That Southern Barrens map/zone datamined before makes sense now.

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To be frank, if that's what Sylvanas planned all along, I'll call contrived plot. I mean, not only the plan would require quite a lot of elements out of her control, but why would we get all the Nazjatar/Xal'atath/N'Zoth stuff if her plans are just "send the Alliance to save Thunderbluff and we attack Stormwind"?

Yes, Warcraft is full of contrived plots, but I hope they avoid it and have something bigger and smarter in store for us.

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I doubt we have the full picture yet. I certainly don’t think this was her plan all along for the following reasons:

1. I do think some of her legitimate plans have in fact been frustrated at Darkshore and Lordaeron. We can tell from her POV bits in “A Good War” that Saurfang’s refusal to kill Malfurion was a setback. I don’t think she could have planned on Jaina sailing in out of nowhere to save Anduin from her trap either.

2. I suspect this war is but a means to an end for her, unlike Garrosh, for whom War was his purpose. Whatever Nathanos is wandering off to do, that’s involved in her end game.

it is understandable that she was not involved at the beginning of the campaign but later the alliance opens a portal!

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We saw defense and attack in Zuldazar!

I think it would be interesting if the horde players loyal to sylvanas are allowed to attack

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Are the vulpine familiar and sylverian dreamer hints of next expansion?

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I think so!

I also think the Dreamer is inspired on the Final Fantasy Dragons:

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Explain why you say it !!

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Both the vulpine familiar and this bird-dragon have fae-themes to them. Perhaps hinting at the Emerald section of the Dragon Isles? Especially since it's the Sylvarian Dreamer. Perhaps the Dream is changing, or perhaps this is actually a new type of dragon, created by Wrathion to solve the problem of dragon infertility - mix their genes with other species, making fertile chimaeras. Maybe the Blacktalon Agent was at Black wing Lair because that was Wrathion's last stop: his brother's laboratories.

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Daelin was right.

There have been times in the past that store mounts were models from next expansion’s production line.

Enchanted Fey Dragon, Iron Skyreaver and Grinning Reaver came before WoD and were all models used in WoD NPCs.

Mystic Runesaber came before Legion and are also beasts featured in Legion.

There was no store mount hinting at BfA, but the Blizzcon 2017 mounts did hint at BfA’s faction-based theme. Also, the Horde one was actually used by NPCs in some BfA areas.

Food for thought.

Both the Sylverian Dreamer and Vulpine Familiar also seem to share some visual cues (blue color, fae aspect) which hint to a cohesive theme.

This does not mean they'll be central to the next expansion's themes. They could be mobs in one zone. Also don't pay attention to their background stories, as previous mounts had backstories for the store that didn't match their actual roles when their expansions were revealed.

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A Dragon Isles Expac could be fun.

Or maybe the various powers seriously get tired of our ____ and re-originate the world, popping up new species for us. I dunno. The two ideas aren’t even that mutually exclusive.

I’ve actually wondered if the Dragonflights could be revitalized by mixing in other species, though I was looking at cloud serpents, proto-drakes and maybe Storm drakes or elemental drakes. The description doesn’t quite fit. This thing came to life out of a mage’s painting.

Actually, that does give me an idea. What if we actually do save Azeroth and instead of triggering yet another war or invasion, the factions chill in relative peace, and the power of creation is un-bound. The Dragon Isles show up, and we start colonization. Tinkers are the class because they make things. But weird dreams and creations pop up all over the world. We actually build things. Creative power flows through out the world. Maybe even player created content like you can make a Dungeon, or maybe even a Raid. Or your own personal end-game Island that you can share with friends.

Latest cinematic actually almost seems hopeful for a better world....... for once. Maybe.......

Sky elves, when?

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It is said that there is a tribe of harpies on the Dragon Isles who maintained their nobility even after Aviana’s death and the destruction of G’Hanir.

Found leaked concept art of the rumored "sky elves".

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Isn't the Emerald Dream supposed to be some sort of back up of Azeroth's original state? Maybe things become so fucked up by the end of BFA that the heroes need to press the reset button there.

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Maybe there's a Titan Forge out there spitting out new creatures, re-originating the planet.....

harpy in Highmountain

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Battle of Mount Hyjal raid? It can work easily enough.


And yeah I am having the lulz of my life, I said this was gonna be a rethread of Garrosh when BfA was in baby diapers and a lot of people even here did not believe it. Well it has already been too much like Garrosh's story and it has all the markings that it will get even more similar.

Even if they try to pull some "subverted expectations" in the final mile this story is already a dumpsterfire as it was always going to be. Everyone knew a faction war story has high odds of turning out badly, especially with Sylvanas in charge, especially if you make the Horde baddies again... and ofc Blizz went and outdid our worst fears, GG

All that remains is to refill the popcorn bag and see this tragicomedy to its conclusion.

So, what to expect of 8.2.5? My guesses:

- Worgen and goblin models and heritage armor (Confirmed)
- New warfront (Draenei vs. Mag’har in Myst Isles is my bet, but it could also be a Barrens or Mul’gore warfront)
- More war campaign, with Nazjatar fallout and maybe defense of Mul’gore (if it’s not a warfront)
- Vulpera and Mechagnome allied races


What else could it have?

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Vulpera and Mechagnome Allied Races won't be out in 8.2.5.

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It's just a guess.

What could be there, instead, anyway?

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MOTHER even says theres another Titan facility out there, then says to stay away

Shes not saying stay away for our sakes, but for Azeroth's. She knows we'd fuck something up like we always do.

This is her gossip text in the Heart Chamber.

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I thought the next set of Heritage Armor wasn’t coming out till 8.3. The others were all on single decimal patches. I could see the allied races on the off patches.

They said worgen and goblins were getting heritage armor alongside their model updates in an interview about a month ago. The model updates were previously announced to be coming with 8.2.5, so unless they're delayed to 8.3 then the heritage armor will be in 8.2.5 as well.

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I wonder if the goblin heritage quests would develop their ties with gilgoblins. I am thinking that the Junker Gnomes and Gilgoblins would be milquetoast allied races while Vulpera and an unknown Alliance counterpart would be special allied races in the future.

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