What Aesthetic Do You Like?

Lore Story Forum
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Many strongly identify with a particular subset of the game. As of late, in reading these forums, there’s been a lot of focus on these various subgroups: e.g. the self-described “night elf fans” or “Forsaken fans” are probably the two most vocal.

However, this isn’t an indictment, it’s an open question of genuine curiosity. Be it a race, class, faction, magic system, or whatever… What aesthetic do you like? And why? What draws you to

For me, I’m one of those self-described Night Elf fans.

As a preteen willfully ignoring the “Rated-T” on the front box of WoW, when I started playing the game, I liked Night Elves the most for two reasons:

  1. They didn’t look evil like the Horde
  2. They were the tallest

Since then, I’ve maintained my attachment to them, for various reasons.

Nature Themes are Relaxing

Though, in real life, I hate anything about “the outdoors”, I’ve always found forests to be tranquil and calm. Add a touch of enchantment, mystery, and artistic freedom in there, and BAM! You basically have Teldrassil and Ashenvale. Though I could name several zones that I think are prettier than both, something about the nostalgia of them mixed with the relaxation those images bring me makes me love the lands and the people attached to them.

Space is Cool

Then, I’ve always had a fascination with space. I shirked away from it in my actual career, but ever since I was a kid, I’ve liked stars, planets, moons, everything that could be out there. I’ve also always loved magic. Grand wizards able to manipulate the word about them through some arcane power inherent to their minds alone. There was always something fantastical about willing all that power into existence. The intersection of these two points is, for me, Elune. A mysterious moon goddess with domain over the stars, whose followers command astral energies to defend their homes.

The magic bits extend into the Nightborne and the Thalassians. Though it’s not one of my absolute favorites, I’ve always found their haughty demeanors to be a grand source of comedy.

Don't Mess With My House

Speaking of Elune, tack on my favorite “warrior” mentality. “I’m not going to pick a fight, but Elune help you if you make me get my inner badass out.” And, as far as I know, that’s basically been the kaldorei since their inception. Their writing has really fallen through on this point since their inception as well, but… Eh… I can pretend. As much as I like “relaxing” and “mystical”, I’m playing “World of Warcraft”, for God’s sake. I wanna see some badasses too!

Their Long Lives are Funny

Lastly, for all elves, their long lives always give me a chuckle. “King Wrynn should really take more advice from Greymane. I mean, the wolf has to have at least two or three centuries under his belt. Sure, it’s not much, but-What? What do you mean he’s probably sixty? Years?! He looks that old at sixty? How on Azeroth do you get anything accomplished in such short times?”

So anyways… Yeah! What do you like most about your favorite group in the game? Class, race, faction, or anything!

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I just like warriors. And the arena. Theres painfully little lore surrounding arenas in wow. Besides Varian’s story. This is very odd to me when arena makes up a huge portion of endgame content for a lot of pvp focused players.

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I like the Eastern Alliance aesthetic. I’m one of the small minority that actually enjoys the bog standard Medieval European Fantasy aesthetic. Kings, queens, dragons, dwarfs, horses, fortresses, magic and swords.

Also I like the colors gold and blue. And plate armor. Nice shiny plate armor.

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Anything related to Magic or the Arcane (my first Character and the one with the most stuff is and was a Mage)

I thoroughly like that purple stuff! However I’ve found myself attracted to Suramar, it’s truly a beautiful city and it screams ‘‘magic’’ at every turn.

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Personally I love the Apexis design. it’s just so pretty!

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medieval is usually my stuff.
i despise space age.

All that has to do from between the middle age to the victorian.
That is why i really enjoy the alliance or kultiras.
is just… all so civilizated and elegant! and plus, Magic.

i also really enjoy the thief class, and of course, ninjas and pirates!.

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Surumar is by far one of my favorite zones. As magical and elven as it gets! It’s definitely the prettiest city, and one of the many reasons that I’m bitter that Nightborne went Horde.

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I like fallen kingdoms being raised up as something twisted so they can survive, almost like cultural necromancy.

The Blood Elves had potential but they reverted back to being High Elves. The Zandalari have some potential with a Death God at the top but I have a feeling that Talanji will turn it around pretty easily.

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At this point i love anything that isn’t medieval building or green orcish building. It just have been to much used.

The one that i would love to see more is goblin and gnome infrastructure. Everytime we see them it is for dungeon… Same goes for troll.

Such a shame that warfront didn’t have anything else beside human,orc,night elf and undead…

In fact i want to see much big city like suramar, tiragarde, gilneas and stormind but for other race that are not human style.

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“You hob-bit my whole s**t, you uninspired hack!”

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Most fall under racial aesthetics and how they craft the aesthetic to really make the feel of the race pop, with a few exceptions.

Among the top are Wrath/Cata Forsaken designs, Dreanei, Blood Elves, Nightborne, Kul’Tiras, Pandaren, and Zandalari in no particular order.

Forsaken:

Summary

The dark, Gothic architecture fits so well. The purples meld nicely into it contrasted by the Blight Green we see so often. Its a rebirth and creation of a new identity that matches their new unfortunate state. It screams I hate life almost as much as the Forsaken do. The only thing I wish is for them to return the darker ambiance to Tirisfal, though I suppose the Inky Black Potions will do.

Draenei:

Summary

Nothing better says “alien” than floating crystals, round smooth shapes, blues, purples and yellows, and incomprehensible physics/engineering all still grounded into the setting. Not over the top, but distinct enough to make you look twice at it and go ‘huh, that doesn’t belong’ in a good way.

Blood Elves:

Summary

Only recently outdone and overshadowed by the Nightborne, Blood Elves scream regal and pompous playing directly in to their, primary, magic user role. Well kept and season-less autumn forests, smooth light stone architecture, pristine streets and floating objects with a hint of fel all and uninhabited ruins around as a reminder of their current situation

Nightborne:

Summary

Excellence, arrogance and mastery personified. There’s little to add that others haven’t. Its Blood Elves dialed up to 11 and given a purple hue. Its a romanticized hellenistic take which fits really well for something “lost” to time and reconstructs a lot of the old Night Elf ruins we’ve ran into over the years while also, retroactively, showcasing the Blood Elves slight deviation, but also foundation.

Kul’Tiras:

Summary

19th century England couldn’t have been put into this game better. From terrible and non-existent labor laws that aren’t comically presented, like in the Goblin’s case, perfect exemplification of a nation critically reliant on the seas and their navy deep down to their culture and religion. Big imposing ships, logistically sound designs, stark “ugly” and “pretty” sections, and above all practical, or as practical as WoW can get.

Pandaren:

Summary

Soothing soft colors, good world building from the cities, towns, shrines and farms all interconnected to create a believable world as opposed to the sporadic farms and mills we typically see in the Horde and Alliance, if we see any at all. Its relaxing and enjoyable. Even the “rough” zones have a certain tranquillity to them.

Zandalari:

Summary

Gold, Loa, arrogance. It screams we’re better than you and I love it. They managed to show it off in such a different way than the Blood Elves and Nightborne too. While the elves are refined and smoothed out, the Zandalari are over the top colossal, rough, and jagged while retaining that regal nature.

Among the bottom that completely miss the mark and go into bland at best, and straight offensive at worst are Humans/Stormwind/Generic Alliance as bland and generic; Darkspear/non-Zandalari trolls as too simple, dismissive, and generic for world spanning people; and Tauren (especially the Kalimdor, less so Highmountain) are just straight stereotyped/offensive into the “stoic Indian.”

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I of course adore the Forsaken aesthetic. Discount Tim Burton is how I consistently describe it. Everything looks like a twisted and gothic reimagining of standard human structures which is perfect.

I do wish we’d get more straight Gothic stuff though. I’m excited for Revendreth but I am a bit jealous they got the spooky Castlevania towers. I always thought it would’ve been neat to see Capitol City rebuilt in their own image with a centerpiece structure like what we’re getting there.

I also really like Orcish structures. Particularly their Wrath and onward style. The structures made out of wood and hide were charming in their own way but they always struck me as temporary fortifications an invading army would hastily throw up. For their permanent structures I really like the black iron look with massive pyres and an abundance of spikes.

Orcs in any representation should look tough. Your first thought upon seeing one should never be “Yeah, I could probably take that guy in a fight”. So their buildings looking like they’d beat you up is pretty ideal for me.

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I know Trolls are heavily influenced by Caribbean and African themes, but I really enjoy the PreColombian flourishes of the Troll culture. It is something I like to see, and I love that Zandalar not only embraced that, it went full throttle. The Battle of Dazaralor is even slightly reminiscent of the Spanish invading the Aztecs, and the United States invading Mexico during their war.

Historical European cultures, African tribes, and Native tribes within the United States get a lot of incorporation into media and entertainment. But PreColombian cultures like the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, are not very prominent. Even in Troll culture, it is blended with African/Caribbean themes. But it is there enough for me to notice and enjoy.

The Blood Elves get second place in my heart. The obvious Tolkien High Elf fantasy stuff. I could go on, but that stuff is often stated and well covered.

Vulpera are new and coming in hot! I look forward to their lore rolling out and unfurling. And meeting more. Scrappy nomads making their way and making do is pretty cool already.

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I’m right with you OP. I love the medieval fantasy troupe but I couldn’t get into the humans. Although I do find the vastness of their zones really cool. I was drawn immediately to the Night Elves for some of the same reasons you’ve covered. Enchanted forests, immortality, a moon goddess, not to mention the color scheme of their zones what’s more fantasy than that?! We’ve fallen far from those beginnings but it’s what drew me to them.

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I’m a big fan of the Iron Horde aesthetic. It’s aggressive looking and reminds me of steam punk. Is that the proper terminology? My best explanation is that the Iron Horde aesthetic looks like a fantasy version of WW1 Germany.

I also like the Dark Iron aesthetic for similar reasons. Infinitely superior to their lesser dorf cousins. Their mountain is a volcano! :volcano::volcano::volcano:

The new Forsaken aesthetic would have to be my second favorite. Their Blightguard set looks amazing and would permanently be mogged on a Forsaken warr if it was plate. Sadly it’s mail. :triumph::triumph::triumph: The Forsaken flagship is really cool too and IMO superior to the Zanda and Kul’tiras equivalent. I also really like how they’ve utilized the crossbow as their primary ranged weapon if they’re not dark rangers. Crossbows are underappreciated.

Kul’tiras has to be my next favorite. I really like their plate questing armor and how the primary weapon for their foor soldiers is the glorious halberd. I think they’re the closest to WHFB’s Empire when it comes to aesthetics. Drustvar has to be my favorite zone. It’s very Witcheresque. I loved the Witcher 3. It got me to play the rest of the series, and watch the Netflix version. I just wish the playable ones aren’t fat though. KT heritage armor looks great in a regular human.

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Nightborne have the best aesthetic among the playable races imo. I really love Thunder Bluff as well.

Honorable mention to the Titan aesthetic. Ulduar is something special.

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Ditto!

Feels more medieval than SW

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Remember back in the WC3 days their buildings could beat you up :wink:

They could never start a fight, but boy they sure could finish one.

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I absolutely adore Zuldazar. It is everything I love rolled into one huge, epic city.

I deeply enjoy the aesthetic of Mesoamerican civilizations so the massive step pyramids with huge golden adornments are a marvel to see. I love that they got the color right too. Too many pyramids in pop culture just looks like… Well, how they look today. They don’t account for the colors that had long faded away, but Zuldazar embraces it fully with a beautiful, earthy red tone to everything.

The Mesoamerican aesthetic is a huge part of what drew me to the trolls in the first place. I always enjoyed their ruins. It was great to see a thriving city for a change. I also love the vertical nature of the city. The city itself is built around huge pyramids, so there are tons of steps, stairways, and bridges connecting the different living spaces together. It makes for a very aesthetically pleasing image.

Beyond that though? I love how deeply nature is still preserved and incorporated into the city. The reddish stone city is absolutely filled with beautiful green trees and huge, gorgeous rivers and waterfalls that dominate every direction you can see. Exotic beasts also roam the streets and live among the great buildings. Dinosaurs function as massive taxis and the sky is filled with flying creatures carrying trolls from one end of the city to the other. There are huge devilsaurs decorated in highly stylized Mesoamerican armor with magically empowered cannons strapped to their bodies. That is just incredibly cool.

Then you have the deep jungles all around the city itself. Deep, winding paths built around the naturally occurring mountains and trees from one temple or village to another. The Preserve where many species of animal can be found. Then a section of the jungle designated for hunting where apparently you can hunt anything, even people as ol’ Nestingwary learned the hard way.

Then there’s the actual port. I deeply enjoy the sea and naval themes and Zandalar doesn’t disappoint in that regard. They have a big harbor with a market place with peoples from all over the world trading goods. You see sailors and shipmakers and even have little rowboats to ferry you around the island.

The ships themselves are also gorgeous. They remind me a lot of Norse dragon ships but much larger and with a Mesoamerican aesthetic and dinosaur theme. I do wish we’d gotten to see more of the Golden Fleet, but at least I can always visit the harbor to see the ships again.

Zuldazar is pretty much all the reasons I love the trolls in Warcraft but magnified ten times over. That aesthetic is both visually impressive and fairly distinct. A splendid blend of nature and civilization without either overwhelming the other. It definitely looks like the sort of city a bunch of hunters who worship nature gods would build.

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I like magic and deserts. And palm trees…