Another proof that they don’t even care anymore.
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As time goes on I envy the players of New World, to be liberated from their MMO in such a sudden fashion.
Tbf, aren’t we used to ignore most of what Golden write? “Going from Orgrimmar to Theramore is a couple hours at most” Golden? (I might be exaggerating, it’s been a few years but I don’t remember starring at the book then in annoyance.)
That is one more dumb thing I shall ignore as much as I can.
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Classic Golden. I had considered buying the book (I’ve enjoyed 2 or 3 of her past novels). Won’t be doing so now.
Golden is literally amplifying the problem Warcraft has had for years now about every character being friends - and being friends with everybody. And I believe she knows from past backlash that a lot of people don’t like it but for some reason she keeps on doing it.
urgh
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I wish Blizzard would just suddenly pull the plug from WoW.
It’s been a part of my live so long I can not stop but I want to be freed from this torment aswell T-T
You will be hard pressed to find a NW player who’s happy about it. Especially with the added insult of AI trash being the replacement priority.
Let’s not pine for that to be in the cards for WoW, even in jest.
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Are we calling for Blizzard to kill this entire game and turn off the servers because Golden wrote Lor’themar to having been Arator’s first mentor way back before the Fall? Lor’themar who was ride or die best friend of Sylvanas to the point of being considered family by the Windrunners because he lacked a family of his own? The Windrunners practically raised him.
I don’t personally think it’s a leap for Lor’themar to take his best friend’s and adoptive family’s nephew under his wing when his best friend’s sister and national hero went missing, presumed dead. On the contrary, loyalty to the Windrunners to the point of being willing to overlook Sylvanas’s crimes in undeath has been like a consistent point of his characterisation I fear.
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I recall that her response to some backlash in the past was something along the lines of “If you haven´t had your novel published, why do you think you can criticize me?”
Combined with her involvement with something in WoW´s lore during her years at Blizzard suspiciously increasing the more positive response it got, the vibes I get from her is that criticism or backlash is one of those things that aren´t too relevant for her (worldbuilding being second).
Damn, I think we just found a common character trait between him and Vereesa that can lead to them mending bridges.
I think the new excerpts were cool, and I’m excited to see more. Christie Golden is a good writer. She might not write things in the way some prefer, or make story choices you* like, but someone can write a narrative you dislike while also being a factually good writer, which she is. She’s also not a boogeyman responsible for every little thing in WoW lore people dislike; she is being paid to work and write a product, and receives feedback and instruction from a team or a Blizzard liaison, more so now than ever, with her not directly working for them anymore.
Maybe instead of praying for a WoW shutdown or making up random untrue things about a book not even out yet, we could just chill out a bit idk
*’you’ phrasing here not directed at anyone in specific, the vibes are just pretty grim aren’t they…
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Hideo Kojima: WRITE THAT DOWN, WRITE THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW
I am so proud to be VINDICATED about Christie Golden after all these years.
10/10 never been more right about anybody in all my life.
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Just seems like an extremely strange thing to suddenly slot in there out of nowhere. He was raised by motherly Vereesa, presumably in Dalaran, where she and her husband Rhonin where, with their two kids and then at some indeterminate point he was randomly sent to Silvermoon for what seems like years? And then came back? This was in between living in Stormwind too, and being closely affiliated with Danath and the rest of what would become the Alliance Expedition. And also at the time Silvermoon was explicitly in a period of seclusion,
It also makes Vereesa’s sudden personal heel-turn against the Blood Elves (one that was so strong that it was the reason behind the Silver Covenant forming in opposition to them) all the more bizarre.
Liadrin here was supposedly his confidant and yet when Legion rolled around and they were both prominent in the Paladin order hall, when they both showed up on the Vindicaar, there wasn’t a single conversation between the two. We got no hint of it during the Lor’themar/Thalyssra short story where Arator is only ever associated with his parents and then chatting with Dagran.
It’s a retcon, one that really isn’t needed. Arator wasn’t lacking because he didn’t have a direct personal relationship with the upper echelons of Silvermoon (and apparently Kayn Sunfury) as a child before now.
No, the sky isn’t falling, no it’s not the end of WoW (and I think people do frequently forget that Golden is but one cog in a machine of Blizzard that approves of whatever gets published), but it does come across nakedly as a backfilled reason for this very explicit Alliance character to suddenly be the bridge between the two factions when before Arator showed zero interest at all in the blood elves.
I don’t think there’s any references to this in his Midnight appearance so far either, or the loreheads would’ve noticed it sooner. I suppose that makes it very easy to ignore. Silver linings.
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I mean there is a reason he to Outlands with the Alliance, and not his close friends and confidants within the Blood Elves, right? RIGHT?
If anything, they could’ve used this book to flesh our his youth in Dalaran, then work on what connects him to the Alliance to the point where he went with them to Outlands(seeing as Vereesa nor Rhonin went there), and not with the Blood Elves, with who he apparently had a better relationship with.
I rather they worked out his relationship with members of the Alliance, even if its just with random Alliance soldiers and Knights instead of everyone in high places 
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If Blizzard was half as serious about their claims that they plan their expansions in advance, they’d release books such as this one at least or two expansion before as to test the waters and what works and what doesn’t. It’s in a book, they can ignore anything and everything if necessary but it ought to be a decent crash test so to speak.
When every inane decision and retcons are being forcefed to you like a duck being fatten for Xmas dinner, some will retch or feel squeazy about it, even if they don’t have all details to the lore. I didn’t know that Lor’themar was a close family confidant of the Windrunner family yet still feels it shouldn’t be him to have trained Arator. Vereesa keeps looking even more insane and bipolar by the day. There’s a history that is just never insinuated until today (or book release).
Arator has history that could tapped within and yet he’s being given the kind of treatment usually reserved for mary sues when it’s just not necessary.
On the other hand, Lor’themar’s (and even Halduron’s) lack of involvement would have also felt weird given how close he and Halduron were to the Windrunners. Lor’themar was effectively the fifth Windrunner child for all intents and purposes having been raised by them, and Halduron personally chauffeured Father Windrunner when Mother Windrunner went into labour, and then carried the young Vereesa home to meet their new youngest brother.
Both of them were inherently part of the Windrunner family from a young age and heavily involved in their life for lacking a family of their own—neglecting Arator would have been really out of character for them too. While she was raised by Vereesa in Dalaran, his apprenticeship with Lor’themar seems to have happened closer to him reaching adulthood since he was training him to be a Farstrider. The two things don’t need to be in conflict with one another.
It’s also important to remember that the Blood elves were in the Alliance for a period of time post-Scourge. They didn’t exile the High elves the day of the Fall, we don’t even know the specific date yet only that by Classic they had split, but not during WC3 yet. There’s a 5 year window for all that.
They do reference it in Midnight during Arator’s quest, which is why people were previously also upset, because they thought Lor’themar was teaching Arator in the last few years.
People were also upset that Arator was living in Silvermoon because he’s Alliance, when now we know it’s because he has a personal tie to Lor’themar. Lor’themar was also eager and willing to give Alleria a hero’s welcome back to Silvermoon despite her being firmly a (presumed at the time) High elf affiliated with the Alliance. It’s only once the episode with the Void at the Sunwell happened that she became unwelcome, and it was because of the Void, not her Alliance ties.
The only real controversy here is Lor’themar giving free pass to the Windrunners, but that’s also very consistent of him
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I dunno, I think Arator’s apparent ambivalence to Vereesa’s attitude towards the Blood Elves ( 
) is probably controversial. Will he ponder how screwed up it was that his personal confidant Liadrin and his dad were at each other’s throats during BfA?
This wasn’t so much an issue when he had no connection to the Blood Elves. Now it’s his adoptive mother warring against his Farstrider mentor and bestest bud.
I hope we get a few chapters about how he squares that circle.
They assisted the Alliance resistance for all of five minutes before getting dumped beneath Dalaran for execution, and they hadn’t reclaimed Silvermoon properly until Kael’s forces (including Rommath) came back to help from Outland.
Is that when Vereesa sent fifteen year old Arator to live in Silvermoon? When its land were still awash with Scourge and it was barely hanging on? When Kael’s teachings on mana tapping creatures that we can only assume Vereesa philosophically objected to were adopted by the Blood Elves?
Personally the way it’s written seems more like Arator was there prior to the Scourging, but then he would’ve been 14 at absolute most (since that’s when the Scourging happened) and had presumably been there for years for any actual training to take place.
Three at most. Frozen Throne and the Blood Elf campaign took place in 22. Vanilla started in 25. The schism didn’t take place until Kael’s teachings were sent back with Rommath post-TFT.
I’d also note that this is the second character (the other being Valeera) previously aligned explicitly and solely with the Alliance who now in Midnight suddenly has a revealed connection to Lor’themar which was never mentioned anywhere before now solely so they can also be included.
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Its so weird, the Horde and Blood Elves specifally, have enough characters to not need Alliance characters to take the stage!
I suppose this is Blizzard’s MO, tho… Take Alliance characters and make them forcefully neutral, and ignore horde characters. Pissing off both sides of the fanbase at once, lmao
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That’s the one thing they’re really, really good at.
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This, but then again so long as the Raiders and Mythics make Happy Noises long enough to keep numbers up… who cares, right? 
Hey, can you pass some of that Weapons Grade Hopium™?
;_;
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No, it was definetly her Alliance ties that got her send away. He just thought a hero of Silvermoon should be allowed her pilgrimage to the Sunwell (against Rommaths advice).
Also, hate that I have to do this on phone instead of pc because Blizzard only shows classic characters…