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The "War" in WarCraft
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Post by
HiVolt
In this post I'll be exploring the idea of "War" in relation to the World of WarCraft. This will cover the various wars that have taken place within World of WarCraft, including the Ahn'Qiraj War, the Burning Crusade, the war against the Scourge, and the conflicts between the Alliance and the Horde.
First, I'd like to say that I've traveled many a hostile zone, conquered many a dungeon, and thwarted many a raid boss, and yet I still feel like the "War" in WarCraft has been phased out.
Why would a supposedly powerful villain sit back in his chambers and allow attempts to be made to conquer him? Why is it that none of the supposedly powerful villains make counterattacks to advances made against them? Why is it that when faction leaders see that their lands are being encroached upon, they do little more than ask wandering adventurers to help with the problem? I don't see why invasive events from evil beings and enemies have to be planned pre/post-expansion/patch events.
Let's focus on the Ahn'Qiraj war for a moment. There was a call for supplies and materials to aid in the War Effort; this is a realistic idea. Why is it that we seem completely able to face stronger forces than the Qiraji without such a preparation? Now, after the gong had been sounded, hundreds of C'thun's minions flooded Silithus in an attempt to destroy attackers, this is also realistic. But why didn't the Old God send more afterward? Sure his initial force may have been crushed, but he had countless others at his disposal. How is it that a couple of camps and one major hold in a zone can be so hard to destroy for a being with near infinite numbers of troops and servants at his beckoning call?
Now, what about the Burning Crusade? Surely it was a great show of power when Highlord Kruul ravaged the lands of Azeroth(also a good idea), but if he is that powerful, why did he stop where he did and retreat back into the Blasted Lands? And what about Illidan? Why did he insist on brooding in his chamber whilst all of his commanders were being destroyed around him, and the Sha'tar were breathing down his neck?
And onto the big cheese of the moment, The Lich King. Sure, the new plague was a nice touch, as well as the attacks on Orgrimmar and Stormwind(also very cool), but one has to wonder, why did he send such a paltry force? If he were truly as powerful as it is claimed, then he would not have just sent a meager force to attack the great cities of the Alliance and the Horde. He would have crushed them, utterly and without mercy. Now with the Argent Crusade nearly knocking on his door, he does little to thwart any attempt at his citadel. Why hasn't he sent wave after wave of undead warriors to destroy the forces working against him?
Finally, on the conflicts and tensions between the Alliance and the Horde. There are a great many places across the World of WarCraft where the Alliance and the Horde wage constant war, but is that really what it can be called? I don't think that if I were Thrall, I would simply allow the Stormpike Guard to lay claim to any of the Frostwolf land in Alterac Valley. And if I were Varian Wrynn, Anduin Lothar being one of my mentors, I don't think that I would allow the Defilers to scour ancient Arathor grounds for resources. Also, how is it that the operations of both factions in Ashenvale hasn't already made a full-scale war erupt in the zone? Why are there no advances made on towns and cities by opposing factions? If we were truly at war, we should see things like this farily frequently.
Now to touch on Garrosh and Varian. I think that bringing these characters into the game has been a healthy reminder that the Horde and the Alliance are at war with one another, regardless of any other threats. You may have your own opinion on the matter, and that's fine, but, if this game is going to be centered around war, we need to be reminded of it. Although, these characters are just about the only thing that do remind us of it.
To conclude, I would like to say that it seems like the War in WarCraft is stagnant. There are no attempts made by evildoers, other than in short-lived bursts and events, to conquer those of which they wish destroy. There is little reminder that the Alliance and the Horde are opposing factions. There are no attempts made by either of the aforementioned factions to take full control of contested lands.
It's time that the "War" be put back into WarCraft.
Post by
Dralas
Yes, lore wise WoW doesn't seem to make alot of sense sometimes when it comes to war.
However, you have to remember that WoW doesn't exactly go with how lore would describe. Its made so that gamers could play with more ease and wouldn't have to spend weeks at a time to just get to one boss.
I do agree that it would better if there were some sort of preparation thing more often or attacks constantly on major cities that are held off, but still, WoW is a game, and it was made so people could enjoy it. If Blizzard sees that it needs to not make constant sieges on cities or that players shouldn't be going through hell in order to fight a boss, they'll change it to what brings in the most subscribers.
Post by
229054
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
HiVolt
Yes, lore wise WoW doesn't seem to make alot of sense sometimes when it comes to war.
However, you have to remember that WoW doesn't exactly go with how lore would describe. Its made so that gamers could play with more ease and wouldn't have to spend weeks at a time to just get to one boss.
I do agree that it would better if there were some sort of preparation thing more often or attacks constantly on major cities that are held off, but still, WoW is a game, and it was made so people could enjoy it. If Blizzard sees that it needs to not make constant sieges on cities or that players shouldn't be going through hell in order to fight a boss, they'll change it to what brings in the most subscribers.
I'm not saying that
constant
siege and warfare is a must, just more of it. Why can't we have two NPC armies marching across a zone to battle one another from time to time? Why is it that we can't see some countermeasures taken by bosses more than just once or twice in an expansion? I'm not talking about constant struggle, just more of a reminder that there
is
a struggle.
Post by
229054
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Aye, there needs to be more War, but not at the cost of everything else;
Let's focus on the Ahn'Qiraj war for a moment. There was a call for supplies and materials to aid in the War Effort; this is a realistic idea. Why is it that we seem completely able to face stronger forces than the Qiraji without such a preparation? Now, after the gong had been sounded, hundreds of C'thun's minions flooded Silithus in an attempt to destroy attackers, this is also realistic. But why didn't the Old God send more afterward? Sure his initial force may have been crushed, but he had countless others at his disposal. How is it that a couple of camps and one major hold in a zone can be so hard to destroy for a being with near infinite numbers of troops and servants at his beckoning call?
Mainly because there were only so many creatures within the walls, don't forget most of what we see pouring out of there after the gong was rang were those already trapped there during the War of the Shifting Sands. C'thun might have near infinite powers, but he doesn't have near infinite resources, eventually after repeated assaults and destruction, even he would be drained. As it stands now, AQ is the realm of the Twilight cult, led by Cho'gall as they try to revive C'thun, which means this place will end up as a warzone again.
Now, what about the Burning Crusade? Surely it was a great show of power when Highlord Kruul ravaged the lands of Azeroth(also a good idea), but if he is that powerful, why did he stop where he did and retreat back into the Blasted Lands? And what about Illidan? Why did he insist on brooding in his chamber whilst all of his commanders were being destroyed around him, and the Sha'tar were breathing down his neck?
The Legion is broken, shattered, in pieces. There biggest commanders; Kil'jaeden, Mannoroth, Archimonde have come to Azeroth and all of them were either beaten back or killed. Kruul was an atempt to weaken the Eastern Kingdom's but instead called the Argent Dawn on top of them, and the intial invasion was beaten back at the Portal. As for the Betrayer, I hate Illidan, I have for a long time, but he was more interested in keeping himself alive instead of fighting back; remember he failed Kil'jaeden in killing Arthas and stopping the Scourge. He was more worried about his own neck then fighting others.
In all honesty, and no I'm not a Kael'thas fanboy, the Prince of the Blood Elves was doing far more then the Legion and Illidan was in Outland; his attacks in Netherstorm, draining all the magic in the Netherstorm to power the Blood Elf nation, then destroy Outland when he returned to Azeroth in triumph. Even he fell to the Fel power, but even then he intended to conqueror the Legion and turn the Demon's into food for his people.
And onto the big cheese of the moment, The Lich King. Sure, the new plague was a nice touch, as well as the attacks on Orgrimmar and Stormwind(also very cool), but one has to wonder, why did he send such a paltry force? If he were truly as powerful as it is claimed, then he would not have just sent a meager force to attack the great cities of the Alliance and the Horde. He would have crushed them, utterly and without mercy. Now with the Argent Crusade nearly knocking on his door, he does little to thwart any attempt at his citadel. Why hasn't he sent wave after wave of undead warriors to destroy the forces working against him?
Again, it's a resource game, after a point, the Crusader's and other forces in Northrend know to destroy all the dead bodies or collect them right away. His grand assault into the Basin from the Avalanche was stopped by an Avatar of Freya, his attempt to convert the Zul'Drak trolls was stopped by the Blade, the Crusade faught of his assaults in both Zul'Drak and Icecrown, the Horde and Alliance forces stopped his mighty Vykrul's. He fought two fronts with the living Nerubians doing their best to destroy him from below. The Lich King is powerful yes, but even his power's have a limit, and fighting against several united Fronts have weaken him.
As for the Battleground and Garrosh vs Varian, I don't have much to say on those.
Post by
HiVolt
Aye, there needs to be more War, but not at the cost of everything else
At the cost of what? I'm not saying that the game needs to go back to the beginning and be completely redone, far from it in fact. What's happened has happened, and there's nothing we can do to change that, but there's still the future. There is still a chance for the feeling of war to be revived.
I ask those questions only to provoke interest in the idea.
Post by
Adamsm
Well I meant, in the case of Garrosh and Varian, who tried to start a war while the forces of Ulduar and the Lich King were pounding on the gates.
Post by
HiVolt
Well I meant, in the case of Garrosh and Varian, who tried to start a war while the forces of Ulduar and the Lich King were pounding on the gates.
And what's so wrong with that? I can get that the greater threat needs to be eliminated, but the fact remains that the Alliance and the Horde
are
warring factions. There is no tenuous peace as many would like to believe. Admiral Proudmoore made sure of that before, just as the Battlegrounds and World PvP zones make sure of it now. If the Alliance and the Horde have forces enough to spare in both Outland and Northrend, they surely have enough to lead skirmishes and armies against one another. Not all forces can be dedicated to one cause at a time.
Post by
Dralas
Well, you have to remember that Varian would just love to declare war on the Horde and wipe them out, but at the moment, he's knows too well that he needs to focus in Northrend.
Lore-wise, I would have expected the Outland troops to have been pulled out and pushed into Northrend.
Post by
HiVolt
Well, you have to remember that Varian would just love to declare war on the Horde and wipe them out, but at the moment, he's knows too well that he needs to focus in Northrend.
Lore-wise, I would have expected the Outland troops to have been pulled out and pushed into Northrend.
As would I, and yet when the Scarlet Onslaught leaves for Northrend, the Death Knights of the Ebon Blade are able to go into Outland and find Horde/Alliance forces there, can that one be explained lore-wise?
Post by
229054
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Well, most of the Shattered Sun Offensive is exclusivly Shattrah based, helping to protect the Isle of Quel'danas and the New Sunwell, as well as protecting the Naaru as they are made up of the Scryers and the Aldor. But yeah, some of the other factions; Honour Hold, Cenarion Expedition and the like, did go north, but not en-mass, just parts of it.
Post by
HiVolt
I can understand military strength being kept in areas that need it, but there is no reason to go to Outland after the release of Wrath of the Lich King and still see the more influential commanders, especially of the Horde, still there. Why is it that after the defeat of the Illidari and Legion influences there that Nazgrel remains? Nazgrel is one of Thrall's most trusted advisors, there's no reason he shouldn't be in Northrend right now.
I can understand Rexxar staying behind, because that's where the rest of the Mok'Nathal are, but if he were truly the Champion of the Horde, shouldn't he be in Northrend as well?
Post by
taurenmoo812
Warcraft = A viderent world of many different races, beliefs and characters, with a progressive story and developing characters
World of Warcraft = A static quest based adventure game where npc's can't move from there position else another gamer might not get to hand in his quest, so he gets the adventurer to do a quest for him.
It really is this, game mechanics against lore will always counter each other out.
Post by
HiVolt
Warcraft = A viderent world of many different races, beliefs and characters, with a progressive story and developing characters
Yes.
World of Warcraft = A static quest based adventure game where npc's can't move from there position else another gamer might not get to hand in his quest, so he gets the adventurer to do a quest for him.
I don't see why a quest based game has to be
so
static. When I played SWG, events like I've described(the armies battling each other) would happen randomly all the time. Also, Rexxar and Nazgrel have already been moved, why can't they be moved again?
Post by
437763
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
HiVolt
The War aspect is already in game, in my opinion. The Battlegrounds are skirmishes against eachother to try and gain the upper-hand, such as in Wintergrasp for shinies, or Warsong Gulch for....A flag.
That's not war. War doesn't limit itself to isolated contested areas. If a war happens between two nations, the nations battle each other on every front, not just in small rural locations. If the war between the Alliance and the Horde were well represented, it wouldn't just be players fighting other players. We should see NPC raids and armies marching on one another.
Post by
437763
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
HiVolt
They are not in open war yet.
Varian declared war, but Jaina probably talked him out of it because there have only been skirmishes as far as I can recall.
There is no such thing as a secret war, an unseen war, or a quiet war. Skirmishes lead to offensives, defensives, invasions, counterattacks and ultimately victory or defeat. This should be reflected in the game, especially since "WarCraft" is in the name. I can understand leaving the victory or defeat out of the game for gameplay purposes, but an open war would make a nice intro into WarCraft 4. I really hope that Blizzard hasn't strayed so far from the RTS roots of the series that they haven't considered that.
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