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

[Hitei]

I'm almost certainly reading too much into it.

https://twitter.com/TheWindstalker/s...74359271182554

But that's such an odd way to put it.

"We can't way to reveal what's next" is what I'd expect to say for an expansion.
"We are really looking forward to sharing our future at Blizzcon!" sounds like it's bigger. Longer lasting. Different.

I really am still leaning towards a revamp, as it would fit the bill. But I'm always happy to be wrong. Even when I'm looking forward to said revamp. Just seems odd wording is all.

There's probably just some other warcraft IP game in the works, or whatever the Vendor 4 or whatnot build is.

[Reive]

I'm almost certainly reading too much into it.

https://twitter.com/TheWindstalker/s...74359271182554

But that's such an odd way to put it.

"We can't way to reveal what's next" is what I'd expect to say for an expansion.
"We are really looking forward to sharing our future at Blizzcon!" sounds like it's bigger. Longer lasting. Different.

I really am still leaning towards a revamp, as it would fit the bill. But I'm always happy to be wrong. Even when I'm looking forward to said revamp. Just seems odd wording is all.

yeah that or something else warcraft related. i remember ybarra mentioning metzen under the tweet of a guy asking for a warcraft version of arcane. personally, i'd like a warcraft themed solo rpg game like skyrim

[Ferlion]

There's probably just some other warcraft IP game in the works, or whatever the Vendor 4 or whatnot build is.

The Windstalker is, specifically, World of Warcraft. Not Warcraft. And the release said Metzen is focused on World of Warcraft at the moment.
This isn't to say I dont think they have another Warcraft game to announce, more than because of the people involved saying things how they are saying it, I think it's WoW related.

It could be the Vendor 4 build. But I mean, honestly, new game/ projects are equally as exciting.

[Swnem]

Cata did also have 6 completely new zones alongside Hyjal though, so effectively the same amount of work to create new zones alongside the world revamp.
A new world revamp doesn't have to make the same mistake. Just focus on the actual revamped zones and don't make new zones at all.

Also, you say 50 zones, but most of those are much smaller than modern zones, and it's not like modern zones have voice acting for every single quest anyways.
If we assume the old idea I had for merged zones (narratively, not necessarily mechanically), then you could have stuff where for instance Westfall and Duskwood are the only zones with main campaign questlines and voice acting, and Redridge mountains are just for side quests, and therefore without voice acting.

Beyond that you probably have to consider zones that maybe won't be updated, or really touched on at all. Vashj'ir is unlikely to get updates, or any new content at all from that matter. Deepholm is almost certainly being ignored completely. Uldum doesn't necessarily need any updates at all to look decent.

You think making HS assets is the same as making SD assets for Cataclysm? Still the result of all that was a world no one cared for and huge end game content draught. There is a reason why Cataclysm was the start of WoW's decline.
Seeing people wishing for a Cataclysm 2 is mind blowing.

[Ferlion]

I wouldn't get too confident. They're a large company, so they're bound to overstate things.



It's more believable now, I suppose, though I'm a bit skeptical.

As for Metzen coming back, that could have just listened to T&E and the other content creators who have said "Hey, metzen is way more involved now than he was before, he's one of the top guys"

[Sondrelk]

You think making HS assets is the same as making SD assets for Cataclysm? Still the result of all that was a world no one cared for and huge end game content draught. There is a reason why Cataclysm was the start of WoW's decline.
Seeing people wishing for a Cataclysm 2 is mind blowing.

Cataclysm without it's two main issues.
One, don't destroy every zone, but rather make them evergreen so you can reuse them again later.
Two, don't make additional endgame zones, but rather have all endgame content in the revamped zones. Cataclysm only used the old zones for levelling, which was a complete waste.

[Swnem]

your questions have already been answered
keep ignoring and being stubborn if you like

or just assume you're against it for whatever reason and move on

Oh i'm against it cause it's a terrible idea. No doubt about that.
Ya'll will also be leaving the game 1 month in once you have no content and saying how lazy Blizz is for reusing assets.

Funnily i have not seen the question answered. People are just saying "nah-huh" even though the staggering amount of work needed to pull it off is still there.
The argument is "oh they got a new support studio now". Like that is nearly enough.
Another argument is "some zones are smaller". Even if you do zones 1 to 1, it is still more than double current expansions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In all honesty, you have unrealistic expectations that Blizz will never meet and Cataclysm was a disaster. Why want that disaster again? I don't get it. Peeps don't learn.

- - - Updated - - -

Cataclysm without it's two main issues.
One, don't destroy every zone, but rather make them evergreen so you can reuse them again later.
Two, don't make additional endgame zones, but rather have all endgame content in the revamped zones. Cataclysm only used the old zones for levelling, which was a complete waste.

So... slap world quests around all zones and have some small updates? I don't think we need a new expansion to do that.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

As for Metzen coming back, that could have just listened to T&E and the other content creators who have said "Hey, metzen is way more involved now than he was before, he's one of the top guys"

Or they just got lucky jumping the gun.

[Dismayxz]

I would like if they turned back time. Not to the point of Vanilla WoW but to the end of Warcraft 2 or beginning of Warcraft 3. Would be fun to play the Siege of Dalaran in WoW.

Honestly, I'd rather they do that on Retail and more importantly, make it a Caverns of Time thing. Dawn was Bronze-related, but it's completely different from Caverns still and it still feels odd that the last time we got any actual Caverns Content was Cataclysm

[Sondrelk]

Oh i'm against it cause it's a terrible idea. No doubt about that.
Ya'll will also be leaving the game 1 month in once you have no content and saying how lazy Blizz is for reusing assets.

Funnily i have not seen the question answered. People are just saying "nah-huh" even though the staggering amount of work needed to pull it off is still there.
The argument is "oh they got a new support studio now". Like that is nearly enough.
Another argument is "some zones are smaller". Even if you do zones 1 to 1, it is still more than double current expansions. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In all honesty, you have unrealistic expectations that Blizz will never meet and Cataclysm was a disaster. Why want that disaster again? I don't get it. Peeps don't learn.

Reused assets are no different from completely new ones honestly. The novelty cannot possibly last an entire expansion, so I don't see how being bored by reused assets is any quantifiably different from being regular bored with completely new zones.
If the end result is sitting in the main hub most of the time, then why not have those hubs be Stormwind and Orgrimmar?

Also, I think you are vastly overestimating how much work it is to make a revamp compared to a completely new expansion.
Yes EK and Kalimdor combined are larger than any other expansion continent, but not by a massive amount. An even less so when you consider areas like Uldum, and Vashj'ir which could easily be ignored completely.

Most of the work surrounding a revamp is done by palette swaps and replacing old models with new ones. Darkshore for instance is mostly the same zone it was. But it feels new and fresh because the grass texture got replaced, and the skybox is actually interesting.
Quests might take a bit of work, but again only assuming each zone is treated like it needs a massive individual storyline, rather than one main storyline going across several zones, and side quests scattered where they make sense. I mean, just look at Cataclysm quests and how sparse they actually are.


The main issues with Cataclysm are easily avoidable, which only leaves the same issues that could happen to any expansion.

- - - Updated - - -

Main quests that span several zones, and maybe two or three side quests for each zone.

Also let's not forget that even modern zones tend to have large chunks without any sort of actual content in it.

[Joszef Kiprich]

Can we stop talking about SL (AGAIN!!) and focus on what lies ahead.

[Izalla]

Cataclysm without it's two main issues.
One, don't destroy every zone, but rather make them evergreen so you can reuse them again later.
Two, don't make additional endgame zones, but rather have all endgame content in the revamped zones. Cataclysm only used the old zones for levelling, which was a complete waste.

And they actually had some good stories/zones that would have fit in as higher level stuff. Silverpine as a max level character that just returned from Northrend felt better to me narratively than Silverpine on a level 10 noob character did. Imagine if leveling as a noob there had a lower stakes, new adventurer focus, and then coming back later when you're closer to max level to revisit the zone in a higher stakes story where you're an important asset now who is given higher stakes missions and trusted to do the big stuff since you've proven how far you've come since the first time you passed through that area. Low level questing and be mostly low stakes, smaller and much more grounded stories, and then high level questing/max level content that revisits earlier leveling zones can have heightened threats and heightened stakes.

I really want something like that, where you do a story at a low level and then are sent back again at a higher level to revisit things now that you're stronger. You ding 70 and get a letter that prompts a quest pick up that's like "hey you, remember when you helped us uncover this dangerous plot in your early adventures? We've made progress trying to sort it out but things are way worse than we thought and we need all the help we can get. Come back and let's deal with this together."

[Ersula]

So the Mount disappeared from the ptr: Or rather, it was supposed to be encrypted. Taking all bets:

1 - 99 : It was a well guarded secret that predates wotlk that nobody's found yet.
1 - 80 : New Ruby Sanctum AoTC mount
1 - 50 : Blizzcon Virtual Ticket reward
1 - 25 : Subscription plan bonus (though, why hide it if you're leaked it already)
1 - 10 : Cataclysm Classic Adventure Bundle (Likely, but its theming doesn't really match Cataclysm)

[Houle]

But the RTS didn't do this stuff now, did it?

Uhh, yes it did? Very much so. Every single one of the three RTS games we got. You cant just ignore facts bc they dont fit your point. Or go replay them.

And people that compare the First Ones to the Titans only have a surface level understanding of the Titans and nothing more.

No, people who compare them have an understanding of the ROLE these 2 groups fill (or rather used to fill, in the case of the titans) in the larger story and mythology. They have/had the same purpose overall - to be the mysterious beings who once created everything as the character knows it, and who are now gone, with their designs left behind. Before Chronicles and and "modern" lore it was the Titans, now its the First Ones. Only difference is that the First Ones are on a much larger scale, which brings me back to the point of them copying the old stuff but making it "bigger and better" (which its actually not).

Acting like death wasn't devalued already...

Not to the point it is after SL. Not even close. And you know it.

[Revamp Man]

Is he replacing anybody that we know of as Executive Creative Producer, or is it just a fancy "Arch Lore Dude" title they invented?

- - - Updated - - -



I suspect the startup didn't go so well? A man's gotta eat. Or maybe he just missed his baby.

Dudes rich enough he never has to work again

Kids grow up
And seeing your legacy get fucked doesn't sit right with some

[Zardas]

3. We have multiple stories invlving dragons throughout the expansion, for example the black dragons in Twilight Highlands, the entirety of Grim Batol, the Stonecore, Vortex Pinnacle, the Caverns of Time dungeons and raids, Blackwing Descent, Bastion of Twilight, Throne of the Four Winds, Dragon Soul, and so on. The expansion is teeming with it.

Throne of the Four Winds had no ties with dragons (except if you count the Alakir mount), aren't thinking of the Vortex Pinnacle (which itself is hardly really involving dragons).

Cata is totally a "dragon expansion" tho.

[Cheezits]

Am I the only one who thinks Classic+ would absolutely destroy retail and/or Classic? Because of that I can't see it happening. Even 11.0 being "Classic +" in theming would make more sense.

[Ersula]

Am I the only one who thinks Classic+ would absolutely destroy retail and/or Classic? Because of that I can't see it happening. Even 11.0 being "Classic +" in theming would make more sense.

Ah. Classic+ would be too successful. That's why they're never going to do it. Gotcha.

I can't wait for someone to ask a dev at a panel if they'd ever do a new expansion for classic, and they reply "Let me get this straight: You don't like the existing expansions for Classic? And you don't like Retail? Have you considered playing other games?"

[Chickat]

I cant read 80 pages. Did I miss anything good in the last 10-12 days?

[Dracullus]

Am I the only one who thinks Classic+ would absolutely destroy retail and/or Classic? Because of that I can't see it happening. Even 11.0 being "Classic +" in theming would make more sense.

Yes, as we know, Blizzard hates money.

Or you know, Classic+ is just completely ridicolous idea. What you expect from devs, create content with same quality as 20 years ago? You know, empty zones, kill 100 boars for 5 asses quests, 2 mechanic for boss, etc.? And on top of that you create it for audience that play your product out of nostalgia and very often shits on your current work no matter what you create. Yeah, terrific idea xD.