I have to admit, the haranir are already more interesting than any other new race introduced at least from BfA onwards.
They’re actually mysterious, in a way that makes you want to know more about them instead of feeling like a narrative cheat to save the writers the trouble of worldbuilding (looking at you, First Ones). It feels like there’s actual substance behind them and they weren’t just made up for the purposes of questing only to be immediately forgotten (looking at you, ankoan). Finally, even from what we already know, they have internal dissent and aren’t just a clone army based on the same tired punchline repeated over and over (looking at you, tortollans).
They did actually say during one of their Slands interviews about how a lot of the main zone questlines and parts of the main questline itself had to get reconfigured a few months before release, we don’t really know the extent but the way they spoke about it sounded quite wide-reaching. Bastion was the prominent example in how much just got utterly and completely changed into what it is today.
Her influence was such that she could claim a solid chunk of Dalaran with the explicit purpose of establishing an organisation opposed to the Horde that were allowed in Dalaran, it was absolutely not just ‘nothing’.
What is nobility by itself if not pseudo-royalty?
Technically speaking the Windrunners at the height of their power wielded more power than the king, who was not an absolute monarch, by virtue of commanding the nation’s armed forces.
Was that her, or was that the Council of Six giving the Alliance (through the Silver Covenant) equal treatment to what they gave the Horde (through the Sunreavers)?
I think Metzen worked with what he was given and reused as much as he could, but some things did change. We know the backstory of some elements of TWW changed during development; the Hallowfall Arathi, for example, were supposed to be an ancient people fighting the nerubians for centuries, before they were changed into an expedition of the Arathi Empire that only arrived relatively recently.
A lot of people in the comments are saying things along the lines of:
“This is the Warcraft I remember!”
Personally, I’m curious as to what they mean by that. What ingredient, or combo of tropes, if distilled down -is- Warcraft as it once was, as compared to today? Is there a way this cocktail can be used in other projects?
Cataclysm was originally meant to be far more ambitious, with raid centered around water elemental zone (Abyssal Maw). Also, some original plans apparently involved N´zoth being the main boss after Deathwing and there was an idea that Cata would actually be a much longer expansion.
There was also meant to be a new levelling system, Path of the Titans, in the expansion, but it never saw the light of day despite even being advertised during the trailer.
Also, while I´m not sure this is pre-launch, Rommath was meant to be member of Twilight´s Hammer and betray Silvermoon. And Baine was meant to open the Great Gate and fight the Alliance, screaming “For Taurajo” and being quite angry.
This sounds very out of character for Rommath, So I am glad they didn’t go through with thay idea… But then again, I never understood why they had to have Archbishop Benedictus go evil and then never replace him, sounds like he was a replacement for another character(Rommath?)
While we’re talking cut content, there were at least two Warfronts in BfA that we saw files referencing - southern barrens/mulgore (dwarf v. tauren?) and quel’thalas (blood elves v. void elves?)
I’m guessing the lacklustre reception to the two ones we did get - especially the Darkshore warfront - put those plans out to pasture though.
Give it enough time and the writers will probably retcon Taurajo to be a terrible tragedy where the civilians killed there accidentally drank poison and killed themselves and it was falsely blamed on the Alliance by the MEANIE Garrosh.
Just like how any other clear cut atrocity by the Alliance is inevitably sanitised or retconned in order to avoid having to address that it makes no sense for the Horde to want to work with someone like Vereesa Windrunner.
