Ever since I found out about the impending destruction of Dalaran as the opening salvo of TWW I struggled greatly with whether or not I wanted to make this post. I knew that I would likely be ignored, dismissed and even face ridicule, be told to “touch grass” etc. However, I ultimately decided that it would be worth it because this subject means a great deal to me.
Starting with the next paragraph on there will be spoilers as it is impossible for me to discuss this topic otherwise but I won’t use the spoiler tag because basically everything would have to be hidden due to the context. That said the event in question will happen literally at the very start of the expansion, is currently available to play through on the Alpha and is already being openly discussed all over social media and by various WoW content creators with Blizzard actively wanting feedback on it and not really trying to keep it under wraps.
TWW STORY SPOILERS BELOW
Let me start by saying that Dalaran means everything to me and is the reason I started playing Warcraft games going back to Warcraft III where it was first introduced. I literally teared up when I first saw the cutscene where Archimonde destroyed it. Granted I was a small kid back then so it probably wasn’t the appropriate emotional response but then again for someone that age maybe it was. I started playing WoW on the Dalaran-US Server which I have never left and have always played a mage, this same character in fact (though obviously I started off as human and later race changed to Void Elf when they became available). I remember where I was and what I did when a rebuilt Dalaran was first announced in the lead up to WotLK and then again in Legion. I commissioned an artist to make a painting of Dalaran that I still have hanging in my home. To this day when I know I won’t be playing WoW for a while because I am on vacation, traveling for work, or just taking a break from the game I make the point of logging out for the last time in Dalaran. So when I say it is my home, I mean it. Having it blown up for shock value and used as a cheap plot device to start off the new expansion is therefore absolutely heartbreaking for me.
So many of us play these games as a pure means of escapism from the horrors that are happening in the real world, like people losing their actual homes to wars and natural disasters, and having to contend with that in-game as well is incredibly devastating. WoW is also unique in this regard because it has been around for so long and players have gotten much more attached to the characters and places in the game, especially those of us who have played from the very beginning nearly two decades ago. It seems that none of the lessons of Teldrassil were learned and the narrative team is once again taking us down the same dark path and this time hitting even closer to home. So to them I would like to say: please reconsider, don’t destroy my home away from home… for the second time!
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Azeroth isn’t your warm comfort blanket. It needs heros to protect it. It needs you to go seek justice for your home champion! So that those responsible will not do the same to others.
It’s up to you.
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Blizzard isn’t going to completely alter the direction of an expansion just because some pixels make you sad lol.
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If it means so much to you, stand with the allied forces, and fight for its memory! wow, needs things to ebb and flow, sometimes people die, sometimes cities burn, you gotta get past that.
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That’s just it though. It appears this will be just a throwaway scenario to start off the expansion with something shocking. It doesn’t seem to play any other role beyond that. So in that sense it’s even worse than Teldrassil.
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Changing a major story beat like that would completely alter the entire direction of the expansion lol.
Is an event at the start of a xpack that kicks it off really a “throw away”? Its literally the back bone.
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I think we might we might be too late with that plea. Looks like Blizzard is already planting the TNT and setting the detonator.
You’ll still have your choice of two different versions of Dalaran to visit, and Ronin is still alive there too.
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It touched you in a deeply emotional way, as you just admitted.
So steel up and get ready to slay those spider bastards.
People trashing OP for no reason. Gotta love GD.
Destruction of places and deaths of beloved characters doesn’t make a story better. It’s shock value crap writing that just serves to tick people off and loses more roleplayers.
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I don’t think anyone argued on whether it was good in terms of writing, only the fact what is done is done and Blizzard isn’t going to alter such a major component because someone might be sad over it lol.
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Ugh sorry man. WoW writers are still in their destructive phase. I hope the mages can rebuild things.
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Roleplayers play their role in the world as it is provided to them by the DM.
OP has a choice for their character. They can give up or they can rise to the occasion and help build a better world.
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You know, that was my first instinct as well. I resolved to hunt down every single one of those nerubians responsible for this and bring them to justice. But then I thought about it some more and I was like: wth should I play along with this when Blizzard decided to pull this stunt just for shock value and to create artificial hype for an expansion that not many people are excited about? I still haven’t preordered it and frankly this whole thing is making me not want to.
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I’m honestly jealous of your dedication to your Dalaran RP.
But I think the destruction of Dalaran is a great way to immediately grip and invest WoW players in the story.
This is a hyper-jaded take. I respect how you feel, but im just going to say if you feel this jaded about something that isn’t even out yet then I’m not sure why your sticking around.
You play along with it because that’s what we do, it’s a game, it’s the story with people at the helm who actually have better track records than denoozer and the other bad man.
Blizz has had some bad people at the helm for a while, but they are course correcting, so lets not just assume it’s always going to be bad just because.
Not really. They could have achieved that just by killing off Khadgar which they also appear to have done much to my dismay.
This is absolutely true but it’s still a terrible thing to do when it’s done for all the wrong reasons. They chose to target Dalaran precisely because they knew it would have the greatest emotional impact. Reasonable people can differ on whether that’s good or bad writing but it is unquestionably a low blow. What is Harry Potter if Hogwarts gets destroyed? What is Lord of the Rings without Minas Tirith? Also why target Dalaran yet again? That’s just lazy writing. Just because Dalaran can fly and shoot laser beams doesn’t mean it’s a Death Star. No need to blow it up twice!
Seeing the fate of dalaran is a huge blow.
I don’t want it to go away but I get the intention blizzard has with it and I agree with them. Xal’atath is making this personal.
All I can say is blizzard needs to fix their story if they do off a certain fan favorite character because if they think my warrior can’t rage open a void portal after xal’atath decides “lol, no I aint fighting you here” they clearly underestimate the power of rage.