With all the negativity around this expansion’s writing, I wanted to share my take. Is this expansion perfect? No, but for the first time in years, I’m genuinely enjoying the story and connecting with the characters. I haven’t felt this much joy since Legion.
The writing does a great job of balancing both internal and external conflicts. Anduin’s journey for redemption is something a lot of us can relate to on a personal level. I’m also really invested in the Earthen conflict and their journey to becoming “Unbound.” The narrative’s focus on themes like redemption, forgiveness, and overcoming one’s past feels powerful and real.
The mix of new and legacy characters keeps things fresh yet nostalgic. Seeing Lilian Voss, Thrall, Jaina, and Turalyon pop up alongside new faces adds a lot of depth and familiarity to the story.
The rich world-building is another big win for me. I’m actually taking my time, reading quests, and exploring instead of rushing through like I did in Shadowlands and Dragonflight. The new zones, with their ancient civilizations, forgotten magic, and unexplored realms, have got me genuinely excited to dive in.
And can we talk about the music? It’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve found myself pausing just to soak in the soundtracks of each zone.
The epic quests are a blast too—flying my stormrook into battle against a titan’s monstrous creation or lighting my way through a cave with Faerin and Anduin. These moments make me feel immersed and genuinely invested in the story, like my character is truly part of this world, not just an outsider with the “Outlander” title.
Faerin is phenomenal. I will admit I was skeptical about her and what role she would play, but she has become hands-down one of my favorite characters. Her story, her vibe, everything about her just works for me. She isn’t a diversity check to me; she’s real, has depth, and makes me want to savor the story more. I am very excited about having a new face that connects with characters from old lore, and I love how strong she is.
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about a content drought, but honestly, I’m feeling the complete opposite. I’m working through more of the campaign today, and taking my time just feels right. So far, this expansion has been the best leveling experience I’ve had in years! All in all, I’m having fun again, and it’s great to feel that spark reignite in World of Warcraft. This feels like World of Warcraft again.
I like that the dracthyr and earthen both kinda feel like “Oh they’re new WoW players seeing all these new things for the first time”. It gives me the warm fuzzies
And the idea of an Earthen like Merrix figuring out how to do a crime to help lol.
I was so happy to see Flynn and Meerah. I wasn’t expecting either of them at all.
Heck even Mr Lawful Evil Rosenivy has a little fan flag for Faerin. I think she’s sweet and I just like the vibe of the Lamplighters. Where they’re basically Therapists in plate armor.
Writing is okay, my gripes are mostly nitpicky. Not enough Horde in cutscenes, not enough Edgey Characters, and not enough men in the custscenes. Don’t get me wrong I am happy for the alliance and the women that wanted to see more feminine power. But I also feel like some of the story got left out with how drastically different it is from the past. I like my war, I like my edge, and I like men that roar battle crys. Heck I was even chill with Sylvanas being the main role in BFA and shadowlands cause she was doing a more masculine type behavior to atleast do some level of masculine representation in the story. I don’t like this butterflys and rainbows character story arc. I’m sure its fine for some but its not for me.
That said the general story is good, the concept is all there. My frustrations are like I said mostly nitpicks and really don’t matter an entire lot as I am still enjoying the game and will even more once the season actually begins and im not twiddling my thumbs.
But please blizzard please, can we get some more edge and rule of cool moments.
It’s all just on these forums because the average IQ of a WoW forum user is room temperature at best and everyone’s always complaining on these forums. Most of the actual lore nerds have been universally praising this expansion’s writing thus far (which is impressive because it’s absolutely impossible to please that crowd).
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at the expansion thus far. It’s solid and I’m engaged with what’s going on. I think they nailed the vibe this time.
I’ve also been taking my time to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I think a good portion of the negativity is from people who are basically content gluttons. The consume everything as quickly as possible and is always demanding more more more.
I have only seen negativity surrounding this game’s writing from the forums. Most of what I’ve seen and heard, from the guilds I am in, has been overwhelmingly positive. People seem to really prefer TWW’s story so far to Dragonflight or Shadowlands.
Forums is where people go when they are unhappy, happy people don’t waste time on the forums why would they? They could be playing the game they are happy with instead.
I’m only level 77 but so far I’ve been more bored/frustrated than anything else.
I suppose it’s my fault for expecting a little grit in my WARcraft but when 90% of the quests are things like “go and feed honey to some heckin bees!” well it’s just disappointing.
The cutscenes and quest dialogue being skippable is one of the best features in the game imo. If I had to sit through them I’d probably uninstall. I’m holding out for season 1 and the endgame mechanics which are generally pretty well done but we’ll see.
You’re not wrong. I don’t expect the forums to get the story or care. But us lore nerds are very interested. I enjoyed finding the old recording thingies of Anu’barak and the journals.