Recently, version 9.0 of World of Warcraft officially started Alpha testing, and some players invited by Blizzard also broke the latest news about the massive new version in the forum.
What is the mystery of the dark country opened by Sylvanas Windrunner? Let's take a look at how much new content has been updated in 9.0 with Dr. X.
Focus 1: All-professional features return to the 1960s, and blizzard brings you nostalgia!
For some old players, professional expertise and skills such as double-handed ice DK, group ridicule and battle protection, and mage's barrier protection are precious memories of their World of Warcraft experiences, which record the most brilliant highlights of these professions.
In version 9.0, Blizzard will once again "recycle" the most distinctive specialization and skills of major occupations from the dust of history.
In the previous version 7.0, due to the addition of artifact system, a large number of professional specialties were replaced by artifact features, which led to more and more serious professional discrimination in World of Warcraft.
Although in version 8.0, the designer removed the artifact system and re-divided the skills of professional specialization, it still failed to make the players achieve satisfactory results. Anyway, some professions became "homogeneous" day by day.
Although homogenization is an inevitable problem in the career development of some MMORPGW online games, it is obvious that this blizzard does not want some careers to stay in the memory of players.
The return of some iconic skills may not necessarily improve the characteristics of major occupations in an instant, but it will undoubtedly give old players the motivation to return and specialize in skills.
According to the player's choice of Covenant and the progress bar of soul pact energy, the soul pact system will display different branches, which can add different effects to specific skills after activation.
Although this "soul contract" system is similar to the "Heart of Azeroth" of 8.0 according to the artifact of 7.0, and both of them belong to projects that need liver, Dr. X thinks it has higher freedom.
Because in version 9.0, the Covenant will not only affect the player's "soul contract", but also affect the unlocking of specific skills and a series of side tasks. Plus "Soul Contract" will have a branch choice, so it can make the professional characteristics more distinct and change the monotonous and boring pattern of the players in the first two versions.
Focus 2: The plot of 9.0 finally "fried new rice", and a large number of old BOSS returned.
In fact, the two versions of World of Warcraft 7.0 and 8.0 make Dr. X most unbearable, which lies in the designer's "cutting corners" in the plot. In addition, some popular characters, in an incomprehensible way, suddenly turned white and black, and simply became "tool people" serving the plot.
In version 9.0, the Blizzard screenwriter who once arranged the grass snake gray line in the plot seems to be back!
According to the player's in-depth excavation of the game text and character model, the villain Muezara, who lurks in multiple versions, reveals his true face.
This group BOSS, which is likely to appear in version 9.0, misled Woking's choice before his death and made Ghirba Naxi successfully elected as the chief of the tribe.
And in version 8.0, he secretly helped Sylvanas Windrunner to expand his victory, guided the dead soul from Bunsandy to the shadow world, and accumulated strength for the warden.
The information about him is worth mentioning. Players can find his shrine in Tal falak, Zudasa, and confirm his identity as the God of Loa.
More detailed information can also be seen on the slate where Zur falak martyr Seka is located. Muezara is the god of death, the father of sleeping, the son of time, and the friend of the night that the troll originally believed in.
This shows that at the beginning of 9.0, players will once again join the "Troll Civil War" (the generation version plays trolls) to help Bunsandy, the current troll death, fight Muezara, and the plot design will not continue the "fried cold rice" of the last two versions.
In addition, a large number of old BOSS, such as Kael'thas, Kel 'Thuzad, Haka and Ezra, will return again in Shadow Country.
According to the results of text mining and player testing, Kael'thas and Kel 'Thuzad have confirmed that they will re-enter the book in an "unexpected" way.
Of course, what is even more worrying is the subplot about blackening Wuser and what role this Alsace mentor will play in the 9.0 version, which attracts Dr. X's desire to explore.
Focus 3: the new ray tracing technology is upgraded, and the new picture is extremely silky.
Blizzard designers have greatly updated the two "softwares" of "professional balance and plot expansion", and the client of World of Warcraft version 9.0 will have a hardware upgrade!
By decoding the Alpha client of World of Warcraft 9.0, players find that the code shows that their game engine will support DXR, VRS and ray tracing shadow technology.
Although in the current Alpha version, there is no setting to open these graphics functions inside the game, there is no doubt that Blizzard's technicians are upgrading this 15-year-old game.
In the future, we may be able to enjoy a continent of Azeroth with more harmonious picture rendering, less memory occupation and less torn pictures.
From the player's actual screenshots of the Alpha version, we can also clearly feel that with the upgrading of hardware technology, the new map of World of Warcraft has obviously become magnificent, and the details of the picture are more colorful. It is no longer an old game with outdated picture quality that is spit out by new players.
Summary after class:
From the updated information of World of Warcraft 9.0, Dr. X can clearly feel the designer's nostalgia for the past professional characteristics and plot design, as well as his bold "innovation" of new technologies, new maps and new artists.
But whether Blizzard can really control the balance between "new" and "old" and make a work that satisfies both old and new players, Dr. X will not be able to make an evaluation until the 9.0 version is officially launched. At present, the only certainty is that the 9.0 version of Warcraft is really worth looking forward to.