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

[Toho]

I mean, technically speaking we don't know what they're doing with Midnight. We do know that there's the Neighbourhood Areas which may or may not have stop-gap technology somewhere in the middle of zones or it may just be a instance portal but we don't know.

When it comes to the Island, its unclear if we do have a Island next expansion since it seems we might get a more regionalized Quel'thalas.

I mean in general, every expansion since Outland has basically been "islands" where we go, see new things do our thing and leave to never come back. And the more you add the more overwhelming it becomes for new players.
Speaking for myself I find it hard to connect to all these new people and things only to abandon them again and start a whole new thing. I think this was one of the main complaints for Assassins Creed Valhalla too.

[Dracullus]

Do people enjoy hopping from one island to another each expansion? Maybe with Midnight instead of just adding more bloat to the game they just revamp Kalimdor/Azeroth and instead of "exploring new lands" they change existing ones as the story changes and keep the changes going with each patch/expansion.

We literally are doing this next 2 expansions. And some of us hope trend will continue and EK/Kalimdor will be revisited too.

Don't understand your comment about bloat. What do you want, removing content? Game that don't progress? Even revamp expansions won't delete old stuff from game you know, from that perspective there is no difference between Kalimdor and new islands from the hat.

Beside, ton of legacy content and cosmetics are strengths of this game, not burden and everything before Dragonflight is completely optional for new player. Consciously or not, you just repeat Asmon nonsensical take.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

This is also the nature of MMORPGs (unless your Destiny and start Vaulting content ugh) and ultimately Blizzard seems to have at least recognized that maybe they should do a twist on it with the fact that Midnight and The Last Titan seem to be expanding existing locales and yes the cynical and pessimistic will probably get their alarms blaring but honestly I am all for it considering I at least want to see what something else than the Island concept looks like.

If nothing else I am pretty excited to see what they came up with.

[Khaza-R]

We literally are doing this next 2 expansions. And some of us hope trend will continue and EK/Kalimdor will be revisited too.

Don't understand your comment about bloat. What do you want, removing content? Game that don't progress? Even revamp expansions won't delete old stuff from game you know, from that perspective there is no difference between Kalimdor and new islands from the hat.

Beside, ton of legacy content and cosmetics are strengths of this game, not burden and everything before Dragonflight is completely optional for new player. Consciously or not, you just repeat Asmon nonsensical take.

Just to add on here, I think BfA was the first expansion where they made older expansions included in the based game and completely free. So that was a roadblock in utilizing old expansion content and keeping it relevant for a long time. People didn't want to buy a new expansion to go traverse in an old one.

But I agree overall it would be nice if there was some way for WoW to expand on content that was more seemless and didn't invovle adding a new server full of zones everytime. It would be amazing if one day we got a whole and complete world housed on an evergreen server. Probably won't happen but one can wish at least.

[Merryck]

TWW is not beating the filler expansion allegations.

[Khaza-R]

TWW is not beating the filler expansion allegations.

There's not such thing as filler expansions. Just as there's no such thing as an A team and B team and whatever other moronic ideas this forum tries to push. Blizzard is just a slightly above average developer who makes plenty of incompetent mistakes.

That's the simple reality. No need for ridiculous conspiracy theories.

[Ersula]

TWW is not beating the filler expansion allegations.

Thank you. I have enjoyed the expansion, but the hallmarks of WoD are all here, even if we still get 3 full raids. But I said it since the expansion was revealed.

• Very little to show at blizzcon.
• while hyping up minor patches, the content in those patches are lacking
• hyping something entirely different (Midnight buzz/legion buzz started early with the Warcraft movie)
• the expansion's theme is literally dirt & digging in that dirt.

[Nymrohd]

There's not such thing as filler expansions. Just as there's no such thing as an A team and B team and whatever other moronic ideas this forum tries to push. Blizzard is just a slightly above average developer who makes plenty of incompetent mistakes.

That's the simple reality. No need for ridiculous conspiracy theories.

I mean, there absolutely is an A team and a B team. Heck there is also a C team and a fourth team that is working on evergreen features!

[Darkarath]

TWW is not beating the filler expansion allegations.

Just for Undermine and Delves TWW will be fondly remembered.

It is not a filler expansion.

If 11.2 is as good as 11.1 TWW could even be a top 3 expansion. If the remaining minor patches are good + Legion Remix... Hell, I know that we are in a low moment but it could still be really really good.

[Limayria]

Sorry to break up the doom posting, but I really would like to see sunfury remnants addressed in midnight

Personally I'd like to see ex sun fury, illidari and the velfs coming together, potentially with some involvement from the etherals bonding over their connection of living in diaspora, especially the illidari and the void elves considering how the night elves in the illidari (and Illidan) followed a similar path of trying to learn to harness magic to protect their home and were banished for it which would facilitate an expansion of the lore for both demon hunters as a class and the illidari as a faction and adding a third spec to demon hunters representing this new crop of recruits trained in the ways of the illidari and the Etheral phase-reapers which would also open new class spot for something like bard or artifacer rather than a "void hunter" (idk how people can consider this seriously when we already have "demon hunters" and Alleria is aesthetically very similar to demon hunters, sharing the tattoos which are DH exclusive, and with Alleria gaining void powers in the way demon hunters gained fel powers, never mind the connection between void and fel and the fact that void is potential and fel is chaos, with light and order being direct foils to void/fel and us already having a set up of the sacred flame being a light/order hybrid magic but that's a whole other idea) while helping give us a solid group of existing elven characters to include in the quel'thalas expansion like kayn or kor'vas or Allari

[Joshuaj]

TWW is not beating the filler expansion allegations.

No Expansion in WoW is filler. They ALL deal with major events.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you. I have enjoyed the expansion, but the hallmarks of WoD are all here, even if we still get 3 full raids. But I said it since the expansion was revealed.

• Very little to show at blizzcon.
• while hyping up minor patches, the content in those patches are lacking
• hyping something entirely different (Midnight buzz/legion buzz started early with the Warcraft movie)
• the expansion's theme is literally dirt & digging in that dirt.

It's the first chapter of a massive saga. It by definition is not filler.

[Cheezits]

Ironically, 11.2 will decide how TWW is received in the long run. If it's Rootlands, it'll keep the current vibe. If it's Ka'resh it will be significant.

If it's something else? Coinflip.

[Joshuaj]

Classic- Heroes start their journey's and explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms
TBC- Heroes go to Outland and explore sacred Azerothian lands
Wrath- Heroes go to Northrend
Cataclysm- Heroes explore new lands on a fractured Azeroth
Mists of Pandaria- Heroes explore Pandaria
WoD- Heroes explore Draenor from the past, but in an alternate universe
Legion- Heroes explore the Broken Isles and Argus
BFA- Heroes explore Kul'Tiras, Zandalar, and other Islands
Shadowlands- Heroes explore the Afterlife and its place of origin
Dragonflight- Heroes explore the Dragon Isles and the Emerald Dream
The War Within- Heroes explore Khaz'Algar and the heart of Azeroth itself

Based off all these settings alone, The War Within does NOT sound like a filler expac. If anything, Dragonflight sounds more like a filler expac than TWW lol.

[Marlamin]

I mean, there absolutely is an A team and a B team. Heck there is also a C team and a fourth team that is working on evergreen features!

I think misconception people have about the "A & B team" is that there's the same groups of people that alternate the development of entire expansions. That's just not a thing. As far as I've been able to track down through research into Blizzard's development process, all (recent) WoW expansions go through the same development pipeline with the same teams through all of their stages.

I think it's better to see patches and expansions as a set of tasks. Patches will have a lower amount of tasks that need doing and expansions have way more, so there's always going to people working on expansions while there's also people working on patches. That doesn't mean the person working on the future expansion is going to work on the expansion after that right after they're done, it just depends on what tasks there are.

For example, there will be artists working on models for patch 11.2 while other artists might be working on models for 12.0 or even late 12.x+ and once someone could be done with a certain thing/set they'll pick up whatever is next from the pile. It's far more complex than a team A/B situation thing.

Obviously there's different spectrums of certain teams being further in the future than others. e.g. the visual development team will generally be working further into the future than the team doing the smaller features for the live game, but even inside those teams there will be people working on various different stages of things.

[Joshuaj]

I mean, maybe they did structure Xal'ataths characterization and the Dark Hearts function and explaination to Midnight? Ultimately, I assume the Dark Heart will do something in the next patch if it is on K'aresh. But, that is also a dangerous assumption and maybe it will just be used to slurp up K'areshs' something and then taken back to Azeroth and Quel'thalas for slurping the Sunwell mission.

I don't know but I have no idea what they're thinking if 11.2 is something else than K'aresh though. It'd definitely be much more confusing about what they're cooking at that point.

Honestly, I am giving them some leeway because they're still hellbent on the Saga giving them room to move story to the next expansion even if it doesn't look like it makes sense right now.

"They moved this plot to the next expac, that's all" "They changed a lot of TWW for the Worldsoul Saga stuff. Midnight will be better, trust Metzen guys"

Dawg, I hate to tell you this...but nothing's being changed or moved anywhere...

The War Within's story is just mid.

[Nymrohd]

I think misconception people have about the "A & B team" is that there's the same groups of people that alternate the development of entire expansions. That's just not a thing. As far as I've been able to track down through research into Blizzard's development process, all (recent) WoW expansions go through the same development pipeline with the same teams through all of their stages.

I think it's better to see patches and expansions as a set of tasks. Patches will have a lower amount of tasks that need doing and expansions have way more, so there's always going to people working on expansions while there's also people working on patches. That doesn't mean the person working on the future expansion is going to work on the expansion after that right after they're done, it just depends on what tasks there are.

For example, there will be artists working on models for patch 11.2 while other artists might be working on models for 12.0 or even late 12.x+ and once someone could be done with a certain thing/set they'll pick up whatever is next from the pile. It's far more complex than a team A/B situation thing.

Obviously there's different spectrums of certain teams being further in the future than others. e.g. the visual development team will generally be working further into the future than the team doing the smaller features for the live game, but even inside those teams there will be people working on various different stages of things.

There is actually this awesome infographic somewhere in the internet that parsed the credits for each expansion and tracks developers from WC1 all the way to Dragonflight. I think there is three people who've been involved in EVERYTHING.

[Joshuaj]

And who made this infographic?

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Assumptively the Bloomberg article seems to indicate that theres a Live Team that works on the Live Version of the game and then 2 teams working on the next two expansions. Do I know if that is factually true? No, is that what was written in the newsletter portion by Jason Schreier wiho directly quotes Holly Longdale? Yes. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsl...ter-expansions)

[Nymrohd]

Assumptively the Bloomberg article seesm to indicate that theres a Live Team that works on the Live Version of the game and then 2 teams working on the next two expansions. Do I know if that is factually true? No, is that what was written in the newsletter portion by Jason Schreier wiho directly quotes Holly Longdale.

The thing is, those teams are versatile and people switch between them. From an operations management and project management perspective, there very much are teams assigned to projects. But from a human resources perspective, developers move to the team that needs them.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

The thing is, those teams are versatile and people switch between them. From an operations management and project management perspective, there very much are teams assigned to projects. But from a human resources perspective, developers move to the team that needs them.

Sure, they can be multi-roled and most likely are multi-roled in their jobs. Especially because 1 person is better than 2.