Not everyone is happy with the end of the war campaign in World of Warcraft. Some are even extremely disappointed. But why is that?
As of Wednesday, we know how the war campaign in World of Warcraft ends. Instead of a great battle for Orgrimmar, there is “just” a duel between Sylvanas and Saurfang. Although Saurfang is helplessly outmatched in this fight and Sylvanas brings him down within a few seconds, he is still counted as the winner.
However, the events during the campaign and in the cinematic do not sit well with all players. In the subreddit and in the World of Warcraft forums, the player base is currently divided, as there is significant dissatisfaction with the outcome of the campaign. This not only leads to a lot of criticism and complaints but also sometimes to some funny memes and other cynical images.
What do players dislike about the end of the war?
At least part of the player base disagrees with some aspects of the war campaign. We’ll briefly list the most frequently mentioned points here.
Is this “Mists of Pandaria 2.0”? During the last BlizzCon, the developers stated that Sylvanas should not become “Garrosh 2.0” – which has proven to be true in the end, as she is neither a raid boss nor has she stayed with the loyal part of the Horde. However, many players took the developers’ statement back then to mean that the story of Battle for Azeroth would not just be a “remake” of the storyline from Mists of Pandaria. Yet, in their eyes, that is exactly what has happened.
Once again, the Alliance, Thrall, Lor’themar, and part of the Horde gather before the gates of Orgrimmar to overthrow a war chief. And once again, the war chief uses an almost unknown, destructive power as a last resort.
While Sylvanas has not become a final boss and the city of Orgrimmar is not truly “conquered”, the parallels are still great.
Sylvanas is playing “27D-Chess”: Also under criticism is Sylvanas’ master plan, of which little is known to this day. There have been ongoing discussions in the community about whether Sylvanas is pursuing a long-term plan and reacting extremely intelligently or whether her actions are just stupid and impulsive – such as during the burning of Teldrassil.
Supporters of Sylvanas often mentioned that she was playing “4D-chess”, meaning she operated on a level of intelligence that is not easily perceived. This was then picked up by the opposition and mocked further – by now, it has become something like 27D-chess or 28D-chess.
This has even become part of the “BINGO” list created for the war campaign of Patch 8.2.5.
At least the creator took it with humor, as the middle box says: “Disappointed players (for nothing)”.
Sylvanas’ escape is silly: One last point that bothers many is Sylvanas’ departure. The fact that she simply transforms into a shadow cloud and makes a “Team Rocket” exit into the distance annoys many players. They had hoped that Sylvanas would be stopped and held accountable for her crimes. The presence of such an “Oh Shit” button that allows her to escape a complete encirclement frustrates many players.
Many other, smaller points of criticism: Of course, there are still a few more isolated points of criticism. Some players criticize that the Alliance largely stays out of this conflict and has little role in the cinematic. Night Elf players, on the other hand, are angry that they have still not received any revenge for Teldrassil. The fact that the rest of the Horde is apparently simply forgiven now does not exactly promote satisfaction.
Cortyn says: I personally find the course of the war campaign and also the interim ending quite successful. It fits Sylvanas for her to have a moment of extreme arrogance at the end, which she then fully enjoys. Her arrogance and her little monologue before she disappears only make it clear how little she cares about the fate of the living.
The fact that she turns away from the Forsaken doesn’t bother me or seem inappropriate – these are just the fruits of what has already been sown in the past. After all, she had to deal with the fact that the Forsaken cling to life and wanted to return to their still-living family members in the backstory of Battle for Azeroth “Before the Storm”. She had hoped to drive that out of them, which she failed to do – as a logical consequence, the Forsaken are now left behind, just like the rest of the Horde.
I’m quite curious about what Sylvanas is still planning and how her pact with Azshara will affect her in the future. From my perspective, she has remained true to her character – calculating, cold, and occasionally consumed by hatred and rage. Just like in Warcraft III.
But at least the whole debate has led to a few nice memes – and to me really looking forward to BlizzCon 2019.
But how do you see it? Are you satisfied with the end of the war campaign? Or do you not like the story at all?
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