A Copy Paste of a thread about the alliance story in cataFollow

This is a post which i sadly have to agree with, no im not quitting like the OP of this post, but its upsetting to read it.

anywho, here it is:

" " (This is a very long complaint. Please read it all before replying, if you reply at all.)

Let me just say this right now: I am not concerned about Horde territory gains, or Alliance losing, or how “Horde got a new city and we got a tree and a lake,” or any false claims of “the Horde is evil and the Alliance good.” No, none of that.

I am quitting because the Alliance doesn’t have a story.

I have never played this game to socialize, to PVP, or to raid. I’m an explorer, a lore-geek. I’m the guy who did nothing but fly around for ages just to see the changes in the world. I’m the guy who goes around and does the quests for the stories behind them, to see where they’ll play out. I want to get lost in a world that is too fantastic to be true. In other words, I am looking for a story, to be a part of something bigger than myself.

I have been a proud member of the Alliance since I started in BC. Its victories, its failings, the corruption, the purity… all of it. And as poor as Vanilla content was for telling a story, it really felt like I was part of something strong, resolute, attempting to survive in the world. Outland seemed lacking in that it didn’t have an involved overarching story, feeling like a game instead of a world. But Blizzard more than made up for it with Wrath, which was amazing. The world felt natural, the plots all crossed and connected, and it felt like it was all building up to a climax. I met heroes, I met villains, and I loved every minute of it.

But now, with Cataclysm, despite the quests being grouped into a linear chain that tells a story throughout a zone, I have lost the feeling of a story. It doesn’t feel like a world anymore, it feels like a game that is trying to make me laugh. I’m not playing for that experience, and so I am leaving.

Now for the meat of the matter: Exactly WHY doesn’t the Alliance have a story that engages me anymore? The reasons are as follows:

1. The story is not cohesive and has not advanced
2. The Alliance has no strong characters involved in the story
3. I do not see the story in the game
4. The story is on the Horde side
5. The story is a massive reference or an attempted joke


1. The story is not cohesive and has not advanced

Now to be fair, it wasn’t very cohesive in Vanilla either. Just like in Vanilla I went from zone to zone solving largely unrelated problems for unrelated people. That’s part of what made Azeroth feel so large: Not everything can be traced back to one villain. However, there were overarching plotlines: The Defias Brotherhood and the kidnapping of the king; the Dark Iron rebellion also comes to mind. While they did not dominate the story, as I went through the quests it felt like I was advancing the tale ever so slightly, smaller steps in a larger plot. While Outland was a narrative travesty, in Northrend it felt like I was recognized as a mage of strength and notability (and justly so, considering all the death at my hands) fighting against a similarly epic foe, the Lich King. Arthas/Nerz’hul and Yogg-Saron provided strong foes for me to aspire to challenge (though, alas, I faced neither of them in combat because I don’t raid)

But in Cataclysm this is all stopped. In Elwynn, aside from Northshire Valley, everything is the same. Nothing has changed whatsoever. In Dun Morogh Gnomeregan remains captured. Nothing has changed except the gnomes are now right outside. Teldrassil is virtually identical. For the dwarves only has some real change been seen, and even that isn’t much. Still, there’s both an epic foe (Deathwing) and a worthy enemy (The Horde) to contend with, so there’s that to look forward to.

Except it doesn’t happen. Now, once again, to be fair, the advancement of the Defias is a story worth telling, and it felt like I was part of something again (also nice to have the shaman from Howling Fjord). But despite all the excitement, everything stopped in Redridge. It felt like a game again. The story hadn’t advanced much at all, and while it was neat in a vacuum, that was exactly it. It was isolated, fighting foes that had already been fought. It felt like treading water. Same in Loch Modan. And Forest Song had not advanced, nor had Nije’ls Point, or most other towns. Darkshore was amazing, however. Everything was done right, and the continuation into Ashenvale and Stonetalon was excellent. Things were different! I fought new enemies! The bomb may have been dropped but still, I felt like I was in a world again. The Badlands was also decent, mainly for the assumed significance to the expansion as a whole.

But, overall, what has changed for the Alliance? We are still fighting the Defias, still fighting the same worgen and undead in Duskwood, still fighting the Blackrock, still fighting Kurzen, still fighting the demon with the untypable name in the Blasted Lands, still fighting the troggs, still fighting the leper gnomes, still fighting the Dark Irons, still fighting Hogger. The world shattered! The potential was limitless, and it was wasted on old foes (though, if given the choice, I would never get rid of the Defias).

2. The Alliance has no strong characters involved in the story

The most active racial leader is Gelbin Mekkatorque.

With the shattering of the world, one would imagine that the Alliance leaders would do something about it. Perhaps Tyrande could help the Barrow Dens, or Malfurion. Maybe Varian could check out what’s happening in the Barrens (just don’t get near Alcaz). Something. Anything.

Instead, the Alliance racial leaders spend their time being raid bosses.

I don’t mind the Alliance losing the war (if it does). Tragedies are engaging. Macbeth, Hamlet… if we didn’t care about the characters then the loss would be insignificant. So my question is: Where are the characters?

The Horde leaders are out and about. Garrosh goes in and out from the front. Sylvanas takes a personal approach. Gallywix is someone the player loves to hate. Baine helps fight the Grimtotem. Vol’jin plots against Garrosh for the betterment of the Horde. There is tension building, civil war may be imminent. That’s a good story.

Tyrande stands in Darnassus. The Council stands in Ironforge and Muradin pops out. Varian stands in Stormwind. Genn stands in Stormwind. Gelbin helps fight a boss and Velen heals a sick person while being vague. That’s not a story at all! There is no story!

All of the strong characters the Alliance has or had are completely uninvolved or neutral. Malfurion is important in Darkshore before becoming neutral. Jaina does nothing. Darius isn’t seen outside Gilneas… unless you’re Horde. In short, the Alliance has no heroes. Our NPCs are very segmented and zone specific, emphasizing the feel of a game, not a story. Keeshan may be memorable, but he fires his bow and is gone, making a token return in the Burning Steppes.

The worst part is that this is absurdly easy to fix. For just a quick example, why not have Varian lead the soldiers back to Westfall to Sentinel Hill? Why not have him survey the Southern Barrens? Why doesn’t the Council get more involved with the destruction of the dam?

But if this is an mmo, shouldn’t the player feel like the hero? Yes, yes they should. But they should feel like the hero of a story, of a world or society, not a game. You feel like a hero on the Horde side like you are a hero for the Horde, for the Forsaken, for your Warchief. On the Alliance side you feel like a kindly individual helping feeble seniors across a most perilous street while the traffic guard eats a donut.


3. I do not see the story in the game

This one is self-explanatory. I don’t see the story in the game. When I save Maestra’s Post, do Horde war machines litter the ground? No. When I hear of the “great Alliance victory of Taurjo” do I get to partake? No. When Andorhal is lost, do I see the loss? No, but I do see we lose a flightpath. In the victory of Stonard, do I see the results? No, because I didn’t win after all apparently.

The point is, I don’t get to see significant parts of the story (the worgen debacle will be handled below) for no real reason. If I am pushed back at Stonard, let me be pushed back. If we are defeated at Anordhal, let me witness the defeat. There’s hardly even any phasing.

4. The story is on the Horde side

What happens to the worgen after Gilneas? I have to switch sides to find out. This makes no sense. Why do the worgen not get to see their own story? Gilneas is apparently recaptured by the 7th Legion, but how would you know? Darius Crowley, the single most engaging new character I found, might as well have been abducted by ethereals to engage in hilariously one-sided unarmed gladiator matches for all I hear of him afterwards.

What happened to Galen, the singular change in Arathi? How would I know if I wasn’t Horde? How did Thassarian lose Andorhal? How did Lurid die? How did Stonard push me back? I will never know unless I’m on the Horde side (though I will never find out exactly what happened to dear Lurid)

This once again takes away from the story. It reminds me that I am playing a game and that a plot thread has been dropped or not programmed in. It breaks the little story there is even further.

5. The story is a massive reference or an attempted joke

This is ultimately what breaks it for me. This is what is driving me from Warcraft. What story I do get to see is not a story at all. Redridge is Rambo. Uldum is Indiana Jones. The Twilight Highlands is a bad joke. This is no story, this is a bad comedy.

The fact that most everything on the Alliance side is a reference is insulting. The Horde get new plots, new tales to watch unfold. I get to meet a parody of CSI. I observe an homage to Sylvester Stallone. I meet Flintlocke, who is from something I’ve never even read. Besides breaking the story, besides wrecking the suspension of disbelief, do you know what this does? It tells me the developers didn’t care. They didn’t care to come up with something fresh and exciting. They didn’t care to make something new. They didn’t care. That’s what it is. They didn’t care about the story.

In Twilight Highlands I engage in HILARIOUS shenanigans with Flintlocke while the Horde engages in epic air battles and a civil war. The Horde gets the epic tales, the cool scenes, the battles that the blood elves will gossip about in the salons. The Alliance gets jokes.

And I’m not laughing."



i agree with this entire post (minus the quitting part).


discuss.

tl;dr

See, this is what I meant by disconnected from reality.

TAFKAL80ETC is a Horde band because the members play Horde characters. The members happen to be Blizzard Entertainment employees. And this is your proof that Blizzard favors Horde?



Let's not.

I read what you wrote and it was a load of bull. Let me quote one paramount phrase that I feel sums up your fail:



That sentence alone tells me everything I need to know about your knowledge of the game's story.

Thanks for the wall of text, though.

I shouldn't bait the trolls.

DerpLord, are you related to LupineDruid?

Derplord, be advised that Wowhead and Zam are both owned by Affinity media, and as such, we share our "naughty users" lists. Please consider this your formal notification that we don't want any trouble here, and we know your history over there. You get one shot here. Period. Please let me know if you have any questions, the forum rules are in the link at the bottom of the page.

Administrator Kaolian

Derp, I think I see your point. Read this and get back to me.

He appears to be wowheads equivelent of a Godraiden / shadowrealm / etc.

Either everything's tamer on Wowhead or this foo' needs some pitying. Err, pitting. Of his face. With something spiky. IMO.

Edit: I read some replies and there's only one thing I can say here.


FOR THE HORDE!

Edited, Mar 20th 2011 11:22am by Aethien