It’s worse than that. And its sad. One of the things I craved so much was how developments affected my favourite race.
The impact of the WC3 event ended the 10,000 year long vigil for night elves, the ramifications are huge but barely touched on - although we do see them build a new city and home… but it takes almost 6 years to revisit them again and show the arcane return - and the ramifications of that huge change to the post-vigil group, almost unseeen… then the next time they get any focus as a race (not faction) is in Legion, where the faction The Night Elves - is almost non-existance despite the importance of this threat and the role it played to this enemey, but the race is all over the expansion, from Suramar and the nightborne to Val’sharah and the undead & druids etc.
Yet, almost nothing on the huge Temple of Elune, seeing that Elune is one of the 3 major tenants of the night elves alongside the arcane Well and nature World Tree - yet zilch - its all about classes. Suramars return is HUGE to the night elf - the city was thought completely lost, the legion thought to have destroyed everything… teh whole premise of this new life was on the basis that everything of the old was lost and therfore their whole mind and heart was thrown into it. The return should be far more emotional to both nightborne and night elves - but ZILCH !!
Then the revelations - the Legion not after the Well of Eternity is destiny changing in so many ways, I wrote award-winning style essays on it, the revelation that Illidan was never betraying his people when he creates the new well and thus falsely imprisoned is HUGE too - the fact that the demons are after the Wold Soul and not only knew of Azeroth but were searching for it long before the Elves existed - is a huge burden of guilt off these people.
And its ultimate destruction is such a game changer for them, a destiny changer - bearing in mind, the Long vigil group now in post-vigil era have had the last 10,000 years of their lives dominated by this - their original destiny and mandate on pause because of this foe. Now it’s come and finally defeated, and the main instrument of that defeat is Illidan thought betray.
Not to mention the huge ramifications of the curing of arcane addiction, at one point in the lore was a great puzzle, unsolvable, the work of the Valewalkers completed and the knowledge of nature the key to balancing the arcane and counteracting addiction in a night elf.
These are effects that have serious ramifications on the night elves, to transform them completely - yet they jump straight into a genocide and while that is also huge - there is NO MENTION on how the most dramatic events that change every aspect of their lives from Elune and her main temple being freed, to the arcane no longer a burden or have cause to hesistate over , or the ramifications of nature and how easy it was to corrupt the druids without any means of withstanding being completley taken over by this nightmare power - even worse than the arrogance /addiction the arcane induced because at least that the user could counter and regulate - but nature following was proven to be anything but infallible and requiring power beyond nature, like the arcane can provide to stop the nightmare.
I mean the list goes on - every aspect of the night elves were affected, their history, Ravencrest returning, spelled by the legion but then getting released and now a stronghold of friendly night elf undeads are alive.
Night elves no longer tied to the destiny of the legion = they won, they can be the children of the stars they were being before that.
Arcane no longer needing to be feared, regulated - no legion to fear returning, no addiction to fear - balance is understood, all stigma should be gone.
The temple of elune: the chief Cathedral of eternal night is restored, cleansed of corruption the main spiritual centre for the night elves/nightborne IS HUGE, and links to more insight of the titan connection not to mention the release of the former high priestess in the raid.
Nature not only the balance to stabilising and solving arcane addiction, but also in and of itself is not immune nor infallible and prone to corruption too - no druid can ever be disdainful of an arcane night elf now, druidsm is not 100% madness or corruption free, should the mages start advocating a ban on druidsm? No - for any magical corruption or aberration - find the cause and solve it.
Suramar returning is also very significant, it is a piece and hope to rebuild a lost civilizaiton with knowledge available - the startling realisation and effect it must have amongst night elves who never saw it (born after the sundering) and those who lived in it and only had the pain of what was lost to remember, now finding this piece survives - the hope that can bring, the wonder to the younger night elves who perhaps grew up on the guilt of their mothers over how the elves misused their knowledge and wisdom and perhpas only viewed the past through the lens of what went wrong because they never witnessed the good things of the pre-sundering civilization, something the ancients likely find too painful to talk about often because of the loss, all lost - to find it survived. IS HUGE.
Not to mention the ramifications to the nightborne that aren’t been explored. They’ve been idolizing the kaldorei who left to fight Azshara and the demons, defending the city and believed them long dead, defeated by the demons who they believed had overrun the world for the last 10,000 years… to find out after Elisande is defeated that the full truth. The High Priestess survived, their kin actually defeated the legion and Azshara, the sorrow of the stuff they went through - an arcane-less life for so long - to prevent the legion from returning which likely is the reason why the shield has stood so long, because it is clear now a legion in control of the world could have torn down that ashield, something they did not believe till Gul’dan arrived. To find out their kin’s sacrifice of magic and living in the aftermath of destruction while they continued the high life in all the comforts, luxuries and advancement of the night elf race - this should evoke a very different set of attitudes that are simply not properly explored by the “It appears Tyrande felt Elune’s wisdom guided her elsewhere” - it should not be that basic at all, far more nuanced given everything. For crying out loud, Shandris could have relatives alive in Suramar, Maiev goes crazy becuase Suramar is thought destroyed - how does finding part of the city heal her? change her.?
@Taxania - i could go on and on … the ramifcations based on the already given lore are so wide and varying and huge and large and far and wide… and what do we get… ZILCH ! NADA ! ZERO !
It’s not Just Night elves
You’ve just picked up on something that goes well beyond one race it happens for every race. The ramifications of WoD for the orcs, for the Draenei - having witnessed a world that was destroyed only to find it whole then the iron horde - the emotional pain, the effect on the destiny of the orcs… the aftermath. What about the return of the Mag’har … and what that indicates or mean, the lighbound vs the lightforged?
What of the draenei and the return of Draenor or the destruction of Argus - at least that was captured a little better, we go tosme emotional focus on that, but in the aftermath? I bet someone really into the Draenei like @Hasibel or the other lightforged poster could write essays on that.
Man, they could write incredible stories, that really bring characters, and races to life, that really capture the magnitude of the huge moments they experience.
it is such a shame - the game comes in with these big events, and they touch everyone, yet there is so little to reflect it and show its ramifications. Such a shame.
they could have such an engaging popcult franchise as far reaching as Star Wars or Marvel if they had properly capitalised on their meteoric rise to popularity. with at its peak a 12 million fan base - if they had taken their lore far more seriously and in a sense let the game be the game, and branch out to tell a great story to the world sooner and taken better care, they would become the next Star Wars, the next LotR, the next Marvel/DC comics.
Sadly, the way they continue to just be game focused has locked them into going no further than this. Nothing on tv series, books. the mmo game itself is the only development of the franchise, that and the occassional book.
They could have released like 4 books since legion. One focusing on all those things about the night elves and nightborne I said. Another focusing on The Draenei, another which they did release, on the war, and one focused on Azeroth and the wound. - they coudl have done a comic on that.