Idle Ramblings: The curious case of BfA

Lore Story
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BfA was strange. Blizzard sold us the faction war as the main theme, but 3 out of 4 raids (and a little 2-boss one) were solely focused on the threat of the void and its servants. The questing made some token effort to include the war, but our gaming routine actually seldom touched on it except when we deliberately went into the Warfronts themselves, and even those were much more heavy on mechanics than story content. I mean, they didn’t even bother with a basic story introduction to Arathi and its importance.
So, the game devs actually did very little about it. The bulk of the topic seems to have been given over to some writing professionals like Golden to work out with the cinematic team, and that was that.

Of course, beside the war, we have the grander meta-story of Sylvanas. Which seems to boil down to “She wanted to kill many people, because Death is cool.”, thus teaching us the lesson that war is actually bad and useless. Genius, I know. But while they put a bit of effort into teasing us with the mystery of her goals, they didn’t really bother much with explaining how her actions made sense in hindsight with that goal in mind. I guess the whole thing about Derek Proudmoore must have been to deliberatele provoke another Horde civil war, and working with Azshara was just to get her to smash the fleets and kill people? Whatever, they certainly didn’t overwork themselves in explaining us that plot.

But the strangest plotline is really the void stuff. Void activity was everywhere, most of the raids related to it and we got tons of quest content like in Stormsong, Nazmir, and Nazjatar. Indeed, it had been heavily, heavily teased in Legion as well. Since chronicles the devs had pretty much told us that N’zoth was manipulating most of the bad things that happened from the shadows. But while the void had a clear presence in BfA… I really can’t understand the story here at all.
Uldir seems to have no relation to anything, it’s just some self-contained storyline, concluding the Zandalar stuff.
Then we have Azshara, N’zoth and Xal’atath and… what the heck was going on here?
Okay, Xal’atath is relatively easy. She wanted out of the dagger, and traded N’zoth for her freedom. She got that, and that was that.
Azshara was N’zoth’s servant but was planning to backstab him with Sylvanas’ help, but freed him first, because… I have no idea.
N’zoth himself gave us cryptic warnings all the time, gave us tests to overcome, and gave Xal’atath’s dagger to Sylvanas. The weapon that was to be used to defeat him. And I have no idea why. So… what was that about? Then he was freed, and started the most obvious invasion he could make, practically invited us into his own world, and died like a bi… loser.
None of this makes sense. Wither the writers just tripped over themselves over and over again, or this is just the prologue to a void plot that we won’t see for years.

So in summary have…
…A story about a war that was deliberately depicted as absolutely useless, because wars being useless was the point. But instead of ending on that somber note, going for a carthatic end to the tragedy, they just ruined any chance of this being the least bit exalting by just adding another patch where we smashed stuff that had nothing to do with the theme. Not exactly on message.
…A mystery story about Sylvanas, that was left incomplete and mostly unexplained. There was no satisfying ending to be had here, because there was no ending at all.
…A relatively dominant, but totally underdeveloped story about N’zoth, that leads nowhere.

So in hindsight I have a hard time explaining what BfA’s main plot was actually about. It doesn’t start and end with the same story, and throws in so many teasers for future reveals and twists that an MCU movie would blush from embarassment.

And that’s kinda new, isn’t it? Even TBC started with demon invasion end ended with demon invasion. Wrath ended with the titular Lich King. Cata ended when the catalyst was brought down. MoP ended with its war plot. WoD ended when Draenor was free. Legion ended with the defeat of the Legion. But the Battle for Azeroth didn’t tell its story, it just happened. Curious.

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I can’t bring myself to believe BfA’s plotline is the story the writers wanted to tell. It feels like two expansions smushed together, like they had something more war-related planned for 8.3 but something happened backstage and they were forced to kinda stuff N’Zoth in there to end the xpac on a disappointing and unsatisfactory note.

If it is the story they wanted to tell they should probably be put on notice.

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BFA left me under the impression that it was more about the factions recruiting forces, strengthening their grips on their respective continents and getting ready for future conflitcs, than about engaging into open war. Sure some of the battles did result in huge consequences (Tegdrassil, the destruction of the Zandalari Fleet) but overall most engagement felt like their aim was to… evaluate ennemy forces I’d say ? So idk, maybe it will make more sense in the future

Also concerning N’Zoth, he is depicted as the most playful and interested in interacting with mortals of the four Old Gods… so there’s that

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Which would only underline that BfA doesn’t really have any closed main plot string, wouldn’t it?

Yes. And then he commits suicide by champion.

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My guess also goes into the territory of: Something behind the scenes shifted and original plans got canned. Cant remember the place, but essentially one of the last bits of content Metzen worked on was the Siege of Lordaeron cinematic. Later on, he claimed Teldrassil suprised him, so when he originally worked on the reason for the attack, it couldnt have played a role.

Then there is the promotional page for BFA, where (if i recall correctly), Anduins story was teased along the lines of “he is being rash and wants to prove himself as a man.” We never saw anything like that.

Then there is Jaina and her whole build up of “im listening, father”, suggesting she is having a hard stance on the horde. This is further supported by Rexxars strange line about “Jaina has killed too many people and must be stopped.” Both Jainas Warbringer and Rexxars line make no sense, in the context of BFA. So again, there must have been change in the original story.

Lastly, there is the promise of the big goblin cannon being fired. It was teased us as a big event, so obviously if must have had connections with further developements in the war-plot. Yet the cannon never fired and the war never really made any kind of noteworthy advancement.

To conclude: I guess at some point they had a solid plan when it came to telling a Faction War story. Whatever that plan was, however, it got cut and mutated and warped into something unrecognizable.

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Well yes, I agree with your op, tbh. Just thought that the eventuality of some greater, Azeroth-centered big-scale war to come could explain the unfinishedness of BFA

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I think it has to do with a mixture of things.

Ranging from sudden shifts regarding the target outcome for the narrative, writing teams dropping the plot halfway in, and a new overall story approach that ceases to treat expansion stories as self-contained, and instead tries to go the step further to turn them into stepping stones for a continued Narrative (failing miserably while doing such).

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BFA feels debatably as two and a half expansions stuck together:

  1. The Faction War (Prerelease to 8.1)
  2. Nazjatar, arguably (8.2)
  3. N’zoth and Nyalotha (8.3)

Each of these three thematically have enough gravitas lore-wise and enough opportunities for content to be its own expansion.

Given the bizzareness of Shadowlands and the overall feeling of being “out there” and detached, I am inclined to jump on the “they just wanted to be done with all major older open plot threads as fast as possibly so they can create their own stuff” bandwagon.

Like, you cannot have a look at Nazjatar as a zone and tell me with a straight face “boy, this is what I expected of the place after all these descriptions throughout the years”. Azshara also feels like absolutely wasted as a mid expansion boss, after getting hyped as hell throughout the game’s lifespan.

My theory, and I know that it is baseless, is the fact that early in its conception, BFA was to include only the Faction War and Nazjatar, with Azshara being the final boss. It makes so much sense. Azshara takes advantage of the post Legion situation to instigate hostilities in order to free N’zoth and strucks a secret deal with Sylvanas who agrees because she wants to up the death count in order to please her bald sugar daddy.

Then we spend two patch cycles in Nazjatar, one on the outskirts and one on the city proper (which we reached but never got to explore in game btw) and we end up defeating Azshara but due to all the azerite shenanigans we end up freeing N’zoth, who disappears for now until the Nyalotha expansion. Sylvanas also dissappears for an expansion and appears at the same time she does now, on top of Icecrown, after we defeat N’zoth.

Like, even the way Blizzard usually hints at stuff makes sense. Legion teased the faction war majorly with that intro scenario and Stormheim and to a really lesser extend Nazjatar with Aszuna. BFA in the same vein, teased the Old God stuff majorly with Uldir, CoS and Stormsong, and teased the second in line Death-themed expansion with Bwonsamdi, the Drust and Jaina’s journey into Thros.

Given how badly presented 8.3 and how lackluster N’zoth defeat felt in all aspects, I am inclined to believe that fodderizing him was a decision made really late in development, for whatever reason.

I know that I sound like a conspiracy theorist but it makes so much sense to me.

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I used to think this, but then you remember how janky the Nazjatar stuff actually was.
Azshara wants our max-power necklaces to free N’Zoth so she can kill him and hatches a plot with Sylvanas to get them. The Alliance sends its main advantage - the fleet - into a deathtrap chasing secondary character Nathanos, then instead of drowning us all Azshara lets us run around the seabed aiding her enemies until we’re powerful enough to defeat her with our uber necklaces, a happenstance she apparently didn’t foresee.

I think it was supposed to be:

  • 8.0 - Faction War Was Beginning
  • 8.1 - Faction War Was Escalating
  • 8.2 - The Post-BoD/ Uldir Old God Shenanigan (either Azshara or N’Zoth)
  • 8.3 - Faction War Final Act with resolution to plotlines and pre-SL makgora

… but that’s just speculation. Whatever it was supposed to be, it sucked.

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Mechagon is a bit strange here, too. That was a big chunk of content, with a lot of unique artwork and mechanics, but that was totally irrelevant for anything else. That could well fit some internal upheaval, during which the devs had to have something to work on, while the story makers were still working out what should actually happen.

Nazjatar, Uldum and the eternal valley certainly look like they were a bit more rushed…

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I think you know really well that “main plot” was like never a strong point of blizz. There are good side quests, some nice short stories be it on their web site or in cinematics. But the bigger scope is, the more if falls apart.

To be the main story in WoW expansions is like in TES series: it’s there but the really fun stuff is in side quests, mods, and finding some minor hidden stuff, including lore related. Speaking of TES, there was a good video I saw at one point. IMO what WoW team does is what Skyrim does, but what they should try, I think, is to take their inspiration from older stuff, like Morrowind

Speaking of older times, what made me get into WoW, be it vanilla or TBC, it’s the world, to see how things changed from the events of Warcraft 2-3. As was once mentioned, “the world is the main character”. And lately, starting since Cata I would say, it’s more of a fan fiction about “oh, look how cool these characters are!!!11”

I would bundle both TBC and Classic as more about exploring the world of the game, rather than following some characters. And it worked IMO rather well, because it had freedom to ask the main question about the game - why should any of it be interesting for me as a player to participate in.

WotLK IMO was mostly good, because all of it patches were tied to a single theme, and whatever happened was tied to the story of the Lich King. Kind of. Except that part about Yogg, where the devs later told that they had the connection during the planning stage but they failed to depict it clearly in the game (that lesson was not taken into account unfortunately).

Cata was going back and forth to be honest. Sure, there was Neltharion, but not clear to what degree is it about him, and to what - about N’Zoth. (also why did he not free N’Zoth, he had more opportunities or tools than Azshara… whatever), plus elemental lords that are there, but there is no clarity between them being a part of Old God forces or doing their things. And Trall being kind of budged aspect. And faction comflict elements which go back and forth over years with who did what, where and why. With a bunch of content cut from the game.

It was also hopping back and forth with the story. Old gods, and mantid, and trying to tell both stories of Panda-land and the faction conflict, which ended up being not faction conflict, but let’s find a scapegoat, to titan keeper theme, to time travel end.

Which was later seemingly retconned with the recent developments and “the conflict did not go away” comment.

To me Legion ended as “we kind of want to remove the burrowed power, but also keep it somehow because why develop a new system, people seemingly liked artifacts”. And it was a yet another expansion highlighting how contradicting the game is, with the game itself and its narrative screaming “factions are stupid and only cause troubles” while Ion claims that the factions are somehow the core of the game… Like where are expansions with the main theme “factions are good to keep around”. :roll_eyes:

There are elements like that all over the place in the Cata+ time IMO. It’s just getting more and more awkward.

gl hf

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Sure, but in this case my criticism isn’t about quality, but about the structure in general. I think all addons had bad main plots, without exception. But I feel that BfA had no contained main plot at all.

To hopefully make it clearer… Among the waves of mainstream superhero movies, there has been an increasing trend of trying to set up many teasers for the future of the cinematic universe they play in. Quite a few of thesese superhero movies weren’t good movies. But still each movie has its own finished plotline that it started and finished with. BfA feels like a movie that lacks that, but is only setting up other stuff. That’s why looking at the question of what the addon was actually about I just mostly feel confused. And I don’t feel that way about any of the other addons. They’re bad stories, but I know what they are about.

Your comments about the different addons seem to be mostly about the quality of the stories, or how much they jumed around. That isn’t what I am talking about here. Yes, just like the superhero movie example many, if not all addons, had a different amount of sidequests and preparation of future plots. But they all ended by finishing the plot they started with and stopped at that point. BfA didn’t. If it did end with 8.2.5 it could have been about the faction war, although tons of void teasers would still be there, but it didn’t. If N’zoth had been behind the faction war, it could have been an Old God story, although it included much faction war stuff, but he wasn’t.

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It’s about what’s “cool” in the opinion of the devs. Source:

Arguably there is a lot of that stuff everywhere. Devs take and put aside stories whenever they feel like, it was just more pronounced in BfA IMO because the gameplay was also weak.

Legion has Night Watch story which can be summarized as “and now go kill your former friends → the end”. There is nothing about how or why, etc.

Or where did the forsaken getting rid of history books coming from, by the end of Legion.

Or how Mankrik’s story wrapped up about 15 years after it was introduced.

Or the deal of Koltrain. Or heart of Azsune. And list goes on and on. The game seemingly instead of being episodic and telling finished chapters of the story, usually just throws in a little bit of everything and to me it’s just stuch in the state of perpetual cliffhanger.

Or at least that is how I see more or less all big stories of WoW. Short ones are fine. The bigger they are, the more likely they fall apart, chase different things, etc.

It would still be hopping back and forth from the conflict to other stuff. And it’s still not exploring themes or going in any meaningful depth with themes.

All I can say is that to me Cata+, especially WoD+ expansions are all like it to bigger or smaller degree. It’s not suddelny “now that happened” IMO. The stories of WoW are filled with sudden “cool” plot twists and things appearing out of thin air.

I think I get that you mean that that the whole main story is like a teaser for a bunch of things. I just think that it’s the usual state of all wanna be long / epic story lines of WoW in Cata+ time.

gl hf

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That was always the case. That didn’t stop them from starting and ending with the same story before.

That’s not really what I am talking about, though, I am talking about the whole of the addon, not some sideplots. Yes, most movies have plot holes, but most movies still have a plot.

Like I said, it’s not about hopping back and forth. It’s about not having a baseline to hop from and to. All addons before had that. No matter how much they strayed in between, the ending fit the start, and in the better cases the jumping around was actually played a role in the climax. We can certainly argue if throwing in useless stuff in between makes the story worse, but a worse story is still a story.

I’m also not talking themes, but plot here. TBC and Classic might have had more of an exploratory theme, but the main plot of TBC was still all about stopping demons from invading Azeroth again, which is why it finished with us stopping Kil’jaeden from being summoned, after pacifying Outland.

And you know I think that WoW would work better without any main plot at all. That I would actually prefer if there was as little connective tissue between patches and addons as possible. I’ve stated it often enough. But what I see in BfA is actually the exact opposite direction. While before we might have needed to wait until the end of the addon to get the resolution of its beginning, we now actually seem to need to wait multiple addons to get the same thing, because even an addon by itself doesn’t make sense as a story anymore. The story is becoming more centralized instead of less.

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Eh, I think that the Nazjatar we got was gimped due to the Azerite essences, the addition of which Ion has admitted wasn’t initially planned, actually messed up their development process heavily and were only conceived at the last minute due to the Azerite armor backlash. Oh, also the fact that Mechagon was most likely tucked on the same patch, which I had utterly forgotten, given how insignificant it was to the larger plot.

Either way, I think that it is obvious at this point that whatever initial plans they had for BFA were actually far off from the product we got. While there is no concrete evidence to that, the circumstancial ones are too numerous and distinct to ignore. Given that they usually work two expansions in advance, I would guess that even as distant an incident as WoD’s early demise would had affected the planning stages of BFA.

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