The Queue: Sylvanas isn’t evil
She’s still a good guy, y’all. Trust me on this — she told me herself.
Anyhow, I’m sick again and it’s cold in Michigan and everything is awful. LET’S QUEUE!
Regarding Shadowlands dungeons, it’s been awhile since we’ve had a remix of an older dungeon, I think Blackrock Spire in Wod? I guess there was also technically Karazahn in Legion, though it was originally a raid.
If they were to do that again and remix a dungeon for Shadowlands, what would you prefer? It’s a shame both Scarlet Halls and Scholomance have been done already, and Stratholme kind of had a remix way back in Wrath, so that’s the obvious old-world undead dungeons out. Maybe a return to a Wrath dungeon? Outside of the ICC dungeons, so few are overtly death-themed though. Maybe string together the three ICC dungeons into one mega-dungeon?
Or maybe Blizzard will troll us and remix Oculus, but leave in all the annoying vehicle segments.
It’s hard to imagine too many dungeons (or raids) that would fit thematically for a redesign. I realize that’s not technically a requirement for Blizz to remix an old dungeon/raid, but it does help. With that in mind, I’d love to see some of the Azjol-Nerub stuff remixed. The place was infamously cut from being an outright zone in Wrath, and I could easily see Blizz using the location to help us uncover hidden secrets pertaining to the Lich King and ways to stop* Sylvanas. It would be really cool to explore more of Azjol-Nerub and give us an excuse to revisit some of the horrors that lay beneath Northrend.
The ICC dungeons would definitely work (albeit the timeline might feel weird), but I’d almost they rather just make a new mega-dungeon within the setting of Icecrown. Scourge running rampant now that the Helm of Whatever is broken, Bolvar asks us to do him a heckin’ solid and clear out all the other parts of ICC we haven’t seen. It’d be easy enough to weave in a few familiar locales and callbacks as well.
*Not that she needs it, of course. Totally a good guy.
A trio of rapid fire questions for Mitch off the top of my head:
Q4tQ: Which 8.3 mount would work best for the stylish minded Shadow Priest? One of the Aqir flying bugs, or the Voidwing dragon?
Q4tQ: We have sent a lot of truly evil souls into the Maw over these past 15 years. Any one in particular you wouldn’t mind a second chance to punch in the face?
Q4tQ: Getting Pokemon Sword / Shield, or not interested? If yes, which starter?
Sadly, I haven’t actually looked at many of the 8.3 mounts/models yet :( But I do always enjoy the Aqir. Also FWIW even though you didn’t really ask, Tyrael’s Charger is one of my favorite Shadow mounts in general because of how Shadow Form makes it look.
Malfurion. Wait, we haven’t actually killed him, have we? In that case, Turaly– dammit, he’s still alive too. Fine, I guess Warlord Zaela was pretty annoying. Not necessarily as a fight, but as a character. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone worse, though. I just can’t remember.
Getting Sword! I haven’t looked at the evolutions, but Sobble has been my guy so far. Update: I looked and I think Sobble still wins. Though Grookey might have the best ones overall, to be honest… Hmm… now I’m questioning things…
It was suggested that the shadowy tufts of dark magic we see around Sylvanas is a sign of how powerful her magic is, based on her pact with the Jailer from Shadowlands.
But that is nothing compared to the glowing aura of magic that surrounds shadow priests.
Question: If her magic comes from The Shadowlands, and spriests powers come from The Void, and on the Cosmology chart in Chronicle, the Void is deeper and bigger than SL, doesn’t that make spriests more powerful than her?
To steal the words of (I believe) Steve Danuser, Chronicle was written from the perspective of the Titans. It’s their interpretation of the world, which doesn’t include the realm the Shadowlands is part of. Her magic may be Void magic, it may be a variant of it from Shadowlands, or it may be something completely new that looks similar. (Correct me if this has been clarified elsewhere, though, please.)
In other words, it’s not that simple, and even if we did have a canonically strong Shadow Priest on our side with more of a glowing aura than Sylvanas, that wouldn’t necessarily make that Priest stronger. Frankly, Sylvanas seems unstoppable right now, and I don’t think anything on Azeroth stands a chance against her.
Based on my latest poll, Vulpera Druids and Pandaren Druids are something that a lot of people here want.
Q4TQ: what forms would you give to Vulpera and Pandaren Druids?
Is it cheating to say I’d give Pandaren a legit ferocious panda bear as their Druid tank form? Because I would. Vulpera “cat” form would have to be a fox, right? And uhh… okay, I’m actually blanking here. But I do want to hear what all of you would have to say!
Q4tMitch: We saw Sylvanas turn her back on the Horde & the Forsaken (I doubt she ever believed in them in the first place but was just biding her time until now). We know that Nathanos would do anything she asked but I don’t doubt for a minute that she’d send him to his death if she thought it would advance her, as yet unknown agenda. With all that being said, as a loyal follower of Sylvanas are you hoping for any particular outcome or special favor in 8.3?
I’m a bit at odds with Sylvanas’s story when it comes to the Forsaken. I personally believe she did care about them, inasmuch as she needed a goal to focus on after Arthas’s defeat. They get a passing remark in the loyalist epilogue and I’m… eh, at least they got acknowledged, but it feels a bit of a retcon to say she never cared for them, even if that is canon.
As for 8.3 and loyalists, I’m not hoping for much since I think Sylvanas’s arc is mostly done for now and we’ll be focusing on Old Gods. Everything I’d like for loyalists is probably too far out of the question, to be honest. I want something where I get separated mechanically from others a la Aldor/Scryer, at the very least. That’s the problem with storytelling in an MMO (especially WoW) — you can only do so much that makes decisions feel meaningful, and it’s not going to be on the level of Mass Effect.
Q4tMitch: what is the best method to consume alcohol during the cold months?
No eggnog, can’t stand it.
Someone already responded with this, but it’s a great answer: hot toddies. I’m drinking one right now, in fact! Make some tea (I prefer mint), add a slice or two of lemon, as much honey as you want, and even more whiskey. Or I guess a shot or whatever. Really, those are the ingredients to worry about — the amounts of each are up to you. They’re delicious, great for the cold, and even can make sore throats feel better. And if you like lemons, you can eat a whiskey/tea-soaked lemon when you finish! Mmmmm, hot toddies…
QFTQ: Do you think players are a little spoiled?
I mean, leading up to the expansion reveal, most players were discussion what class would be revealed for the expansion, not if a class was coming at all. Many – including myself – are still expecting a class to be revealed before the launch of Shadowlands.
Since WoW launched, we’ve had three classes added to the game at a rate of one every second expansion (Wrath, Mists, Legion).
Bonus question: Do you think there is a limit on how many classes should be in the game, taking balancing into account?
And do you think Taliesin’s class skin idea would be a good feature to add?
All players? No. Many? Absolutely. I think a big part of that has to do with players not understanding the inner workings of game design. Take, for example, the Pokemon games. There’s a big controversy right now about them not including previous generations. Someone on Reddit did some very bad math and estimated that a team of 20 could knock out 2,000 Pokemon models (design, movement, everything) in 5-6 days at only 3 hours a day. This was because they (apparently) very genuinely believed a Pokemon would take 10 minutes to complete. There’s a large disconnect between the general player base and the inner workings of game design.
Blizzard could communicate some of this, but then they open themselves up to more criticism and scrutiny. Maybe a blue post says “It takes us at least X amount of time to do Y” — that opens them up to someone, at some point down the line, saying “YOU SAID IT ONLY TAKES SO LONG TO DO THIS THING SO WHY DIDN’T YOU DO IT?!” It’s not an easy situation for Blizzard, and it’s a lot more complicated than players just being spoiled. But there for sure are a large number of players out there who take a lot for granted and could easily be described as spoiled.
Frankly, I’m not sure if there’s a hard and fast limit to that sort of thing. If it feels right and it fits, add it. Don’t just aim for an arbitrary number. It does feel like we’re up to a lot now, but if another will work, why not add it?
Heck yes class skins would be awesome. It’s A LOT of dev work to make a bunch of unique assets for every class (and/or spec), so I’m not sure it will happen anytime soon, especially since we’re getting racial customizations this time around.
Q4tQ: Do you think Night Elves will get a green eyes option in Shadowlands?
Do I think? No, because I don’t want to get my hopes up for more customization than we’ve been shown. Do I hope? Absolutely. I would love an eye-color slider, among other things. I do feel like this is the sort of thing to bring up when we get more info and when the beta hits. If a customization option is missing or feels off or whatever, make it known. Blue posts, WarcraftDev tweets, etc. That’s the time for feedback.
That’s all for today! I wrote this before 11:00 p.m., so I hope y’all are proud.
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