Re-hashed textures, shocker.
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??? and a deciduous forest is better?
*stares in troll *
*stares in tauren *
Etc
Man nature biomes are pretty simple. Ecosystems arenât infinite. If it was going to be a forest they couldâve made it a diversity of trees
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ashvane is also a high fantasy twilight-y forest
itâs even got the tropes. orcs fighting elves for lumber.
i donât think itâs evidence of much that it looks like an after life that is seemingly a twilight forest. thatâs a common image in high fantasy, this after life i assume is just very very heightened, having not looked at all the screenshots
Sure.
But Ardenweald looks like Ashenvale. It doesnât look like a universe-wide afterlife. It looks like an afterlife made specifically for Ashenvale.
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Blizzard tends to recycle ideas they already recycled like three times prior. It is worthwhile to remember Ardenweald began as a subsection of bastion, but they loved the fantasy of the star trees so much they split it off into its own zone and built out lore to support that concept. The entire zone literally began due to rule of cool.
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iâm not gonna argue a forest doesnât look like a forest but that isnât saying much of anything imo. itâs not a point of criticism to me.
ashenvale was made up in a time when the high fantasy MMO needs a twilight forest zone and it hasnât been nuked by any goblins or old god so it still looks like one.
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Ashenvale doesnât look like any forest. Itâs got distinct themes that match night elf aesthetics. Thereâs a distinct difference in Gilneas/Silverpineâs forests, and Ashenvaleâs.
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Why does Stormheim look like Halls of Valor which look likes Bastion? 
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those arenât supposed to be high fantasy twilight are they?
with elves behind every tree and uncaring orcs trampling the forest underfoot. we can point to these in pretty much any fantasy with vaguely forest-y elves.
You canât make the claim that itâs âjust asset recreation/reuseâ when Ardenweald is specifically the night elf afterlife for night elf souls and night elf gods, and it shuns trolls and troll gods.
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Because Odyn copied Kyrestia.
And if Elune ends up being tied to the Winter Queen, hoooo man.
Thatâs the point. You donât find this even mildly tedious or problematic?
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when you have to cover all bases? no. the pragmatic, absolute 0 experience video game maker in me says this is probably very tacky if we have X amount of themes while also making this big commitment a very uniform thing, with a specific mechanic tied to the zone
iâm saying this is a decision made above the lore. it has no bearing on the decision because weâre dealing with how you funnel players into one place, etc.
is it ideal? nah, but corners are cut somewhere.
I literally just cycled through a list of loa, and the fact the Winter queen cares equally for all of them. It is Bwon himself she has a distinct disinterest in. That isnât new. Eyir also loaths him.
this entire conversation seems to be going in circles.
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https://i.gyazo.com/16b9f9a2ce27a4bcab757bf38c9a7f08.png
https://i.gyazo.com/3f96795ff044201f16a61b1678e577e7.png
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Winter Queen says she doesnât care about the âpetty squabblesâ of the Loa, actually.
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Youâve no proof she hates all Loa, she just doesnât like Bwonsamdi.
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readem and weap:
`https://i.gyazo.com/16b9f9a2ce27a4bcab757bf38c9a7f08.png
That she has a responsability to the loa? yes. Does she LIKE the loa? No.
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She probably doesnât care about Wild God squabbles either.
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She specifically says that the petty squabbles of loa are no concern of hers and that they should not involve ardenweald in them.
https://i.gyazo.com/16b9f9a2ce27a4bcab757bf38c9a7f08.png
There is nothing petty about what Muehzala is doing.
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yes, I already noted she seems to not care what living Loa or Wild Gods get up to, they are no longer her concern. She seemingly only cares about those being restored, and those bound to her realm forever.
It is worth noting in general the Winter Queen seems very cold, aloof and well⊠winter-y? She is not even warm to the player. She comes across very inspired by the concept of Queen Mab.
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