The Queue: Turbulent Timeways
There’s a lot going on in WoW right now. I can’t keep up!
Is this what it feels like to be a filthy casual?!
As I ponder all of my life choices that led to this moment, I’ll regale you with some answers to your questions!
Before I sleep, a question about future-proofing talent systems
Since each expansion they try adding new talents, do people think it might be more worthwhile them keeping a basic talent tree system like the current one and having a hero talent-style per-expansion class-agnostic trait tree so as you level it feels like you’re getting stronger in that expansion’s content?
For example, instead of just adding more “your fireball summons a phoenix that craps meteors” type talents to the tree until they inevitably need to cut talents or redo the whole thing, they simply tweak those class and spec trees as needed, but as we level up in Midnight we have a new Expansion Tree for Midnight we can put our ten points into to choose things like a general 10% buff to all stats or faster outdoor movement or the ability to call for an instant ride to the nearest flightmaster or whatever raiders/dungeon players would like etc. Basically a way to ‘spec’ into a playstyle for the expansion that makes that expansion feel better, but when the next one comes out we leave it behind and we don’t really feel like we’ve lost anything because our class still plays the same (barring tuning and revamps) and we’ll always have those Midnight traits active if we go back
I guess it’s basically like the conduit system in Shadowlands but not class-based, more play experience based and doesn’t require locking into certain factions or anything. Honestly maybe they could even do it kinda like conduits where as the content rolls out you could collect choices for nodes based on the content you’re doing that do things like let you reroll a keystone (for example, idk if that’s already a thing) or get an extra life in delves or whatever
The idea of leaving things behind — whether it’s systems or extra talents or artifact powers or what-have-you — is a real sore point in the community. So much so that when Dragonflight was being developed, Ion explicitly stated that the days of borrowed power were gone, and they were looking into only adding permanent/evergreen systems to the game moving forward.
It’s a philosophy that I certainly agree with, and I’m glad they’re following it (at least so far).
With that said, you’re absolutely right that a secondary problem arises from this: they still need to add something for players to earn as they level from 80 to (presumably) 90 in the next expansion. That something could be new Hero Talents, or something similar. And, inevitably, we’ll eventually reach a point where there are too many points to spend, too many talents for players to pick, and they’ll have to prune again.
But that’s a lesser of two evils situation — getting our talent points pruned every four or five expansions is probably better (for most players) than leaving things behind every single one. I know it’s hard to grow attached to your Azerite Powers when you know you’re about to lose them. Having to give up the Artifact Weapons in the end of Legion felt terrible. It’s best to avoid this. The current philosophy has been much better received in general than what we had in the Legion-Shadowlands era.
Your idea of having some sort of new type of talent that adds general (non-combat-related) power to classes is pretty sound and I’d be totally okay with something like that. I just don’t like the idea of leaving it all behind when the expansion ends, and I do believe players would feel like they’d be losing something, even if it didn’t affect how their class or spec plays.
Q4tQ:
There has been speculation about which major NPCs might get the axe before the end of the (trilogy). What would you think if they did a big Battle of Hogwarts-style, where all these historic deaths are flashing past in the corners of your eye as you rush through to accomplish whatever it is your quest requires?
If it makes sense in the story, sure!
If it’s just to create drama for the sake of drama, meh.
But I do have faith in the current direction of the writing in WoW; things are certainly more enticing (for me, personally) in The War Within than they were in Dragonflight or the two expansions before that. And I also feel like it’s nice to change things up: introduce new heroes, let them step into the spotlight, and retire those tired old heroes that have been with us since The Burning Crusade, or Warcraft 3, or even Warcraft 2 in some cases.
Retiring could be literal; I’d be totally fine with Velen just going “you know what? I’ve accomplished a lot, I’m super old, I deserve to rest” and passing on the mantle of leader of the Draenei to someone else. But if “retiring” is meant Bladerunner-style, as long as it makes sense in the story — an epic final stand against forces that would annihilate us all, something that feels earned, like Varian’s demise did in Legion — I’d be fine with that too.
i’m going to dream that Blizzard is FINALLY going to let us walrus-people before they let us be electrical people.
I’d be okay with playable Tuskarr. I don’t think I’d actually play them, but I’d roll one out of curiosity, try out the starting zone (if there’s one), etc.
And I do hope all of you Tuskarr fans get to realize your dream one day!
…
However, I really hope we get electrical people Ethereals before them. (Sorry!)
Q4tQ One of the interesting (and hopefully not considered spoiler-y) pieces of information about 11.2 is that the new dungeon takes place after the raid. What’s your reaction to this, and do you intend to not do the dungeon until after you’ve completed the raid?
I’m… not a fan of the idea (with this implementation, at least).
I think there’s a general sense of progression that goes “questing -> dungeon -> raid” when it comes to the story stakes getting raised. And your question presents a real issue: players feeling like they need to postpone the dungeon until after they’ve run the raid, which is made worse by the fact that we don’t usually get the raid on LFR or Story Mode until a few weeks after the patch drops. So players who do want to faithfully follow the story will be “forced” to wait.
That said, I’m all for them trying to mix it up. WoW patches often feel formulaic, so seeing that the devs are trying to keep things fresh is good. I just wish they’d perhaps do it in a way that didn’t create its own set of other issues.
Q4Red: Since you’re an Atlus fan, are you going to pick up Raidou remastered?
Eventually!
I like what I’ve seen of the game from the previews, and I’m craving an Atlus experience that’s action-oriented rather than turn-based. That could be a lot of fun. The game has been getting some nice reviews — nothing earth-shattering, but it seems to be “solid.” It is just a remaster, after all, not a brand-new release. So it’s the kind of game that feels perfect to pick up on a sale, eventually!
(I mean, I have a ton on my plate right now; even if I were to stick to just WoW, that one is already pumping out more content than I can keep up with!)
Q4Q: In your opinion, what RPG series has the most drip?
It’s easily between Final Fantasy and Persona for me. Both of those series actually invest hard into style — it’s a deliberate choice they make. They want to impress with visuals, with drip, with coolness — even when it doesn’t make much logical sense.
Where the former has gigantic swords and one-winged angels and popstar summoners and gunblades and long coats and LOTS of belt buckles, the latter has casual, modern, urban-style streetwear oozing with flair and a rebellious attitude, as well as outfits, and masks. Heck, even the school uniforms manage to look super stylish. It’s hard to pick one!
Time… is it really on our side? Is it?!
I don’t know, but all I can do is wish that you all have a very nice day, and a very nice weekend, and take care!
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