BlizzCon 2015 Wishlist/Predictions

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Tyler F.M. Edwards

We’re now just a couple weeks away from this years BlizzCon, and as has become my tradition, I will now put together a list of what news I expect to see at the convention, as well as what I hope to see.

Warcraft:

Honestly, for all that it’s Blizzard’s flagship franchise, I don’t see there being a lot of big Warcraft news at this year’s convention.

Legion has already been announced. We’ll undoubtedly get a lot more details about its content and features, but I don’t expect anything groundbreaking. There’s always the chance Blizzard held back some major features from the initial announcement, but after Warlords of Draenor, I’m not expecting much ambition from Blizzard where WoW is concerned.

I’d love to hear that demon hunters are going to get a third spec after all, that demonology warlocks won’t be gutted for the sake of a new class, or that rogues will get a ranged option, but the ship seems to have already sailed on all of those.

Something else in the “I’d love to see it but I doubt we will” category is the possibility of HD remakes of the old Warcraft strategy games. If it didn’t happen last year for the franchise’s twentieth anniversary, though, I’m not sure it ever will.

The movie is the one potential source of exciting Warcraft news at BlizzCon, though even it’s not a sure thing. We do know that the first official trailer release will be in November, so there’s a pretty good chance it will be revealed at BlizzCon. However, they do want to market the movie to mainstream audiences more than to hardcore Blizzard fans (which is smart), and my hopes regarding a trailer have been dashed many times before, so you never know.

StarCraft:

StarCraft is something else I don’t expect a lot of big news for at BlizzCon. Legacy of the Void will be launching shortly after the convention, and we already know pretty much everything there is to know about it.

They did say they’re going to talk about what the future holds for StarCraft now that the SC2 trilogy is wrapping up, which is interesting, but I don’t imagine they’ll have a lot of definitive statements on that front.

Blizzard is very good at supporting their games over a very long haul, so I’m sure SC2 will continue to receive patches for balance and technical issues for many years to come. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they expanded on Allied Commanders — or is it just called Co-op Missions now? — a fair bit after launch.

Beyond that, though… I have no idea.

Much as I would happily accept more StarCraft, I’m sort of hoping the RTS team will shift focus to something else for a while. Yes, I want me my Warcraft IV.

Or maybe even something totally unexpected. Mage-clan Wars Diablo RTS? Overwatch spin-off about the Omnic Crisis? A totally new franchise?

There was even talk of them putting out a story-mode for Heroes of the Storm, if you can believe it. Blizzard owns my soul, so I’d play it, but that’s just a bit too ridiculous, methinks.

Diablo:

I would really love to see an expansion announcement for Diablo III at this year’s BlizzCon. It’s certainly around time for one to be due.

However, very surprisingly, that doesn’t look too likely. There’s only one (short) Diablo panel listed on the schedule. If there was to be an expansion announcement, one would expect there would be more Diablo events listed.

It’s not completely outside the realm of possibility that the schedule was made deliberately inaccurate and that more Diablo coverage will appear following an announcement during the opening ceremony, but it doesn’t seem too likely.

This is very confusing. A second expansion to Diablo III is very much expected. The ending to Reaper of Souls was not at all conclusive, and both the base game and the first expansion sold exceptionally well, so it makes both artistic and business sense.

Unless there’s going to be a significantly longer gap between RoS and the second expansion than there was between the base game and RoS, an expansion announcement must come soon, and BlizzCon is the time that makes the most sense.

Most perplexing, and perhaps a little worrying as well.

As for what an expansion might entail, well, you might as well go back and read last year’s post, because I’d just be repeating myself otherwise. I think we’ll get the druid class, though necromancer is also possible, and I have a totally baseless suspicion we’ll end up in Kurast, though I’d love to see Xiansai.

The only thing to add is that some concept art for a druid class was supposedly leaked, so the odds of it being added have gone even higher.

If there’s no expansion announcement, I expect we’ll just hear about the next patch. Expect some new sets and rebalancing of old gear, plus maybe another small zone for adventure mode like the Ruins of Sescheron. My money would be on Skovos Isles. They’ve been foreshadowed, but don’t seem interesting enough to carry a whole expansion.

Overwatch:

I’m not sure what to expect from Overwatch at this year’s BlizzCon. On the one hand, it’s the new hotness, and I can’t see any of the other games having a lot of big news (assuming there is no Diablo expansion announcement), but at the same time, Overwatch’s beta is beginning on October 27th, shortly before BlizzCon, and since that will undoubtedly be a huge infodump, I’m not sure what will be left to reveal at the convention.

At the very least, I imagine we’ll get some new hero reveals. Maybe another map, though their map list already seems pretty big going into beta.

It’s hard to say what else we might learn without knowing what beta will reveal. If we don’t learn what the game’s business model will be by the time beta rolls around, we definitely will at BlizzCon, I think. Free to play is the smart bet, considering they’re already talking about offering custom skins for heroes — microtransactions ahoy!

What I’m hoping to hear about are an optional third person mode, the removal of the ability to swap heroes on the fly in a match, and a story mode, but unfortunately none of those things seem likely. Story mode, in particular, was recently once again stated to not be in the cards, which seems like an enormous waste of potential.

Heroes of the Storm:

That just leaves Heroes.

(Well, there’s also Hearthstone, but I don’t much care about it. It’ll probably get a new single-player adventure, since they had a major expansion not that long ago.)

It’s pretty easy to predict what we’ll get for Heroes: new hero announcements and a new map or two.

As for specifics, it’s already been confirmed they’re working on another StarCraft hero to be released soon. I’m putting my money on Stukov. He’s a fan favourite, and assuming they use his infested version, that’ll be one hero of every StarCraft race released in succession: Morales for Terran, Artanis for Protoss, Stukov for Zerg.

The other major possibility would be Dehaka, who would also fulfill the role of a Zerg hero in this release cadence and who was datamined in a partial state of completion long ago. Dehaka would likely be a warrior, while I see Stukov being a specialist or assassin.

I also think we’re due for news on Zul’jin soon. His model appeared in a trailer at the last BlizzCon, and he’s now the only character from that trailer who isn’t in-game.

There’s also talk of Kel’thuzad being in development, and I’ve heard some rumours they might be adding another classic Blizzard character soon, which probably means Blackthorne.

My guess is that Stukov (or Dehaka) and Zul’jin will be in a high state of completion, with full previews and probably even playable versions at the convention, while any other heroes will only be teased.

As for who I’d like to see, well, Stukov and Zul’jin aren’t bad ideas. Honestly pretty much of all my “must have” heroes are already in the game. Right now the only major oversight in my view would be the lack of Varian Wrynn. I’d also like to see more of Diablo’s archangels and Evils, especially Auriel and Mephisto.

Could also use more Blood Elves. Valeera Sanguinar would be cool, but only if they don’t just make her a generic rogue hero. If Mark of Kathra’Natir isn’t one of her ultimates, I will be sorely disappointed. While we’re on the subject, Meryl Felstorm would be an awesome character to add to Heroes, but he’s so obscure that I doubt it’ll happen.

The new map is anyone’s guess. I still really want a sci-fi map, but they’ve already confirmed there’s no StarCraft map in the works. There was some datamining of a Warcraft map featuring the Horn of Cenarius a ways back, but I’m not sure if that’s something being seriously worked on or just an experiment that was abandoned.

I had the idea recently for a “zombie apocalypse” map similar to StarCraft II’s Outbreak mission, where both teams are periodically assaulted by hordes of hostile minions, but I’m not sure how it’d work in a PvP context.

* * *

Reading it back, it doesn’t look to be a terribly exciting BlizzCon. Well, hopefully I’m wrong, and we’ll get some big, exciting news.

What are you expecting or hoping to see Blizzard reveal in November?

WoW: The Curious Case of the Pandarian Nostalgia + Patch 6.2.3

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Tyler F.M. Edwards

It won’t seem that way to readers, but this post is in some ways the first after a long hiatus from blogging. Now, I have been doing my TV reviews, but those pretty much write themselves, and aside from them, I haven’t been written any new posts in months, instead relying on the backlog I gave myself while looking for apartments/moving.

(Incidentally, I am very happy to be back in Toronto.)

I wandered what my first new topic should be after such a long break, and I decided it would be best to go back to basics: a nice long ramble about Warcraft.

I’ve noticed something odd in the WoW community as of late. People everywhere seem overcome with nostalgia for Mists of Pandaria. An expansion that was loathed at the time is now being almost universally hailed as one of the best periods of the game’s long lifespan.

Some might not find this surprising. There’s a common perception that every WoW expansion is hated when it’s current, and then becomes viewed with rose-coloured glasses after the fact. I don’t like this argument, because it’s a bit of a cop-out and mainly serves to shut down discussion or deflect criticisms of the game, but there’s definitely some truth to it. The prevailing opinions on an expansion do tend to improve after it’s gone.

But never this thoroughly, or this fast. Warlords of Draenor is not yet a year old, yet already Mists is being roundly hailed as second only to Wrath of the Lich King, which is nowadays generally viewed as when the game peaked, despite being regarded as the Spawn of Satan for many years after its release.

I’m not immune, either. Lately I find myself missing Pandaria, badly. I still have my hearthstones set the shrines, and sometimes I’ll fly out across the Vale, or up to Kun-Lai and just be overcome by nostalgia. The other day I hopped on my monk (who is still 90 because I’m sick of Draenor) and did some scenarios purely for the nostalgia value.

But yet none of these good feelings were to be found when MoP was the current content. It faced at least as much disdain from the supremely negative WoW community as any other expansion, if not more, and I was certainly none too happy with the state of the game at the time, as long-time readers will remember.

So what happened?

The wonders of Pandaria:

In my case, I actually saw this coming somewhat, though I didn’t expect my turnaround on MoP to happen this soon or be this dramatic. But I did often have the sense that I’d feel a lot better about Mists of Pandaria after the fact.

See, I had a lot of complaints about MoP, but they were all gameplay related. The daily grind, the tedium of Timeless Isle, the devaluing of valor and justice points.

Yet the content of the expansion, its story, and its setting were stellar. As I’ve always said, Mists of Pandaria kind of sucked, but Pandaria was amazing.

As time goes on, I forget the unpleasant gameplay, and all that’s left is a fantastic story.

Make no mistake, for all its myriad flaws, Pandaria was a fantastic adventure from beginning to end. It was probably the best told story in WoW’s history. Not best overall — I’d still give that to Wrath, but it has the advantage of more interesting subject matter — but best executed.

MoP, more than any other expansion, told a cohesive story, with each event flowing into the next organically. The Thunder King was kind of an odd detour, but aside from that, the entire story from the discovery of Pandaria to the Siege of Orgrimmar was one big arc that spanned the entirety of Azeroth and the full spectrum of human emotion — rage and sorrow, hope and joy, humour and tranquility. Its pacing and its flow were impeccable.

The world-building was also excellent in MoP. Blizzard essentially started from scratch with Pandaria, but they created an incredibly intricate and exotic world full of new cultures and history that still managed to fit perfectly into the greater Warcraft mythos.

All this is exactly the sort of thing that earns my love, so perhaps it’s not surprising I now miss Pandaria as much as I do. But most people don’t care about story as much as me, which leads me to wonder why there’s so much nostalgia for MoP throughout the community.

One could write it off as being blinded by nostalgia, and there’s bound to be at least some of that going around, but I don’t think that’s all.

Compare and contrast:

Ultimately I think this sudden wave of panda-love may have less to do with MoP itself, and more to do with Warlords of Draenor.

Warlords of Draenor is, by a wide margin, the smallest expansion World of Warcraft has ever received. By comparison, MoP was enormous.

Say what you about MoP, but the one thing you could never say about it was that it lacked ambition. It offered a huge selection of new features, and it cranked out four major content patches over its lifecycle. I’ve heard some describe MoP as “the golden age of content,” and there’s definitely a lot of truth to that, as it offered content in copious quantity and (mostly) high quality — though it does lose points for the lack of post-launch dungeons.

By comparison, WoD offered only one new feature, garrisons, and only one content patch. Tanaan Jungle was originally slated to be a launch zone and was delayed, so really WoD’s only post launch content additions were a single raid and the garrison shipyard. And let’s not forget that WoD removed a lot from the game, too, to the point where the game has probably been made worse by it — something that has not been true of any other expansion to date, in my opinion.

The difference in scale and ambition between Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor is cavernous. In light of that, it’s no wonder that MoP is suddenly being viewed much more highly.

I suspect if WoD had been a larger and more successful expansion, we would not be seeing the sudden outpouring of love for MoP that’s happening. MoP probably still would have ended up being viewed much more positively, but I think it would have taken much longer, and I’m not sure the change in opinion would ever have been so complete.

Although I am cautiously optimistic about Legion right now (emphasis on “cautiously”), it’s still looking a bit anemic compared to past expansions, and one has to wonder if Mists of Pandaria was the last great World of Warcraft expansion — in terms of scope and ambition, if not necessarily quality.

There are those who say that the worst thing about Cataclysm was that it followed Wrath of the Lich King. I think the best thing about Mists of Pandaria may have been that it preceded Warlords of Draenor.

* * *

Patch 6.2.3: The mea culpa:

Of course, just as I’m getting ready to put up this post, Blizzard has a big announcement to make. WoW will soon receive a small content patch, 6.2.3, to tide us over during the (undoubtedly lengthy) wait until Legion, and it’s looking to be the best patch of the expansion to date.

Valor is back.

Holy Hell, did not see that coming.

I really thought valor points were dead and gone. Rare indeed is the time when Blizzard reverses one of their decisions after so long.

Valor will only be used for item upgrades, not buying gear, which isn’t ideal, but it’s a start. The game needs valor. It was the best progression system for non-raiders, and it allowed all content to still have some relevance. Dungeons were pretty much killed by the removal of valor points.

For my part, I have no patience for RNG gearing, and apexis crystals were/are an excruciating grind with mostly underwhelming rewards. Valor was my endgame, and without it, WoD has nothing but a legendary quest and garrison chores to me.

Unfortunately I’m already super burned out on Draenor, and there are a lot of other games I need to find time to play, so I’m not sure how much difference this will make for me, but it’s a step in the right direction. It shows me Blizzard is willing to learn from their mistakes. For the first time since WoD was announced, I feel a little of my faith renewed.

I can only hope they realize what a huge mistake they’ve made and that valor is a launch feature for Legion.

There are some other nice things in 6.2.3, too. Timewalking is being expanded to include some Cataclysm dungeons, as well as some more Wrath and Burning Crusade dungeons, and timewalking bosses will now have a chance to drop an Infinite Drake mount. Shockingly, it’s not just the old Infinite drake model, but a totally new (and awesome) model.

Perhaps even more surprising is that the upcoming Grove Warden moose mount is going to be made temporarily available as a drop from heroic Archimonde.

A store mount available for free? This is unprecedented. I might even overcome my distaste for raiding and get a kill in, because flying moose.

I mean, I am Canadian.

It’s hard not to see 6.2.3 as a giant mea culpa from Blizzard for how much they’ve bungled Warlords of Draenor, but frankly, they needed to do that. I’m glad they’re swallowing their pride and trying to make it right.

Superior Realities

Tag Archives: Warcraft

BlizzCon 2015 Wishlist/Predictions

WoW: The Curious Case of the Pandarian Nostalgia + Patch 6.2.3

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