In WoW: Battle for Azeroth, some content was never released. We present a few of the canceled content ideas.
Even though Battle for Azeroth was probably not the most popular expansion, it at least had a wealth of features and a lot of content. But just like in previous addons, not everything planned by the developers was released. Some content was in early versions in the game files but never made it to the live servers.
Warfronts – Only one made it into the game
Warfronts were one of the major features and selling points presented for WoW: Battle for Azeroth. The developers wanted to stage epic battles between two factions that somehow reminded a bit of MOBAs while also wanting to bring tactical elements from Warcraft III into World of Warcraft. However, it never really resonated well with the fans.
The only thing that players repeatedly highlighted positively was the fact that it was very easy to get good gear. This is still the case with the heroic Darkshore, which lures with item level 460.
However, if the reward is the only thing that can convince about the warfront, then that doesn’t really speak for this type of content. So it’s not really surprising that more warfronts were simply canceled and not implemented. The feature was probably considered “irretrievable,” and the only consequence was to shut it down early.
That’s why after the launch we saw only Darkshore – other warfronts did not come.
The unannounced warfronts definitely included:
- The Battle for Silvermoon
- Attack on Mulgore (Barrens)
- Attack on the Bilgewater Harbor (Azshara)
Untold Story of the War
By now, it is also clear that the war campaign took a completely different, shorter course than initially planned by the story writers. This goes hand in hand with the previously mentioned canceled warfronts. In a Q&A session at BlizzCon, there was a question about what was going to happen with Silvermoon. The city of the elves is after all the last bastion of the Horde in the Eastern Kingdoms. A warfront was actually supposed to take place here (which was partially found in the game files), and it would have probably meant a significant amount of Blood Elf story and at the same time an overhaul of the Sunstrider Grove – something that Blood Elf players have been demanding for years.
As we know, neither of these things happened.
In the same vein seems to be the warfront planned in the Barrens, which was supposed to open Mulgore for conquest. This would not only have suited an Alliance attack but also matched the ominous atmosphere after Baine’s rescue from Orgrimmar. Here it was already hinted in a cinematic that the next attack of the Banshee Queen would have taken place at Thunder Bluff. However, this was left out and never picked up again – seemingly another story point that was simply canceled.
Canceled Questlines
The dataminers were always good at extracting the content of a patch before its release. In doing so, they came across many dialogues and quests that were never released. These are mainly two questlines that, while not directly related to the main storyline, would have definitely been an enhancement for the game world:
- Scarlet Crusade in Lordaeron: There are several items and dialogues indicating that the Scarlet Crusade had tried to take control of Lordaeron after the area was corrupted and abandoned by both the Horde and Alliance. For some time now, there have been indications that the Scarlet Crusade is recruiting new members and seeking reinforcements – for example, there is an NPC at the Darkmoon Fair asking for “donations” for the Crusade.
- Murder in the Druid Grove: We have reported extensively about another quest line. It was meant to be a rather funny and silly questline among the druids. Here, the task was to solve a murder case involving small wild animals, and the various companions of the druid would have tried to find the perpetrator. There would have been discussions with squirrels, and in the best “Detective Conan” manner, they would have concluded and gathered the laurels for the work done from others. However, this questline never made it into the game and is still waiting for a release.
Of course, it is possible that some of the content, such as the detective quest, are still “hidden” and simply haven’t been found. However, most content will probably never see the digital light of day.
Which of these contents would you have looked forward to? Or is it good that Blizzard left a large portion of it out to focus more on Shadowlands now?
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