If “dragonman” playable race would be to happen I guarantee you Alliance would get blue ones while the Horde would get red ones even if the lore would have to be bend sideways for it.
What’s wrong with the Horde getting red drag- ohhhh.
Kyrians have been in the game since Vanilla and became canonical in Cata with Azuregos dating one at the time. It just wasn’t until Shadowlands that we knew that spirit healers were Kyrians.
While Pandaria was mentioned in WC3: TFT, it was merely a footnote. That is all. And Chen’s home got retconned anyway. It is no longer Pandaria. Old Gods really came into the series with C’thun in WoW. Sure you had the faceless ones and that forgotten one in WC3: TFT but they weren’t expanded upon until Wrath with Yogg-saron.
Shadowlands is not a 100% completely new expansion.
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The Horde has enslaved the leader of the Red Pack, Alexstrasza, and her children. Is this reason enough not to become part of the Horde after twenty (?) years?
Considering the current lore red is and/or green more likely to be Alliance and Black and/or Bronze* for the Horde. Blue^ is more likely to be the neutral NPC template.
- The Horde got the AU Mag’har because the Bronze helped us and Blizzard has a tendency to have the Alliance help push a group into the Horde (ex: Goblins being attacked to leave no witnesses). So I wouldn’t put it past them to have Alliance forces attack a group of Bronze dragons for helping the Horde in BfA and then us getting them.
^ While Kalec has closer ties, the Nightborne did bond with the blue dragons in Azuna.
I was thinking about Warcraft lore on my way home, and I started wondering about Gameplay Mechanics being tied to a story. Specifically- Flight as a Player Mechanic, and Dragons.
If Blizzard wanted to make cool cinematics with Dragons flying around, time gating flight might be kind of a bummer. Would Blizz be crazy enough to go back to the BC/WotLK/Cata way of accessing flight, to really sell the launch?
Or would they have a good Lore based reason to Time Gate flight? Like, maybe Galakrond or Chromatus, … or … Sylvanas after she quadruple crosses us…, or some other enemy, controls the skies of the dragon isles, and we can’t fly until the threat is ended.
As far as Red Dragons, they might be raw at the Horde for what they have done. But they might also be mad at DKs of every race and both Factions - at least the ones who canonically did the Legion quests. That could make things awkward.
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I do like it when blizzard provides a plausible reason why flight is disabled in certain zones. Such as the Isle of Thunder being a constant thunderstorm. Which we saw in the intro chain where we get struck out of the sky.
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I apologize for this being random but do you have Netflix, Thadeus?
I don’t have Netflix, Evelysaa. Why you ask?
I was going to offer you a WoW token to watch Cobra Kai and tell me your thoughts on the show, I’m curious to your thoughts on that show’s characters
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I appreciate the offer, and might take you up on it if the chance comes. I’ve been considering a Netflix subscription.
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There’s an encrypted mount that seems to be for the next expansion which is a green dragon
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Remember the mage tower mount having the story of Shadowlands written on the pages??!!?
We’re going to have a green serpent mount take us to…
World of Warcraft: Garden of Life!!!
My speculation:
Zovaal gets the infinity sigils, travels to Zereth Mortis. The Sepulcher of the First Ones. (Sepulcher = Tomb)
He needs to be at the TOMB of the First Ones because Azeroth is actually a First One.
Zovaal attacks Azeroth to gain her power. Killing Azeroth, a First One, would send her power to the Sepulcher of the First Ones as that’s where they go when they die to “regen.” (First Ones are alive somewhere)
Zovaal begins to win, where we eventually die during the battle, similar to Argus and Arthas.
However, Elune comes to our aid, whether that’s in person or spiritually, I don’t know.
She sends a cascade of souls to aid us in defeating the Jailer, which causes him to die similar to Archimonde and Arthas. (Souls swarming his body)
Elune thanks us for saving her mother. Azeroth, the Eternal.
- Which is the big reveal, Azeroth is confirmed to be a First One.
- We are constantly dying and coming back to life because we are part “Eternal”
But she must tend to the wounds of her mother first, in order for us to be reborn. We drink a green potion to strengthen our bounds to nature, so that we can be reborn from the emerald dream. (New expansion’s mount, Emerald Serpent)
Sword of Sargeras is disintegrated by Elune and in its place, a small tree is planted.
We are reborn.
World of Warcraft: Awakening
- Level 70
- New class: The Tinker
-New race combos, Void Elf and Nightborne Demon Hunters - Cross Faction Play
- New Neutral Zone: Dragon Isles
- 1-2 “small zone” meant to be the neutral hub
- New Zones features: Fractals
- Due to Azeroth’s weaken state, Rifts in time are protruding across Azeroth.
- Think of the Caverns of Time, but extended to full zones.
- Experience different time events and states of zones and dungeons across Azeroth.
- Dire Maul in 100 years (Orge/Naga city)
- Stormwind in 50 years (Old Anduin)
- Battle for Silvermoon (Story of Sylvanas)
- Due to Azeroth’s weaken state, Rifts in time are protruding across Azeroth.
- New Artifact Item: Eternal Traveler’s Pocket Watch
- Click the Pocket Watch to shift between timelines.
End Boss: Murozond
Personally I feel like making Azeroth a First One is not the best idea. Considering that Azeroth herself has said she is a Titan. Via Magni anyway.
I find the whole “creators of everything in existence being uber powerful and we need them to defeat X evil” to be a tired trope at this point. Which is why I do enjoy subversions where either they are actually dead (something Blizzard almost succeeded in doing in Legacy of the Void. Where it was shown that “all” of the good Xel’naga were killed for good) . Or they are just a regular race that was fluffed up into myth by others (like the First Ones in Netflix / Dreamworks She-ra) or just a very smart race that wouldn’t be taken seriously otherwise. So they fluff up a myth themselves. Such as the Precursors from the Jak trilogy.
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I’m having trouble understanding why so many people want Azeroth to be a First One. That’d be another retcon adding to the pile of unnecessary changes just to needlessly increase the scope of what we’re dealing with. It’s that kind of thinking that decreases the quality of the story. These are the people that Rule Of Cool caters to. It’s annoying and cringy.
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Because in the grand schemes of things, at this point, it doesn’t really matter.
Azeroth being a First One or Azeroth being a Titan+++++++, would basically lead to the same conclusion.
Additionally, if you believe in Tauren Mythology, it is heavily implied that Azeroth was a First One, the Earthmother.
Elune, the Winter Queen and An’she being her “children.”
“You’re just a Tauren, your mythology is wrong.”
–okay… you’re just a Titan who woke up in the great dark beyond with no memory what so ever… your mythology is wrong?
Just because you want it to be true, doesn’t mean that it is.
Warcraft is an ever expanding and continuous story. It doesn’t really have a set “Beginning, Middle, and End” that’s set in a stone, and true to follow.
Those type of stories are extremely hard to not have retcons in general.
Are you trying to teach Thadeus a lesson about conflict resolution?
I see what you did there.
I like to world build and come up with game concepts as a hobby and a month or two ago I came up with my own Dragon Isles expansion. It’s a hefty chunk of reading so I won’t subject anyone to it against their will, but I would like to post the zone and instance concepts here because I think people might enjoy them. May it excite the imagination as we all await whatever the next expansion is revealed to be.
The Isles
The Dragon Isles are a group of islands to the west of Quel’thalas where the dragonflights were elevated from proto-drakes. Although there are some titan influences on the islands, it is primarily left to the devices of the dragons. Players will find a colorful set of islands with unique dragon buildings and cultures, all connected via bridges. This new continent does not house a villain with plans for world domination. Nor is any disaster emanating from it. No, it’s just a new set of islands with something fun and exciting for players to explore.
Sarakan is a forested island in the southern Dragon Isles. It is where players land as they begin their adventures in the continent, and where they meet the first inhabitants of the Dragon Isles: A race of the first Dragonspawn called the Azgar. They were the first mortals to be brought into the dragonflights’ fold, whose silver scales display no allegiance to any one flight. Their city of Azgonnar sprawls along the coast and heads the highway that leads to an altar at the center of the Sarakan, where mortals are made into Dragonspawn.
Storylines here include gaining the Azgar’s trust, dealing with dragonflight politics as each one attempts to sway the Azgar to their side, and a deadly Void based plague that affects Dragonspawn and has led to a cult based around converting mortals into Dragonspawn to be also become plagued by this Void.
Tempest Falls is a less conventional island than Sarakan, found on the eastern Dragon Isles. The island houses a large structure in its center, where water pours from the top and forms massive waterfalls. There are various openings in the earth that lead to underground facilities and others that outright poke out of the ground. The waterfalls hide many of these features and require some exploration to discover. A three way war wages among the Voidwing, Twilight, and Black dragonflights as these discarded tools of the Old Gods seek purpose.
Storylines include working with and against a new cast of dragon characters hailing from these flights, learning about the ancient ruins on this island, and unexpectedly finding Alexstrasza, who has taken it upon herself to help these wayward dragons find their identities and the various tragedies that come from it.
Mazora is not connected to the other isles via bridge. This is because Mazora is an invading island. Invading how? It’s a giant, floating island that has been all over the world before settling near the Dragon Isles about a decade ago. Now it roams the western waters. It is a system of woods and plant life whose origin is theorized to be an ancient Druid’s dream home. Others have come to inhabit the isle, including a number of amphibious races like saurok and naga, a bizarre pirate port, and wooden beings that look like replicas of mortal races.
Mazora’s questlines involve a red dragon that rules the saurok like a god, Wrathion being a good ol’ scamp among pirates, and learning alongside a green dragon that Mazora is alive and conscious.
Galeborne Chain is a collection of many tropical islands to the north of the isles. The islands in this chain range from tiny to enormous, towering stacks. Some aren’t even natural. Some are giant, hollow, mysterious statues inhabited by murlocs and an amphibious race of little salamander people called the Tinoco. Other islands are titan facilities or dragon keeps that house Azgar, both with rooms that extend below the sea. The Galeborne Chain has a number of special mechanics that make traversing to islands fun, such as launching points with wind channels that can carry gliders super fast. Plus bridges that connect the larger islands.
Story points here include learning about the sea dragon that guards the Dragon Isles known as Anakwa, helping Wrathion convince the Tinoco to allow him into their sacred temple, and waging war alongside Azgar against a new faction of Dragonspawn that have become hostile due to a fear that mortals will destroy them without the ability to reproduce. At this point it is revealed that Wrathion is trying to find a way to reverse dragon infertility and save their race.
Maladum, the Heartland is the central island of the continent. The zone starts off with rolling hills by the coast then gets craggier the further inland you get, eventually culminating into a towering mountain spire. At the top of the spires is the sacred temple that commemorates the creation of the five dragonflights. Unlike Titan structures, this temple looks more like it’s carved into the rock itself and has a very natural but elegant appearance.
Maladum comes in two parts, the leveling part that happens in the hills and coast, and the exclusively endgame part that takes place around the sheer cliffs and mountain passes at the center. Azgar reside in villages by the coast, and a glittering flight of golden dragons living in the mountains surrounding the shrine. The hills leading up to the mountain are inhabited by phoenix elementals that are used as mounts by the Azgar, and food that fuel the golden dragons’ glowing/sparkling forms. The western bay of Maladum is the location of another Azgar city known as Zek’amir. This city is welcoming to visitors and will be players’ capital city for the continent.
The main story beats in Maladum include learning about the dragons’ heritage, healing a wound left by Deathwing after the War of the Ancients, and Wrathion being framed for murdering the golden flight’s leader, causing them to go hostile and imprison him.
Blackscale Island, a PvP island to the southwest of the Dragon Isles. Legend has it, upon his rebirth into a black dragon, Neltharion blew fire in triumph. The fire plumes melted the rock faces of what would become Blackscale Island. The magical lava caking the mountain peaks never cool, even when they drip into the ocean below. Because it resides out of Anakwa’s range, the island has been settled by elven and orcish sailors of the Second War. They once declared peace and coexisted, forming a city on the island. The Cataclysm depleted resources and created tension that has now escalated into a war between the two races. Both have formed new bases on two ends of the island and meet in the center to do battle.
As a PvP zone I want to outline a bit more about the battlefield:
- Blackscale has two types of terrains: Volcano and city. There’s mountain ranges around the zone that belch lava rivers into the sea, then the closer to the center of the zone the denser the city and fortifications become. The elves and orcs are both determined to claim the city hall at the very center.
- Collect metal and scrap around the zone that may be turned into the orc/elves’ craftsmen to create buildings or upgrade troops across the field.
- Be wary of the volcanic lifecycle of the zone. Lava may burst from the earth at any time in more rural locations, creating new deadly flows of superheated rock. When one fissure runs dry, it may leave tunnels that prove useful. Or it may fill up again with lava or collapse, killing all inside.
- Both faction commanders roam the field of battle, helping to secure capture points around the zone. Factions win if they control all points or they slay the opposite faction’s commander. Ashen winds then blow through the city, so hot all forces retreat and the zone is reset. Then the cycle of hatred repeats once more.
Dungeons and Raids
Dungeons
- Runestone Gardens is a dungeon located in Sarakan. It is a terraced garden nestled inside a narrow mountain valley. While there are beautiful ferns and flowers in the garden, its more prominent features are its runestones. They are magical stones of draconic origin that seem to interact with elementals and weather. It is also theorized that hearthstones come from the valley. It is an ancient place that has not received as much attention over the years, causing elementals and guardians to become aggressive. Wrathion’s agents wish to access the runestones’ powers and wisdom, and the quest leads to a final battle against a silver wyrm who no longer discerns between friend and foe.
- Altar of the Firstblood is the shrine spoken of in the Sarakan overview. It is a simple but magically charged stone structure that looks like a mini version of the temple in Maladum. It is where the first dragonsworn were turned into dragonspawn by the nascent dragonflights, and that power still remains. The Voidspawn have captured the altar and are growing an army from mortal captives.
- Bedrock Foundry is accessed from a cave behind one of the larger waterfalls in Tempest Falls. It burrows deep into the earth and blends dragon architecture with titan machines, slowly becoming more titan-like as players descend. It is inhabited by malfunctioning titan constructs, mad nerubians who dug into the chambers from Northrend, and foul slug-like dragon mutant monsters.
- Mossgore Willow, found at the very center of Mazora, is an enormous willow tree. The green dragonflight believes it is the neural center of the zone and worries that it is at risk of falling into the Emerald Dream, causing untold damage to it if Mossgore is not soothed. Players must climb through the root system and ancient treehouse platforms while fighting creepy wooden dolls to the heart.
- Tinoctilan, one of the main Tinoco temples in the Galeborne Chain. It’s been taken over by a gilblin who tricked the tinoco and captured a relic of power in the temple. He now uses it to coerce murlocs and tinoco into serving him. The temple is a giant Easter Island sort of head with large passages carved into the interior.
- Xianarr: the Sky Kingdom is a dungeon similar in design to Taza’vesh or Lost City where it is a big city. It resides in the clouds above the Galeborne Chain and serves as a base of operations for the hostile Azgar in the zone. A race of flight capable dragonspawn also live in Xianarr, some are being held hostage, some work with the Azgar willingly. The same goes for the air elementals residing there.
- Aspect’s Tears is a caldera on Maladum with an active lava lake inside. After Deathwing’s betrayal of the Aspects during the War of the Ancients, he landed in Maladum to contemplate his decisions. The Dragon Soul continued tearing his body apart, and in the emotional turmoil of Neltharion and Deathwing’s personalities clashing. His rage, sorrow, and pain erupted around him and formed the caldera before he flew for Highmountain. There are some islands that form a link across the volcanic lake along. Phoenixes nest in cliff sides around the caldera’s edge to hatch their priceless eggs, and the elemental furies found there hold key treasures and knowledge that Wrathion’s agents would like.
- Sunscale Lair, one of the larger lairs of the golden dragonflight. On Maladum, dragon lairs are more than just caves. They are beautifully carved complexes that use runes and the elements to defend their territory. Sunscale Lair houses a traitor in the golden flight; the dragon that had Wrathion framed and imprisoned known as Eranox. Though the story around his imprisonment isn’t resolved here, players must enter the lair and gain evidence of the traitor’s wrongdoings. The last boss is Eranox, whose scales are too tough to bring him harm. This results in players running away in a cat and mouse manner for the encounter.
Raids
- Kin’rethar, the Heartland Temple, a ten boss raid taking place in the mountain shrine at the highest peak of Maladum. The ancient holy site that hums with the energies of the five dragon aspects’ birth. Several wings are dedicated to the dragonflights’ charges, such as life and time. Eranox has used the murder of the former leader of the golden flight and Wrathion’s imprisonment to rise to the top. Players start off in the prison complex, clearing Wrathion’s name and gaining the goodwill of the golden flight. Then the rest of the raid is dealing with the treacherous insurgents.
- Voyage of the Drowned is a three boss raid where players join the cursed ship Farstrider’s Revenge. In an attempt at countering the red dragons under Horde control, the high elves tried to recruit Anakwa to control the seas. Anakwa, however, was the wrong dragon to appeal to. She seems to be driven only by hunger and some strange instinct to patrol the Dragon Isles and destroy any ships caught in her wake. Farstrider’s Revenge swore to bring her down, and players battle Anakwa in order to secure the isles. However, there’s a twist. Anakwa is only the second boss, and Alexstrasza steps in to stop the senseless violence and save her. The ghost elves of Farstrider’s Revenge don’t take kindly to this, and the heroes must face them as the final boss to put them to rest.
- World bosses will continue the previous expansion’s iteration of having lairs around the continent and being a little less zergy than the outdoor bosses.
- Warlord Gargonnax, one of the last few original dragonspawn of Sarakan. Gargonnax is a skilled warrior who lusts for battle. He is not evil, simply seeks challengers. Players do not kill him in the end, he just cedes. His abilities mainly revolve around weapon techniques that are punishing to those who fail.
- The Weeping One, a large ancient on Mazora. There’s two platforms to battle on in its fight. The tunnels around its roots, and the trunk where its face and gnarled arm branches can swing freely at its attackers. Players need to split their group between the platforms in order to effectively take down the treant, but must be wary of the roots shooting through tunnels like spears.
- Synaria, a large phoenix matriarch found along the cliff faces of Maladum. Her ever present celestial fire melts everything around her into liquid gold. However, phoenixes are symbols of rebirth and immortality in mythology. Her mechanics are brutal, but the living fire that chases and damages players can also be kited over a player’s corpse to resurrect them.
I also had this artifact mount concept where players bond their soul to a dragon egg and raise it into a fully customizable mount with abilities while mounted in the Dragon Isles but I won’t make this any longer. If anyone is interested in the full expansion concept (which includes a full old world revamp!), feel free to check my topic history and find “Age of Mortals” in it.
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No, I’m legit curious as to what he thinks of the characters due to his view of black-and-white storytelling, and I think he’d enjoy the humor of the show
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You mean the King of Diamonds… who has been made a pawn???
If you go back and read this article revolving around the Shadowlands leak in 2019, you can see they were working on the Dragon Isles along side Shadowlands.
Which could make sense. Now everything in this leak wasn’t true, but somethings are still relavent.
Then there’s the Alnir Riftlands, where everything is spilling in and out of rifts and the ‘fabric of all realities’ collide, and Xiros, which will apparently be the main city and sanctuary of the next WoW expansion.
It shows a picture of the dragon isles, the “dark portal” in the middle could obviously lead to anywhere, not Ny’lotha. And the time line rifts are very plausible given the whole “remake reality” thing Zovaal’s been up to.
My guess is, that portal will be a link to the Seat of the Pantheon, and Aman’thul will play a large part in the expansion.