9.0 General Discussion

[therumblings]

I really hope they give a great explanation for the Drust.

Like did the drust come from Azeroth or from somewhere else?

IIRC they are stuck outside of the death cycle.

Drust are a tribe of Vrykul. Thros was supposed to be part of the Emerald Nightmare but Afrasiabi either misspoke or it's being retconned, or it's staying the same and they just invaded the Shadowlands somehow.

[MadamSerenity]

I'm gonna guess it's just Ysera and story setup stuff. The one with story implications is gonna be Revendreth.

In Ardenweald questing, there is a section one of the NPC's talks about something bad that happened to one of the groves because of them and he looks like the guy in the cinematic so I am highly guessing it is explaining what he did to that grove.

[LemonDemonGirl]

She is not really the leader though. She just got trained by the Margrave for who knows how long. It's called Multiclassing

Well, other characters like Rastakhan appear to use things from other classes (ex. Rastakhan is shown fighting with a sword and uses totems for some reason), so its not like it hasen't been done before right?

OT: I found this video rather... empty and boring. I think even if Draka were replaced with another character, it'd still suck. As for the Ardenweald one, maybe we'll see Mueh'zala in it since he's corrupting things in Ardenweald? But mostly Loa I'd say

[Yarathir]

OT: I found this video rather... empty and boring. I think even if Draka were replaced with another character, it'd still suck.

Definitely. It was just kind of pointless.

[gunner_recall]

I think even if Draka were replaced with another character, it'd still suck.

Replace it with Durotan and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Edwin VanCleef and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Grom and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Random Murloc and have him do the same stuff. NOW it's hype.

[Yarathir]

Replace it with Durotan and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Edwin VanCleef and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Grom and have him do the same stuff. Still boring.

Replace it with Random Murloc and have him do the same stuff. NOW it's hype.

Can't argue with this. Random Murloc spices everything up.

[MadamSerenity]

Also, for context, now that I remembered back to the Maldraxxus leveling, there is a section where it talks about Draka and how she came to be and that Afterlives clip goes there, so it seems weird now, but when watching it where it is placed in the story, it makes somewhat more sense.

[Blayze]

Definitely. It was just kind of pointless.

They wanted people to say "Oh no, not the House of Plagues!" but the reaction will only be "Who the fuck are the House of Plagues?"

[gunner_recall]

They wanted people to say "Oh no, not the House of Plagues!" but the reaction will only be "Who the fuck are the House of Plagues?"

Blizzard's expectation of people's reactions: "Shadowlands just lost the House of Plagues...now shit is personal"

Actual reaction: https://thumbs.gfycat.com/NeatInstru...restricted.gif

[Cosmic Janitor]

Well there's been no big fuss about it so... I guess its not a big deal. I mean I'm a bit bummed but oh well.

Crafting is dead and has been for almost a decade, nothing new.

[Nagawithlegs]

Something that just came to mind: apparently the keep that both Illidan and Draka visit is in Nathreza. Correct me if I'm wrong

Between the hints that there is a connection between Revendreth and Nathreza, missing characters like Mal'ganis (maybe the ONE Arthas-themed character who has yet to appear) and them using Nathreza as a location once again (as well as showing that it had a jungle ecosystem, which I think is a new revelation), has anyone brought up the idea that Nathreza might be one of the later patch zones?

Currently I don't think there's any quests dealing with the Jailer and Denathrius's connections to the Nathrezim, or how they got the armor and Frostmourne out of the Shadowlands. So maybe this is all being saved for a Nathreza zone. And I know it's fucked up as of Illidan's book but I don't think that discredits it as zone potential. Note that the Portal Keeper opens up a portal to it in her Antorus fight in 8.3 long after it should've been completely destroyed.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I feel like Nathreza as one zone feels...a bit of a lost opportunity. I'll welcome it if it happens but..more can be done IMO.

[gunner_recall]

I feel like Nathreza as one zone feels...a bit of a lost opportunity. I'll welcome it if it happens but..more can be done IMO.

It would almost be like Argus being jammed into a single patch.

[Nagawithlegs]

I feel like Nathreza as one zone feels...a bit of a lost opportunity. I'll welcome it if it happens but..more can be done IMO.

They may split it into multiple areas, but after Argus, Nazjatar and Nya'lotha Blizzard has shown that they are not interested in making one-theme continents again. If there's too much of one thing without being able to split it into some "wacky" areas (see: Drustvar and Vol'dun) they just won't do it.

Based on the book description Nathreza is very one note. Of course they can change this with it being broken.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

They may split it into multiple areas, but after Argus and Nya'lotha Blizzard has shown that they are not interested in making one-theme continents again. If there's too much of one thing without being able to split it into some "wacky" areas (see: Drustvar and Vol'dun) they just won't do it.

I don't really believe they are against 1 themed zone,,I know people like to whine about it but.... its just noise.

[Nagawithlegs]

I don't really believe they are against 1 themed zone,,I know people like to whine about it but.... its just noise.

I don't think they are terribly against it, but at the same time the results show themselves. 3 majorly hyped lore areas turned into patch content and I think there's a reason beyond LOL THEY R DUMB: they didn't know how to make it varied enough to be a continent and/or are worried about casual fan fatigue over repeated aesthetics. I think this is INCREDIBLY apparent with how reluctant they were to use Old God stuff (not only is Lovecraftian stuff seen as not cool now but he's also problematic, and the aesthetic is redundant)

Both BFA islands have an incredibly different tone/aesthetic zone for a reason.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I don't think they are terribly against it, but at the same time the results show themselves. 3 majorly hyped lore areas turned into patch content and I think there's a reason beyond LOL THEY R DUMB: they didn't know how to make it varied enough to be a continent and/or are worried about casual fan fatigue over repeated aesthetics. I think this is INCREDIBLY apparent with how reluctant they were to use Old God stuff (not only is Lovecraftian stuff seen as not cool now but he's also problematic, and the aesthetic is redundant)

Both BFA islands have an incredibly different tone/aesthetic zone for a reason.

Well they wanted to do a faction war or rather marketed an expansion on it, thats the result of the islands. I think its a matter of what they want to do and...they'd do it if they want..all I'm saying.

[Nagawithlegs]

Well they wanted to do a faction war or rather marketed an expansion on it, thats the result of the islands. I think its a matter of what they want to do and...they'd do it if they want..all I'm saying.

No, I really don't think everyone at Blizz HQ was like "yeah lol fuck N'zoth just shove him in a patch", I'm sure a lot of people were bummed by it.

[gunner_recall]

I don't think they are terribly against it, but at the same time the results show themselves. 3 majorly hyped lore areas turned into patch content and I think there's a reason beyond LOL THEY R DUMB: they didn't know how to make it varied enough to be a continent and/or are worried about casual fan fatigue over repeated aesthetics. I think this is INCREDIBLY apparent with how reluctant they were to use Old God stuff (not only is Lovecraftian stuff seen as not cool now but he's also problematic, and the aesthetic is redundant)

Both BFA islands have an incredibly different tone/aesthetic zone for a reason.

I think part of it also comes into scale. I mean...they can't create an entire planet for an expansion.

Outland was fine because it was a shattered chunk of the world, by extension WoD worked too because the Iron Horde probably wasn't a threat everywhere else.

Argus was a problem because it could have been an entire expansion but the thing is...it's a world just lousy with demons. We would have had to fight in so many different places. Making it just a quick assault against their main fortress to stop the demon's engine for resurrection and also seal away Sargeras worked fine for the singular patch, but it would have been better had it been an entire expansion.

Ny'alotha is another problem because near as we can tell it's either a singular zone or an impossible space city. It's either as big as the raid zone we had or it's a bunch on non-euclidean physics and space that shouldn't exist because of the physics. It could have been an entire expansion, and it would have been awesome to do that, but that also would have required way more work than they were probably wanting to put into it.

I'm not saying doing one off zones was the best solution for these areas but it's also an issue of 1) what's the goal and 2) how long would players realistically be able to stay there with stuff to do

Ultimately, Blizz is gonna do whatever they want.

[Kiivar86]

I feel like Nathreza as one zone feels...a bit of a lost opportunity. I'll welcome it if it happens but..more can be done IMO.

Argus, Nazjatar, not to mention Ny'alotha being just a raid and not even a proper zone...

It'll have some nice company at least.