Another crazy idea from me - I know; we all have to suffer my presence. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the narrative direction from BFA, and how the big picture is solid, but the execution has been an absolute mess that’s hard to iron out. I’ve been wracking by brain on how to actually fix this, as I don’t like to criticize or critique without suggestions or construction feedback - and I think I finally plotted something out that doesn’t deviate too far from what we’ve been provided.
*Yes, “better” is subjective; let’s all agree that this what I believe would be “better” than what was provided to us at launch.
The Pitch
So we build a bigger boat.. This is how I'd restructure BFA's narrative to straighten out the kinks, and provide that sense of pride to the factions that feels missing.The Narrative Direction
Forget everything happened the way it did; this is my new, suggested arrangement.(Pre-patch and Novel)
Summary
1a) Arathi is being rebuilt by Thoras Trollbane after his resurrection by the Ebon Blade; he wasn’t keen on sticking around after the Legion’s defeat, and yearns to restore his kingdom. Thoras is not particularly keen on outright siding with the Alliance as he has fears that they would try to oust him (mainly since he’s a DK), but Danath has returned and inserted himself into affairs. The two have a contentious relationship.
Danath is noticeably grumpy about this because he views death knights as monsters (much as he views the Horde); Danath wants the support of the Alliance to help strengthen Stromgarde, but Thoras is entirely against it due to the reasons stated above.
1b) Before the Storm happens only because Danath persuades Thoras to allow it - enabling Stromgarde to stand as a neutral buffer between the factions. Anduin and Sylvanas allow the meet up, but she still murders all of the Forsaken civilians there in an effort to prevent defections after the Calia thing. She believes that the whole scenario has been a set up.
Not much else actually would need to change in the book.
1c) The Arathi meet was intended to be a stepping stone to advance negotiations regarding the liberation of captives being held by either side after faction hostilities during Legion. The events of the book trash any chance of that.
1d) As a result, while Genn acknowledges that not all Forsaken are evil, he puts pressure on Anduin to take a more aggressive stance against Sylvanas, especially after the heightened tensions in Stormheim. He believes that if Sylvanas is willing to murder her own people to keep control, there is no limit to what she’ll do.
1e) Danath secretly requests aid from the Alliance to restore Stromgarde, but Anduin is refuses (firstly because it didn’t come from Thoras), and also because it will further escalate tension in the region. Sylvanas is now putting pressure on Stromgarde because of Galen Trollbane’s betrayal, and her viewing Arathi as part of the Horde’s territory.
1f) The whole Feralas/Azerite thing explodes, increasing tension. Sylvanas deploys forces to begin preparing to drive Stromgarde’s armies out of Arathi for good. Alliance and Horde players take part in pre-patch ramp up, and Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith style, light beacons to send a formal summons for aid to Stormwind. Sylvanas manages to pursuade the Horde to back her cause in Stromgarde, which would give the Horde more firm control over the region.
She cites the Calia debacle as a reason why they need to be more proactive in securing their borders.
1g) Sylvanas recruits Saurfang and Etrigg to help plan the assault on Stromgarde, and it involves building new massive siege towers and forcing the local troll populations to fall in line and back the Horde’s push into the region. Many of the Horde leaders are wary of more war, but Sylvanas persuades them by claiming that once Arathi is in the Horde’s control, they can settle for peace - and have full control of the north.
Saurfang, notably, is the most resistant to the notion of more conflict.
Anduin, Genn, and Admiral Rogers, in Stormwind, finally agree to send aid to Stromgarde and Arathi but only on the grounds of deterrence; they task Rogers and Turalyon with leading the forces. Sylvanas and the Horde prepare to assault outright assault the neutral kingdom of Stromgarde.
1h) Blizzard drops the Arathi Warfront as part of the pre-patch, and it kicks off with Turalyon and the Sons of Lothar riding to the rescue of Stromgarde. Thoras and Danath are still at odds with each other, but still have to fight side by side. Danath, however, dies in the fighting - which inspires Thoras to take up his blade and actually put faith in the Alliance, just as Danath had.
Etrigg, Saurfang, and Sylvanas lead the Horde’s forces, and we see Etrigg be struck down by Turalyon - which stokes an blood-rage in the old Orc’s heart. Now out for vengeance, he fights harder. The battle results in the Horde being driven back to their base (much as the warfront swaps hands every two weeks).
1i) Sylvanas is furious - Arathi had been key to her plan, and without it there is a dangerous situation that could spiral out of control.
She knows that Lordaeron would be next to fall, so she prepares a trap to pre-empt the assault. Anduin delivers an ultimatum to her; release the Alliance prisoners, the Horde prisoners will be released too, and the factions can have a sit down and address the Azerite Elephant in the room.
Sylvanas doesn’t agree or decline, but instead invites the Alliance leaders to the Undercity to a formal negotiation. She convenes a meeting with the Horde’s leadership and lays out her plan - Saurfang is wholly in for it, and (being the more hesitant and reserved individual that everyone trusts and respects) convinces all the other leaders to back the plan.
The negotiation meeting happens, and Sylvanas and uses the chance to try and assassinate the Alliance’s leadership, in which Malfurion is struck down, and many others are injured. The intent is to both cripple the Alliance, and also goad them into making a stupid and impulsive decision. The difference is that she does it with the full knowledge and backing of the Horde’s leadership.
(Expansion Launch)
Summary
2a) The Alliance leaders, having barely escaped, take this as an obvious escalation of war. They prepare to lay siege to the Undercity itself, and just as it happened in the actual game, Sylvanas blows it up. It’s seen as a total victory for the Horde, and inflicts heavy casualties on the Alliance, in addition to denying them control of Lordaeron’s capital.
2b) Kul Tiras/Zandalar leveling experience as the conflict escalates across the globe.
2c) With the Kaldorei forces engaged across the world and down in Feralas, Sylvanas takes an opportunity and uses her plan to trick the Alliance into thinking she’s making a move for the south of Kalimdor - but instead strikes deep into Ashenvale, and then Darkshore. The second Warfront would drop as part of the War Campaign towards the end of the patch.
Saurfang and Sylvanas lead this, with the former wanting blood for Etrigg’s death. Teldrassil is not yet burned however, and the Horde canonically win the Darkshore WF and storm Teldrassil, taking the city hostage. Tyrande - unable to return to her people in Teldrassil as she’d surely be killed, is stuck with her army on the outside pleading with the Alliance for aid.
2d) The conflict continues to escalate further and further. Anduin wants to strike at Dazar’alor, but Tyrande demands that the Alliance liberate Teldrassil first. This division amongst the Alliance fuels tension, and Tyrande breaks away to go plan a rescue effort for Teldrassil with the help of the Worgen. We would get a set of dailies (just like Suramar) where we help/or try to break down the resistance movement in Darnassus.
The Horde seek the crush the insurrectionists, while Tyrande and the Worgen try to arm and prepare the civilians for an uprising.
2f) (Raid release) Similar to the Nighthold, a raid for Teldrassil launches in which the Horde and Alliance fight each other for control of the city. The battles raging in the street get out of control, with Azerite weapons being used openly, which begins to set fire to the city, and then the tree.
The climax of the raid is the burning of Teldrassil, in which neither side is truly to blame, but simply a casualty of the chaos of war. The final battle is Sylvanas vs. Tyrande, one empowered by Val’kyr, the other by Elune. In the end both sides lose Teldrassil - and we narrowly escape.
2g) This gives justification to Kaldorei Dark Rangers (who are pissed that Tyrande’s recklessness cost them their lives, and the lives of their families), and it also gives the Kaldorei their moonstruck vengeance aura thingy.
Saurfang and Genn, notably, are affected by the screams of the dying civilians during the fighting, and it makes them both start to rethink the war.
(Patch 8.1)
Summary
3a) Things continue to escalate. New Warfronts open up, and the resettlement stories I pitched (Story Idea for the Kaldorei - #32 by Bargrand-aerie-peak) and (Story Idea for the Forsaken - #10 by Kunam-aerie-peak) take place.
3b) The Horde and Alliance’s druids are furious at the burning of Teldrassil and the wanton destruction of the land+civilian massacres, and hold a summit in Moonglade (inviting both factions’ champions as well because, well, you know Magni and azerite and world crisis and all), in which they vow to divest from the faction conflict.
The Earthen Ring, the Crusade/Silver Hand, the Cenarion Circle, and the Ebon Blade (sans Thoras) form their own new faction as the Champions of Azeroth, and take the fight to Naga as they emerge, and also the Azerite Elementals/old god monster things. Thrall is also at this meeting, and he’s thoroughly pissed at how things are spiraling out of control with both factions; we see him on the edge of acting, or remaining focused on healing Azeroth.
3c) Azshara begins to really step things up, feeding on the chaos of the war, and launching her own invasions of faction territory. Both the Horde and Alliance realize that they need to stop Azshara at some point, but the faction conflict is too serious to divert any attention away from it.
3d) The Horde and Alliance (embodied by Genn and Saurfang) are both growing more and more frustrated with their factions’ leaders, and the extreme zeal in considering every orphanage within viewing distance (sylvanas) a fair target, or the unwillingness to be aggressive enough to defeat the enemy (anduin), and it becomes apparent that both factions are close to splintering under the tension.
3d) The Barrens opens as a Warfront, and also maybe the Burning Steppes, as the Dark Irons and Blackrock Orcs struggle for supremacy, and the Horde prepares for a strike on Stormwind.
3g) (Raid release)The Alliance lays siege to Zuldazar, and we get that new raid tier, along with the shrine of tentacles in Stormsong.
(Patch 8.2)
Summary
4a) Azshara has continued to ramp up her attacks, and the Alliance and Horde (separately) resolve to take her out, and secure whatever Azerite she has. A new continent/island opens up (similar to the Broken Shore) which has dailies and pvp stuff (similar to the Isle of Thunder patch), and both factions lay siege to one of the Naga Temples.
4b) The Champions of Azeroth are also present, trying to keep everyone focused on the Naga (side note: it’s not working so well).
4c) The island isn’t super huge, and so to compensate, lots of campaign stuff and new incursions and what not happen elsewhere, on Kul Tiras/Zandalar at the same time. It’s a global conflict, it shouldn’t be isolated to one area.
4d) (Raid release) Both factions assault the Naga Temple, attacking it from opposite sides; they fight through the dungeon and come face to face in a central chamber where Magni and the Champions are working on breaking down a powerfully sealed doorway, beyond which Azshara is casting a massive spell with her summoners. The penultimate boss fight is a team death match styled “survival” encounter, in which the faction leaders (all of them) go toe to toe, and the players (similar to the Trial of the Crusader raid) have to bring down the enemy faction leaders as much as possible, or just survive till a certain % on the door.
The door is blasted open, and we get a cutscene of the heroes fighting in the background, while Hamuul Runetotem, Magni, Khadgar, and Thrall rush into the next room to stop Azshara. Hamuul gets impaled with a trident, Magni is struck by a blade and shattered into diamond fragments on the ground, and Khadgar gets spell struck and crumbles to ash, and we see Azshara finish casting her spell, with Thrall powerless to stop her. The entire temple shakes and trembles, and we see the ocean beyond churning, and everyone’s favorite boi, N’zoth, sends these massive tentacles shooting up from the seas. The temple begins to crumble, and we see an entire continent beginning to rise up from the depths of the ocean; Azshara won, technically, and we lost.
The final boss fight is the players, Crash Bandicoot style, escaping the temple, having to run a gauntlet and avoid obstacles, leap over chasms, not get swept up in the rising waters, etc. The final in game cutscene is of the last surviving players being consumed by the waves and thrust out onto the shores of the temple island.
Post raid is the other faction champions escaping, leaving you behind after they think you’ve died. The heart of Azeroth saves us with CPR or some magic, and we hear Azeroth herself guiding us to the shattered pieces of Magni, which we have to scoop up, and take to the Heart Chamber, where Magni is reforged.
(Patch 8.3)
Summary
5a) So everyone is really pissed at the faction leaders, and the Horde and Alliance remove Sylvanas and Anduin as their leaders. Thrall returns to scold the Horde, and it restructures to be a council of chieftains with Thrall leading them as a figure head - if only to bring them back to their old ways, and deescalate the violence, and the Alliance appoints a new Supreme Commander, who isn’t a racial leader, to be impartial and who has more experience (maybe Shandris? or Turalyon?) Both leaders of the Horde and Alliance realize that the biggest threat currently is Azshara.
5b) Anyhow, world revamp will happen upon the pre-patch of the next expansion, revealing the destruction and aftermath of the conflict. But for now, we whole new continents, smack dab in the middle; it’s Nazjatar and Ancient Kalimdor!
Two new continents: Nazjatar will be the smaller patch island, and Ancient Kalimdor will be this new massive continent that we can’t access yet, but takes up the whole sea area between Kalimdor and Kul Tiras; it also includes the Maelstrom.
5c) This patch will focus partly on the Champions of Azeroth, under Magni, leading the heroes against Azshara on Nazjatar. She’s super empowered by N’znoth now, and we have to rally allies on Nazjatar and bring down the defenses around her palace before we can hack her to pieces. (Dungeon Release)) We get a new dungeon down there to handle all that fun jazz.
5d) The other part of this expansion is helping the Alliance and Horde secure their territories in the wake of this world shaping event. On the eve of the final assault on Azshara’s palace, Magni drags the world leaders together again in a very tense summit, where all hell breaks loose with arguing and shouting, and everything that has happened over the past few decades is thrown into the open.
The meeting is interrupted as the Knights of the Ebon Blade storm the meeting, and barricade the leaders inside. Everyone’s other favorite homeboy, the Lich King, arrives, and no one knows what to do and how to react. It comes down to Bolvar Mother Clucking Fordragon, the Lich King, chastising the faction leaders, and swearing that he will reduce all of their kingdoms to ash and undeath, bound in servitude to him, if N’zoth doesn’t do so first, unless they stop bickering. Their only chance is to unite to defeat the greater enemy, and to once and for all leave the faction conflict behind.
Bolvar warns them that this is their one and only chance, and then withdraws and the Knights depart.
Magni takes charge and coordinates everyone’s efforts in preparing to assault Azshara’s palace.
5e) (Raid release) Everyone beats the living snot out of Azshara. No ideas exactly for the raid itself as it hasn’t been released and I don’t want to jump any more guns, but we defeat Azshara, and we have the prospect of battling an old god looming ahead of us. Final cutscene would be something along the lines of N’zoth fully entering Azeroth from his prison with the death of Azshara, setting the stage for the next expansion.
5f) The next expansion, as stated, will begin with a full world revamp, and the opening of this new Ancient Kalimdor continent. Pandaria, Northrend, EK/Kalimdor, Kezan, etc, all will be updated to reflect the faction conflict’s effects, and the appearance of the old gods stuff.
Leveling should be condensed; scale everything down to a 1-60 experience. All zones, sans Ancient Kalimdor, can be used for leveling. Give players a plethora of casual stories to pursue. Ancient Kalimdor is considered the -new expansion- zone. Players will always remain level capped at 60, but they can get 10 prestige levels, which scale your items/gear/power. Once the -next- expansion drops, Ancient Kalimdor becomes 1-60 content, and players have their stats squished back to the 60 cap. Rinse and repeat, but your characters will always have a counter to show how many expansion prestige levels they’ve gone up.
Vanforth's Other Crazy Story Ideas
Forsaken Resettlement( Story Idea for the Forsaken )
Kaldorei Resettlement
( Story Idea for the Kaldorei)