BfA Patch Speculation thread (8.3 and later).

[Nathanyel]

If you think Thrall will be Warchief again, you haven't been paying attention.

[Sondrelk]

Regarding WoW graphics, there was a definite shift in production around MoP, i would say. Before then i feel the game was almost torn between "Realism" (See UBRS) and Cartoony (SW design)
Cata was the last expansion to copy old assets wholesale, and with it the old design. In MoP Blizz started to remake most of the assets, and with that decided to go all in on the more cartoony art style.

WoW definitely managed to make a niche for itself with the cartoony art style that will keep looking good over time, which is probably why other slightly older MMOs looks worse, as graphics improve, attempts at realistic rendering just gets comparatively worse and worse, while what is cartoony will really only age in the sense that the models are a bit low-res at times.

[Merryck]

Baine or Saurfang will be warchief; though at this point I'm leaning more towards baine because they seem to be setting up Saurfang to retire like thrall after his work is done

[Nathanyel]

Saurfang is getting a lot of spotlight with the cinematics, which may either set him up for a big 'heroic sacrifice' at the end of the expansion, possibly in a way that sways even the Night Elves/Tyrande to give the Horde another chance for peace, or is his introduction to be Warchief. In that case, an Alliance character, likely Anduin, might receive a similar treatment next expansion, portraying his growth into his crown.

[FlubberPuddy]

Saurfang is getting a lot of spotlight with the cinematics, which may either set him up for a big 'heroic sacrifice' at the end of the expansion, possibly in a way that sways even the Night Elves/Tyrande to give the Horde another chance for peace, or is his introduction to be Warchief. In that case, an Alliance character, likely Anduin, might receive a similar treatment next expansion, portraying his growth into his crown.

They keep bringing up how old he is, how he wants his honorable death etc, I feel like it's foreshadowing some "heroic sacrifice" for sure.

Also people who think Thrall's going to be Warchief or that Sylvanas will die (or better term would be stay dead) definitely haven't been paying attention.

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But I will 100% log in and scrutinize the new Worgen/Goblin Models. Hoo boy, will I stare at them to find flaws! O____O

This is what I'm waiting for lol, new races are about the only thing keeping me excited these days.

[Nathanyel]

Also people who think Thrall's going to be Warchief or that Sylvanas will die (or better term would be stay dead) definitely haven't been paying attention.

However, a change of Warchief is definitely on the horizon. Unless they can somehow 180 Sylvanas.

[huth]

Playable yes(Outside of the Druid cheetah form).

Not necessarily. They're the oldest then, but Druid forms tend to be somewhat simpler than other player models, and newer does not automatically mean better.

And cheetah is just a glyph nowadays, so i don't expect much unless they introduce a new cheeatah mob.

[Makabreska]

However, a change of Warchief is definitely on the horizon. Unless they can somehow 180 Sylvanas.

They can't really, not at this point. Not w/o extremely pissing player base even more. The only somewhat acceptable solution would be her being dethroned which makes her run away to scheme something and emerge later.

[Eurhetemec]

Playable yes(Outside of the Druid cheetah form).

Their animations are noticeably better than many of the revised races though. Dwarves have a similar build but look far less lively because of their rather static and basic idle pose and animations. Still rather play a Dwarf because no muzzle or tail but it is a thing.

[Verdugo]

Saurfang is getting a lot of spotlight with the cinematics, which may either set him up for a big 'heroic sacrifice' at the end of the expansion, possibly in a way that sways even the Night Elves/Tyrande to give the Horde another chance for peace, or is his introduction to be Warchief. In that case, an Alliance character, likely Anduin, might receive a similar treatment next expansion, portraying his growth into his crown.

Tyrande will kill him and his entire retinue during peace meeting.

Yeah, I wish.

[Varitok]

I am really loving the consistency of Anduin and Baine throughout the expac. People will rag and rag on them endlessly for being peace loving but so far, they are some of the only characters with consistence morals/values that they try to maintain. Not going fully M O R A L L Y G R E Y to please the edgy kids in the player base.

[Raetary]

Ok... literally all of my addon settings got entirely reset.

Was there an update that i wasn't aware of or something?

[Gurahk]

The nazjatar map is accesible through both Zandalar and Kul'tiras in the PTR currently.

[Sondrelk]

I really, really hope Blizz is not actually planning on just making Nazjatar that tiny silly cutton in each main continent screen.
If space was really an issue they could just make Nazjatar rift in between KT and Zandalar on the map, that would be cool and fit what it is supposed to be quite well. Only way i can see this making sense if they conclusively state after 8.2 that Nazjatar has flooded again. But still, pretty lazy.

[Nathanyel]

Ok... literally all of my addon settings got entirely reset.

Live or PTR? A computer crash can do that.

I started to do daily backups of my Interface&WTF folders to a ZIP on another drive.
Had a crash as mentioned above about two months ago, it was then that I noticed that I hadn't updated the script for the new folder structure, so it failed, and my last backup was from November...

I really, really hope Blizz is not actually planning on just making Nazjatar that tiny silly cutton in each main continent screen. [...]

If it's available from both the Zandalar and Kul Tiras maps, that's enough. It's a patch-related zone akin to Argus and the Molten Front, it doesn't require representation on the Azeroth map, especially pending possible 8.3/9.0 changes.

That's not lazy, that's creating a consistent system that doesn't have to be adjusted with every new patch.

[Gurahk]

Good news for people wanting things popping up on Nazjatar that isn't WQs or dailies, it looks like they finally fixed the random events that pop up and are now testable.

Edit: And it looks like there's more dailies available... a lot more.

[Raetary]

Live or PTR? A computer crash can do that.

I started to do daily backups of my Interface&WTF folders to a ZIP on another drive.
Had a crash as mentioned above about two months ago, it was then that I noticed that I hadn't updated the script for the new folder structure, so it failed, and my last backup was from November...

On live.

And ye, had my pc crash last night due to overheating (Dust is the incarnation of evil).
I didn't log back in till today, so i guess it was that.

[Sondrelk]

Live or PTR? A computer crash can do that.

I started to do daily backups of my Interface&WTF folders to a ZIP on another drive.
Had a crash as mentioned above about two months ago, it was then that I noticed that I hadn't updated the script for the new folder structure, so it failed, and my last backup was from November...



If it's available from both the Zandalar and Kul Tiras maps, that's enough. It's a patch-related zone akin to Argus and the Molten Front, it doesn't require representation on the Azeroth map, especially pending possible 8.3/9.0 changes.

That's not lazy, that's creating a consistent system that doesn't have to be adjusted with every new patch.

You could say it doesnt require much, but it is still located somewhere on the map. It is not like the patch islands in MoP were just ignored on the main map when the patch rolled around, they got added to the map so we could at least see where they are.

Adding Nazjatar but not showing where on the map it is just adds further questions, like which if the 2 locations (Zin-azshari or N'zoths prison) has moved, and where did the battle take place.

Argus was accessed from the Broken isles map, but it was also either that or have players be force to scroll through every layer of map all the way up to the Outland/draenor map select ujst to see the WQs, so Blizz circumventing that made sense.
You already have to go out ot the main Azeroth map to change between KT and Zandalar, so adding some map indicator on hte main map that shows the location of Nazjatar cannot possibly be such a hard thing. I could accept it if Blizz just made a giant red X on the map labelled Nazjatar with some whirlpool effects around it, anything to not show Nazjatar, the location we have heard about for decades, as a tiny footnote on a far more detailed map.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

The thing about Argus is, it was an entire planet so it makes sense to put it in the Broken Isles place for easy access. Technically Nazjatar is still on Azeroth so its ok to put it on the world map IMO.

[FlubberPuddy]

However, a change of Warchief is definitely on the horizon. Unless they can somehow 180 Sylvanas.

Of course there's a change. Sylvanas isn't staying Warchief no matter if she lives or dies. I was simply thinking more along the lines of Baine, or if they want to come out of left-field then Lor'themar lol.