A major point of criticism for many players regarding World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the story. There has been a lot of discussion about it.
That not all players are satisfied with World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is an old story by now. Whether it’s systems like the different covenants, cosmetic items through anima, or Torghast – much is only liked by a part of the player base. However, in recent weeks and months, the story has also been criticized more frequently. This is not only due to the latest events, such as with Sylvanas or Tyrande, but also because of the Shadowlands themselves.
What is the biggest problem for players? The main point of criticism from most players in the relevant post on Reddit revolves around the Shadowlands themselves. The post has received over 3,400 upvotes.
For many players, death in World of Warcraft seems to have lost its threat as the Shadowlands are now easily accessible through a portal. When someone dies, it’s not such a big deal because you can simply visit the soul in the Shadowlands. This diminishes the significance of many threats and the impact of beloved characters’ passing.
As AlwaysUpvote123 writes:
I personally think that visiting the afterlife is a huge problem regarding the lore. I mean… people can apparently just go there and visit dead people? And they have confirmed that there is a form of existence after death. That makes dying in the story not a serious threat anymore.
There is a lot of agreement on this.
What else is being criticized? At the same time, many players feel that the Shadowlands do not really feel like an afterlife or a “hereafter”. As chickenburgerr writes:
I hate the fact that what you get in the Shadowlands as life after death is just one damn job.
“You were noble and helpful in your previous life and you worked hard to stay on that path. As a reward for that, we take your memories of it and make you work for all eternity. But hey, here’s an owl man as a slave for you. Oh? You were a proud Tauren? Now you’re a blue human.”
It looks even more drastic for masterraemoras, who finds quite direct words:
For me, the story simply ends with Legion. BFA was already pretty ‘meh’, considering it went from “Finally addressing the conflict between Horde and Alliance” to “Old Gods” and now Shadowlands simply drowns in whatever is currently interesting for “THE EPIC STORY OF SYLVANAS AND HOW SHE NEVER DOES ANYTHING WRONG: The Night Elf Bullying Edition” and “You know that cool, mysterious cosmic power that served as a fascinating background for our series? Well, now you meet them and they are super disappointing!” (…)
So yes, I cut off the story for myself after Legion. (…) Everything after that is just my main character experiencing a drug trip in the deep train because he mixed Noggenfogger Elixir with some mushrooms he found.
What are your thoughts on the current story and Shadowlands? Do you find the story good? Or do you also belong to the dissatisfied players?
