What do you think about the upcoming Arathi? Of course itâs very early days, so none of us can know for sure yet. But going from what we do know: Will seeing them spark such things as curiosity, wonder, faith, purpose or enlightenment in your character? Or will it trigger doubt, confusion⌠perhaps an existential crisis? What would the consequences be for a die-hard Stromgardian, should they meet their distant cousins?
Moreover; could we expect a renewed wave of Human roleplay? The Arathi themselves could be interesting, and whoâs to say what their reaction might be upon witnessing the fate of their ancestorsâ lands? Depending upon whatâs revealed of their culture - Might we see a new urge to crusade among the Humans, leading to new conflict with the Forsaken? Or will we witness drive to reconciliation between themselves and the Undead?
More than anything it just kind of seems weird to me. Maybe weâll get better insight into it still, but for now I donât really get why or how they are there and why they are seemingly depicted as mega Light heads when Stromgarde & surroundings never really struck me as a particularly religious bunch beyond the odd light be with you and all that.
As you say, itâs too early to really make much of anything of it.
If I recall correctly they were described as having relatively recently arrived on Khaz Algar, not that they are some thousands-year-old separate culture.
That said they come across more as a Scarlet Crusade remnant than Arathi, what with being humans-only, wearing the same colors and having a rather unhealthy focus on holy fire. I wouldnât be surprised if their questline reveals they are Scarlets masquerading as Arathorians and are led by a Dreadlord.
My human characters overall will think it´s neat and will be interested in hearing more about them (or maybe visiting, who knows). I think the Holy Fire thing isn´t necessarily something to be seen as bad within the story, given how next two expansions seem to be firmly in the âLight good, Void badâ territory.
Also, they´re likely to be the Renown faction for their zone, so them being Scarlets or some evil lunatic zealots of different kind is unlikely.
Lastly, even though their arrival was ârecentâ, that can mean a thousand years in timespans of WoW where everything happened 10 000 years ago. This also means they are unlikely to have the stigma against other races, as the only hostiles from Horde/Alliance they´ve ever heard about are forest trolls and even that won´t matter much if it has been centuries since this nation encountered one.
I think there´s also going to be at least one Arathi guild at the start, especially if we will be able to get transmog based on their aesthetics. Humans are by far the most popular race in RP and people will want to try out the new thing. Only time (and development of their story) will tell whether this interest is going to last.
At least one of the new dungeons will have us fight them as shown in the reveal cinematic. They are using Holy Fire to the point of using it to fuel their airships, which I doubt is because of them being adherents of the Cult Mechanicus, but rather because they are really, really, really into Holy Fire.
Thatâs not recent by any metric, but weâll see today I reckon. I like their vibe, aesthetics and role so far, but find that they are called Arathi instead of eg. Tyrâs Hand zealots or just openly admitting they are former Scarlet Crusade members a bit weird.
We also fight dragons in Algeth´ar Academy, pandaren in Temple of Jade Serpent, humans in Siege of Boralus, Odyn´s forces in Halls of Valor and are going to fight forces of nature in Amirdrassil.
Us fighting someone as a test or fighting an evil/corrupted faction of friendly group is very common thing in WoW.
Which doesn´t mean they´re Scarlets or evil zealots.
It is recent by the metric where things happening 10 000 years ago is common.
Also, have you perhaps considered the idea that the people described as Arathi by Blizzard who call themselves Arathi will be actual Arathi?
I wasnât aware we were being tested when we were slamdunking pirates in Siege of Boralus.
I donât actually want to argue this point. At all. Itâs an observation and Iâm sure it will be clarified this evening or during the beta test / datamining. I just find the themes of this faction to be more in line with the Scarlets than Arathorians.
Iâm curious to see how theyâll interpret the âholy fireâ aspect and whether it ties in with the more primitive (shamanistic?) notions of the Arathi of old. Perhaps itâll be some jumble of fire and faith made manifest through the Light?
I canât wait to be surrounded by a purge squad aka the Witcher 3âs flaming lot when this character drops by Stormwind sometime.
The Arathi on their own, in a vacuum. Sound pretty cool and I look forward to that zone the most, the Human aspect does not really tickle me as much as the general premise of an eternal fight does.
Arathi when we consider the RP community? Yeah itâs going to be an utter poopoofest. Iâve seen enough over the years to know that people will absolutely ruin it.
I realise it sounds incredibly toxic, but people getting hyped to heck and back and then running the new shiny thing, only to do it a disservice has been a trend for years. People still cannot do DKs properly, and Wrath was how many years ago?
If I heard it right, the city of the Arathi will be called Mereldar, which is also the name of Lordain´s sister who wrote down the teachings of the Light for humans.
My money is on them being slightly different worshippers of the Light with little to no shaman stuff.
I mean, the thing is, from what we can see in the expansion preview in the WoW page, they have been down there fighting the Nerubians for âcenturiesâ, and even their mail armor is Roman Legionnaire inspired with the colors and the segmented shoulderpads.
I think both ideas can coexist, itâs just that these Arathi are based on the culture of the human empire from a few hundred years old, compared to the human tribes who had not embraced the ways of the Light at least a thousand years before these Arathi arrived down to Hallowfall.
My best guess, given the whole thematic, is that theyâre some group from the old empire that escaped as it collapsed, since they could use that blank canvas of Warcraft history that is the collapse of the empire and its reasons, as thereâs barely anything written about it. Then, some religious figurehead of them had a vision like Mereldar did in the first place, and they ended up over there, in one way or another.
The funny part is these two cultures can exist simultaneously. Hallowfall Arathi and Stromic people have being separate for centuries; more than enough time for divergences to show. Whether or not roleplayers will accept this is up for debate!
In the case of Stromgarde, there does appear to be some âtribalâ element to their aesthetic? (Only going by the old art of Trollbane; with his horned helm, burly shoulders and big axe.) Iâd like to think itâs an attempt by their society to reach back to the âgood old daysâ - which is feasible from a Kingdom in decline. Though this is headcanon on my part.
(Iâve overanalysed your joke to death, sorry!)
Red and white were Arathorâs colours before the Crusade was even an inkling of an idea in Abbedisâ head. Itâs conspicuous now that you mention it⌠But I donât think itâs the case. At least I hope not!
If they have been separate for centuries then itâs all fine and I wonât spin my Scarlet Crusade spiel any longer. Technically there werenât even any Paladins when they left Strom.
Yep! If you go to the forums main page and hover your mouse over âexpansionsâ, youâll see The War Within. From there, you can scroll down, and eventually youâll get into a short summary of the zones with some key art.