Story Forum Offtopic Lounge pt. 2

Not exactly.

If I recall correctly, they came in possession of said sword thanks to some looters/archaeologists from Gadgetzan, that were tricked by a troll dude that wanted the sword for himself or something like that, and unburied the artefact for it to be stolen and taken inside.

As far as I know, our sole reason to go into their city, kill most of them and their leader, and get their stuff, was because of a bunch of adventurers had failed to do precisely that, and got caught.

I never had the impresssion of those trolls being any more than a local threat to the ones that decided to colonise the dessert.
And it all seem like the most vanilla ā€œdungeonā€ experience where we infiltrate someone elseā€™s place, for riches, glory, and a rescue mission.

The kind of acts some classic murderhobo would do :joy:

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Vrykul 3.0
Uncorrupted Satyr
Spooky bois
Ugly Vampires

All options sound pretty sweet.
I think Iā€™ll go with the vampires. They have the coolest zone IMO.

Weā€™ll see about that. A dev mentioned that most of the zone was actually indoors and that the big castle as almost the whole zoneā€¦ which might be cool. Or wildly disorienting and a nightmare for ranges. Depending on how it is done.

Speaking of Revendreth, one challenge we made was, if you look at the art gallery, we have this postcard of a castle. Hey, what if that was the entire zone - a castle? So we tried to figure that out what the pieces necessarily would be to create a gigantic castle? We figured that out, handed it off to level design, and made it work. It was great to have that collaboration, based on someone just yelling it out at a meeting.
https://www.wowhead.com/news=296035/world-of-warcraft-group-interview-recap-torghast-level-squish-flying-pathfinder

In any case on the plus sideā€¦ doesnā€™t sound like a zone where flying would be missed that much :wink:

That wouldnā€™t bother me one bit. Still going with the suckers.

vampires are kinda lame but at least they donā€™t sparkle i guess still going with whatever faction uther is in :stuck_out_tongue:

Bastion. I hope Uther is an owl person.

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It is in any case unique. Could be pretty interesting having an entire zone indoors.

Iā€™m actually pretty hyped about Shadowlands. While we can argue about the overall lore, itā€™s finally something new and unique again. The last time Blizzard tried something like this was in Mists of Pandariaā€¦a generally well received expansion so we will see.

Also finally many classes get some abilities back (Auras! Hammer of Wrath baseline! Consecration for all specs as baseline! And poisons for all rogues!), no other artifact, Torghast as an endless-rogue-like-dungeon, the Covenants, and the zones look pretty good as of right now.

I essentially sat out most of BfA. My characters are terribly geared, I didnā€™t bother with essences, the Heart or anything. Got my Warfront-transmogs and thatā€™s about itā€¦oh and finished the war campaign.

Looking at the forumsā€¦ not half as much as the wars we had in every damned thread before this. Reallyā€¦ cosmic lore might be weird stuff with no real point and not much of an emotional impactā€¦ but it is kind of fun to speculate about and doesnā€™t create opposing teams of players. For that alone Iā€™m genuinely thankfulā€¦
And getting more optimistic about the addon by the minute.

Really, I donā€™t think there is anything about the addon that I actually dislike yet, except for the baggage we are taking there from Azerothā€¦ and the ā€œOh, while you are away your homeland is probably being ravaged by Hordes of zombies we are not showing. Have fun!ā€.
While not everything happened that I had hoped for (factions are there to stay, I guessā€¦), all the concepts seem great to me. And better th more I think about them.

Iā€™m ready for the hype.

To be honest all 4 realms look very disappointing to me.

Besides Halls of Valor 2.0, Valā€™Sharah 2.0, vampire zone and Plaguelands 2.0, there is nothing that would fit shamanistic belief system / afterlife, so something that would actually fit OG Horde.

My main wouldnā€™t fit in any of these realms, so I get Legion 2.0 vibes again but at least Legion had Highmountain to feel at least very home-y.

Iā€™ll see what early footage with show, but Shadowlands doesnā€™t look at all what I imagined, and Iā€™d rather if they sticked with already established lore about afterlife than making stuff up.

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There are infinite planes in the Shadowlands so there actually might be one fitting for the spirits and shamans of the Horde. But, as of now we only visit these fourā€¦or five if you count the Maw. But, well if you die on Azeroth, youā€™re send before the Arbiter. She decides where you will go depending on your personality, history etc.

So for example I could imagine that most orcish warriors would probably end up in Maldraxxus, where they would feel right at home: Itā€™s the survival of the fittest, and the strongest and best ones rise to the top. ā€œRelentless, warlike souls who never yield and are willing to strive against one another for greatness.ā€

Shamans, paladins and priests probably all end up in Bastion. All of these classes lived their life in service: Either the spirits, the elements or the Light.

I was somewhat sceptical at first, but Iā€™m warming up to the concept. I think the biggest problem for me was the cinematic trailer with Sylvanas at the front once again. But, well she has become just a generic villain at this point without any connection to the former character (even to the character from BfA really), and with Blizzard essentially stating that the whole BfA-storyline has been wrapped up I have actually become indifferent towards her.

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Maldraxxus is also about necromancy and creating vile creatures. So I donā€™t think itā€™s that fitting.

There is missing realm that should be combination of necrolords set up (ā€œsurvival of the fittestā€) with Adenwald (or whatever it is called) so circle of rebirth. Something that would actually fit good chunk of Horde players.

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My mains donā€™t really fit in any of the realms, either. There is not really something more gnome or dwarf themed for crafters and inventors or something, is there? But that doesnā€™t really bother me. I can enjoy the zones all the same.

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  • Fallen Loa and Wild Gods will be present in the Shadowlands.
  • Bwonsamdiā€™s exact role in the Shadowlands will be defined.

This gives me some hope. Nice of Blizzard to have a lore interview.

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Not too much though. That they said was:

ā€œWeā€™ll see some of them again. Unfortunately they canā€™t do everyone, so theyā€™re picking and choosing which stories to tell, but there are some cool hooks there. Players already know of a figure involved in the spirits of Loa and trolls, and will learn more about his afterlife process as well.ā€

Soā€¦ weā€™ll see ā€œsomeā€ Loa, and Bwonsamdi is certainly one of this finite number.

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The fact that they acknowledge at least this, gives me some hope.
I donā€™t really need an extensive or detailed plot that doesnā€™t leave any of the fallen loas forgotten.
But I doubt they leave out those whose death was relevant, and thatā€™s enough for me to have a reason to go there with my troll.

Because yeah, even if I donā€™t expect them to remember about Akali, Sethraliss, and the rest of dead Drakkari Loa, i fully expect them to put Rezan in there given how significant his death was for the Zandalari.
And Iā€™m not ruling out having Hireek or Shadra given how recent their deaths were (which makes it less probable of Blizzard to forget them).

Anyway, the fact they reference Loa, in plural, and make that weird distinction between them and Wild Gods, already points at a differentiation with the Night elf lore in that zone.
Which is nice.

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Oh, by the way: Warcraft 3 Reforged will not have an updated campaign or retcons or anything at all in that regard. So, itā€™s essentially a remaster which charges you for 40ā‚¬ā€¦

i was hugely disappointed that they cut out the sunwell fight out of reforged

So whatā€™s the point of the Anasterian model? A microtransaction skin for blood mages?

Yes but we donā€™t quest in more fitting realm for spiritual members of the Horde. That is the point, each realm feels completely alien to majority of Horde members.

That is all nice description but there is one problem you see- Entire zone is themed after Scourge. Can you honestly place tauren and frostwoleves orcs there and with straid face say ā€œyeah theyā€™d totally fit in among liches and abominationsā€.

Human priests and Paladins maybe, but shamans? Hell no. Bastian is Halls of Valor 2.0 and mimics Vrykul stuff heavily.
Iā€™ll park there my Zandaladin tho for that Halo reward tho (in case if Iā€™d actually buy the expansion). But I can imagine my Zandalari feeling super uncomfortable there.

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It was stated that Draka can be found in Maldraxxus. And she really doesnā€™t have much of a connection to necromancy or anything in that direction.

Can you place a human of Drustvar one of the most down-to-earth zones in the entire game into the High Heavens of Bastion? A dwarf? A gnome? A night elf?

ā€œSouls naturally drawn to service are sent here (Bastion)ā€. Most shamans do one thing throughout their entire life: They serve the elements or ask them for their favors. Ironically, night elven priests would probably also end up in Bastion.

WoWs afterlife really doesnā€™t care about your belief or faith. It only cares about your character and personality.

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