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

[Teriz]

Thrall can also have just as much to do with the void.
Given he took center stage in N’zoth’s vision… and his whole deal in preventing the Hour of Twilight.

Or maybe Thrall is there just because Metzen is coming back.

I disagree. If the expansion is going to be void-based, you wouldn't be showcasing Thrall. Thrall is not a cosmic-friendly character. Alleria for example would be a better choice.

Also I don't think you would bring Metzen back to tell the crowd that they're going to be spending WoW's 20th anniversary off of Azeroth.

[Kiivar86]

What about Torghast and the Maw? Those were very death-themed. Also it didn't help that the raids were all death themed as well.

The point is that Blizzard going shadow so quickly after Shadowlands is a mistake. However, at the end of the day it's their game to screw up.

Fair about Torghast/Maw though I'd still say it wasn't all Death (and I confess I actually forgot about Torghast/Maw, haha). It was quite varied, though as I've complained before it wasn't alien enough, for my tastes anyway.

I don't think it would be a mistake at all. I think they can find a good variety there. To think they can't is a lack of imagination. And as we saw with Aberrus, they've just up and altered Shadow in general to at least partly divorce it from the flesh and eyes and tentacles look of the Old Gods.

[Nightshade711]

That updated eco-dome reminds me there's been all the Ethereal stuff that's been building up for a while. Locus-Walker, Shadreen, the Shadowscrawled Coin, all of that combined with the Xal'atath and Azshara subplots and Iridikron leaving makes a Void expansion look incredibly likely, even ignoring these leaks.

I wonder what kind of features this expansion would actually have, since Borrowed Power is dead and they already revamped talents and the like. I guess we can get playable Ethereals or something?

If we didn’t get Dracthyr this expansion I’d 100% think we’d get playable Ethereals. They’re definitely on my wishlist.
If they are playable next xpac it could even mean the leaked images are from their starting zone & we wouldn’t be leaving Azeroth much at all. (Except maybe for patch content)

But I could see them doing another customization revamp to bring the other races up to Dracthyr standards.

[Woggmer]

The "Winter is coming" from the wow twitter account makes me believe that Iridikron will unleash the "Galakron Hunger" on the world.

This could lead to some Cataclysm-like event that would justified a (partial?) world revamp, with some kind of zombi apocalypse theme (Opposing argument would be we just had Shadowlands so...), but also new threats and new grounded adventures for each zone. We could imagine some zones being merged into one.

The cataclysm timeline could still be accessible through some Bronze temple of sort and if there is a Classic HD, the classic timeline could also be accessible once more.

That's just ideas from the "winter is coming" though, I'm probably wrong.

Or it could just be to promote ICC coming to Wrath Classic, but... /shrug

[KOUNTERPARTS]

I hate to speak more to this on-and-off Undermine expansion discussion, but I was thinking about potential plot points for a massive underground expansion centered around the Undermine.

I think it would be pretty cool if we saw a return of the Nerubian Empire in the sense of a faction of renegade Nerubians (living) who left Azjol-Nerub during the time of WotLK (seeing the city as a lost cause against the Scourge) and are encroaching on the Undermine. Perhaps they want the Undermine for themselves for the sheer amount of space? Perhaps they sense what the Undermine really is? Perhaps they want the kaja'mite? Who knows?
Being that they remain a very popular subterranean race, the Nerubians could serve as a major expansion-long antagonist... but not the primary expansion antagonist.

[huth]

Hah that does remind me how I saw many a complaint about Zereth Mortis being so very un-death themed. And while I liked Zereth Mortis, I'd agree. It felt very out of place for the genesis point of the various afterlives.

Of course it isn't. It's a factory for afterlives, not for cemeteries. How many people do you know that look forward to spend the rest of eternity in a field of skulls and bones vs. people that'd rather not?

[Teriz]

I hate to speak more to this on-and-off Undermine expansion discussion, but I was thinking about potential plot points for a massive underground expansion centered around the Undermine.

I think it would be pretty cool if we saw a return of the Nerubian Empire in the sense of a faction of renegade Nerubians (living) who left Azjol-Nerub during the time of WotLK (seeing the city as a lost cause against the Scourge) and are encroaching on the Undermine. Perhaps they want the Undermine for themselves for the sheer amount of space? Perhaps they sense what the Undermine really is? Perhaps they want the kaja'mite? Who knows?
Being that they remain a very popular subterranean race, the Nerubians could serve as a major expansion-long antagonist... but not the primary expansion antagonist.

There was a nerubian trinket found in Zaralek Caverns, so you never know. I think quite a few players would enjoy a Nerubian-based raid in an Undermine expansion.

[Kiivar86]

Of course it isn't. It's a factory for afterlives, not for cemeteries. How many people do you know that look forward to spend the rest of eternity in a field of skulls and bones vs. people that'd rather not?

I mean I expected it to be at least somewhat death themed. I guess you could argue that the misty nature of the place works toward it, but if I were new to all this I would've thought Zereth Mortis was more life oriented.

[Revamp Man]

What if Xal isn't the 5th old god but a void titan and the xal we know is the Harbinger of her coming

The planet looking thing in the art is the true Xal
It's beyond the umbral veil and the character in the art is basking in her glory like the Naga book talks about

[Kiivar86]

I've been vocal about not liking goblin aesthetic but I admit a fully underground city has started to worm its way into my head a bit.

Will need to see variety within it before I'm fully on board, if so.

[huth]

I mean I expected it to be at least somewhat death themed. I guess you could argue that the misty nature of the place works toward it, but if I were new to all this I would've thought Zereth Mortis was more life oriented.

That seems like a really weird expectation. More like you didn't fully understand what it actually is.

Kinda like expecting a car factory to be all car themed.

[Ersula]

What if Xal isn't the 5th old god but a void titan and the xal we know is the Harbinger of her coming

The planet looking thing in the art is the true Xal
It's beyond the umbral veil and the character in the art is basking in her glory like the Naga book talks about

Once again I point out, why would Neltharian create a void window & a void artifact for the explicit purpose of bringing the Harbinger to Azeroth, if Xalatath was already on Azeroth when he made them?

[Polybius]

There’s also Scaleface’s new PFP.


Which looks to be the Twitter header. Though the header is a little cut off.

It looks strangely familiar...

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wo...20201201013405

Anima devourers?

[Kiivar86]

That seems like a really weird expectation. More like you didn't fully understand what it actually is.

Kinda like expecting a car factory to be all car themed.

...a car factory would be car themed though, essentially. It'd be absolutely packed with cars and car parts. Sure the factory itself may not be car shaped but there'd sure be cars all over. I can step into a car factory blindfolded, have the blindfold taken off, and immediately go "yeah this is a car factory." That's not the case with Zereth Mortis. I don't really see things that make me think death in Zereth Mortis. It'd be like going to Zereth Ordus and finding it all chaotic in aesthetic.

[Revamp Man]

Once again I point out, why would Neltharian create a void window & a void artifact for the explicit purpose of bringing the Harbinger to Azeroth, if Xalatath was already on Azeroth when he made them?

Point out where he knew about the heart of ysharjj that he could have eaten for more power or him knowing about the knife at all

- - - Updated - - -

It looks strangely familiar...

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wo...20201201013405

Anima devourers?

That's what I'm thinking
We are told they are from the space between realms
What if the big planet there is the 7th force

[AOL Instant Messenger]

It looks strangely familiar...

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wo...20201201013405

Anima devourers?

Kind of similar, but I still think they're AI-generated. I think it's probably part of a larger ARG or just a hint as to what things generally look like.

[Woggmer]

...a car factory would be car themed though, essentially. It'd be absolutely packed with cars and car parts. Sure the factory itself may not be car shaped but there'd sure be cars all over. I can step into a car factory blindfolded, have the blindfold taken off, and immediately go "yeah this is a car factory." That's not the case with Zereth Mortis. I don't really see things that make me think death in Zereth Mortis. It'd be like going to Zereth Ordus and finding it all chaotic in aesthetic.

An NPC named Saezurah pointed this out.
"Mortis. Lumen. Ordus. Rhythm and structure."
"Vitae. Umbra. Tumult. Improvisation and possibility."

It was spoken in another thread, but all the names of the Zereths are from different cosmos, we know that much.. but the Zereth's are split between two categories.
Mortis (Death), Lumen (Light), Ordus (Order) give us Rhythm and Structure.. which is translated as creation, patterns, and stabile forms.
Vitae (Life), Umbra (Void), Tumult (Chaos) give us Improvisation and Possbility.. which can mean evolution and changes.

Basically... if we went to say Zereth Lumen, we might expect the same thing we saw at Zereth Mortis BUUUT if for example we traveled to Zereth Vitae or Zereth Tumult then it would be a much different place. (This is, of course, just a theory)

[Hitei]

Basically... if we went to say Zereth Lumen, we might expect the same thing we saw at Zereth Mortis BUUUT if for example we traveled to Zereth Vitae or Zereth Tumult then it would be a much different place. (This is, of course, just a theory)

Seems unlikely. Zereth Mortis had a very specific function, warping reality to build individual afterlife realms, and it's "biome" set also reflects that, one side being the First Ones associated desert and the other side being experimental vegetation for testing environments.

Lumen wouldn't need either of those functions, in particularly because the Light seems to idealize a unification and spread. It presumably has a totally different function related to the intended function of Light. If I had to guess, something like a reality-scale laser that can project the Light outwards from its native realm to anywhere (would explain the initial Light wave that crossed the Great Dark and also how the Light is capable of doing stuff like invading the Shadowlands).

Likewise I don't think the other set would be wildly different. They're still just First Ones installations but each with their own function. They should all look aesthetically similar (and have the desert foundation) but mechanically/functionally distinct.

[Houle]

Kind of similar, but I still think they're AI-generated. I think it's probably part of a larger ARG or just a hint as to what things generally look like.

Yeah, these are giving me AI vibes so far. More than the alledged cinematic screenshot leak. Especially the 2 creatures/buildings/whatever in that header are looking pretty much exactly like what an AI would spit out.
If this is real, or at least made to give a general feel for how things are going to look, i dont really know if i like it yet. It looks like Netherstorm but dialed up to 11. Could potentially feel even more "removed" from Warcraft than SL did.

[username993720]

What? That's as Warcraft as you can get. Void Dreadlord? Fuck yeah dude

It feels off. Otherwordly and space-y.

You said it. How anyone could get excited about those pics is beyond me. It looks like a recolored Argus.

It has a vibe of another game. But, i fear that is what they are pushing for. To alienate the playerbase even more.

unsure if anyone replied to this, but is it actually said anywhere that they reach adolescence slowly? If anything this is confirmation that night elves aging stops/slows when they reach adulthood, which we already sort of had an idea was the case.

I guess so. There are no old-looking night elves.