11.0 - Reshaping of the World

[TheRevenantHero]

I really don't understand why people bust into threads like this like the Kool Aid Man with comments of "It's confirmed!" Like...no it's not. And honestly? ANOTHER world revamp would be stupid and a waste of resources. You wanna fuck around in the older zones? The classic servers exist. But honestly, the last three expansions have been.....subpar to put it nicely. I really don't see WoW coming out with anything actually mind-blowing ever again.

[shane brannigan]

I think the resources needed to do a full old world remake would be better invested into making a WoW2 which personally I'd be all for.
It would be nice if we could go just go to an alternate timeline, and get rid of a lot of the bloat that made wow feel less like it's own thing, and more like pandering stew.
They could set it pre-classic just after the founding of durotar while the worlds rebuilding after the 3rd war.

they could really make use of the new tech and reimaging zones. Like 1000 needles as is kind a mid zone but if they took inspiration from the waking shores and build it around having dragon riding, I think it could be great. potentially they could force you off your dragon riding mount with weather conditions.

[Ringthane]

I think the resources needed to do a full old world remake would be better invested into making a WoW2 which personally I'd be all for.
It would be nice if we could go just go to an alternate timeline, and get rid of a lot of the bloat that made wow feel less like it's own thing, and more like pandering stew.
They could set it pre-classic just after the founding of durotar while the worlds rebuilding after the 3rd war.

they could really make use of the new tech and reimaging zones. Like 1000 needles as is kind a mid zone but if they took inspiration from the waking shores and build it around having dragon riding, I think it could be great. potentially they could force you off your dragon riding mount with weather conditions.

They're not going to make WoW2 and divide up their playerbase. And they're not going to remake the flipping world again. They're on record saying they went way too far in Cata with all the changes. Do you really think they'll turn around and do the same thing again?

[shane brannigan]

They're not going to make WoW2 and divide up their playerbase. And they're not going to remake the flipping world again. They're on record saying they went way too far in Cata with all the changes. Do you really think they'll turn around and do the same thing again?

you say that, But I could very easily see them being gearing up to the development of WoW2. considering they've basically been working on translatable assets since BFA. Also I think the cata quote is a bit of a apples and oranges thing. One is a expansion with a 2 year life span, the other is a new game in the franchise that doesn't have to be made irrelevant. Frankly I can see a lot of value in a WoW2. would probably lead to a lot investor buzz.

[Luck4]

I really don't understand why people bust into threads like this like the Kool Aid Man with comments of "It's confirmed!" Like...no it's not.

It's definitely not confirmed, but Blizzard's efforts to update old models since 7.0 have become increasingly suspicious in 8.0, and they have been doubling down on it regardless since then.

This is what keeps people's faith:

8.0
https://www.wowhead.com/pt/news/upda...n-patch-285528

8.1
https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...s-in-the-Horde
https://www.mmorpg.com/news/check-ou...815-2000100117

8.2.5
https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/top...-in-patch-825/

9.1
https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/top...91-game-files/

10.0
https://www.wowhead.com/news/new-and...nflight-327800

10.1
https://www.wowhead.com/news/updated...ch-10-1-331850
https://www.wowhead.com/pt/news/new-...ch-10-1-331858
https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...DUwZGyvK0tAAAA
https://twitter.com/keyboardturn/sta...17352038957058

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There's also the fact that since 7.0, Blizzard is slowly but steadily updating iconic old world creatures models, such as Kobolds/Murlocs/Naga/Demons in Legion, Faceless/Aqir/Dinosaurs/Quilboar/Elementals in BFA, Undead in Shadowlands, and Tuskar/Centaur/Gnolls/Furbolgs/Dragons-kin in Dragonflight.

[Schwert]

They're not going to make WoW2 and divide up their playerbase. And they're not going to remake the flipping world again. They're on record saying they went way too far in Cata with all the changes. Do you really think they'll turn around and do the same thing again?

They say they aren't going to do a lot of things, and then do it as fast as a couple months after saying it.
I have High Elves and Darkfallen. On Alliance. Two things that were said weren't going to happen.

And part of the issue with Cataclysm that burnt out the developers was them literally destroying the zones.
Imagine being a Night Elf fan and being told to work on Ashenvale, or a human being told to tear up Westfall.
Lol.

Cataclysm 2 likely being gains for everybody would make it a lot more palatable, especially if they've been working on the assets over the last decade to make the transition a lot less straining from multiple roles.
We also that that one dev saying they were working on Eastern Kingdoms stuff a while back, and they seemed hyped.

[Daronokk]

The Orc heritage armor quest suggests Durotar regrowing a forest again and some of the Clans moving from other locations towards Durotar / Orgrimmar. That would be perfectly doable with another world revamp.

I would be all for it actually. If you want to experience the old world you have WoW Classic nowadays for that nostalgia trip. Current WoW can make some changes, show some love to the races that had had it bad last few expansions and develop the story and world further. I'd love to play such an expansion again. Dragonflight seems to be sowing some seeds for a brighter future.

[Lolites]

It was 13 years ago. Do you actually take every ancient statement from several decades ago as gospel? Amen...

pretty sure they say it during BFA, that they might remake zone or two like arati when it makes sense but they dont want to do massive world rework like in cata
not saying its never going to happen, just that its not ancient claim, its quite recent, and given how they plan ahead if they didnt plan it in BFA they are unlikely to do it in next 2 expansions, unless they purposefuly lied back then, while working on it...

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Frankly I can see a lot of value in a WoW2. would probably lead to a lot investor buzz.

it would be MASSIVE risk, some investors might not like that at all, and blizz doesnt really take big risks with wow...

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I have High Elves and Darkfallen. On Alliance.

not really, you can PRETEND you have, but theres a difference between cosmetic "lookalike" option and a playable race...
if lookalike is the same then we have playable vrykuls, saberon, arakkoa etc...

also, yes saying they wont make it is not 100% guarantee, but tiny cosmetic change and world rework is kind of a difference, one can be done quite fast, other would be massive undertaking which would have to be planned expansions ahead...

[micwini]

They're not going to make WoW2 and divide up their playerbase. And they're not going to remake the flipping world again. They're on record saying they went way too far in Cata with all the changes. Do you really think they'll turn around and do the same thing again?

They also said "no pre-mop dungeons for M+" and they went back on that literally a few months later. Stuff like that changes and that is especially true for things said over 10 years ago.

[shane brannigan]

nah just slowly tanked it by turning it into a budget DnD MMO. :P

[DarkTZeratul]

Also true. Dragonflight helped bring back a lot of old players, but the new player experience needs a lot of work. You do Exile's reach a quick zone that gives you zero real racial or faction identity and only one sidequest that deals with your class. After that you randomly pick one of the dated expansion stories with characters and events you have zero connection to.

I fully expect that the next expansion will make Dragonflight the default expansion for new players instead of Battle for Azeroth.

[ChairmanKaga]

I fully expect that the next expansion will make Dragonflight the default expansion for new players instead of Battle for Azeroth.

That would make sense since they had to go backwards to BfA because SL would such an incoherent shitshow for new players.

[DarkTZeratul]

That would make sense since they had to go backwards to BfA because SL would such an incoherent shitshow for new players.

They didn't really go backwards; it was already the default. They just didn't update it.

[liyroot]

11.0 will be a revamp of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. This would be a great opportunity to use 20 years of WoW and its 10th expansion as a selling point for the anniversary by bringing the old world back to the current standard. The ideal time to add a feature that was supposed to be available in vanilla already and which is expected since, the housing (in capitals).

It would be ridiculous not to take advantage of this selling point anyway. They have enormous potential to be seized.

Maybe a clue about the future revamp: in the orcs heritage quests we had to help a lizard-thunder spirit consisting of planting seeds of a future oasis and he says the flora and fauna will return and will greatly benefit at Orgrimmar.

Not to mention the fact that they're updating a lot of old models, including a refresh of the giraffe skeleton that's found almost exclusively in the Barrens.

Also, the new rite of passage introduced can give an idea of what the new introductory orc quests will look like.

This is being confirmed more and more... The revamp of the old world is on the way!

Not going to happen. This takes years of dev time and costs a lot of money. They already tried it in cata and thats when pop numbers dipped for the first time. Leveling has been streamlined and scaled so making a massive amount of content for lvl 1-60 makes no sense anymore.


From a business perspective, what is there to gain? You can't sell Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor as an expansion. People have to be in those zones without paying for the latest crap. How do you get people to pay $80 for stuff that is supposed to be available to everyone? It's easier and more profitable to have the entire population buy a box that keeps them all in one new locked zone sharing the same content. That's why every new expansion has horde and alliance doing the same quests in the same zone. It's cheaper. Why would they suddenly renege on this strategy? Remaking the old content would take twice/trice as long as making a new fresh zone for the same potential profit.

They would only do that kind of work if the game started losing money and they needed a huge marketing push. But even that is a stretch because they can pull another nostalgia rabbit out of the hat and make a "Thrall's Secret Island" or "Mystical Naga Island" or "Return of Medivh Island" expac and it will sell like hotcakes.

[Lightbourne94]

I am really not sure how I feel about changing theold world stuff, like is it used very much anymore does it matter that much?

[liyroot]

"This takes years of dev time" like... an expansion? Who said it would be expensive? They already have a working base. And Cata goes back 13 years, it's not comparable. Especially since it consisted of destroying areas. It would obviously be quite the opposite.
The goal is to make the old world relevant and up to date, there are plenty of reasons to do so.
"They would only do that kind of work if the game started losing money" lmao what are you basing yourself on to say such an authoritative thing that comes out of nowhere?

I'm a software engineer so I am knowelagable about what work goes into making a game like this. It's way harder to update old stuff than to build new stuff. Just by quick comparison off the top of my head, the old content is massive. Thousands of quests. Gigantic map that dwarfs all the new zones put together. Dozens of dungeons and raids. Cities and starting zones and massive stories over two continents. Can you comprehend how difficult it is to update all that stuff?

And for what reason? WoW is a for-profit game. Where do you make money here? V.S. just releasing "Arthas' Sister is the LK Island" where everyone who plays wow has to buy that just to keep playing.

[Stickiler]

Also true. Dragonflight helped bring back a lot of old players, but the new player experience needs a lot of work. You do Exile's reach a quick zone that gives you zero real racial or faction identity and only one sidequest that deals with your class. After that you randomly pick one of the dated expansion stories with characters and events you have zero connection to.

I know a world revamp is a monumental task, but it has to be done.

That's not the new player experience. New players aren't given a choice of expansions, they're sent directly to BFA, and then on to Dragonflight. It's actually decently cohesive.

[Wangming]

That's not the new player experience. New players aren't given a choice of expansions, they're sent directly to BFA, and then on to Dragonflight. It's actually decently cohesive.

Fair point, they don't have Chrommie time. But I don't know if you realize how little people can relate to the events of BfA without all the stories before it and both the Battle of Teldrassil and the Battle of Lordaeron out of the picture.

[crusadernero]

Fair point, they don't have Chrommie time. But I don't know if you realize how little people can relate to the events of BfA without all the stories before it and both the Battle of Teldrassil and the Battle of Lordaeron out of the picture.

Tbf, nothing makes sense when it comes to a cohesive story in wow. The only thing that makes sense is the current xpacs story, whatever that is. Once we are done with DF and move onto 11.0, DFs story wont matter or make sense when playing whatever 11.0 xpac will be.

But for the sake of it, lets ask ourself; In what content should a brand new player begin in? Personally I favor the good ol' cata zones, but thats besides the point.

[Soeroah]

I don't want them to replace the game world, rather I'd like them to make a new, updated version of the main continents and let us go to them the same way new characters can choose between Exile's Reach or classic starting zones.

I also think, to avoid dating the zones to a single expansion, they don't need to focus on doing 100 quests per zone again. What I'd actually like to see is a new, modernised world that reflects the current lore but the content is largely like it is in Dragonflight - have several zones compiled into a 'region', with each region getting its own set of world quests, dailies, special events, dragonriding races, world bosses, etc. With dragonriding getting between vanilla zones would be very easy.

As for the story, they can focus more on zone-spanning quest chains where appropriate - instead of being constrained to a single zone like Westfall, make the new expansion's story more about traveling throughout the world for whatever reason like we do for Heritage Armour quest chains. They can still include localised chains as side-quest content to flesh the world out and all, but they don't need to be tied to the overarching villain of the expansion like how Cata made almost everything about Deathwing or the fallout of the Catacylsm.

And then, having revamped the world and populating it with end-game style content that you can also level up through, they can patch in a larger number of quest chains as needed around the world to reflect evolving but disconnected stories, like dealing with the Botani in the Barrens or with the pirate union in Stranglethorn.