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

[Valysar]

I've done it myself, that's why it's a rather poorly done edit haha, but "Avaloren" is a really good looking name imo

[Joszef Kiprich]

Except Class Design and end-game.

That's like saying "Oh, there's no need for Vanilla/TBC classic" because everything is already in Wrath classic.

I'll give you class design but the end game stuff is still there. The differences between retail and vanilla, TBC and Wrath classic are like day and night. Between Cata and retail? Not so much.

[micwini]

BlizzCon opening ceremony from 9 years ago. Notice how much focus they had on WoW's anniversary. 2014 for the 10th anniversary!

Just imagine how they'll open this year's ceremony. Sure, there's no Mike Morhaime. In fact, a lot of those dudes are gone now, which is sad.

But METZEN, man.

Edit:

I realise this year is the 19th anniversary, so they probably won't celebrate it that much. But the announcements should still be special!

I mean its the 10th expansion. That alone should be something

[KurtMash]

World of Warcraft: The Dark Heart

In search for the way to steal Azeroth from the Titans grasp, Iridikron and Xal'atath go to the remains of K'aresh to investigate it's destruction and capture the lingering essences of Dimensius. The reason why Dimensius attacked K'aresh in the first place is that it actually had a world soul he wanted to convert into a Dark Titan. The soul did resist the energies, but as a result it exploded. Eventually, after Dimensius left the planet the Ethereals returned to it. They began the proces of rebuilding their civilization, recreating all the different biomes and world they met during their exile. With it's varied habitats, K'aresh has became a universal hub for all races that lost their homes to the void - and other cosmic forces.

While most Ethereals are conversationalists and merchants, focused on fighting the void corruption present in the remains of the broken planet, seeding new life into it, and profiting off of it, there is also a sect that worships the void, sees the curse sent upon them as a blessing and works to bring the Void Lords into existence, so they can share their gift with all of the universe. They work together with Iridikron and Xal'atath to gather the energies, so Azeroth awaits the same fate as K'aresh did - bathed in void energies. This time however, the Galakrond's hunger is added to the mix - so instead of resisting them, she eats the energies and becomes the Dark Titan.

---
I could see this kind of setup working quite well. Ecodomes give us unlimited options of biomes. A mix of races from all of the universe allows us to ground the expansion in existing world even if it is set in space (perhaps we can find there Dreanei, Orcs, Arrakoa, Ogres, Humans, Void elves among others. Maybe some other demon races from before they became corrupted?). Although the first patch is set on K'aresh, we do not lose the connection to Azeroth, and future patches can easily be set on the planet. Perhaps an underground zone around the Soul of Azeroth as a final patch?

[Nibelheimy]

If were to get a 10.3, pushing the next expac release to November 2024. 10th expac releasing on the 20th wow and 30th warcraft anniversary is certainly something to go full on hype with.

They'd honnestly be mad not to go crazy with this one.

My personal opinion is if there will ever be a revamp, so many previous players will be reminiscing about wow during this period with these anniversaries it's the time to do it.

Dragonflight has high retention with it's cadence, but has been said to struggle to get new players in and ex players back. At the very least, the expansion reveal cinematic should be absolutely grand to capitalise on these anniversaries.

[Raetary]

https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...91919010111620

Personal Tabards!

I repeat PERSONAL TABARDS!

[AOL Instant Messenger]

World of Warcraft: The Dark Heart

In search for the way to steal Azeroth from the Titans grasp, Iridikron and Xal'atath go to the remains of K'aresh to investigate it's destruction and capture the lingering essences of Dimensius. The reason why Dimensius attacked K'aresh in the first place is that it actually had a world soul he wanted to convert into a Dark Titan.

I'm kind of partial to the idea of K'aresh's world soul surviving in part after deliberately embracing the Void but being insufficiently powerful to survive the process, sauntering across the Great Dark Beyond as a kind of Nyarlathotep figure.

I could see this kind of setup working quite well. Ecodomes give us unlimited options of biomes. A mix of races from all of the universe allows us to ground the expansion in existing world even if it is set in space (perhaps we can find there Dreanei, Orcs, Arrakoa, Ogres, Humans, Void elves among others. Maybe some other demon races from before they became corrupted?). Although the first patch is set on K'aresh, we do not lose the connection to Azeroth, and future patches can easily be set on the planet. Perhaps an underground zone around the Soul of Azeroth as a final patch?

I think the main catch would be that they'd have to have some level of cohesion to make the varied environments work. If it's too disjointed, it may feel more like the Shadowlands than Outland. However, this is still an interesting enough idea. It's not quite how I'd do it, as I'd prefer K'aresh be a full, albeit void-tainted, landmass, and I'm not a particularly big fan of connecting Iridikron to a K'aresh story.

[Teriz]

Damn thrall keyart throws a monkey wrench in everything.

The only way I can tie him to a void exp is with Yrel.

Gerayah will most definitely go to war against the lightbound if they make their way to our timeline. I'm thinking thrall is her mentor and through that relationship might give him some kind of special role. Idfk.

Maybe him being in nzoth vision means something too.

Thrall works in a Underground/Undermine expansion as well.
-Thrall is heavily tied to the elements of Azeroth which applies for the underground regions of the planet.
-Thrall and Gazlowe go way back as allies and friends (Blizzard even had a point and click game featuring the two characters).
-Thrall originally helped the Goblins join the Horde back in Cataclysm.

Undermine was originally planned for vanilla WoW so I could see Blizzard making a big hoopla about finally being able to do a continent they wanted to do back in 2004, right in time for WoW's 20th anniversary.

[micwini]

2010 - 2016 was the best time to be a Blizzard fan, jesus. At least in the modern era, obviously the 90s were something else.

We got Cata, MoP, WoD, and Legion.
We got Diablo 3 and its expansion.
We got Starcraft 2 and its two expansions.
We got Hearthstone and is first batch of excellent expansions.
We got Heroes of the Storm.
We got Overwatch.
We got the Warcraft movie (not a big fan myself, but still a big deal for it to happen).
Pretty much all the legends were still with the company.

Sure, they weren't all hits. But in general, it was a very exciting time, and there was a lot of polish in everything they did.

Meanwhile, in 2017 - 2023, we've gotten:

BfA, Shadowlands, and Dragonflight.
Diablo Immortal.
Diablo IV.
Starcraft: Remastered.
Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Warcraft 3: Reforged.
Warcraft: Rumble.
Overwatch 2 (Overwatch 1 GONE).
Hearthstone had a bunch of expansions, arguably lost its heart.
Heroes of the Storm was abandoned.
Starcraft was abandoned.
We lost legends like Metzen, Morhaime, and many others.

BfA and Dragonflight were all right, and I appreciated the remasters for Starcraft and Diablo 2. But other than that, it's been a rough couple of years to be an old school Blizzard fan.

Here's hoping the next seven years (2024 - 2030) is the great revival for Blizzard, under Xbox ownership. What I'm hoping for:

Diablo IV gets back on its feet with some great expansions.
Starcraft revitalised with new games.
WoW has a great 10th expansion with an impending world revamp, and then enters a new era.
WoW and other games on Xbox and Game Pass.
Hopefully a new Warcraft title, perhaps an RPG?
A few animated series on Netflix?
Heroes of the Storm brought back as an evergreen live service game.
Overwatch 1 brought back as a legacy game; OR the "2" removed from the current game, and numerous consumer-friendly improvements made.
The new IP becomes a hit, something to get excited for.
Metzen back on stage! Somebody to look up to.

2016 was the BiS year tbh. OW launch (yes it was a great game then and got GOTY) and Legion.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...91919010111620

Personal Tabards!

I repeat PERSONAL TABARDS!

I would upload hypetrain2023.jpg onto my tabard. Hell yea

[Sondrelk]

https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...91919010111620

Personal Tabards!

I repeat PERSONAL TABARDS!

Fantastic addition. It's always annoying when you could have the perfect tabard if you had full control over the guild tabard. This should finally let you make a decent tabsrdfor any mog.

[Teriz]

i remind you that it's Thrall who represents the next WoW expansion on the BlizzCon poster
so... if you really think it's a Void planet or something similar... and i don't see why Blizzard would risk disclosing the theme of its next expansion so obviously with AI images so long before it's announced...

you're all being fooled...

Also I REALLY don't think we'd get something as out there as a Void planet for WoW's 20th anniversary expansion. Remember, we got WoD for WoW's 10th, and we got that because Blizzard wanted players to experience all the old Orc leaders they might have missed in the earlier WC RTS games. It was nostalgia bait, and I have a suspicion that 11.0 is going to be a similar type of expansion. Hence why you have Thrall on the key art and Metzen on the mic; its just screams old-school WC/WoW.

[Holdodlig]

Where are my Bolvar leaks ???

[Santandame]

https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...91919010111620

Personal Tabards!

I repeat PERSONAL TABARDS!

I hope these follow the design of the more recent tabards as opposed to what we currently have with guild tabard design.

[Hitei]

Where are my Bolvar leaks ???

Wait until the week of October 23.

[pacotaco]

I hope these follow the design of the more recent tabards as opposed to what we currently have with guild tabard design.

They do: https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-sty...ch-10-2-335144

[Alanar]

https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...91919010111620

Personal Tabards!

I repeat PERSONAL TABARDS!

And this is exciting why?

[Raetary]

And this is exciting why?

Because i've been asking for personalized tabards for ages and seeing it becoming a potential reality is really damn great.

[Hitei]

And this is exciting why?

It represents an entire armor slot that had pretty been quite limited being given a bunch of easily accessible customization options.

[KurtMash]

I'm kind of partial to the idea of K'aresh's world soul surviving in part after deliberately embracing the Void but being insufficiently powerful to survive the process, sauntering across the Great Dark Beyond as a kind of Nyarlathotep figure.



I think the main catch would be that they'd have to have some level of cohesion to make the varied environments work. If it's too disjointed, it may feel more like the Shadowlands than Outland. However, this is still an interesting enough idea. It's not quite how I'd do it, as I'd prefer K'aresh be a full, albeit void-tainted, landmass, and I'm not a particularly big fan of connecting Iridikron to a K'aresh story.

Perhaps Xal'atath is just that? A weakened remnant of K'aresh's soul? Although I'm not sure if the timeline would match.

As for the zones: I would imagine K'aresh to look like Netherstorm, just purple rocks hanging in space, tied together by magic or bridges. The bigger chunks are occupied by the Ecodomes, but on the outskirts of a zone, when you leave the dome you are once again presented with a barren space. I would see the domes as Ethereals attempts to recreate homes of races as they remember it, so of course there would be a "theme park" feel to them... as in a way that's what they are. But still, these are the new homes of people who lost their planets, and even if they are living a lie, there is a reason why it looks they way it does... unlike Shadowlands, where the themes of the realms were very... arbitrary.

One zone would be a recreation of the arid surface of original K'aresh. Here we can explore the history of the race, and themes of not being able to let go.

Another zone would be a jungle, the theme could be life related, basically a cosmic zoo, preservation of species, but also perhaps some links to Elune and the realm of life.

Another zone could be plains, a space version of Valley of Four Winds. This is the heart of the planet that provides it's habitants with means of survival in the hostile space. This is where most live, where the energy and food is being produced etc.

Another zone could be the Frontier. Uncovered rocks in space full of twisted energies. Ethereals are here in the process of reclaiming the land to build a new ecodome. We fight the void forces and uncover the truth behind the Dimensius attack.

Of course there are many more zones they could come up with. Perhaps even New Nathria?

[Sondrelk]

And this is exciting why?

Customizable tabards are in the game, but only if you are in control of a guild, which kinda spoils it.
This way you can have the tabard you want without having to deal with the whole deal surrounding being in control of a guild.

It's basically exactly the kind of change that should happen. The feature is already in the game, but withheld from players by arbitrary rules.
This way you remove the arbitrary rule.