Ah. So if I have encountered them it was me thoughtlessly tearing through a raid to try to squeeze a pretty dress or fancy hat out of one of the bosses.
Rampaging through old raids has been a really bizarre way to see the content I missed. Just watching these super villains give booming edicts of doom about situations long past that I’m oblivious to. Before one shotting then and shaking their corpse in the hope something cool looking plops out.
My headcanon is that Stormwind is like Venice, and Elwynn is like Tuscany. Admittedly, the only reason I feel that way is because of the canals of SW, and SW being the only human city south enough that a Mediterranean climate might be believable.
Would be cool if Elwynn’s questing experience involved rival vineyards, sabotaging competing wineries and blaming it on Kobolds or Gnolls. If you play a rogue, you can have the option of actually carrying out the sabotage.
Of course, that is all in my head. Stormwind, as Blizzard intends, is really just generic fantasy without any discernable cultural influence.
That’s my problem with WoW’s humanity. Kul Tiras was a lovely exception that proves the rule. It felt dirty and lived in. I love how their models are fat and have so many grotesque scar options. Humanity’s a lot of things but clean, pretty and logical we are not. At least not most of the time.
But what I most loved about them that was not only do they have their own myths and superstition but some cadets appear to be playing D&D. This personally made me laugh because I felt the writer must’ve also played D&D with a brolic soldier or marine type who got hooked on it while killing time on tour. Seriously there’s nothing funnier than some mountain of a man with combat experience sheepishly asking a bunch of people clearly of more theater kid stock if they might join in on their game with the sort of hushed tone usually reserved for drug deals.
But it was interesting because while I’m aware this is a fairy tale fantasy escape world, the characters living in it shouldn’t, and would naturally have an escapist fantasy of their own.
Suffice to say Kul Tiras was the first time humans were introduced into the game, imho. Stormwind is just so - clean to me. I’m more reminded of Disney than any real world medieval society.
Though this just is how WoW is. The humans are there because they have to be. The Orcs were the ones with actual personality in WC2. And they became the heroes by WC3. Kaldorei and Dwarves were on the initial box art, not humans.
And it’s a shame because I love how TES has a variety of humans. Greco-Romans in the Imperials, Afro-Arabians in the Redguards, Franco-Celts in the Bretons and a vague collection of Germanic and Scandinavian tropes with the Nords. They all have their own distinct cultures and everything that comes with it, even in a world with much more interesting things like lizard people with boobs for some reason.
Hence why I’m beyond confused why Anduin has taken center stage. Or Jania for that matter who’s Kul Tiran in name only. They’re not only the least interesting aspects of the Alliance but the least interesting aspects of the whole setting.
If Blizz just clapped their hands and decided all the human kingdoms are rooted in actual human culture now I wouldn’t be mad. They keep suggesting Lordaeron is important to the Forsaken but honest to God how are extremely vague Byzantium stylings better than tesla coils and death metal?
I think human culture of vanilla wow actual had a lot of charm and heart to it. The early stuff with the brotherhood of the horse, lothar, stormwind and its surrounding shires has more to it than I think a lot of people give it credit for. But blizzard never went anywhere with it. After the defias were handled stormwind’s lands were never expanded upon. The brotherhood of the horse and stormwinds cavalry military was forgotten, untouched for 16 years with the only development going towards varian and anduin.
I think theres a place for generic medieval fantasy human cities in mmos and wow specifically. That’s why I like it so much. If they made stormwind some “not Italians” or “not romans” or something I’d be pretty upset. I like stormwind how it is. It old and campy and hasn’t aged the best. But there are those of us that like it.
Jaina has always been Kul Tiran… however the last expansion has redefined what that meant. Before then, Kul Tiras was just another generic bunching of humans.
See I agree. I remember feeling really not right about killing the Defias. Because even though their methods were extreme they appeared to have nothing but valid greviances. And it really is the luxury of the wealthy to look down and tell the poor they’re acting improperly over being robbed blind. Yeah if all people had to look forward to after back breaking work was a roof and a cheese wheel, damn right they’re going to start destroying ish when even that tuppence is snatched from their tired hands.
And when it was revealed there was a dragon behind it all I fully assumed that plot point would be revisited. The House of Nobles even had a nice out in being manipulated by a dragon. This is a fantasy afterall benevolent aristocrats wouldn’t be it’s most inaccurate feature.
But I return post Cata and the Defias are even worse now. And that veers away from merely being stupid into being disturbing.
Idk about you but Activision saying
“That’s right kids! Employees angry about labor theft are all dangerous, self interested terrorists!”
Puts a very bad taste in my mouth.
Apparently the Dragon’s Dogma anime has a ton of the exact same sort of stuff, just with more questionable depiction of women.
The whole point of the reveal was to set up the story for the Onyxia raid. No more, no less.
You won’t get your Italians until blizzard brings in ducks… and Australians 
Ve’nari is probably the first and closest we’ve gotten to an WoW character with an Italian accent
At least that’s my impression when I hear her voice.
Night Elves are the Italians. They lose every war they start.
Do quillboar count?
Hmm Ogres or Bastion? 
I think the closest thing WoW has to, like, a Renaissance Italy is Surumar. Which has a bit of a Venice-like feel to it.
You know now that you mention it, why didn’t they give the Vulpera Australian accents?
Buncha cheerful career criminals living in the least hospitable place imaginable who’ve to be keenly aware of snake attacks.