WoW has a story problem (Rant)

Community General Discussion
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Before I start, I want to preface by saying this is not the “anti-woke” post you probably assume it is. It has nothing to do with Faerin’s physical characteristics or Khadgar being in a wheelchair. It has everything to do with the horrendous Patch 11.1.7 questline that everyone is talking about. Let’s begin.

The questline opens by saying that “The sons of Lothar promote strength and tolerance”. When, until speaking now, has Danath Trollbane ever promoted tolerance? He’s completely forgotten who he is. His name is TrollBANE. His people’s legacy is slaughtering trolls. Danath himself held orcs on the other side of the dark portal. He did this not just because he wanted to stop them from reaching Azeroth, but because he wanted them to die in the destruction of their homeworld.

The questline then leads us to Stromgarde, where every single bad WoW cliche plays out. The bad guy is in prison, the substitute leader is helping them, we get knocked out by a quest mob, we are in prison, we are released from prison by a guy who just walks in… all within 45 seconds. There is zero weight to anything.

Danath is then accused of trying to start the war, to which Faerin responds “Danath would never do something like that”. Outside of this questline she has not shared a line of dialogue with Danath. She does not know Danath.

Faerin, who has been preaching peace for the past 45 minutes of gameplay, is then delighted to slaughter trolls because they are the “ancient enemy of the Arathi”. ???

The questline ends in the most hilariously bad cinematic in quite some time. We let Marran live for trying to incite a war a SECOND time. Not only do we let her live, but we just let her leave. Sure, her name is stripped from her, but that just doesn’t matter? People who support her will see that in the same way as her dying. It’s still “Unjust” and she is still a martyr in a sense.

This expansion started on such a high note and this is where we are at. This gets the tone of the game completely wrong and shows a stark contrast in the writing skill and fundamental understanding of what WoW is among this team.

For tone, I look at Legion and BfA. Both have their fun, whimsical moments, but are generally serious and have some weight to them. The War Within has had no significant weight since 11.0 and this is supposed to be the first expansion of WoW’s first narrative-driven saga. Please lock in and try to remember what makes the game great because it really isn’t this.

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I like tacos.

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Someone should inform her that she’s no Arathi

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When the white knights can’t defend the story because your feedback is sound and accurate, attacking you personally and calling you names is the answer.

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Wow brought in both male and female players with it’s original male-centric story.
Obviously women enjoyed the story or they wouldn’t have started playing.

Then someone had the big brain idea to change the formula to “appeal” to a larger audience… an audience they already had. Hemorrhaged their player base multiple times since then.

Gee, I wonder what the problem is.

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See this is not unreasonable, blizzard can make good stories, but they need to really do a deep dive otherwise the rest of the World Soul Saga is in trouble

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Legion had one of the biggest story issues I have ever had in WoW.

who did this?

pre-emptively being a victim?

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But they did it as a unified group who set aside differences between human clans making the first human kingdom of Stromgarde. They also became welcoming of the High Elves. Being tolerant doesn’t mean you are a pacifist who dies instead of fighting.

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Alas you can replace WoW in this sentiment for all of modern entertainment, from star wars, to dr. who, to indiana jones, to marvel, disney movies, star trek, lord of the rings, harry potter, and everything in-between. Such a sad state of affairs.

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Some people will say that WoW has always had bad writing, but it’s only true in part, and that part generally matters less than what they got right.

Whatever problems in plot development the old creative team had, they had a great understanding of how to mix tone with aesthetic. I won’t say the current team has missed the mark on everything, but they’re botching the bulk of it pretty badly.

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I dont think Legion, or especially BFA, are perfect, but Im a big fan of the tone and what they set out to do. What is this issue you have from Legion?

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The word “tolerance” used in this context just shouldn’t exist in a medieval fantasy game. It sounds so out of place and pathetic.

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Me too. :taco:

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looks inside
Faster than light spaceships

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As much of a garbage character as i think Faerin is, i still think they did her dirty in all the cinematics for the war within. They tried too hard to make her look bad, but then her in game model looks so much better.

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ftl? nah, dimensional travel via magic.

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you monster.
UNFRIENDED.

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I would like to by a vowel please D. _. _.