Trolls are at least a playable race. Ogres have been a cornerstone pillar of the Horde since WarCraft 2 (and are even canonically part of the Horde per WarCraft 3 and WoW), but still not even the hint of a whisper of them anywhere on the horizon.
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I mean BFA did kind of relax Jaina, narratively speaking. The whole thing with Baine and Thrall and everything, she’s mellowed again.
Also let’s be honest, the game has swung so far away from the faction conflict that everyone just holds hands and be nice to the point that it’s getting ridiculous.
The fact that the SUPREME COMMANDER of the ALLIANCE MILITARY can just hang out in Silvermoon and visit his son, it’s implied several times prior to this, without anyone being like “hey I wonder if he’s assessing our defences and trying to see how to breach them.” or “should we at least have him followed?”
Nah. It is no longer convenient for people to dislike the opposite faction in the narrative of modern wow, even if they have very very good in-universe reasons for doing so. Frankly this is a massive slap in the face, for the Alliance even more than the Horde.
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Doesn’t change the fact that the narrative has basically been “Orcs and Humans do what they want with no consequences. Everyone else sometimes shows up and is only here because someone has a body pillow of their leader or because we need someone for them to beat up to feel nice because we cant be bothered to even try writing nice things for anything other than stale fantasy bread.”
Not just for the Alliance though. As a Forsaken fan I feel as if it’s a bit silly how we’re helping the Alliance regain lost territories when they’re still occupying territory in Hillsbrad that’s very much disputed.
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All of that said, I’ll say this. The peace has held, in-universe, for 7 years at this point. It was a 5 year timeskip from the end of BFA to Dragonflight, and TWW quest dialogue indicates it’ll be another 2 years from the start of DF to the start of TWW. Maybe 7 years is time enough for some healing. I’m not convinced it’s been THIS much though, not after all that’s happened.
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The orcs and Garrosh loyalists got absolutely slam dunked after Garrosh’s actions in MoP, and we even went and beat up their alternate timeline counterparts for good measure. They didn’t even have a serious, dedicated leader until recently, and that leader is once again Thrall, which a great many orc players I know aren’t exactly thrilled by. Orcs have only really just started to heal from it all with things like the Kosh’arg, restoring what’s left of their shattered clan identity. I’m not remotely convinced they can do whatever they want without consequences.
The humans don’t get many consequences in WoW I’ll grant you. They roflstomped Zandalar and abandoned their night elf allies and everyone’s just like “oh cool man”
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To be fair, in the 20 years of WoW’s history, the Alliance has never been the instigator of anything. Hell, it took us three expansions to repair Stormwind from Deathwing’s assault where the Horde got a renovation in like six weeks.
So the idea that Turyalon can just wander freely around Silvermoon and nobody’s worried isn’t entirely without merit. Because for it to be a concern, the Alliance would have to do something.
But snark aside, I’m not even that bothered by that aspect. I like the idea faction walls are coming down. I’m not privy to how long the time skip for Dragonflight was, but by this point both factions have bled themselves white in trying to kill the other…there’s no point in pretending anyone would survive a Fifth War between the Alliance and Horde. At this point the peace kind of has to last because the alternative is we all get to go crash on Nips McGee’s sofa.
That’s…literally WarCraft. The first game was literally called WarCraft: Orcs vs Humans. Orcs and Humans are always going to be the central focus races of the franchise because they are the franchise. Wanting it to be different is wanting the franchise to be something else entirely…and bluntly speaking a lot of those “something elses” are various flavors of Elf supremacy.
Hillsbrad was Alliance territory. That’s my hill I will forever die on because I grew up on WarCraft 2 and I built Hillsbrad with my own two smol child hands, IRL. And when WoW launched, outside of Tarren Mill, the entire zone was exclusively Alliance-aligned. It’s one of those stupid little things but it’ll be a cold, cold day in the Maw before I recognize the Forsaken’s claim on the Hillsbrad Foothills. That’s occupied Alliance territory.
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BoDA is the exact reason I immediately dismiss all cases for people saying humans in WoW need more things when they, in turn, have been literally only been handed good things storywise to the detriment of everyone else.
If I’m to add something funny about humans I’d also say that their King literally became:
Warcraft Fan: Hey Mum, can we have Arthas?
Blizzard: We already have Arthas at home.
Arthas at home:
And then he went off to be sad for 5 years, in lore time.
So maybe that’s consequences for the humans? XD
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Bolded for emphasis.
The Forsaken were once the people of Lordaeron. Times change. xD
That’s fair though. I grew up on Warcraft 3, and I’m big on if we recognise the Forsaken as the legitimate continuation of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, which I would argue is a precondition to any lasting peace WITH the Forsaken, we must acknowledge their claim to that Kingdom entire, or at least formally negotiate a proper border between what constitutes “living” Lordaeron and “dead” Lordaeron. Southshore and Hillsbrad generally was essentially used as an invasion point into Lordaeron, and so Forsaken found themselves assailed by Scarlets, Scourge and Alliance alike, wherever they tried to stake their claim on their old lands. I’m thinking with a little character bias given my strong Forsaken/Lordaeron interest, but as the Horde already withdrew entirely from Arathi, canonically, Thoradin’s Wall is a solid and important border to hold, lest we end up with nothing at all.
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I’m still not convinced Anduin isn’t still Arthas.
He’s being really melodramatic for a guy who was only forced to stab an obstinate Angel Lady whose removal from a position of authority ultimately helped us defeat Nips McGee. So technically speaking he did more good when possessed then evil.
I don’t trust WW Anduin. He’s too haunted for what the narrative says he did. I think he and Arthas are co-habitating, at the very least.
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Weirdest WoW relationship, old man ghost Arthas talks to Anduin about how he got with Aunt Jaina back in the day, makes it weird.
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Honestly though I’m just being silly, but that’s actually a really cool theory
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Mention of Jaina’s love life in general makes it weird, considering she was for a long time the only female character of note so all these male characters had previous relationships with her to tie everything together and then Blizzard decided to be Blizzard and we all learned about it…
…yeah. Best we just forget Jania’s had a weird relationship history all together, least we all just collectively stare at a wall in mute horror at the implications.
I don’t disagree there, but Hillsbrad and Southshore never fell to the Scourge, so technically speaking their ties with the Kingdom of Lordaeron were severed upon the loss of succession. There’s also the fact Sylvanas turned Hillsbrad into a unfortunate historical allegory and made Southshore the site of a chemical weapon’s test.
I think I’d be more accepting of things if Sylvanas hadn’t been…well…Sylvanas about the whole thing.
All she ever wanted was to study.
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The story appreciator in me wants to say that the lack of Horde representation is depressing, as it always feels bad to know that the identity you’ve been asked to invest in is extraneous to this particular chapter and, thus, you have no real reason to even feel like it’s your story even as you’re being asked to contribute toward it.
But the person who played through the robot cat missions in me wants to say lol. lmao.
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The cat missions were literally a decade ago. I think it’s time we let that go.
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I’m tellin you.
I am sorry for anything Horde ever gets or doesn’t get but robot cat is infamy and will always be the card I throw on the table.
NEVER.
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Remember Camp Tanjaro!
Also Hillsbrad, Southshore, Nethergarde Keep, Theramore, Darnassus…
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Don’t blame us for Nethergarde that was the Iron Horde
Who uh… later joined the regular Horde.
… You know what, I withdraw my objection
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