Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[huth]

Do we already know who (or better: what) the First Ones are? As far as I understand they are different from the Eternal Ones (Kyrestia, Denathrius, etc.).
Could it be that Elune is a First One? Are First Ones related to cosmic forces, e.g. Elune being the First One of the light? I there a source somewhere to read about that?

All we know is that they are somehow responsible for creating Oribos and presumably the current order of the Shadowlands. Beyond that, we don't have much information. The Waystone in the Maw is also one of their creations, as are the Graveyard equivalents.

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We know like...3 things about them:

1. [...]

2. They made Maldraxxus, Oribos, and quite possibly the entire way the Shadowlands works and is.

And 3. [...]

Where did you get 1. and 3. from? We only actually know 2..

[ExiHext]

We know like...3 things about them:

1. They are connected to other Pantheons such as the Titans.

Thx for your info.
I was of the impression the Eternal Ones were the Titan "counterpart" in the shadowlands, because of what the Winter Queen said before resurrecting Ysera.
There seems to be a lot of interpretational leeway. Really eager to see how this pans out.

[TheFirstOnes]

All we know is that they are somehow responsible for creating Oribos and presumably the current order of the Shadowlands. Beyond that, we don't have much information. The Waystone in the Maw is also one of their creations, as are the Graveyard equivalents.

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Where did you get 1. and 3. from? We only actually know 2..

1 came from a WoWhead Interview (https://www.wowhead.com/news=316807/...ser-elune-sylv) where in the first question, Steve talks about how the First Ones are tied into other Pantheons such as the Titans, and 3 came from the Shadowlands Collector's Edition Art Book. It's actually in the same page that talks about them creating Maldraxxus. "The First Ones who shaped the cosmos knew they needed to protect the Shadowlands from external threats and beyond. Maldraxxus was their answer."

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Thx for your info.
I was of the impression the Eternal Ones were the Titan "counterpart" in the shadowlands, because of what the Winter Queen said before resurrecting Ysera.
There seems to be a lot of interpretational leeway. Really eager to see how this pans out.

The Eternal Ones are not the First Ones. The Eternal Ones are the Pantheon of Death, and are basically the Titan counterpart of the Shadowlands. Hell, there are implications that the Winter Queen's sister is actually Eonar, but that's yet to be confirmed and is it just speculation at this rate (Though, it's not impossible since Eonar's power blessed Ysera, and a legendary of her name is found from the Wildhunt Quartermasters). Not to mention Ardenweald and the Dream are polar opposites of eachother, and guess who influenced the Dream a ton...

There is some speculation that Elune is possibly one of the First Ones, which would make sense, since she seems to be connected with lots of Cosmic Powers such as Light (As talked about by Khadgar, Velen, and even Anduin), the Titans (One of the Pillars of Creation is legit called "The Tears of Elune"), Shadow (Cause Night Warrior, and some other shit), and even Death (Cause of Ardenweald).

[Futhark]

You ever see that episode of Rick and Morty "The Ricks Must Be Crazy"? I think we are going to find out that The Machine of Death is really powering some cosmic battery for some higher level of beings (First Ones). We just have to keep stomping on our goobleboxes generate Anima again to fix it.

https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Microverse_Battery

[TheFirstOnes]

"I think we are going to find out that The Machine of Death is really powering some cosmic battery for some higher level of beings (First Ones)." It was powering a Cosmic Battery...

It's called the Oribos and the realms of the Shadowlands.

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Even the Arbiter herself is basically a Cosmic Battery.

[huth]

"I think we are going to find out that The Machine of Death is really powering some cosmic battery for some higher level of beings (First Ones)." It was powering a Cosmic Battery...

It's called the Oribos and the realms of the Shadowlands.

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Even the Arbiter herself is basically a Cosmic Battery.

That doesn't really make much sense. Neither of them are batteries, either they're some sort of refinery or they fulfill some other purpose in the larger scheme, but they don't seem to be designed for storage of power.

The Rick-and-Morty device is technically a generator, not a battery, as well.

[Wolfrick]

No, we just know she's searching for a throne somewhere that isn't N'zoth's Black Empire. She could easily ally with N'zoths handlers or Xalatath.

It's very likely that Night Elves are EVENTUALLY going to get their fight with Azshara that's been a long time in the running. Shandris was the temporary stand-in for Nazjatar, but if Azshara is continuing to be an antagonist then it's likely they will shift gears and have her fight the Night Elves.

Considering the hints that Night Elf areas are getting a rework, plus all the Cata 2 foreshadowing, I think it's very likely that Azshara will be the main antagonist on Kalimdor while the Light (Turalyon, Lothraxion, Scarlets, Lightbound/Garrosh2/Yrel) attack the EK. Light on one continent, Void on the other. Void fits Kalimdor more due to the shamanistic elements tie (see: Twilight Cult) as well as Azshara, who is an enemy of both trolls and night elves, and the many many highborne ruins there.

We may also see Magatha as a major antagonist behind the element stuff and Baine will finally kill her (as a conclusion to his Cata 1 arc).

tl;dr: Azshara may be the "face" of a Void invasion of Kalimdor in a Cata 2 expansion.

(On another note, the fact that we're seeing a resurgence of Cata-era focused characters like Voss, Baine, Gallywix, Moira and others points to a likely Cata 2 IMO)

I really hope you are right... this I have wanted an Azeroth revamp since forever... Cataslysm was great... but it was to soon for its time... today we have so many systems we can use that would make the Revamped world so revelant and interesting even on max level ^^

[Varx]

Between Bolvar literally being covered in red dragon flames (which will probably be exploited), being the face of SL, and ysera coming back, there is a big dragon influence coming.

For those that don’t know the Dragon Isles were also name dropped for the first time in BFA. So taking all this into account the next expansion will be set in the dragon Isles with the aspects looking to regain their strength.

Lady sinestra will come back as the major antagonist for the start of it and will work on empowering the twilight dragon flight to herald in the void lords to azeroth.

The aspects will get there powers back but sinestra will also display a terrible display of the voids power before being defeated.

This will cause the newly empowered nozdormu to crap his pants and shatter his sanity at the threat azeroth is facing. Then nozzy turns into Murozond and creates the Infinite Dragonflight and is the last threat of 10.x

The final raid consists of alternative versions of various lore figures summoned by Murozond. Once we defeat him he unleashes one final attempt without our knowledge and the expansion ends…

Meanwhile, stormwind is visited by AU Yrel and her lightbound in an attempt to recruit the alliance to their cause. Yrel sends AU garrosh to recruit the horde.

During the pre expansion event the LB are successful in recruiting the scarlet crusade but negotiation fall apart with the alliance and horde.

AU garrosh steals the power of the sun well with a shard of the Light Mother and flees to azurmist isle where Yrel has taken control of the vindicaar. They have also kidnapped locus walker and use him and the vindicaar to travel to where 11.0 takes place… Ka’resh. This is where the void/light war begins.

10.0 exp features

New hero class: dragon sworn

New allied races:

Horde: lightbound undead

Alliance: dragonoid race from shipwrecked alliance soldiers in the dragon Isles that share the worgen rig

11.0 exp features

New core races

Horde: ogres
Alliance: arrakoa

neutral: ethereal / naga

4th specs (10th expansion and 20th anniversary means drastic additions)

[Dracullus]

We may get some small 9.0.5 patch to avoid content drought: https://www.wowhead.com/news=320750/...37447-ptr-soon

To be honest, patch like this could be everything, from small system patch to something like 7.1 - maybe Blizzard decided they want raids in big patches after all.

And, assuming PTR start right away after Blizzcon (or same night, why not it's online event), they have 6 weeks before Q1 ends. Not enough for big patch, but something small could fit.

[TheFirstOnes]

That doesn't really make much sense. Neither of them are batteries, either they're some sort of refinery or they fulfill some other purpose in the larger scheme, but they don't seem to be designed for storage of power.

The Rick-and-Morty device is technically a generator, not a battery, as well.

Whatcha mean? There are tons of cases where Anima is stored within these realms so that they could continue to charge up and fuel said realms. It's why the drought is heavily weakening not just the Eternal Ones, but the realms of the Shadowlands as a whole (Which is arguably an extension of the Eternal Ones).

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"To be honest, patch like this could be everything, from small system patch to something like 7.1 - maybe Blizzard decided they want raids in big patches after all." Maybe? They could announce 9.1 at Blizzconline, and then announce the PTR's release like the day after Blizzconline ends, or the week after Blizzconline, ya know?

[Sondrelk]

We may get some small 9.0.5 patch to avoid content drought: https://www.wowhead.com/news=320750/...37447-ptr-soon

To be honest, patch like this could be everything, from small system patch to something like 7.1 - maybe Blizzard decided they want raids in big patches after all.

And, assuming PTR start right away after Blizzcon (or same night, why not it's online event), they have 6 weeks before Q1 ends. Not enough for big patch, but something small could fit.

I dunno, PTR usually lasts 5 weeks, if Blizzard plays it right then they could easily sneak in 9.1 right before the end of March. Even considering the raid that will be there the X.1 patch doesnt usually give a whole lot of content that requires massive amount of testing like what X.2 and X.3 patches give. Most likely no new landmass, only a small handful of quests compared to launch or later patches, and refinements on existing mechanics as opposed to new mechanics.
If we further assume that there will be no new system like Faction invasions in 8.1 then all we are really looking at are quests that need urgent testing, raid bosses can be delayed further if they want.

[huth]

Whatcha mean? There are tons of cases where Anima is stored within these realms so that they could continue to charge up and fuel said realms. It's why the drought is heavily weakening not just the Eternal Ones, but the realms of the Shadowlands as a whole (Which is arguably an extension of the Eternal Ones).

That's exactly what i mean. They have Anima stores. They are not Anima stores.

[TheFirstOnes]

That's exactly what i mean. They have Anima stores. They are not Anima stores.

I guess I "over exaggerated". What I mean to say is that the Anima stores within said realms power the Eternal Ones, and therefore the realms of the Shadowlands. And I assume the Arbiter can be considered a battery herself, as she powers up and balances Oribos as well as the entirety of the Shadowlands' Anima and Soul supplies? That's also why I mentioned Oribos. Not the city itself, but moreso the Arbiter.

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This is my assumption for the next WoW SL patches:

Patch 9.1 and 9.2: 2 Possibilities. 9.1 could be about Kel'Thuzad, Mal'ganis, the Sepulcher of the First Ones, and maybe the Broker Realm. Or, it can be about the Broken Realm, as well as finish up the Ardenweald plot, with 9.2 being about Maldraxxus and all (Maybe the Broker Realm may not even happen?). Or, it can be both, or neither.

SL could lead up to 9.3, or it could be like MoP where it leads to 9.4. 9.4 seems like a good possibility, but we'll see.

Now, as for 10.0, I already have an idea:

I think 10.0 will be about the battle between Light and Shadow, though I think it'll be like BFA, where the Light starts off as the prominent force we have to deal with, while in the later patches, it'll end off with the battle against the Void.

My assumption. 10.0: We return from the Shadowlands, the zones of Azeroth are altered like in Cata, and the Light and Shadow are slowly rising against each-other on Azeroth. Lothraxion has his hands around Turalyon, Alelria's whispers are peaking, the Scarlet Crusade is rising once more, and Yrel's joined Turalyon in their new "Dark Alliance", or should I say "Scarlet Alliance". The new Continent is the Dragon Isles, which is retconned to become the backside of Azeroth. There, we shall reunite the dragonflights, see into the past, and even face off against the rising forces of Shadow, as well as the Dark Alliance. The pre-patch will be the Battle for Stormwind, where we have to force Turalyon and Lothraxion out of the keep, so that they don't take control over the entirety of the Eastern Kingdoms. The pre-patch will end with Turalyon getting beat up, but not truly defeated. He and Lothraxion escape.

We'll also face off against the Scarlet Crusade, see the realms of Light and Shadow, etc.

There will be 2 raids in the beginning of the Expansion: The First Raid takes place on the Dragon Isle, where we have to face Chromatus, as well as the rising forces of the Infinite Dragonflight. This will lead into the Infinite Dragonflight's dismantlement, though some of the Dragonflight's remnants still remain. The second raid will take place on Draenor, where we have to face Yrel, Lothraxion, and snap Turalyon out of his fanatic craze (Either by beating him up, or slaying him).

Then, in 10.1, there will be a mini raid where Azeroth's soul is hurting extensively, as she's hearing intense whispers of the Void. Her soul is hurting so extensively, that we'll need help from the Titans themselves to ease the pain. So, we go to the Titans, who are the only ones that house true knowledge of the Void Lords, and we seek their aid. However, while trying to get them to aid us, Sargeras from his prison stands against us, and it's up to us to beat him down, and force him to aid us in this conflict, as Sargeras still holds out the idea of Azeroth being doomed to the Void unless she faces total annihilation. With Illidan's aid, we beat down Sargeras, and even enter the realm of Order itself just to defeat him, and at the end of the raid, we defeat Sargeras, force him to join us, he rips his blade out of Silithus, and Eonar heals her wound completely, either by making Silithus forest-like, or by making Silithus something akin to the original Well of Eternity.

10.2 will be about us going into space, with a raid based off Space Pirates, and some Old Gods. There, we'll also learn more about the Ethereals, possibly meet Elune, and learn a lot more about the First Ones themselves. Hell, we could even meet them. We'll also face more of the Void Lords' avatars, like stronger dudes such as Dimensius, and possibly face some space elemental's similar to Murmur.

10.3 will be about the final steps against the Void Lords, and our final battle against them. However, this may or may not be the final WoW expansion, who knows. Probably not.

That's my assumption/speculation on the new Expansion. I'm not going to talk about a new class or shit like that, as I feel like if SL didn't give us a new class, why should the expansion after that? There's not much to work with anyway, unless Blizzard becomes extra creative and makes either a Dragonsworn class where you can become a fucking Dragon and shit like that, or a Bard class with a fucking heavy metal DPS spec.

I also didn't wanna pin the Light and Shadow as their own expansions, as since Legion and BFA exist, there's NO reason to believe the Light and Shadow plot shouldn't be just 1 expansion. SL is about Life and Death, Legion was about Order Vs Disorder, and BFA was legit 3 entire expansion plots into 1.

Now, what would I name the potential expansion? Simple. I would call it: World of Warcraft, the Great War.

[huth]

I guess I "over exaggerated". What I mean to say is that the Anima stores within said realms power the Eternal Ones, and therefore the realms of the Shadowlands. And I assume the Arbiter can be considered a battery herself, as she powers up and balances Oribos as well as the entirety of the Shadowlands' Anima and Soul supplies? That's also why I mentioned Oribos. Not the city itself, but moreso the Arbiter.

No, your understanding is partially incorrect. The Anima is directly used to power the various parts of the Shadowlands. The Eternal Ones are just among the users, not exclusive in it.

And we can clearly see that Oribos works just fine without the Arbiter. It's only her particular job that isn't being done. The problem stems from that job being responsible for ensuring that everybody is getting fresh Anima and Souls to run everything with. She's a distributor, not a storage mechanism.

[LemonDemonGirl]

10.3 will be about the final steps against the Void Lords, and our final battle against them. However, this may or may not be the final WoW expansion, who knows. Probably not..

Yeah, WoW isn't going anywhere at any time soon. Blizzard makes too much money off of it lol.

I could see a soft 'reboot' and a WoW 2 tho

[TheFirstOnes]

No, your understanding is partially incorrect. The Anima is directly used to power the various parts of the Shadowlands. The Eternal Ones are just among the users, not exclusive in it.

And we can clearly see that Oribos works just fine without the Arbiter. It's only her particular job that isn't being done. The problem stems from that job being responsible for ensuring that everybody is getting fresh Anima and Souls to run everything with. She's a distributor, not a storage mechanism.

"The Eternal Ones are just among the users, not exclusive in it." That's not 100% true, as they basically are the realm they rule over. If the realm itself is drained of Anima, then they themselves are weakened in the process, etc.

"And we can clearly see that Oribos works just fine without the Arbiter." Not really? It was only working the way it was cause the purpose basically confirmed our arrival. Prior to that, Oribos was full of chaos and pure confusion as to wtf was going on.

"She's a distributor, not a storage mechanism." In a way, yes? But she's also a batter in that she charges the realms of the Shadowlands with the Anima being distributed to begin with.

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Yeah, WoW isn't going anywhere at any time soon. Blizzard makes too much money off of it lol.

I could see a soft 'reboot' and a WoW 2 tho

I could see a graphical remake of the game entirely, where they relaunch the game, as well as the expansions, but with the modern technology of Blizzard's servers, therefore making all of the old world feel new and engaging for years to come. Idk about them continuing WoW for long though. Ik it's not gonna go anywhere anytime soon, but there's gotta be a limit as to how much storytelling they should do regarding the story. I mean, what would be above the First Ones? Absolute 0?

[Zyrinx]

I just hope there are 450 and 500 mount achievements in 9.1.

[Sondrelk]

Yeah, WoW isn't going anywhere at any time soon. Blizzard makes too much money off of it lol.

I could see a soft 'reboot' and a WoW 2 tho

Thinking about it I would imagine that Blizzard will first release TBC classic, WotLK classic and maybe even more to ensure they have a solid subscriber base staying occupied before they start considering WoW 2.0.

Any remake would likely take at least twice the time normally spent on an expansion, especially if it should be worth the effort. Blizzard likely cannot afford to leave their subscribers in the cold not giving them the necessary income to keep the lights on for long.

[Le Conceptuel]

Well, here's the thing - Battle for Azeroth was foreshadowed very early on in Legion. Shadowlands was foreshadowed throughout all of Battle for Azeroth. Legion had the enslaved Zandalari and Kul Tirans in Azsuna, Battle for Azeroth had the underlying plot behind Sylvanas. What we should do is look for common threads of foreshadowing in Shadowlands - things that don't make sense or connect to a possible future race or class, or a concept or place the game hasn't touched yet.

The only thing I can think of is Tuskarr in the Maw, and that possibility horrifies me. The Naaru plotline in Revendreth does seem a little out of left field, but it still fits with existing themes. There's definitely a lot of Light-related foreshadowing, as has been pointed out - I don't think it'll have any Dragons, though. Seems like Dragons are a fairly minor figure and we don't see too much of them in places we wouldn't expect.

[Sondrelk]

Well, here's the thing - Battle for Azeroth was foreshadowed very early on in Legion. Shadowlands was foreshadowed throughout all of Battle for Azeroth. Legion had the enslaved Zandalari and Kul Tirans in Azsuna, Battle for Azeroth had the underlying plot behind Sylvanas. What we should do is look for common threads of foreshadowing in Shadowlands - things that don't make sense or connect to a possible future race or class, or a concept or place the game hasn't touched yet.

The only thing I can think of is Tuskarr in the Maw, and that possibility horrifies me. The Naaru plotline in Revendreth does seem a little out of left field, but it still fits with existing themes. There's definitely a lot of Light-related foreshadowing, as has been pointed out - I don't think it'll have any Dragons, though. Seems like Dragons are a fairly minor figure and we don't see too much of them in places we wouldn't expect.

The pattern I have taken notice of before is that expansions are seeded two expansions in advance. Death being somewhat of a theme in Legion, Legion being brought up in MoP etc.

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Following this pattern I would expect Dragons and Light/Void to be a major them in 10.0 seeing as that is the themes that have been properly presented in advance.

Specifically I should mention that usually something will be heavily hinted in the X.2 and X.3 patches which the discussion will focus on, this usually isnt what ends up happening, just like how Dragons were not 9.0 ewspite all teh dragons in 8.3.