New interview with Steve Danuser

Lore Story
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She needs redemption for going against Sylvanas and Nathanos. But maybe Danuser truly is changing and will give her the kill.

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Because the usual comments that tagged him as such, often went hand by hand with stuff like the character being sheltered and/or validated forcefully by the story. Even in its most villanous acts.
And be protected because some writer.

People grasped at Danuser being apparently a fanboy of Sylvanas to argue that the character was having favoured treatment for it.
Much like this exact thread has a sample of said same mindset.

This latest interview shows that’s not the case. And the writer is more than willing to discard the character arch and give it the villain treatment at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, don’t want to derail it any further with this bit.

Regarding the rest:

Blizzard has a tendency of making forceful changes to characters that do not accommodate to their target plot.

Much like it already happened with Lor’themar, and with most of the other Horde grudges, the way they keep on framing Sylvanas for everything “wrong” with the Horde (like they did with Garrosh prior), points at an active effort at showing any outlining warmonger in the wrong.
And this goes for both Tyrande and Talanji.

I expect the novel to deal with Talanjis bit. Ardenweald will tackle Tyrande.

I do not disagree with that.
I just don’t see how would that expand on the overall Darkspear lore.
Character centred stories seldom create or expand on racial themes and depth.
Look at human lore with the Wrynns.

I guess it’s to much to ask from Blizzard, and that I should probably settle. But given the character itself starts from a rather shaky ground for me, I just don’t see it all that appealing.

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So far it was not at all even hinted. I will not stress over something that isn’t even there. You have no idea how grateful I am that they didn’t go full retard with Zandalari and that they keep somehow realistic approach with them.
And I had my share of worries for entire span of BfA.

  • I was fraid that Talanji will swear loyalty toHorde- Talanji didn’t do it, she even toldher Zandalari that she has ultimate autority over them, not Horde.

  • I was afraid that Talanji will be during the Orgrimmar events and be on board with collaborating with Alliance, didn’t happen.

  • I was afraid that she will get over it, later on, and in the book she appears to be bitter and disillusioned. Just as I preffered her to be and they did it right.

It would off to completely change it now with flick of fingers without any foreshadowing. And so far it was not even hinted that Alliance champs will even encounter Talanji.

As for LTT, he was always strong in the mouth in my opinion.

He is not center of attention, and since he is not a big lore figure he could reference some stuff from his perspective. It was already nice to read about other bigger lore figures from his point of view and I’m sure from his perspective everything will appear “more grand”. And I can imagine he would reflect on the differences between his tribesmen and Zandalari which also could contribute to some world building.

I consider myself cautiously optimistic, there are many things that can go wrong. But so far I quite liked what I saw.

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I’d personally be surprised if her grudge survived the coming novel in any relevant sense, and shocked if it survived the next addon. Not based on her character, but based on the writers.

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Well, Jaina’s survived for 3 xpacs at least


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Not really. It came and went with the plot demands.

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But it was there somehow.

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Not always.

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I’m with you on this one, but I still have some hope. There were so many times they could’ve screw Zandalari over with their usual habit of handling things and it didin’t happen. They’re also building Genn, Tyranda and dwarves to have some negative sayings too. So We will have to see how it will go.

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I’m cautiously optimistic and hopeful as well. After all, the fact that we even get a book about Talanji and the Zandalari’s view on the events of the 4th war means that their troubles are not just being swept under the rug as I had feared.

I kind of expect that Talanji and Zekhan will end up working with Alleria and Turalyon, too, but I don’t see that necessarily as a bad thing. It makes sense to team up against a common enemy, we do that all the time, doesn’t mean we have to be best friends afterwards.

And much as I would want for Talanji to get her revenge, I don’t want it if it meant she had to act stupid and irrational and then be killed off as a consequence. Same goes for Tyrande.

If done right, I think the book could be a good opportunity to address all the existing grudges and disagreements between and within the factions, and maybe find a way to overcome them that doesn’t feel forced or artifical.

2 Likes
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I don’t think they will work together, Alleria and Turalyon are meant to track Sylvanas while Talanji and Zekhan will go protect Bwonsamdi.
We know that Nathanos and Sira are tasked to kill Loa of the dead. So my bets are :

Somehow Sira and Nathanos will track bwon, Talanji and Zekhan will stop them somehow, Bwon kills one of them, and the rest was witnessed by Alleria and Turalyon who would follow the one who survived to get to Sylvanas.

They don’t have work together, all they need is intel where to go next, Alleria and Turalyon would go traditional way, while for the Horde Bwonsamdi will spell out that something is going on in Icecrown and he will do his best to kill for good the banshee.

But what we will get? Few months are left to be sure I am not denying that working together is an option, but I’d rather not see it, and if they did for Talanji to not be moved by it and be like " That won’t change anything" or something like that.

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You summary is pretty much the exact opposite of what was claimed in the interview. Which means you are sadly spot on about Blizzard’s plans.

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So they utterly obliterated the Horde and crushed it into little pieces and now they tell us that they’re proud of how they did the story?

Oh wow, it’s not MoP 2.0 because we didn’t raid Orgrimmar and changed regime at the very end! But hey, making the Horde a bunch of utter MORONS who didn’t learn from Garrosh and let the cycle of stupidity repeat AGAIN before they realized that the way the Horde functions doesn’t work is good storytelling! /s

There are no words which can even begin to describe my disappointment. It’s over. There’s no hope left for this franchise.

3 Likes
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dont worry guys Activision bros will fire him soon. hopefully.

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No!! Don’t fire him just when he realized Sylvanas is evil! He deserves a second chance.

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not evil TOTALLY morally gray TM :wink:

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Darnassus wasn’t genocide, it was a normal city bombardment :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Since the topic title is :
“New interview with Steve Danuser”

I will reply on that subject.

Danuser: “(
) we maintain consistency and continuity in our characters and story threads.”

That is interesting, because I had a much different experience one that would be embodied in this statement:

“My team believes that continuity exists to enhance a story, not to tie the hands of creators” - Sean Copeland, Historian Supervisor

Danuser: “Our goal is to tell a focused, entertaining story that our audience can follow and interact with.”

Are they sure about that ?
I was less than entertained during BFA. Annoyed is the right word.
Interaction ?
I felt more like Nathanos Henchman through out most of the faction war phase.
More like a camera.

Danuser: "If we pull in too many characters at any one time, it runs the risk of making our narrative disjointed and hard for players to keep track of. "

Danuser later explains: "The actions of Sylvanas were inexorably intertwined with the war between the Horde and the Alliance. From the epilogue cinematics that introduced Azerite in the last content update of Legion, to her actions in the novel Before the Storm, to the novellas we released on our website and in the Collector’s Edition, to the Battle for Undercity that kicked off the expansion, Sylvanas was at the center of it all.

But Azshara and the Old Gods were in the mix from the beginning as well, seeded into Stormsong Valley and the Uldir raid. It was always our plan to delve deeper into those storylines, even though the faction war was the instigator that kicked off the action of Battle for Azeroth."

A expansion marketed as faction pride is in reality about Sylvanas, Azshara and Old Gods.

Danuser:“We try to think in terms of which are the major characters and plot points of a given content update, which are the minor ones, and which we are better off saving for a later opportunity.”
(
)
“Fans of a particular character or storyline sometimes get anxious if they don’t see an immediate resolution to a plot thread. As fans ourselves, we completely understand the desire to see a resolution for something we care about. But the fact is, sometimes it’s better for the game and its pacing to let these things unfold naturally rather than wrap them up prematurely.”
(
)
“So, while many fans are eager to see the resolution of what happened at Teldrassil, there is a lot more story that needs to unfold before it can be fully addressed. These characters have a long way to go, and many more lessons to learn.”

Night elves players will definitly have to wait.
I don’t think this will be solved in SL.

Danuser:“Features like Warfronts give us an opportunity to see characters react to intense situations and play out over a long period of time, but the needs of gameplay sometimes require us to hold off on resolving those plot points until later in the expansion. We see that as a unique aspect of this medium that we embrace.”

Warfronts, had less story telling for me than a Warsong Gulch, at least I can feel the tensions between the Night Elves and the Orcs there.

Danuser:“Looking back, I think we could have done a better job of making sure both factions got a deeper context for where the story was going so that the threads that connected all the elements were clearer. But the major beats of the story were intended from the beginning, and we feel good about how the players got to experience them.”

I wish I could say: “I had a pleasant experience.”
But I can’t.

Danuser: "To demonstrate that there is a cycle, we created a story structure for Sylvanas that, on the surface, echoed many broad strokes of the road Garrosh took. "

Garrosh 2.0.

Danuser:"A warchief promoted under questionable circumstances. "

A Warchief you guys put in place.

Danuser: "A brutal act of aggression that instigated conflict. Distrust among the inner circle that led to an uprising. These parallels were intentional. "

MoP 2.0

Danuser: “The Horde believed that, by putting the wise Vol’jin in place as warchief, their future was secure. But they hadn’t changed the underlying structures or practices that enabled Garrosh’s tyranny in the first place. The untimely passing of Vol’jin and a bit of manipulation in the aftermath of his death were all it took for the pattern to begin repeating.”

I gess Zakkaru question of why Vol’Jin couldn’t had be maintained as Warchief is now answered.
They needed to show the horde system has defects on it.
Too bad Vol’Jin wasn’t given enough time to alter the structure which worked so well when there was only Thrall, Vol’Jin and Cairne.

Danuser: "Similarly, the Alliance found itself with a new leader after King Varian’s fall on the Broken Shore, (
) "

Mirror stories.

Danuser: “(
) Anduin was so focused on living up to his father’s legacy that it blinded him to certain truths. Those blind spots proved costly and will be something he has to come to terms with going forward.”

I don’t think our alliance counter parts agree on that.
The fact he didn’t lived up to his father’s legacy was the problem.

Danuser: "Horde players were given the opportunity to see both sides of the conflict and decide which they wanted to follow. "

A ilusional choice.
The Honorable Horde player still had to act as Sylvanas henchman.
The Loyalist Horde player still had to kill Sunreavers.

Danuser: “This time, the army that gathered at the gates of Orgrimmar didn’t raid the city; they caught a glimpse of what Sylvanas had been working toward the whole time.”

So all the expansion was to see what she was planning ?

Danuser:“The structure of the Horde’s leadership was fundamentally changed, and they now have a real chance to prevent history from repeating once more—though they still have their share of challenges ahead. The Alliance is showing fractures that have not healed cleanly, and that storyline will continue into Shadowlands.”

So now the Horde is at peace and the Alliance is out for blood.

Danuser: “The aftermath of a war is always messy. Expect repercussions from the Fourth War to carry forward for a long, long time.”

Yes.
Not the end of a faction conflict but the seeds for new war.
Because now the Alliance has a ton of justified reasons to wage war on the new Horde, thanks to your writing, that made the current Horde as brutal as the former one.
We now have not one but two conflicts to prove it.
I gess I should say: “Thank you.”
/s

Danuser: “With Warlords of Draenor, it made sense given the nature of the expansion for the player to be referred to as “commander” of their garrison. With Legion, the character became leader of a class order, so was often referred to by a special title. And in Battle for Azeroth, “champion” was used to refer to the player’s status as a hero of their faction.”

So the player character got promoted three times by now.
I wonder if there’s a title as: “Champion of the Universe” :expressionless:

Danuser: "We’re proud of our storytelling in Battle for Azeroth, (
)"

:weary:

Ok, I was wrong, I thought they wanted to write engaging stories in which the PC was immersed, instead of obnoxious characters they feel like killing all the time.

Danuser: “We always strive to improve.”

Disagree.

Sorry for the long post.
Thank you, for your attention.
Cheers.

7 Likes
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I’m glad you understand Daelinna

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Okay but go back to your Alliance chars.