I thought the last chapters of the story aren’t out yet?
This I disagree with and really dislike when it is used as an “excuse” for poor writing skills.
If you are hired on to write about the Lord of the Rings, then context matters. Its your job to research your project, know your audience (clients) and present a product that suits their wants and needs.
Whatever happened internally with Blizzard during Shadowlands was the downfall of their writing department.
This BFA cinematic is a great example of showing a powerful character that suits the WoW universe really well.
These are the types of cinematics most of this vocal group ask to be center stage, when they mention heroism, excitement, and larger than life characters. (Myself included)
These moments feel impactful and whatever your stance on the current subject is, when you watch this, you feel a sense of involvement.
When a cheesy “we’re family” line is dropped, especially in light of all the hate Fast and Furious 24 has gotten, players are naturally going to have a terrible reaction.
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Y’know, if the Night Elves really do continue to lose their identity, it means Blizzard is not only REWARDING the Horde for genocide, they are writing the Horde to have been successful doing it. Mass murder and then assimilation together means genocide.
This is so disturbing on so many levels.
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Wait like the full expansion Epilogue?! War Within isn’t expected till Fall of Next Year!
You’re telling me we’ve barely had a year of DF and it’s ALREADY OVER?
Plz Clarification…
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I think I will chalk up Dragonflight to be a stand-alone expansion. It’s clear they pivoted storywise in the middle of Shadowlands and this story was a poorly thought out fix it fic because they were too focused on their next saga to care if it came across hollow and preachy.
The story of the dragon aspects is over as of the raid, but they still have story in 10.2.5, 102.7, and 10.2.9 in the pipeline. We still have Tyr coming up next week.
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Well… they fired a bunch of staff who were not… so great people. Then there was a big hiring push and I guess there was not a very strong focus on ensuring understanding of the game’s vibe? That is a bit part of Metzen’s job now. To be someone who will tell them no if something is not warcraft-y.
fwiw I think the Blue Dragonflight arc is very good, legitimately impressed me, enjoyed each quest in it. Kalecgos’ lines are the weakest part but they’re fine. Sindragosa’s Simulacrum and Senecgos were great.
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I’m asking because I genuinely don’t understand this complaint. I don’t know whether it’s a language barrier on my part, that’s why I’m asking for actual examples of how the dialogue is corny.
(I’m an old Story forum regular, back in the days when we didn’t even HAVE a Story forum. I was around for the first few years after the Story forum got created, then I just kinda stopped posting — but I never quit reading the threads here. That’s why I said, “Hey, I’ve been seeing this complaint for years and I never really got it.”)
Well, can you give Blizzard feedback if we provide it?
If I find the time to make a thread… or at least post in another thread, I can certainly try. But I genuinely want to understand your complaints first… I don’t want to attempt to convey them if I don’t understand them. Does that make sense?
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I mean to be fair, the aspects have always been known for giving long-winded over-the-top monologues that slowly spell things out. Especially Alexstrazsa.
Even Kalec has a real Knaack for sounding about as awkward as Pelegos.
None of this phased me, since they’ve been like this for years now. It’s not like they can’t write character dialogue, Wrathion has been great this expansion, this is just (for better or worse) accurate characterization.
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That absolutely makes sense.
I don’t have as much of a problem with the dialogue here as I do other topics, but I think the overall feedback is that Warcraft in its golden days, was written by a bunch of white dudes in the 90s with a very rock and roll vibe to its storytelling. I’m not saying that’s perfect or ideal, but this “what we really needed all along was friendship” seems to be a huge departure from those early vibes. I actually address these new themes in Warcraft in my post about the Kaldorei.
I would LOVE to tell you about my feelings on Amirdrassil and the Kaldorei
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Knaak has Malfurion give out those exact same long-winded over-the-top Disney Monologues as well.
Knaak loves these sorts of speeches!
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A big part of this is the fact that it doesn’t feel self aware.
Imagine you go into the Emerald Dream, with axe, sword and shield. You battle your way through endless fight after fight, boss after boss, only to confront the Fury Incarnate himself, Fryakk.
After a 12 min battle with this prehistoric proto dragon, you finally land the killing blow, ending his reign once and for all…
… only for 5 Dragons to randomly show up and say:
“It was about coming together, as a family.”
This isn’t a month later, or a side quest, this is the ending to a raid encounter, the last raid of an expansion. It’s cheesy because it is out of place.
Now, had Admirdrassil been shown to emerge from out of the Dream in 10.2.5, unleashing a wave of Azeroth’s energy, restoring the Aspects and other places within the world, as a “the world is healing…” mentality, this would make sense.
A callback to the announcement cinematic.
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The whole night elf suicide seed from SL had basically nothing to do with the night elves and has really just been about the aspects getting their powers back, despite not helping the night elves before during or after their genocide. It is dragonflight, but they didn’t need to use the seed plot point, where they ignored the night elves, only to now have it be the thing that gives them their powers back.
But hey, the night elves went through a genocide and used their souls to make a shadowlands seed just so the aspects could get their powers back and talk about family.
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Yeah, in addition to the fact that Amirdrassil being on the Dragon Isles now completes the genocide of the Kaldorei started by the Horde, it’s primary purpose now seems to be about giving the dragons their powers back. Which, yes, might benefit the Night Elves in some capacity but let’s be real the story of the Night Elf genocide was just a tool to give the dragons their powers back at this point.
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I can tell already I’m gonna get weary of reading about how the Night Elf Genocide was a Stepping Stone to a Much Larger plan from some people and not just parsing it for what it was: Creative designer drove a wrench into the engine of reasonability and took the entire story off the rails with it.
The Burning of Teldrasil may have ultimately destroyed Blizzard’s capacity to even broach the concept of the faction war as a result. I really wish people would stop selling it like it was a Horde Victory when even in the confines of the tainted arc that spawned it every commander that wasn’t Sylvanas was browning their pants over it.
So maybe ease off on suggesting that it was some Machiavellian plan to give dragons their powers back with Night Elf Corpses and not people literally scrambling to make something out of the detritus that was Afrasiabi’s Wild Ride
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Shame that Blizzard is keeping the “aCtUaLLy, AzErOtH iS Not A tITan” retcon. Otherwise, I would’ve liked more gravatas and more specific dialogue. It was better than N’Zoth’s, Sylvanas’ and the Jailer’s defeat cinematics or anything post RTS games featuring a certain overrated blind fel addict.
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