Ardenweald is entirely forest

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

@Faranoth-nordrassil

and “starry sky” because Shadowmoon valley and other zones do not use those assets- none of the night elf zones really have a sky like that tbh but you would know that if you spent any time playing in those zones.

Your whole post is a mess, but this is what really stood out.
Big brain Faranoth here is apparently unaware that Kaldorei means Children of the STARS.

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

Night time skybox has stars

Treng: ABSOLUTLY NOT!

[Skarm-sentinels (Skarm)]

…why is this even a subject that merits discussion again? Did someone reject the possibility that an otherworldly esoteric realm didn’t have to conform to mortal ecological limitations? The NEPAS had something to do with it? Why would they reject that there’s a full afterlife that strongly conforms to nelf aesthetics?

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

It violates their victim card.

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

I can’t speak for other Nelf posters, but for me, I never rejected the idea that Ardenweald is entirely forest. I don’t even reject that idea that it is aesthetically adjacent to Nelf Aesthetics.

Only thing I reject is that Ardenweald is some love letter zone to Nelf players. Or even Nelf-centric in anyway.

I don’t believe Night Elves have a monopoly on forests and stars.

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

It’s not a night elf zone. I just finished Ardenweald last night, and aside from one single quest where you see a memory of Tyrande and Malfurion, it has absolutely nothing to do with night elves. Nothing.

This one post, which claims Ardenweald as nothing to do with night elves, is liked by a whole ton of NEFPA, including Faralon. The very same Faralon who just posted this:

@Faranoth-nordrassil

Great, so Shadowmoon valley is night elf zone too.

I swear, Dread, you can make far better arguments for Ardenweald being a night elf zone, based on 9.1 spoilers, but instead you choose this garbage tier arguments instead

“oh it looks like what night elves use- to an extent”

Need some help?
Winter Queen- sister of Elune now helped by Elune
all night elf souls from teldrassil who were rescued end up there, creating likely a surplus of night elf souls over other races there.
The Wild Gods that night elves worship and a close ally, Ysera, is there

But, no, you choose, “oh the trees look the same/it is a forest” despite me having this argument with you like 2 years back telling that you that the trees there do not look the same with clear examples of which tree species are there vs those in night elf forests. For the record, many of the trees used in Ardenweald are closer morphologically to tropical and ubiquitous trees like acacias.

And as if there are no other races living in temperate forests.

and “starry sky” because Shadowmoon valley and other zones do not use those assets- none of the night elf zones really have a sky like that tbh but you would know that if you spent any time playing in those zones.

And despite all this, it can still be argued that it is more than just a night elf zone, but also a night fae zone, so it is not just a night elf zone- and it isn’t necessary that night elves end up there after dying.

Edit: Continuing on…

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

Ardenweald is not really Night Elf… it is otherworldly fairy forest. Just compare it against Val Sharah for example and thematically the differences are pretty striking. Ironically there is more Troll and Tauren to the first section of Ardenweald end game campaign then there is Night Elf. Uhm… Ursoc was destroyed forever, sacrificed in his entirety to keep Ardenweald operating. That wild god as was JUST told to you was Aliothe, the Droman of Hibernal Hollow. She is from a world the Legion de…

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

I feel like calling Ardenweald a Night Elf zone isn’t really accurate. It doesn’t expand on Night Elf lore at all. On an aesthetic level it’s similar, but culturally it’s completely different, and doesn’t touch up on Night Elf lore all that much until you join the Covenant. I will say, the race that seems like it would mesh best with this zone and it’s inhabitants is hands down, Night Elves.

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

There’s literally nothing about Ardenweald that makes it a Night Elf zone. The denizens don’t even know what Azeroth is. This thread is silly. Trees =/= Night Elves.

THIS Faralon post is hilarious.

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

This thread is dumb and makes me think of anti-vaxxers. “OH but that kid who got a vaccine shot fell ill, all vaccines are poison! Vaccines kill people, not save them”. Yes, you are using the same logic.

And here’s an entire chain of posts with Faralon arguing that Ardenweald is not a night elf zone.

So Ardenweald story is as much troll as night elf?

The reasoning should be pretty obvious- if I take total quests in the zone, and count the number of night elf quests- I get … one? Are all the other quests night elven because you are in the midst of saving Ysera? A dragon NPC who only recently was put into the night elven story in game? Even the quests with Ysera do not really deal with her story except 1 or 2 of them. Where do you draw the line? That’s a really poor line to draw because most of the story is 1) has no night elves and 2) isn’…

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

Because it’s not a night elf zone.

As I said already. Night Elves don’t have a monopoly on forests and stars.

[Baalsamael-turalyon (Baalsamael)]

@Akiyass-moon-guard

As I said already. Night Elves don’t have a monopoly on forests and stars.

What other races uses Dark Magic Deciduous Forest motif while relying on northwestern European mythical creatures with some Greek elements sprinkled on top for razzle dazzle?

By my count it’s just

• Night Elves
• Night Fae

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

Would have been nice if such things were uniquely night elf, but Blizzard saw fit to pass it on to Trolls as well. If that is the case, then there is no reason why Tauren can’t achieve the same thing with Mu’sha.

In fact, of all the races that use Dark/Lunar magic, only Night Elves suffer from the culture erasure as that core feature of their cultural identity is homogenized into the human-centric Church of Holy Light.

[Channyn-moon-guard]

Err…what about the caves? >.>

Also, there are forest trolls. <.<

And probably forest goblins. And forest gnomes. And…

I mean, humans live in forests, too. (And maybe they’ll even get to be druids one day, too, without needing to be worgen or Kul’Tirans!)

To be fair, the color scheme is very much the same as what we’ve seen in the Night Elf starting zones, but the same could be said for a lot of places on Azeroth.

Also, there are cave systems in Ardenweald that may speak more to some of the other races–notably orcs and trolls. So while Ardenweald may be topically all forest, its subterranean landscapes may be vastly different.

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

@Channyn-moon-guard

Err…what about the caves? >.>

Also, there are forest trolls. <.<

And probably forest goblins. And forest gnomes. And…

I mean, humans live in forests, too. (And maybe they’ll even get to be druids one day, too, without needing to be worgen or Kul’Tirans!)

To be fair, the color scheme is very much the same as what we’ve seen in the Night Elf starting zones, but the same could be said for a lot of places on Azeroth.

Also, there are cave systems in Ardenweald that may speak more to some of the other races–notably orcs and trolls. So while Ardenweald may be topically all forest, its subterranean landscapes may be vastly different.

@Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord

Nature loving souls go to Ardenweald and become animals.
Who loves nature more than night elves?
Who loves deciduous forests more than night elves?
Who loves night more than night elves?
Who loves stars more than night elves?

All of these things compound into one realm designed with night elves in mind. I remind you that before Shadowlands, the night elven afterlife was Azeroth as a wisp unless Elune loved you enough to turn you into stars.

It isn’t just forest and night. It’s gods, purpose, link to the Emerald Dream (which only night elves are bound to, because Elune’s pet Ysera loved them above all other races), etc, etc, etc.

Or are we going to pretend the Nightsong never plays in Ardenweald? Or we never see nelf cutscenes in Ardenweald? Or that Ardenweald isn’t hyper focused on Ysera/Tyrande?

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

Elune abandon’s Tyrande in her time of need.

“Nelf cutscene” lol

[Kaileath-wyrmrest-accord]

@Akiyass-moon-guard

Elune abandon’s Tyrande in her time of need.

I will say it is a bit early to state this categorically, as we don’t have the cinematic with Elune’s message yet. That is the last big piece we need to that puzzle.

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

@Akiyass-moon-guard

Elune abandon’s Tyrande in her time of need.

“Nelf cutscene” lol

I wasn’t even referring to that night elf cutscene, but thank you for reminding me about it.

[Akiyass-moon-guard (Akiyass)]

Makes little difference to me, I play FFXIV now. Just letting the last couple weeks of game time run out.

Until Blizzard gets their act together, I am done with their trash.

[Ninh-draka (Ninh)]

@Evelysaa-moon-guard

If it’s undoubtedly proven that there’s no lakes or rivers in Ardenweald so be it.

Really late to this, but that’s not how forests work. Lakes and rivers exist within and around forests, they kind of have to. Ardenweald having lakes wouldn’t make it into something other than a forest.

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

@Ninh-draka

Really late to this, but that’s not how forests work. Lakes and rivers exist within and around forests, they kind of have to. Ardenweald having lakes wouldn’t make it into something other than a forest

Don’t bother. It never occurred to her that I didn’t list salmon or catfish as being screwed like sharks/starfish/whales/etc are.

[Thelordherne-moon-guard]

Which is an odd statement to make, since you’re the only one arguing all zones are NE held… the lore on Ardenweald is that it was originally not a place designated for mortal souls to begin with… I would also like to point out that the realm of Ardenweald represents the DEATH and slumbering realm of the natural cycle, with the Emerald dream being the true afterlife of all Wild gods… Wild gods do not necessarily live there, and originally neither did mortals, which was why the soul shapes were necessary to be created. However apparently even the developers forgot that little factoid and have once again screwed up previously established lore.

The simple reason there are no biomes for varitable Wild gods, homes for mortals, etc… is that Ardenweald was not meant to be a final destination, and originally had to be modified to serve that capacity in a limited fashion as a result.

[Dreadmoore-wyrmrest-accord (Dreadmoore)]

@Thelordherne-moon-guard

the lore on Ardenweald is that it was originally not a place designated for mortal souls to begin with…

Lie. We meet plenty of mortal souls in Ardenweald.
We leave plenty of nelven souls in Ardenweald.

[Kaileath-wyrmrest-accord]

The lore for mortals in Ardenweald is sort of interesting. It seems they never went there by the original design back when Zovaal (possibly) ran the show. It was strictly a realm designed to keep the cycle of life and death running by facilitating nature spirit reincarnation.

It is only when the Arbiter came into the picture, after Zovaal’s Rebellion against the First One’s design, that they began to be sent to Ardenweald. The Winter Queen didnt even know what to do with them at first. Soul Shapes were eventually granted to them so that they could keep serving the cycle of nature in death.