Daltert Moropi
Legend
Just wanted to talk about this leak before the blizz-con 2019 comes. But before we discuss about it, let me talk about a little bit of back story before we discuss about it.
I was basically trying to level my one warlock to level 60 when I just so happen to look at Az’s latest video:
Just a little afterword I made the following thread about Ooid’s leak from there:
https://xpoff.com/threads/wow-leak-by-ooid-on-mmochampion.89126/
after work the following day I’ve decided to make a thread based on the leak that was from the original post:
https://xpoff.com/threads/wow-leak-from-4chan.89145/
note: if asmongold or mcconnell decide to look at the original post of my thread, you can skip the introduction to that thread if they want to just jump to the nit and gritty of it.
it took me about the following 2-3 hours copying and pasting the entire thing because of the random locations where the questions and answers were jumbled with that post. When hearing about the other leak posts I’ve just dismissed this one but with the confirmation of the vulpera with the mechagnome.
This was the only one that had that connection with it, whereas the other ones at that time didn’t.
I do want to point out the original text did get destroyed by the original creator of the site, I still have that link on that page:
http://boards.4channel.org/v/thread...er-at-blizzard-working-on-world-of#p466780878
I did manage to look for the pictures (indicated by the last quote from that developer) of it to make sure it was still embedded on the internet and sure enough it’s still on here:
https://imgur.com/a/etFZctZ
anyways now to talk about that thread and what’s currently known and what will “possibly” come:
Note: this will be a long thread since I’m just copying and pasting the carbon copy what was on said thread and not really changing anything on it. this will also have lines indicating where the question and answers for that particular question cuts off. btw this is spoiler territory, if you want to turn back, please do.
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1. When is the game going f2p
a. I don’t know. I wouldn’t imagine anytime soon.
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2. Is the Azeroth titan hot?
a. I don’t think the Titan is coming anytime soon since I haven’t seen any concept art of her even.
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3. Are the rest of your developer friends seething at how successful Classic is?
a. Not really. Pretty much no one has pride in the games right now that I’ve talked to. It’s just a job for us. Most of us don’t even play the game. As far as I understand, it’s even more so for those higher up.
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4. How many more expansions are planned after BfA?
a. Currently three that I’ve seen or heard anything from personally, though only one is actually beyond concept art right now.
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5. Is ion getting fired?
a. Not as far as I’ve heard but that’s not really my department.
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6. Is tyrande a virgin?
a. Honestly prolly no.
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7. WoW 2 when?
a. I’d say probably never since the resources to build a WoW 2 wouldn’t be worth it in this market.
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8. How many active subs does the game have left?
a. They don’t tell us (me?). It’s not the metric the company uses anymore.
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9. Is Blizzard considering taking any drastic change in the direction of Retail WoW or preparing for WoW 2?
a. There’s a few drastic changes coming in 9.0 but they’re nothing like a WoW 2. Mostly leveling changes (sort of a blended ESO-style) and some faction changes being weighed. Some on my team were working on prototypes of how a faction merger would work systems-wise and how it could still allow for PvP using warmode.
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10. Serious question. I heard that WoW was origionally prototyped using the Warcraft 3 engine. Is this still/really the case? Is WoW simply WC3 zoomed in?
a. No clue myself. No one on my team including me has been around since before Cataclysm.
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11. Is there a real reason (besides money) that content is timegated and players are often left doing tedious activities?
a. Everything is about money, it'd be lying to say otherwise. Timegating is used for two purposes - to keep people playing the game longer and to give people something to do without having to make even more content that'd take longer to release.
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12. Will you #%$@s ever stop focusing just on endgame and powercreep? Leveling hasn't meant $#@! since Vanilla.
a. Powercreep isn't really a thing since we don't make expansions based on 'what's tougher than the last.' IMO Deathwing was weaker than Arthas in the long run. As far as leveling, it will become more important in 9.0 though endgame is our focus since people don't care about leveling as much as they used to.
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13. Next allied races?
a. Vulpera and Mechagnomes. 'Light' Undead for Alliance afterwards. Last I saw of the Horde race was a feral boar looking prototype but nothing complete.
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14. How long are your lunch breaks?
a. I just eat while I work but most people's are 20 minutes.
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15. Is Sylvanas going to be killed off?
a. She'll survive into the next expansion
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16. Do you have any faith in WoW lasting any longer?
a. Absolutely. There's a lot of different paths that can be taken to secure its future.
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17. Does N'Zoth win at the end and will the world be Cataclysm'd by him ?
a. No, he's defeated by the end of 8.3. Not dead forever though.
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18. "Light" undead , thats silly
a. Hey, it's better than "just-undead-but-without-bones-showing" being playable on the Alliance that was considered back when Allied Races were going to be just "inverses" of the other faction's races.
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19. Is it true Blizzard is planning on scaling down the player levels?
a. 60 will be the level cap before 9.0. Once 9.0 hits, the "new" level cap will be 70.
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20. how many blizzard employees are furries?
a. I don't personally know any furries but then again I don't ask coworkers personal questions.
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21. Tell me about Necromancer. Now! And what is Sylvanas endgame.
a. There's a planned "necromancer" prestige class for warlocks, though it'll just be a "skin" so to speak. Sylvanas is doing all she can to stop N'Zoth from breaking from his prison. Though not all will be forgiven.
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22. Who is the last boss of BfA?
a. Not really a final boss so to speak but the final encounter is saving Sylvanas (though it'll require fighting her first) and resealing N'Zoth's prison.
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23. Does Aszhara dies?
a. She's alive into 9.0.
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24. What is 9.0 themed around ? Void Lords ? Old Gods ? Can you tell us something that is coming that hasn't been leaked out yet, so that in the future you can prove yourself to not be a LARPer? Whats the theme of the next expansion?
a. The focus on the next expansion will be around both the return of and the rise of the dragonflights as a whole and dealing with the forces of Death (Kel'thuzad, Bolvar, Arthas, Bwonsamedi and their mysterious god.) Elune will be a big part of the next expansion as a sort of aspect of Light that serves as a 'frenemy' who's allied with Death. The kaldorei's faith is shaken since she put into motion the events that lead to Sylvanas' reign and her Blood War.
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25. I meant number wise, the difference between geared players and tiers is insanely large. New patches just invalidate the previous tier outright.
a. Playing the patch isn't changing anytime soon since it keeps things fresh.
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26. Do you know anything about Classic WoW's development? More specifically, do you know whether or not there are plans for TBC realms and WotLK realms and so on in the future? This. What do you know about classic?
a. Not my department. I don't know anything about Classic. I didn't even play it.
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27. Are we getting a third warfront? Is 9.0 going to be that gay light vs void on the ethereal planet thing with the factions being split like that another thread like this a few months ago was saying
a. K'aresh is slated for 10.0 though at this stage that could still change. Unlikely though since that story is coming.
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28. are you adding anything substantial to the classes next expac or their tool set *&^% is one of the main reasons i can't bring myself to play
a. I don't know much about balancing or systems changes in regards to classes. Tinkers and prestige classes are what I know.
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29. Any plans for more legacy content servers if Classic is a success? Lot of people clamoring about TBC and Wrath. Also are Blizzard trying to retcon Wrathion out entirely?
a. Wrathion has been postponed repeatedly since the Dragon Isles has been on the backburner for a while now (and was originally supposed to come after WoD). He'll play a big role and I'd be surprised if it wasn't his voice on the reveal trailer when they film it.
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30. Is the artifact system/Azerite trait thingy where you keep grinding that ressource will still be a thing in new expansion? Is titanforging still there? Any plans for (pvp) vendors and resilience?
a. I don't know much about the new systems changes though judging by the many quests talking about this new orb everyone's getting I'd assume that's the new artifact weapon/heart of azeroth. Posting this first and then finishing up with everyone else. Be patient!
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31. Why are all of your games $#@! now? Why do you think you can charge $15/month for a 15 year old game?
a. People pay for it.
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32. Goddammit. Why can't she just be evil and get killed? How thick is the plot armor around the Main NPCs these days? Does anyone of significance die? What does Thrall do?
a. Saurfang was slated to die to save Sylvanas last I saw. Though there was talk about it if it should be him or Thrall before. They both stage a revolution and put Baine on the 'throne' though Sylvanas doesn't put up much of a fight. She's already off preparing for Nya'lotha by then.
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33. Do you know if there's a secret cutscene for Mythic Azshara and what it might entail? also do employees get free access to games like WoW or do you have to pay retail price?
a. I haven't heard anything about one but that's not saying there's not one. You have to pay full price if you're not just testing out things on the test realms.
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34. I have serious doubts about Mechagnomes because of the fact that their models make it so gloves, wrists, and boots don't show up at all. If they really are going to be an allied race can you explain how Blizzard is going to get around this problem?
a. Pretty much the thought process went was naga wouldn't have boots or legs. People still want to play them. They could be playable. But we want to have one allied race for each primary race (aside from Pandaren). Mechagnomes are an optional allied race. When you make one you know parts will be hidden. It's not a big surprise.
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35. What will be the next expansion about, are there yet again more hidden isles or it's another planet?
a. -"yet again more hidden isles" Yes.
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36. The original WC3 canon, the Male NEs had harems of females they looked after. That never made it to WoW, will it make it into the WC3 remake?
a. What? I've never played WC3 but I'd assume no?
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37. Is it safe to say real player housing is permanently never ever'd?
a. Honestly there's people working on it every year or so with a new prototype, it just never gets approved.
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38. Do you have any info about other big projects at blizzard (i.e Overwatch 2)?
a. None at all.
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39. Make jumping puzzles like all the other modern MMOs you lazy ^%$@s.
a. Weren't there jumping puzzle world quests in Legion?
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40. Are there any plans to revisit Alternate Draenor content? That teaser about Yrel's Light Jihad was actually interesting.
a. Yrel will come back eventually (likely in the expansion following) but not before then.
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41. What ever happened to the dance studio. Right up there with D3 PvP arena as a major promise and can't deliver or ever reference again??
a. Dance studio?
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42. High Elves when?
a. Not happening.
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43. Will we ever get a dungeon that is as epic as original BRD or is it all M+ bait now?
a. Some people like M+ but that's the focus right now since everyone seems to like it.
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44. This is the one thing that makes me greatly doubt you. Unless they ended it, employees (including CSR) used to get a discounted sub.
a. I'm not offered it, that's all I know. I was going to check it out on live servers back when Argus hit and there was no option to get an employee discount.
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45. hey blizz employee is nya'lotha really the final area. how do they stretch nzoth's three generic faceless mobs into a whole zone
a. Nya'lotha is larger than a normal zone. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't going to be split into 2-4 zones depending on how big they want each 'slice' to be. So, yes it's 8.3.
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46. If Necromancer is a prestige skin, and there are more prestige skins coming, will there be no new class in 9.0? What is the draw then?
a. The current plans are Tinker class, necromancer skin, dragonsworn skin and dark shaman skin.
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47. Two questions. Azeroth. N'zoth. Both of them end in 'Oth' That, and the quote from emerald bad dream: "Its surface blazes bright, masking shadows below." Is N'zoth actually the titan of Azeroth? Second question but a smaller one. Anything for *&^%ing roleplayers? Some of the casual lean emotes are nice and those would be cool to use.
a. No and no.
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48. blinked and I missed it. what'd I miss?
a. I posted a reddit post and then realized people here hate reddit.
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49. Who is Bwonsamdi's boss ? Who whispered Vol'jin when he dies ?
a. If they've settled on a name for her, they haven't told anyone but the higher "teams".
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50. What would a dragonsworn skin be latched onto? Mage? Druid? What class is Dragonsworn for?
a. Druid. Dragonkin forms and flame/frost to replace the lunar cycles.
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51. Hi, I read somewhere that Blizzard was looking into inspiration from Classic for future expansions, evidently higher ups realize they lost their way with the game here lately and are looking to make improvements. Any idea what they possibly meant by this? Or rather, are there any changes on the table for World of Warcraft that could be seen as inspired by Classic or older iterations of the game?
a. I'd have to play Classic first to know what that'd even mean.
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52. How much content do you guys end up ripping off from youtubers like Taliesin
a. I've yet to see them come up with anything new. They pass off old ideas as new ones and their child fanbase all celebrates them as prophets. "Class skins" have been talked about like every months since forever. Their 'list of allied races' were uninspired and could had been ripped off of WoWPedia.
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53. So the death god is supposed to be the "Xe'ra" of the Death aspect?
a. No clue.
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54. Yes, tell us the NAME of the next expansion
a. Why would I know the name?
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55. Any plans for new specs to be added to existing classes? Such as a tanking spec for shamans, or a healing spec for mages
a. No. If anyone is wondering why I'm responding to less and less posts it's because most of them are just the same questions or areas I already said I have no place in.
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56. No sethrak. The Alliance sort of got their revenge early due to the frosty reaction to the beginning of the expansion. We were going to leave Tyrande's retribution for 8.3 but people were a bit more impatient than we expected. Baine and Anduin will make peace and Sylvanas and her loyalists will go into hiding. Nya'lotha isn't in the sea. It's gateway is in the sea but Nya'lotha is its own plane of existence that will be transported over its gate in 8.3. 99% of us don't know the name. We aren't told more than we need to know. The only people who need to know the names of expansions are marketers. You're forgetting that then tauren and gnome players would feel neglected.
a. Apparently /tv/ and /v/ use the same tripcode username thing. This is me.
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57. Do you think WoW has become less than stellar because of the total lack of passion or interest on the developers part? What’s the work culture like?
a. People like to think that their favorite games are made out of love and passion but they're jobs just like anything else. Imagine a developer is like a plumber. It's a relatively cold work culture where people don't really interact much. Most things are done by passing notes and papers without words if there's any interaction between desks at all.
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58. What upcoming change to the game are you most excited about? Or are you excited about nothing
a. I'm more excited for Elder Scrolls 6 honestly. It's about the only game I'm looking forward to.
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59. gnome players dont have feelings. Also is the inclusion of so many female story characters just a coincidence or is there an actual narrative push going on
a. I mean no one's come into the office and said "Hey we're trying to appeal to chicks" if that's what you're asking. About a third of the playerbase is already female last I heard.
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60. Do people actually think that every single game dev has unbridled passion for the job and the game they're working on rather than just treating it like a job they do to put food on the table that tangentially aligns with their interests?
a. Pretty much this. Most people come to Blizzard expecting to enjoy it but no one does after a month passes.
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61. what are you posting on /tv/?
a. Star Trek threads
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62. If Elune is evil and working against Nelves/suppporting Sylvanas why did she grant Tyrande ultimate mega powers to kill Sylvanas? Hint: because this thread is bs
a. Elune has made a bargain with the goddess of Death. She's doing all she can to both honor that bargain and not forsake her people.
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63. I'll admit i haven't played retail since WotLK, but i remember hearing in teh rumor miill at the time of making a full bore 3rd faction that was originally going to be goblins, naga, and pandaren, and i think ogres. I'm going to guess the idea of a 3rd playable faction is just gone forever as that idea at the time. But, has there ever been talk of shaking up the alliance and horde factions into actual sub factions or anything like that?
a. There's talks about loosening faction barriers so that people can play with both sides or even do quests for the other faction but I seriously doubt that'll go anywhere.
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64. What is your name, birth date, and exact position in Blizzard?
a. Nice try Ion.
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65. most based thing in the thread desu
a. Qa'pla.
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66. Will you be playing Classic? Also, whats the plan with future expansions and the clutter of all these new zones and regions? It feels like the map is just full of *&$# nowadays. Are there plans to revamp older content instead, or just continue churning out more regions / islands / ect. Also, what are some interesting zones coming in the future, other than Nyalotha
a. I might check out Classic if it's good but I hear it's mostly just a grind. New zones are the plan. The map looks cluttered but it's not like a serious problem. The currently unnamed spawning grounds look neat but it's just concept art right now since it's just doodads being worked on right now for there. Full of steam pools and geysers.
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67. Care to share any big changes that were planned but scrapped at the last minute so to speak?
a. For BFA specifically? Hiji and the Plunder Isle were going to be introduced before Nazjatar before being scrapped. Hiji was going to be off the coast of Zandalar and Plunder Isle Kul Tiras. Moira was going to play a large role in the Alliance but no one knows who she is so it'd be pointless.
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68. how many game developers post on /v/?
a. I mostly post on reddit though I hear reddit actually responds to requests to identify posters if company's ask so here I am. I only browse 4channel every week or so.
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69. How $&$#ed is the wow team? Like what % are diversity hires that can't do their jobs?
a. 0?
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70. So is the 'feral boar' race supposed to give Horde access to the Worgen skeleton? Can you give any information about the Tinker class? What is your team looking into as far as cross-faction come 9.0?
a. As far as I understand, yes. I really hope they're not wereboars but I don't know the lore associated. Tinkers are planned to start around level 50. Tank/healer/DPS with access to mail armor. Tanks have 'power armor.' DPS use stealth, bombs, mines and guns. Healers use healbots to heal in between damage dealing. I don't know if the cross-faction stuff will actually hit live or not though the talks were about letting people interact with the other faction as normally as they do their own so long as warmode is off. Orcs in Stormwind, night elves in "Horde" guilds and all.
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71. Can you talk more about the last pair of allied races? What are the Lightforged Undead and what's up with the boars?
a. Redeemed/light undead are Forsaken who have defected to the Alliance and been purified in the Light. No clue about the boars aside from what I've said.
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72. What are your favourite games? Why did you decide to work on Blizzard, and specifically WoW? Or were you hoping to work on a different project? Have you ever enjoyed playing WoW? Howcome there aren't any veterans from before cata there? Isn't it disappointing working on a game you don't like? Wouldn't you rather work on something you love? How much do you get paid? Thanks
a. Skyrim, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassins Creed. All of them. I didn't have a preference for the project. I just wanted a good paying job that'd be prestigious in the field. I enjoyed a bit of the game during HFC. Company merge. It's just a job. I'd rather be an actor, but ofc I didn't go into that. Too telling.
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73. Since I see you're looking forward to TES 6, how disappointed are you with Bethesda and their recent titles?
a. I didn't play 76. Fallout 4 was a bit disappointing but that's not TES.
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74. What are your thoughts on sneedposting?
a. What?
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75. Will they be changing the talent system to something else? Or just putting in new talents? How satisfied are they with the current state of classes? How about the current overly simple state of gameplay? Heard anything about Diablo 4's troubled development? What is the most exciting thing you've seen in development that is yet to be unveiled and highly likely to actually be finished?
a. The other questions I don't know @^%$ about so... I like what's been done for Nya'lotha. Probably the tallest zone in the game.
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76. Who was trying to kill Chromie?
a. Murozond.
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77. Do you even play video games at all? How the &$#@ do you work at Blizz and have not played any of their games?
a. I've played Diablo 3 and WoW at times.
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78. Does Nathanos stay around as the Undead leader after Sylvanas leaves, and why? If not, who is their leader?
a. Lillian Voss is slated for the undead lead though I could see that being scrapped and replaced with Calia if the faction stuff is scrapped.
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79. you mentioned at least concepts for 3 expacs planned, and maybe zones. could you list the ideas right now?
a. Dragon Isles + Shadowlands confirmed. K'aresh concept. Ancient Azeroth/time travel with elf-queen Azshara concept.
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80. WHO IS BEST GIRL?
a. Chromie's kind of hot now that people mention her.
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81. Can you confirm what the Worgen heritage is
a. Nope. Anyroad, I'm going to head to bed. Thanks for the questions and chats and such! 8.2 is probably out on the 25th so it shouldn't be too long until 8.3 is confirmed and you'll see this is true. Next expansion confirmation will be at Blizzcon of course sooo screenshot or don't I don't really care. Ta!
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this is pretty much the end of this leak from June. What do ya’ll think about it?
I was basically trying to level my one warlock to level 60 when I just so happen to look at Az’s latest video:
Just a little afterword I made the following thread about Ooid’s leak from there:
https://xpoff.com/threads/wow-leak-by-ooid-on-mmochampion.89126/
after work the following day I’ve decided to make a thread based on the leak that was from the original post:
https://xpoff.com/threads/wow-leak-from-4chan.89145/
note: if asmongold or mcconnell decide to look at the original post of my thread, you can skip the introduction to that thread if they want to just jump to the nit and gritty of it.
it took me about the following 2-3 hours copying and pasting the entire thing because of the random locations where the questions and answers were jumbled with that post. When hearing about the other leak posts I’ve just dismissed this one but with the confirmation of the vulpera with the mechagnome.
This was the only one that had that connection with it, whereas the other ones at that time didn’t.
I do want to point out the original text did get destroyed by the original creator of the site, I still have that link on that page:
http://boards.4channel.org/v/thread...er-at-blizzard-working-on-world-of#p466780878
I did manage to look for the pictures (indicated by the last quote from that developer) of it to make sure it was still embedded on the internet and sure enough it’s still on here:
https://imgur.com/a/etFZctZ
anyways now to talk about that thread and what’s currently known and what will “possibly” come:
Note: this will be a long thread since I’m just copying and pasting the carbon copy what was on said thread and not really changing anything on it. this will also have lines indicating where the question and answers for that particular question cuts off. btw this is spoiler territory, if you want to turn back, please do.
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1. When is the game going f2p
a. I don’t know. I wouldn’t imagine anytime soon.
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2. Is the Azeroth titan hot?
a. I don’t think the Titan is coming anytime soon since I haven’t seen any concept art of her even.
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3. Are the rest of your developer friends seething at how successful Classic is?
a. Not really. Pretty much no one has pride in the games right now that I’ve talked to. It’s just a job for us. Most of us don’t even play the game. As far as I understand, it’s even more so for those higher up.
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4. How many more expansions are planned after BfA?
a. Currently three that I’ve seen or heard anything from personally, though only one is actually beyond concept art right now.
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5. Is ion getting fired?
a. Not as far as I’ve heard but that’s not really my department.
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6. Is tyrande a virgin?
a. Honestly prolly no.
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7. WoW 2 when?
a. I’d say probably never since the resources to build a WoW 2 wouldn’t be worth it in this market.
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8. How many active subs does the game have left?
a. They don’t tell us (me?). It’s not the metric the company uses anymore.
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9. Is Blizzard considering taking any drastic change in the direction of Retail WoW or preparing for WoW 2?
a. There’s a few drastic changes coming in 9.0 but they’re nothing like a WoW 2. Mostly leveling changes (sort of a blended ESO-style) and some faction changes being weighed. Some on my team were working on prototypes of how a faction merger would work systems-wise and how it could still allow for PvP using warmode.
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10. Serious question. I heard that WoW was origionally prototyped using the Warcraft 3 engine. Is this still/really the case? Is WoW simply WC3 zoomed in?
a. No clue myself. No one on my team including me has been around since before Cataclysm.
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11. Is there a real reason (besides money) that content is timegated and players are often left doing tedious activities?
a. Everything is about money, it'd be lying to say otherwise. Timegating is used for two purposes - to keep people playing the game longer and to give people something to do without having to make even more content that'd take longer to release.
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12. Will you #%$@s ever stop focusing just on endgame and powercreep? Leveling hasn't meant $#@! since Vanilla.
a. Powercreep isn't really a thing since we don't make expansions based on 'what's tougher than the last.' IMO Deathwing was weaker than Arthas in the long run. As far as leveling, it will become more important in 9.0 though endgame is our focus since people don't care about leveling as much as they used to.
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13. Next allied races?
a. Vulpera and Mechagnomes. 'Light' Undead for Alliance afterwards. Last I saw of the Horde race was a feral boar looking prototype but nothing complete.
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14. How long are your lunch breaks?
a. I just eat while I work but most people's are 20 minutes.
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15. Is Sylvanas going to be killed off?
a. She'll survive into the next expansion
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16. Do you have any faith in WoW lasting any longer?
a. Absolutely. There's a lot of different paths that can be taken to secure its future.
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17. Does N'Zoth win at the end and will the world be Cataclysm'd by him ?
a. No, he's defeated by the end of 8.3. Not dead forever though.
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18. "Light" undead , thats silly
a. Hey, it's better than "just-undead-but-without-bones-showing" being playable on the Alliance that was considered back when Allied Races were going to be just "inverses" of the other faction's races.
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19. Is it true Blizzard is planning on scaling down the player levels?
a. 60 will be the level cap before 9.0. Once 9.0 hits, the "new" level cap will be 70.
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20. how many blizzard employees are furries?
a. I don't personally know any furries but then again I don't ask coworkers personal questions.
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21. Tell me about Necromancer. Now! And what is Sylvanas endgame.
a. There's a planned "necromancer" prestige class for warlocks, though it'll just be a "skin" so to speak. Sylvanas is doing all she can to stop N'Zoth from breaking from his prison. Though not all will be forgiven.
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22. Who is the last boss of BfA?
a. Not really a final boss so to speak but the final encounter is saving Sylvanas (though it'll require fighting her first) and resealing N'Zoth's prison.
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23. Does Aszhara dies?
a. She's alive into 9.0.
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24. What is 9.0 themed around ? Void Lords ? Old Gods ? Can you tell us something that is coming that hasn't been leaked out yet, so that in the future you can prove yourself to not be a LARPer? Whats the theme of the next expansion?
a. The focus on the next expansion will be around both the return of and the rise of the dragonflights as a whole and dealing with the forces of Death (Kel'thuzad, Bolvar, Arthas, Bwonsamedi and their mysterious god.) Elune will be a big part of the next expansion as a sort of aspect of Light that serves as a 'frenemy' who's allied with Death. The kaldorei's faith is shaken since she put into motion the events that lead to Sylvanas' reign and her Blood War.
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25. I meant number wise, the difference between geared players and tiers is insanely large. New patches just invalidate the previous tier outright.
a. Playing the patch isn't changing anytime soon since it keeps things fresh.
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26. Do you know anything about Classic WoW's development? More specifically, do you know whether or not there are plans for TBC realms and WotLK realms and so on in the future? This. What do you know about classic?
a. Not my department. I don't know anything about Classic. I didn't even play it.
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27. Are we getting a third warfront? Is 9.0 going to be that gay light vs void on the ethereal planet thing with the factions being split like that another thread like this a few months ago was saying
a. K'aresh is slated for 10.0 though at this stage that could still change. Unlikely though since that story is coming.
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28. are you adding anything substantial to the classes next expac or their tool set *&^% is one of the main reasons i can't bring myself to play
a. I don't know much about balancing or systems changes in regards to classes. Tinkers and prestige classes are what I know.
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29. Any plans for more legacy content servers if Classic is a success? Lot of people clamoring about TBC and Wrath. Also are Blizzard trying to retcon Wrathion out entirely?
a. Wrathion has been postponed repeatedly since the Dragon Isles has been on the backburner for a while now (and was originally supposed to come after WoD). He'll play a big role and I'd be surprised if it wasn't his voice on the reveal trailer when they film it.
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30. Is the artifact system/Azerite trait thingy where you keep grinding that ressource will still be a thing in new expansion? Is titanforging still there? Any plans for (pvp) vendors and resilience?
a. I don't know much about the new systems changes though judging by the many quests talking about this new orb everyone's getting I'd assume that's the new artifact weapon/heart of azeroth. Posting this first and then finishing up with everyone else. Be patient!
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31. Why are all of your games $#@! now? Why do you think you can charge $15/month for a 15 year old game?
a. People pay for it.
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32. Goddammit. Why can't she just be evil and get killed? How thick is the plot armor around the Main NPCs these days? Does anyone of significance die? What does Thrall do?
a. Saurfang was slated to die to save Sylvanas last I saw. Though there was talk about it if it should be him or Thrall before. They both stage a revolution and put Baine on the 'throne' though Sylvanas doesn't put up much of a fight. She's already off preparing for Nya'lotha by then.
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33. Do you know if there's a secret cutscene for Mythic Azshara and what it might entail? also do employees get free access to games like WoW or do you have to pay retail price?
a. I haven't heard anything about one but that's not saying there's not one. You have to pay full price if you're not just testing out things on the test realms.
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34. I have serious doubts about Mechagnomes because of the fact that their models make it so gloves, wrists, and boots don't show up at all. If they really are going to be an allied race can you explain how Blizzard is going to get around this problem?
a. Pretty much the thought process went was naga wouldn't have boots or legs. People still want to play them. They could be playable. But we want to have one allied race for each primary race (aside from Pandaren). Mechagnomes are an optional allied race. When you make one you know parts will be hidden. It's not a big surprise.
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35. What will be the next expansion about, are there yet again more hidden isles or it's another planet?
a. -"yet again more hidden isles" Yes.
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36. The original WC3 canon, the Male NEs had harems of females they looked after. That never made it to WoW, will it make it into the WC3 remake?
a. What? I've never played WC3 but I'd assume no?
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37. Is it safe to say real player housing is permanently never ever'd?
a. Honestly there's people working on it every year or so with a new prototype, it just never gets approved.
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38. Do you have any info about other big projects at blizzard (i.e Overwatch 2)?
a. None at all.
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39. Make jumping puzzles like all the other modern MMOs you lazy ^%$@s.
a. Weren't there jumping puzzle world quests in Legion?
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40. Are there any plans to revisit Alternate Draenor content? That teaser about Yrel's Light Jihad was actually interesting.
a. Yrel will come back eventually (likely in the expansion following) but not before then.
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41. What ever happened to the dance studio. Right up there with D3 PvP arena as a major promise and can't deliver or ever reference again??
a. Dance studio?
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42. High Elves when?
a. Not happening.
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43. Will we ever get a dungeon that is as epic as original BRD or is it all M+ bait now?
a. Some people like M+ but that's the focus right now since everyone seems to like it.
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44. This is the one thing that makes me greatly doubt you. Unless they ended it, employees (including CSR) used to get a discounted sub.
a. I'm not offered it, that's all I know. I was going to check it out on live servers back when Argus hit and there was no option to get an employee discount.
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45. hey blizz employee is nya'lotha really the final area. how do they stretch nzoth's three generic faceless mobs into a whole zone
a. Nya'lotha is larger than a normal zone. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't going to be split into 2-4 zones depending on how big they want each 'slice' to be. So, yes it's 8.3.
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46. If Necromancer is a prestige skin, and there are more prestige skins coming, will there be no new class in 9.0? What is the draw then?
a. The current plans are Tinker class, necromancer skin, dragonsworn skin and dark shaman skin.
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47. Two questions. Azeroth. N'zoth. Both of them end in 'Oth' That, and the quote from emerald bad dream: "Its surface blazes bright, masking shadows below." Is N'zoth actually the titan of Azeroth? Second question but a smaller one. Anything for *&^%ing roleplayers? Some of the casual lean emotes are nice and those would be cool to use.
a. No and no.
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48. blinked and I missed it. what'd I miss?
a. I posted a reddit post and then realized people here hate reddit.
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49. Who is Bwonsamdi's boss ? Who whispered Vol'jin when he dies ?
a. If they've settled on a name for her, they haven't told anyone but the higher "teams".
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50. What would a dragonsworn skin be latched onto? Mage? Druid? What class is Dragonsworn for?
a. Druid. Dragonkin forms and flame/frost to replace the lunar cycles.
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51. Hi, I read somewhere that Blizzard was looking into inspiration from Classic for future expansions, evidently higher ups realize they lost their way with the game here lately and are looking to make improvements. Any idea what they possibly meant by this? Or rather, are there any changes on the table for World of Warcraft that could be seen as inspired by Classic or older iterations of the game?
a. I'd have to play Classic first to know what that'd even mean.
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52. How much content do you guys end up ripping off from youtubers like Taliesin
a. I've yet to see them come up with anything new. They pass off old ideas as new ones and their child fanbase all celebrates them as prophets. "Class skins" have been talked about like every months since forever. Their 'list of allied races' were uninspired and could had been ripped off of WoWPedia.
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53. So the death god is supposed to be the "Xe'ra" of the Death aspect?
a. No clue.
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54. Yes, tell us the NAME of the next expansion
a. Why would I know the name?
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55. Any plans for new specs to be added to existing classes? Such as a tanking spec for shamans, or a healing spec for mages
a. No. If anyone is wondering why I'm responding to less and less posts it's because most of them are just the same questions or areas I already said I have no place in.
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56. No sethrak. The Alliance sort of got their revenge early due to the frosty reaction to the beginning of the expansion. We were going to leave Tyrande's retribution for 8.3 but people were a bit more impatient than we expected. Baine and Anduin will make peace and Sylvanas and her loyalists will go into hiding. Nya'lotha isn't in the sea. It's gateway is in the sea but Nya'lotha is its own plane of existence that will be transported over its gate in 8.3. 99% of us don't know the name. We aren't told more than we need to know. The only people who need to know the names of expansions are marketers. You're forgetting that then tauren and gnome players would feel neglected.
a. Apparently /tv/ and /v/ use the same tripcode username thing. This is me.
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57. Do you think WoW has become less than stellar because of the total lack of passion or interest on the developers part? What’s the work culture like?
a. People like to think that their favorite games are made out of love and passion but they're jobs just like anything else. Imagine a developer is like a plumber. It's a relatively cold work culture where people don't really interact much. Most things are done by passing notes and papers without words if there's any interaction between desks at all.
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58. What upcoming change to the game are you most excited about? Or are you excited about nothing
a. I'm more excited for Elder Scrolls 6 honestly. It's about the only game I'm looking forward to.
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59. gnome players dont have feelings. Also is the inclusion of so many female story characters just a coincidence or is there an actual narrative push going on
a. I mean no one's come into the office and said "Hey we're trying to appeal to chicks" if that's what you're asking. About a third of the playerbase is already female last I heard.
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60. Do people actually think that every single game dev has unbridled passion for the job and the game they're working on rather than just treating it like a job they do to put food on the table that tangentially aligns with their interests?
a. Pretty much this. Most people come to Blizzard expecting to enjoy it but no one does after a month passes.
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61. what are you posting on /tv/?
a. Star Trek threads
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62. If Elune is evil and working against Nelves/suppporting Sylvanas why did she grant Tyrande ultimate mega powers to kill Sylvanas? Hint: because this thread is bs
a. Elune has made a bargain with the goddess of Death. She's doing all she can to both honor that bargain and not forsake her people.
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63. I'll admit i haven't played retail since WotLK, but i remember hearing in teh rumor miill at the time of making a full bore 3rd faction that was originally going to be goblins, naga, and pandaren, and i think ogres. I'm going to guess the idea of a 3rd playable faction is just gone forever as that idea at the time. But, has there ever been talk of shaking up the alliance and horde factions into actual sub factions or anything like that?
a. There's talks about loosening faction barriers so that people can play with both sides or even do quests for the other faction but I seriously doubt that'll go anywhere.
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64. What is your name, birth date, and exact position in Blizzard?
a. Nice try Ion.
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65. most based thing in the thread desu
a. Qa'pla.
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66. Will you be playing Classic? Also, whats the plan with future expansions and the clutter of all these new zones and regions? It feels like the map is just full of *&$# nowadays. Are there plans to revamp older content instead, or just continue churning out more regions / islands / ect. Also, what are some interesting zones coming in the future, other than Nyalotha
a. I might check out Classic if it's good but I hear it's mostly just a grind. New zones are the plan. The map looks cluttered but it's not like a serious problem. The currently unnamed spawning grounds look neat but it's just concept art right now since it's just doodads being worked on right now for there. Full of steam pools and geysers.
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67. Care to share any big changes that were planned but scrapped at the last minute so to speak?
a. For BFA specifically? Hiji and the Plunder Isle were going to be introduced before Nazjatar before being scrapped. Hiji was going to be off the coast of Zandalar and Plunder Isle Kul Tiras. Moira was going to play a large role in the Alliance but no one knows who she is so it'd be pointless.
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68. how many game developers post on /v/?
a. I mostly post on reddit though I hear reddit actually responds to requests to identify posters if company's ask so here I am. I only browse 4channel every week or so.
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69. How $&$#ed is the wow team? Like what % are diversity hires that can't do their jobs?
a. 0?
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70. So is the 'feral boar' race supposed to give Horde access to the Worgen skeleton? Can you give any information about the Tinker class? What is your team looking into as far as cross-faction come 9.0?
a. As far as I understand, yes. I really hope they're not wereboars but I don't know the lore associated. Tinkers are planned to start around level 50. Tank/healer/DPS with access to mail armor. Tanks have 'power armor.' DPS use stealth, bombs, mines and guns. Healers use healbots to heal in between damage dealing. I don't know if the cross-faction stuff will actually hit live or not though the talks were about letting people interact with the other faction as normally as they do their own so long as warmode is off. Orcs in Stormwind, night elves in "Horde" guilds and all.
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71. Can you talk more about the last pair of allied races? What are the Lightforged Undead and what's up with the boars?
a. Redeemed/light undead are Forsaken who have defected to the Alliance and been purified in the Light. No clue about the boars aside from what I've said.
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72. What are your favourite games? Why did you decide to work on Blizzard, and specifically WoW? Or were you hoping to work on a different project? Have you ever enjoyed playing WoW? Howcome there aren't any veterans from before cata there? Isn't it disappointing working on a game you don't like? Wouldn't you rather work on something you love? How much do you get paid? Thanks
a. Skyrim, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassins Creed. All of them. I didn't have a preference for the project. I just wanted a good paying job that'd be prestigious in the field. I enjoyed a bit of the game during HFC. Company merge. It's just a job. I'd rather be an actor, but ofc I didn't go into that. Too telling.
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73. Since I see you're looking forward to TES 6, how disappointed are you with Bethesda and their recent titles?
a. I didn't play 76. Fallout 4 was a bit disappointing but that's not TES.
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74. What are your thoughts on sneedposting?
a. What?
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75. Will they be changing the talent system to something else? Or just putting in new talents? How satisfied are they with the current state of classes? How about the current overly simple state of gameplay? Heard anything about Diablo 4's troubled development? What is the most exciting thing you've seen in development that is yet to be unveiled and highly likely to actually be finished?
a. The other questions I don't know @^%$ about so... I like what's been done for Nya'lotha. Probably the tallest zone in the game.
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76. Who was trying to kill Chromie?
a. Murozond.
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77. Do you even play video games at all? How the &$#@ do you work at Blizz and have not played any of their games?
a. I've played Diablo 3 and WoW at times.
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78. Does Nathanos stay around as the Undead leader after Sylvanas leaves, and why? If not, who is their leader?
a. Lillian Voss is slated for the undead lead though I could see that being scrapped and replaced with Calia if the faction stuff is scrapped.
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79. you mentioned at least concepts for 3 expacs planned, and maybe zones. could you list the ideas right now?
a. Dragon Isles + Shadowlands confirmed. K'aresh concept. Ancient Azeroth/time travel with elf-queen Azshara concept.
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80. WHO IS BEST GIRL?
a. Chromie's kind of hot now that people mention her.
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81. Can you confirm what the Worgen heritage is
a. Nope. Anyroad, I'm going to head to bed. Thanks for the questions and chats and such! 8.2 is probably out on the 25th so it shouldn't be too long until 8.3 is confirmed and you'll see this is true. Next expansion confirmation will be at Blizzcon of course sooo screenshot or don't I don't really care. Ta!
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this is pretty much the end of this leak from June. What do ya’ll think about it?
