Yeah I liked that part in Legion when half the Legion pulled up to Antorus and helped stop Sargeras. Kil’Jaden yelling “For The Vague Cosmos” when he died dueling Aggramar was weird but these things happen.
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Argents were always the lazy solution to Lordaeron question and pretty much caused only loss for the Alliance, especially when you look at Cataclysm, we lost Southshore and worgen version of Silverpine Forest just so we could look at orcs in knight armor in Hearthglen. If Plaguelands were horde-only zones I believe Cataclysm Eastern Kingdoms would be a much more enjoyable questing experience for Alliance players.
You said that nothing the Horde has done is even in orbit of the terror of the Legion et al, but they were inadvertently assisting the Jailer for at least one expansion. That is something that the Horde has done that is within that orbit, even if they were being used as proxies.
It isn’t the first time. The Horde was originally founded as a Burning Legion proxy.
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Since you were an Undead praising the Argents, I’ll take the opposite approach, as a primarily Paladin player I actually quite like the Knights of the Ebon Blade. I think they boasted one of the best class hall storylines out of the Legion ones with the most interesting themes behind them such as if the ends truly justify the means, so much so I even think they played that up much better than what I thought the Demon Hunters would do. Perhaps the only thing I didn’t like out of it was how Stupid Good it made Argents look since they allow the Ashbringer to be corrupted again, but that’s on them and Blizzard for being written in stupid good fashion.
Furthermore, I love Halloween and Nightmare Before Christmas themes myself, so I do really enjoy how they give that thematic in a more neutral vehicle for anyone to enjoy and their class hall even lights up with Hallow’s End decorations uniquely from the other halls. (Though last I remember, the Mage hall goes all out on Winter Veil and the Druid hall gets festive during Lunar Festival, all very fitting.)
I also like how the actions of this neutral group offers Death Knight players some actually very unique dialogue every now and then, such as that red dragon in Drustvar remembering what you did and giving you RP freedom to revel it in her face or portray yourself as conflict about it, such a unique experience should carry over to Warlocks and other wicked-themed classes but for whatever reason they simply don’t.
If I had to pick other neutral groups, I’m deeply fond of the Venthyr for similar reasons as the Ebon Blade. Vampires with a classic Bram Stoker Nosferatu creepy flair that you’re actually allowed to work and interact with for a greater cause is something I never would have expected after they nerfed Worgen and Forsaken so hard in the story, but here they are and I love them to death as much as I do the Kyrian.
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Honestly the Ebon Blade storyline is second only to the Uncrowned for me. Though it may be less fun on Alliance for the finale. Still the mount unlock quest has you skulking through hostile territory and makes the final job a suicide mission that’ll always be super dangerous.
Seriously I only did it deep into BFA and it was still nerve wracking as I had to ice an auctioneer in the seconds before I was blasted into oblivion by all the players in Stormwind.
It’s actually a better assassin game than Assassin’s Creed has been in years.
But the Knights rate a close second as their questline is very much moving the story forward. Characters are reborn in undeath because of them. Big ones, important to the lore.
Granted I’ve only played through the Priest, Warrior, Death Knight, Warlock and Rogue storylines so I could be missing context.
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Possibly, I would consider it a less fun thing for Paladin players in general depending on investment since it shows a class made to counter things like the undead get punked by them, sort of giving this unfortunate implication that the Argents/Silver Hand are quite weakened without Tirion. Although that can present interesting story directions if it were picked up again later.
For me though, even as a diehard Alliance and Paladin player, sometimes I just have an edgelord itch that needs to be scratched and the Ebon Blade are perfect for that.
I know of the Uncrowned story and I like some parts of that too, they’re an interesting “Thieves Guild meets Dark Brotherhood” type of group, although I did not quite like how Amber Kearnen died to meme characters, that was the only sour point to me. She was actually an underrated badass female character and I could accept her death but not in such a silly way as by the hands of character literally named after the Men in Black.
Some would say the low point was saving Stormwind which was confusing for Horde players and I totally understood that complaint but for me the way Kearnen died was my only true sour grape.
Most of them were pretty forgettable, I’d probably put Paladin, Demon Hunter, Death Knight, Warrior, and Rogue in the upper tier since they play into important events whereas other ones feel too much like doing random stuff or not taking itself as seriously.)
Warlocks had really good artifact questlines though, the Destruction one being my favorite.
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I have a couple that I’ve always really liked. The Grimtotem Tribe always added some fun political conflict for the Tauren, in my opinion. I think they could be handled better at times, but otherwise, Tauren don’t really have many problems between each other. Despite being a large alliance between several tribes, none of them really have problems with each other. The Grimtotem were fun for me that way.
I also love the Shado-Pan. Mostly because I think they’re cool, but I like how it’s not just a “monk only” organization. Almost every class is represented in some way, even in leadership. They aren’t the most exciting faction, I suppose, but I love to see them have continued relevance in every expansion since MoP. Blizzard very easily “forgets” their old characters or factions between expansions, so it’s nice to see one that isn’t 100% forgotten.
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I actually thought the Priest Class Hall was really solid. Granted that was the first one I completed in 2017, which feels much longer ago than it should seeing as both Azeroth and Earth had some real draining events recently.
I thought it had a really good smattering of Priest race content. Though admitably Gnomes and Goblins were left out in the cold. The Gnomes only had a gibbering void Priest played for comedy and the Goblins had nothing - which is a shame as they seem ready made for a false Prophet televangelist type.
Warlock I was most disappointed in. Though some of their artifact bits were pretty fun, most notably the ones outside the throne of Sargeras and Scholomance.
Honestly I think people slept on Hunter. I haven’t finished it but they had a real cool storyline about them basically being the hobo heroes of the setting. Rescuing the idiots who stumble off the beaten paths of Azeroth’s wilds. And again a great smattering of different PCs Hunters and Hunting method. And the one Belf Hunter who sells black roses trying to be as dramatic as the Dark Rangers will never not be hilarious to me.
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I haven’t played the Paladin Class Hall yet. But you get to turn up in it during in the Priest one going “Alright you’re like one of three classes who’s messes we don’t have to clean up after - would you tank our final encounter?”.
So maybe that concides with thd DK finale. But I think it was a missed opportunity to not see a fight between a major a Paladin and DK fight like this.
Idk personally I write this DK as being a Gen 2 who was a Paladin that fell to the darkside. And getting to find a Blue player who RPed a Paladin as one who’s master was killed by a former pupil turned DK was great. Because we retconned our stories to her being above him in training and becoming her own knight before him, and then she kills their former master as he returns to him after abandoning Arthad at Stratholme.
Suffice to say I think the DKs make a great foil for Paladins when they can argue their methods are just the best for defending Azeroth, and the Paladins are imbecilic inherents to an ancient, failed religion. Likewise the Paladins get to decry them as lunatics obsessed only with power.
Blizz loves referencing 70s to 80s pop culture and we’ve never had a proper Sith and Jedi fight between them. Sad.
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Yeah I thought about making my Death Knight to be my Paladin’s father who fell at one point, to sort of have those Darth Vader elements, but he’s in more of an anti-hero vein than the big bad’s right hand man since I like to do adventures as a Death Knight, though haven’t quite decided to go with that or go more like Cecil from Final Fantasy 4 where his brother was the Darth Vader analogue rather than his father since I take a some inspiration from Cecil with my Paladin.
There’s so many cool gothic-themed characters that just work as a great inspiration for Death Knight RP as well, I always see them as being like Spawn or Eric Draven, but I imagine Blizzard made them to basically be Darth Vader or the dark fantasy equivalent if he operated more in a protagonist role without doing away with his dark side.
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i actually enjoyed the Warlock one. No surprise, I suppose, with me being a warlock. I loved turning an entire Legion army to my side, making a pair of old raid bosses into allies, and the companions you gather together.
As for the artifacts, looking back I did all but 1 or 2 quest lines out of all the classes. I’m such an altoholic. Pretty much all of them were go here and there, find the artifact, and let’s get out of here.
But the Scepter of Sargeras one, that line made you actually feel as if you were making a difference in the fight against the Legion. You start by hunting down the remaining members of the Shadow Council and finding two key artifacts as it culminates in facing down Gul’dan himself. And, right under his nose, you steal the staff as he is trying to open multiple portals to Legion-held worlds. You fail and Azeroth is doomed. That was the feeling I got from it.
I have to agree about the Uncrowned and, yeah, that quest that sends you into Stormwind to kill the auctioneer was nerve wracking. I think I spent quite a bit of time planning my route in. I almost made it out but got caught.
Kudos also to the DK questline and I have a weird fondness for the Monk questline. There is something about developing a special beer just so you can kick some big demon’s butt. Honestly, I enjoyed all of them to some extent, though the Priest was a bit if a letdown. I can understand paladins and priests working together, but it felt as if the priests were all ‘come save us, please’ with the paladins.
As for the topic itself, I’ve completely fallen in love with the Venthyr. The people, the zone, the music, the whole theme of the place. It just sings to me.
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Personally I only have a handful of my characters interconnected. Deepest it goes is on this toon who is the dad of my half orc Rogue. Helped her mother escape Durnholde and got stuck hiding in a yeti cave overnight, things happened.
Personally I much more cherish my interconnected RP with other Alliance. I get the aforementioned beef between my DK and a Paladin. But also I get my RP with Alliance from my character’s Argent and Conclave past.
The Conclave has been the most fun. Because I’ve gotten to meaningfully have Benedikt clutch his mace and purposefully miss the Priestess of Elune who’s aim is also crap toward him. “Damn their power in so and so” they mutter before meeting in secret to discuss how to maximize harm reduction during this conflict.
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The Earthen Ring. With the faction conflict in Cata, it was rather see fellow Shaman focused on the planet and fighting against Deathwing and his allies. Furthermore the partnership with Therazane to fix the world pillar is just one of those epic moments to me.
Suffice to say I was rather giddy to become the Farseer in Legion.
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Oh yeah, that was awkward. I get that they wanted to pay homage to the old speculation about the Ashbringer from Vanilla and also wanted to give players an artifact skin that evoked the Corrupted Ashbringer, but that final quest to get the appearance makes things even more awkward between the paladins and the Ebon Blade than they already were after the order hall campaigns. Personally I credit Darion feeling guilty about assaulting Light’s Hope again as the reason why he didn’t just throw Tyrosus off of Acherus’ balcony into the sea for that request. “Hey Darion, I know the Ashbringer was originally corrupted because your brother killed your father with it, corrupting both his soul and the sword, and I know that you then literally killed yourself with the corrupted blade to free your father’s soul because I was there when you did it, but since you’re an undead monstrosity as the direct result of said act, would you be a dear and help re-corrupt the Ashbringer so that we can get a slight performance improvement in raid? Thanks, your dad would be so proud that you helped us desecrate his legacy.” Just…ugh, Tyrosus, I know you’re rightfully upset about the attack on Light’s Hope, but maybe read the room so that you don’t needlessly endanger yourself and your Highlord?
I always figured that the paladin player character was away from Light’s Hope during the Ebon Blade’s attack, because the death knight attacking force is quite small and it would be in-character for Darion to be smart enough to do some scouting and make sure that the Highlord wasn’t home. I suppose that it doesn’t make Tyrosus look the best since he’s neutralized quickly and the Deathlord fights Liadrin instead, but I excuse it because Darion’s the one to take him out of the fight, and I love that because of all the personal history between those two.
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The Warlock stuff in Legion would be better if the game didn’t just casually put the Book of Medivh and Eye of Dalaran in the Destruction artifact quest and then immediately forget about them
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First place: The Oracles
Oh, come on! They’re frog murlocs! And they’re kinda sweet! You find one that had been bullied by a Frnzyheart and help him out and he just hops along with you while you escort him to his people! And they decide to like you, even after you just slaughtered a dozen of their northern cousins! Because they’re just too sweet!
Second place: The Frenzyhearts
IDK, sometimes it’s better to be the bully than the big tongue.
Third place: The Defias Brotherhood
The best lowbie villain organization in the game, and I will die on that hill. They have an understandable origin story as unpaid laborers screwed by the system, who turned to crime…
And then a giant WTF gunboat!!
And then you kill their leader, kill their sub-leaders, should’ve destroyed the entire criminal network… And they’re still around. Now they’re having a prison riot. Next they’re in Dustwallow Marsh. Then they come back again under the daughter in Cataclysm. They are resilient mob of thieves, and we probably haven’t seen the last of them (if Blizzard likes fun things, that is).
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Unseen Path wasnt bad, but hunter identity was already a snore before legion, it was too much for them to add MSV, justify the existence of the spear, and find a way to tie hunter/ranger themes into the Legion story… like, why is Odyn asking us to hunt down a wolfhawk, again?
Hunters became just “the only guys who use bows” starting in MoP, and haven’t recovered any fantasy themes. The fact that melee/hybrid SV was all they did to try to shore up hunter fantasy was reflected in how poorly SV has been recieved. In an expansion where another class gets to call themselves hunter, giving the Hunter class a super sick fantasy should have been a priority. Quests that highlighted what a hunter is, besides the hands that draw the bow, could have gone a long way to ensuring a better reception for SV.
Having at least a couple really exciting artifacts was key to making the Order halls fun. Hunters had cool appearances, but lackluster stories behind each one.
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Honestly, the Scarlet Crusade as it existed during Classic/BC.
There was the flavour of a real Crusader state with all the faults and flaws but also all the strengths of it. Their very flaws were something that actually defined them but also signified their strength. I also find interesting the richness of detail that the Scarlets covered, especially in their books.
Did we ever get religious writings again after that that go into the content of the religion and values of the religion? I don’t think so.
Generally their backs were against the wall and they didn’t make a difference, undead is undead, and I think it’s a shame what Blizzard did with that group, a shame really, they had the potential - properly developed - to be by far one of the best anti-hero grps.
The Scarlet Crusade, by the way, recruited from all human kingdoms, not just lordaeron 
Actually from all the realms of the former Alliance of Lordaeron.
What still appeals to me for a group are the Shadowhammer and the Cult of the Damned. Creepy cultists ? I’m always up for that!
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The artifacts were pretty bleh but honestly only a few classes had really cool ones drenched in preexisting lore. Many of them are something hastily made or taken from a hitherto unknown Legion big bad, or just looted from Karazhan.
But overall the Unseen Path worked for me on the very simple metric I graded class hall on; Do I feel out of place?. And my Hunter did not, which was saying something since I write my Hunter as basically an undead cowboy so he usually feels out of place. My only real complaint was the gun was beast mastery.
Compare that to the Silver Hand where my Zandalari feels very out of place. As does everyone who’s not a human or belf. Which is weird because while the Priest Hall is based in a Draenei ship it never felt like their religion was dominant. Felt like it was located there for utility’s sake and was more a real multi faith rainbow coalition than Draenei and friends.
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It just wasn’t classy enough for me, I guess. I certainly liked it conceptually but it being a meteorite made it feel very barebones to me. Just not the sort of place you could chill in, ya know?
“Maybe some of you are used to practicioning in the basement of a run down dive bar, but those of us not from societies terrified of power would be appreciative if you could magic up a rug. I’m reducing someone to soul ash if I ruin another slipper by stepping in imp droppings”.