Well, sorry if your race’s heritage is boring. You can’t expect much from a gnomish set. I very much love the heritage armor designed for the Kul Tirans.
As a topic of discussion? Horribly boring! That’s just talking fashion. No idea why anyone who doesn’t design it would have to do that…
And your topic is interesting? In this universe, we have a giant goat dude stabbing the planet with a satanic sword. I don’t think Anduin’s policies concerning farmers are that interesting.
Well, my topic does touch on the thing that kind of is the connecting factor that brought all of us here: WoW’s story. It might be 
, but we are all invested enough in it to… well, come here again and again. And since the “next we’ll be sending farmers”-line was hotly discussed here, and it is often remarked how SW totally isn’t mediveal I do think how that was in Classic is interesting, actually, yes!
Your reaction is interesting, too, though. Not what you wrote, but how you wrote it.
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I haven’t seen anyone remark that. Stormwind is very clearly themed after a medieval high fantasy city. I also don’t think that line is too important. It was put there to show just how terrible war is, how badly it affected the common people. But I don’t think it should be taken seriously. It’s more of a throw-away line.
I think it’s somewhat funny that Classic-Stormwind has more flavor than the current Stormwind.
And because of Wimbert’s comment about story: I was reading another thread in the forums and suddenly came up with an interesting alternative scenario:
What if the Amani Empire would have tried to negotiate with the Empire of Arathor? What if they would have send an emmissaries and diplomats to Strom with a complete entourage of witch doctors, guards and priests, and tried to negotiate with humanity?
While it’s true that humans and trolls had several border skirmishes over the course of history, it’s also worth noting that the high elves didn’t really treat humans all that well and in some cases treated them just like trolls.
(I mean personally speaking I think that the Troll Wars actually have the potential to be one of the most interesting parts of the Warcraft lore if they’re expanded upon. So much potential for backstabbing, conflicts, diplomacy and more. And all sides already fall firmly into the ‘morally grey’ area.)
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It had more flavour to it because it was an actual human city with a clear theme: medieval high fantasy. It was not a mess of 10 different races. That’s why I currently prefer Boralus over Stormwind.
Its not about the races, its about the fact Stormwind has literally seen no proper building since Vanilla. No stories, no attention, nothing. Just an empty void, a blank canvass. If Stormwind had a proper identity, 27 races wouldn’t bother it.
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Yes they would. If you build a medieval high fantasy city and then have space goats and eldritch emo elves behind the same walls, while throwing pandas and emo slaver dwarves in the mix, you’re going to get a mess of a setting which completely breaks immersion. The way Classic did it was more realistic, with non-human races having a meaningful presence in the city while at the same time appearing sporadically and not being shoved in your face. Before being the Alliance capital, Stormwind is the capital of a -HUMAN- kingdom.
That argument can be made for most other capital cities too. Ironforge and Thunder Bluff received no proper building either, while Darnassus and Undercity got the exact opposite.
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Hm, fair enough. I see your point.
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It’s actually been nice to revisit Stormwind in Classic. So many things have changed for the worse. I still remember how in the RPG it was mentioned how to live in Stormwind you had to follow the Church of the Holy Light. Nowadays we have void elves and Dark Iron dwarves in plain sight…
I think one problem was the removal of all the gritty elements of the kingdom as well as the medieval flavor in general. Sending 14 year olds or farmers to their death? Standard in Vanilla, outrageous nowadays. Oh, and the fact that everybody nowadays treats you like a hero even though you didn’t do anything.
Warden Thelwater for example (the one responsible for the Stockades) flat out tells you, that if you try to help the inmates he and his guards will find you and execute you. And how he deals with the prison riots? Well, that’s easy: Send you in and let you kill everyone to quell them.
Even Burning Crusade still had some gritty elements. This little dialogue from a draenei for example is interesting:
Interrogator Khan says: What are you after, Bloodknight? Speak or the brutes will punish you.
Captured Halaani Blood Knight raises an eyebrow at Khan.
Interrogator Khan kneels down as if to get closer to the Bloodknight.
Interrogator Khan says: Surprised? You thought what? That Draenei do not beat their prisoners?
Interrogator Khan says: You are correct. We do not beat our prisoners. Broken, on the other hand, have no issues with violence. You see, they are brutes after all…
Interrogator Khan says: Beat this filth until it speaks…
I think someone on the forums already said it once: During the earlier days of Warcraft Azeroth was actually a fantasy somewhat medieval world with a completely different mindset. Nowadays modern day morality and non-toxic-masculinity (I only quote Golden here) are a part of the story.
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They also acknowleged te depleted troops in more than words. While we can argue if the consequences of the first 2 wars, and Onyxia’s desastrous policies are shown as harshly as they should be, we cannot argue that they are shown, and that the greater part of the kindom can’t rely on Stormwind’s protection, creating an actual market for adventurers… who aren’t treated as heroes, but as… well, people who do your chores for money. More of a necessary evil than something good.
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Which fits the idea of an adventurer. Now we still kill and plunder for money and rewards for whoever asks us, but now we are called champions and heroes of our factions. Doing some shady stuff sometimes for some npc-s that goes against the moral code of the given factions…
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There’s a nice quest in Loch Modan where this is shown very clearly:
"Two months just to hear from Ironforge that we’ll be spared a handful of soldiers for our own defense, and another two months until they arrive! Bad enough that our town goes unprotected, but the excavation and the dam–the dam!–are open to attacks as well.
I’ve no choice then, it seems. I’ll need hired arms.
How about you? You seem a likely sort, <class>. A group of ogres has set up camp on the northeast of the lake. Perhaps you could recruit some others and help remove the threat to our town?"
https://classic.wowhead.com/quest=255/mercenaries
I think it’s actually shown quite decent. This is one of my personal problems with the current story: Wars in Warcraft between factions should be a tremendous task. You’re not only dealing with an enemy, you also have to deal with dozens of other minor factions and problems. Gnolls, kobolds, centaurs, quilboars, harpies, ogres, bandits. Oh, and the local wildlife. A grizzly is still a grizzly and is probably capable of giving even an orc a tough time. Just try to establish some sort of supply route. In Classic all of this feels like they are actual problems…nowadays they’re more an annoyance.
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The “morally grey” aspect of Stormwind society lasted until Cataclysm. Remember when many citizens of Stormwind were forced to find refuge in Westfall? Remember how Stormwind was hit by the greatest economic crisis in history, and that was reflected in the actual game? Remember the contempt that the people of Westfall felt for Stormwind, that gleaming and golden capital city whose King sat upon a golden throne built on the shoulders of the oppressed farmers of Westfall?
Coincidentally, this was before Mists of Pandaria, when Blizzard started homogenizing the other races of the Alliance (see: draenei, worgen, and pandaren wearing Stormwind armor at Varian’s base in 5.1).
…I mostly remember hobo-jokes, really.
Hard to take the situation seriously if it is put between stupid jokes and pop-culture references. I really have no idea why the refugees are in Westfall, the game failed to make me care.
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Hey guys.
GUYS.
It’s the Trial of Style again!! Last time, we had a lot of fun with going as a group, so I hope we can do so again this year!!!
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I got called the “Forum Queen of Brutal Honesty” through in-game mail. Must be a fan of mine.
Stand aside uggos.
A true beauty has entered the chat.