8.1 Predictions

Tomorrow (technically today) we're getting a developer stream with news about what is coming for WoW.

Given that we're about a month into Battle for Azeroth, with the mythic race closing in on downing G'huun, there's an open question about just what we have to expect for the rest of the expansion.

So far the only confirmed information they've told us is that Azshara will be the Gul'dan of this expansion - the boss of its first major raid (though again, without tier sets, the line between major and minor raids is blurred.)

What do we expect and want from 8.1?

Longform Quest Content:

The Dusk Lily rebellion within Suramar was a masterpiece of max-level quest content. Even with max-level zones like the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, we had never seen a zone dedicated so much to storytelling for players who were already geared through mythic dungeons and raids. This was an opportunity for players who were already feeling badass from all their purple treasures to then engage in a story that was more thorough and developed even than quests in leveling zones.

It seemed a great model moving forward, but stuff like the War Campaign has felt like a step backward to things like the great-for-its-time Landfall campaign in 5.1.

So getting some real story in there would feel quite good.

New Zone:

While I do feel we ought to have at least one raid in Kul Tiras, I also feel that we really ought to be able to see Nazjatar if we're going to be fighting Azshara. Unless she escapes to headline a separate raid later on, I really want to fight the Queen on her home turf to make it official.

With this zone would presumably come a new faction, new world quests, and hopefully new story content (maybe that longform stuff I just talked about.)

Kul Tirans and Zandalari Playable:

This is something they really shouldn't wait on too much. I suspect they'll be attainable in the patch, but we have yet to figure out what the requirements would be. I actually think that doing the Zandalar Forever and Pride of Kul Tiras chains ought to be sufficient to make them members in good standing of their respective factions, with perhaps exalted status with Zandalari Empire and Proudmoore Admiralty as their associated factions. I think a separate rep grind would be overly burdensome, though I do think there's a possibility that they'll require all three of the zone-affiliated factions, even if I think that's a bit extreme.

Second Warfront:

Though their rollout was controversial and maybe not too well-timed (giving the Horde a head start on filling out their gear may not have actually had a big effect on the Mythic race, but it doesn't feel great) and there are legitimate questions about their place in the game's overall structure, but I do think they're a fun system that will hopefully show some variety as we get new places to fight over.

I'd love to see new assets as well, rather than re-using garrison ones. If we get a Barrens warfront, maybe a Tauren-vs-Dwarf look?

Some Rework of Azerite Armor:

Azerite Armor is, I think, one of those features that's a bit of a noble failure. It's not like Garrisons, which were sort of the opposite of what players wanted out of them, but it also doesn't excite in the same way that, say, Artifact weapons did. As a replacement for Artifacts, Legendaries, and Tier Sets, they're seriously lacking.

I don't really know how to fix them, but I imagine Blizzard will try, as they're clearly one of the expansion's key features and what that isn't working out in a way that players into, it's a big problem for the expansion.

A Clash Between Zandalar and Kul Tiras:

Apart from a comment in one Horde quest where a Zandalari Troll refers to a Mogu villain as a "worse slaver than the Kul Tirans," despite no evidence within Kul Tiras I've seen that Kul Tirans engage in slavery, there's not much of a conflict between these two naval powers seen in-game. Now that each is part of the two major factions, it seems like we're going to have to have some kind of massive naval battle.

The Horde has engaged in a campaign to instill fear in Kul Tiras and punish them for associating with the Alliance (an act that I think has just pushed them farther into the Alliance's arms) while the Alliance has been engaging in sabotage and targeting high-level Horde leaders in order to subvert their capabilities. I haven't finished the Horde war campaign, but the Alliance one ends with the planting of explosives on major ships in the preparation for an assault on Dazar'alor. The Horde one, as I've read about, appears to involve securing the means to destroy Boralus. It seems to me that these attacks must happen, though I also feel that neither should actually succeed, given how we just got these hubs.

A Hint at What's To Come:

Like Xavius, G'huun does not appear to have a cinematic for his death. Though end-boss cinematics started with Wrath, Legion was the first to have one after every tier-boss. If Azshara is truly the Gul'dan of this expansion, though, we should get a big glossy cinematic to play after her defeat, and that is going to give us a much better idea of where the expansion is going.

There are of course two obvious directions for BFA to go - one that really does focus on the faction war as advertised, and the other that this writer is more excited for, which is a big showdown with master manipulator and ancient primordial evil N'zoth. If N'zoth always managed to turn his defeats into victories, what might the death (or at least defeat) of Azshara do to benefit him?