So that means we will kill Elune and Tyrande and Sylvanas is actually a hero for killing and torturing all of Elunes worshippers
Now it all makes sense
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Iâm pretty sure Sylvanas is serving the enemy of all herself, remember Alleriaâs shadowsâ little freakout?
The War of the Thorns broke my love for the Horde, I think forever. There are no words I have left for the faction (lorewise) and Iâm not even talking about hypocrisy yet.
The Horde deserves to be wiped out for its blind followers - for the third time - as a faction, now not the citizens of the Horde. But that is not going to happen, so I can only express my opposition by saying that I simply do not want to play the Horde anymore.
noâŠi felt no pride for Teldrassil and will never feel pride for it, only pittyâŠand hate towards the horde.
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And I joined it in no small part because, after the War of Thorns was followed up with hollow phyrric victory after hollow phyrric victory, I just donât want to be hurt anymore.
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So - (first off I think this was a really good read, and great use of the Winter War as a comparative tool) I want to draw attention to an instance of these things youâve listed, but in an instance that Blizzard executed really well.
Suramar.
I recently replayed through the zone and I had a moment where, genuinely I was almost tearful thinking about how well executed and laid out this story was, and how much I truly, truly, truly loved much of Legionâs narrative arc.
Suramar, I would argue, is the single greatest story that Blizzard has told since the RTS WC:III.
We start out as the genuine underdogs, cobbling together a resistance from literal scraps: withered people who have lost their home, their power, their families - everything that made up their identity. And yet they persist. They refuse to be counted out.
We build them up over time, we help them gain weapons and allies, we bolster their resistance with help from the outside, we start a guerrilla war in their city. This all happens over the course of a single patch, but it felt like so much longer, and it was incredible. The losses, the victories, the deaths and sacrifices that really made you sit there and think âholy bloody hell man.â
Those are the incredible moments of resistance and heroism that make Warcraft what it is.
And then we got Teldrassil and Darkshore/Ashenvale. No relatable characters to identify with that stick with us through the end, no slow build up, no minor victories or losses - only these massive moments that we, as a character/player, have zero impact on, and no sensible narrative sequence to follow that made sense.
Half the things in the Darkshore storyline were just thrown in there because âwhy notâ. Dark Ranger Kaldorei? Explanation for how thatâs possible? No. Explanation for Nathanos standing up to a god empowered, vengeance driven Night Elf warrior? No. Slow build up to the warfront that gets us genuinely excited and engaged in the movement? No.
Darkshore missed every single one of the critical elements that Suramar had in spades, and Blizzard wasted a truly phenomenal opportunity to embrace a model that worked stunningly well back in Legion.
Like youâve said in your first points, engaging players with active involvement (and characters that they connect to), consistency and build up, and small moments to tie together the larger narrative - these are all essential to making a story memorable.
They can want to do a lot of stuff, but being able to follow through on execution is critical; they failed at that. Not to mention that the essential information in a fraking book, not the actual game.
But it was told to us, rather than us being engaged with it long term.
Itâs like the whole J.K. Rowling thing where every few years she goes âoh yeah, that character is gayâ, or âthat character was Jewish.â Um, hello - we need it in the moment, we need it when weâre reading it the first time, we need it to be an active part of the story from the get go, not told to us after the fact to soothe over crap you left out for whatever reason.
Sure, give us a novella. Awesome. But make sure itâs supplemental, not essential. If Iâm playing a game and itâs all about this massive war, I need to see that in the game. This would be like Star Wars Episode V showing you only Lukeâs story and entirely leaving out the whole Bespin thing and telling folks to go read a book to find out the essential info.
If the only compelling aspect of a story is not in the actual retail product, youâre not succeeding at producing and delivering a full product.
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Well trans media narratives usually arenât to satisfying due to the confusion they stir up from not being in the main content ie the game, I can understand why blizzard does it because of constraints of it being an mmo but doesnât mean I like that.
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and i stopped playing for a while and play now only my rp chars^^
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I love the premise of your post. I really, really do but god do I hate the example you used. Its a personal and historical thing.
Though yes, a defense with plentiful examples of heroism and self sacrifice, of small pockets of survival, partisan attacks, the whole 9 would do leaps and bounds for the story.
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My opinions:
The night elves and their leaders were portrayed as ineffectual and inept at defending the land theyâve called home for 10,000 years (ashenvale)
Malfurion somehow did not have the extreme upper hand against a walking corpse with a bow, and was almost bested by an axe-wielding orc hiding behind a tree (the irony)
Anduin is portrayed as just so naive and lacking in guile, and way too touchy-feely given the predicament; he basically says weâll get Night Elf territory back⊠but later, because weâre gonna go on the offensive instead. (This seems like something a Warchief would say, e.g. press the attacks, not a sympathetic king.)
Instead, Genn Greymane of all people is the one who helps to reclaim Darkshore with Tyrande. Although I understand his reasoning for doing so, this could have been easily reversed. Genn the vengeful, Anduin the sympathizer
Anduin also seems very unwilling to listen to his advisors, who are clearly much more experienced in politics and war; this alone makes it tough to have faith in his leadership
Horde and Alliance seem to have swapped power structures; the Horde now does things by council, whereas the Alliance is wholly subject to the voice of Anduin
it also doesnât help that Warfronts were a fairly bland feature, and more of a âdo once and forget aboutâ piece of the story. So the reclamation of Darkshore and Night Elf revenge is easily passed over and seems insignificant
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My favorite bizarre Kaldorei misuse was in the Horde prelude to the Battle for DazarâAlor Raid. The army that invades DazarâAlor was predominantly core Alliance themed. Humans, Dwarves and Gnomes with Kul Tiran support.
But the suicide squads up north where the new allied races - and Kaldorei and Worgen. The Kaldorei suffered a catastrophic lose and have their armies locked in battle in Darkshore - and wouldâve stood alone had Greymane not defied orders to help reinforce them.
With a straight face they asked if some Nelves would like to take part in Operation: Sacrificial Lamb? Really? Like it was cold blooded enough the Allianceâs request of their new allies was âDie for meâ but they made the Nelves do it too?
Honest to God whats the story direction here? Anduin is portrayed as a good hearted, kind King but if you just look at the story beats it sounds like heâs doing to Tyrande what Garithos did to KaelâThas.
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Spoken like someone who didnât do the quest the alliance didnât ask them they volunteered
Iâm well aware there was some tepid line of dialogue, as there always is for the Alliance, explaining how this objectively villainous activity is actually on the up and up and totally noble.
Iâm sure if you check in with the Velves doing Cthulu stuff to Zandalari wildlife you find out all those dinosaurs are in fact guilty of tax evasion or whatever so theyâre totally deserving of the Voidy fate.
The point is their placement there highlights how Blizz didnât really think things through with the Nelves. Which is bewildering as they seem so proud of the burning as a big story monent - but didnât really have what happened next figured out quite yet. Which is why you dont let novelists direct video game narratives. Because hey, maybe in a book that could afford chapters and subplots to that big moment this could work. But in a game where subplots might get cut due to deadlines or constraints- itâs a bad idea.
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Numbers donât matter, how old are you . You donât seem young enough to have never read anything about the heroic sucide mission for the greater good
Best thing you can do is just never respond to Katieraâs trolling.
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Ah yes the noble cause that was the Battle for DazarâAlor. The one where I started laughing because Anduin tells Jania the plan was to drive a wedge between the Horde and Zandalari.
So - * to deescalate the conflict* - you opted to storm their nationâs capitol, rampage through their hallowed halls and assassinate their head of state? Yeah thatâll calm everything right down.
This is what annoys me about Alliance writing. From the Horde perspective that seemed like a terribly ruthless but terribly effective strategy. They crippled the Zandalari war machine and government meaning the Horde wouldnât benefit nearly as much from the new member nation.
But it couldnât just be a cruel but damn effective war time maneuver. It had to be a totally noble hearted effort that wouldâve ultimately saved more lives if things didnt go awry. Because itâs better if Anduin looks screamingly stupid than capable of cold calculation.
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It was also to take out a hostile empire and achieve naval superiority to win the war which by the way is a war of extermination against the alliance
Long term I agree with you, since it was only a temporary event when it was available in-game.
However, in the short term when it was available, it matched what I said:
- Janthes Shadeleaf says: I can hear the drums of war echoing throughout the forest. The druids of the claw stand ready to protect this land from all who would destroy it!
The Horde have halted their advance at the Wildbend River! We must push them back at once!Janthes Shadeleaf says: Darkshore is under attack! We must move swiftly to protect our forest!
Janthes Shadeleaf says: Rally together our forest allies! The world tree must be preserved!
Captain, the Horde have reached the Wildbend River! We cannot hold them for long!
Myara Sunsong says: We must take action! Sentinels, forward face!
Myara Sunsong says: Huntresses, you are to reinforce the southern border of Darkshore! Bring the Glaive Throwers!
Myara Sunsong says: Sentinels, create a battle line at the Wildbend River! Rouse our allies at the Grove of the Ancients!
Myara Sunsong says: Hippogryph Archers, come with me. We will regroup in Lorâdanel and remain vigilant as a mobile response unit!
Myara Sunsong says: That leaves you, hero. Report back to Captain Summermoon and reinforce that border!
Priestess, we require your aid to hold the Horde at Wildbend River.
Astarii Starseeker says: Darkshore is under attack! Send word to the High Priestess at once!
Astarii Starseeker says: Sisters, come with me! We must protect our lands from the Horde!
Malfurion Stormrage says: Our fleet has returned from Silithus. Elune be praised! Their might is sorely needed.
Malfurion Stormrage says: King Anduin will send his soldiers to aid us. We must hold our ground until they arrive.
Malfurion Stormrage says: Your deeds will not be forgotten by the kaldorei, <name>. The aid you lend in these dark times could make all the difference.
Captain Delaryn Summermoon says: May our will be stronger than their machines of war.
Malfurion Stormrage says: A war is not won or lost in a single battle. Our day will come.
Since NâZoth showed us Azshara and Sylvanasâ deal, he was likely talking about Azshara, who is also known as the Light of Lights.
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The shadows wouldnât consider themselves the enemy of all, and youâre using a really obscure nickname. Really, really unlikely. They work with vagueness, not obscurity.
I think this was another weird moment for me.
Like, the crux of the drama on the night elf side was: âWeâre outnumbered and cannot possibly win - we must slow the Horde enough for our army to return!â
And then the army/fleet returns.
And then absolutely nothing changes.
Thisâd be like if the âLuke, I am your fatherâ reveal was hidden in the middle of a paragraph of text about Cloud Cityâs cafeteria schedule - itâs supposed to be a dramatic punch in the story, why is it so bland?
If the fleet arrived just minutes/seconds/etc after the tree went up in flames, and had no chance to combat the Horde but had to instantly go into rescue mode, Iâd ave preferred that. That would have felt, to me, like a much more dramatic use of the fleet, its potential power, and its return. But âHold out! The fleet will save us!â -> âThe fleet⊠does exactly the same stuff we did with just as little effectiveness and no major shift in tone of the storyâ is just⊠disappointing from a narrative standpoint.
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