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

[Teriz]

Tbh I think it was planned from the start since there were earth evoker abilities shown off on the VFX artist’s art station.

It’s probably a big reason why they redid the Evoker starting zone and completely cut the “pre-stasis” portion that was originally planned. (To give story reason as to why Evokers suddenly couldn’t augment others)

The bigger point is that its another thing you said wouldn't happen, yet it happened.

A new class in 11.0? Never say never.

[Santandame]

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_War

Make iR-to akin to Ultron from Avengers.

Whilst I would actually be all for an Undermine expansion with a villain along those lines; I do find it slightly disingenuous that you would consider a potential practitioner of dark magic, with artefacts in his possession to control mythical creatures etc, backed up by a fleet that would dwarf the combined forces of the Horde and Alliance an inconceivable step down from what we’ve faced before - all because he’s what? A pirate? But a robot/android/AI with an army of Blingtrons at his control wouldn’t be.

This is my thinking:








As opposed to:



Which seems to be the common misconception in here.

[micwini]

New class in 11.0 is certainly possible. After all, we didnt get one 2 expansions in a row for the first time in BFA and SL.

[Teriz]

Whilst I would actually be all for an Undermine expansion with a villain along those lines; I do find it slightly disingenuous that you would consider a potential practitioner of dark magic, with artefacts in his possession to control mythical creatures etc, backed up by a fleet that would dwarf the combined forces of the Horde and Alliance an inconceivable step down from what we’ve faced before - all because he’s what? A pirate? But a robot/android/AI with an army of Blingtrons at his control wouldn’t be.

I consider it a step down because you have to add so much to the basic concept to make this antagonist a threat. For example, you have to give him a powerful artifact, AND control over mythical creatures, AND a fleet (that would come out of nowhere) that dwarfs the massive fleets of the Horde AND the Alliance. The major antagonists we have faced thus far are dangerous by nature. No accessories required.

As for the antagonist in "The War", its not leading an army of Blingtrons, its robotic army is fighting the Blingtrons (and winning) for whatever reason. We don't know the extent of its power, but it getting from AU Draenor to MU Azeroth under the Alliance and Horde's noses is a bit concerning, and indicates a great deal of power at work.

Given that WoW has never had a major mechanical threat before, and mechanical threats are a mainstay in popular media, I definitely see it as a strong possibility. Especially since this side story ran from WoD to BFA.

[Santandame]

I consider it a step down because you have to add so much to the basic concept to make this antagonist a threat. For example, you have to give him a powerful artifact, AND control over mythical creatures, AND a fleet (that would come out of nowhere) that dwarfs the massive fleets of the Horde AND the Alliance. The major antagonists we have faced thus far are dangerous by nature. No accessories required.

As for the antagonist in "The War", its not leading an army of Blingtrons, its robotic army is fighting the Blingtrons (and winning) for whatever reason. We don't know the extent of its power, but it getting from AU Draenor to MU Azeroth under the Alliance and Horde's noses is a bit concerning, and indicates a great deal of power at work.

Given that WoW has never had a major mechanical threat before, and mechanical threats are a mainstay in popular media, I definitely see it as a strong possibility. Especially since this side story ran from WoD to BFA.

I don’t understand why any of that matters in terms of what the character is given to be more formidable ?

Using that logic the same would apply for the majority of villains we fought so far.

Deathwing? Powered by N’Zoth

Arthas? Powered by claiming Frostmourne and merging with Ner’zhul who was in tandem buffed up by The Jailer and Kil’jaeden.

Garrosh? Powered by by Y’Shaarj.

Sylvanas? The Jailer.

Azshara? N’Zoth.

Kil’jaeden? Sargeras.

The list goes on and I can just continue?

There is evidence in game that Nightsquall is amassing the largest fleet the world has ever seen. There is evidence in game that he is seeking out power and magical artifacts for his own purpose. He has just as much presence and information in game as your Ultron styled threat. Of which, wouldn’t he fit your pre-conceived notion of being granted power to make him more interesting and powerful based off who created him?

I’m confused by your point.

[Khaza-R]

Personally I think we are going to Avaloren in 10.3. Basically everything that got name dropped in the past two expansions ended up being content for that expansion.

Aside from that, I think its going to be their window into introducing the Void as a not entirely malevolent force for the subsequent expansion. If 11.0 is a theoretical Light vs Void expansion, I definitely think there's going to be a central theme around the player choosing whether to help the Light or the Void. Essentially a faction war story but this time you get to choose your side.

[Nathanyel]

Can't wait for the cries of "Pirates in WoW? You're just copying Pirates of the Caribbean/Our Flag Means Death!"

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Can't wait for the cries of "Pirates in WoW? You're just copying Pirates of the Caribbean/Our Flag Means Death!"

Funnily enough, this was actually the initial plan for the first expansion. Pirates of the Caribbean caught everybody on a reverie about adventures on the high seas with pirates during the initial conceptualization of the first expansion, but Blizzard couldn't find out how to make the expansion of the preexisting world work, leading them to settle for Outland instead.

[Nathanyel]

Funnily enough, this was actually the initial plan for the first expansion.

Not saying I don't believe you, BC was a hot mess despite me loving it back then, but where did you get that information? Never heard of that.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Not saying I don't believe you, BC was a hot mess despite me loving it back then, but where did you get that information? Never heard of that.

You can find it here.

[Teriz]

I don’t understand why any of that matters in terms of what the character is given to be more formidable ?

Using that logic the same would apply for the majority of villains we fought so far.

Deathwing? Powered by N’Zoth

A building-tall dragon empowered by the titans BEFORE N'Zoth ever got a hold of him. In the Cataclysm cinematic, there's no N'Zoth power there, that's all Deathwing doing the damage.

Arthas? Powered by claiming Frostmourne and merging with Ner’zhul who was in tandem buffed up by The Jailer and Kil’jaeden.

Yes, becoming the Lich King, who led an army of undead.

Garrosh? Powered by by Y’Shaarj.

Sylvanas? The Jailer.

Perhaps the most relevant examples. Both leaders of the Horde, so they could use the Horde's resources to further their goals (Faction conflict).That gave them an established force to be reckoned with, a motivation (beat the Alliance), and gave some connection to the player. In the case of Nightsquall, we're just pulling a fleet out of thin air, and what is Nightsquall's purpose? From the tales, it just seems like he wants to be rich. Pirates aren't known to want to conquer the world, they prefer to control sea lanes and raid people.

Azshara? N’Zoth.

One of the most powerful mages to have ever lived, and a queen of an Elven empire. Corrupted by N'Zoth and turned into an undersea monster. Again, you're looking at an innately powerful character.

Kil’jaeden? Sargeras.

Same situation as Azshara.

The list goes on and I can just continue?

There is evidence in game that Nightsquall is amassing the largest fleet the world has ever seen. There is evidence in game that he is seeking out power and magical artifacts for his own purpose. He has just as much presence and information in game as your Ultron styled threat. Of which, wouldn’t he fit your pre-conceived notion of being granted power to make him more interesting and powerful based off who created him?

I’m confused by your point.

The point is that nothing in the tale of Nightsquall indicates that he's looking to conquer the world, or that he is even an evil character. What it says is that he's found some type of treasure and is recruiting other pirates to help him get it. It isn't a situation like The War where you have a clearly malevolent force doing something nefarious behind the scenes. Here it just seems like some greedy pirates looking to join this guy for a big payday.

Now, could Blizzard be making Nightsquall the major villain of the next expansion? Sure, anything is possible. However, something really seems missing from the concept.

Maybe it's motivation? Why is Nightsquall coming for the factions, or why do the factions need to stop Nightsquall?

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Can't wait for the cries of "Pirates in WoW? You're just copying Pirates of the Caribbean/Our Flag Means Death!"

I'm simply not convinced supernaturally powered pirates would be viewed as a viable threat. I've never seen media where pirates triggered an apocalypse. I have seen media where dragons, demons, kaiju, zombies, and robots have triggered the apocalypse though. That might be where the disconnect is coming from.

[Cheezits]

Now that I think about it, Avaloren would make sense as a titan themed final patch if they want to drop the reveal of what Azeroth really is without any Titan meddling/infusion. It lines up with what the Primalists want and can extend the story past the Dream.

It might be a little similar to Sepulcher though, in both tone and aesthetics (though Sepulcher was likely intentionally Titan/Ordery as seem to have some kind of connection)

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Tbh I think it was planned from the start since there were earth evoker abilities shown off on the VFX artist’s art station.

It’s probably a big reason why they redid the Evoker starting zone and completely cut the “pre-stasis” portion that was originally planned. (To give story reason as to why Evokers suddenly couldn’t augment others)

This brings up a good point, how will new Evokers do augmentation in the starting zone? can they only do the spec at 70?

[Teriz]

This brings up a good point, how will new Evokers do augmentation in the starting zone? can they only do the spec at 70?

Its given to you when you first select your specializations at the end of the starting zone, just like the other two.

[Berkilak]

New class in 11.0 is certainly possible. After all, we didnt get one 2 expansions in a row for the first time in BFA and SL.

If nothing else, Dragonflight has taught us that anything is possible and that "patterns" are solely our inventions rather than any kind of internal guiding principles.

[Cheezits]

If nothing else, Dragonflight has taught us that anything is possible and that "patterns" are solely our inventions rather than any kind of internal guiding principles.

It was a valid pattern for preSL WoW, but people forgot just how many times the devs have said "BFA/SL made us rethink literally everything about the game"

This is said in the recent Korean interview as well.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

It was a valid pattern for preSL WoW, but people forgot just how many times the devs have said "BFA/SL made us rethink literally everything about the game"

This is said in the recent Korean interview as well.

Sure but we already have a lot of classes.

[Teriz]

Sure but we already have a lot of classes.

No technology class though. Which is a mainstay in MMOs

I do believe after the technology class is introduced, we're more than likely done with new classes, because by that point every theme will be filled.

[Nathanyel]

You can find it here.

Ah, Staats, that's why I wasn't aware of this. I'd even take the validity of that South Seas mention with a grain of salt, might be accurate, might've been just one idea among many floated around until they settled on Outland, although he likely told the truth about the server load.

[Teriz]

Tinker doesn't sound all that interesting imo.

Bard class for life.

Augmentation Evoker is either WoW's answer for a Bard class, or is going to lead to the Bard getting implemented in the future.

We'll see.

[Teriz]

What's good about fantasy is that everything is possible and there is no limit. I mean, all the classes that we got already existed in the lore until today with evokers that are totally new and that no one would have guessed.

I did. Albeit I thought we'd get quadrupedal instead of bipedal dragons.

They could give us tinkers, necromancers, void cultists, night warriors, or any other class never seen before. Also, with the same source of magic, we can create entirely different classes:

- Light: Paladin/Priest
- Fel: Warlock/DH
- Elements: Shaman/Mage

And many others. The only limit is the imagination.

Now at what stage will they stop coming out of classes? When there will be 20, 30...?

Yeah, I don't see that happening. I truly think we're heading to the end of new classes. The design space will continue to constrict, and class distinctiveness will begin to evaporate. Most of the things you listed can be inserted into existing classes.