I definitely miss the old school Orgrimmar. The metal spike theme has always felt pretty meh to me. I liked it for the Horde aesthetic in Northrend. IT fit the theme of that. Especially being in a big fortified base like Warsong Hold. But after that in Cataclysm onward it soured my taste on it.
Stormwind had some flavor in Vanilla-WOTLK but again it lost most of that from CATA onward. I’ve said this a number of times as have others, but Stormwind was always at a disadvantage being the “main” human Kingdom in WoW. It had no relevance in WC3 in an onscreen role. Even Gilneas was arguably more relevant because they at the very least had a Brigade that was part of Jaina’s Expedition you fight as the Horde. It may have been a pretty minor thing but they were at least present on screen. Stormwind didn’t have that at all. Literally their only onscreen character was Gavinrad the Dire.
Though Stormwind was interesting in Vanilla, it still was VERY disconnected from the events of WC3. That doesn’t mean it couldnt work. There should have been better representation of the refugees that made it south from the various northern Kingdoms. You could have had them spread out in the different zones, maybe even having their own militia groups to combat local threats. But sadly there was none of that and Cataclysm did no justice to fix it either. So the human story (and tbh the Alliance story in general) has been disconnected from it’s roots in WC3 where Lordaeron was their bastion.
If there was ever some big revamp/reset i think it would be interesting to have a new or different human nation take the lead. Kul Tiras did get some facetime in BFA which was one of the best parts of that expansion. I love the culture they gave the Kul Tirans. Everything from the Colonial Naval power to the Thornspeakers of Drustvar etc. It really made them outshine Stormwind. But aside from Kul Tiras, i’d like to see Stromgarde take the lead when it comes to the mainland humans. It’s been reclaimed and it would be nice to see it take the spotlight.
I know people complain about “Human Bias” all the time, but outside of the House of Wrynn, Stormwind gets left high and dry on most things. Like, Stormwind and Lordaeron basically switched, were Stormwind was the origenal “Lost Kingdom” and Lordaeron the main one, but then Lordaeron fell to the Scourge and later was claimed by the Forsaken, leaving stormwind with what. Their heavy in lore focus on cav isn’t represented anywhere, they are the leaders of the Alliance but they lack any development outside of that role.
In that case we need to continue to kill more and more and more of them until they are near a normal level factions They are way too powerful; they are so powerful that they’re blowing my immersion buzz.
The NEs being able to take on the entire Horde in any capacity is a buzzkill.
If Blizzard really goes through with reviving all the Night Elves that died in the War of the Thorns as the Winter Queen implied while the Horde is still in shambles from the Fourth War it’ll be a pretty sober day for your immersion.
I really don’t understand people who want this type of mega super strong invincible NE faction. Its like they’re setting themselves up to be disappointed.
I don’t get it.
Edit:
We would be right back to square one; “why don’t the Alliance just steamroll the Horde” or in this case the NEs. Right back to torturing ones on state of mind with “zomg BAD WRITiNG…derp”
Why? Why does everything need to be perceived through the lens of faction balance? To preserve your ego? I don’t care about your ego.
The Night Elves are isolationists. All they want is to be left alone. Their power level is inconsequential to the Horde if the Horde would just leave them alone.
Races should just be allowed to exist without some meta faction balance story telling uprooting all the worldbuilding that has already been done.
There will be gnashing of the teeth when they are outwitted and loses because we have been told that they have an iWin button defense. #squareone#BadWRITINGARRR
You’re right and i think a lot more peopel are starting to realize that now if they haven’t already. Humanity as a whole didn’t have any real story development from CATA until recently in BFA. After WOLTK all of Stormwind’s themes were given to the Alliance as a whole. Not just ruining those races but completely stripping Stormwind of its identity. They showed up a lot but never really did anything of note. The Wrynns became pretty much the only focus of Stormwind and that was about it. Half of their zones in CATA did nothing to develop their story and were childish & goofy.
Then on top of it, they pretty much lost every major military engagement they took part in.
Andorhal & Southshore/Hillsbrad were the big ones, even if the latter happened off Camera. And of course Theramore which was the “Lordaeron Survivor” kingdom that was founded by Jaina’s expedition in WC3 was nuked.
Also involving their cav, that too. It’s never mentioned and the only time we ever saw it was in the Swamp of Sorrows but that was it. Again it blows my mind why this wouldn’t be a focus. It’s such a simple thing yet it’s barely ever seen.
Unless they parallel Forsaken development with Maldraxxus, giving the Forsaken a new raison d’etre, proper Necromancy, the Primus acknowledges his “children” that exist because he got himself caught like an idiot
Which I’ve been suggesting/theorizing/hoping for the past year
Maybe the Forsaken shouldn’t have a raison d’etre. Of all playable races it makes the most sense for them to not have one, given their unnatural existence.
Their reasons for continuing to exist shouldn’t be collective, they should be personal and vary depending on the individual.
It’s raison d’être. Don’t forget the chapeau. Ok, joking aside I am nearly certain they are NOT reviving the night elves that died. That just cheapens death too much in Warcraft.
Heck, in most non-gameplay related uses of ressurection magic it is usually treated as a very big deal when it happens and now they are going to do for a whole city?
Why would the realm of death have necromancy, though? Isn’t that the antithesis of the afterlife and the great cycle of death and rebirth?
Necromancy is something that breaks the natural order, you are supposed to die and go to shadowlands. Not linger around…
Yeah necromancy and other kinds of death magic are supposed to be things exclusive to the purview of the realm of the dead. The Primus does not strike me as someone who would approve of the use of forces and abilities he created for the defense of the Shadowlands to conquer and control the world of the living in the Forsaken’s name.
Dunno ask the writers, they decided necromancy comes from Maldraxxus and was invented by the Primus, and thus the Forsaken as a race are tied to that lore
If only a plot was established that something is on Azeroth that is tied to the forces of Death that would allow the Forsaken to be developed as agents of the Eternal Ones in protecting that mysterious something
Even if the Primus needed to do this, and even if he was totally okay with sending the armies of death to take control of the world of the living, he’s already got an army like 50 billion times stronger than the Forsaken.
It probably wouldn’t be the worst bit of writing, but the idea of the forsaken suddenly being anointed protectors of some random something seems like such a left turn that I feel like it’s going to look forced and weird no matter what you do. They’re not like the night elves, who have had their calling of Elune and protecting nature woven into their stories from the beginning. To me, the forsaken were about trauma and abandonment first, and necromancy was just the flavor used to portray that.