to be more specific, Lumia is a constellar who, rather than “reset” a planet once instability arises, instead tries to help shape and influence the planet to never reach that point of instability (hence why she looks all holy like rather than blue like normal constellars)
This sounds painfully improvised on the spot because if you think about it for more than two seconds it doesn’t make much sense (also the “my oc is yellow therefore different” vibe)
Yet when Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth etc. etc. don’t care for humanity that they see as ants they are seen as malevolent and evil.
Different franchise yes, but still, applies here.
They may not care for the ants beneath them, but the ants DO care.
The looks are what matters here. Titans and their constructs are stone humans and other understandable sights, and their architecture has a clear and neutral aesthetics. While the Black Empire is what it is, a realm of monsters, unfamilliar and more visually dangerous, with the much more outlandish vibe to it.
Ngl I agree with Holly on WoW’s visual style. I do not want it to look more like ESO or LOTRO… These kind of graphics with the He-man Humans and the oversized shoulderpads are Warcraft.
Also I really, really hope we won’t be dissappointed by player housing. But the only one version I got some experience with is from Star Wars Galaxies, and that had ao much freedom in placements en furnishing your house it was awesome!
I don’t think the initial player housing in WoW will ever match or be what the players imagined it to be in their head. There’s been far too many iterations of it for a unified or even strong front to emerge as “This is the version we’d like you to implement.” across many MMOs.
I’m gonna be fair and just say that, it’s gonna be pretty basic upon release. Garrison but instead of plots, you’ll have that but for items of decorations and such. I’d be surprised we even get more than 2 locations for each faction to place one or two of their houses. One in the Midnight new zone wherever that is and in your big main hub (SW or Orgrimmar).
It’ll be pretty bare too in terms of aesthetics and architecture as well, oh I’m sure they’ll immediatly have assets for the most played races in the game while everyone else gets crumbs or it slowly trickles down over the years. That’s my realistic take on it. As for the consequences for RP… I have no idea at this point but I highly doubt it’ll be the poison everyone assume.
It’s only recently that they’ve decided to work on this new evergreen feature, it’s clearly not a decade long project they’ve been working in the background awaiting with a massive dump of features that would overwhelm us.
It always baffles me seeing people clamouring and howling for “Unreal Engine 5 update when?!”
You see a WoW screenshot, especially post MoP/WoD, and you instantly know its WoW. I can and will gripe about the low poly/texture of Old World areas, weapons and armour, but the overall style which they’ve refined to where we are now is very distinctive. Why on earth would they throw that away for a Generic Unreal Asset look?
“Nintendo…hire this man” opinions
I think it’s very much about how the game engine seems to be so antiquated or so difficult to work with that features that are available on the other MMOs on the base game have only come around WoW many years later if not at all yet. I wouldn’t be surprised either if the people who built the dang thing in the first place no longer worked there… So see it as an archeotech piece from the WH40K universe where the current day engineers there have trouble fully understanding it.
Now this is hearsay on my end. I have no actual clue about it, all I can say is that “Yeah makes sense.” UE5 appeals to them because it’s prettier graphics and the assumption that the game could not only make implementation of features easier unlike the current one, but also (pff) make the game easier to run.
…Welp.
So much RP potential… averted.
you have to imagine that after getting their city wiped out for the second time they’re not really feeling the “let’s rebuild and start over” vibe
Dalaran’s destruction almost destroyed me. But it is not an end, it is an opportunity–to do things right this time.
We shall build our strength not from dominion or deceit, but from dedication to learning and magic.
Forgive me if I’ve been asleep at the wheel. But what did the Kirin Tor do wrong? When was the awful, horrible, evil ruling by ruthless domination and deceitfulness happening?
Did I completely miss some point in time where neutral Dalaran was the bad guy? Was there Kirin Tor raid with Khadgar as the final boss that I missed while I was asleep?
Those lines read like the kind of post-raid flagellation the Horde does after they’ve had yet another evil Warchief.
Thing is… This is worse than Teldrassil. Night elves could at least look forward to vindication and rebuilding, even if the way it was written and implemented in-game was… less than ideal.
Kirin Tor RP characters now have nothing to look forward to. No rising from the ashes, no big “hurrah” moment, not even the consolation prize that was Amirdrassil. The guy at the top has spoken, and he has decided that they’ll just accept this loss and… do nothing.
What about RP characters who really believed in Dalaran and the values it represented? Who wanted to see it endure and prosper? What are they going to do now?
I think Dalaran’s history has been washed over a little bit.
They definitely weren’t always neutral in their history, and the lore at least used to be pretty clear on their centralised dabbling in magic causing problems with allowing easier access for demonic entities to locate and enter Azeroth.
The problem grew bad enough that it then required the Kirin Tor to super empower one of their members to go and handle and clean it up, which itself caused Medivh and the opening of the Dark Portal and the events that followed.
Azeroth history seems to teach that doing lots of magic is bad for the world yet, but the cycle goes ever on.
With Silvermoon and Suramar being out there, both as magical societies, do we necessarily need Dalaran to sprout up again? Yes they’re both Horde cities and predominately Elven, but Midnight is coming which may up end that.
I do feel for the Dalaran RP’ers though. Ultimately I think the answer we learn from this is that any city that Jaina associates herself with will always end up destroyed. So ask yourself, who is the real villain?
The ‘big moments’ people are most likely to point to are the nebulous assistance with executing Kael’thas. I say ‘nebulous’ because of the actual Kirin Tor members we saw, there was only one (Jailor Kassan), but…Modera and the rest of the Council of Six…where were they, exactly?
Blizz never said, and I’m guessing part of that is to avoid the direct implication of the ‘good guy’ Kirin Tor siding with Garithos, whether under threat or by choice.
The other is the direct assistance with the Purge of Dalaran. Bit of ethnic cleansing going on there. Not a great look.
Smaller moments of iffyness might be how the Kirin Tor kept sending agents/spies to bother Medivh, seemingly out of a desire for their own power. They purged Natalie Seline’s teachings from history. They let Kel’Thuzad go into exile instead of dealing with him properly (whoops, lmao!). They flaunted their supposed neutrality whenever it suited them (such as directly aiding Theramore against the Horde, or aiding Darnassus in securing the Divine Bell).
It’s all bit thin though, and I’d struggle to characterise any of their actions as being “strength from domination or deceit”. It’s mostly just hypocrisy along with spineless capitulation. Strength doesn’t seem to have been their problem. If anything, it was the opposite.
I also think that just because Khadgar is saying that he doesn’t want to start up the Kirin Tor again doesn’t mean that something else or someone else can’t fill that void later, if the niche exists and other younger mages come up and have a desire to create a society of their own.
Sometimes it’s best to just let the past die to allow for something new to grow. A new Kirin Tor with the same people running it again? Maybe not needed.
Clearly Ms Proudmoore needs to retire to a shack in the middle of nowhere for the safety of herself and others.
Alternatively I can think of ways to weaponize this tendency.
If Jaina comes to town, turn her away with all haste.
No risks.
That would explain why the Arathi started shooting at her so readily in that recent story. They just got their capital city back, they’re not going to let Jaina “Harbinger of Doom” Proudmoore mess it up.
Didn’t Blizz write in the new broken isles book that the Nightborne were trying to fix up the academy in Aszuna?
If I were writing a story about mages from all nations rededicating themselves to learning instead of active intervention, I might make use of that. Or the academy in the dragon isles.
It would be nice to see the Moonguard again.