So this is a post I made in another thread I thought merited further discussion and even it’s own thread, but the Night Elf problem goes as far back as vanilla I believe.
It occurs to me that if the Night Elves were to make a comeback, they’d really benefit with their natural nature allies being a critical component of that.
Good. The obsession with nature has been overdone at this point. There has to be a point in time where they are slightly more pragmatic.
The Night Elves defending nature is fine, just don’t think that the power of green will topple everything the universe has to throw at it.
Obsessing over nature also is likely to stagnate character growth when it gets used as a crutch to solve everything and prevents them from being nuanced.
One could argue that “Nature” as a sentient defender of Azeroth is pretty much dead after getting wrecked super hard in WC3, Cata, etc. In WC3 alone, 99% of the Ancients died defending Hyjal, and I assume a similar amount of their other allies. So maybe Nature didn’t “bail” on the NEs so much as it doesn’t exist anymore…
Also, Nature never cared about the NEs, it cared about defending Hyjal…
I’d agree, the problem is that Blizzard hasn’t really written Night Elves developing away from being focused primarily around nature.
Yea, but the population argument is has it’s own problems, applying to nearly every group within both the Horde and Alliance anyway.
As for nature not caring about the NEs… I can’t say you’re wrong in lieu of the last ten years of World of Warcraft. I can see how it’d be endlessly frustrating for Night Elf fans though.
I take it you’ve never done the Darkshore Warfront.
Those were already in WoT, just a quick correction.
Are you quoting the wrong Ancient? These ones were every where.
Those two are in the Warfront.
As for why we will never see all Nature aiding the nelves agains it is really just a question of balance from the writer’s part. Just like why we don’t see the Vindicaar, it is too overpowered.
You could say that the sentience of pretty much all forces in WoW has been pummeled into nothing after that one page from Chronicle.
So your solution is for Night Elves to abandon the ONLY aspect of their culture that differentiates them from other elves.
And you think this is going to ADD nuance to them?
You would be correct. That said, it’s seven expansions in that a lot of those critical aspects of what made the Night Elf war machine powerful show up to directly aid the Night Elves and fight the Horde.
Ancients do show up, but they don’t serve in the same capacity as they did WC3. In WC3 they were the actual buildings that made up the most important parts of a Night Elf base. The Night Elf equivalent of a castle, the core of a Night Elf base, was a big ancient called a Tree of Eternity. Obviously, doesn’t work the same way ingame, but it does lend credibility to just how important Ancients for Night Elf war efforts. Nowadays, they’re just the occasional mob, sometimes an elite or a quest giver, usually in or around a Night Elf settlement.
It’s really worth emphasizing a Night Elf base in WC3 was composed primarily, at least 50%, of Ancients.
https://img.bhs4.com/BD/1/BD1C9400B3D95DB03E675A3C622DD2D0194E38A0_large.jpg
With most of them gone, an important part of what made Night Elves in WC3 unique, is also gone. They made Night Elf bases into moving cities.
But since Warcraft 3, this is the first time they’ve been a part of the Night Elf war effort. They were a critical component of the Night Elves air control.
With the Night Elves in the Alliance, they’ll probably never be as powerful as they were in WC3, but I don’t think they need to remove so many aspects entirely to keep them from outshining the rest of the Alliance. If they wanted the WoT narrative to make sense with Horde losses being greater at a rate of 8 to 1, they could have included mountain giants, faerie dragons, dryads, and more ancients being part of that. Would have made it easier to swallow, Horde side, then getting an 8 to 1 ratio against a fraction of the Night Elves military so many of them halfway to Silithus.
I know but they still do it a bit in the Warfront, the Alliance fortress is an Ancient.
Easier for the Horde to swallow but harder for the Alliance, imagine the ire of the most fervent nelf fans if the ancients, chimaeras, faeri dragons, dryads, keepers of the grove and even wild gods showed up and they still lost.
The problem if the nelves is that they were meant to be a independant faction in warcraft 3 alongside the Alliance, the Horde and all the Undead not just the Forsaken so obviously they had to be downgraded for the faction to be balanced.
Lol did yoou do the warfront or any of the incursions with nelves in them?
I haven’t actually. I haven’t done any 8.1 content or beyond with the story the way it is.
Regardless, unless something retcons those forces of nature being around and actively aiding the Night Elves all along, I think my main point still stands.
kek what? “I havent done any of the content so I dont know what I am talking about, but my theory is solid.” Like watch a video of it lol
My point is that from vanilla to Legion a lot of those allies from nature weren’t around for Night Elf warfare. Unless the new content retcons that and they were there all along, where am I incorrect in that.
you are incorrect, like did you even play nelves in vanilla or cata? Specially in darkshore or ashenvale.
Can you point out to me where Dryads, Faerie Dragons, Mountain Giants, or Chimeras are a major part of Night Elves war effort? I’m genuinely curious.
I’m sure there’s a few times they help out in a neutral capacity, but in Night Elf interests and against Horde?
I apologize if it wasn’t clear from my OP, but these allies only show up now in BfA, yea? It’s only after Night Elves had their tree burnt down and Darkshore is be defiled that a lot of these forces of nature are helping the Night Elves again.
From your OP:
Turns out that’s what Blizzard had in mind with the Darkshore Warfront, yes.
You are right, though it’s unfortunate they’ve only shown up after the Night Elves have suffered their worst defeat since… ever, actually.
Weird that a Keeper of the Grove is the tank role, a mountain giant would fit that perfectly.
