Where do our characters fit into the story?

Lore Story Forum
1

I can’t help but wonder where our characters fit into the story.

I mean if Anduin was so important to the Jailer’s plans. Why did the artifact left behind by the first ones only react to our character? Or was Zovaal impressed that Anduin was able to call the light while in the Maw?

I mean were out collecting all these bits and bobs to restore such and such. Bolvir, Thrall or Jaina hasn’t left Oribos. Are we going to get better credit for being the Titan/Old God killing bad a#@es that we are or are the “main characters” going to take all the credit because the story is centered around them?

2

We’re not fitting anywhere, you exist only for convenience, you then dissapear when done.

edit: i mean it its not sarcasm.

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3

WoW does not really use the player character in a smart way. When we do the storylines, we are apparently the main person capable and “worthy” of actually getting stuff done, yet doesn’t present the main character as particularly strong (often relying on help on anything particularly tough) outside of the Maldraxxus arena intro. Other characters seem capable of stronger feats, so what makes the PC so special is rather arbitrary.

Our individual characters then tend to fade into one of a bunch of “champions” (who were apparently not useful enough to help with the zone questing, yet were needed for the dungeons) in raid content. We do not have a real goal of our own. BFA was a poorly executed exception to this, a budget Warrior of Light basically.

The Horde and Alliance champion should be Jaina-tier characters at this point, given all the stuff they have dealt with, been exposed to and powered up with (but never get to keep).

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4

Try not to think about it.

I wish Blizzard had kept us as random adventurers.

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5

I don’t think that would make much sense more than two expansions in. Adventurers go from local hero to legend in any other fantasy setting with what the PC is able to do. If you think about the order of Cata to now, you go from some new blood who starts proving themselves solving problems in questing zones to an elite soldier in Mists, proving themselves again and taking command of a garrison in WoD. A single expansion in WoW is the equivalent of a long DnD campaign.

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6

You know how in WC 3 how the heroes have random units following them? We are the random units.

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7

For the Maw info, our characters can use the waystone because of our connection to Azeroth’s titan spirit. We ran around with the Heart all last expansion. The First Ones who built the waystone are also connected to the titans and the Eternals. So it seems that energy causes a reaction.

Now we’ve learned that we can take others with us if they stick close by. During the first attack it was just a blind rush to escape, there was no time to really analyze it.

Zovaal didn’t care about that, he was interested in Anduin for an unrelated reason to turn him into a weapon of some kind. The exact details of what and why Anduin specifically are still left to be seen.

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8

You play the Quantum Character, a character that both exists and doesn’t exist until an NPC observes you. As soon as the NPC stops observing you cease existing in the story until the NPCs observe you again.

You are both the Champion who slew gods, dragons, kings, titans and everything else who everyone knows and is on a first name basis with every leader and character of importance…but you’re also the random no one has ever heard of that constantly needs to prove your worth to people you’ve been working with for years now too.

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9

Thank you everyone!

I was thinking a clever plot twist would be, we’re the ones unknowingly the agents sent by the Dreadlords to infiltrate the ranks. All previous expansions were to build us up. Lack of choice seems to be a theme so it kind of fits.

Idk it’s kind of depressing to think we’re only side kicks.

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For the most part, we’re the dangerous mercenary hitman murder-hobos!

— Though as a Blood Elf, I feel I’m acknowledged & valued more by Lor’Themar than the others, especially in the heritage armor questline and some very few Blood Elf unique dialogs :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Additional Comment: My Death Knight buddies are acknowledged by various parties too in the story, but not in a very good way … The Paladins & Red Dragons seem to roast them a lot - both figuratively & literally.

11

We aren’t actually just sidekicks. This board has a very defeatist attitude to everything, including our characters.

Given the rather insane power we’ve been gathering forever, the rest of the world is our sidekick. We have the power to topple just about every threat Azeroth has ever faced. A particularly stupid example of this was during the Darkshore patch, when Anduin states he can’t send troops to Darkshore, you end up going and you’re basically the great equalizer there until the actual Warfront begins. Basically your single character is a walking murdering army by yourself.

The only problem with the above is because our characters well, don’t have character we don’t actually move the story anywhere. We have no goals on our own so we’re perfectly content to just stand around cities doing nothing until someone else points us to something we that needs killing.

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12

Well, let’s see.

Back in Vanilla and BC Weeven was a nameless mercenary, one of hundreds of adventurers who would end up roped into thwarting elemental lords, doomsday cults, scheming black dragons and necromancers out of their own volition. Then the likes of Khadgar and A’ dal began to take notice and call upon her specifically to go against established threats like Illidan or Kael’thas.

From Wrath of the Lich King onward the story made clear that Weeven was recognized as an exceptional hero of her faction for her previous exploits, a self-reliant adventurer fit to skip recruitment lines and get directly assigned critical missions as soon as she set foot upon the rocks of Northrend. Characters like Brann and Tirion began to call on Weeven directly to solve problems and adventure alongside them, discovering the eons old legacies of the Titans and culminating in witnessing the very fall of the Lich King atop Icecrown.

Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria only went further on the Hero angle, getting Weeven acquainted on a first name basis with pretty much every faction leader, be it races or organizations like the red dragonflight or the Kirin Tor. Weeven was also one of a select few Horde agents in Pandaria for months before the Horde main fleet arrived for the second half of the story, and then a key player in overthrowing Garrosh Hellscream.

Then came Warlords of Draenor and actual recognition within the Horde military hierarchy proper: Weeven was officially designated as one of the Horde expedition’s commanders in Draenor. She was granted command over the Frostwall garrison in Frostfire Ridge, one of the two principal strongholds on the alien world alongside Warspear in Ashran. She also commanded troops and a host of her own named agents and enforcers, some of them capable enough to complete their own missions or even adventure alongside her in their own right.

Finally, Legion and Battle for Azeroth cemented Weeven’s place as the Champion of the Horde; on one hand, Weeven was recognized as the most capable adept of her class, uncovering legendary relics and once again leading troops and companions who willfully carried her commands. On the other, she accompanied established figures like Khadgar, Magni, Velen and Illidan at every turn to end a cosmos spanning, endless legion of demons. During the Battle for Azeroth, beyond her official duty as Speaker for the Horde in Zandalar, she became the Horde’s hero killer, disrupting Alliance efforts at every opportunity while being the foremost operative in advancing Sylvanas Windrunner’s plans. She battled and sent running both Gelbin Mekkatorque and Jaina Proudmoore in the process. She was also, once again, granted command of a host of troops and operatives of her own to send on missions of her choosing.

In short, by Shadowlands, within her own faction and the world at large, Weeven should be a big deal: she’s not just a capable, self sufficient adventurer who routinely pillages and weilds legendary artifacts to slay long established threats; she’s also an actual, official, recognized commander of the Horde military. One any Alliance character with a name should actually think twice about going against.

Alas, it seems as far as deciding anything along the other leaders goes… Weeven is granted the rank of Master, but she does not seat on this council… :angry:

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13

I get the impression that with the new set up with Exiles Reach, that everything Pre-BFA is technically non-canon for the player character outside of timey-wimey (potentially AU) scenarios allowed to happen by Chromie.

At which case that would start as off as a humble recruit who rose to some small fame after being the major driving force in a successful campaign to save an expedition from a cult of necromancers. After which our skill and fame grew as we assisted our faction with the events of BFA, even being chosen by Hydae- I mean Azeroth, to be her champion. eventually proving ourselves great heroes who where able to help thwart the efforts of an Old God itself. And as someone stated else where (I forgot who so no quote sorry), that we are likely able to use all the First One’s technology and “Maw Walk” due to our connection to Hydaelyn-Azeroth.

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You are the bug that Zovaal is carefully watching skitter in and out of his pantry, occasionally ticking him off enough to want to squash you, but still carefully observing even then to try and figure out just how exactly you are doing it.

Because maybe if he watches you do it enough times he can figure out how to get out too.

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15

A possible take, but one that doesn’t work against some callbacks Blizzard still chose to present in story, even as recently as Shadowlands itself.

First and easiest to brush off exemple: in BfA a Horde character can claim every expansion appropriate feat she has achieved when dealing with the priests of Akunda (“I am Weeven, slayer of the Lich King”, and so on).

Second set of impossible to ignore exemples: both Lady Vashj and Kael’thas address the player as their vanquisher should the player have the appropriate achievements. Some minor NPCs also address the player personally: Kearnen the Blade in Maldraxxus is Amber Kearnen from SI:7 and will adress Rogues regarding her death in Legion. Warbrave Oro in Bastion will adress players regarding his death in Highmountain. The entire Night Fae covenant will recognize the player’s entire recent storyline going back to Warlords of Draenor and poking fun at Archimonde and Gul’dan’s timey-wimey nonsense plot.

Which means a player who went through previous stories is still recognized as such, at least as far back as WoD.

16

Hmm…This particular character wasn’t involved in any of those events, I haven’t met Kael’thas in the story yet because im a filthy Kyrian instead of a noble Venthyr, but I don’t recall Lady Vashj making mention of me slaying her as I never done her raid. So there’s always a possibly of multiple canons, probably blamed on Chromie.

17

The player character will forever be in an awkward spot simply due to the nature of the game.

If the player is a literal nobody, it feels weird that we’re killing elemental lords, gods, super demons, titans, etc, saving the world effectively 3 times an expansion, and getting little recognition. Also it feels weird that the actual ‘main characters’ get credit when usually the most they do is hop in at the end of the fight to claim the kill.

If we’re treated as somebody important, people complain there’s too much hero worship and that its lame that ‘everyone is a hero’. Similarly, it becomes annoying that despite our position, we don’t have any real power or sway or control. Its kind of like a bethesda game where becoming the master of an organization means the main story is over…and now its time to do menial tasks for your ‘underlings’.

Some people dont like being important. Other people do.

Similarly whenever there’s been an expac without a clear, world ending villain immediately announced, people claim filler expansion. But when we do have a world ending villain, people complain the game is always too ‘epic’ for its own good and it loses meaning.

I don’t think there’s any way for Blizz to please everyone, nor does the simple way the game works make it possible to really approach either way to true satisfaction.

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18

A simple “/tar @playercharacter” could fill some of the books with our legacy. As we read it. A simple nod for our hard work.

If you started a new character without any of those achievements. You woke from a coma received in a battle.

Retrieving the discs of norgannon from classic wow from Uldaman SHOULD have given us some footnote…considering we unlocked unheard event thousands of years ago.

19

Why not both?

The tricky thing here is that Blizzard has to write our quests in such a way that we belong in the sorry no matter our background. Whether you’re a military commander who’s been with your faction since the beginning, gradually working your way up the ranks, you’re a relative nobody who only joined the “murder-hobo” community after Exiles Reach, or a freaking former top agent of Illidan Stormrage with tenuous connections to your racial faction at best, but is for damn sure going to look out for Azeroth against whatever threats appear. -coughs- Or anywhere in between.

That’s why its so vague and wishy-washy. It’s the player that gets to decide how important they are, which the writers have to sort of guess at. Last expansion, we were at least important enough for Magni’s attention to be directed toward us. This expansion, we were trusted enough by our leadership to attempt a potential suicide mission in Warcraft Hell (and then we got out somehow! But not even to Azeroth like we assumed would be the best case scenario, but to the rest of the Shadowlands. O.O ) But that level of trust could have been brought on by a decade and a half of faithful military service, or by some gut feeling about this little nobody who just showed up.

It’s my headcanon also that we player characters rarely act completely alone. While I was playing through the original campaign this expansion, I imagined a small group of my alts tagging along too, even having different reactions to the different zones based on their personalities. And since I quest in a party with friends often enough… But like i said this last paragraph is headcanon.

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20

I always say this: Blizzard’s writing level is the same as a toddler’s