World of Warcraft will establish new story, a fresh “status quo”. Slowly but surely, it’s becoming noticeable.
For anyone wanting to start with World of Warcraft today, it’s really a tough lot. Even though the gameplay entry is now a little better, the story is mainly a chaotic mess, through which newcomers cannot really see through. Of course, over 20 years of expansions, 3 strategy games as a basis, and numerous books cannot be quickly caught up with.
Anyone wanting to grasp the entire story must spend several dozen hours watching explanatory videos or wade through several wikis.
A blessing for all who have been loyal to the franchise for years, a complete overload for those who would like to dive into Warcraft.
For this reason, the developers seem to be following a plan to establish a “fresh” Azeroth. One where the rules are again clearly recognizable, and the individual factions can be described in a few sentences.
A lot of knowledge to grasp the main story
Because anyone today wanting to understand what exactly makes a blood elf really must delve into books for a long time. Anyone wanting to understand why the conflicts between night elves and blood elves are important must play quest lines from over 13 years ago. One must know what the cleansing in Dalaran was, where the Sunwell actually comes from, and consequently the Well of Eternity. Then one must know what Kael’thas did in Warcraft III, and so on…
The YouTuber Platinum WoW nicely shows in one of his recent videos how much knowledge is actually necessary to really grasp the current events:
For the same reason, Blizzard has begun to slowly retire prominent characters to make room for a new generation. Prominent examples here are Tyrande and Malfurion. The two have basically retreated in Dragonflight and now live on Amirdrassil. The leadership of the night elves has been passed to their daughter Shandris. That this is not just said in passing has already been made clear in Midnight. When it came to supporting the blood elves in the fight against the void, neither Tyrande nor Malfurion showed up – everything goes through Shandris.
The foundation for 20 more years of Warcraft
Chris Metzen had already stated at BlizzCon that the world soul saga should lay the foundation to secure the next 20 years of Warcraft. A foundation that is obviously intended to be fresh and form a clear baseline for all, in which the world appears organized.
Of course, this does not mean that the existing story of World of Warcraft will be deleted and no longer holds any significance. The races and characters are still exactly what they have become because they have this past. However, it is becoming increasingly easier to explain to someone the world in its current state in a few sentences:
- “These are the Kirin Tor. Elite mages who used to live in a flying city and are now spread across the world.”
- “This is Quel’thalas. Here live various elves who are skilled in the use of magic.”
- “Behind the sea lurks an unknown empire of the Arathi, who fanatically serve the Light and are not well disposed toward us.”
Such descriptions work and reveal everything that is important for the first impression. Above all: It gives Blizzard the opportunity to create a “World of Warcraft” again, where it is no longer about cosmic threats. The world soul saga with Xal’atath, the void, and the titans is likely to be a grand culmination of the spiral in which it was always about “bigger, stronger, more dangerous.” If this has now come to an end, we might experience in the 13th expansion – after the end of “The Last Titan” – perhaps again an Azeroth where smaller stories come into greater focus and the factions play a larger role again.
How would you feel about such a soft reset? Do you think it is good that Blizzard is currently working on organizing Azeroth a bit again, so that everything is easier to understand?
Cortyn thinks: I believe Blizzard is taking a good and sensible step here. Even though this unfortunately means that we currently have a few plots in the story that feel a bit cheesy or underdeveloped – such as the Twilight Grove – I can overlook that because I believe that it will ultimately benefit World of Warcraft in the long run. I am certainly looking forward to the time after the world soul saga. Because then Azeroth might once again have room to tell somewhat simpler stories in which the factions gain relevance. One could return to old threats – the naga, the demons in the Nether, or conflicts among themselves.
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