wow Pre-expansion Event Details, Time in the Shadowlands, Major Lore Implications, Renown Catch-up: Full Bellular Interview

[Starym 3,800]

 

We have another interview to check out with some new and exciting info, as Bellular talked to Ion Hazzikostas and got us a lot of very interesting lore and story related things in particular, including a hint that the First Ones might be the creators of the entire Warcraft universe, details on the Pantheon of Death, confirmation of a Scourge invasion and Nathanos presence in the pre-expansion event, Renown catch-up and more! Obviously spoilers ahead.

We've already covered the Counduits and Soulbinds portion of the interview that was released earlier, and you can check that out here.

The pre-expansion event got some solid details, as Ion said we'd be fighting another Scourge invasion, as they run around Azeroth aimless without a Lich King, and we'll be fighting them and pushing towards Icecrown Citadel to assault it. He also confirmed Nathanos will be involved, as his fate is a "loose thread" that will be followed (and we've already seen him in the Plaguelands as a potential boss on the Alpha).

 
Source.

Ion starts talking about who created the Titans and what the exact ordering of the entire Warcraft universe is really like when the First Ones are mentioned, and explains that the Pantheon of Death is equivalent to the Titans (aka the Pantheon of Order) and is made up of the Covenant leaders. We don't yet know how the Jailer and Arbiter fit into that (but we'll discover it in Shadowlands). The actual bigger story of who actually created everything is something we will get into in the years to come, but maybe not directly in Shadowlands.

One of the big things that was finally explained is the "time works differently in the Shadowlands" issue, where Ion said that we shouldn't read too much into it. It's dream like, where you might spend more time in there but less time has passed in reality, which pretty solidly smashes the popular time skip after Shadowlands theory (although again, he specifically said not to focus too much on the weird time stuff, implying it's not going to be a story point in either direction).

Renown catch-up will work with additional sources of Renown popping up (like additional rewards in World Quests etc.) until you're nearly caught up. The standard/normal Renown system will see you doing weekly quests to get Anima and souls in for your Covenant.

• Legion timewalking is coming, with a possibly improvement to the scheduling of the events as there's more and more of them.
• Reminder that class themed armor sets will be coming with later patches.
• Ion talks about passive procs and that they understand they're bad.
• No specific on the cost of returning to a Covenant you abandoned before, but they're trying to find a balance between an intense but shorter grind and something easier but taking longer, even weeks (presumably gated).
• Your Covenant progress will be saved if you leave and come back later.

For the full details check out the interview itself, particularly the very beginning where Ion talks about the Pantheons and possible creators of the Warcraft universe itself:

 

[Teufel 331]

"Passive procs are bad."

I sincerely hope he's not refering to the likes of TDev/Stars, or it will be too hillarious to take that line seriously.

[Lith 52]

10 hours ago, Teufel said:

"Passive procs are bad."

I sincerely hope he's not refering to the likes of TDev/Stars, or it will be too hillarious to take that line seriously.

Why? Those are the bad types of random procs.

[Starym 3,800]

12 hours ago, Teufel said:

"Passive procs are bad."

I sincerely hope he's not refering to the likes of TDev/Stars, or it will be too hillarious to take that line seriously.

He is, it was in response to the huge amount of Corruptions that do that. Aka they won't be doing stuff like that in Shadowlands.

[Halock 156]

1 hour ago, Lith said:

Why? Those are the bad types of random procs.

I don't fully understand it either. Passive procs are good fun and an important part of stuff -- which I'm sure they agree with. But I've just heard this relayed as 'passive procs are bad' which is -- odd?

 I understand, perhaps, the idea that corruptions as a whole system have entirely passive bonuses -- but the catch of the system isn't. 

[Starym 3,800]

26 minutes ago, Halock said:

I don't fully understand it either. Passive procs are good fun and an important part of stuff -- which I'm sure they agree with. But I've just heard this relayed as 'passive procs are bad' which is -- odd?

 I understand, perhaps, the idea that corruptions as a whole system have entirely passive bonuses -- but the catch of the system isn't. 

It's just that they added waaaay too much of them with corruptions and they're way too powerful. Players feel like their skill in playing / rotation has little effect on their dps since it's all about random procs that do most of the damage anyway. Probably should have expanded on what Ion said, thought it was generally understood, totally my bad!

[Halock 156]

2 hours ago, Starym said:

It's just that they added waaaay too much of them with corruptions and they're way too powerful. Players feel like their skill in playing / rotation has little effect on their dps since it's all about random procs that do most of the damage anyway. Probably should have expanded on what Ion said, thought it was generally understood, totally my bad!

That makes more sense! Thanks for explaining. 

And in your defence I've read several other news posts which have summarised the statement in exactly the same way. That lead me to believe that the summary was accurate -- but the fact I didn't bother to listen to the interview myself can hardly help either. Summaries are summaries. ?