So much so that it’s to the point of making absolutely no sense what-so-ever in any acceptably coherent fashion for the purposes of proper storytelling. The more recent expansions in the form of Warlords of Draenor, Battle for Azeroth, and Shadowlands basically have a story that is exceptionally convoluted in terms of character motivations and sensibilities that often contradicts what is known about those characters based on pre-established lore. Given that Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King pre-date Cataclysm, they could’ve and should’ve been updated to reflect the “current situation” as it was during the time of the Cataclysm expansion in at least a minimalistic way. Cataclysm was, and should have remained, the starting point for players. Granted, World of Warcraft is now 9 expansions in, all representing different time periods, but that is exactly the issue. While it’s no secret that this new zone was effectively designed to circumvent previous game story arcs and rush players into the latest content, it ultimately damages the game more than it helps as new players should experience the prior story arcs in order to acquire that important lore context regarding their characters. Yes, these are all Horde examples, but still makes the point that the new starting zone removes important unique race context. Tauren: Chieftain Cairn Bloodhoof dies fighting Garrosh in a Mak’gora challenge for horde leadership due to Grimtotem treachery and are doing their best to keep the horde from falling apart.įorsaken: Raised from the dead and universally mistrusted by other horde factions as they done goofed at the Wrathgate. Trolls: Chieftain Vol’jin is at odds with Garrosh and internal conflict between orcs and trolls is possible.
Orcs: Thrall vacates title of Warchief in order to deal with cataclysmic forces, Garrosh becomes new Warchief and begins war to acquire resources. Some examples as per Cataclysm Starting Introduction In storytelling the importance of the “contextual background” cannot be understated, especially when characters come from many different cultures with different viewpoints. However, in terms of contextual lore it’s woefully inadequate and thus would be best left as an alternative starting point to veteran players who already know the “who, what, why, and where” so to speak. Sure, I will give credit that the new starting zone story is simple with a nice quest flow to the end goal of stopping the ogres’ necromantic shenanigans and escaping the isle. The abandonment of base context in regard to unique player character race origins in favor to that of a generic faction recruit that explains nothing as to how or why these races are the way they are is a noteworthy red flag. While World of Warcraft has never had the most apt ability for story telling it has certainly become an order of magnitude worse in recent times. With this all said and as someone who has seen all but the very beginning era of World of Warcraft, here are my thoughts/critiques:
World of Warcraft got me through some tough times, offering a sort of temporary escape for a few hours to go on an adventure with friends and guildmates. But regardless of my then “game gripe of the day” or whatever personal issue I may have been dealing with, this one fact remained: I loved the game. Even going so far as to delete an account or two and swear off the game for good, only to find myself returning when the next “new shiny big expansion” was announced or launched. Like some or many, I went through periods of “love and hate,” at times taking the game way too seriously, playing more than I should, then questioning what I was doing with my life, etc. This was due to the overarching story being simple, with numerous references to background lore that didn’t leave me confused but rather curious due to the fact that while that reference was relevant it was not imperative for one to follow the story.įast forward to the coming of World of Warcraft, I first started playing about mid-TBC era, then off and on throughout the expansions ever since. I was first introduced to this IP via Warcraft 3 and absolutely loved the characters, story, and overall feel of its “universe.” I never played Warcraft 1 or 2 but that didn’t hinder me in the slightest as the game did a wonderful job at making the current motivations/issues of the characters quite clear and easy to follow.
First, I would like to preface this thread with a little bit of background before getting into the critique of the current game.
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