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

[micwini]

Again, that's possible, but the fact of the matter is that the Rootlands have by far the most buildup, are far more closely tied to the overarching plot, and have too much important lore for a minor patch to handle it well. It only makes sense for that if you pretend that the only thing there is the Harronir, when it should also give a lot of lore on Eonar, Freya, and the Freysworn- making it a great chance to set up the Titans a bit before TLT. Covering all that would take a lot more story than they've typically used in any minor patch- admittedly possible if they change things up and put a lot more resources into the smaller patches, but I still think it needs more.

As for Undermine, I feel like it'd be best to use it as a Horde capitol if we ever get a real South Seas expansion. I'm not a Goblin fan but even I think it'd be a waste to use it here, as a completely irrelevant tangent.

Kind of agree, would love to have a real South Sea expansion, but even then I don't think they are ever going to do another Horde/Alliance separate capitol

[Teriz]

Pretty objective when we’ve got datamining to support it.
We already have a good idea of what 11.1 will be via the datamining, and sorry to say it isn’t Undermine.

What datamining?

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Again, that's possible, but the fact of the matter is that the Rootlands have by far the most buildup, are far more closely tied to the overarching plot, and have too much important lore for a minor patch to handle it well. It only makes sense for that if you pretend that the only thing there is the Harronir, when it should also give a lot of lore on Eonar, Freya, and the Freysworn- making it a great chance to set up the Titans a bit before TLT. Covering all that would take a lot more story than they've typically used in any minor patch- admittedly possible if they change things up and put a lot more resources into the smaller patches, but I still think it needs more.

As for Undermine, I feel like it'd be best to use it as a Horde capitol if we ever get a real South Seas expansion. I'm not a Goblin fan but even I think it'd be a waste to use it here, as a completely irrelevant tangent.

Thing is, Zalarek also wasn’t directly tied to DF’s plot. It completely revolved around the Dracthyr and to a lesser extent the Black Dragonflight.

[Chickat]

Affix changes are great imo.

At a +12 its basically no affix to worry about but really really hard base dungeons. Dungeon mastery rather than affix mastery.

Lower keys like +5 or below will be a lot less stressful. It will be fun to collect the kiss/curse orbs.

[Eldryth]

Thing is, Zalarek also wasn’t directly tied to DF’s plot. It completely revolved around the Dracthyr and to a lesser extent the Black Dragonflight.

I've heard that a lot, but that argument never really made sense to me. We didn't fight the Incarnates there, but seeing how the various Dragonflights developed was arguably an even more important plotline, so the succession resolution was very much a part of the main plot. And the Dracthyr's development was also important at the start, even if it fell flat since they were ignored in 10.2, but that has more to do with the story kind of falling apart at the end. Plus that's where Fyrakk absorbed the Shadowflame and got set up as an antagonist.

Undermine, on the other hand, would be completely irrelevant here. And honestly, even if there had been real precedent for that level of filler in recent expansions (the only patches I can think of that compare are all the way back in Cata and Wrath- or Mechagon, but that came with the far more relevant Nazjatar, so I wouldn't count it), I'd be hoping that the Saga's focus on having a more focused story would change that.

[micwini]

I've heard that a lot, but that argument never really made sense to me. We didn't fight the Incarnates there, but seeing how the various Dragonflights developed was arguably an even more important plotline, so the succession resolution was very much a part of the main plot. And the Dracthyr's development was also important at the start, even if it fell flat since they were ignored in 10.2, but that has more to do with the story kind of falling apart at the end. Plus that's where Fyrakk absorbed the Shadowflame and got set up as an antagonist.

Undermine, on the other hand, would be completely irrelevant here. And honestly, even if there had been real precedent for that level of filler in recent expansions (the only patches I can think of that compare are all the way back in Cata and Wrath), I'd be hoping that the Saga's focus on having a more focused story would change that.

Good point. Tho it's Blizzard. If they want to use undermine in TWW, they will find a way to do it. Like I said: They could port undermine onto karesh for a patch.

[Teriz]

I've heard that a lot, but that argument never really made sense to me. We didn't fight the Incarnates there, but seeing how the various Dragonflights developed was arguably an even more important plotline, so the succession resolution was very much a part of the main plot. And the Dracthyr's development was also important at the start, even if it fell flat since they were ignored in 10.2, but that has more to do with the story kind of falling apart at the end. Plus that's where Fyrakk absorbed the Shadowflame and got set up as an antagonist.

You're being overly generous. 10.1 was completely a dracthyr side story. Fyrakk was already set up as an antagonist when he was introduced with the other incarnates in the previous patch.

Undermine, on the other hand, would be completely irrelevant here. And honestly, even if there had been real precedent for that level of filler in recent expansions (the only patches I can think of that compare are all the way back in Cata and Wrath), I'd be hoping that the Saga's focus on having a more focused story would change that.

Considering that Undermine is known to have some type of void entity beneath it and massive amounts of Azerite through both it and Kezan, there's a good chance that Undermine is sitting on something vital to the world soul. So saying that it would be completely irrelevant is a bit of a stretch at this stage.

[Santandame]

Kind of agree, would love to have a real South Sea expansion, but even then I don't think they are ever going to do another Horde/Alliance separate capitol

IF, by very small chance we finally get a PROPER South Seas expansion then Undermine likely plays neutral capital city role with the levelling zones being Tel’Abim, Kezan, Hiji, Plunder Isle.

That said, at this point I don’t expect us to ever get that expansion.

[doledippers]

affix changes are amazing, huge fan

[micwini]

IF, by very small chance we finally get a PROPER South Seas expansion then Undermine likely plays neutral capital city role with the levelling zones being Tel’Abim, Kezan, Hiji, Plunder Isle.

That said, at this point I don’t expect us to ever get that expansion.

/I feel like that is a contender for whatever is after WSS. They are obviously going for a revamp after and then at some point they need to add those islands to the map. With dragonflying I would imagine them making the entire world onto one map so you can fly from kalimdor to EK and to all other islands.
Big wish still for a customizable ship thats faster than dragonriding to traverse the seas.
After the revamp, I will pledge myself to team South Seas.

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New build notes and shaman changes coming. Eating good today!

[Nightshade711]

What datamining?

Map files, texture files, etc.
For example the rootlands map is supposed to be the size of the Ringing Deeps, which means it is likely to be major patch content.

[Kiivar86]

The login screen is interesting, not what I expected though.

[Joshuaj]

Hoping that login screen isn't final...

Kinda looks like shit

[Ielenia]

LoL! That standpoint is the exact opposite of “objective”.

Objectively speaking, making a city that spans an entire zone for just a single mid-expansion patch season is a waste compared to making a city that spans an entire zone as the expansion's main hub.

If Blizzard were to make a city that spans an entire zone for the first time, the best way to do it in a way that would be most impactful, and objectively speaking, an expansion's main hub that would last for the entire expansion is a much better choice than a mid-expansion patch season.

If you can't put down your "muh undermine" bias and see things objectively, that's no fault of mine.

[Teriz]

Map files, texture files, etc.
For example the rootlands map is supposed to be the size of the Ringing Deeps, which means it is likely to be major patch content.

I have serious doubts that a “goblinraid” would have anything to do with the Rootlands. I believe that factoid alone rules out the Rootlands as major patch content.

If we’re being truly honest, Rootlands is similar to Forbidden Reach (a zone originally a part of the 5 zones of the expansion reserved for later use, yet part of the main story), and Undermine is similar to Zalarek (a side story zone/raid).

[Raetary]

Huh, interesting login screen.

Personally, i don't like it.
It's generic looking and is quite the departure from the traditional login screen being a gate/portal or overlook of some kind.
I really hope they reconsider its design.

And if not, it kinda feels like we can already guess what the Midnight/TLT screens will be looking like then, as this one is very much just themed after the expansion logo.

[Nightshade711]

I have serious doubts that a “goblinraid” would have anything to do with the Rootlands. I believe that factoid alone rules out the Rootlands as major patch content.

Thankfully, you do not work for blizzard so your personal doubts don’t matter too much.

Besides, they’ve shown with the “etherealraid” items that the labeling can just mean a single boss. So it is possible that the singular “goblinraid” item that’s been datamined so far is for a single boss in a rootlends raid.

Or maybe the “goblinraid” is what lots of posters have said, and is us fighting the venture co in the rootlands. There’s more evidence to that than the singular piece

If we’re being truly honest, Rootlands is similar to Forbidden Reach (a zone originally a part of the 5 zones of the expansion reserved for later use, yet part of the main story), and Undermine is similar to Zalarek (a side story zone/raid).

Doubtful, as the Forbidden Reach (or ANY minor patch content for that matter) has never gotten close to the size of a primary expansion zone in the expansion it’s in.

[KurtMash]

Previous login screens always felt like an adventure calling. This does not.

[Graden]

Huh, interesting login screen.

Personally, i don't like it.
It's generic looking and is quite the departure from the traditional login screen being a gate/portal or overlook of some kind.
I really hope they reconsider its design.

And if not, it kinda feels like we can already guess what the Midnight/TLT screens will be looking like then, as this one is very much just themed after the expansion logo.

Agreed, I'm also not a fan of it.

But you know, even if it stays as is it's not a big deal, as the log in system puts as straight on our character selection screen. We barely see it nowadays.

[Teriz]

Thankfully, you do not work for blizzard so your personal doubts don’t matter too much.

Neither does your opinion, yet here we are.

Or maybe the “goblinraid” is what lots of posters have said, and is us fighting the venture co in the rootlands. There’s more evidence to that than the singular piece

Doubtful, since Rootlands were clearly designed to be part of the 5 original zones for Khaz Algar. Just like Forbidden Reach was part of the 5 original zones for DF.

Also you have zero evidence that Goblins are going after the Rootlands.

Doubtful, as the Forbidden Reach (or ANY minor patch content for that matter) has never gotten close to the size of a primary expansion zone in the expansion it’s in.

That’s if the Rootlands remain that size when implemented. Blizzard could easily reduce its original size for minor patch release. That may very well be why it was removed and hidden away for later release in 11.0.7.

[Khaza-R]

I don't mind the new loading screen but I would of much preferred Azj-Kahet. Maybe they were afraid the arachnophobes would complaint