BFA Press Event - Talanji Cinematic, 8.0 Pre-Patch, Mag'har and Dark Iron Unlock Schedule

posted 2018/04/05 at 8:29 AM by perculia

We also learned about the Battle for Azeroth Release Date and Collector's Edition! Learn more about the BFA release date here and the special CE rewards here. We also had an interview with Muffinus which you can find here.Event Highlights

Mag'har Orcs and Dark Iron Dwarf Allied Races will be available after completing the Battle for Azeroth War Campaign. The Kul Tiran Human and Zandalari Troll Allied Races will be unlocked later in the expansion, after they respectively join the Alliance and the Horde.

The BFA alpha is lasting longer than alphas for past expansions. This is because the beta is treated as an opportunity to polish features now, and not all features are visible on the Alpha yet.

The pre-patch will let players experience the Burning of Teldrassil and Battle for Lordaeron.

There are six emissaries planned for each faction. Three for your home continent, two neutral factions (Tortollan and Voice of Azeroth), and a War Faction solely with quests on the enemy continent.

Battle of Azeroth is advertised as a faction conflict, but Ion's final words hinted that more is in store! "Battle for Azeroth will be fought between the Horde and Alliance, but Battle for Azeroth is also a battle to save Azeroth.

8.0 Pre-Patch

Pre-patch is likely a few weeks before the actual expansion, similar to past expansion schedules. Ion said not to quote him directly on this, nothing is official.

The pre-patch will contain content allowing players to experience the Burning of Teldrassil and Battle of Lordaeron. For example, there will be content in Darkshore - story-driven quest content and replayable outdoor skirmishes. We've datamined mounts themed around the Night Elves and Forsaken which could likely tie in to this event.

Through an awesome animated piece, which includes the two pieces of art we've previously seen, you'll learn how Teldrassil catches on fire.

Horde CinematicWe were not allowed to film or record this cinematic. Note this is not an exact transcript.At the start of the cinematic, Nathanos and Zul stand on the docks of a Zandalari ship, while Talanji conducts a ritual below.

Nathanos: It appears the Alliance dogs have lost our scent.
Zul: Good...Our journey is almost over.
Nathanos: I hope the Warchief's faith is well-placed.
Zul: She seems very powerful, certain, in control.
Nathanos: It is an honor to serve my queen.
Zul: My princess is also strong-willed and sure of herself. Our King has always found her to be...challenging.

We then cut to Talanji's ritual.

Talanji: Oh mighty Rezan...as always, you come when I ask your aid.
Rezan: Speak and I will listen.
Talanji: I have sought the aid of the Horde, but my father may not agree with my actions. Advise! You are the loa of kings.
Rezan: My eyes see much....They see your boldness, your power, and enemies who fear both. And those who seek your demise are here!

We then see the Alliance fleet closing in on the Horde ship. Talanji walks out onto the top of the deck and casts a mighty spell, summoning Rezan!

As Rezan is summoned, a thick fog forms surrounding the Horde and Alliance ships. He then charges into the sails of the Horde ship, becoming a powerful wind in their sails and propelling them forward, breaking through the fog. Talanji then sees the shores of Zuldazar and the Zandalari army readying their turrets at her signal. Eventually the Alliance ships finally catch up and break through the fog and are attacked by the Zandalari turrets who were ready for them.

Talanji: We are home.

Press Event Recap

The expansion is heavily motivated by faction conflict. We do what we do for the Horde, or for the Alliance. First question you ask someone that plays WoW is "Alliance or Horde?"

After the events of Teldrassil and Lordaeron, we reach out to the two famous naval empires - Kul Tiras for the Alliance and Zandalari for the Horde.

As you quest on your faction's continent (Kul Tiras or Zandalar), you periodically visit the other continent as part of the War Campaign. This will tell the story of the Alliance and Horde conflict.

At 120, the entire world opens up as an end-game space, doubling the amount of space for end-game content.

Island Expeditions draws upon lessons learned past content like scenarios and keystone dungeons. This is replayable content for small groups.

Warfronts are about large-scale war on the homefront. The first one is set in Stormgarde, a key tactical location for both factions. They are heavily inspired by the RTS genre.

The Heart of Azeroth system is the successor to the Artifact system. As we explore the world, players level up amulets. This lets us power up several pieces of gear with customization options to suit different playstyles.

In the last five years, Blizzard has shifted their approach to storytelling. Each expansion used to be a distinct story. Now the stories flow together better between expansions. For example, Sargeras' attack at the end of Legion brought fought the Azerite that's so important in Battle for Azeroth.

The standard of storytelling has also increased due to lots of cinematics and cutscenes.

The Alliance and Horde intro scenarios were then recapped, which set the stage for us watching the Horde cinematic!

We then learned about Islands from Game Designer Jeremy Feasel and Producer Daniel Stahl.

The Collector's Edition items were revealed, as well as the release date for Battle for Azeroth! We've covered this information in several posts - Collector's Edition and Battle for Azeroth Release Date.

Island Expeditions Presentation

The goal of an Island Expedition is to gain Azerite. It used by the Alliance and Horde as a weapon of war. The Azerite on the Islands comes from crystals to treasure chests to rare spawns.

There is meant to be a sense of exploration - you are limited as to what you can see based on your visibility. You must explore the landscape to find more Azerite.

Unlike lots of spawning patterns in WoW, nothing in Island Expeditions in static. There are hundreds of locations with many things which can show up.

Events can also occur during Islands, such as randomly-spawning Azerite.

The hostile NPCs on the Islands are after the Azerite as well, such as the Naga and Elemental Lords.

You are also racing against the enemy faction, comprised of super-smart advanced NPCs. They have more abilities than you expect from a creature in WoW, and they can play their class well!

It's lots of fun creating the advanced NPCs and giving them distinctive personalities with backstories and wacky abilities.

These NPCs also have unique tactical elements--ranging from playing aggressively to very defensive.

You never know what NPCs you'll face when you queue up for an Island.

There are four Island difficulties - Normal, Heroic, Mythic...and PvP.

A lot of the creatures on the island are difficult to solo, but are killable using certain consumables and items found on the Island.

This is role-agnostic content, you don't need a tank or a healer.

Group Q&AWhat's new with PvP?account-wideWhen are Mag'har Orcs and Dark Iron Dwarves coming?What about Classic WoW?Sometimes it feels like Mythic fights are easy for the first eight minutes and then get extremely difficult - any thoughts?How is the variability of Islands constructed?Can we take the Undercity back?!Date for start of beta?How many islands?Will the advanced AI feel too much like PvP?Rough estimate on when pre-patch will be?Any changes for low-pop Oceanic servers?What's coming to help new players?What elements from the RTS was the design team excited to bring to WoW?More RAF Changes?Will there be something alerting your faction that a Warfront is going on?Sylvanas is evil! Can you say something to Horde players worried we could be getting a Warchief soon, similar to Mists?How do you travel from one continent to the other?Could a faction in theory win Warfronts repeatedly, so the other faction is locked out of the zone for six months?What is the timeline of control for Warfront?If Warfronts get really popular feedback, could we get Warcraft 4!?In terms of expansion pacing, is it similar to Legion?We haven't seen much of Heart of Azeroth on alpha - is this a launch feature, or something coming as staggered content? The datamined traits are pretty basic, will we get more interesting ones later on?What do you think of small raids like Trial of Valor?Could we end up recruiting old races as Allied Races, like the tuskaar?Key ArtPress ImagesConcept Art

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Comment by Puxpux8.0 is pre expansion patch.

Just like 7.0.3 was Legion pre expansion patch....Comment by SalvadoreI don't understand why anyone cares about Classic WoW to start with played it years ago wouldn't want to go back to it! Wonder if those same people would want to go back to the world without smartphones, VHS, and dial-up internet?Comment by SilverDragon234"Sylvanas is evil! Can you say something to Horde players worried we could be getting a Warchief soon, similar to Mists?
Sylvanas has always been aggressive, she's never been a pacifist. There is war going on, but she is the Warchief and is trusted and followed. As we saw on the battlefield of Lordaeron, there is a great deal of inspiration around her."

What utter NONSENSE is this?
Plenty of leaders aren't pacifists and don't do what she does.

There's a war going on? Yes. A war SHE STARTED. And since freaking when is she "trusted and followed". A "great deal of inspiration"? Why? Because she shoulds "FOR THE HORDE"?
What the hell?
Yeah let's just ignore that she's genocidal and doing everything that is the antithesis of the tauren, the darkspears and the blood elves. Let's just ignore that she's starting wars for her own personal gain. Let's just ignore her deal with Helya and all the other iredeemably evil things she pulled even before BfA.

Ion continues to be an utter brain dead buffoon. The lengths he and others at Blizzard go to defend their precious waifu is unbelievable.
They'll have her commit atrocity after atrocity and force the role into civilian attacking blight spreading undead raising child murderers, and say it's all okay because "Hur hur Sylvanas is aggressive and she's warchief! So better follow her!"
They spit on every Horde player who isn't a sociopath or blinded by their lust for this rotten High Elf corpse with moronic statements like these. Just what *is* their obsession with making Sylvanas of all characters the face of the Horde anyway? What faction pride is there in an undead psychopath?
This is the HORDE. Not the SCOURGE. I did not join the HORDE to promote the conquest of undead fiends and the spread of blight. I'm pretty damn sure most other Horde players didn't do so either, not even the ones who play Forsaken. So WHY are they doing this?Comment by selkie47"The Conquest Points system is returning in the form of a bar you fill up to earn a piece of armor each week"

I am hoping this just means there is a weekly cap on how much CP you can gain, not that the CP gets reset each week.Comment by MindGames96Well sense someone deleted my comment for no reason, Ill try it again......

What level do DID and Mag'har start at? And do they get a level 3 garrison to start with?Comment by Nathasilhopefully the delay on the zandalari means they are going to add their paladin class back in or blizz has officially stopped shooting their foot and is now chucking napalm on it"Sylvanas is evil! Can...*snip*...So WHY are they doing this?Well sense someone deleted my comment for no reason, Ill try it again......

What level do DID and Mag'har start at? And do they get a level 3 garrison to start with?Comment by SolivarnikI hope Ion mean by collecting resources collecting resources. Not doing 3 world quests/day.Comment by JaceDraccus

Ion continues to be an utter brain dead buffoon. Comment by UchurFYI, the URL tags are incomplete in the post.Comment by MindGames96hopefully the delay on the zandalari means they are going to add their paladin class back in or blizz has officially stopped shooting their foot and is now chucking napalm on it"Sylvanas is evil! Can...*snip*...So WHY are they doing this?Well sense someone deleted my comment for no reason, Ill try it again......

What level do DID and Mag'har start at? And do they get a level 3 garrison to start with?Comment by ZakkaruWe then see the Alliance fleet closing in on the Horde ship. Talanji walks out onto the top of the deck and casts a mighty spell, summoning Rezan!

The dinosaur then charges towards the Alliance fleet, mowing them down. As the ship moves closer towards the shores of Zandalar, the Zandalari fleet can be sighted in the distance and Talanji gives the signal for the fleet to open fire on the Alliance.Here I am waiting for an actual retaliation to occur! Maybe next expansion.As we saw on the battlefield of Lordaeron, there is a great deal of inspiration around her.hopefully the delay on the zandalari means they are going to add their paladin class back in or blizz has officially stopped shooting their foot and is now chucking napalm on itComment by Synea

Ion continues to be an utter brain dead buffoon. No, not a deal. Because players aren't responsible for implementing such a things into game but Blizzard. And it's Blizzard that was strongly hinting that we might get playable Loadins.Comment by SardosZandalari we will end up with are not supervillain blood worshippers... Where are you getting that nonsense?

As for Judgment set, a ridiculous argument considering what you can dress some race/class combinations as. Never mind the fact that it is up to players what they make their chars look like, not you. There is existing lore for them, be it the Freethinkers or the Prelates. They are the most spiritual of the Trolls, highly revered and are against Dark Magic/Slavery.

Wanting Zandalari Paladins and Night Elf Paladins is fine. They are not mutually exclusive.Comment by Ryneon"Sylvanas is evil! Can you say something to Horde players worried we could be getting a Warchief soon, similar to Mists?
Sylvanas has always been aggressive, she's never been a pacifist. There is war going on, but she is the Warchief and is trusted and followed. As we saw on the battlefield of Lordaeron, there is a great deal of inspiration around her."

What utter NONSENSE is this?
Plenty of leaders aren't pacifists and don't do what she does.

There's a war going on? Yes. A war SHE STARTED. And since freaking when is she "trusted and followed". A "great deal of inspiration"? Why? Because she shoulds "FOR THE HORDE"?
What the hell?
Yeah let's just ignore that she's genocidal and doing everything that is the antithesis of the tauren, the darkspears and the blood elves. Let's just ignore that she's starting wars for her own personal gain. Let's just ignore her deal with Helya and all the other iredeemably evil things she pulled even before BfA.

Ion continues to be an utter brain dead buffoon. The lengths he and others at Blizzard go to defend their precious waifu is unbelievable.
They'll have her commit atrocity after atrocity and force the role into civilian attacking blight spreading undead raising child murderers, and say it's all okay because "Hur hur Sylvanas is aggressive and she's warchief! So better follow her!"
They spit on every Horde player who isn't a sociopath or blinded by their lust for this rotten High Elf corpse with moronic statements like these. Just what *is* their obsession with making Sylvanas of all characters the face of the Horde anyway? What faction pride is there in an undead psychopath?
This is the HORDE. Not the SCOURGE. I did not join the HORDE to promote the conquest of undead fiends and the spread of blight. I'm pretty damn sure most other Horde players didn't do so either, not even the ones who play Forsaken. So WHY are they doing this?Comment by SyneaWhy don't you just start crying already? Jfc, grow up please it's a video game. You know nothing other than the bits of leaked alpha text. Are you telling us that you knew Garrosh would go nuts from prepatch of MoP? Did your ultimate wisdom see the events that transpired with Illidan while we fought the Legion?

You don't have all the information. Period. BfA isn't out yet.Zandalari we will end up with are not supervillain blood worshippers... Where are you getting that nonsense? As for Judgment set, a ridiculous argument considering what you can dress some race/class combinations as. Never mind the fact that it is up to players what they make their chars look like, not you.There is existing lore for them, be it the Freethinkers or the Prelates. They are the most spiritual of the Trolls, highly revered and are against Dark Magic/Slavery. Wanting Zandalari Paladins and Night Elf Paladins is fine. They are not mutually exclusive.Comment by RyneonCan barely stomach looking at the comments on this site anymore. Every other comment is just raging and yelling about things that are not guaranteed. I can't believe this "Synea" person hasn't been shut down for constant toxicity.

On a positive note, I very happy about this Q&A and BfA seems like an amazing drama-filled expac. I want my Zandalari and I want my golden Blood Elf eyes.

Incredibly excited to see if Sylvannas goes all Garrosh or if she ends up being a great warchief. Suspense!Comment by SyneaCan barely stomach looking at the comments on this site anymore. Every other comment is just raging and yelling about things that are not guaranteed. I can't believe this "Synea" person hasn't been shut down for constant toxicity.

On a positive note, I very happy about this Q&A and BfA seems like an amazing drama-filled expac. I want my Zandalari and I want my golden Blood Elf eyes.

Incredibly excited to see if Sylvannas goes all Garrosh or if she ends up being a great warchief. Suspense!scaredComment by SardosWhy should Zandalari get priority? What besides them being added now? Why wait a few years for them when they can be added with the race?

But that doesn't mean Night Elf Paladins shouldn't be a thing. They absolutely should, and honestly, with the current loss of Teldrassil it is a perfect time for them too. I don't know much about Void Elves to say what reason Blizzard pulled on them, but since they can be Priests like Forsaken I assume they try and argue semantics there.

I don't work for Blizzard so expecting me to know why they haven't added them yet is beyond my knowledge. I'm a player voicing my opinion like you...

Just with a lot more manners.Comment by AlarialasCan barely stomach looking at the comments on this site anymore. Every other comment is just raging and yelling about things that are not guaranteed. I can't believe this "Synea" person hasn't been shut down for constant toxicity.

On a positive note, I very happy about this Q&A and BfA seems like an amazing drama-filled expac. I want my Zandalari and I want my golden Blood Elf eyes.

Incredibly excited to see if Sylvannas goes all Garrosh or if she ends up being a great warchief. Suspense!scaredComment by BorsuqCan we take the Undercity back?

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