A major event in World of Warcraft chases the next one. Is the story in Azeroth progressing too quickly?
With the upcoming expansion Battle for Azeroth, World of Warcraft once again revolves around a gigantic conflict. The Horde and Alliance are fighting on multiple fronts for dominance over new lands but also over the “old” continents. Initial hints, however, suggest that this is just the beginning and later in the expansion will increasingly revolve around old gods, Azshara, and perhaps even the Void Lords.
The signs point to conflict – and of a gigantic scale.
Too many threats in a short time
Historically speaking, Azeroth has been packed with huge threats, gigantic influences, and political alliances that have been completely broken apart every few years.
User Irethius summarized this particularly well on Reddit, imagining a conversation with an inhabitant of Kul Tiras who hasn’t had contact with the continents for 20 years. A lot has happened in the past 20 years of gameplay:
- The Elemental Lord Ragnaros, one of the most powerful beings of Azeroth, was defeated – twice
- Three troll empires were nearly wiped out
- Three Old Gods were overcome
- The kingdom of Gilneas has fallen
- Deathwing has devastated the world
- The Lich King Arthas and the Scourge were halted
- The Dragon Aspects have lost their millennia-old power from the Titans
- Two invasions of the Burning Legion were stopped (Burning Crusade and Legion)
- Sargeras pierced the entire world with a sword
- Oh, by the way, our world is the egg of a Titan, but don’t worry, Magni Bronzebeard is already chatting with her
Of course, this entire situation is portrayed in an exaggerated manner and the individual events have been addressed “slowly” over the course of several expansions.
In the overall context of Azeroth, however, everything is very closely intertwined. In the background story, there are nearly 10,000 years between events of such magnitude, like the shattering in the War of the Ancients and the next invasion of the Legion. Other events, such as the rise and fall of the troll empires, often took centuries or even millennia apart.
MMORPGs need a lot of story in a short time
That so much happens at once is, of course, more or less due to the medium of video games. After all, our characters are supposed to experience something exciting and a lot of time can’t pass each time, which would result in a complete overhaul of the world and the elimination of existing main characters.
From a “video game perspective,” the pace is quite sensible – but from a “story logic” perspective, it is rushed. With how often large parts of the population have already been wiped out by demons, old gods, dragons, and much more, there should soon be hardly any inhabitants left.
I think Blizzard could bring a bit more calm back into the story. Personally, I would welcome an addon in the style of Pandaria – even without world-destroying old gods or a mad war chief with genocidal thoughts. “Smaller” conflicts would be perfectly sufficient for me, as long as the story and characters are exciting and compelling. But that probably doesn’t sell well.
What do you think of the storytelling pace of World of Warcraft? Is it good that there are always large, giant conflicts with devastating effects? Or would you prefer more relaxation and calm?
Have you read the theory on how Alleria could summon the Void?
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