This is true, but there are already no stakes in the faction conflict, because neither side ever gets anywhere and the aggressors never face real consequences from their victims. The story has nothing to lose in this area.
This (along with the example you gave of Calia and the Blood Elves not retaliating against worgen attacks on the Forsaken) could be easily solved by ensuring that any groups that make these attacks are not discernibly associated with Alliance or Horde authority.
If the Scarlet Crusade attacked a Forsaken town, the Horde would not retaliate against the Alliance for it. The same could be true for any given handful of âFeral Worgen,â ârogue Kaldorei,â or âBanshee loyalist fugitivesâ who arenât being obviously supplied by their racial faction and are disavowed by said factionâs leadership.
Again, this just sort of removes the stakes from the faction conflict, which is not something that would be good with the story as it currently stands.
Like, if we were to do this, Iâd want to see the Alliance actively back them as a sort of loophole to avoid association, but it inevitably results in them getting exposed for doing so and they begin sliding down the slippery slope of zeal until it finally comes to a head with violent Internal conflict. Need to keep in mind, not having given players a pay off previously is no excuse for not giving them one down the line.
What stakes do you think exist in the faction conflict right now?
Actions taken by either side in the faction conflict have never had any real effects. No atrocities have ever incurred substantial retaliation. No witless tactical decision has ever hindered the war effort past a single battle. No loss of territory or forces has ever made it discernibly difficult for that faction to show up at the next engagement and do it all over again. Even when weâre told that a race has been pushed to the brink of extinction, they will still have an army the next time the plot requires one.
There can be no stakes in a narrative when the things that happen in that narrative donât matter.
âNext weâll be taking up farmersâ
âLetâs send folks on a suicide missionâ
âGlad the wars over, the soldiers can restâ
âWe goinâ to the afterlife boys!â
I think weâre probably meant to assume itâs some kind of likeâŚspirit weapon manifestation of his living self, because otherwise, isnât the Ashbringer just some like, hunk of metal now?
Well it was often speculated that the Ashbringer was made with a Naaru heart right? So, maybe? Maybe when it was purified, âit diedâ and itâs new form was sent to the SLs? That doesnât really make sense though, soâŚ
I view it more as the sword literally became part of his identity, so in the afterlife he gets a copy of sorts. Like how Kaelâthas still has those orbs around him, just deadified to look like orbs of blood.
Obviously, wiki at your peril but the equipment idea seems about right. And not necessarily the clothes you wore when you die, but things that made your name. For instance, my vulpera monk wears a certain hat all the time. The hat is essentially synonymous with his identity. Going by what weâve seen with the Ashbringer and Verdant Spheres, when he dies his hat has a chance to be seen with him (or an echo of his hat, at least).
EDIT: I should mention the Kyrians seem to be all about forgetting your past self or something to that effect, so they wouldnât be so lucky.
Because itâs cool. I fully expect other Artifact Weapons to turn up again, so long as itâs neat.
Iâm not even being snarky here, this is a company that retconned the lore it released in its DEFINITIVE LORE TOMES before aforementioned tomes of lore even hit store shelves. If Blizzard wants to say Artifact Weapons werenât actually depowered to save Azeroth, then Artifact Weapons werenât actually depowered to save Azeroth.
That or whoever modeled Alexandros and Ashbringer forgot - and his editors and team also forgot - that the Ashbringer was an Artifact Weapon.
This is like when they gave Khadgar Atiesh despite it belonging to Medan a character who is not retconned but who is just too embarrassing to show up in the lore
Better or worse than Shadow Priests being so canonically irresponsible that they accidentally unleashed the Gift of NâZoth because they apparently just threw Xalâatath away after draining its power?
