Pretty frequently in recent weeks, Blizzard has been pushing alpha builds of WoW's 8th expansion, Shadowlands. Now, comparing this with BFA, I was already playing in the Alpha/Beta this time two years ago. But this year is, of course, not like other years, given that practically the entire country is in quarantine trying to slow the spread of a deadly virus (man, did not think I'd ever have to write that sentence on this blog when I started it several years ago.) As important as this game and Blizzard are to me and I imagine others who would read this blog, it's hardly an "essential business" in terms of keeping people alive and safe, and being in California, the company is under the same "shelter at home" orders that I am.
Granted, so much can be done online these days that it's clear some people are still working, but I'm going to be forgiving if this expansion takes a little longer to cook than previous ones given the literally once-in-a-century crisis the entire world is currently dealing with.
Still, I do wonder what kind of timetable we're looking at.
Since its announcement last year, we really haven't gotten many updates on how Shadowlands is developing. There are a lot of key systems that need to be tested, and after the debacle that was Azerite Armor, I think it's crucial for them to get these systems into play testers' hands early enough that they can change them before they go live (to remind people, Azerite armor only came in shortly before the end of the Alpha/Beta for BFA, and we all see how that turned out.)
System-wise, here's what I'm curious about:
I want to see how smoothly the level squish goes. In theory, with the existing scaling technology, they should be able to just adjust the ranges on existing content to make it work. That being said, with the actual number of levels being compressed, we need to see things like when we get certain abilities and talents. It will be a surreal experience to have a level 15 tank running Neltharion's Lair, but I think it's also important that classes have the tools to run those dungeons that had previously expected a mostly-complete toolkit (like, Rogues should definitely get their AoE tools earlier. Right now they don't get them until 63.)
Another off-branching issue with the level squish is how legacy raid content will work. Granted, I think that once Shadowlands launches we'll all be trying to get to 60 rather than going back to run Throne of Thunder for transmog pieces. But will the jump from 50 to 60 be so profound that it's easy to run everything from Ny'alotha to Molten Core? Because by that point, at least the leveling content those raids are connected to will scale to the same top level.
Then, of course, we need to get a feel for the systems of Shadowlands itself.
A lot can change after an expansion is announced (I remember when they told us Death Knights could choose which runes they'd etch into their blades - this was of course back when there were three types of runes, plus the "wildcard" Death runes) but as I understand it, the Covenants, which are the big thing in Shadowlands, work thusly, according to the announcement at Blizzcon:
You choose a covenant at max level (or earlier on alts) and this gives you two active abilities, one which is specific to your class. Then, you "soul-bond" with one of a number of NPCs from that covenant, and that gives you various bonuses in a talent-tree like thing.
Already, I'm a little concerned at the complexity of this off the bat. This is a bit more than the Aldor/Scryers choice in Burning Crusade. To be honest, unless they can really carefully balance this (preferably keeping it simple,) I'd more prefer this as an aesthetic/flavor choice than a deep mechanical one (something Blizzard always seems to resist - see Garrisons, and remember how well those turned out?)
The other headlining feature is Torghast, a repeatable procedurally-generated endless dungeon. This could be really cool, but given that it's the way we get our legendaries, it'll be "required' content and thus needs to be fun and have legs.
While all of this is certainly important, I think a crucial consideration will be story.
Now, Shadowlands has a big advantage: given that it's a new plane of existence with practically no existing lore to contradict, Blizzard can be extremely novel and creative in the sort of things we encounter in the Shadowlands.
But WoW's story tends to focus on key individuals. And giving them each interesting plots that work with their character will be important.
As of now, we know of two characters who will be central to the story - Sylvanas and Bolvar.
Sylvanas has completed her transition into full villain territory, to the point that even if I'd kind of like it if she turned out to be playing a long game for the greater good, I think we've passed a point where such a thing was plausible (Teldrassil was really the last straw.) I definitely preferred morally complex, ruthless but principled Sylvanas over Omnicidal Maniac Sylvanas, but given that we're at that point with her, I want to know: A. why she decided to go that way, B. when she made her alliance with the Jailor, C. what she actually wants to accomplish.
Bolvar is no longer the Lich King, because there is no Lich King. The pre-expansion patch will evidently see us fighting a rampant, leaderless Scourge spreading out from Northrend as some kind of zombie apocalypse (or zombocalypse, as I prefer to call it) while we fight to get near enough to discover the reason why things have gone totally crazy (and get close enough to see that giant rift in the sky.)
The thing is, Bolvar was all set to do this gig for eternity, and instead got about a decade. He's still burned to hell by red dragonfire, but surely the fact that we just met his daughter this expansion means there's got to be some very complicated family reunion. Also, while Bolvar was certainly not the world-threatening monster that Arthas was, there are a lot of things Lich King Bolvar did that Paladin Bolvar certainly wouldn't have. Is he due for a reckoning, or are the stakes too high for us to worry about stuff like sending the Deathlord to attack the Silver Hand and the red dragonflight?
We're also going to be meeting some dead folks, given that we're literally going into the afterlife this expansion. We know that Uther, Draka, Kael'thas, and actually Cenarius (who seems to bounce between Ardenweald, the Emerald Dream, and the physical plane) are going to show up. There's a dungeon that'll involve Bwonsamdi (which I'm super happy about, as he's maybe my favorite NPC from all of BFA.)
Given the faction focus of BFA, it might make sense for us to leave them behind a bit - a little like early Mists of Pandaria. Also, it would feel really strange for the Alliance and Horde to establish bases in Bastion and fight over territory in what is essentially Heaven (or probably more accurately, Mt. Celestia, the primary Lawful Good plane in D&D.)
I'm sure that we're going to be introduced to various factions and threats. Blizzard has played a bit close to the vest in terms of end bosses for expansions. It seems likely Sylvanas or the Jailor will be that for this one.
But we also know so incredibly little about the Jailor at this point that it's hard to speculate on exactly what role he'll play (I think he's a he. I think the Arbiter is a she.) Clearly, the Jailor is a very powerful entity, but we don't know where he sits in a cosmology of Titans, Old Gods, Ancients, Naaru, etc.
As a big lore nerd, especially for grand, cosmological lore, I'm really eager to find out more about the Shadowlands, and how it relates to the greater Warcraft cosmos. While Warlords of Draenor took us to an alternate timeline and Legion (and arguably Burning Crusade) gave us worlds that were at least touched by the Twisting Nether, this is the first truly planar-travel expansion (ok, another asterisk, Cataclysm did have us go to each of the Elemental Planes, and Legion had us enter the Emerald Dream/Nightmare.)
While I'd initially filed the Shadowlands as the WoW equivalent to D&D's Shadowfell, in truth it seems much more like its Outer Planes. And that raises interesting questions about how much the cosmic entities we've encountered before relate to it. The Titans, godlike in power though they seem to be, are also, I believe, entities of the physical world like us. What do they know of the Shadowlands?
And if they aren't integral to the Shadowlands, perhaps other things are? Like, maybe that mysterious moon goddess the Night Elves are always talking about, you know, the one being Blizzard has always unambiguously referred to as a god, but without defining that?
The potential for revelation in Shadowlands is immense, and I think that's why I'm so eager to start seeing testing.
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