TWW Cinematic vs. In-game

Lore Story Forum
1

When I first watched Chris Metzen on stage, asking us to be patient and open-minded with TWW, I was ecstatic. Long have I waited to see the creator and living embodiment of WoW and Blizzard North come back to help reel WoW back in from the disastrous era of BfA-SL (DF was also a nothingburger expac but not terrible like the previous two).

I remember watching the TWW cinematic, thinking it was absolute kino. The feels. Even if SL irreparably ruined the lore… Anduin’s pain being on fill display, his broken nature… it really resonated with me, it was a great cinematic.

I guess I can’t really comment on my expectations for the expac, because I didn’t have any. If anything, I guess I was expecting that Chris Metzen WoW that we had from Classic to Cata; MoP and WoD were different, sure, and not as emblematic of that WoW haecity we all simply know, but nonetheless, it was still somewhat present.

The Worldsoul Saga is… not what I expected. Not necessarily in a bad way, or in a good way. I’m just… confused. The launch, while having some good quests and some good characters, still felt odd, but I was willing to give it some time, as we were asked to.

While I love goblins, and yes, while I understand Xal’atath is concocting some grand plan, with Undermine being a part of it… I really wonder if this current patch was always meant to be in the game.

When I look back at the cinematic and the words of Chris Metzen, I guess I expect something more somber, more serious, more… WoW.

I guess I’m just a fanboy and nostalgic, but, I really think allowing Metzen to fully cook instead of having this story council would be better, imo. I think going to these new continents every expac is a mistake, we have so much to work with already. I’m not specifically asking for Cata 2.0 but we really need to stop going to all these different realms and new continents.

Focus on the common enemy, focus on the Horde / Alliance conflict every other expansion. Focus on mundane threats, focus on grassroots, organized problems (gangs / defects / cults). Build up the tension at home, and then send us somewhere for a patch.

1 Like
2

I don’t know what WoW you’ve been playing these past 20 years.
If anything, I thought the cinematic was very divorced from WoW’s intended vibe. It was way too quiet and calm. Like compare it to any of the other cinematics and it’s very underwhelming.
I’ll never understand why people liked it so much, I actively hated it and it made me the opposite of hyped.

6 Likes
3

I don’t why people were expecting The Good Ol’ Days with Metzen back. He flat out said he’s going to let his teams do their jobs and won’t be as hands on as he was years ago, which led to his burnout mind you.

TWW is fun. Lots of great content for casual players and WoW has come a long since the days of when raiders were all blizz cared about.

I been playing WoW on and off since Vanilla, and trust me, it wasn’t as good as people think it was. Vanilla for example was a broken mess where half the specs for most classes were just broken and most talents were useless.

But I get it, nostalgia is one hell of a drug. Makes you think the garbage your smelling is roses

10 Likes
4

Classic has been out for a few years now and people still enjoy it. I don’t think this argument holds much weight anymore. People can go and play classic at anytime. It’s not something we need to look back on and say its only viewed highly due to nostalgia.

3 Likes
5

Classic is pure nostalgia bait and nothing more. It’s why the people still playing it are enjoying it.

The only reason anyone has to actually hop on a Classic server. For the nostalgia of what was.

2 Likes
6

We all have stories we wished never happaned, i wish sylvanas never burned down the tree and she stayed with the forsaken, but that ship has sailed, metzen was never gunna come back and do sweeping retcons he just doesn’t want to roll like that.

12 Likes
7

Plus he’s said it himself that he is going to let his team write and collaborate and he’ll put in his input where he thinks it’s necessary.

I feel sorry for the people who were expecting massive rewrites of the story with Metzen back on board.

2 Likes
8

We’re going back to previously-established zones for the next two expacs, according to Metzen himself. We don’t know if they’ll only take place in established locations, but Midnight will feature Quel’Thalas and The Last Titan will feature Northrend.

He’s mentioned in interviews that development on TWW as a solo expansion was already well underway when he came back. Part of his influence upon his return was pushing for something bigger and more epic; something bigger that couldn’t be resolved in a single expansion, using the existing development on TWW as a starting point. We don’t know how far into the TWW story development was when Metzen came back, so we don’t how much influence he had over what we’ve seen so far.

3 Likes
9

Metzen came back during Dragonflight, and that expansion was almost done when he returned. TWW I believe was designed from the start as the beginning of a three part saga.

2 Likes
10

I would say it was.

Undermine has existed in the lore since vanilla and there have been a lot of mentions of it in the 11.0 content. Hell the Darkfuse first appeared in the max level 11.0 campaign. For an expansion focused on ‘going underground’, one would expect the largest underground city to make an appearance.

Also Undermine was not originally part of Xal’ataths plans. She only went to Undermine because of what Alleria did to the Dark Heart. Goblins after all helped create the Dragon Soul, so they might have played a role in the creation of the beta version (Dark Heart). Although it is funny how the solution to fixing the Dark Heart was found on accident according to Merin’s journals.

However it is interesting that the Darkfuse were already doing operations in the ringing deeps before Gallywix had made his bargain with Xal’atath. I guess because Gallywix was already taking an interest in the Black Blood is why Xal’atath went to him to repair the Dark Heart.

After all, the last time he made a massive retcon, he got flamed for it (see Draenei retcon).

1 Like
11

When Classic maintains six million players again, then maybe.

Pretending Classic is Vanilla is a bit of a stretch tho.

1 Like
12

Nope, not according to Metzen himself. He talked about it in the WoWCast interview with Scott Johnson:

2 Likes
13

Metzen Metzen Metzen Metzen. Dude, Metzen forgot eredar and draenai were the same race during TBC.

He isn’t that great of a writer. Yes, he does some cool stuff here and there but he isn’t Tolkien of wow. Also, undermine is 100% wow and warcraft. Have you never played a goblin or made one since 2011? It is the same flavor and feeling of Kezan

5 Likes
14

Gameplay wise Classic was awful. No balances in the classes, not working talent trees and a bad player ratio where the Horde barley existed. Like back then almost everyone either played night elf or human.

2 Likes
15

Ecstatic from Metzen? Anduin’s pain?

I hope this is one of those lvl 10 Classic Alt Trolls trying really hard… these sorts of people can’t be for real…

16

Breaking Metzen out of the emergency glass is the only reason I’m waiting around to see with Midnight. I don’t think it is particularly outlandish that people who are disenfranchised or otherwise jaded might see a small glimmer of hope on the horizon when the creative mind behind most of the setting is tagged back in.

3 Likes
17

My only complaint about the expansion/ cinematic is simply this. They made a point to show the darn sword and the story has nothing really to do with it.

9 Likes
18

We’re just saying people are going to be massively disappointed when the changes they’re hoping for don’t come to pass is all.

1 Like
19

My expectations are pretty low. I’m just allowing one last chance to prove me wrong, basically.

4 Likes
20

I understand that, i personally also get very defeated and nihilistic about the future of the specifically the horde and its member races, I just aint expexting metzen to retcon all the cosmic stuff that’s been laid out since that seems to be where the writers want to take it

2 Likes