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

[allegrian]

Just got invincible in the weekly TW ulduar quest omg.

[huth]

It would have been better just to have the Oathsworn join the Alliance & the Unbound join the Horde. I don't understand why people are like "I'm glad they're not Pidgeon holing us into one of these Earthen factions" but yet they are Pidgeon holing your Earthen character being a new baby earthen instead of thousands of years old. People think that's better?

Yes. That's why they aren't complaining about it as much as your suggestions.

[Nymrohd]

Just got invincible in the weekly TW ulduar quest omg.

Gratz! I knew mimiron's head could drop, surprised Invincible could as well

[Ersula]

Game vs Story.

Okay, but that argument itself is a copout. There's no reason any contextual detail they add to the game can't have a good in-universe explanation. If we can make a Kul Tiran with elf ears & say they're arathi there's no reason why they can't inject a little drama into their allied races.

[Nymrohd]

What do you mean? The Bald Man used a complicated machine to hold the World Soul in place, a second machine to grind the soul for him and then manually hit it with his hammer to get it to the point he needed. To do this he spent a whole expansion. N'zoth meanwhile escaped and then by passively existing projected himself and his realm to the point where in the final cinematic he's right above the world soul and is about to eat it before we hit him with the laser, something that's only possible due to two layers of protection (the cloak and the knaifu from Azshara).

Heck I think the idea is he can take over the machine itself and then reoriginate the planet into Ny'alotha.

[Joshuaj]

It would have been better just to have the Oathsworn join the Alliance & the Unbound join the Horde. I don't understand why people are like "I'm glad they're not Pidgeon holing us into one of these Earthen factions" but yet they are Pidgeon holing your Earthen character being a new baby earthen instead of thousands of years old. People think that's better?

I personally like it more tbh. Gives my character a lore-reason for exploring Azeroth and meeting its various cultures.

[allegrian]

I'm fine with them wanting to learn about the factions this way, but the fact that joining one means you will inevitably be involved in violent confrontation with the other, at least by accessory, makes the "not politically affiliated" part seem crazy. In practice, you're either a spy or a sympathizer; you have to be one or the other.

Battlegrounds and world pvp are probably non canon by now. Most world pvp content (world quests) is free for all now.

[Enrif]

https://imgur.com/4vt3n3j

We have Magni specifically reaching out to Azeroth to glean any information about what the Radiant Song is for. He wakes up and tells us that Azeroth was trying to tell us Algar is under threat.

Even if he didn't hear the Song (which he didn't, he was one of many to not hear it), if he asked Azeroth what she's blabbing on about with this Radiant Song and it was in fact not her singing it - she would probably have said "Yo, that ain't me.", not give an entire reason of what the song was warning.

hmm, still a bit ominous. What Magni heard, might or might not have been Azeroth. He might claim it was her, and until proven otherwise, most people will perhaps leave it at that. And again, like with the subtitles, it would be bad story telling to spout out the truth behind the radiant song at the very start. People will believe that it is Azeroth, but it would be a twist, if it turns out, that it isn't. I mean, we later get a scene with Anduin in Hallowfall referencing the radiant song again. Why do that, when it is clear its Azeroth?

[Joshuaj]

Heck I think the idea is he can take over the machine itself and then reoriginate the planet into Ny'alotha.

What do you mean "think"? That WAS the plan.

[Ersula]

Battlegrounds and world pvp are probably non canon by now. Most world pvp content (world quests) is free for all now.

"The gameplay in this MMORPG is non-canon now" Metzen forgive them they know not what they say.

I personally like it more tbh. Gives my character a lore-reason for exploring Azeroth and meeting its various cultures.

Why would a baby be more likely to leave the safety of its home for the sake of intellectual curiosity more than an adult?

[Cheezits]

Okay, but that argument itself is a copout. There's no reason any contextual detail they add to the game can't have a good in-universe explanation. If we can make a Kirin Tor with elf ears & say they're arathi there's no reason why they can't inject a little drama into their allied races.

The argument that increased player freedom of expression is more important than a (subjectively) more interesting story is NOT a copout.

The game has a story, and the PLAYER has their own story they create by paying for their sub and playing the game. Roleplay is actually important to a lot of people and considering how much Blizz is catering to it lately, it probably represents a new shift.

[allegrian]

"The gameplay in this MMORPG is non-canon now" Metzen forgive them they know not what they say.

I mean, it's clearly not canon by now, it doesn't make sense to still be battling for gilneas lol

[Joshuaj]

"The gameplay in this MMORPG is non-canon now" Metzen forgive them they know not what they say.
Why would a baby be more likely to leave the safety of its home for the sake of intellectual curiosity more than an adult?

You're not just a regular baby tho. You're an EARTHERN baby. Earthern babies are naturally curious and will be willing to explore unknown lands.

[Vakir]

This is a misconception. Only Zovaal was stated to be "Titan++" level, and there's another version of the interview that's more accurate, which simply has Zovaal as a Titan level threat.

"More accurate" how? Why? These aren't ancient texts we're interpreting that have a better translation or we found a more complete tablet or something. These are developer interviews, the vast majority published in English from the beginning.

As a result I'm gonna go with what Dickmann said - namely that it's an arbitrary often contradicted hype machine.

That doesn't mean N'Zoth is beyond Zovaal or anything tho.

I mean, they were able to do it way, way more efficiently and we needed way, way more help to endure their passive threat. That was the point he was making. Both needing Azeroth is irrelevant.

It's not about whether X is over Y, the point is this shit is arbitrary and at the mercy of what Blizzard wants to do. Power scaling is kind of a fool's errand.

[Joshuaj]

"More accurate" how? Why? These aren't ancient texts we're interpreting that have a better translation or we found a more complete tablet or something. These are developer interviews, the vast majority published in English from the beginning.

As a result I'm gonna go with what Dickmann said - namely that it's an arbitrary often contradicted hype machine.

Because that version has the full version of Ion's statements compared to the WoWhead post.

[Ersula]

The argument that increased player freedom of expression is more important than a (subjectively) more interesting story is NOT a copout.

The game has a story, and the PLAYER has their own story they create by paying for their sub and playing the game. Roleplay is actually important to a lot of people and considering how much Blizz is catering to it lately, it probably represents a new shift.

In the same way releasing a fantasy novel that just says "Imagine something cool" followed by 500 blank pages would be the very definition of a cop out. Freedom of expression is not an excuse to just stop injecting storytelling into the game.

I mean, it's clearly not canon by now, it doesn't make sense to still be battling for gilneas lol

That explanation works for battlegrounds but not world pvp.

If they're earnestly never going to do a faction conflict again, the factions should formally disband in the story. Then none of this would be an issue.

[Cheezits]

Why would a baby be more likely to leave the safety of its home for the sake of intellectual curiosity more than an adult?

You are a magic techno golem empowered by a mystery god. Not a child.

[Samin]

hmm, still a bit ominous. What Magni heard, might or might not have been Azeroth. He might claim it was her, and until proven otherwise, most people will perhaps leave it at that. And again, like with the subtitles, it would be bad story telling to spout out the truth behind the radiant song at the very start. People will believe that it is Azeroth, but it would be a twist, if it turns out, that it isn't. I mean, we later get a scene with Anduin in Hallowfall referencing the radiant song again. Why do that, when it is clear its Azeroth?

I almost wanted to make a parody reply to Auxis, but I knew you would beat me to it. Chris Metzen could make video saying the Radiant Song is Azeroth and you would go "yeah but maybe he's misleading us to keep up suspense for the twists".

Why should the Radiant Song remain a mystery? It's the World Soul saga. The world soul is an important character and so they're introducing her early on in the saga.

Speculation is well and good, but at least admit that you're riding exclusively on copium. I think crazy theories can be fun, but when you start acting as if anything going against your fanfic is "bad writing" it's going off the rails.

[Joshuaj]

https://web.archive.org/web/20200709...of-shadowlands Wowhead's version

https://web.archive.org/web/20200714...on-hazzikostas The version with the full context

[Cheezits]

In the same way releasing a fantasy novel that just says "Imagine something cool" followed by 500 blank pages would be the very definition of a cop out. Freedom of expression is not an excuse to just stop injecting storytelling into the game.

The storytelling is literally everything else about the Earthen except for "why they joined faction a vs b".

This isn't an Brother Crugsmash Orc Priest situation where the storytelling is bad and railroads all Orc Priests in a bad way, it is much less important, and you have plenty of lore flavor (even in the quest!) to flesh out your guy.