Let’s say we do return to Azeroth in 10.0 (which I think is what everyone is hoping for).
Shouldn’t the question of racial capitals be a main focus in that expansion ? Not only did BFA destroy two major ones, it also brought many new playable races, some of which are basically homeless. I guess Ren’dorei have Telogrus Rift (doesn’t sound very practical, but alright). LF Draenei’s “capital” is a spaceship currently in orbit around Azeroth.
Orgrimmar should be completely overcrowded rn, given that it’s home to Durotar Orcs, MU Mag’har, the Forsaken (which includes Dark Rangers, Abominations…,), Vulpera, AU Mag’har (which includes Orcs, Gronn, Ogron, AU Stonemaul…), probably Huojin Pandaren too. And that’s just for “year-round residents”. Same goes for Stormwind arguably. Lorewise, that can’t last forever, as hinted at by Lilian Voss in Shadows Rising.
What if devs gave capitals to all of the races ? Retake and rebuild Gnomeregan and Gilneas (though Gnomes do have Mechagon City now). Either rebuild or replace UC and Darnassus (Nordrassil is a bit of a weird choice, but why not). Maybe settle the Mag’har in Un’goro Crater, that’d really fit them, plus we have virtually nothing there. Vulpera can remain homeless - they’re a nomadic race after all.
From a gameplay standpoint, which tends to be the preferred perspective of the “Gameplay first” company… why? Right now the only utility of capitals is as social hubs. And spreading the same number of people over more hubs weakens their use in that regard, it doesn’t strengthen it.
We all know that lore comes second (or third, or fourth, or fifth…). And the idea of adding a place that does nothing but look pretty, when they could add places that look pretty and are tied into the gameplay loops instead just isn’t an appealing one.
And considering how squishy the lore on populations, logistics and economics has always been, it’s just not strong enough to force the issue as an inevitable one. Sure, they could focus on that. But I can’t imagine that they would.
Gnomeregan is too close to Ironforge…from a gameplay pov, it would be completely useless for Blizzard to make it into a functional city and social hub. I don’t like it of course but that’s their logic as a company.
Same for Gilneas, probably. They likely don’t want to make a capital city just for a few Worgen roleplayers.
It doesn’t need to be practical as they can teleport there, also they are very few (especially the Void Elves), so a few tents in a zone without a lot of space and resources is the best they could get logically…I know there are some Ren’dorei players who dream of a “Void Silvermoon” (Renmoon), but surely a capital city like that would have to be built on Azeroth, not Telogrus’ Rift, and as I said they don’t have the numbers…and it’s better if the influences of the Light and Void don’t get too much ground on Azeroth after all because of the cosmic forces’ problem…it’s better if they stay in space after all
If Orcs settle down there, especially Mag’har, and especially alongside Goblins who are already living nearby in Tanaris, Un’goro would soon become a desert without trees because they would cut them all down for building the city and trading with the Goblins, or at least it would be ruined like Ashenvale, in a very short time, and all cool dinosaurs there either tamed as mounts/weapons or eaten…do you really want that to happen?? Not to mention the rage of Night Elf players at the thought of the Horde expanding even more in Kalimdor, even in the southern zones of course they wouldn’t like it at all…
Well, considering how empty the other capitals are, I don’t feel like you have a lack of uncrowded places already. We can argue that that’s because of a lack of OG/SW utility, but adding portal hubs to them would be a lot less effort than creating whole new cities, and that’s what the thread is suggesting.
Why don’t the Ren’dorei just have Tempest Keep? It ties to the Void studies of the Sunfury and the Void Elves could tap into the knowledge that Astromancer Solarian gained. I’ll be honest, I think she should have been the core character involved with the creation of the Ren’dorei, rather than Drathir. We actively saw her wield both arcane and void magics - and with her armor being the Tier 4 Warlock set - I tell you, I wouldn’t have thought twice about making my main Warlock, a Void Elf.
But, just like with everything - if Ren’dorei get a fully-functioning Alliance capital, would that mean Shal’dorei get Suramar as a Horde capital in-game?
You’re right, however I do think that the “rule of cool” is in favor of having new capitals. People like new content, especially content associated with the race they play, and it would also greatly please RPers (though I imagine they represent a very small minority of the playerbase, ofc).
Also, Thunder Totem has its own chat channels despite it lacking almost all of the important services, so I don’t think they’re too concerned with the number of social hubs.
True, they generally care zero about that. The issue of the Forsaken living in Orgrimmar (the heat problem etc) was addressed in SR though.
Eh idk if they really care about that either, when you see how close Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff and the Echo Isles are…
Good points. Then again, this issue could make up for new plots, so why not ? It would finally shed some light on the region. And how cool would Gronn and Bleeding Hollow Orcs look in an environment such as Un’goro ? It’d feel like home !
You’re right about the Ren’dorei. I guess Telogrus Rift is already pretty good considering the size of their population.
Content, yes. Places? Less. A gnomeregan quest zone that deals with the cleanup could be quite cool. A capital city? Less so.
And I am an active RPer (I mean, else I would probably have quit by now). And sure, I would love the idea of having these places. But really, in practice RP is even more dependent on having a steady supply of other players than other gameplay, and projects that try to set themselves up apart from the grand hubs have a very hard time surviving for more than a few weeks. On my server at least most projects give up on that after a while, and find some ic reason to stay in SW when they aren’t doing some adventure plot that takes them outside for a time. There are tons and tons of really cool places that could be great for RP… but in practice they are often just places you pass through, when you are on a journey.
So that’s why I don’t think putting those cities in would actually change much, if anything, about my RP. I mean… I mainly RP gnomes. And my main character visited Mechagon exactly once, for a guided tour. Sure, having livable houses might have made it intersting for a few more days, but since there aren’t all that many gnome RPers anyways, it would have been sooner rather than later that I would have come back to where other players are.
Yes, when it cost them nothing. The books often contain stuff that isn’t followed up on, since the authors tend to have enough room to make the world feel alive, while pressing through the plot they are supposed to press through. They’re not always consistent with the world, not always consistent with the vision other authors have in other books, and not even always consistent with their own books from before.
That said… I do think something for Forsaken and Night Elves is coming, mostly just because their evictions were that prominent and controversial (well, the Night Elves’ one was, the Forsaken will probably just get something for faction balancing…). I just wouldn’t expect too much, and I wouldn’t expect cities without additional gameplay content.
Not to mention the rage of Night Elf players at the thought of the Horde expanding even more in Kalimdor, even in the southern zones of course they wouldn’t like it at all…
meds buddy