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

[whoisqnx]

As much as I want Haranir to be a playable allied race I really dont want to see another world tree related .2 patch with half elves, we just had a world tree patch with elves in DF...unless they make a really unique zone that doesnt scream Emerald Dream/Ardenweald/Valsharah...if it looks like the forests in Pandora from Avatar with bioluminescence then sure, I will take it.

I would much rather have a new Argus (K'aresh this time but instead of green its purple/blue!), its been a while.
Also im not sure how they can pull off the ethereal raid if we are going to the Rootlands.

Either way, please give us Haranir with all the datamined customization and a sick ethereal raid with beautiful sets.

[Joshuaj]

Final predictions for this week!

Definitely happening:

• Blizzard publishes the May Trading Post blog post tonight.
• Tomorrow, 11.1.7 is announced, along with a PTR later in the day.

Low chance of happening:

• When MrGM went to California last week, it was for a secret Blizzard meeting and collaboration on the announcement of 11.1.7 and perhaps even 11.2. If it's just for 11.1.7 then the patch probably contains something major like a new class, spec, or allied race.

What 11.1.7 will contain:

• People will be surprised, as the patch is actually doing the obvious by steering the story towards "Rootlands", the Haranir, and Elun'ahir. Not K'aresh.
• It'll contain world events related to this theme. I'm thinking primal life forces going on a rampage in Khaz Algar, or something to do with the Black Blood perhaps.
• The patch will begin to set the stage for an Ethereal raid in 11.2, which might give us a glimpse of the worldsoul, K'aresh, the Beledar, or the Undersea before all is said and done.
• (Obvious) We'll see the Turbulent Timeways return near the end of the patch, this summer.
• Pandaren heritage armour set to arrive in time for MoP: Classic.
• The big "maybe" is whether Blizzard will surprise us with a major announcement of a new allied race, class or spec.

What's with these weird speculations regarding MrGM?

[Sondrelk]

What's with these weird speculations regarding MrGM?

He made an announcement he was going to somewhere I cannot quite remember. He later said it was to visit Disneyland with his family, but people had already decided it was due to some Blizzard event.

Admittedly, could be both of course. And he decided to visit Disneyland while being in the area. But nothing concrete beyond it lining up pretty well with an 11.2 announcement.

[Worldshaper]

He made an announcement he was going to somewhere I cannot quite remember. He later said it was to visit Disneyland with his family, but people had already decided it was due to some Blizzard event.

Admittedly, could be both of course. And he decided to visit Disneyland while being in the area. But nothing concrete beyond it lining up pretty well with an 11.2 announcement.

I was only being half-serious on that one.

But it's worth pointing out that he has "magically" appeared on Blizzard campus at least once before for a promotional collaboration, and he has also participated in events with other content creators like T&E.

In my world it's pretty "out there" to just randomly hop over to California from Europe for a couple of days unless it's work related. Travelling is expensive and the dude is a father and recent house buyer. So well done to him if that's within his budget as a content creator. Very much deserved, because he's one of the better ones out there.

But yeah, we can probably let that line of speculation go, especially if no other streamers have indicated that they were away for a bit last week.

Edit

That's one cute Trading Post.

https://x.com/Warcraft/status/191729...LsRS_hBtA&s=19

I known it's just sort of spring themed but maybe just maybe it contains traces of what one could discover inside "Rootlands".

Thinking primarily of quirky hedgehogs and Drust.

[Nymrohd]

Oh May has nunchuks on the trading post!

[Marlamin]

Oh May has nunchuks on the trading post!

....is this karate kid movie cross-promo? Suspicious.

[Kiivar86]

....is this karate kid movie cross-promo? Suspicious.

TMNT references, it seems, based on the turtle shell backpack and the four vigilante masks. There's also two katana and a sai, and they're all "Renaissance" named. No staff but the initiate bo staff is in so that covers that.

The Night Hag stuff has me very curious, and I like the staff. More drust stuff. edit: Remnants of a drust raid from Shadowlands, perhaps?

[milkmustache]

I known it's just sort of spring themed but maybe just maybe it contains traces of what one could discover inside "Rootlands".

Thinking primarily of quirky hedgehogs and Drust.

I get what you're saying about MrGM, but I think it's better to take it at face value and believe he genuinely took a vacation rather than drum up hype where there may not be any. I'm always wary to peek into the personal lives of internet creators like him, I think it's best to leave it be.

I hadn't considered the possibility of the Drust being invovled in the Rootlands. I don't know if that's what you're saying, but it is a cool notion! It would be interesting to see if they have more areas across Azeroth, or maybe some sort of incursion from Thros.

....is this karate kid movie cross-promo? Suspicious.

TMNT references, I believe. This patch has been full of them.

[Marlamin]

TMNT references, it seems, based on the turtle shell backpack and the four vigilante masks. There's also two katana and a sai, and they're all "Renaissance" named. No staff but the initiate bo staff is in so that covers that.

TMNT movie remake confirmed.

[Worldshaper]

I hadn't considered the possibility of the Drust being invovled in the Rootlands. I don't know if that's what you're saying, but it is a cool notion! It would be interesting to see if they have more areas across Azeroth, or maybe some sort of incursion from Thros.

It's not an idea I've explored very deeply. To be honest, I'm not an expert in Drust lore.

But I can't help but feel like it could be thematically appropriate to further explore Drust and Decay within "Rootlands".

First because it generally seems to be a zone about darkness, the roots of a "dead" tree, mushrooms, and so on. The cycle of Life and Death must be prevalent there.

If theories about a 5th Old God are true, then I can't help but think of all those skulls and vines the 5th Old God was depicted with in Chronicles Vol. 1. Those West Studio concept art pieces also features several chambers with lots of skulls and bones, often within the proximity of Old God-like figures.

Maybe there is a connection. Perhaps there is a group of Drust Druids stopping the enemy from accessing the worldsoul through the roots or something. The "Deathwarders".

[Merryck]

Yay, let's defend a world tree in an emerald dream adjacent zone for the penultimate patch of an expansion for the second time in a row.

[Nize]

I known it's just sort of spring themed but maybe just maybe it contains traces of what one could discover inside "Rootlands".

Thinking primarily of quirky hedgehogs and Drust.

Not sure. I would think they would save dropping a Druid drust set for the season they'd be involved in and not the season prior (this one). I'm leaning more, as someone else pointed our earlier, that these are assets from the Shadowlands Drust raid that never made it to light.

[milkmustache]

It's not an idea I've explored very deeply. To be honest, I'm not an expert in Drust lore.

But I can't help but feel like it could be thematically appropriate to further explore Drust and Decay within "Rootlands".

First because it generally seems to be a zone about darkness, the roots of a "dead" tree, mushrooms, and so on. The cycle of Life and Death must be prevalent there.

If theories about a 5th Old God are true, then I can't help but think of all those skulls and vines the 5th Old God was depicted with in Chronicles Vol. 1. Those West Studio concept art pieces also features several chambers with lots of skulls and bones, often within the proximity of Old God-like figures.

Maybe there is a connection. Perhaps there is a group of Drust Druids stopping the enemy from accessing the worldsoul through the roots or something. The "Deathwarders".

It's a fun notion, and I wouldn't mind seeing the Drust again, but I still am so apprehensive about doing another World Tree thing to close an expansion. I understand that it'd be a lot different from the Emerald Dream in execution, but in my opinion, Blizzard has been a bit one note in the handling when it comes to the "cosmic" forces, so even if the zone looks different and we're stopping the Black Blood opposed to Fyraak, I'm expecting a lot of "Look, it's infused with LIFE magic!" type of exposition which is... boring. As much as I've enjoyed the underground theme, I really hope they pull a curveball for 11.2 and bring us something on one is expecting.

[huth]

TMNT references, it seems, based on the turtle shell backpack and the four vigilante masks. There's also two katana and a sai, and they're all "Renaissance" named. No staff but the initiate bo staff is in so that covers that.

The Night Hag stuff has me very curious, and I like the staff. More drust stuff. edit: Remnants of a drust raid from Shadowlands, perhaps?

"Heroic Half-Shell". Might as well just say it outright at that point that it's about the heroes in a half-shell.

[Merryck]

The trading post rarely predicts the theme of future content. Has it ever?

[Darkarath]

The trading post rarely predicts the theme of future content. Has it ever?

Not that I'm aware.

I think that the Drust will come back when the Life theme takes the main stage, and that will not happen in the WSS. They would probably make an appearance in TLT, when the Harranir would probably be relevant again.

[Worldshaper]

Yay, let's defend a world tree in an emerald dream adjacent zone for the penultimate patch of an expansion for the second time in a row.

I'm not strongly arguing in favour of it but I think it's a possibility. I also don't think "Rootlands" would have to be remotely similar to the Emerald Dream.

First of all, there's no tree. Just roots. Roots that might (at least in part) be covered in fungi, or rotten, or corrupt, or filled with Black Blood, and so on.

Second, what we've seen of "Rootlands" so far looks nothing like the Emerald Dream.

True, the Haranir seem to have a vaguely similar origin story to the Night Elves, and they are some type of guardians of life. But that's where the similarities end as far as we know.

It's likely a pretty dark zone (given that it is underground and Haranir turn into bats). It probably has a lot of mushrooms given all the fungal adventures we've had on Khaz Algar with the Freysworn. There's potentially some type of very primal wildlife, like quillboards or dinosaurs or something. There's also a chance that the worldsoul is featured quite prominently, but that's just a guess based on the fact that whispers claim roots reach the worldsoul, and that Orweyna saw it in a vision.

What I'm trying to say is that "Rootlands" and the Emerald Dream could be about as different from one another as Argus and K'aresh, or Argus and the Maw. A few similarities but lots to set them apart.

Not sure. I would think they would save dropping a Druid drust set for the season they'd be involved in and not the season prior (this one). I'm leaning more, as someone else pointed our earlier, that these are assets from the Shadowlands Drust raid that never made it to light.

That's a good point. But don't these look a little more defined and hi-res than Shadowlands assets? I could be wrong but they look very new to me.

I think it's fair to say that the TP mostly follows seasons and holidays for its newer items though.

It's a fun notion, and I wouldn't mind seeing the Drust again, but I still am so apprehensive about doing another World Tree thing to close an expansion. I understand that it'd be a lot different from the Emerald Dream in execution, but in my opinion, Blizzard has been a bit one note in the handling when it comes to the "cosmic" forces, so even if the zone looks different and we're stopping the Black Blood opposed to Fyraak, I'm expecting a lot of "Look, it's infused with LIFE magic!" type of exposition which is... boring. As much as I've enjoyed the underground theme, I really hope they pull a curveball for 11.2 and bring us something on one is expecting.

I can definitely understand this sentiment.

In my view, K'aresh, the Undersea and the Beledar, "Rootlands", and some type of "Uldaz" + Worldcore type of patch are all equally plausible.

But I also can't quite shake the idea that it seems silly to just scrap "Rootlands". It seems like such a WoD era move in a modern development pipeline, back when they could do just about anything if they felt like it. Surely if "Rootlands" exisists within Khaz Algar with roots and a doorway and everything (including notble Haranir character and questlines), then it was still in the plan as of quite recently.

[Hitei]

The trading post rarely predicts the theme of future content. Has it ever?

We technically got the Titan/Sargeras/Xal weapon set just before WSS' announcement. I don't know that it's reasonable to compare patch stuff with a Blizzcon triple expansion announcement though.

[Worldshaper]

Just one more sleep before we find out. Tomorrow is 11.1.7 PTR day!

[milkmustache]

The trading post rarely predicts the theme of future content. Has it ever?

Although it was telegraphed all over the place, the Soot-Stained Shalewing pet's description naming Undermine was a pretty big indicator. This was a month before Warcraft Direct. Loose example that I'm not willing to commit to a trend, though.

I can definitely understand this sentiment.

In my view, K'aresh, the Undersea and the Beledar, "Rootlands", and some type of "Uldaz" + Worldcore type of patch are all equally plausible.

But I also can't quite shake the idea that it seems silly to just scrap "Rootlands". It seems like such a WoD era move in a modern development pipeline, back when they could do just about anything if they felt like it. Surely if "Rootlands" exisists within Khaz Algar with roots and a doorway and everything (including notble Haranir character and questlines), then it was still in the plan as of quite recently.

I think the Worldcore is the only 100% lock. K'aresh feels certain in some form, especially with the statement being we'd know where 11.2 will take us after 11.1. If we take that cinematic literally, we're going to K'aresh.

But I also agree about hte situation with the Rootlands. It seems like the Rootlands was meant to be a leveling zone in development that got shifted into something else, but it doesn't scream "final patch" for any reason other than us vaguely knowing about it through both in game and out of game sources. If we're hunting Xal'atath and the Dark Heart this entire time, but for whatever reason pivot to helping clean the Rootlands of the Black Blood, then it'd be a huge egg on our face duh moment when the Void invades or takes over, as we did nothing to really combat it.

It truly feels like a 50/50 split between K'aresh and Rootlands. Maybe we luck out and get both. The raid is 100% bringing us to the Worldcore my gut says.