9.0 General Discussion

[Blayze]

Which opens up for dropping Horde VS Alliance and allowing players to "choose" to side with the Light or Shadow/Void.

Or more likely...

[Sondrelk]

So, to talk about something completely different.
Is anyone else that were sure they were commited to a single covenant starting to reconsider?

I was sure I was going to choose Night Fae, but the more I look at it the more I want to go for Necrolords. I was sure the aesthetic of the Night Fae and the Soulshape ability si what I wanted, but I have come to really, really like the Maldraxxus aesthetic, not to mention the story is really fascinating there so far...

[TheFirstOnes]

I dont think the threat of them succeeding is nearly important for the overarching story as the idea of each great cosmuc force having agents that might trick them into making mistakes.

For instance the light invasion could come from lorthorax using his position ti convince the naaru that xera was right and they need to do simething about this planet full of powerful entities that killed her.

From the text they lured sargeras to that void world so they could corrupt him, and fel was scary enough to infiltrate before sargy became one of them

As I have said before, if they are going to do a Light Invasion, they'll do it with the Void threat as well. I HIGHLY doubt we'll see the Light as a singular expansion. Blizzard is kinda known for pinning 2 or so expansion plots into 1 (BFA and Legion being the prime examples).

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I really suspect Zovaal is not really the big bad in the context of latest revelations. He might be in the knows, but is he really the big bad master there?

Why wouldn't he be? Besides, if he's not "the master", then the Dreadlords are probably talking about Sire Denathrius. He is called "the Master" and the Dreadlords did say he "sired" them. Must I remind you that the guy has mirrors that can warps events in the Shadowlands and BEYOND?! All of the stuff's clearly there, and Zovaal was 100% the puppet-master.

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Jailer is the main villain of Shadowlands. But he won't be the main villain of this whole cosmic conspiracy. That'll be one of the First Ones, the original creators of the cosmos who are more ancient than everyone else.

I highly doubt the First Ones have any relation to any of this whatsoever. Unless the relic of theirs being in the Maw is more than just a mere "coincidence".

[huth]

It's probably Zovaal. Reminder, he was banished for "treachery". There is a HIGH chance he started this shit, even before he was banished.

Shit like this may very well be the reason for the banishment in the first place.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

So, to talk about something completely different.
Is anyone else that were sure they were commited to a single covenant starting to reconsider?

I was sure I was going to choose Night Fae, but the more I look at it the more I want to go for Necrolords. I was sure the aesthetic of the Night Fae and the Soulshape ability si what I wanted, but I have come to really, really like the Maldraxxus aesthetic, not to mention the story is really fascinating there so far...

Not me, I've been team Venthyr since the expansion announcement. I'm too much of a fan of gothic imagery to consider anything else. Of course I'll play the other Covenants on my alts.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Not me, I've been team Venthyr since the expansion announcement. I'm too much of a fan of gothic imagery to consider anything else. Of course I'll play the other Covenants on my alts.

Yeah I'm undecided between Kyrian and Nightfae. Maldraxxus constant battle might be interesting but turning myself into basically a proto Scourge warlord isn't for me.

[Uncertain Tea]

So, to talk about something completely different.
Is anyone else that were sure they were commited to a single covenant starting to reconsider?

I was sure I was going to choose Night Fae, but the more I look at it the more I want to go for Necrolords. I was sure the aesthetic of the Night Fae and the Soulshape ability is what I wanted, but I have come to really, really like the Maldraxxus aesthetic, not to mention the story is really fascinating there so far...

I was so so certain I would roll Venthyr on my main (Blood Death Knight). But I kept looking at the Necrolords, reading about them and the cosmetics they have to offer. I think the Afterlives episode sealed the deal for me, I'm rolling Necrolords. Unless the Venthyr blow me away and I see my character's personality lining up better with them, it'll definitely be Necrolords.

[Dracullus]

Rep buff is up whole September and some reps paragon cache are required for achievement/title that goes away. So 29th/30th September pre-patch is more or less certain?

[Vakir]

You know this brings up an important question.

Who was the voice in Battle for Undercity Wrath Edition? We assumed at the time it was Sargeras but could it have been the Jailer?

The datamined file says Sargeras.

I'd argue it contradicts his later plans, but they likely hadn't thought of that.

[Collected]

Rep buff is up whole September and some reps paragon cache are required for achievement/title that goes away. So 29th/30th September pre-patch is more or less certain?

That's the feeling people have. Either that or the first week in October. It's not going to be any later than that.

[Sondrelk]

That's the feeling people have. Either that or the first week in October. It's not going to be any later than that.

First week of October would mean a 3-week pre-patch, which would directly contradict the stated plans for a 4-week event. Most of the pre-patches have also been 4 weeks with only 2 exceptions.

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I was so so certain I would roll Venthyr on my main (Blood Death Knight). But I kept looking at the Necrolords, reading about them and the cosmetics they have to offer. I think the Afterlives episode sealed the deal for me, I'm rolling Necrolords. Unless the Venthyr blow me away and I see my character's personality lining up better with them, it'll definitely be Necrolords.

The Afterlives short was really good, but I think the defining moment for me that really made me reconsider was that datamined short questline with Mograine about why he ended up in Maldraxxus and not Bastion.

And of course the giant necropolis you can teleport to that flies around Maldraxxus, that sounds like so much fun. Just stock up on gliders and get wherever you want.

[Eapoe]

So, to talk about something completely different.
Is anyone else that were sure they were commited to a single covenant starting to reconsider?

I was sure I was going to choose Night Fae, but the more I look at it the more I want to go for Necrolords. I was sure the aesthetic of the Night Fae and the Soulshape ability si what I wanted, but I have come to really, really like the Maldraxxus aesthetic, not to mention the story is really fascinating there so far...

I started team Venthyr, and I still really like the aesthetic. Issue is, I do progression raiding and some m+ while going for the 15+ key achievements, and Necrolords are slightly ahead in ST and way ahead with AoE for PvE. I like Necrolords so it’s not like I’ll play something I don’t like, but the Venthyr have the aesthetics down for me the whole way.

[Sondrelk]

I started team Venthyr, and I still really like the aesthetic. Issue is, I do progression raiding and some m+ while going for the 15+ key achievements, and Necrolords are slightly ahead in ST and way ahead with AoE for PvE. I like Necrolords so it’s not like I’ll play something I don’t like, but the Venthyr have the aesthetics down for me the whole way.

Surely if hte Necrolords ability is as good as you say then it will be nerfed, won't it?

[Eapoe]

Surely if hte Necrolords ability is as good as you say then it will be nerfed, won't it?

Not necessarily, and if it is then who knows when Blizz will nerf it. As stated, it is only slightly ahead on ST, but it’s much better on cleave and AoE. Considering 1 is for ST only and the other is designed for AoE then that’s not good design.
As stated, I also like to raid with my guild as a progression raid group. To me, it’s fun to min/max and play my toon as well as I can. Considering there’s no telling when Blizz will do nerfs/buffs, if ever, then it will lean heavily to Necrolord over Venthyr at this point.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Honestly if I could chose the type of ability I could have with Necrolords I would go for it instead "Ok here you go" Me: I don't like it though "Nah its fine RAWR WAR"

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Or more likely...

I hope it goes exactly like that.

[darrensmith2343]

While hard to say for sure, the decision to cull Stratholme seemed like a case of tainted intentions: That arthas was not acting for the greater good or out of compassion, like Jaina & Uther did, instead he was hoping to be recognized for making a decision he thought a king would make. Because becoming King was his sole, specified by the text, motivation.

You see Blizzard trying to dig themselves out of the corruption hole. Corruption at best should be a kind of vague, metaphorical thing rather than treated like a physical affliction. And even then, nearly all the prime antagonists in this franchise *chose* to be corrupted. But as far as we're shown, Arthas is totally lucid immediately after the Human Chapter of Warcraft 3 ends & the undead chapter begins. And the Arthas novel confirms that, while he is tormented & full of regret, he totally joined the Scourge by choice. The sword didn't make him do anything.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

While hard to say for sure, the decision to cull Stratholme seemed like a case of tainted intentions: That arthas was not acting for the greater good or out of compassion, like Jaina & Uther did, instead he was hoping to be recognized for making a decision he thought a king would make. Because becoming King was his sole, specified by the text, motivation.

You see Blizzard trying to dig themselves out of the corruption hole. Corruption at best should be a kind of vague, metaphorical thing rather than treated like a physical affliction. And even then, nearly all the prime antagonists in this franchise *chose* to be corrupted. But as far as we're shown, Arthas is totally lucid immediately after the Human Chapter of Warcraft 3 ends & the undead chapter begins. And the Arthas novel confirms that, while he is tormented & full of regret, he totally joined the Scourge by choice. The sword didn't make him do anything.

The Sword did take his soul and that changes a lot. Sylvanas has her soul intact, Kael'thas had his soul intact, even Kil'Jaeden with his demonic soul was intact. So on and so forth. Arthas did stratholme for more then being a King, he was being stubborn and harsh about the decision. Trying to wash away what Frostmourne did just reeks of trying to say Arthas was super evil. No, not really, if Stratholme didn't happen or wasn't a thing, Arthas would be different.

[Sondrelk]

While hard to say for sure, the decision to cull Stratholme seemed like a case of tainted intentions: That arthas was not acting for the greater good or out of compassion, like Jaina & Uther did, instead he was hoping to be recognized for making a decision he thought a king would make. Because becoming King was his sole, specified by the text, motivation.

You see Blizzard trying to dig themselves out of the corruption hole. Corruption at best should be a kind of vague, metaphorical thing rather than treated like a physical affliction. And even then, nearly all the prime antagonists in this franchise *chose* to be corrupted. But as far as we're shown, Arthas is totally lucid immediately after the Human Chapter of Warcraft 3 ends & the undead chapter begins. And the Arthas novel confirms that, while he is tormented & full of regret, he totally joined the Scourge by choice. The sword didn't make him do anything.

I think it is a bit more grey than that. I believe Arthas was acting out of both a sense of wanting to be a good king and also live up to the expectations put on him.
He clearly loved his people and wanted what was best for them, and in that spirit tried to be the perfect paladin and king. The problem he stumbled upon was his own pride and willigness to do absolutely everything to save his people, which lead him to purge Stratholme because he wanted to do the right thing more than trying to find out what the right thing was.

Arthas' corruption is also more nuanced than most others. Unlike Gul'dan or Kil'jaeden there wasnt a single defining moment where they made the completely wrong choice. For Arthas it was a slow descent of making ever more questionable decisions until he felt he had no option left but to sell his soul for vengeance for his people.

In the end Arthas always cared for his people, he wanted to save them first from the plague, and then from themselves by making them undead.

[Vasoka]

Any chance we see pre patch on the 22nd (the week after the last cinematic) rather than the 29th?