Dracthyr characterization's a bit rushed

Lore Story Forum
#1

This isn’t about people’s Dracthyr PCs, I mean the Dracthyr NPCs.

They’re a bit too quick to accept news of Neltharion’s death and corruption. While we’ve seen Norzdomu show time visions of what happened, we’ve only seen him show that to ONE Dracthyr in some expansion trailers… and this event’s never brought up in-game. While Wrathion and Ebyssian help the Dracthyr in the fight, so far the Dracthyr only have their word and Razageth’s that Neltharion’s dead… and they don’t trust either of them. I don’t think they even comment on the pieces of Deathwing’s jaw plate when they see them.

The Horde and Alliance Dracthyr NPCs (Cinderthresh and Azurathel) call Baine and Turalyon capable warriors even though they haven’t seen them fight and only learnt their respective races existed an hour ago.

Cinderthresh doesn’t even get Baine’s name and race right (she thinks he’s an Ogre… though Pain Bloodhand would be a cheesy but fun Horde name) plus she doesn’t even know that his totem’s a weapon, let alone if he’s any good at using it. :confused:

Azurathel calls Turalyon a zealot even though Turalyon doesn’t use the Light, mention anything religious or even say the word “light” around him (Dracthyr probably don’t even know about the Light or that it exists). :roll_eyes:

SHOW, DON’T TELL, BLIZZ.

Maybe two Dracthyr who just got out of a 20,000 year hibernation aren’t the best judges of character when it comes to races of people they met less than an hour ago :laughing:

I hope the rest of them get good character development that we actually see in-game.

9 Likes
#2

I don’t play Horde so I can’t really fact check this, but if it’s true… how would she even know what an ogre is if the Dracthyr were sealed away before the opening of the Dark Portal? Are ogres in the Warcraft universe not native to Draenor?

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#3

This is just meant to be a silly joke. Part of the dracthyrs’ gimmick is that they’re essentially foreign tourists being bombarded with new terms and experiences.

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#4

Like Sarm said, it was a silly joke meant to make people chuckle a bit. Here are these dragon people who think everyone is an ogre. It’s just one of those things that really isn’t meant to be over thought

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#5

The first time Cindrethresh mistakes you for an Ogre, they also mention how they’re only beginning to learn about the various races of the Horde. My guess is they just picked a random Horde race they knew about and went like “so uh, you’re from that race right ?”

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#6

Deathwing did seal them in… they were left in a drawer for 20,000 years, the Dracthyr have huge abandonment issues. How would you react if YOUR creator tossed you aside that way?

Children who discover that their parents abandoned them early on, are quickly disposed to think the worst of them.

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#7

I diiiiid find it a bit silly how Sarkareth finds out Neltharion died and within about 30 seconds just goes “No, I’m evil now, I came up with a cool new evil name while we were walking down the hill!” flies away and Azurethal just immediately accepts it as being kind of a bummer but oh well.

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#8

you are right. Blizzard seems to have these fast paced narratives that don’t let the character or player decompress and really process everything that’s happened. There’s a type of “hurry up, let’s go! the world is ending.” pressure to just get through content, it creates a false sense of excitement. It’s great for casual gamers but sucks for us folks who like story to have depth.

And on the Horde side, whoever thought to have the Drakthyr’s first meeting with the Horde right under Deathwing’s jaw is a sadist. I felt like it was a warning “oh you can make your choices, but it you choose wrong you’ll end up strung up like this guy.” that guy being their beloved former leader and creator.

#9

Dracthyr sees a vulpera walk by. “Hmm, canine, small body, big ears, big eyes, comes from a desert land. It must be one of those Chihuahuas I’ve heard so much about!”

A scene of them smashing a bunch of stuff in a rage and trying not to either scream or weep as they process the truth would have been nice, and understandable, but we’d still have to skip the several months to several years time until they got over their depression. Alternately, we could have the dracthyr characters, players included, constantly muttering “This is fine, this is fine, I can do this” under their breath until at some random moment (possibly in the middle of a raid) they suddenly scream “NO IT’S NOT, AND I CAN’T!” then lay down on the ground and curl up into a ball for several hours.

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#10

My dracthyr will only accept head pats and be told he’s a good boy while having a meltdown.

It’s only fair :blush:

#11

Yeah Sarkareth’s thing is really the only part I took issue with. It was extremely sudden and out of nowhere, they should have spent more time on him. I’m not even entirely clear what his issue even was.

1 Like
#12

It’s kind of amusing to see an in universe equivalent to a new player.

If you’ve ever introduced WoW to someone brand new to the setting it can be hard knowing where to even begin explaining. There’s over two decades of lore featuring whole separate pantheons of deities, more races than Star Wars each with a novel worth of background on what their deal is, dozens of nations, tribes and organizations just on Azeroth alone and then even more on the alien planets, parallel universes and different dimensional planes of existence.

And the only solution I’ve found is just let them explore and answer questions when and if they come up. Just let them incorrectly identify stuff and if something really peaks their interest then you explain it. As otherwise you come off like;

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#13

He’s mad that Neltharion broke his promise to them by…dying, I guess? Nobody has explained Deathwing at this point so he’s really just like “the audacity of this man to be killed, how dare”

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#14

This was so doofy in an otherwise pretty decent starting experience, I gotta say. I wish they had let it happen more organically like having him broodily refuse to join either faction and then have us find out later that he’s chosen another name/path. The way it was done felt like some weird fourth wall announcement to people who aren’t paying attention.

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#15

Yeah, out of the whole starting experience, that was the only thing that made me stop and reread the dialogue again

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#16

You might be onto something with the abandonment issues. Some react by trying to find out WHY they were abandoned. Some might blame themselves and try to “fix” what they think needs fixing. Some get resentful and lash out at the one who abandoned them.

I still want Blizz to do more showing and less telling.

#17

Well the Alliance one isn’t much better. They are not directly under the piece but are overlooking it. Wrathion/Blizzard even alludes to it when Wrathion mentions not to bring any lingering conflicts to their shores.

How so? We need not forget that the Dracthyr are soldiers first and foremost, not Deathwing’s children. Drones almost in their zeal until the gauntlet was damaged/destroyed. Disciplined in some sense even after the gauntlet no longer had power over them.

Not exactly. He was visibly upset that they were betrayed and put into stasis for 20k years. Upon the realization that the Dragon – The ONLY Dragon – they followed unconditionally was gone and no longer in command they had no master and had to answer to nobody. No Neltharion means no need for an Ebon Scale sec of his army.

#18

I feel bad for Wrathion, having to basically see his dad’s remains strung up. No wonder he has nightmares because that might happen to him too if he’s not careful.

#19

Not only that the Dragon they had followed had discarded them even used his ally to bury them beyond sight.

#20

Considering what he’s been personally responsible for, he’s getting off easy.

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