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

[Santandame]

I still don't see how Thrall = Undermine, other than he is a shaman which is a vague connection to begin with.

Yep that one is total reaching.

[Marlamin]

Not necessarily true. Every year something slips by under the radar.
Even in recent history blizzard’s messed up forgetting to encrypt stuff, like us knowing we’d get an emerald dream zone because of the “emerald dream outdoor” glaive that was datamined.

Actually I think that the CE mount for Dragonflight , the green dragon, got leaked/spoiled ahead of Blizzcon. I think it's possible that the next CE mount is in the files right now or at least assets attached to it.

As far as I know, all the 11.0 rewards are in and ready to go in 10.1.7.

[Cheezits]

As far as I know, all the 11.0 rewards are in and ready to go in 10.1.7.

Do we have any fun suspicious files like the green dragon magic last time?

[Worldshaper]

I think that if we take into account Ion's recent declarations about the WoW team not wanting to do an Old God focused expansion or an Emerald Dream focused expansion, because the settings would not be different enough, there is little chance of getting a full Void expansion or a full Underground expansion.

IMO, it is perfectly possible to do an expansion focused on any of these themes, but Blizzard disagrees.

So I would say, 11.0 will NOT be full Void, and 11.0 will NOT be full Underground.

Now if they make a partial or full revamp, they can include any theme that they want, and from time to time, an underground zone, which seems like the most reasonable approach.

I am curious, how would you feel if Blizzard's aim is to revamp all the world through several expansions? Including all the continents, except Outland, Draenor and the Shadowlands. They can give us a cosmic patch from time to time, a new Azeroth continent... but the focus would always be in Azeroth, making (in due time) every continent evergreen, with the Dragon Isles as the start of this new world.

Legion was a full "Disorder" expansion, but set on Azeroth and incorporating a bunch of cool themes.

Shadowlands was a full "Death" expansion, but set inside a cosmological realm of Death and giving players almost nothing but death, death, death, death, and some death.

Ion is saying the Shadowlands way of doing it sucks. They won't be doing that again. But the Legion way of doing it works, evidently.

11.0 will be the "Void" expansion, but they'll approach it like they did Legion, and make it more varied.

[Teriz]

I still don't see how Thrall = Undermine, other than he is a shaman which is a vague connection to begin with.

Underground works with an elemental theme. As WoW's premiere Shaman, Thrall fits within that as well, especially if the goal of going underground is to heal Azeroth.

In terms of Goblin relations, Thrall is very close friends with Gazlowe, whom he brought in during WC3 to help build Orgrimmar. Throughout the history of WoW Gazlowe served as a close ally to the Horde despite officially being neutral. That was in large part due to his friendship with Thrall. Later Thrall convinced Gazlowe to take over the Bildgewater Cartel after Gallywix left. So Gazlowe is currently in the Horde because of Thrall. In addition, the playable Goblins rescued Thrall in their scenario, and Thrall was the one who brought the playable Goblin race into the Horde.

I'm also pretty sure that in terms of sheer development history, Thrall and Gazlowe were created at the same time, and a huge part of their backstories come from the cancelled Warcraft Adventures game where Gazlowe was going to be Thrall's pilot as they traveled around the world together.

Keep in mind, the trick for the key art is that you put up a major character that still fits the expansion concept but doesn't give the game away. If it's a Lightbound Invasion, you can't use Yrel. If it's an Undermine/Underground expansion, you can't use any Dwarves, Goblins or Gnomes. Thrall is the perfect poster boy for both.

[Santandame]

Actually I think that the CE mount for Dragonflight , the green dragon, got leaked/spoiled ahead of Blizzcon. I think it's possible that the next CE mount is in the files right now or at least assets attached to it.

Maybe related?

https://x.com/keyboardturn/status/16...851294770?s=46

It’s possible. If it’s a gryphon that could indicate anything though. It’s definitely a nod towards a revamp or even Khaz Algar. But Avaloren could have an offshoot of gryphons or if it’s a void expansion could just be a void corrupted gryphon.

There’s not too much we can really glean from that one yet.

[micwini]

As far as I know, all the 11.0 rewards are in and ready to go in 10.1.7.

How do you know they are in, without knowing what they are?

[ImTheMizAwesome]

Actually I think that the CE mount for Dragonflight , the green dragon, got leaked/spoiled ahead of Blizzcon. I think it's possible that the next CE mount is in the files right now or at least assets attached to it.

Maybe related?

https://x.com/keyboardturn/status/16...851294770?s=46

Gryphoons recently were updated with dragonriding stuff if i remember correctly, so a new mount being a dragonriding mount would make sense and it would work now on a gryphoon or something like that.

The same dataminer had some texture with different beaks and well the only way you can customize the mount is via dragonriding.

[micwini]

Gryphon is the perfect world revamp CE mount

[Cheezits]

Gryphon is the perfect world revamp CE mount

Agreed, but why is it a dark one with a green glow?

[micwini]

Agreed, but why is it a dark one with a green glow?

Could be an update of this one
does that picture only contains wings or everything? Im having a hard time seeing what it is meant to be

[Marlamin]

Do we have any fun suspicious files like the green dragon magic last time?

Things always slip through the cracks!

How do you know they are in, without knowing what they are?

Based on metadata e.g. what is encrypted, how much is encrypted as well as other usages and anything that slips through the cracks you can pretty quickly tell what something is or at the very least what it is for. I'm not going into any of the contents as that's just straight up spoiling shit which I no longer do for future content, maybe after it's announced we can dive into what was leaked beforehand if one of the other dataminers doesn't get into it first.

[Sondrelk]

Agreed, but why is it a dark one with a green glow?

Well the regular variants are already in-game. Might just be a gryphon variant with that colour scheme. It would be boring as a CE reward, but it's possible.
More likely though is that it is a Gryphon with some elaborate armor, which obviously doesn't show on this texture render.

[ImTheMizAwesome]

It could be some corrupted bird/gryphoon.

Also let's say we have void or dreadlords or both during the same expansion - they are both known for their deception and corruption, i think it would easily work with some partial revamp of some zones plus some new one needed to tell the story.

Some citizens in major cities could get corrupted and maybe some cults would happen, idk just throwing random ideas.

[Worldshaper]

It’s possible. If it’s a gryphon that could indicate anything though. It’s definitely a nod towards a revamp or even Khaz Algar. But Avaloren could have an offshoot of gryphons or if it’s a void expansion could just be a void corrupted gryphon.

There’s not too much we can really glean from that one yet.

It legit wouldn't surprise me if the expansion was called "Dark Azeroth" or something (perhaps less cheesy).

Void sort of covering the world like an eternal nightfall. Not Old Gods and tentacles. But stars, darkness, and stillness. Creatures affected by it become like this gryphon you linked. Shadows of themselves. Their eyes "opened" to the Void.

[Cheezits]

I will bet you several dollars that they are not going to have an expansion with Darkness or Shadow in the name for a looong time.

[Hitei]

Could be an update of this one
does that picture only contains wings or everything? Im having a hard time seeing what it is meant to be

Feet/legs are in the center, they're dark purple.

It's definitely not an update of a regular gryphon, especially given the sounds that are likely for it. It's some sort of spectrally infused/dead/whatever gryphon.

[Cheezits]

Feet/legs are in the center, they're dark purple.

It's definitely not an update of a regular gryphon, especially given the sounds that are likely for it. It's some sort of spectrally infused/dead/whatever gryphon.

It looks like it might be meant as a retexture of the Alabaster Stonetalon Gryphon, which is a second remodel of the gryphons (after MOP gryphons).

The green effect is interesting. I'm thinking Return to the Shadowlands is likely boys!

The "boomkin" (ogre) animations are the most suspicious thing in 10.2, moreso than the boats. And apparently there is something in the files that overtly has to do with Ogres, but the dataminers won't say what it is? If Keyboardturners hints mean what I think they mean

[Worldshaper]

I will bet you several dollars that they are not going to have an expansion with Darkness or Shadow in the name for a looong time.

Could be called anything. Empire. Twilight. Void. Lots of thematically appropriate words to choose from.

[Santandame]

I imagine both the Void and Dreadlords would fit into a revamp anyway. They’re pretty much evergreen villainous factions. They’ve always been around and likely will be up until the very end of Warcraft. So parts of zones that are both void and fel corrupted aren’t out of the equation. I love the idea of Dreadlord related cults too.

For example, you could have a Dreadgod presence in the following zones:

- Gilneas
- Silverpine
- Hillsbrad/Alterac

Them being in the above zones could play into the gothic vibes of Gilneas and Silverpine with it bleeding into Hillsbrad. I’d even include the Venthyr here too. They could possibly even take over Shadowfang Keep. Could even branch them further into the Plaguelands as a throwback to the Death theme.

- Felwood
- Ashenvale
- Darkshore

This could be as more of an overall demonic vibe as opposed to the more gothic, death vibes seen over on EK.

As for the Void:

- Duskwood could be a really cool option for a Void aesthetic and storyline. You could even throw in the Dark Riders of Karazhan and have their origins as Void related. This would then bleed into…
- Deadwind Pass
- Swamp of Sorrows
- Blasted Lands (could start to reflect more of Netherstorm instead of Hellfire)