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

[FossilFree]

I hope we get an expansion that picks up the story from where it left off in Eredath during Legion. I want to know all about the Void Ethereals like Locus-Walker and go to K'aresh. The cool thing about that is you could have both a space expansion and life expansion at the same time, with all the void aesthetics but also the lush jungles found within the Eco-Domes. Hopefully, we would also get a Void Knight class skin for paladins finally too.

It just felt like that was the logical next step in the escalation of the story into the cosmic realms. Not this weird journey into the Sylvanas arc and the Maw. But that story thread has been just hanging out there like a big old matzo ball since patch 7.3, just waiting to be plucked.

[Mysticdoll]

No, they do not come from an e-mail - but from the environment that informed about DF and Legion.
However, it was noted that these may be "baits", as I mentioned earlier.



^ this.

Unfortunately, I may cool down the hype, but it's impossible to judge whether they are legit - 50/50.

I'll go back to reading, and in the same way (although I haven't played DF too much because lack of time) I'm waiting for the new expansion like You guys

Also idk about the legion leaks but the df leaks were a few days before the announcement, seems sus this leak came more than a month before the announcement

[Sondrelk]

they also want blizzard to retcon shadowlands and bfa lmao. as i said, a revamp makes more sense in classic because the worldbuilding in retail has taken too much damage from the last 2 expansions. you could update the assets in retail, but the lore/story would still remain lame/bad

That still doesn't explain why people would switch over from Retail to Classic without being able to carry their stuff over.
People might not like SL and BfA, but still want the transmog from them.

You are also ignoring all the people who don't care about lore and just want content. Those people would definitely not be happy about having to abandon all their stuff on Retail be able to play the newest expansion.

I mean, just imagine if the next expansion was a world revamp. All the stuff that happened since the end of Legion was a dream, and all your wildest WoW dreams are here.
However, all your DKs, Monks, Demon Hunters, and Dracthyr will be deleted. All the mounts and battle pets are gone. But at least you can farm a single expansions worth of new stuff.

[Nightshade711]

I hope we get an expansion that picks up the story from where it left off in Eredath during Legion. I want to know all about the Void Ethereals like Locus-Walker and go to K'aresh. The cool thing about that is you could have both a space expansion and life expansion at the same time, with all the void aesthetics but also the lush jungles found within the Eco-Domes. Hopefully, we would also get a Void Knight class skin for paladins finally too.

It just felt like that was the logical next step in the escalation of the story into the cosmic realms. Not this weird journey into the Sylvanas arc and the Maw. But that story thread has been just hanging out there like a big old matzo ball since patch 7.3, just waiting to be plucked.

Same. There’s also that whole stuff with Shadreen and the brawlers guild.

My only concern is that blizzard would forget that there’s a huge faction of Ethereals whose whole purpose is to combat the void. It feels like they’re turning all Ethereals into void Ethereals.

[huth]

Not sure if sarcasm but if you look at a lot of East Asian inspired fantasy books, Sci Fi elements are usually pretty prominent throughout.

There’s also a genre that mixes the two when it’s East Asian inspired known as Silkpunk.

Having an ancient lost high-tech civ seems downright mandatory there. Often they blur the line between sufficiently advanced and sufficiently analysed by having it some form of advanced magitech as well.

[Reive]

That still doesn't explain why people would switch over from Retail to Classic without being able to carry their stuff over.
People might not like SL and BfA, but still want the transmog from them.

You are also ignoring all the people who don't care about lore and just want content. Those people would definitely not be happy about having to abandon all their stuff on Retail be able to play the newest expansion.

I mean, just imagine if the next expansion was a world revamp. All the stuff that happened since the end of Legion was a dream, and all your wildest WoW dreams are here.
However, all your DKs, Monks, Demon Hunters, and Dracthyr will be deleted. All the mounts and battle pets are gone. But at least you can farm a single expansions worth of new stuff.

i mean it's not like blizzard is going to abandon retail. it will probably get more cosmic crap written by danuser. people who are attached to their collectibles can stay there. classic+ is for ex wow players who hate the direction of retail and classic players who want new content but none of the baggage retail has. hardcore proves that. many are no lifing classic while they wouldn't touch retail with a stick

[FossilFree]

Same. There’s also that whole stuff with Shadreen and the brawlers guild.

My only concern is that blizzard would forget that there’s a huge faction of Ethereals whose whole purpose is to combat the void. It feels like they’re turning all Ethereals into void Ethereals.

It could be an interesting story to explore the division between the Void Ethereals and the regular ones. Maybe we befriend the void ones, and the regular ones are the baddies this time? Would make sense, since we fought the Nexus-Prince but worked with Locus-Walker.

[Sondrelk]

i mean it's not like blizzard is going to abandon retail. it will probably get more cosmic crap written by danuser. people who are attached to their collectibles can stay there. classic+ is for ex wow players who hate the direction of retail and classic players who want new content but none of the baggage retail has. hardcore proves that. many are no lifing classic while they wouldn't touch retail with a stick

So just casually develop twice the amount of content?

Why not then just create two expansion for WoW concurrently. One grounded on Azeroth, and one with cosmic themes.

[Hitei]

^ this.

Unfortunately, I may cool down the hype, but it's impossible to judge whether they are legit - 50/50.

I'll go back to reading, and in the same way (although I haven't played DF too much because lack of time) I'm waiting for the new expansion like You guys

I mean, the others are small (still look extremely AI), but the one you(?) have as a pfp, the winged void-thing, is 100% AI generated.

[Reive]

So just casually develop twice the amount of content?

Why not then just create two expansion for WoW concurrently. One grounded on Azeroth, and one with cosmic themes.

well idk, but there is an overwhelming demand for more classic content. blizzard might hire more people to work on that. it's not like they don't have the money. classic and retail could become 2 completely different products.

[Ersula]

people that want new content in wow but hate retail.

Within the industry they call this demographic "people impossible to please"

well idk, but there is an overwhelming demand for more classic content. blizzard might hire more people to work on that. it's not like they don't have the money. classic and retail could become 2 completely different products.

That would alienate people who want the purely classic experience. The answer seems to be Progression servers that other MMOs have done: Servers that start at classic & progress through each major content patch at a predetermined & accelerated pace. Then when they catch up with retail, the server just becomes a normal retail server. And they begin a fresh set of classic servers every year/season.

I can't imagine people will want to do Catalcysm Classic for two whole years so this seems like the obvious answer.

[Sondrelk]

honestly it doesn't matter what the theme of the expansion is, whether it's Light vs Void, Undermine, Avaloren or something else, it would suit me

but i'm really waiting for a revamp, not taking advantage of the 20th anniversary would be so stupid in my opinion

even if it's a classic+ HD, it would be strange to do it for one and not the other

wait & see

Yeah, would just invite questions of why this updated version of EK/Kalimdor isn't available in the version of WoW that it fits in. And if they transfer it over then the question immediately becomes why there can't be new content there.

[Ersula]

Yeah, would just invite questions of why this updated version of EK/Kalimdor isn't available in the version of WoW that it fits in. And if they transfer it over then the question immediately becomes why there can't be new content there.

Exactly. The biggest point of updating EK/Kalimdor would be to show what has changed between Cataclysm & Dragonflight (a lot). A texture update to classic makes sense, but these new assets to classic buildings don't really equate to that: There's a lot of copy/pasted structures in Classic but a lot of those things are unique, even more than in Retail locations.

[Palapop]

OMG POSSIBLE REVAMP COMING??? (at least for Lordaeron)

Official WoW Blizzcon Tweet showing an NPC in very Classic styled armor!

Here on twitter: https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/1705313777099448456

Lol it says Im blocked from viewing tweets by OP.
Can you share some pics?

[huth]

Lol it says Im blocked from viewing tweets by OP.
Can you share some pics?

It's just a GoT reference being blown way out of proportion.

[ImTheMizAwesome]

I don't think theres that much weed that someone at blizzard could smoke to only have classic+ revamp.

Personally don't play classic, but both Classic and hardcore seem hot right now and blizzard will want cash in on that more so i believe they will have classic+ come with some new paint, but i really doubt the changes wouldn't come to retail aswell.

I can't somehow bring myself to actually lvl to max lvl in classic even if it was revamped, but i know some retail diehards that since wotlk came out and now hardcore, they haven't log in to retail for a long time, those are people i would never thought that will actually jump from retail so i think blizzard has a lot to gain in that market.


Im teamrevamp all the way, but the closer we are to announcement, the chance for that happening, in my head gets lower.

[Reive]

Within the industry they call this demographic "people impossible to please"

Maybe, but retail and classic are so different from each other (even if one is the "evolution" of the other) that demanding more content in classic style is not unreasonable.

That would alienate people who want the purely classic experience. The answer seems to be Progression servers that other MMOs have done: Servers that start at classic & progress through each major content patch at a predetermined & accelerated pace. Then when they catch up with retail, the server just becomes a normal retail server. And they begin a fresh set of classic servers every year/season.

I can't imagine people will want to do Catalcysm Classic for two whole years so this seems like the obvious answer.

I'm sure many enjoyed going through classic wow again, but i feel like only few would like to repeat the cycle over and over. Progession servers wouldn't really work because most expansions post wrath aren't really well liked by the community. mop and legion would be the only exceptions. i think the best route would be the one followed by runescape. Retail keeps doing its thing while classic gets updates that maintain a high degree of fidelity to the og world.

[Worldshaper]

Here's what I'd like the expansion to be (in case a World Revamp is off the table or coming as a patch).

I'm envisioning it as a great journey and expedition into the unknown. You know all the stories. King Kong. Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Core. Heck even Star Wars: Episode 1, when they're travelling to Gungan City and then on to the capital of Naboo.

• New Hub: Undermine. A sprawling underground city of Goblins, Gnomes, merchants from all over the world, wondrous sights to be seen and experiences to be had. Undermine is connected to different underground locations, via great tunnels and passageways. Some are travelled with mining carts along long railways, but you can also use your dynamic flying mounts or even walk if you're up for a bit of a treck.
  
• New Class: Tinker. Every race gains access to the new Tinker class, that comes with specs for tanking, support DPS, and healing. Early access to the class comes with the pre-order.
  
• Dragonriding upgrades: Now called simply dynamic flying, this way of flying on supported mounts will allow you to brave every element, and fly, swim or ride across all the zones without ever needing to dismount. Your mount will adapt to the elements.
  
• New landmass: Avaloren. This is the first vertical landmass introduced to World of Warcraft. Consisting of four unique and interconnected zones, beginning at the surface level and descending all the way to the core of Azeroth, Avaloren provides a journey unlike any other. The best part? You can use your dynamic flying mount to travel all the way from top to bottom in one go - no loading screens required. Additionally, each zone is themed a little bit around a particular element.
  
• Zone 1 - Air: Kezan. The island of Kezan is a zone of itself, featuring the tropical island in its post-Cataclysm state, a few villages and harbours with ships that carry you across Azeroth along different trade routes. There's also a cave entrance taking you to Undermine below. The relatively small island sits in in the middle of a large zone and is surrounded by little islets. The water between Kezan and these islets is shallow, allowing players to wade through much of it. The zone is vertical and rather windy, with the large (now dormant) volcano dominating the landscape. The weather effects of this zone are very impactful. Sometimes it's a clear day with a blue and sunny sky, while other times there will be terrible storms raging. It is generally windy, and the fresh sea breeze often causes flags to billow from the ships' masts.
  
• Zone 2 - Water: Azshari Depths. This is a Naga themed underwater zone. You access this zone by travelling along tunnels and pipes from the Undermine, out into the sea. But it is also accessible directly from the Kezan zone above, and the fiery zone below, using your mount. The tunnel from Undermine just sort ejects you into the open water, deep below the surface. You'll be using technology to breathe and move smoothly across the seabead or through the water, though. Queen Azshara's Naga are busy in this zone.
  
• Zone 3 - Fire: Khaz Algar. This zone is meant to invoke feelings of adventure and exploration, as you journey towards the planet's core. You're essentially travelling through the crust, and the lava tunnels of Kezan, deep beneath the volcano. I think the earthen of Khaz Algar probably dwell somewhere down here. You can use your mount to reach the earth zone below or the water zone above from this place, they're all connected.
  
• Zone 4 - Earth: The Core of Azeroth, Avaloren. This is the zone furthest down, and is essentially a huge chamber near the core of the planet. In the middle stands the Titan facility Uldaz, and it is all surrounded by a large protective dome. A bit like Atlantis (2001, Disney). It is a beautiful and radiant place, full of crystals. But the magic of the dome and presence of Azeroth's world-soul also makes this place teeming with life, light, and beauty. Once, the Titan keeper Innaria stood watch in place, but she was overthrown by the titan-forged affected by whatever came out of the fissure at Sector AR-938. Since then, they've lived as free people. Odyn consider them heretics for abandoning their cause, and have sent multiple expeditions down below, before and after the Sundering. At one point, they were influenced by the Old God who turned them from titan-forged to something else, but that Old God was slain by her brethren in a civil war. Since then, they've prospered as free beings of their own realm. They're creatures of Order and Shadow, but feel no loyalty to either. They're not regular mortals such as the humans and dwarves, but they're not machines either. Recently, however, the Harbinger has returned to bring them back into the fold with her whispers. Now, they labour to unearth the dark heart of the fallen Old God, so that it might be infused with the essence of Galakrond, and be revived. Then, it is only a matter of time before it consumes the world-soul of Azeroth! Will you be able to restore this utopia to its former glory, free it from the tendrils of corruption and save the world-soul?
  
• Notable characters: Thrall is key, obviously. So are Tyr and the Dragon Aspects. But we'll also bring with us representatives from the Horde and Alliance, and make a few new acquaintances among the goblins and the Avalorians. Iridikron will play a large role, as will the Harbinger (might she be Xal'atath?) and to a lesser extent the Elemental Lords.
  
• Major feature: Delving. Work with the Goblins or the Gnomes in Undermine to construct and customise your great burrowing machine, which will allow you to visit other underground locations in the blink of an eye, including secret caves, tunnels and islands where there are treasures and secrets aplenty. While you are able to travel between zones using your dynamic flying mount, this machine will bring your travelling expedition with you. This might come in handy as you face the unknown.

[Reive]

Here's what I'd like the expansion to be (in case a World Revamp is off the table or coming as a patch).

• New Hub: Undermine. A sprawling underground city of Goblins, Gnomes, merchants from all over the world, wondrous sights to be seen and experiences to be had. Undermine is connected to different underground locations, via great tunnels and passageways. Some are travelled with mining carts along long railways, but you can also use your dynamic flying mounts or even walk if you're up for a bit of a treck.
  
• New Class: Tinker. Every race gains access to the new Tinker class, that comes with specs for tanking, support DPS, and healing. Early access to the class comes with the pre-order.
  
• Dragonriding upgrades: Now called simply dynamic flying, this way of flying on supported mounts will allow you to brave every element, and fly, swim or ride across all the zones without ever needing to dismount. Your mount will adapt to the elements.
  
• New landmass: Avaloren. This is the first vertical landmass introduced to World of Warcraft. Consisting of four unique and interconnected zones, beginning at the surface level and descending all the way to the core of Azeroth, Avaloren provides a journey unlike any other. The best part? You can use your dynamic flying mount to travel all the way from top to bottom in one go - no loading screens required. Additionally, each zone is themed a little bit around a particular element.
  
• Zone 1 - Air: Kezan. The island of Kezan is a zone of itself, featuring the tropical island in its post-Cataclysm state, a few villages and harbours with ships that carry you across Azeroth along different trade routes. There's also a cave entrance taking you to Undermine below. The relatively small island sits in in the middle of a large zone and is surrounded by little islets. The water between Kezan and these islets is shallow, allowing players to wade through much of it. The zone is vertical and rather windy, with the large (now dormant) volcano dominating the landscape. The weather effects of this zone are very impactful. Sometimes it's a clear day with a blue and sunny sky, while other times there will be terrible storms raging. It is generally windy, and the fresh sea breeze often causes flags to billow from the ships' masts.
  
• Zone 2 - Water: Azshari Depths. This is a Naga themed underwater zone. You access this zone by travelling along tunnels and pipes from the Undermine, out into the sea. But it is also accessible directly from the Kezan zone above, and the fiery zone below, using your mount. The tunnel from Undermine just sort ejects you into the open water, deep below the surface. You'll be using technology to breathe and move smoothly across the seabead or through the water, though. Queen Azshara's Naga are busy in this zone.
  
• Zone 3 - Fire: Khaz Algar. This zone is meant to invoke feelings of adventure and exploration, as you journey towards the planet's core. You're essentially travelling through the crust, and the lava tunnels of Kezan, deep beneath the volcano. I think the earthen of Khaz Algar probably dwell somewhere down here. You can use your mount to reach the earth zone below or the water zone above from this place, they're all connected.
  
• Zone 4 - Earth: The Core of Azeroth, Avaloren. This is the zone furthest down, and is essentially a huge chamber near the core of the planet. In the middle stands the Titan facility Uldaz, and it is all surrounded by a large protective dome. A bit like Atlantis (2001, Disney). Once, the Titan keeper Innaria stood watch in place, but she was overthrown by the titan-forged affected by whatever came out of the fissure at Sector AR-938. Since then, they've lived as free people. Odyn consider them heretics for abandoning their cause, and have sent multiple expeditions down below, before and after the Sundering. At one point, they were influenced by the Old God who turned them from titan-forged to something else, but that Old God was slain by her brethren in a civil war. Since then, they've prospered as free beings of their own realm. They're creatures of Order and Shadow, but feel no loyalty to either. They're not regular mortals such as the humans and dwarves, but they're not machines either. Recently, however, the Harbinger has returned to bring them back into the fold with her whispers. Now, they labour to unearth the dark heart of the fallen Old God, so that it might be infused with the essence of Galakrond, and be revived. Then, it is only a matter of time before it consumes the world-soul of Azeroth! Will you be able to restore this utopia to its former glory, free it from the tendrils of corruption and save the world-soul?
  
• Notable characters: Thrall is key, obviously. So are Tyr and the Dragon Aspects. But we'll also bring with us representatives from the Horde and Alliance, and make a few new acquaintances among the goblins and the Avalorians. Iridikron will play a large role, as will the Harbinger (might she be Xal'atath?) and to a lesser extent the Elemental Lords.
  
• Major feature: Delving. Work with the Goblins or the Gnomes in Undermine to construct and customise your great burrowing machine, which will allow you to visit other underground locations in the link of an eye, including secret caves, tunnels and islands where there are treasures and secrets aplenty. While you are able to travel between zones using your dynamic flying mount, this machine will bring your travelling expedition with you. This might come in handy as you face the unknown.

not bad but it needs more features.

[Santandame]

Here's what I'd like the expansion to be (in case a World Revamp is off the table or coming as a patch).

• New Hub: Undermine. A sprawling underground city of Goblins, Gnomes, merchants from all over the world, wondrous sights to be seen and experiences to be had. Undermine is connected to different underground locations, via great tunnels and passageways. Some are travelled with mining carts along long railways, but you can also use your dynamic flying mounts or even walk if you're up for a bit of a treck.
  
• New Class: Tinker. Every race gains access to the new Tinker class, that comes with specs for tanking, support DPS, and healing. Early access to the class comes with the pre-order.
  
• Dragonriding upgrades: Now called simply dynamic flying, this way of flying on supported mounts will allow you to brave every element, and fly, swim or ride across all the zones without ever needing to dismount. Your mount will adapt to the elements.
  
• New landmass: Avaloren. This is the first vertical landmass introduced to World of Warcraft. Consisting of four unique and interconnected zones, beginning at the surface level and descending all the way to the core of Azeroth, Avaloren provides a journey unlike any other. The best part? You can use your dynamic flying mount to travel all the way from top to bottom in one go - no loading screens required. Additionally, each zone is themed a little bit around a particular element.
  
• Zone 1 - Air: Kezan. The island of Kezan is a zone of itself, featuring the tropical island in its post-Cataclysm state, a few villages and harbours with ships that carry you across Azeroth along different trade routes. There's also a cave entrance taking you to Undermine below. The relatively small island sits in in the middle of a large zone and is surrounded by little islets. The water between Kezan and these islets is shallow, allowing players to wade through much of it. The zone is vertical and rather windy, with the large (now dormant) volcano dominating the landscape. The weather effects of this zone are very impactful. Sometimes it's a clear day with a blue and sunny sky, while other times there will be terrible storms raging. It is generally windy, and the fresh sea breeze often causes flags to billow from the ships' masts.
  
• Zone 2 - Water: Azshari Depths. This is a Naga themed underwater zone. You access this zone by travelling along tunnels and pipes from the Undermine, out into the sea. But it is also accessible directly from the Kezan zone above, and the fiery zone below, using your mount. The tunnel from Undermine just sort ejects you into the open water, deep below the surface. You'll be using technology to breathe and move smoothly across the seabead or through the water, though. Queen Azshara's Naga are busy in this zone.
  
• Zone 3 - Fire: Khaz Algar. This zone is meant to invoke feelings of adventure and exploration, as you journey towards the planet's core. You're essentially travelling through the crust, and the lava tunnels of Kezan, deep beneath the volcano. I think the earthen of Khaz Algar probably dwell somewhere down here. You can use your mount to reach the earth zone below or the water zone above from this place, they're all connected.
  
• Zone 4 - Earth: The Core of Azeroth, Avaloren. This is the zone furthest down, and is essentially a huge chamber near the core of the planet. In the middle stands the Titan facility Uldaz, and it is all surrounded by a large protective dome. A bit like Atlantis (2001, Disney). Once, the Titan keeper Innaria stood watch in place, but she was overthrown by the titan-forged affected by whatever came out of the fissure at Sector AR-938. Since then, they've lived as free people. Odyn consider them heretics for abandoning their cause, and have sent multiple expeditions down below, before and after the Sundering. At one point, they were influenced by the Old God who turned them from titan-forged to something else, but that Old God was slain by her brethren in a civil war. Since then, they've prospered as free beings of their own realm. They're creatures of Order and Shadow, but feel no loyalty to either. They're not regular mortals such as the humans and dwarves, but they're not machines either. Recently, however, the Harbinger has returned to bring them back into the fold with her whispers. Now, they labour to unearth the dark heart of the fallen Old God, so that it might be infused with the essence of Galakrond, and be revived. Then, it is only a matter of time before it consumes the world-soul of Azeroth! Will you be able to restore this utopia to its former glory, free it from the tendrils of corruption and save the world-soul?
  
• Notable characters: Thrall is key, obviously. So are Tyr and the Dragon Aspects. But we'll also bring with us representatives from the Horde and Alliance, and make a few new acquaintances among the goblins and the Avalorians. Iridikron will play a large role, as will the Harbinger (might she be Xal'atath?) and to a lesser extent the Elemental Lords.
  
• Major feature: Delving. Work with the Goblins or the Gnomes in Undermine to construct and customise your great burrowing machine, which will allow you to visit other underground locations in the link of an eye, including secret caves, tunnels and islands where there are treasures and secrets aplenty. While you are able to travel between zones using your dynamic flying mount, this machine will bring your travelling expedition with you. This might come in handy as you face the unknown.

As much as I enjoy your theories and in depth posts, your idea here of Avaloren kills any idea of it being interesting. Why is Kezan part of it? We know it’s in the South Seas. Just four zones for a landmass that has locals powerful enough for the Titan Keepers to not want to fuck with.

Keep Undermine and Khaz Algar apart from Avaloren for a strictly undergound expansion.

Avaloren is a complete fresh slate with countless possibilities. It shouldn’t be lumbered in with an underground expansion when neither need each other. You’re just killing one of the first new places Blizzard have seeded for future content.