Don't let the unused Hearthstone Tavern model go to waste

Community WoW Community Council
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As some of you might know there’s a very cool model in the game of the Hearthstone Tavern that was added back in 8.2.5. If you’re not aware of it, you can check out a preview of it here: https://youtu.be/upEcN-RnYnk

Datamining indicated it was used in a scenario that never ended up seeing the light of day, which as Ion previously commented on often happens, but I personally think it’d be a shame if this painstakingly created interior never ended up seeing the light of day.

It is already on a separate map and has no exterior, so no need to worry about placing it in the world somewhere which I believe makes sense lore wise because it is its own place not necessarily located anywhere specific. Hearthstone already canonically exists in WoW too, so it’s not that much of a stretch. It is looking pretty polished and from an outsider perspective it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a lot of development time either, depending on how it is added.

It’d be cool if we got something like a Hearthstone toy (heh) that allows you to teleport there (without a ridiculous cooldown) or maybe having it hooked up as a teleport location when doing a certain action in a normal inn (those who explored the inn in Valdrakken know what I’m referring to).

Maybe add some flavor NPC and barkeeps there, maybe even work in a quest or two (one could even reward the teleport toy) so that players are aware of it.

Then, even if it is only used in little content and is only visited for a quest once (or never) by most players, it would be a very welcome addition to the world for RPers like myself to hang out and do events in or to just park your characters somewhere pretty.

With the improved relations between the Alliance and Horde in 10.0 it could even be set as a sanctuary for players of all factions to “play Hearthstones”, similar to how the tavern is depicted in actual Hearthstone cinematics.

I’m not really expecting a reply or anything as this is about unreleased/datamined content that’s never been officially talked about, but I just wanted to post about it on the off-chance it sparks some ideas and improves the chances of seeing it in-game at some point.

Thanks! <3

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I always thought this would be a neat location to have the main pet battle locale. So a new shop locale doesn’t have to constantly be created each expansion. (They’re usually just a regular shop or even just a singular NPC that has pet stuff for sale) To be frank, pet battles have felt like an afterthought for a few expansions now, so to get something like this would mean a lot.

Have critters of all kinds running through the halls, monkey companion pets swinging from the balconies, etc.

Accessible to everyone, obviously, but it has an ambience that I think with the proper pets (like cats, dogs, etc.) people would love just spending time there.

I think a cozy tavern-type feel would be perfect for a pet sanctuary, like a forever-shelter that loves and takes care of abandoned critters. (You could populate it with characters that have been pre-established like Breanni and the 2 WoD Garrison Tamers and their companions, and characters like that.)

This could also be the new location of Manapoof, for easy access to the Pet Dungeon teleports, as well as the pet dungeon questlines. You could even move Breanni’s Shadowlands questline to it. (I assume she would be one of the main NPCs in it)

And as an added bonus, they could finally relocate Dog to a final spot where he can be with all new kinds of friends. Dog, for those who don’t remember, is this NPC:

We befriended them in Mists, and were able to bring them onto our Farm. In WoD, we were able to recruit them to our Garrison, and in Legion, we could get them to Dalaran.

Could go even one further if the art team had time, and have certain decorations spawn if you had certain achievements - like, completing the Raiding with Leashes achievements could cause trophies to spawn, or even have their meta achievements spawn as a companion running through the tavern. Things like that.

Just have the initial “quest” to open the tavern reward a hearthstone toy that lets you port there from any rested area or something like that.

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