It seems to me that the Tengrist foundation upon which the lore of Warcraft was built has all but evaporated. I do not have to cite any examples to prove this. Anyone can notice it in the very air of the setting. The depressive and nihilistic world-view expressed by the lore of the present expansion.
For that reason, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the number of people playing this game has decreased as the expurgation of Tengrist themes from the lore has intensified. I would contest that there is a correspondence between the number of players and the degree of Tengrism represented in the game. Take Warlords of Draenor as an example, an expansion filled to the brim with Tengrist themes. Back then the story was centred on ancestor worship, shamanism, polytheism, and the orc clans representing ancient Turko-Mongolic lifestyles. That was Warcraft at its peak!
And what has happened since? The great topics of literature, religion, and humanism are gone, banished, replaced by cheap mass entertainment and internet-assembled philosophy. Does anyone dare to guess how many people still play this game?
My thesis is this: Warcraft will never recover unless it gains an appreciation for its Tengrist foundation. I believe that that the story team of Warcraft, largely ignorant of the settingâs debt to Tengrism, make the mistake of looking elsewhere for what they already have in their own closet. I am dismayed at how utterly incapable the writers are of understanding and appreciating Warcraftâs dependence on Tengrism. Rediscover where you came from before it is too late. Warcraft does not need to return nostalgically to a dead and forever-gone past by recycling old expansions. It needs to return to its roots. Tengrism gave to Warcraft its characteristic hopefulness, ingenuity, depths, virtue, cheerfulness, and life. I am not really convinced all people know and believe that.
The expurgation of Tengrism from Warcraft, and indeed from our global villageâs culture in general, is now more or less complete. Nevertheless, our culture depends on Tengrism, and this is seen in its very conscious attempt to liberate itself from its influences. Warcraft, created in the final years of the Tengrist millennium, has now been set âfreeâ of the last vestiges of the old Tengrist culture and is heading in the same direction that the entire Western civilization has been heading for a while. I observe the eve of the Khanâs faith in the West with great sorrow. But when everything seems to be lost, one should remember that after evening comes dawnâalways.
Deus Vult Scarlet RPers who are OOCly angry about immigrants on their social media would tell you otherwise.
Intellecual indeed, my dude. Fall of the west buuhuu and all that.
Simply because this whole post and especially itâs climax reads like the sort of post youâd see in a specific forum where a guy cries and screams about the fall of the West among other extremely icky topics.
The Deus Vult time & sessions was very limited to Cathedral Square. I think thatâs why maybe you think itâs what the nerth community is up toâyou should branch out.
Havenât touched SW with a stick in nearly five years myself when it comes to RP. All of what I have said I have experienced, seen and heard being part of the RP going on in Lordaeron from time to time.
Weird when Morsteth acts like itâs rocket science to notice exactly what circles of thought people who scream about the fall of the West inhabit.
I donât think youâll be able to mount a good defense for this. Itâs not rocket science to figure out what circles & areas of RP your type generally inhabitâCathedral Square
Anyone who equates WoW directly to christianity & or the old âmEdIeVaL sEtTinGâ is objectivly bad at roleplay.
And also just wrong. Just because the Church of the Holy Light back in Wacraft 1 in the 90âs was a more or less like every other âgeneric fantasy churchâ of those times in these kind of settings, doesnât mean that WoW was, or especially today, is some kind of Deus Vult middle ages christian medieval setting.
Thereâs plenty of other games out there if you want to play that.
Why was the OP reported? Thereâs nothing offensive there, unless I am mistaken?
People can agree or disagree with his take, yet I donât see anything wrong with a person trying to go beyond the âmeme lolzâ and âcommunity/player baaadâ vibe that we often get on the forums.
My point was not answering his question, mearly giving my opinion on the matter.
But if i have to give an answer, its never certian to be the right one just a matter of how i would percive it.
If i would give an answer it would be something like: âNo, Our culture does not depend on chrisitianity. Its only one influence. Your free to think and feel how you will but it wont make it right.â
The whole theme of Light and Dark is definatly there yes. Not arguing that. Itâs a narrative theyâve gotten especially stuck on in the later years.
On a more serious note, though, Warcraft does have some strong influences drawn from Tengrism - there are many questlines involving how one must respect the elements and nature, and how doing such and appeasing these mighty elements is the way towards conflict resolution.
Furthermore, the story of the Old Horde mirrors that of the decline of Tengrism - the Orcs turn away from Shamanism, and subsequently go on a violent, bloody path, only coming to peace when they return to their old, shamanistic ways. Compare this to that of the Timurids and Tamerlane, who stepped away from their ancient shamanistic ways of Tengrism and subsequently became some of the more volatile, violent conquerors the world has known - much akin to the Old Horde and its invasion of Azeroth.
Tengrism has been absent as an influence in much of the writing since Danuser became lead writer, and it would be better for the setting and its writing as a whole to return to these roots, dealing with topics relevant to the old ways of Tengrism, again.