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

[Sondrelk]

That's what I'm afraid of, but that'd be a really confusing direction. The login screens can't be that much in terms of resources and time to create, which leads me to think this is an art direction call... but why? The gateway/vista login screens are iconic to WoW.

My only other thought is that they will have alternate Warband backgrounds ready far sooner than we anticipate in hopes that these will sort of replace what the login screen feels like now, which I wouldn't mind at all.

My initial guess would be that the login screen is supposed to be indicative of the entire World Soul Saga, rather than just TWW.

Something more abstract like this seems like it could get some minor changes in the next two expansions to carry a continuous theme compared to the more traditional login screens being very heavily themed on the expansion.

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Making more Warband backgrounds would definitely be a decent replacement for the usual login screen. Though it would require a steady influx of new ones at least each expansion, and ideally one per major patch at least.

[Makabreska]

Reveal that Locus Walker is Dimensius at the end of TWW and that this entire time he has been moulding Alleria for this is my bet.

Molding for what? If he is already here, why wont he just nom Azeroth?


fk sake Dimensius is such a lame name

[micwini]

Dogshit login screen. I have already seen 100s of comments that say they don't like it. A couple of comments that are "whatever/I only see it for 3 sec". ZERO positives on this one. It is quite obvious that they are creatively bankrupt and are completely out of touch with their playerbase. The dumbing down of the game continues...
Let's see how "We are going to take feedback more serious" now that it will cost them some actual effort to change something.

[Santandame]

Molding for what? If he is already here, why wont he just nom Azeroth?


fk sake Dimensius is such a lame name

To usher in his coming. If Locus Walker is Dimensius then he’s just a fragment/avatar/projection. I assume the Sunwell is what will be used to bring his full form here. Much like what we saw of him in Netherstorm was just a fragment.

[Makabreska]

Dogshit login screen. I have already seen 100s of comments that say they don't like it. A couple of comments that are "whatever/I only see it for 3 sec". ZERO positives on this one. It is quite obvious that they are creatively bankrupt and are completely out of touch with their playerbase. The dumbing down of the game continues...
Let's see how "We are going to take feedback more serious" now that it will cost them some actual effort to change something.

Yup, ded expansion, ded WS saga, ded game!

[Cheezits]

Dogshit login screen. I have already seen 100s of comments that say they don't like it. A couple of comments that are "whatever/I only see it for 3 sec". ZERO positives on this one. It is quite obvious that they are creatively bankrupt and are completely out of touch with their playerbase. The dumbing down of the game continues...
Let's see how "We are going to take feedback more serious" now that it will cost them some actual effort to change something.

They incorrectly assumed the fanbase doesn't really care about the login screen anymore.

From a business perspective it is a waste of money as most players will not see it for more than a few seconds, but as it is a "symbolic" thing they now have to(?) do it.

[micwini]

Yup, ded expansion, ded WS saga, ded game!

Hyperbole much, but they just keep chipping away things like this. Yeah, you only see it for 3 seconds or whenever you come back after a long AFK/DC. As Cheezits said: From a business perspective it might not be worth the money (although I think it doesnt cost much anyway, wallpaper engine exists).
It's just another thing that's been scrapped for simplicity. Same with the soulless UI rework of DF. Why can't these new artists design something with style instead of simple shapes/patterns? Are younger people that artistically bankrupt?

Like seriously, I was expecting the login screen to be a vista of hallowfall with the crystal, with it ocasionally going purple. I can't be the only one that had this idea. Why didnt they just do that? It's really baffling.

[Makabreska]

Hyperbole much, but they just keep chipping away things like this. Yeah, you only see it for 3 seconds or whenever you come back after a long AFK/DC. As Cheezits said: From a business perspective it might not be worth the money (although I think it doesnt cost much anyway, wallpaper engine exists).
It's just another thing that's been scrapped for simplicity. Same with the soulless UI rework of DF. Why can't these new artists design something with style instead of simple shapes/patterns? Are younger people that artistically bankrupt?

Hyperbole against an overreaction. Great looking zones, great looking dungeons and raids, great looking gear, great looking char models, great looking spell effects. But yes, artists are creatively bankrupt, because of a logging screen we don't even know is final and wont change in any way.

And new UI? I personally love it.

[Cheezits]

It's just another thing that's been scrapped for simplicity. Same with the soulless UI rework of DF. Why can't these new artists design something with style instead of simple shapes/patterns? Are younger people that artistically bankrupt?

I honestly think there may be proven industry data that shows modern audiences prefer the simplified and less thematic UIs.

[Zardas]

I honestly think there may be proven industry data that shows modern audiences prefer the simplified and less thematic UIs.

It has been even more proven that even more people are satisfied if you make the new look optionnal and have a toogle to switch between one and the other.

[Raetary]

Oh neat, i just realized that the combat pose your character makes when you select them changes with your spec.

Monks either channel mists (MW) or have their fists up. (WW/BM)
Priests sparkle effect changes from void - void/light - light.
Mages have a fire, arcane or frost effect.

[micwini]

I honestly think there may be proven industry data that shows modern audiences prefer the simplified and less thematic UIs.

There isn't. Everyone hates it time and time again.
The only objective measurement that matters is the one you mentioned: It costs less to produce more simple art.

[Nightshade711]

We got more icons with the etherealraid name in it

This intensifies the idea of a ethereal raid being part of TWW. The chime reminds me heavily about the Hallowfall area, but that can just be my imagination.


Some other interesting icons:

seems blizzard is more directly differentiating the color pallet of shadow, void and cosmic void. Shadow goes pretty much into the magenta color spectrum, void is more on the purple side, and cosmic void is blue. There are similar icons for plants, but the stones are more easily to recognize the main colors.


A set of jewelry based on the venture co? Available in 5 colors

More credence to a goblin patch/area/raid

I think those ethereal raid items are for the Ethereal boss in the first raid - she has chime & communicator items on her loot table that're reusing old icons atm.

I'm getting 'forbidden reach vault' ring/stone vibes from those venture co pieces for some reason. I can definitely see blizzard taking us back to Kezan for 11.0.7, if they'd want to lead us into goblins trying to exploit the roots of elun'ahir.

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Ethereal raid in The War Within ... does that make playable Ethereals more or less likely in Midnight.

I'm holding out hope that this would just lead us into playable Ethereals.

Like the Protectorate from BC finally make a reappearance & aid us in fighting Dimensius & the void Ethereals.
The Protectorate were also sworn enemies of the Ethereum, who were Ethereals that sought to become void (sound familiar?)

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I didn't love the stray away from the standard logos, and I don't love the stray away from the standard logins. It may be temporary or changing as we only see an image, but I think this takes away more than they think.

Although Hallowfall and the Arathi aren't exactly the focus of the expansion, I think the imagery of the Beledar and Mereldar both show off the depth of these zones and the flirtation with the void.



I mocked this up as an idea.

Neat!

From a business perspective it might not be worth the money

It takes one artist one day or two to create a traditional landscape login screen. It's just a few 2D painted assets and some reused 3D assets sprinkled in there. Hardly a considerable cost.

[Makorus]

There isn't. Everyone hates it time and time again.
The only objective measurement that matters is the one you mentioned: It costs less to produce more simple art.

Everybody hates simplistic design and yet every company does it because market research doesn't exist and rage culture on the internet is 100% what the population feels.

[micwini]

Everybody hates simplistic design and yet every company does it because market research doesn't exist and rage culture on the internet is 100% what the population feels.

Can you provide said market research?
Just check all comments everywhere. There is so many that it is without a doubt quite representative for the mass population. I have seen ZERO positive comments on it. Mostly negative, some neutral. That's it.

At this point, im just going to assume this is not the final version and it will have a special gimmick.

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I didn't love the stray away from the standard logos, and I don't love the stray away from the standard logins. It may be temporary or changing as we only see an image, but I think this takes away more than they think.

Although Hallowfall and the Arathi aren't exactly the focus of the expansion, I think the imagery of the Beledar and Mereldar both show off the depth of these zones and the flirtation with the void.



I mocked this up as an idea.

Something like this yea. Imagine wallpaper engining this. There it is, a better login screen.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Everybody hates simplistic design and yet every company does it because market research doesn't exist and rage culture on the internet is 100% what the population feels.

My guy, corporations can absolutely be inoculated from the actual desires of their consumer base and defer to corporate trends on account of a localized feedback loop sending false signals about what their customers want. Second, how do you think market research works? I've actually studied marketing and I understand how it works—market research is not infallible, nor is it always conducted correctly. They could've run this by a skewed focus group or, again, just bypassed focus groups or surveys in favor of taking widespread acceptance of this artstyle from other companies as indicative that consumers like it instead of recognizing it as the feedback loop I'm fairly certain it is.

[Kiivar86]

One thing I'm noticing from others talking about it (this may be the first time I haven't gotten alpha/beta access since TBC, amazingly, so I have to go off what I see on tweets and the like) is that there seem to be a lot of nice little class/race touches in TWW. Like there's extra dialogue options for certain races at certain points, extra quests to prove yourself, etc.

For example, the Uncrowned (the Rogue class hall organization) show up in an inn and have a small quest for...mages. Calling it a quest is a bit much I suppose, its just a little thing that awards you the Mosswool polymorph tome, but its fun to see.

[Lahis]

I was thinking the same thing. It's set up in a way that really invites progressive changes over time.

The Login screen has potential if it is constantly updated through TWW or the whole WSS. But as a static, expansion logn login screen it is a abject failure when compared to all previous ones.

[Murlocos]

There's a new survey going out now accessible from the Battle.net launcher for whoever's selected. Some of it's referring to existing content or expected features (class updates, profession updates, etc.) but there's some new stuff mentioned:

• Class order halls becoming a permanent feature with new quests and progression
• Being able to use your Warband alts as party members in follower dungeons and delves
• Reworked new/returning player experience with lore catch up
• In-game lore guide with some kind of exploration mechanic and associated rewards
• Customizable character select screens, including being able to display mounts and pets
• Adding new customization for existing races and new emotes
• "Variety of PvP opportunities", listed separately from updating BGs/arenas