Imagine, if you could slowly build over several expansions?

Community General Discussion
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Your capital city, using resources gained from race campaigns?

This is a long term system, spanning several expansions, and is to go alongside whatever is planned for each expansion. It is not a replacement system, but an additional one giving long term rewards and bonuses that feed into whatever expansion system for those who continue playing regularly across expansions, giving a meaningful pay off for staying subscribed and playing that isn’t reset every expansion.

Race campaigns -

An extended form of the class campaigns of legion, with Capital cities as the quest point (basically your order hall)

  • Race campaign - continuously updates the story of your race (find out how they’ve fared with all the events that happened since Classic/cata - but also what they’re doing with respect to new expansion threat.

  • New range of quests come in every patch and continue through expansions.

  • Each expansion will find a way to make racial resources boost character power in a way relevant to the new expansion system

  • Racial campaigns are the best and biggest way to gather resources that allow you to build or expand your capital city zone. (but like all other resource system, you will get resources for this from a wide variety of activities and rewards.

  • Restore and build up your race… Fun of seeing a lot of devastation repaired. No longer only loss, doom and gloom shown in-game for your race. Help your race become greater, recover powerful things: e.g. Well of Eternity, Atam’al Crystals, Sunwell, Titan Heritage, Restored Loa, Ancestral boosts - it’s not just one thing but several, e.g. Night elves would be boosted by Moonwells/Shaladrassil/Well of Eternity all coming back over time (surprises too, like immortality even - who knows)

  • Allows space to have a player house and guild housing, why not have a section of the improved city have a spot where you can pick a building for your house and your guild it’s headquarters? and blizzard provides you several choices for each race’s architecture. e.g. Night elf toon can have a pre-sundering type building, a temple type building, or a tree like druid building, Blood elves can have a floating mage tower like building, a farstrider lodge type building or grand citadel type.

  • Guild and player housing can be in a quadrant that allows pvp as well as guild competition to control the city or repel an invasion. Guilds can even compete for city dominance based on resources or could be special campaign objectives where a race to completion is required - this can be an event that rotates per capital city and involve any guild or just guilds who have their HQ in that racial city.

Building Your Capital Zone

  • This is simpler than it looks. But allows blizz to slowly expand capital cities every patch.

  • Blizz would have already done full scale concept art for each city and zone, however they design chunks each patch which players unlock and can build on their client once they gather resources

  • Over several expansion and patches, your race’s capitals could look awesome. As well as the zone, including new towns that can always be started. Repair devastated areas.

  • Capitals host sanctuary zones for race campaigns, vendors, portals etc and also adventure areas, similar to how Suramar is executed.

  • Each race gets a unique capital hearthstone (like you did class order hall in legion)

  • Extended capital zones often unlock more quests zones:

  • Similar to Suramar in Legion - most of the areas outside the central sanctuary will have quests. This goes both for the capital city and the zone itself.

  • Life continues on for your race, while things happen abroad, it has effects at home, and also new threats emerge, difficulties that need solving. The capital and areas outside it in the capital zone will have new quests fairly regularly that continue to tell the story and explore the race.

  • This is where the wonder and creativity can be shown in a way that is relevant and adventurous.

Examples of Systems Perks from Racial Campaigns:

Mentioned earlier, this feature can also enhance your character in a way relevant to what ever new system the expansion is using

  • It can boost your characters racial abilities in addition to class ones (this will change/reset every expansion based on what is coming
  • Perks include having your races units used in faction events instead of standard human (alliance) or orc (horde) ones being used.
  • Powers up your race’s racial guards and NPC, so events and scenarios - like the broken shore event or the Warfront z ones where NPCs are used, not only are most of them your race, but they are boosted based on your progress.
  • Features that allow NPCs and famous racial characters to sometimes come along or assist you like in Legion.

Efficient Way of Implementing

There are lots of races, and potentially lots of capitals, in fact too many to give every race and allied race a meaningful campaign or capital unless it is efficiently done.

  • Easier to do 13 Capitals than 25.
  • Easier to do 13 racial campaigns which can be brought down to 6 by further merging in later points.

If blizz implement according to the concept, a little chunk of each capital, so that it is something that gets built over time, the workload is far manageable - the idea is that your race is recovering and advancing and you are directly helping it bringing the spoils of whatever victory you gain in the new expansion area.

Allied and Core races can be combined for cities. Doesn’t mean they lose their other city, it just means both races play a core part in the chosen city zone but the campaigns will involve trips to the other city and zones if they have.

Campaigns can eventually be boiled down to.

  1. All humans (incl undead)
  2. All elves
  3. All trolls
  4. All orcs
  5. Pandaren
  6. Draenei
  7. Dwarves, Gnomes

Goblin campaign either is its own totally, or partially itself, then dipping into every other race.
Undead could have their own campaign - which could or couldn’t cross over with humans.

This means you can have anything from 7, 8, 9 or 13 campaigns - however you are telling the story incrementally, like the game the story keeps going on, even after MAJOR highs and lows.

The Races

Here is a snapshot of each race and where their capital zone would be. Now many races have several zones they are part off, now these zones will be often visted in racial campaign quests etc, however the hub of activity is the capital zone. e.g. if Stormwind is the Alliance capital, but Arathor the capital zone, developed, it doesn’t mean that Stormwind, Elwyn, Westfall etc won’t play a role, they will in the quest lines when the campaign goes there. Remember these zones already have racial lore, so it would be more interesting to use another area for humans as the main focus, while those other zones continue to play a role.

Humans and Kul’tirans - Have a choice: Expand Stormwind, Boralus or pick a new site like Rebuild Lordaron or Arathor.
[My pick would be rebuild either Lordaeron or Arathor.] So many themes to exlpore with humans, one I would like is Anduin being downgraded from High King of the alliance, which doesn’t feel right, to the HighKing of the humans only. Especially after winnig both Lordaeron and Stromgarde from horde incursion during BFA

Orcs & Mag’har Orcs - Orgrimmar & Durotar - lots of spaces for buildings in orgrimmar, and expanding further into durotar, Durotar landscape should be much further changed since cataclysm - it’s a good place to start. Explore the 12 clans, orc leadership, shamanism, Warlockism, blood lust and honour. However my recommendation would be a new site, in the Southern Barrens, cos orcs could do with another Capital, and Orgirmar remains the faction capital.

Draenei & Lightforged: Azuremyst and Bloodmyst: Rebuild Shattrath and Auchindouin from AU draenei in these locations - the models are already there, New Auchinduin managed by the Lightforged, New Shattrath is basically a built up version of WoD Shattrath - with many more homes. Draenei campaign includes aftermath of Argus, lost Eredar, Broken and Krokul management, Illidari Eredar, future leadership, Atam’al crystals, the Naaru, fanaticsm and purity.

Tauren and Highmountain. Mulgore and Stonetalon mountain. This I feel is better than using Highmountain, not to mention it provides more space and more Tauren assets. Tauren culture, legend, Sunwalkers, Huln, Ebonhorn, fate of the Blood toem, Grimtotem, stonetalon and the elves and ruids, honour of the hrode, Tauren spiritualism all explored. Tauren tribes too outlined better here. Each fur colouring is distinctive to a tribe.

Forsaken & (possibly Lightforged Undead?): Icecrown Citadel and Icecrown or Theramore: Either of these can be used as the primary forsaken new home, in an exciting developments that either has Bolvar replace Sylvanas, or somehow the Forsaken leading the the undead and being the ones with the mandate of containment against rogue liches. Power ups include commanding Ziggaruts, undead of all races, and strongly tied to the Ebon Blade, even though some of their members fight for the other faction, like Dalarn is neutral but alliance affliated, so to the Ebonhorn is neutral but horde affliated.

Night Elves and Nightborne: Suramar and the Broken Isles:. Alternatively a new night elf city like a restored Zin’Azshari where both the night elves and Nightborne work together despite tensions due to their allies hating each other. Exploring night elven themes of the sundering, the end of the legion, return of magic, destiny of the stars and its culture, control of magic, weakeness to corruption of nature, the Emerald dream, Arcan’dor, Well of Eternity, Moonwells, Shaladrassil, the aftermath fo the War of thorns, the Illidari and the legacy of Illidan, Triumph over addiction, unification vs segregation, the urban and rural priesthood… Maiev and the Wardens. Night elves get interesting with their varios paths Nature, Arcane, Elune and Fel power.

Blood and Void Elves: Silvermoon and Quel’thalas, I can’t think of any othe rlocation so a story will have to be made of how this happens. The alliance matches on Quelt’halas to wrest it from horde control, the void and high elves lead the alliance armies, the war nearly destroys the sunwell once more, and it takes that to bring the Thalassians to their senses, as a consequence a truce is reached, Quel’thalas will be a sanctuary for all Thalaassian elves, where no fighting or killing of elves is allowed, Silvermoon is made up of a council of High, blood, void, fel and San’layn elves. Alliance visitors must be granted permission from the high and void elves, horde visited must be granted permission from blood and fel elves. However bloodshed may be done, but the war of ideals and for the hearts of the elves is bitterly fought and explored. The fate of the Wretched post sunwell is explored, the rebuilding f Silvermon, the role of the void elves and the sunwell. a lot of covert, supterfuge going on, while some genuinely seek re-unification, others totally hate each other. The elves explore their place in global politics and argue whether they should stand for themselves or their respective factions. Netherstorm, Outlands, aftermath of that is also explored.

Gnomes and Mechagnomes: Mechagon is the city used, while Gnomeragan continues to be sateliete sister city. Mechagon island is the racial zone that will be expanded too and cleaned up with the subterranean city opened up (it will also have the instance accessible ofc). Mimriron, Ulduar, automation, curse of flesh, engeineering, mechanization, but also gnomish culture, effibility, affliations are all explored.

Goblins & Vulpera: Kezan Island and Undermine: We return to Kezan, clean up and rebuilding, the Vulpera connection to the Goblins uncovered, the Gilbin restoration. Alchemy, goblin culture and population. Could beworth exploring Vulpera becoming a part of Goblin society. Do they become cheap exploitable labour? “hated immigrants people mostly wanna get rid off?” i a use and be used dynamic, could be interesting, especially if no one else in the horde wanted them - but they got on well with goblins despite all the other issues.

Dwarves and Dark Iron Dwarves: Choice between developing Ironforge further or relocating to Blackrock mountain, a choice would have to be made, but I would go with Ironforge, as it gives us a chance to really expand that mountain. Blackrock is huge with all it’s instances and facets, would be extraordinary if we could have like an updated version in the Ironforge mountain range. Wildhammer, Frost dwarves, Ulduar, Iron dwarves, Thaurissian, Moira, Falstaad and Kudran, Magni, Brann etc, Loch Modan WEstfall they all play roles, dwarven intrigue, culture etc as well as how they most effectively contribute to war efforts and what their goals are are explored here. Expect new things like more lore on the stormhammers etc.

Darkspear and Zandalari Trolls:: Choice of Dazar’alor, Nazmir, Voldun, Echo Isles or Stranglethorn Veil with Zul’gurub restored. the Darkspears are Gurubashi trolls afterall, and while BFA had a lot on the Zandalari. It’s a tough one to pick. Any of those areas could provide an interesting spot and interesting things to do and build from for the trolls. Personally, I wanted to go with Stranglethorn Vale, but Dazar’alor is so well built, it has a lot more to offer, especially since the Zandalari bring all trolls home, it’s more fitting to be the epicentre of a troll campaign. So Zuldazar for sure. So much to explore with the trolls. First the campaign to restore the Drakkari, the connection with the undead, exploring more of the tensions and in-fighting between the troll groups, this makes the orcs’ war clan feuds look petty, trolls can be viscious and we see how cunning too when the darkspears and znadlari work together to maintain some sort of sembalance. Zuldazar is the loa sacred home, so all troll tribes come here, since the Zandalari re-opened the island. Now we can explore the reign of Queen Talanji, new Darkspear leader Rokhan, Vol’jin from the shadow lands and many more.

Worgen: Gilneas and Gilneas city - like the Thalassian elves, it ahs to be this. so much left to complete after the recent wars and campaigns. humanity of the Gilneans, hatred of the undead, Hillsbrad, Silverpine. Containing the rage and fury, Genn, his heirs, the Crowleys, Goldrinn, night elf worgen from the emerald dream recently returned, etc are all themes explorable.

End Result

  • You get something that is meaningful both lore wise and gameplay wise not explicitly tied to character progression so you build this over your wow life - it doesn’t reset every expansion like gear and power levels.

  • You finally get regular story progression for your favourite race, and more in-depth look - no more waiting 3 eexpansions or never to see anything happen.

  • Capital Cities finally have a major use and are relevant even beyond having dungeons and raids.

  • Engages and deepens the fantasy of the world of Warcraft - making it feel more like an alive world becuae your character’s race is now a core part of your journey and not relegated to the first time you started playing wow for the first 10 or 20 levels

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I’ll read all this later when I’m free for the day.

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Sure take your time. Just bear in mind, this is not a replacement system, but a long term additional one that goes alongside whatever is coming each expansion.

It really is a culmination of a running desire of players to get more lore coverage for their race, development of their race and use of capital cities - but in a way they can truly be rewarded both visually and gameplay wise that will last through expansion power rboots or patch soft resets.

Thea bility to tie in this to whatever expansions power system allows it to always be meanningul regardless of what the new system will be, while allowing the fruits of its progress to be unchanged , not needing to reset.

Eventually, over time your city will become amazing, as well as it’s capital zone, - it will always be a source of adventuring with whatever race campaign quests are going on at the time, so it’s really worth having this improved, as you’ll spend a fair amount of time here, epscially during the duller periods of expansions (the long wait between final patch and new expansion, or the few weeks before new patch hits).

Unlike garrisons the space is shared with other players like Order halls are, although how much development they see on their client as well as the activities available will be based on their progress.

The beauty of this is that it can be scaled to whatever your level is, so only overall time investment rewards, the exception would be campaign quests that require the new expansion zone which you won’t have access to until you are the appropriate level.

It can be made to work with alts too, for example if you want your player hub to be Silvermoon city or Dazar’alor - while you would need a high level Blood elf (or Troll), you can tie your alt progress otwards that main’s city instead and work as an affiliate to your main. either that or your alt can proceed to its races objectives and development.

The system is incremental, so if you actually do it with each patch, there is no reason why you won’t be able to develop several cities and not just one. However if you join the game later on, there might be a lot to catch up on, so you might want to focus on just one to start with.

Unlike character power level, this is one thing that doesn’t need to be reset or dumb down or reduced, because this is aimed at rewarding and encouraging you to play over long period of times. Something that is easy if you’re playing anyway, but equally can be attractive enough to encourage someone who is a bit lukewarm on the current expansion’s system to continue playing even when noghting else is that much fun anymore.

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It all sounds nice and whatnot, but let us be real - At the current time Blizzard may use two excuses 1. Tech is not there yet for such amazing deep project with soul and variety bringing spice in life.
2. That is too much of what consumers actually want.

Sadly, i fear that your post may have been in vain and shall be driven to the abbys of awesome forum topics with suggestions that would compliment game to the fullest and expand on what it is currently.

These are all so dope ideas man

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Sounds like what garrisons should’ve been. Good ideas though.

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Thanks man. if you like it , hit like, you never know what they might do.

I agree it is unlikely, since they seemed to have stopped showing this sort of deep project commitment.

However if they just think on it for a moment, it’s exactly the sort of thing wow needs, you need both long term and short term (patch/expansion) objectives to do. Sadly, wow is only short term, with a soft reset every new patch, and one every expansion, you can literally log on, play for a month, wait til lnext patch or next expansion, repeat rinse.

They have no way of stabilising subs to endure the long haul, because players have little incentive to play over long periods - and they’ve got the gear vs interest metrics all down to a tee - but fillers like this can be a great source of revenue.

If people really like this, and they do it well integerating it well butwith it’s long term feel, I would say it is worth doing.

Something that is centred around the character,but based on his identity of his race that has so much character in wow, not tomention the capitals which eberyone yearns to see/have more, or at least a use for, a way to improve, reason to spend sometime there etc.

it’s a huge wish fulfilment, definitely worth it. But would they see it that way?

If enough people like it then who knows.

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I mentioned this not so long ago… would be nice to see cities rebuilt with the players coming together to work on it via professions and things.

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Ooh I remember I think. There was a bit about the gathering quest thing. Like for wood and other materials ?

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It was this thread:

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IMO they won’t do it, too many resources involved when they can just make you play the same 20 dailies for 2 years.

Would it be great? Yes, of course, but this is a publicly traded company, it cares for money and not innovation.

Maybe some smaller developer will read this and implement it into a new game. There’s hoping.

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I like the different ideas, however I really dislike housing.

Please don’t bring housing to Wow! It seems fun but it will divide people even more.

Remember garrisons? Well please don’t make the same mistakes.

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There is such a desire also to build up stuff, and restore stuff, but also see racial story progression that is not just centred on a few big characters.

This really allows htem to do all these things, but in a way that is both feasible to implement but also rewarding and engaging - most of all, long term rewards.

It’s also a bit of an uplift on the game, so many areas are devasted due tot massive events, but palyers get an attachment to their race, thanks to the opening lore, and zones they are interoduced - to then see their peoples constantly ravaged (Nelves will understand this most, but every race has this), and never really see anything improve except Orgrimmar and Stormwin, which face it, compared to the likes of Silvermoon, Atal’dazar, Suramar or Dalaran are far from the favourites of th elarger majority.

Some people love Mechagon, some Kezan, some Suramar, some Silvermoon, some Gilneas, others Stormwin, some Ironforge, or THunderbluff, Icecrown Citadel, Skywall .

And would love these to be incredible and useful - have quests to do their, can hearth and return from there etc… imagine now if orgrrimmar would mostly be orcs and orc players, Silvermoon thalassians, etc etc… well all be going ot our capitals but thanks to system tools like LFG, trade chat, zones like chamber of hearts etc, we don’t all need to be gathered in one capital, and we can enjoy the palces we like the most.

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Yeah sadly I agree.

This idea will cost them more money… why bother when they can make $ with a new mobile game launch.

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Sadly for pc gamers, the mobile market is way bigger and a lot more profitable.

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Flashbacks

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I’m not a fan of housing either, or rather I’ve never particularly cared for it, but I know it is highly desirable to a lot of people, who love customisation and detail, and if a way can be found to do it in this sort of system, in way that doesn’t divide people, then sure.

Cities would be shared spaces like class order halls (although how developed yours is would be based on your progress), your house or HQ building now that could be a phased zone like garrisons was, where you could have your own private garden, mine, estate… The question is tho, would it be necessary when you are building a capital ?

Actually no, because building a capital actually achieves all those things, having a house would just be a crowning achievement, but the city actually does everything and more, much more… in this scenario, your could racially hearth to your house instead of an inn in the city. Where as guild HQs provide more interesting things like guild vendors

Talking about a guild HQ, I wonder how would be an awesome way to implement it. If a guild can purchase a house, should it be in the sanctuary area and visible to everyone on the server rather than only the members or in a phased zone?

I think the former, afterall, a capital can have many buildings, and buildings that can be purchased as guild HQs would have the ability to be expanded… who knows, it’s worth some sort, based on what players want.

I know some guilds would love to be able to show their prowress

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The mistake would be that houses or HQs buildings would be phased and not allowing everyone to see or visit them.

That is the thing that would divide everyone like the garrisons.

What about housing (the way you want) but not phased and seen/being able to be visited by everyone but only the owner can customize it?

That would be great! So, no division and everyone is happy.

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Well funny you should say that, this is one feature that a mobile application can be built to facilitate, one far more comprehensive than the mission table one… Race adventures continue on your mobile app, you can make planning and development decisions via it, use it to paly campaigns in short mini games - and implement changes tha twill show up in game when you next log on.

Some people can spend time on the mobile app adding detail and mission and games like puzzles or races etc… there is much they can do.

More sad would be the failure of a game company to see benefits of investing in the pc game that is already making millions, especially when developments like this can have huge pay outs in the long term and also open up mobile applications that can lead users to the subscription game.

I mean a great way to keep people subscribed continuously and draw new players in? Would be definitely worth it, not to mention it continues to keep the game going.

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In full agreement with this, and I think a capital that you build has room for a visible player housing, face it, there are tons more buildings than will ever get used.

What they could do is visible guild HQs, and phased player housing.

Hear me out, Guild HQs can have members with rooms and apartments and even allow them to build a house on the premises, available to all, but they need lots of gold for that.

Individual housing however is a structure in the same location for everyone, like garrisons were, and the extent, size/development of yours is based on how much you develop it. A city would have both guild (seen by everyone) and player (phased) housing.

Phased Housing:
Now this can be done in several ways, you could have shards of the city quadrant dedicated to it, that hosts the maximum amount of buldings.

e.g. Take Silvermoon, the quarter that you open up for Player housing, has a total of 50 buildings, now that quarter is phased, so that up to 50 players can share it, once the 51st person chooses his house there, it’s on a new shard. teaming up with another player will have you both placed on the same shard… and as raids can take up to 50 players, you can all be on the same shard… The shard will show your buildings to the extent you have developed them.

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Sounds nice on the paper but considering how they screwed up the garrison i doubt something like this has any possibility to happen.