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

[Santandame]

Metzen seemed to be framing it as a confrontation on the level of what Legion was for the Burning Legion. I just assume that means that Midnight will be about Bastion or Mac'aree/Eredath style giant void rifts and actual void forces rather than Old God and Nerubian forces.

She is also "the harbinger" which suggests that she's just Gul'dan style staging for a full scale void assault.

I mean, it's entirely possible that Xal is also still the main villain for Midnight. I just don't think the play here is "get black blood and then pour it into the Sunwell". I think it's gonna be more like Xal uses the blood to reconstitute her old body or something, ascends back to Old God level--we fail to stop it but manage to secure the World Soul or something--and then she goes off to tear a bunch of void rifts open in Quel'thalas and attempt to just siege the planet with Void forces rather than the original corrupt from the inside out plan.

- - - Updated - - -


I wish that more antagonists were given the furbolg neutrality option rather than the binary of overt antagonism or allying with players. I think Xal'atath would be more interesting if after N'zoth's death she'd just rounded up the splintered Nerubians, Mantid and/or Qiraji and begun a "New Black Empire" in Silithus or Azjol-Nerub, unfriendly to the Horde and Alliance but not openly hostile.

I’d really like that. Sort of a “you stay away from me and I’ll stay away from you” vibe. That’s a great shout for some villains.

[Sondrelk]

I’d really like that. Sort of a “you stay away from me and I’ll stay away from you” vibe. That’s a great shout for some villains.

Hard to justify that kind of relationship if you know that Xal'atath is almost certainly aiming to bring back the Void Lords or somesuch though. It works if you can genuinely think that the new faction isnt going to be hostile, though I feel that would be difficult in this case.

[Jolly Roger]

so about two weeks until prepatch presumably because of the retiring guild services
week after the event will start
then 3 weeks until early access which with no extra information about it can just be assumed only normal dungeons and limited professions

i am gonna assume 11.0.7 news soon after including some warband changes and new story chapters

[Eldryth]

I’d really like that. Sort of a “you stay away from me and I’ll stay away from you” vibe. That’s a great shout for some villains.

I do think we can use more characters like that, or even evil leaders within a faction. Sylvanas was at her best when she filled that kind of role- when she was evil and only cared about her own goals, but was ultimately still a solid ally because she and the Horde needed each other.

I don't think Xal'atath is a great fit for that though. Everything we've seen lately suggests that she's set on feeding Azeroth to Dimensius (or whatever else Dimensius intends for Azeroth), there's no way we can simply get along with that.

I feel like that kind of story would work better with Azshara. She should also be opposing the Void (she served N'zoth out of necessity, but claims she intended to betray him even before he had her tortured for succeeding in his mission for her), and while she clearly still has her own goals and ambitions, I think it could be interesting to have a tense peace with her for a while before she makes her move.

Or maybe Iridikron, depending on how TLT goes. All he cares about is getting rid of the Titans, so if we end up opposing them too, then he should leave us alone.

[Hitei]

Hard to justify that kind of relationship if you know that Xal'atath is almost certainly aiming to bring back the Void Lords or somesuch though. It works if you can genuinely think that the new faction isnt going to be hostile, though I feel that would be difficult in this case.

I wasn't suggesting it for the current narrative position. I just mean that could have been a viable path after BfA. Like instead of her current objective, she could have gone the "I'm the last Old God* left, I'm gonna revive the Black Empire as its god-queen but not do the obvious misstep of starting a fight with the Alliance and Horde" route, and then had the Qiraji or Nerubians rebuilding in AQ or AN.

Then we'd have an interesting isolated faction around to occasionally get involved with, in the vein of groups like the pre-Siege Klaxxi, where they really aren't on our side but you can work with them for their own interests. And then during some larger events, or expansions, you might have random Black Empire encampments, outposts, envoys, etc.

[Etmir]

wonder what city will be our capital at Midnight?Silvermoon ?

[Golden Yak]

Windrunner Spire!

[Sondrelk]

wonder what city will be our capital at Midnight?Silvermoon ?

My guess would be Gilneas and Undercity honestly. I would love if Silvermoon was a proper hostile city for the majority of the expansion like Suramar.
Of course, just flat out removing a faction hub from the Horde might make players miffed. Though I feel it is the better choice compare to making a Horde city neutral.

[Merryck]

Silvermoon is getting consumed by the Void ...

[Scyth]

My guess would be Gilneas and Undercity honestly. I would love if Silvermoon was a proper hostile city for the majority of the expansion like Suramar.
Of course, just flat out removing a faction hub from the Horde might make players miffed. Though I feel it is the better choice compare to making a Horde city neutral.

An underground city after spending an xpac underground is not going to go down well imo. Also hope they don't make it the main hub, I've never been a fan of Undercity lol.
Then again, anything is better than Orgrimmar

[Sondrelk]

An underground city after spending an xpac underground is not going to go down well imo. Also hope they don't make it the main hub, I've never been a fan of Undercity lol.
Then again, anything is better than Orgrimmar

I say Undercity, but more likely a new Forsaken Lordaeron City aboveground.

Point being, there are three major faction hubs north of the Thandol Span, and with Silvermoon likely being hostile due to void invasion that leaves Gilneas and whatever the Forsaken will call their new city as two conveniently placed major hubs in dire need of a visual update to bring them to par with other faction hubs (Auction house, bank, events, etc.)

[Raetary]

Of course, just flat out removing a faction hub from the Horde might make players miffed.

That is certainly not a status that will stay for long.

Silvermoon is likely gonna get the Bel'Ameth treatment and become a player hub again in the Midnight epilogue.

[Fahrad Wagner]

honestly I'm all for Silvermoon receiving the Suramar treatment, it'd be epic, but I hope at the end we get a cleaned version as a proper (perhaps neutral) capital city

[Golden Yak]

A reworked Silvermoon would be the obvious choice, but I'd prefer the city to be overrun and act as a major end-game content zone instead.

Gilneas and Undercity are too far from the front lines of Quel'thalas to be contenders. Maybe the upper regions of Lordaeron if they keep that warp point to Silvermoon.

But I imagine some brand new place built into the refurbished Quel'thalas to act as the major basecamp. I was only half-joking when I said Windrunner Spire.

[Sondrelk]

That is certainly not a status that will stay for long.

Silvermoon is likely gonna get the Bel'Ameth treatment and become a player hub again in the Midnight epilogue.

That's for the end of the expansion though. Some Horde players will likely complain that Silvermoon is not friendly in the current version of the game, even if the odds of it becoming friendly again later is almost certain, and the osl version will almost certainly be available anyways.

On the whole though, I think a hostile Silvermoon is temporary, and a neutral silvermoon is more permanent, which is why I think they will go for the former.

- - - Updated - - -

A reworked Silvermoon would be the obvious choice, but I'd prefer the city to be overrun and act as a major end-game content zone instead.

Gilneas and Undercity are too far from the front lines of Quel'thalas to be contenders. Maybe the upper regions of Lordaeron if they keep that warp point to Silvermoon.

But I imagine some brand new place built into the refurbished Quel'thalas to act as the major basecamp. I was only half-joking when I said Windrunner Spire.

It's hard to say without knowing what Midnight will utilize as B and C list enemies.

Hearthglen and Stratholme are decent choices if you want something closer to Silvermoon. Though Hearthglen might end up being focus point for a potential Scarlet Crusader/Arathi Empire plotline if Scarlet Monastery isn't enough. And Stratholme might be prime real estate for a dungeon or even a Megadungeon.
Andorhal is also an option, same with New Hearthglen or whatever the Scarlet area in the Plaguelands was called.

Plenty of places to choose from. All with their own up and downsides. The downsides to Gilneas/Lordaeron is, at least to me, weighed out by making them proper racial hubs, and not forgotten about compared to whatever would completely overshadow them with a dedicated expansion hub close by.

[Makorus]

A reworked Silvermoon would be the obvious choice, but I'd prefer the city to be overrun and act as a major end-game content zone instead.

Gilneas and Undercity are too far from the front lines of Quel'thalas to be contenders. Maybe the upper regions of Lordaeron if they keep that warp point to Silvermoon.

But I imagine some brand new place built into the refurbished Quel'thalas to act as the major basecamp. I was only half-joking when I said Windrunner Spire.

I think Silvermoon literally being Suramar in terms of design would be a way more satisfying decision rather than having it as a playerhub. Have a storyline about us gaining more and more of a foothold, concluding with a Silvermoon Raid. They could literally start us in Undercity/Gilneas and then in 12.1 or hell, 12.0.5 have Silvermoon turn into a proper hub, so you got the best of both worlds.

I just can't think of a situation where Quel'thalas is void-contested but Silvermoon is okay.

Obviously, it's hard to talk about anything Midnight related because we literally have no idea in what direction it will go.

[Dracullus]

So Chronicles 4 still coming July 16th? I wonder if they will try to patch holes in modern expansions (not just Shadowlands, pre-DF every expac including Legion had very sparse story content after launch) and how community will react to it. Also this is probably final Blizzard word about events before mini time skip in DF.

[Jolly Roger]

So Chronicles 4 still coming July 16th? I wonder if they will try to patch holes in modern expansions (not just Shadowlands, pre-DF every expac including Legion had very sparse story content after launch) and how community will react to it. Also this is probably final Blizzard word about events before mini time skip in DF.

i mean they contradicted chronicles 1 like a month after release
i honestly think its gonna be a case of cleaning up some of the choices made by past teams

[Sentynel]

I wonder if the 'Midnight' log-in screen will be the Sunwell, with a shadowy Void background.

I bet they'll just recolor the TWW login screen to purple and call it a day.

[Santandame]

If Silvermoon is indeed the Suramar of Midnight and not the capital city, then that does raise some interesting questions as to what the capital would be.

I suppose Tranquilen in the Ghostlands is a possibility. We could go the boring route of two smaller locations for the Horde and Alliance similar to the Shrines in Pandaria with the Sanctum of the Sun and Moon respectively, but I doubt it. Zul’aman would be an interesting choice if we get a curveball thrown and it’s not a raid or Void affiliated.

I can’t see it being Stratholme, that seems like a prime candidate for the .1 side story raid or a mega dungeon.

If Blizzard don’t go the route of utilising Gilneas and Undercity then I think it may be refreshing to utilise Alterac for the Alliance and Andorhal for the Horde.