And, of course, there’s one Laughing Skull in the background going “What do you mean, bad? There’s no plants! It’s a paradise!” for comedic effect.
2 Likes
It seems alt draenor was scarce of resources in the maghar scenario, apparently something went down there that sint quite explained.
It’s not that it was scarce of resources, it’s that AU draenor started to die for unknown reasons and the Mag’har and Draenei started blaming one another for it.
Which led to the Lightbound vs Mag’har war
2 Likes
This might make for a good segue into a timewalking remix of WoD. It’d have to be handled right and in order to do so would require a level of effort and completion on par with a major content patch so probably not gonna happen. Still, that seems like the best place for the Bronze dragonflight to go to fix the mess one of their flight made, so maybe the Panda remix was like a test run and they’ll do it justice eventually.
3 Likes
They seem to be hinting that with the Earthen joining the Horde, they will help update Orgrimmar. Which feels very weird to me, but why not at this point.
And with the Orc heritage quest hinting at this possibility, I think that most of Durotar, and especially Orgrimmar, should be more like a jungle oasis.
The idea behind the Warcraft RTS and Classic Era Horde was that they deforested any placed they conquered.
So it made sense for Durotar to look as it is.
Giving the Horde a facelift requires a shift in design philosophy for the faction.
Approaching the problem as a concrete, rather than an abstract, will not fix anything.
You know them tauren and trolls, just casually deforesting this or that.
1 Like
It was actually Daelin who deforested Durotar.
Not really sure what you mean by this, you’d have to expand on what you mean.
I think some people really have nelf style blindness where anything natural has to be trees.
For a rugged shamanistic people, Org has it all. Shade, protection, water. Its only real issue is that it gets cold af at nights and requires bonfires, but maybe with the sturdier construction of new org thats less of a concern, idk.
4 Likes
I mean this also leads back to the fact that blizzard only treats forest as natural, with anything less being treated as some weird result of a disaster
8 Likes
Naralex is one of the few Nelf characters I actually like and homeboy tried to mess with a perfectly fine Savannah instead of just working on regrowing the actual jungle that was there a few years ago.
But its the thought that counts
To be fair, the Barrens seems a lot more like Gorgrond than Durotar does.
- Like I mentioned earlier, despite the name ‘The Barrens’ – It’s hardly completely barren & far more hospitable than Durotar …
Durotar is similar to Hellfire Peninsula, which as we know use to be a lush forest — So when they detail “Durotar is not unlike Draenor” – I’m wagering they mean after the fel had taken its toll & the warlocks had sapped all the life they could find from the land for their own power. 
There’s been a few NPCs that have referenced such, to who I can’t really recall in all honestly – However it is also referenced in ‘World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor’ on page 10.
Albeit much of that book is written from the perspective of Rexxar and Zekhan if I recall correctly. So I wouldn’t wager it as “complete canon” – especially due to other inconsistencies within the book, made by the author …
- Shortly after said-book’s release – It had received harsh criticism, specifically for reinforcing negative, harmful, and unfavourable racial stereotypes in its handling of Horde races and characters.
- The writer of this book, written by Sean Copeland – has been noted by public audiences — of being rather biased, unfair & unjust to previously established Horde lore, with little of the same love that was seen from Christie Golden’s work, which had been put into ‘Exploring Azeroth: The Eastern Kingdoms’ with the Alliance.
So I’d say take the statements & references from the book with a grain of salt.
— I know I certainly do with the exploring Azeroth series myself.
It’d be cool to see the Darkspear use the powers of the loa to increase flora & wildlife amongst the Barrens — both for their people & the orcs …
Only for something to go terribly wrong
- You could have it that Botani infiltrated the timeline from when we gathered additional Mag’har forces to our numbers from the alternate universe & had planted their revered wildseeds around Durotar.
- Have a Gurubashi troll amongst the Darkspear who set about handfuls of Stranglethorn seeds too, around Durotar – hoping to eventually set about a foothold for the Gurabashi to settle in.
During such ritual, you could have it that the orcs were performing their own – with bringing an elemental union, to act as a sanctuary for the elements & training ground for their young shaman, only for the ritual to be disturbed by immense life energies — and have the elements & spirits to overflow the area.
Durotar Clash-of-Rituals Outcome? …
You could create a jungle-like Gorgrond-Stranglethorn looking mixture in Durotar. 
- Or perhaps mostly the bottom half of Durotar, with much of it going south & west – effecting the Barrens and Dustwallow Marsh.
Albeit it would be neat seeing such features & themes in Orgrimmar too.
Give an elemental mix with savage-looking jungle theme to the city — Resulting in orcs having to go lumber them down on frequent occasions - not merely for wood, but for their safety 
Loads of fresh quest & story potential there too.
1 Like
Didn’t Daelin burn down the first in durator. Without that orcs or org might of been more self reliant
1 Like
But … wouldn’t regrowing the jungle also be “messing with the savannah”?
5 Likes
It was beautiful till the Draenei showed up and got the orcs corrupted.
4 Likes
Yes but Durotar was bad from the start all the rivers drying out just made it worse and Thrall acknowleding his fault for this in the Shattering finally. They still need water shipments from Mulgore actually showing how dire the situation really is. The most logical conclusion is to leave it for somewhere better.
Durotar wasn’t in a healthy state, the barrens were.
Had to hold back puking blood violently everywhere when Moira told Anduin his dad strongarming his solution to dwarven politics was all well and good, peak factionbrain moment to get everyone focused on red team.
4 Likes
(Still confused) So do you mean Naralex should have been working on Durotar instead of the Barrens?
Correct. Durotar was a parched scrubland because the trees all got magicked away.
The Barrens is and was a thriving ecosystem.
3 Likes