The Light is Boring

Lore Story Forum
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Hey, one of my biggest issues in wow is the fact the Light is pretty boring as a religion (Despite the fact Humans, Draenei, Blood Elves, Dwarves, and now apparently Undead all revere it). It just seems to be Christianity but without any actual prayers or traditions. It has a somewhat vague history that still establishes the formation of the order, but never any actual thing that priest actually do to venerate the light. We might have to get some religous tools or prayer book, but never get to read the prayerbook or see how those tools are used.

Hell the only people that actually explain why the light is venerated beyond it’s historical signifigance are the draenei (Do to having demigodlike beings made of the stuff that guide their race) and the FORSAKEN (Because the cult of forgotten shadows actually went deeply into what role the light played in the universe and why shadow worship was just as vital).

How would you make the light more interesting? It’s not a bad concept being a pseudo-christianity pseudo-buddist religion, but it needs work onto why people worhip it and what it’s worship entails.

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Give us some historical saints and what they did to become saints, tenets of the faith, stuff like that.

It’s a shame the Light is so dull because I really like the medieval cathedral aesthetic.

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I would create (or keep those which already exist) several sub orders/cults focused on one aspect of the Light such as healing, retribution and protection. It could add some minor conflicts between them and even create schisms. This would create several “Church” with a unique art style and philosophy for each one.

This could be explained lore wise by the differences between the Lightlord (and/or the Naaru if they don’t exist). For instance some might follow Xer’a’s teaching and others would prefer a more benevolent path.

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I think they need to flesh it out more. I don’t have a paladin and my priest isn’t in legion range yet so I don’t know what that say about the light in game but it just seems like this holy presence that can be called on. We don’t know much about its history or discovery.

We also know it’s revered differently by various groups. It would be really nice to get a better view of what the light is. They could start with who started worshipping it first and how that evolved into the religion we see today. Since background if it’s founding churches would be nice too. Surprisingly we have some of these details for the Night Elves and Elune that we don’t have for the other Light based religions.

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Don’t really find Christianity boring, but it is a very hmmm usually a bad thing for video games to mess around with. Hence why the Light is changing to a different approach and becoming more Crusader themed. Same with demons being the evil force in Christianity being bad to mess with and is taking a back seat and getting locked in the closet. While Lovecraft is a very popular fandom and never fails thus taking center stage.

I personally love “Pure Good” and “Pure Evil” factions, and while not following Christianity, I did grow up with Angels and Demons. It however doesn’t work in a faction game like Warcraft because then we get the “Dumb Good Alliance” vs “Cartoonish Evil Horde.” Flat characters and factions usually work in a single player setting, and not multiplayer setting. The big difference being WC3 and why it worked well vs WoW, and why it is pretty hard to transition well.

The other reason for why it doesn’t really work is the dominate trait people don’t like. Take the Burning Legion as an example. People got bored of BL fast because it is front and center dominating, green everywhere, fire to cosmos screaming, etc. Lovecraft works with subtlety and being crafty. Like why people like Sylvanas more than Garrosh.

Also having flat characters and factions requires great, great, GREAT! Writing skills, and this is Activision Blizzard we’re talking about. What is made in lack of objective must be greatly made up with personality and character. That is a very hard thing to do, but when done right is the very best thing written. Take a look at the best written flat characters and factions. Batman, Joker, Goku, Frieza, the Empire in Star Wars, etc.

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I like how versatile the Light is - a weapon of vengeance for some like the Scarlets, for others salvation, like the Draenei. I think race-related religion needs to be expanded upon, but I prefer to have the Light itself remain ambiguous and open-ended.

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I would like that, no major one true religion, just a better explanation of the churches the mortals visit

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Keep it ambiguous. It stopped being interesting when it became an actual THING. Back in WC3, and Classic, the focus was primarily on the characters, and not light, the cosmic force.

When the naaru were introduced in TBC, it was still interesting because we didn’t know what exactly they were, or their true aims. They were still very alien. By the time Legion (and Chronicles) rolled around, however, much, if not all of the mystery was lost.

TBH I am not sure it can be made interesting. The cat is out of the bag.

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I’d love to know why humans almost entirely converted to Light worship. From what little we know, they originally had a belief system that incorporated nature magic. Eventually that was supplanted by the Light, but Gilneas took longer than the other human kingdoms to convert, so some of them retained their nature worship in the form of GIlnean harvest witches. Kul Tiras, meanwhile, seemed to have gone all in on the Tidemother after the initial colonists were guided by her to Kul Tiras. A small minority in Drustvar eventually converted, but nothing more than that. Lastly, Stormwind had already been founded by the time missionaries from Lordaeron came down preaching about the Holy Light.

According to Chronicle humans discovered the Light by certain individuals, unkowingly, communing with Naaru in their dreams. From there, they took what the Naaru had shared with them and learned how to access the Light. But that’s just how it was discovered, not how/why it spread so much and replaced the nature magic beliefs early humans had.

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The Bible itself mentions the Devil and thus Demons being associated with Light while the forces of Shadow seem connected to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse(led by Death) and Hades.

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I disagree. I am a big fan of Warcraft’s light.

It is interesting that any zealous creature can harness and command the Light to suit their ends.

Xera and Yrel bring a malevolence that I find intriguing.

A’dal is just aces. I hope he guides the good guys and doesn’t get the villain bat.

Warcraft’s Light is so much more than Christianity. It is zealotry and will, regardless of faith.

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I think, like Batman, the thing that makes Christianity so interesting is its rogue gallery in the Devil, Hell and Demons. It’s also a fully formed religion with rituals, scriptures and a dogma that theoretically requires great sacrifice to live by. The Light right now doesn’t feel like it has a rogues gallery. It’s barely even a religion anymore. Just another school of magic to be used as needed by the practitioners of multiple supposedly unrelated religions.

The Light itself feels mundane, and when we think of the Light as a religion, we think mostly of the relationship the Humans, High/Blood Elves and Draenei have with the Naaru. If we really want to see interesting forms of Light Worship, we need to look at the Night Elves’ Elune, the Tauren’s Sun and the Forsaken’s Cult of the Forgotten Shadow. In all three of those cases, Light worship seems to be tied to another cosmic force. Elune includes a degree of Arcane and apparently some Shadow as well as Druidism via her son. Tauren’s mix their Light worship with elements of Shamanism and the Forsaken try to maintain a strong Balance between the Light and Shadow.

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well, there have been instances where it’s shown itself to be possibly evil like that one naa’ru that attempts to forcefully convert illidan (i forgot her name)

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If one had to guess it would simply be because its tenets were particularly appealing to people. Justice, compassion, retribution etc sound like something the common folk living in a dangerous land would gravitate towards naturally.

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I reject the light, the lightforged will probably turn on us.

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That really seems to be the crux of the issue. It used to pretty much be Christianity, back in the day. But, presumably to avoid controversy, they gutted it to the point of it just being a vague philosophy. I think it also suffers from not having a deity, deific entity, or even just highly revered saint to congregate around. Even religions that were never intended to have a deity tend to develop a figure of reverence to emulate, like Buddha in Buddhism. The Light, as it’s presented now, feels just aimless and arbitrary. Any shmuck can go outside and believe the sky is blue, and as long as he believes it hard enough, he can become a wellspring of Holy magic.

Also, Dwarven worship of the Light desperately needs expanding on. Entire irl wars have been fought internally amongst the same people for minor differences of interpretation of a religion. The fact that Dwarves are a different culture and species should mean they have at least some differences in worship compared to the Humans, even if they’re only peacefully contributing new ideas and they’re own take on it.

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I don’t dislike the light, I just dislike the ways in which the worship of it represented.

Humans: it’s the national religion. Sure, it’s a bit boring, but it’s a stock standard representation.

Dwarfs/gnomes: probably same as humans

Worgen: not really a national religion, but otherwise same as humans

Draenei + LFD: relatively interesting. Instead of it being just a general belief system like the aforementioned races, they actually have objects of worship: the naaru. They are a part of their society; they are essentially the anchors of their society. With LFD, they are by definition warlike, but the light doesn’t necessarily contribute to it, but they certainly aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty using it.

Pandaren: literally ?

Dark iron dwarf: second most interesting, behind Zandalari. Their paladins (and, by extension, priests) don’t follow the boring generic facet of the light, where they strive to always be good: the light is an instrument, and they will use it to murder and kill - just like any other kind of magic.

Undead: idk masochists, zero explanation other than “they were once human worshippers”

Tauren: poo religion, it is also boring (only because their religion isn’t expanded on IN THE SLIGHTEST).

Goblins: ???

Blood elves: pre-Arthas, it was their religion, but it wasn’t elevated as the top priority of their society, magic was - that’s okay. During BC was when it really got good: forcefully using the light for conquest and all that good stuff - it was used, again, like another magic source (in essence). Post 3.3: boring again. Their paladins are stock standard, and seemingly neutered. Shame.

Nightborne: ???

Zandalari (prelates): most interesting. They believe firstly in the loa, and the light (a close) second, so they aren’t bound by the boringness of it.

How would I make it interesting? It’s all down to the execution. It’s a fantasy universe, and the majority of the races are, indeed, being very “Christian” about it. I dislike it greatly.

Then you have races like the arakkoa (also special mentions to the tol’vir, who probably also use the light) that actually utilise it nicely. TFW there will never be a playable highborne arakkoa :face_with_thermometer:

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Back in WC2, the Light was very much Christianity. You clicked on the Church and you heard Latin Chanting, “Praise God.” There were passages referencing, “God,” in the manual or the game as well, and even talk of angels.

When WC3 came around that all changed. The Light became more like The Force from Star Wars. Wielding it was a matter of will power and wisdom. This became reinforced in WoW where you could have people wielding the Light for Good (Player Characters) or Evil (Scarlet Crusade). Then in BC we got the Draenei and the Naaru and everything about the Light just got confusing.

Right now we’re seeing the Light being used for more malevolent purposes as a slowly creeping motif. Lightforged Draenei being particularly violent and bloodthirsty, Yrel leading a crusade of forced conversion, X’era banning all knowledge of the Void from her followers, etc…

The Light as a force is becoming more, “Interesting,” depending on one’s definition of what is, “Interesting.”

As for the Human Religious Practices, part of me wonders if they’ve really survived the modern age. I mean, Anduin went to study with the Draenei. If other Humans are studying Light the way the Draenei know it, well… it’s doubtful the Human traditions and philosophies will emerge in tact. At worst they’ll be outright abandoned as a primitive attempt to grasp a great power, at best the Draenei method will become the go to for learning and old human methods became more tradition and ceremony rather than anything practical.

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Ok, so its not just me that finds the light crazy boring! One thing that I think would help would be to differentiate the ways each race uses it. Hordeside is already pretty good at this with belves, zandalari, and Tauren all having their own belief system in the light they just need expanding upon really.

Alliance side we got problems though, aside from the night elves everyone else just follows the human form of the light. I think this could be fixed by attaching dwarven light worship to the titans. Sure they learned from humans but that doesn’t mean they can’t put their own spin on it. Humans can keep what they have, just expand on it a bit more, particularly the difference between priests and pally. For worgen, well gilneas was always a darker themed town, maybe they only use the light by wrapping it in shadow forcing it to move in the way that they like?

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