Does anyone else feel that Battle for Azeroth, Shadowlands, and Dragonflight were essentially filler in terms of lore and story? The events during these expansions seemed detached and lacked depth. It feels like the story is now resuming from where Legion left off, which, in my opinion, was the last time the narrative felt truly canonical.
I want to clarify that I’m not a hardcore WoW lore enthusiast—more of a casual player. Despite that, I found myself more engaged with the game’s story before Battle for Azeroth and beyond.
This is just my personal opinion, and I understand others may completely disagree. I’m curious to know if anyone else shares this sentiment, and if not, why?
BFA? Not really. It feels like the expansion was more about setting up OTHER plotlines with Sylvanas, Azshara and Xal’atah being stories that started/progressed in BFA but concluded in future expacs. (I can see the future, Azshara is gunna do something.)
Shadowlands? No.
Shadowlands answered some of the biggest questions in WoW and concluded a bunch of plots that had essentially been cooking for over a decade.
Whether it did a good job of those is up for debate, but it was EXTREMELY notable within lore/story for better and for worse (mostly worse).
Dragonflight? Yeah mostly. It feels like BFA-lite in that it’s major beats were about setting up future expansions, but it did conclude quite a few arcs from previous expansions.
For me, it’s like watching The Lord of the Rings. Imagine if, halfway through their quest to destroy the ring, the characters embarked on a side quest that was only marginally relevant to the main plot. After completing this side quest, they would then resume their primary mission exactly where they left off. This is how it feels to transition from the end of Legion to the start of the next expansion.
Battle for Azeroth, Shadowlands, and Dragonflight felt like that side quest.
at first, it did’nt feel like filler, and the world still felt relevant to what was going on (for the most part). but when it comes down to the actual content, it definitely did suffer from the feeling of ‘do this while we make-up more stuff!’.
WoW’s story isn’t linear likeLotR. It doesn’t have a solid beginning, nor end.
Realistically it’s more akin to Game of Thrones where you’ve got a bunch of people doing their own thing that may or may not actually impact/progress the overarching plot and you can’t really tell until 5 books down the line when the guy you killed (or didn’t kill) suddenly becomes relevant to the story.
I think that’s a fair point, and I see where you’re coming from. I agree that Game of Thrones might be a better comparison.
If we summarize the events of these expansions, there is an overall linear plot. Take Wrath of the Lich King as an example: despite the sub-stories, the main plot was clear—a villain controlling the undead and attempting to conquer the world. The heroes of Azeroth (us) joined forces with the forces of good to stop him.
The same could be said for Legion and the other exapsnions as well.
The story progresses, but that’s not the same as it being linear. In LotR the story starts with Frodo being tasked to destroy the Ring and ends with the Ring being destroyed.
In WoW, our goals are constantly shifting and are rarely set further than “kill/stop the current guy trying to destroy the world”.
BFA is an especially good example of this where the story beat goes from:
Horde/Alliance fight over a new resource>Azshara appears and the Naga become a major threat that must be stopped>N’zoth tries to bring back the Black Empire and we have to stop that".
Even in expansions with a consistent goal, there is rarely anything beyond that goal. In Wrath of the Lich King, what was the plan for AFTER we killed the Lich King? Well nobody knows because immediately after we had to stop Deathwing. What was the plan after that? Well nobody knows because Pandaria got discovered and we fought after that? What would happen after Garrosh was jailed? Nobody knows because he escaped and busted open a portal to another timeline.
And so on.
There is no consistent goal in WoW to progress through, just an endless procession of villains to justify the gameplay loops.
I would agree with most of this and say it is well-written. What I’m really trying to express is that the story plots felt less hollow before Battle for Azeroth and beyond. In my view, they felt more like canon and less like filler. Typically, in shows, filler content is used to keep fans engaged while the main story is being prepared—the real meat and potatoes.
The last impactful story moment, in my opinion, was the giant sword being struck into the planet at the end of Legion. This was the last expansion where I felt truly engaged with the game’s lore.
The next expansion seems to be picking up where that left off, coinciding with Metzen’s return and his presumably increased role in the game’s storytelling. I might be biased, but until we actually play the next expansion and see the story unfold, we won’t know for sure.
BfA…
would have been amazing if they’d given all players (both factions), a choice of following Sylvanas or killing her, and allowed that to be the overarching storyline, instead of a short, Horde-only questline.
Horde players who weren’t weak, cowardly sycophants could have fought for the honor of the Horde by ending her and her insane personal vigilante that had nothing to do with leading the Horde and everything to do with her ego, by recruiting those in the Alliance willing to help.
Shadowlands…
…should never have happened.
Dragonflight is exponentially the best expansion to date.
It really does feel like Metzen came back, looked at what Afrasiabi and Danuser had done to the lore (or in the case of a certain infamous sword, what they hadn’t done), cleaned house, and promptly decided to pick up where he left off, in Silithus.
For me, WoW has always had a unique flavor. There was a sense of consistency, regardless of how good or bad other expansions might have been on a grand scale. At the end of the day, they all had that distinct WoW flair.
In a strange way, Battle for Azeroth and beyond didn’t feel that way to me. While it might have been WoW, it didn’t feel like WoW. Legion was the last expansion where I felt the game had its soul. With Metzen returning (whether it’s because of him or not) and given what we’ve seen already, I feel like that soul is coming back.
Not BFA. The azerite stuff was a direct consequence of the sword strike.
SL and DF on the other hand… yeah. They completely ignored that storyline. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s being picked up again now that Metzen is back.
It’s not a perfect analogy, but imagine going to a restaurant for 20 years and having the chef you’ve known all that time, who added a magic touch to the food, suddenly quit. New chefs take over and try to replicate the original dishes while adding their own twists. The experience would change, and those who loved the original food would notice.
In a way, that’s what happened with the storytellers leaving and passing the reins. It definitely made a difference to the product.
Now that our chef Metzen is back in the kitchen, whether by coincidence or not, I can already smell the pancakes cooking, and they smell just like the ones I used to love.
DF is an obvious bridge expansion though. Fighting nobodies with nobody allies (other than the handful of aspects) in a nobody location. Only exists as a palate cleanser for SL and a lead-in for the world soul saga.
Battle for Azeroth and beyond felt like the movie Home Alone.
At the end of Legion, it was as if the parents left Kevin home alone (Metzen left Blizzard).
The War Within feels like the moment when the parents finally return to save Kevin (Metzen comes back to Blizzard).
Leaving a little kid like Kevin to manage the house alone was dangerous and problematic, as we saw in the movie. Similarly, I see a pattern when looking back at Battle for Azeroth, Shadowlands, and Dragonflight.
BFA was the best of the three. It brought warmode and was Warcraft. I think it’s just the neck people remember. That and the not sets gear. BFA has plenty of story and cinematics. Shadowlands sure but nah BFA shouldn’t be part of what the last two are… That said DF felt of all three the filler episode.