I was hoping to learn about this “hostile word.” It sounded intriguing. What is this “word” that can engender hostility? How can I use it to sow discord?
I am disappointed.
Bird is the word.
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Well, we have several in the real world…
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I completely forgot about that. So he could have done something different.
The use of the fel did in fact damage the vibrant landscape of the planet but it wasn’t dying.
Seriously, this is the forums. “Words that engender hostility” is the name of the game.
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All you have to do is spend some time on this forum to see the hostile world that wants the Horde destroyed.
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I mean, you’d think this, but then the Void Elves moved in and so far people are more wary of them because of the Void, rather than because they’re former Horde.
I mean… not really? The Alliance has kept a seat at the table for Quel’Thalas. Alleria gave them an invitation, again. High Elves were proof that they’d have been welcome, and then we got Void Elves as if the Devs needed to provide even more evidence the Blood Elves would be accepted in the Alliance.
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I thought they are former high elves, who were never with the Horde.
The Void Elves are followers of Magister Umbric. They were Blood Elves, loyal to Quel’Thalas. They didn’t agree with joining the Horde, but they were loyal to Quel’Thalas and remained, meaning they did join the Horde as well.
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This happened directly after the Third War and is part of why they went Horde.
Kael’thas was vulnerable, but Lor’themar could not leave Quel’Thalas undefended while he launched a campaign to assist the prince on Outland. The blood elves needed allies, and they would not find them among the humans, dwarves, gnomes, or night elves. Kael’thasls decision to join Lady Vashj and Illidan had soured relations between Quel’thalas and the Alliance.
I’m not saying they’ve never had a chance to rejoin, but they were rejected and that’s why they went Horde (in part).
They went Horde because an Asian poll said Horde players wanted a femme race on the Horde, so their girlfriends would play WoW with them. It’d be nice to say it’s because of Lore reasons, but it never was. Lore was invented to justify a business decision, and it’s not the sturdiest lore out there. As pointed out, we have two separate groups of Thalassian elves welcomed in the Alliance as is.
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This is the story thread, we’re talking about how they wrote the story.
Teldrassil burned because the writers thought it would be good. Doesn’t change that Sylvanas did it in the lore.
Lore is literally only ever invented, it does not exist outside that and is always a business decision. Because the writers think it will be a story the players enjoy.
Again, you cannot deny that the Alliance once rejected the Blood Elves, that is a lore fact per the quote.
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I disagree.
A story is written by an author who has a story to tell, a message to send, an idea to share with others. Readers can often see patterns, note the logic in a plot twist, or spot plot holes and inconsistencies.
Blood Elves joining the Horde wasn’t a story being written. It was a decision from Marketing passed down to the writers who were told, ‘make it work.’ And as tends to happen when creators and accountants have a difference of opinion, the story suffers.
Talking about Blood Elves and their relationship to the Horde or Alliance is always going to bring up this issue that the lore was twisted to make something work for the sake of marketing. That has to be acknowledged. If the writers had pure creative freedom to write as they please, I don’t think the Blood Elves would’ve joined the Horde. I don’t think they’d have joined the Alliance either. If game mechanics weren’t holding the writers back I imagine Blood Elves would’ve been part of a third faction, the Illidari.
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Whether you think some lore is more ‘pure’ than others, you can’t disagree lore is always invented. That’s a simple fact. Azeroth is not real.
Stories are written for various reasons. But I don’t really believe in Blizzard’s motive as a writer in some fanciful, youthful sense about just telling a story. They are a company. You are deluding yourself thinking their motive is not profit.
All their writing goes through the filter of ‘will this sell?’
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Its not about purity, but about story, about the compromise of creative ideals.
Of course their motive is profit. Stories can be quite profitable. Just look at J.K. Rowling, or J.R.R. Tolkien, or George R. R. Martin. These people (their descendants in Tolkien’s case) have incredible amounts of money from sharing their stories. That said, you can also see where profit vs. creativity comes into it.
Looking at Game of Thrones, Martin hasn’t finished writing it yet, but the show on HBO was bringing in money, big time. So, they changed bits of the story as they filmed, and then created an ending that utterly flopped among fans. They pushed forth story that hadn’t been written because the show was profitable.
Imagine if J.K. Rowling had been told by movie writers that the last books needed to take place in outer space with Wizard Space Ships because space-stories were becoming super profitable. Would that have been any good? Or would it be a compromise of the story she was telling?
Yes, Blizzard is a business. That doesn’t mean it cannot have good stories written by passionate and creative people. It means that we who love these stories need to be mindful of when the story is written because of business, rather than because the writers want it.
I mean, just look at the Horde. Chris Metzen wrote them as a band of honorable savages, reconnecting with their shamanistic roots, trying to find their place in a world that hated them. It was a very heroic story of underdogs trying to overcome adversity and prejudice, and it was compelling.
And then marketing told the writers, “Nah, people are more comfortable with monster races being evil. Turn Garrosh from this charismatic and growing Warchief into a two-dimensional villain. It’ll sell better.”
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If something is compromised, I don’t know what else you are claiming except their motives are not pure ‘good story’. You can’t disagree ‘good and bad’ lore are both invented, you’re just casting shade at their intention on specific decisions.
Let me be clear, I am not saying all writers and writing decisions are motivated by money. I am saying Blizzard (and most game companies) are. And that’s fine, that’s their job.
Again, you describe these as very distinct elements in a company when in truth they all work together to formulate these things. If anything this being in 2007 (before being bought by Activision) was their most ‘free’ period. Even looking back at discussion about Vanilla has them debating what races to include based on what people liked, like the Night Elves and Forsaken.
It isn’t ‘marketing versus writers’, it is writers and marketing in tandem in how they write the story. Because at the end of the day it is Blizzard’s goal to sell games and subscriptions.
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Not exactly. They were outcasts, but have since becoming outcast, there is no desire to go back to those who initially outcast them.
Sure, they might be “accepted” by the Alliance, but it’s too late for that now. No Horde is interested in being subject to the Alliance’s profane empire.
Anduin is a pretender to reconciliation, framing the horde as his lost wayward subjects- which could not be anything further from reality. The Horde doesn’t need the Alliance’s friendship. Only its occasional cooperation.
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We only see them kill Garithros, who was killed after he ordered the Forsaken out of ‘his’ city. We dont see what happened to the men. Just as plausible to say they were all allowed to leave peacefully.
And the Alliance of Lordaeron is not politically the same thing as the modern Alliance. The diplomats the Forsaken sent to Stormwind never came back. But the Church of the Holy Light entertained the Scarlet Crusade, and put a bounty on Forsaken hearts.
So, I think the Forsaken were in the right for not trusting an organization that hosted the diplomats of a human supremacist terrorist group but presumably killed theirs, and also financially rewarded their mutilation.
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We’ve seen Anduin repeatedly disregard the opinions of the same people he’s supposed to represent in favor of his own beliefs. What’s worse, is that the narrative would regularly bend over backwards to validate him. He’s only just now started to get called out for it, and only in books.
Varian was even worse. He’d force his decisions down peoples throats.
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Kings who do that that get the 'tine