Posted this on the World’s End Tavern forum and wanted to gauge different server takes on this topic. Get a wide array of responses, takes, and details to really help me get a grasp of how to Engage the Shadowlands.
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On the whole…
Yeah. It’s a bit too “high concept” to really be relateable. I mean, sure, WoW’s high fantasy, so it’s always been about larger-than-life things, but this is literally larger-than-life. I don’t know why, but I guess stopping an army or exploring alien worlds draws from things that have happened in real-life.
Fix death just… I don’t know. It doesn’t vibe well. It’s like it finally crossed that line of suspension of disbelief. Like, we’ve finally hit that point of, “It’s so much so meh.” That apex of our minds’ ability to truly perceive the scope of a problem/narrative.
Still, I’d take it as the same thing we’ve been doing since WoD. We basically do what the “main hero”/player character does, but scaled down to a smaller scale. Rather than “lead your order hall to victory by securing all the artifacts!”, we just teamed up with order halls and established missions in the area.
So, for Shadowlands, I’d take a similar approach. It’s not as explicitly shown, but I would think it’s fair to imagine that it’s another war, just like any others. We gotta go there and help fight against the armies of the Maw. So that could include:
- Rescuing souls from the Maw
- Fighting against Danathrius
- Aiding any of the covenant
- Securing anima and restoring it to any realm
Additionally, on a personal level, you can have your character go there to meet loved ones who have passed. Or save loved ones who passed so recently as to be trapped in the Maw.
Additionally, you can always explore the repercussions on Azeroth. Our world leaders are missing, what power gaps does that create and who is trying to seize this opportunity for their own gain? Knowing that everyone is going to the Maw if they die, is there a doubled-up effort on medicine and time-warping, as to delay death for as long as possible? Are there Maw agents still acting in Azeroth?
A lot of my personal RP is focused on, “So… The Fourth War is over, how do we pick up the pieces?” But that’s less related to new Shadowlands’ content, and more about the result of BfA.
So… There’s stuff to do, for sure! It’s just not as explicitly presented as in earlier expansions, which is certainly not in Shadowlands’ favor. And, the premise of the conflict of the expansion is just…
It’s either jumped the shark or loading up the speedboat en route to the ramp.
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Honestly I felt the whole Maw-Walker thing was a bit too godmoddy for my tastes - it was a bit too uncertain as to whether there was one or many.
With that in mind, all that really remains are proxy wars in the Realms of death. Revendreth dealing with Denathrius’ betrayal, Bastion with the Forsworn, etc.
If you want to respond directly to the big plot - that is, Sylvanas destroying the helm of domination and unleashing the Scourge upon the world as she pursues her own nefarious, and as yet unknown ends - it’s… really hard to do so.
So personally my RP has been responding to prepatch tropes. The mindless Scourge unleashed. The Cult of the Damned active again, and worshipping the Jailer it’d seem.
I’m building plots around that and fervently hoping the plot becomes relevant to Azeroth again.
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That’s the general vibe I’ve gathered from everyone. Very few people are interested in the general work in Shadowlands, and more rely on the events that impact Azeroth. Which is better, in a sense that Warlords of Draenor lacked. We destroyed the Dark Portal way too early; which cut the plot relevance of the invasion to begin with.
I really want to enjoy Shadowlands. Roleplaying in the expansion zones in previous Expacs always brought me into the story deeper… but as Falothorin said; this current plot has stretched WAAAY too far and makes it really hard to grasp onto.
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It’s canon that anyone can go to the Shadowlands and they’re supposed to pick a covenant and help them while the lore characters figure out some stuff.
While it’s not… great, you do have an excuse to go and do literally everything except maybe the covenant campaigns.
On whether there’s more than one Maw Walker, then end of Theater of Pain specifically uses Maw Walkers plural when referring to the players winning the day, so that at least answers that. But I totally agree that Shadowlands as a whole has very little to do with Azeroth as to feel completely alienating for the regular rper. When my literal ghost has no reason to engage with the story of the Shadlowlands, in fact he has every reason to NOT engage as much as possible from the pure danger of it, and the danger to most everyone else too, I dunno. It’s weird.
I’ve seen people incorporate covenants and stuff into events and backgrounds and it definitely can work, it just needs more work than BfA did. There are reasons for and against having your specific character in the land of the dead, justifiable reasons. I’m torn, Shadowlands opens up a lot of creative avenues for rp. But it also closes off other opportunities since it’s a whole dimension away and so cut off from Azeroth as an entity. I guess I hope we get to see what is going on at home sometime in the middle of the expansion so we have a reason to care other than the sky above Icecrown. Pre patch was the most fun I had rping in a long time. I want some of that again.
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I’m less trying to gauge that you -can- go into the Shadowlands. But the “why’s” or more. I’ve met people who have listed their Covenant’s focus and who they aid. but yet its not showing much in contrast. IT’s getting more difficult to also find roleplay or story purposes as to why people like you or I would put ourselves in that position.
I’m looking to the community on how they are handling the situation. IF they are roleplaying in the Shadowlands or dealing with the matters on the home base of Azeroth. OR ignoring the story all together since it retreads the same problem WoD posed.
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My guild will be doing a mix. We’re setting up stuff ICly on Azeroth for a way into the Shadowlands. It’s connected and certainly not on purpose. I might be able to into more details privately, as I don’t wanna give anything away to anyone that might be lurking…
But it’s purposeful, the plot. Well thought out and planned. There’s stakes, and development to get us there. It won’t feel forced or meta.
Hope this helps!
Silly Sentinel, we’re always lurking. Aaaaalways…
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Glad to “see” you tonight, Thomas.
A lot of the Shadow members were quite taken that you were around. You’re a celebrity, after all.
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And the Maw, probably.
The Maw Walkers seem to be the super elite champions though. Like, in the same vein as the Deathlord of the Ebon Blade and the Highlord of the Silver Hand might visit the same dungeon gameplay wise, when some Legion bosses acknowledged your cool artifact weapon. That never struck me as… us. The RP characters. Haha.
I’d agree with this. There are lots of folks that can go to and from Oribos and the other realms, but only a handful of folks who can go into the Maw willingly and come back willingly.
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Yeah I should clarify it’s easy enough to get in. Just friggen. Yeet self off edge. 
Getting back is the trick 
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Oh yeah. I doubt people would be allowed to if they weren’t a known maw walker. How do you find out? Is there a test?
I’m kicking around a few ideas for some Shadowlands focused rp. I just don’t know if I have the free time to take it anywhere. 
Can anyone link quest text or a video or anything where an NPC states there is more than one maw walker? From everything I recall, there is only one, referred to as THE Maw Walker. It is stated that other mortals will arrive in Oribos and choose to aid the covenants; but from everything I gathered while questing being able to come and go from The Maw is something unheard of before now and a thing only able to be accomplished the the one Maw Walker whose soul is somehow attuned with the waystone. That Maw Walker can also temporarily join their souls with the souls of others to pull others out of The Maw in addition to using the soul crystal every covenant provides to smuggle souls out of The Maw.
Though, if I’m wrong and just somehow missed the text that definitively establishes the existence of multiple maw walkers, I’m ready to be proven wrong.
Grandmaster Vole, after finishing the final boss of Theater of Pain will say “Victory and glory are yours! May you fight forever, Maw Walkers!”
Yeah it’s used in group content pretty much.
Which to me doesn’t suggest that there’s a heap of Maw Walkers. It’s a bit like how in Legion some bosses would acknowledge your artifact weapon but it didn’t mean there were multiple Archdruids or whatever - it simply meant that these are the elite heroes. The Archdruid as well as the Highlord, as well as the Deathlord, and so on.
True, but it does still confirm there is more than one, at least. And until we figure out what the criteria is for being a Maw Walker that’s the best we’ve got. Cause if it was everyone from Azeroth, why wouldn’t the faction leader crew be able to make the waystone react? It seems to just be a plot convenience sort of thing that doesn’t hold as much bearing as being the sole wielder of Doom Hammer or the Scythe of Elune would, but man who knows, I dunno.
For me, a good story is not driven by ideas, plot, the circumstances of its backdrop etc. It’s driven by the character(s). Specifically, it’s an exercise in transformation.
A flawed, haunted character transitions from personifying an anti-theme to personifying a theme via, at first, making mistakes based on their flaw, then fighting the friction of their flaw, then overcoming it – to become the person they need to be to go into the final act and succeed.
This avoids having flat characters going through scenes on rails. Paper dolls in mine carts, that sort of thing.
As such, the way I’ve hooked in is via character flaws. An old poet buys his way through a portal to Oribos for all the wrong reasons. A cleric has crossed the veil to look for an old poet who might know her brother’s whereabouts. A master of arms searches for a cleric who is owed her life – and owns her heart.
In this way, all of my current characters are hooked in to this eccentric old druid’s mistake via their own issues and poor (yet relatable) choices.
This gives me a basis for why these characters are in the current major locales, which I take into walk-up RP. Sometimes this is fruitless, sometimes it is bountiful. Often, it’s just fun dialogue writing with a bit of on-the-fly plot ideation in terms of explaining backstory points that I have purposefully avoided thinking about.
These characters’ stories will likely conclude at some point during the expansion (and probably won’t have anything to do with Sylvanas, for example).
This is probably the only form of RP I can handle in this game, as the idea of involving myself in some large-scale plot-driven stuff that tunnels into Blizzard’s insanity is just not what I’m interested in.
HOWEVER, if the timing lined up for me I’d be doing some group Goblin RP because I’m approaching that character way differently. I think it’s because Goblins have this sort of comedic element that slices right through the hot mess blizzard serves us. Ay, boss, I don’t remember signing up to die in a Vampire castle. I thought I was being summoned back to Booty Bay!
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