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

[Hyde]

It could also be that Thrall is just important in 10.3

BTW one thing I haven't seen discussed
Why is Fyrakk working with Igira? What is she crafting for him? In the suffusion camps the focus clearly is shaping metal to deliver to Igira and Fyrakk. Every NPC tells us so in different ways. So they are making something. Either Igira is making spears to kill the Aspects or she is making Fyrakk plating so he can survive the shadowflame just like Deathwing did. While the second option makes more sense to me, we did just get that fight in Aberrus with Kazzara so it seems unlikely. Maybe something else entirely?
I really expect that two boss raid to happen.

Oh, I love your theory that Fyrakk's going to be Deathwing 2.0. He already burning people alive when he is in the zone, like DW!! Maybe we can use what ever spears Igira is making to destroy the Incarnates?

[Nymrohd]

Oh, I love your theory that Fyrakk's going to be Deathwing 2.0. He already burning people alive when he is in the zone, like DW!! Maybe we can use what ever spears Igira is making to destroy the Incarnates?

I don't know what she is making but she is making something. The plot of the Suffusion camps is that they are making ingots and using molds so they are shaping something made with metal. We know that Igira made those spears that we tried to use on Fyrakk and badly hurt Ebyssian. Maybe she is preparing larger ones to try and kill the Aspects. Or maybe they are making something completely different like a Shadowflame bomb. I just think they'd make a solid two boss raid to finish 10.1.7 and the black dragonflight story (and maybe we can get Ebyssian's custom model)

[loras]

next expansion will be Undermine with Void theme

I think i did a thingy once where Y'shaarj returns as a comet and sort of "becomes" part of the new continent and his impact crater cracks open Undermine halfway, involving it nicely and also showing in a funny way that goblins are possibly the most populous faction on Azeroth (I kinda imagine a bit of a humorous scene where even the old gods tire of the amount of goblins that even they just can't seem to get rid of).

Is that sufficiently void-y?

I mean the void lords first sent the old gods as comets and we know they're "unkillable", might make sense that Y'shaarj finally managed to regenerate after we "released" his last ties to the physical realm by cleaning up his heart and the Sha in MoP.

Might also offer a nice way to let the Sha return, as their unique aesthetics were very nice.

[Teriz]

next expansion will be Undermine with Void theme

Undermine is attached to Tinker class, so unless Blizzard is doing back to back new classes, this is doubtful. Maybe in 12.0, but not 11.0.

[Worldshaper]

For fun:

World of Warcraft: Shadow of Azeroth

• Azeroth (the Titan) has been corrupted by the Old Gods. Essentially, her corruption affects everything around her, twisting it. Driving people mad. Turning some creatures feral. This is the meaning of the title of the expansion. Their endgame might be to turn her into a Void Lord or something. We need to stall them and turn things around.
• First raid tier is set in the Elemental Planes, as we stabilise the world's fundament alongside Thrall.
• World revamp. But some zones start out in a temporary corrupted phase, serving as endgame zones until we've beaten the enemy and cleansed the zone in a patch.
• Dragons fight alongside us, their flights restored. New World Tree is also blessed, and serves as an anchor to tether Azeroth a little bit from falling too deep.

[Skytotem]

So what we think Thrall leads us to Alvaloran? or Elemental Expansion?

Given their thing for 'cycles' (repeating storybeats because they're afraid or incapable of trying something new without alienating the old stuff) that might be it, if they want to redo the arc of Thrall's landing in Kalimdor but do it without the hyper-hostility of the barrens, and pair it alongside a Cata-type exploration of the elements to try a deeper dive into what their deal is.

[Darkarath]

Now that everybody is talking about Thrall Blizzcon's key art, I think that It might be interesting to remember this question of Alter Time's interview with Ion two months ago:

Nos encantó el protagonismo que tuvo Durak en la cadena de misiones Dinásticas. Él y Zekhan parecen ser la sangre nueva que necesita la Horda. ¿Veremos más de él?

«Creo que las probabilidades son realmente buenas. Creo que cuando introducimos nuevos personajes o aumentamos el protagonismo de algunos de ellos, eso se hace con algún propósito, pero también evaluamos las reacciones de los jugadores con esas historias, si quieren conocer más sobre ellos. Los comentarios son siempre bien recibidos y aunque tal vez no sean un foco inmediato de la historia que estamos contando en Dragonflight ahora mismo, pero ciertamente los Orcos y esa parte de la Horda tras los sucesos de la era Sylvanas, va a ser algo que pase al primer plano en el futuro.»

Alter Time is a spanish website, as you can see, but the bold part says that Orcs and that part of the Horde, after Sylvanas' era, is something that will come to the fore in the future.

I think that a world revamp would be a good way to tell that story.

[ImTheMizAwesome]

Now that everybody is talking about Thrall Blizzcon's key art, I think that It might be interesting to remember this question of Alter Time's interview with Ion two months ago:



Alter Time is a spanish website, as you can see, but the bold part says that Orcs and that part of the Horde, after Sylvanas' era, is something that will come to the fore in the future.

I think that a world revamp would be a good way to tell that story.

Give me some Rexxar and thrall in CGI cinematic, slaying some lightbound asses or just unveiling a new land.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Alter Time is a spanish website, as you can see, but the bold part says that Orcs and that part of the Horde, after Sylvanas' era, is something that will come to the fore in the future.

I think that a world revamp would be a good way to tell that story.

Well this game did start out with Humans and Orcs.

[Worldshaper]

Having a bit of fun with some of the datamining we've seen so far. If 10.3 or 11.0 doesn't feature a world revamp of some sort, I don't know what to say.

Updated Ironforge Guard Armour Set
https://www.wowhead.com/news/updated...31850#comments

Ironforge has virtually nothing to do with the story of Dragonflight as far as I know, except for the Dragonscale Expedition having some dwarven roots.

Extremely detailed Scarlet Armour Set
https://www.wowhead.com/news/partial...0-1-ptr-331862

This one is thought to be a Trading Post reward. But are we sure? It looks so much better than any previous Trading Post set, which have mostly been either recolours of old sets or consisted of very few parts (and of questionable quality). I think this set looks more like a Shop set, or an in-game promotion of some sort. BlizzCon reward? If it really is for the Trading Post, then it has got to be one of those monthly rewards for completing the entire thing.

Updated Horde and Alliance buildings and airship
https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-and...-327800?page=3

This one just seems like a dead giveaway of a world revamp. We've yet to see anything in Dragonflight which would necessitate anything like this.

New Weapons seemingly tied to faction, class or race
https://www.wowhead.com/news/more-th...rde-axe-331945
https://www.wowhead.com/news/class-s...-331787?page=5
https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-pla...-swords-331827

While it's entirely possible some of these are aimed at the Trading Post, or perhaps a returning Mage Tower, it does seem a little fishy.

Summary

To me, all of this just suggests even more that we're looking at a world revamp which is very much "back to basics". I can already see the adverts in my head, that I'm sure they'll be running after BlizzCon:

"Return to Azeroth, relive the most epic adventure of your life."
"Azeroth needs your help, will you answer the call?"
"The next era of Warcraft is about to begin. Experience Azeroth like you've never seen it before!"

Thrall being a major focus and selling point, of course.

Campaigns and content for your faction, class, and race. Including Renown, unique transmog rewards and so on.

Just a super down to earth expansion. Naturally, something will be going on in the background. Probably involving the Void or the Elementals. But the world of Azeroth and all its peoples will really be the big selling point.

[Raetary]

This one is thought to be a Trading Post reward. But are we sure? It looks so much better than any previous Trading Post set

If its a trading post set, then it'd be the monthly reward.

[Teriz]

Man, those updates to buildings and airships looks really great. Kudos to the art team.

[Hyde]

Having a bit of fun with some of the datamining we've seen so far. If 10.3 or 11.0 doesn't feature a world revamp of some sort, I don't know what to say.

Updated Ironforge Guard Armour Set
https://www.wowhead.com/news/updated...31850#comments

Ironforge has virtually nothing to do with the story of Dragonflight as far as I know, except for the Dragonscale Expedition having some dwarven roots.

Extremely detailed Scarlet Armour Set
https://www.wowhead.com/news/partial...0-1-ptr-331862

This one is thought to be a Trading Post reward. But are we sure? It looks so much better than any previous Trading Post set, which have mostly been either recolours of old sets or consisted of very few parts (and of questionable quality). I think this set looks more like a Shop set, or an in-game promotion of some sort. BlizzCon reward? If it really is for the Trading Post, then it has got to be one of those monthly rewards for completing the entire thing.

Updated Horde and Alliance buildings and airship
https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-and...-327800?page=3

This one just seems like a dead giveaway of a world revamp. We've yet to see anything in Dragonflight which would necessitate anything like this.

New Weapons seemingly tied to faction, class or race
https://www.wowhead.com/news/more-th...rde-axe-331945
https://www.wowhead.com/news/class-s...-331787?page=5
https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-pla...-swords-331827

While it's entirely possible some of these are aimed at the Trading Post, or perhaps a returning Mage Tower, it does seem a little fishy.

Summary

To me, all of this just suggests even more that we're looking at a world revamp which is very much "back to basics". I can already see the adverts in my head, that I'm sure they'll be running after BlizzCon:

"Return to Azeroth, relive the most epic adventure of your life."
"Azeroth needs your help, will you answer the call?"
"The next era of Warcraft is about to begin. Experience Azeroth like you've never seen it before!"

Thrall being a major focus and selling point, of course.

Campaigns and content for your faction, class, and race. Including Renown, unique transmog rewards and so on.

Just a super down to earth expansion. Naturally, something will be going on in the background. Probably involving the Void or the Elementals. But the world of Azeroth and all its peoples will really be the big selling point.

Dont forget about these updated HD scalemail Armor sets!

[Revamp Man]

If we are getting a world revamp in 11.0 I don't expect anything more than a few zones at a time

If you expect every zone to get updated at once you are going to be disappointed but I do think they can do it piece by piece

Example
11.0: 5 leveling zones and a max zone along with capitol areas
11.0.5: a couple more
11.0.7: one more
11.1: two more
Etc.

I'm also gonna guarantee the scarlet brotherhood will have a part in the "fordragon's are Calia's lost family" story that was seemingly scrapped in SL (why was she even there"

[Cheezits]

I think the timeskip itself also is a big hint to the revamp, as it has NO relevance to Dragonflight itself.

Unless Thrall, Calia, the Scarlets, the Forsaken, the Nelves, etc all have a storyline on Tel'abim or whatever.

[Worldshaper]

If we are getting a world revamp in 11.0 I don't expect anything more than a few zones at a time

If you expect every zone to get updated at once you are going to be disappointed but I do think they can do it piece by piece

Example
11.0: 5 leveling zones and a max zone along with capitol areas
11.0.5: a couple more
11.0.7: one more
11.1: two more
Etc.

I'm also gonna guarantee the scarlet brotherhood will have a part in the "fordragon's are Calia's lost family" story that was seemingly scrapped in SL (why was she even there"

While splitting it up in chunks is possible, I see a few issues with that.

1. Doing it 1-3 zones per patch or whatever, it'll take them a decade to finish all of it. By the time they're done, the first ones will already look old, and the world will look like a mishmash of old and new.

2. I imagine it's harder for them to tell a compelling narrative and introduce good gameplay features if they're either limited to a handful of zones in the beginning, or have to settle with spreading their new content across old and new zones.

3. In case they want to aim big and restructure the continents (more natural zone barriers, flying in Silvermoon etc), I think it needs to be done in one go. Because they'd probably have to rebuild the landscape from the ground up in a new instance. How would they handle the whole landscaping deal if it's not done all at once?

It'll be a messy experience.

If they revamp the world in chunks, it probably have to be larger ones. For example half of Eastern Kingdoms in one go.

But even then, I see potential marketing issues. It's tricky to get people hyped up about returning to WoW, if the pitch is: "You may return to the areas around Stormwind and Ironforge. Sorry, Horde."

I really think they've been building a major revamp for many years. At least since BfA when they crammed new Ashenvale and Barrens assets into WSG and then never used them again.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Dont forget about these updated HD scalemail Armor sets!

Looks pretty good, minus the helm.

On revamp: I'll believe it when I see it.

[Hitei]

Looks pretty good, minus the helm.

On revamp: I'll believe it when I see it.

I just really hope it's at least larger scaled zones.

[Eeram]

I just really hope it's at least larger scaled zones.

Can i ask do you think DF zones were large or because of dragon flying it didnt feel as large?

[Berkilak]

I just really hope it's at least larger scaled zones.

That’s honestly the only thing that would get me hyped for a revamp. I also see it as least likely as it would necessitate a wholesale revamp.