(This got really long-winded. TLDR version is at the bottom.)
I know I’m not normally a basketful of positivity, but compared to previous expacs in WoW’s history… this one feels really, really tacked on. Like, it just feels that the story writers are going out of their way to make up something ‘new and exciting’ that has little to do with our own universe in order to generate some sort of hype for something ‘new and exciting’.
The main issue with that being, of course, the dozens or so plot holes that are left behind in Azeroth. And no, this isn’t the first time this has happened, and will likely not be the last in WoW’s lifetime.
If you’re not understanding what I mean here, then allow me to break it down for you: WoW is suffering. I don’t really need to go into why, but two of the biggest issues are how the storyline is just an absolute mess and of course, how out of touch the devs are with the game’s playerbase.
I feel, that in a moment like this, it would do them well to stand back for a moment, take a breather, and try to tie up any loose ends with the story before moving on to the next big huge storyline. The best time to do this would have actually been this expansion, but instead they decided to push the all-out-war narrative right after the largest-scale invasion of the planet ever, and then to pile on top of THAT, they just now hit us with Shadowlands- which is requiring us to go to a new realm not of our own in order to stop yet another big bad from destroying everything as we know it.
And is this a bad thing? Certainly not, I feel that WoW could eventually reach a point where all of its known lore and locales have been fully explored and mapped out. The reason why this is a bad thing now, is because the storyline- as stated before, is a complete wreck. The world in-lore is a mess physically and narratively. And good storytelling would dictate that you at least make an effort to tie up loose ends before venturing into the unknown.
Unfortunately, that is not happening. Or at the very least, we are not privy to details of it being attempted. Instead, we are being thrust into an entirely new world(s)in order to chase down the white rabbit (Sylvanas) in order to satisfy some sort of contrived plot that’s apparently been in the making for years now.
So I guess now it’s finally time to bring up the state of WoW. Currently, its subbed base is low enough to a point that they won’t dare report on it anymore. The classes themselves have been dumbed down to a point where many are just flat-out broken and irrelevant when compared to other classes that perform a similar role. Faction imbalance, normally negligible due to its small effect on the community, has been tipped decisively towards the Horde, and it seems like there are currently no plans to try and balance it out. No new playable races or classes have been announced for this expansion, which is now the second in a row to not feature either of those two (This has never happened before).
And of course, the storyline as it is sucks really bad.
But instead of going back and trying to fix things, to me it feels like they are instead trying to hit us with “new and exciting!” things to try and pull people back in. Sylvanas fighting and defeating the Lich King. A whole new, unexplored realm separate from Azeroth. And of course, these covenants and whatnot that provide the new “Expansion Gimmick” introduced in WoD. And… it just feels like too much. The game right now is in need of dire fixing on so many ends, not only the story. Instead of hunkering down and focusing on doing that, we are just getting a new coat of paint splashed over the peeling paint, cracked drywall and mildew stains left behind by previous expansions.
Anyways, this rant way longer than expected and I don’t expect anyone to read all of it, so I’ll go ahead and make a TL;DR version. But if you did take time to read it, thanks. I don’t play anymore but I still do have an attachment to this game obviously, and I wish it would just… be better. That’s all.
TL;DR: WoW really sucks right now, and instead of going back and fixing it, it feels to me like they’re just piling on “new and interesting” things to distract us from the massive amounts of problems and issues the game currently faces.
In terms of story, I truly believe we are at the point where the definition of what jumping the shark really hits hard: “that (the) writers have exhausted their focus; that the (game) has strayed irretrievably from an older and better formula; (and/or) that the series as a whole is declining in quality.”
It’s not going to get any better from this point on, folks.