The Alliance in World of Warcraft is causing a stir in the forums. Some are very dissatisfied with the title of “High King”.
Who is actually leading the Alliance?
Spoiler alert: If you haven’t checked out the current pre-event of World of Warcraft, you might want to stop reading. Because there are some story spoilers.
The High King of the Alliance – nothing more than a Warchief 2.0?
Since the pre-event of World of Warcraft: Legion, the power dynamics within the Horde and Alliance have changed significantly. While the Horde has to do without Vol’jin and declares Sylvanas as their Warchief, the Alliance has lost Varian Wrynn. Players even have to personally hand over the letter (from the cinematic intro) to his son Anduin Wrynn.
In the official Blizzard forums, there is now a thread that has reached the maximum of 26 pages (and is already being continued in a part 2). Players are asking: What is this “High King” nonsense? According to fans, the Alliance is a union of different races that all exist – more or less – equally in this alliance.
The idea of a High King would undermine this equality and make one race more important than the others. Additionally, that would just make them a “Warchief 2.0”, similar to the Horde. According to the comic “Son of the Wolf”, Anduin will one day be the High King when he leads the “Army of the Light” into battle alongside Velen – many players think the appointment of the High King is already imminent.
The discussion has become so heated that even Blizzard has intervened in the form of Community Manager Ornyx. His statement (in excerpts) reads:
“The title ‘High King’ is more comparable to the ‘Commander-in-Chief’, as held by Anduin Lothar, the commander of the forces of the great Alliance. It does not imply that one can ‘rule’, has ‘special legal authority’, or any faction-wide political control over the civilians of the Alliance (Varian was an exception here as he was also the King of Stormwind and thus ruled over Stormwind). (…)”
“Like the Warchief in the Horde, the High King has a military role to coordinate the armed forces (members of the Alliance can refuse to fall under military command). This does not mean that the whole group always agrees with the High King, but only acknowledges and understands that organized military intervention is sometimes necessary. (…)”
“It is also important to mention that the military strength of humans is significantly greater – particularly that of Stormwind – than that of the other members of the Alliance, granting a certain priority in deciding on a military leader.”
There we see what players are getting worked up about.
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