be shared hub between the two factions.

This is not 2007 anymore.

Yup, I feel both the elven cities; Silvermoon which lacks any silvery color, and the world tree, which is crazy because it's an elf tree and not the world tree, showing so much elfentricity the elves have, would be neutral hubs in the future.

[Worldshaper]

What is the point of adding a 3rd race that looks exactly like Belfs though? Other than to stop people from whining on the forums.
More likely we get some more customisation options for belf/velf, which is what they should do imo.

Silvermoon as a neutral city is 50/50 imo. They will need to give a very good reason for it. How do they allow velves back in after Alleria almost messed up the Sunwell last time? Although if the void does attack from it, chances are it will have been messed up already so they can go back maybe?
But you can bet there will be a ton of angry belf players if they do make Silvermoon neutral.

I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the Belf/NB relationship. Very curious what a race that is a mix of belf and NB would look like lol

Hello, virtually half of the Allied Races are clones of existing races, with minor changes. The Earthen are literally dwarves with gemstones sticking out of them, and a different skin colour.

Same story with LF Draenei, Mag'har Orcs, etc.

[Sondrelk]

Agreed.

There is absolutely no way Silvermoon will remain a Horde-only city. Blizzard doesn't care about faction divide anymore, Silvermoon will either fall to the Void or be shared hub between the two factions.

This is not 2007 anymore.

Honestly I think it's far more likely that we are looking at a Suramar 2.0 situation. Where it's mostly hostile to everyone, but with an area just for the Horde at some point.
In Suramar this was done by giving the Horde a phased version of the Nighthold with all the amenities an Allied Race city has, and I imagine something similar for Silvermoon. It starts out hostile, but when we eventually retake it it's primarily shown as a Horde hub, even if the Alliance might be allowed to go around there without being attacked by guards.

[Worldshaper]

I still stand by my old prediction that the revamp is everything north of the Thandol Span.

Arathi Highlands is already revamped, and could probably be ignored completely if need be.
Hinterlands could reuse Dwarf assets from TWW, as well as give emphasis to the Trolls if Quel'Danas is purely about the Elf storyline.
Gilneas could be retaken if you want an Alliance capital.
Lordaeron could include Tyr, and reuse the Arathi assets for the Scarlet Crusade.
The Plaguelands to give a final closure on the whole Silvermoon being attacked by Arthas thing. Finally laying that storyline to bed once and for all.
Ghostlands, Eversong, and Isle of Quel'Danas as a final purely Elf themed zone. You could even add more to if near the coast if you want the Naga to be there.

To me this makes much more sense than just massively expanding Quel'Danas into a full suite of zones.
You could still have that increased size, but now without putting too much pressure on just that one theme.

Could happen. I wouldn't mind one bit.

- - - Updated - - -

Agreed.

There is absolutely no way Silvermoon will remain a Horde-only city. Blizzard doesn't care about faction divide anymore, Silvermoon will either fall to the Void or be shared hub between the two factions.

This is not 2007 anymore.

Yeah. Plus, it's crazy the (soon) most resplendant and advances cities, both elven capital cities, are on the frigging Horde lol. The faction of tents, huts, and animal hides. When their next door neighbours in the Alliance are essentially hundreds of years into the future in terms of technological innovation, have modern agriculture, and a steady supply of goods such as clothing, wine, and food the Blood Elves might actually enjoy.

Imagine the Elves of Mirkwood deciding to establish trade with the Orcs instead of Dale or the Lonely Mountain. "Oh sure, we love black, crude, shitty iron swords and clothes made from animal carcasses. Sign us right up for a holiday in some dark cave in the middle of nowhere."

[Raetary]

Hello, virtually half of the Allied Races are clones of existing races, with minor changes. The Earthen are literally dwarves with gemstones sticking out of them, and a different skin colour.

Same story with LF Draenei, Mag'har Orcs, etc.

Every AR has visually distinct physical features that distinguish them from the core races.
Whether that's horns or skin color, etc.

What you are suggesting is literally just the same exact elf model but with blue eyes.
Which are already playable on both factions.

[Varodoc]

Honestly I think it's far more likely that we are looking at a Suramar 2.0 situation. Where it's mostly hostile to everyone, but with an area just for the Horde at some point.
In Suramar this was done by giving the Horde a phased version of the Nighthold with all the amenities an Allied Race city has, and I imagine something similar for Silvermoon. It starts out hostile, but when we eventually retake it it's primarily shown as a Horde hub, even if the Alliance might be allowed to go around there without being attacked by guards.

The storyline of Midnight is centred around uniting the Elven tribes.

The factions don't matter anymore.

There will not be areas exclusive to the Horde elves.

- - - Updated - - -

I still stand by my old prediction that the revamp is everything north of the Thandol Span.

Arathi Highlands is already revamped, and could probably be ignored completely if need be.
Hinterlands could reuse Dwarf assets from TWW, as well as give emphasis to the Trolls if Quel'Danas is purely about the Elf storyline.
Gilneas could be retaken if you want an Alliance capital.
Lordaeron could include Tyr, and reuse the Arathi assets for the Scarlet Crusade.
The Plaguelands to give a final closure on the whole Silvermoon being attacked by Arthas thing. Finally laying that storyline to bed once and for all.
Ghostlands, Eversong, and Isle of Quel'Danas as a final purely Elf themed zone. You could even add more to if near the coast if you want the Naga to be there.

To me this makes much more sense than just massively expanding Quel'Danas into a full suite of zones.
You could still have that increased size, but now without putting too much pressure on just that one theme.

The formula since Shadowlands has been 4 levelling zones.

Why they would suddenly change the winning formula?

People don't care about levelling zones, this is not Classic, the endgame content is all instanced. We don't need more than 4 zones and Quel'Thalas can easily have 4 zones.

[huth]

What is the point of adding a 3rd race that looks exactly like Belfs though? Other than to stop people from whining on the forums.
More likely we get some more customisation options for belf/velf, which is what they should do imo.

Silvermoon as a neutral city is 50/50 imo. They will need to give a very good reason for it. How do they allow velves back in after Alleria almost messed up the Sunwell last time? Although if the void does attack from it, chances are it will have been messed up already so they can go back maybe?
But you can bet there will be a ton of angry belf players if they do make Silvermoon neutral.

I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the Belf/NB relationship. Very curious what a race that is a mix of belf and NB would look like lol

A better reason than "OMG everything is exploding and full of void pls send help!"? I don't think they're going to be in a position to say no.

The Allied Race is really silly, though. And Elves untainted by anything would be Night Elves, High Elves are already Arcane tainted.

Hello, virtually half of the Allied Races are clones of existing races, with minor changes. The Earthen are literally dwarves with gemstones sticking out of them, and a different skin colour.

Same story with LF Draenei, Mag'har Orcs, etc.

With minor changes. Quel'dorei would just be an existing race with no changes whatsoever. It would make more sense to have the various versions of elves suffering from Arcane withdrawal as a new race.

[Sondrelk]

The storyline of Midnight is centred around uniting the Elven tribes.

The factions don't matter anymore.

There will not be areas exclusive to the Horde elves.

- - - Updated - - -



The formula since Shadowlands has been 4 levelling zones.

Why they would suddenly change the winning formula?

People don't care about levelling zones, this is not Classic, the endgame content is all instanced. We don't need more than 4 zones and Quel'Thalas can easily have 4 zones.

The story is about reuining the Elves. That doesnt necessarily mean they have to live in the same city, or that the game has to make it a fully fledged city for the Alliance on principle. It could still be friendly to both, but have portals for the Horde.


Also I don't see how my idea doesnt mean 4 levelling zones.
Start in Hinterlands (possibly Arathi Highlands). Go to the Forsaken zones for the second zone. Plaguelands for the third. And end up in Quel'Danas outside the gates of Silvermoon to start the endgame.

And yes, they could absolutely make four big zones out of Ghostlands, Eversong, and Isle of Quel'Danas. My question is just why would they necessariyl want to do that when they also have the ability to revamp Stratholme. Bring back the Scarlet Crusade. Retake Gilneas. And still have Hinterlands for Troll stuff?
That part of the continent is the perfect size for an expansion. And doing it this way allows for a strong A plot with Silvermoon, and a strong pick for B plot with the Scourge remnants/Scarlet Crusade.

[Santandame]

I don’t see them adding a third flavour of Blood Elves as the only allied race. Whilst the Earthen are indeed similar to Dwarves (and a totally uninspired choice for the ONLY allied race for launch) they are still visually and thematically fairly distinct.

It seems fairly apparent going off the Trading Post for November that Dimensius will be returning in the future, and Midnight is the most fitting setting for that - which obviously suggests Ethereal.

I’m going to go out on a limb whilst inhaling copium and predict that we’re going to get Ethereals and Naga as two full fledged new neutral races for the expansion; and if we get allied races as well then it’s likely they’ll be Amani Trolls and possibly High Elves then.

I’m also pretty confident that Silvermoon will a neutral city and not completely hostile like Suramar was. The city I imagine will be expanded like Suramar, and we’ll definitely quest throughout it with void incursions happening throughout but I can’t imagine the city will be majorly controlled by hostile forces.

Isle of Quel’danas will likely be expanded in size and be the “Midnight” zone of the expansion, being controlled by the void and in a state of perpetual midnight. I can see some underwater sections dotted around it too with Naga as well as Azshara raising landmasses around it to give it even more size and depth.

As for the other zones, I have to imagine it’ll be Eversong and Ghostlands combined and expanded as one zone. The Amani forests as another zone, and Lordaeron as another zone.

Lordaeron can include the Light portion of the story, as well as the Scarlets etc. It helps to give some diversity away from Elves and Void.

Then we get K’aresh as patch content.

As for dungeons, I can see it being something akin to:

- Deathholme
- Scarlet Monastery
- Naga dungeon
- Some dungeon set on a Void world
- Zul’aman
- Falthrien Academy on Sunstrider Isle
- Either catacombs of Silvermoon or set in the spires above Silvermoon
- Shadowfang Keep (Void aligned Worgen. Maybe Ivar Bloodfang joins forces with the Void)

Mega dungeon I’m currently drawing a blank on.

Raids would be Sunwell Plateau for the first raid, K’aresh as the final main raid. Give some thematic fated time walking raids throughout as well such as The Nighthold and Nyalotha, with a final 2/3 boss raid in the expansions epilogue to segue into The Last Titan.

Some form of player housing to test the waters for a revamp after TLT. You have plenty of racial diversity in these zones with Human, Blood Elf, Troll, Forsaken and Dwarvish architecture.

Spellbreaker or Spellblade as a class.

Major Characters:

- Alleria
- Sylvanas
- Vereesa
- Turalyon
- Anduin
- Velen
- Tyrande
- Thrall
- Genn
- Rokhan
- Lorthemar
- Thallysra
- Calia
- Locus Walker

Main Villains:
- Dimensius (I wouldn’t be surprised if Locus Walker was actually an avatar or apparition of Dimensius)
- Azshara (ideally not killed off here)
- Xal’atath (would be a huge mistake to kill her off in TWW)

Bang, Illidan shows up in the epilogue to cap off THE Elf expansion and lead us into The Last Titan.

[Worldshaper]

Every AR has visually distinct physical features that distinguish them from the core races.
Whether that's horns or skin color, etc.

What you are suggesting is literally just the same exact elf model but with blue eyes.
Which are already playable on both factions.

What you're imagining that my suggestion etails, you mean. I haven't given you a detailed description of what they could be, just a quick mention toying with the idea.

But to elaborate a bit, here are some basic differences that would set them apart enough from existing races:

- New racial abilities.
- Unique hairstyles.
- New starting area.
- New racial mount.
- New heritage armour set.

Okay, those are the basics.

On top of that, Blizzard could come up with all sorts of twists.

- Perhaps these High Elves go through a cleansing ritual in the Sunwell, purging any trace of Fel, Death, or Void magic from their bodies. This might make them more radiant, and taller. Perhaps this is explained in the lore as the form the Quel'dorei used to have in the elder days, before time and corruption took its toll on their bodies.

- Or maybe these High Elves are mostly Rangers, Shamans, and survivalists. The ones who chose to remain in Exile, and stayed out of conflict for many years, watching the wilds and keeping wanderers safe in Lordaeron without anybody noticing. Highvale Lodge in the Hinterlands might've been one of their holdouts, close to the Wildhammers. So perhaps they've got unique war paints, a rougher complexion, more earthy tones, interesting hair braids, scarification, etc.

- Or maybe Blizzard decided that it's completely fine to have very similar looking races, so High Elves could be pretty much the same as other elves, and they instead go bold with other aspects of the race. A unique unicorn mount, a really cool backstory that lets you choose if you've been a Blood Elf, a Void Elf, or remained a High Elf throughout the past few years.

That said, I remain open to the idea that they just unify the existing races a lot, with leaders, lore, hubs, and cosmetic options that bridge the gap between them and make everybody feel like a proper High Elf if they want to. For example, Vereesa Windrunner could offer some sort of cleansing ritual for Void Elves that lets them skip turning blue in combat, etc.

What I'm getting at is this: Void Elves and Blood Elves both feel like they're stuck in time storywise. The Blood Elven theme has been outdated for many expansions now, and Blizzard has been leaning harder into just regular High Elf stuff for them (except red instead of blue). Void Elves, meanwhile, have been neglected for years. While their big moment is likely coming up in the next two expansions, I can't imagine they make a lot of sense after the Worldsoul Saga.

They will want to find a way back to the basics. To let Quel'dorei players find a sense of cohesion, a theme that feels more logical and up to date. Dwarves are timeless. So are Humans, and Night Elves. They're just races. Same with Orcs, Draenei, and so on.

Blood and Void Elves are more like supporters of different teams, representing different ideals, for reasons. Unify 'em!