[Spoilers] Why most of the new story and lore feels uninteresting and detached

Lore Story
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Alright, first of all, sorry for the sweeping generalization, I know many people are looking forward to specific story or lore elements. But bear with me.

I realized that for the first time, I’m really not looking forward to the majority of the story of the new expansion. While on a micro level there are storylines that I’m interested in - mainly Kael’thas, Arthas and Tyrande - I feel detached from where the story is going. And I realized why.

It almost seems as if modern day WoW draws all of its inspiration from the cosmic alignment chart of Chronicles, where the most interesting thing for us should be the cosmic order, nature of beings and intergalactic armies facing off with each other. And even more, that story is frequently retconned so that even more powerful unfathomable cosmic deities are shown to exist and to be within our military reach.

I don’t want to know about new, more powerful gods than yesterday, I don’t need to know that Elune is intergalactic and worshipped by an alien species. Show me how it all feels to the inhabitants of Azeroth. It isn’t a Dark Lord that drives people to do mistakes, it’s human nature. Show me Tyrande who is wrong because of her grief, not because a millionth time a mortal was corrupted by a dark lord.

The story now focuses on the least interesting things about WoW - the cosmic divine beings, each one more powerful than the last - and it’s not relatable nor is it interesting. I don’t need to know about midichlorians or the molecular texture of the universe, or how the void scientifically interacts with the light (especially, though, as it is retconned all the time.)

Zoom back in, Blizzard. Don’t focus the main story purely on divine gods, focus on the human (or rather, sentient) heart in conflict with itself. I know that kind of stories exist in Shadowlands, but the main story seems to drift further and further away. Let the Alliance be torn apart by disagreement, not by Void and Light gods, and let the Horde fight among themselves because of their mistakes, not because of their cosmic alignments.

Even fantasy is best when it’s a story about real emotions.

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WoW never had a tolerably good main story. Vanilla had no main story at all, the closer you look at the story beats TBC had, the worse it gets, and even the main plot of Wrath was cheesy as heck, with Arthas laughing villainously behind every corner and “there must always be a Lich King” stuff. And it’s very seldom that I see cata and after refered to as examples of well done story-telling (except for Erevien, who claims to like it, because it took lands from the Alliance and gave some to the Horde).

The “main plot” always sucked in WoW. WoW was at its best when the only real story was the situation your character played through while having an adventure. Independent, often short storylines, with a memorable NPC here and there. And when they do that, they usually do quite well. Which is why the leveling experience of a new addon is often a much more enjoyable story than the main plot you only get at max level. Up to that point the story is usually your story. After that it becomes the story of the world and the big name characters in it.

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Agree with that. Also I think Elune should be left as secret. Its really interesting to put out different theories and arguing with others on story Forums about her.
But I’m afraid that Blizzard will going to ruin that secret as always. We will find out probably something like - “Elune is a Titan+++, and became corrupted.”

Also, why 13 years ago I was so happy to play WoW, and why I don’t like Classic now - because of the secrets! WoW was a mystery World, unpredictable. Big book, that you reed, and you cannot wait to find out what is on the next page.
But now WoW, is pretty readable ahead comix. You already know almost on 90 % what will happen next. Almost all the secrets already discovered. And those new stories about new worlds with new aliens, they do give some small satisfaction, but really really small.
I have already capture my self on the idea, that I still play WoW only because I like my Night Elves and my Tyrande, not because I like the game it self, and its current story… If Tyrande will die, nothing will hold me, and I will be free. =)

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They had an opportunity to show the inter-factional conflict in more detail with BFA using a resource war (Azerite) as a tool to achieve this but, unfortunately the whole original premise of the expansion was hijacked by Old Gods and the run up to setting up SL.
I think they missed the boat on really devilling into the relationships between the various races and lore figures on each side of the conflict and showing the interplay between them and the various races at different fronts during the conflict in greater detail, and their consequential effect on their factions theatre of operations elsewhere.
Personally, I think the backlash and negative feedback they received on warfronts scared them off from introducing additional areas and (revamped) zones that could of better provided an initial vehicle to explore this. It looks like they were planning to do so in some way from the fact that it was datamined there could of been Silvermoon, Barrens and Azshara warfronts.
Even if warfronts were unpopular there’s nothing to say they could not of introduced these as questing hubs/zones as an alternative that culminate in a warfront like scenario.
Suffice to say, I do hope this hasn’t put them off in general on revisiting and updating the older zones to reflect a more current setting.

There is a real danger now that by overplaying their hand in focusing on the cosmic chart that they will end with a Dragon Ball Z like storyline where the next big bad has to be significantly stronger than the previous.
With that, I think they are likely going to be unable to have elements of the story be relatable to the actual races and inhabitants of Azeroth. This is including the player character if there is a shift in focus to superhero like lore characters and where there is such a big disparity from where the player character starts out compared to where they end up. In a way the human element that connects the player to the story is at risk of being eroded irreparably.

This is part of the problem where when they divulge too much, they loose that mystery of wanting to find out more which, in turn is what drew many players into the story in the first place. Some things should remain unknown for the benefit of the story, with only hints provided to provide a sense of curiosity.

They need to go back to their roots and focus on statecraft and issues that could be relatable between nations and individuals in the real world, with the cosmic big bad introduced only every so often to spice things up and reset the playing field as needed.

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Have to agree with OP here. While its certainly nice to get a look at how the afterlife is like and what not, for me personally, Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms have always been the beating heart of Warcrafts. Its where our home is. Its where our people come from. Now dont get me wrong, seeing new people and exploring new places is nice. But the roots are at least equally important, because they give a point of reference and belonging. EK and Kalimdor arent just vanilla/ cata zones to level through, they are integral to the fantasy of your faction, nation and race. People both on the alliance and the horde get so passionate about the whole Lordaeron question, because that land is ripe with history and emotional connection to your Identity in this world. Thats why its a shame that, going by the excerpts from the upcoming eastern kingdoms book, Blizzard is just retelling the old storys and explaining the ingame locations, without giving much new Info. Yeah, sure, its nice that Anduins Horse came from the same stable as Arthas´s, but who really cares? Tell me about who lives in Tirisfal right now. Are there Forsaken left? Is there still Scarlet Crusade? Has the alliance left someone behind? There is just so much worldbuilding and detail missing, that could give Azeroth the “Soul” it so desperatly needs these days.

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Honestly, given how Blizzard was already failing spectacularly regarding the whole faction war and the ground-level playable experience, then switching late-expansion to their comfort zone (even if they butchered N’zoth in the process) was hardly all that impacting regarding the already sinking ship.

Lets be honest, even if i agree with your post, Blizzard doesn’t do all that well with fleshing out mundane plots. The only times they shine at it, is when they forget they need to write about them, and inadvertently end up creating an engaging setting as some collateral effect of some “grander” story (Cataclysm and Classic, or isolated zones like Drustvar).

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They might get another opportunity to showcase a mundane plot (relatively speaking) and still make it interesting and engaging for the player base.
I believe the growing divisions within the Alliance is another opportunity to do so.
Whatever spark or series of events set off another conflict between the Horde and Alliance, is another chance to show a more grounded story whilst building on the background of each of the races involved that the PC may represent.

From it we could get a bit more detail on what motivates each faction and their major lore characters. What their vested interests are, how far are they willing to compromise and act for the betterment of their faction or alternatively work against it in secret or openly to achieve their races or personal/individual aims. Maybe, simultaneously we can also gain a better understanding of the society of these individual races in the process and who each of these faction leaders and representatives are answerable to in their own societies and governing structures.

Although it’s very easy at times to group the Horde and Alliance races as a homogeneous entity we also have to consider the fact they work together to protect their own people first and foremost. In my opinion it would be more engaging for the player base to learn about the race and culture their character represents rather than continuously going off to fight some cosmic boogieman xpac after xpac without pause as the centre stage.

I agree with the sentiment here to some degree but, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent to explore such a setting to a greater degree. All it would take is a shift in focus of the story at a fundamental level away from external issues to focus on the interplay between the current races that exist on Azeroth. Even if it was for one xpac or a few patches to allow them to experiment and see what they could achieve with it.

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Legion butchered all Warcraft mysteries and wasted the most powerfull and important villain we ever face in Warcraft.
BFA butchered all hype we could have about faction conflit or OG.
Warcraft lore was all about faction conflits, burning crusade and void threat since the beginning.
So, what remains now ? Nothing to be interresest.

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Nah I’m still hyped about future faction meme warfare. Turalyon’s quote about “reclaiming territories of the old Alliance” is to me the most interesting thing in Shadowlands so far.

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I think that Turalyon thing could lead to something interesting like a faction of the Alliance going rogue with the growing disagreement within the faction or something like that.
We could see something like SoO but for Stormwind or even tensions between Anduin and Tyrande and Turalyon.
I think it would be a good opportunity to develop some Alliance characters that didn’t get much spotlight for some time now.
We could see how the Horde would handle the situation without a Warchief but with the Council or whatever it’s called, now that more peaceful leaders are there ike Thrall, Baine and Thalyssra and many more.

I dunno, seeing that Turalyon is a deep follower of the Light, that could hint at the rumoured evil Light storyline and could introduce evil Yrel and so forth, could be interesting but I’m afraid that it would end up being another BfA with elements from previous expansions and it would be too simillar or wtv.

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Part of the ongoing problem is player viewpoint.

The story zig-zags constantly. At one point, we’re the Champion of Azeroth/Grandmaster of Class Faction and a figure of great power, and in the next we’re murderhobo #1265478. And this difference can literally occur between quests.

It’s even worse with major NPC’s, who basically ignore you outside of muted mumbles of respect. I mean, take Jaina. We literally did 90% of the legwork to drag her out of hell, reunited her with her family and supported her going forwards.

If this was an RPG, as opposed to an MMORPG, Jaina would be 100% whatever cause we were championing and would probably be a party member or close friend. But it’s not, so we are the ‘champion’ and two expansions from now, she’ll act like she doesn’t know us.

We will never properly be ‘champions’, so we need to be murderhobos again. We should be a viewpoint to the story, and shapers in a general sense, not the ‘Chosen one who will never get any real respect for it’.

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You’re so right. I hate this thing of the player being a champion of some sorts because we participated in events from WoW’s history, from vanilla to now, everyone calling us hero and whatnot, but you’ll do side-quests or whatever content the is and every NPC acts like they don’t know you.
It should either be one thing or the other imo.

Also, can’t we just be random people doing stuff in the world? It’s quite reductive to be a class representative or a champion of whatever if there’s literally millions of other representatives or champions doing the exact same thing.
I think all the attention given to the player in this form kinda takes away the “magical” sense of the world, you have nothing to be afraid of because you’re the champion of everything there is.
In that regard, vanilla, TBC and Wotlk were much more engaging in the sense that exploring was meant to be far more dangerous.
We are supposed to be afraid of enemies (afraid in the sense of them being unkown, scary and powerful), not the contrary …
In vanilla or TBC I was kinda scared of venturing into places I wanted to go, it made the game more exciting, because it was all a mystery, but now, the lore is so expanded and explained, it’s just so less exciting in the player’s perspective.

Oh well, let’s do mog runs

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I am actually fine with exploring the higher planes, and other parts of the lore, but thats my personal point of view. Mainly because the way I look at wow is like a dnd game.

You know how you start at level one and raid goblins and bandits and slowly creep up the levels and get in to more detailed stories and start interacting with higher powers? I kinda see it like that.

I see vanilla as the session one in a dnd game and to me it only feels natural that in time we would grow stronger and face bigger threats and get in to contact with higher beings.

With that being said, the way story is written at times feel forced and inconsistent which is where the major issue lies for me. I do not mind learning what Elune is to a degree, the fact that I know what she is doesn’t mean there is no longer a sense of mystery to her. I might know what she is but I could be left in the dark regarding her motives or origins for instance.

Another reason why I feel detached from lore (sadly) is that blizz whenever are through an x-pack leaves every aspect of that xpack behind and unattended. Perhaps I should give an example here. For instance demons from legion, we have no clue what they are doing without their crusade and have no info on their lore and we likely won’t have until blizz decides to use them again. Same for dragon, during cata they suddenly went…infertile? due to a powerless, without any explanation (a proper one) and then nothing until legion hits. Then in legion we suddenly get storm dragons who literally share EVERY TRAIT the normal dragons have but we know nothing of their origin or where they come from. Same will happen with the old gods, story wise and according to Q&A they are -dead- we won’t have any lore about them or explanation until blizz decides to use them again.

To me this doesn’t only confuses the player base regarding lore and leaves their curiosity unsatisfied but also creates a lot of inconsistencies. I wish blizz had a second lore team who would consult and answer or write about these kind of small questions, so the lore as a whole could feel like a proper living fantasy world rather than a tool for blizz to use to create story drama whenever it is needed.

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I know this is overplayed in the WoW-forums, but still: Final Fantasy 14 does an excellent job in that regard. You are the Warrior of the Light and the big hero of Eorzea (although your character does suffer from cutscene incompetence in certain moments) and other characters fully acknowledge your existence. Sometimes they want to talk with you about their problems, opinions, ideas etc. and you can give your own opinion and reply in certain ways.

In Warcraft your character is a walking camera and nothing more. There were really only two instances, where this was not the case: During the Paladin orderhall questline, when you are the one who make Delas a paladin and member of the order and secondly when you meet up with Yrel in Shadowmoon Valley, and you have to motivate her to escape the orc fortress.

My problem is actually that Blizzard does not fully commit/focus to this cosmic storyline. We’re constantly jumping back and forth: At one point we fight against the Burning Legion across multiple planets and worlds, and one moment later we fight against some pirates and quilboars.

Shadowlands just the same problem. We have the big bad Jailer, we fight in the afterlife and battle against cosmic powers…but, at the same time we have a discussion between Greymane and Shaw about the throne of Stormwind. That’s such a gigantic mood swing that it almost becomes comical.

I can almost tell you that the next expansion after Shadowlands will be set on Azeroth again and will be about some insignificant and petty thing. Essentially Shadowlands makes the cosmic power players happy, but after that we have to make the “grounded” playerbase happy as well.

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Just a minor note.

From a recent interview:

So that same rule that we established in Legion for a being of an influence goes back if it’s killed in the mortal realm or some other realm, it goes back to it’s home realm, it’s home plane. That’s true for demons and that’s true for other forces as well.

http://lorekeeper.net/en/maldraxxus-shadowlands-and-beyond-interview-with-steve-danuser

Confirmed for: Death, Disorder, Light. Not 100% for other since we did not see it personally, but close to 100% that it works the same way for the Void.

Ogmot’s Dream Journal:

A door. A path. Ours… Ours…
Fool! Da circle awakened us all!

Not only they are not dead, but the theme of nightmare is not going to leave us in Shadowlands.

Just like the faction conflict, that, I am sure, people love so much
:unamused:

gl hf

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Yeah that is what I was referring to by they are dead I meant as in they are kicked off to their own plane. As we know in wow lore death is a fancy word for being kicked back to your own realm. xP but yeah

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Reading this was like bleach to my eyes, really well put. I’ve always prmarily been interested in the smaller scale stories of various zones in this game. There’s a reason WoD, the expac that has the worst story (tied with BfA maybe), brought me my favourite micro level storyline: the Arakkoa Outcasts.

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I actually think the story in shadowlands sounds very interesting.

I love that they’re expanding on scourge/ lich king / Arthas lore.
I also enjoy the dread lord lore.

Couldn’t care less about Ardenweald but the rest I’m pretty hyped about :slight_smile:

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