Why is Yrel a shit character?

[TheDestinatus]

Again, its an illusion of doing all the work for her. Its a game mechanic to make you useful. Would you really want to do a quest where you fly somewhere, fight a boss with 100m health and you do maybe 1% the dps while she kills it? No, the game wants to make you feel like you are contributing, you are progressing, your input is worth doing.

If they really wanted you to play through the story where she isn't useless why didn't they give her the same potential input as the garrison body guards, and instead of finding her in a mine and teaching her the ropes you meet her at Karabor and you're assigned to aid her investigated Draenor? Not character building enough, because I fail to see how building her character somehow makes you feel like you're benefiting from the relationship.

[Friendlyimmolation]

She wasn't a terrible character(she was by no means a good character either), but her voice just made me hate her.

[TheDestinatus]

I literally said Mrs. Dalloway but keep ignoring my post. after my obvious sarcastic post

What aspect of her, can be brief as you want since you don't want to write an essay. Challenging and accepting different cultural norms?

[whyohwhy]

What aspect of her, can be brief as you want since you don't want to write an essay. Challenging and accepting different cultural norms?

Read the book, PM me if you're still wondering why.

I took the time to learn the WoW lore and characters, if you want me to prove they are bad take the time and read something else.

It's less than 200 pages.

[Deleted]

We found her in a mine and she followed us as a stray pet.
She wanted to do something for her people, so we helped/teached/did the job for her.
She got into leadership through us, had her first scout-mission end in the death of her whole group and had her sitting in a corner crying.
We motivated her so she could pop Wings and ran for her life.
She was blessed by Velen because ... well ... she was the only draenei around, so why not, if you die anyways?
She was beaten to a pulp like everyone else against Blackhand but managed to to cast 1 Heal and catch an axe.
She was promoted to Excharch because she knew us and we did her trials for her.
Dunno, I don't like her arch at all, it's too much in too little time without any reason or any own accomplishments from her.
She was good at blueberry funtime, though.

You could say this pretty much about any character developed in an MMO, the game aspect is there to make YOU feel like the hero, that's what games do, empower the PLAYER.
All i see in this topic is people belittling the actions of a character they don't like while probably glorifying the same actions done by a character they love.

[Flurryfang]

If those quests where we do the job for her were switched around, to where we do nothing and she does it for you, you would be complaining as well. Its a game mechanic to make the player feel useful and have something to do.

She was the apprentice of Velen, not some random Draenei.

If she did everything perfect and no one around her dies you guys would complain shes a Mary Sue. If she is flawed and makes mistakes and people die, shes worthless and not worthy of being an Exarch. Its almost like people like you already decided to not like the character regardless of their story line. Oh wait thats exactly what it is.

If she had been with us, as a companion, it would have worked better. We could maybe also have seen an increase in strenght instead of these wierd jumps in power, from warrior, to paladin, to a mighty exarch. It might have been a game mehanic, but it did not serve Yrels lore very good.

That she was Velen apprentice is not shown very clearly in the game. When we meet her in Tanaan, there is no sign of her being more then a simple warrior. When we arrive, there is not shown any special relationship between Velen and Yrel. It is really only at Velens death, that we see any real interaction between them and that is a short interaction.

Well, her first scouting mission went bad, but after that, we see nothing of her leading troops, nothing of her doing anything leadership-ish. Having her being more active, could have made it possible for there to be a middle way between the great leader and the unsecure new leader. Sadly, she is left as a glorified quest giver, which gives signs of blizzard not really putting too much effort into her character.

As you say, some people proberly already had already decided that she was a bad character, even before WoD came out. Yet i think that if you look at the entire allaince questline in WoD and then look at Yrels interaction with the player and the story, you are gonna see that she is quite shallow for a character that leads the attack on Archimonde.

[TheDestinatus]

Read the book, PM me if you're still wondering why.

I took the time to learn the WoW lore and characters, if you want me to prove they are bad take the time and read something else.

You are basically suggesting that a character who is about resisting the socially accepted norm in a book about mental illness, homosexuality and women's roles in society as a good fit for a game/story that ignores all of those concepts. It does show why you support Yrel however so at least you've shown why you defend a character regardless of how much she doesn't fit into the scenario they've placed her in.

[frogger237]

Because like three people had to sacrifice themselves for her with one of them being Maraad who shouldn't have died.

[whyohwhy]

You are basically suggesting that a character who is about resisting the socially accepted norm in a book about mental illness, homosexuality and women's roles in society as a good fit for a game/story that ignores all of those concepts. It does show why you support Yrel however so at least you've shown why you defend a character regardless of how much she doesn't fit into the scenario they've placed her in.

Welcome to why characters in video games are boring and 2d pal. Also you've obviously just read the wiki page and not the book.

[TheDestinatus]

You could say this pretty much about any character developed in an MMO, the game aspect is there to make YOU feel like the hero, that's what games do, empower the PLAYER.
All i see in this topic is people belittling the actions of a character they don't like while probably glorifying the same actions done by a character they love.

Its not that at all, it could have been a new alliance male character called Sebastion, and you find him in a mine and take him on the exact same story and people would have the exact same reaction. A shit story is still a shit story.

[Trallnar]

Because she is a ret pally.

[Orby]

She's shit? I found her one of the best things about WoD in terms of story, I really don't get why people hate her. I loved the journey of her character and as someone thats been playing since vanilla I found her to be the best drawn out character since Tirion from the 'In Dreams' quest chain.

Yrel, for me, was the saving grace of Warlord of Draenor.

If your horde I can understand why she is horrible because you miss alot of her story from a horde perspective,but as an alliance player I loved it. OKay sure she isnt a well written character thats for sure, but in terms of WoW characters she's the best character of the expansion. Would have been Maraad if they didn't kill him half way through although he will remain epic in spirit.

[TheDestinatus]

Welcome to why characters in video games are boring and 2d pal. Also you've obviously just read the wiki page and not the book.

You want to drag your real world issues into a game where they don't exist. I get it, its like an incessant desire to bring everyone down around you because you can't get enough drama in the real world so you think woman's rights are important to story telling. Hint: they aren't, Yrel could have been a fine or even great character but they made her an underachiever who was given the keys to the castle. That's all that will ever matter, your activism doesn't.

[Alteiry]

She's shit? I found her one of the best things about WoD in terms of story, I really don't get why people hate her. I loved the journey of her character and as someone thats been playing since vanilla I found her to be the best drawn out character since Tirion from the 'In Dreams' quest chain.

Yrel, for me, was the saving grace of Warlord of Draenor.

I'm gonna have to agree, I really liked Yrel. Her path mirrored the player's, starting from the bottom and then ultimately developing into a hero. People who say she's a pointless nobody obviously didn't pay attention during the leveling experience.

Now, if we're going to talk about someone who turned out to be a pointless nobody whose existence barely influenced the plot at all, let's talk about Grom Hellscream.

[whyohwhy]

You want to drag your real world issues into a game where they don't exist. I get it, its like an incessant desire to bring everyone down around you because you can't get enough drama in the real world so you think woman's rights are important to story telling. Hint: they aren't, Yrel could have been a fine or even great character but they made her an underachiever who was given the keys to the castle. That's all that will ever matter, your activism doesn't.

you want to drag interesting characters into a world where they cannot exist.

I get it it's because you want video games to be considered art while also denying their right to critique real life.

I told you this would happen you'd say something benign no matter what character i brought up. Her character isn't just about women's rights and your criticism is pointless because you've just read the wiki page.

[Aucald]

Yrel isn't a "shit character," I just found her arc in WoD rather bland and uninteresting. She suffers from much the same problems as most Draenei spotlight characters do - they are somewhat one-dimensional priestly types with little in the way of differentiation or standout personality traits. Maraad is probably one of the best Draenei characters from the Warcraft universe thus far in that he has flaws and facets to his personality, a sense of depth and history that even a character such as Velen lacks (although his portrayal in his faction leader short story is a step in the right direction). As others have said, Yrel felt somewhat unnecessary to the Alliance side of the story - anyone could have stepped into her role with little to no ultimate difference. She needed more features and complexity to her presentation, whether in the form of inherent flaws or character development.

[Flurryfang]

I'm gonna have to agree, I really liked Yrel. Her path mirrored the player's, starting from the bottom and then ultimately developing into a hero. People who say she's a pointless nobody obviously didn't pay attention during the leveling experience.

Now, if we're going to talk about someone who turned out to be a pointless nobody whose existence barely influenced the plot at all, let's talk about Grom Hellscream.

We can agree that liking her or not is something to do with personal opnion, but if you say that people havent paid attention during the leveling experience, plz point out the quests where her character is shown in full and we see some real character development. Remember, she has do something and her changing is not something we have to imagine.

And yes, Grommash was a waste... Just like Yrel, but more.

[Friendlyimmolation]

Now, if we're going to talk about someone who turned out to be a pointless nobody whose existence barely influenced the plot at all, let's talk about Grom Hellscream.

Grom did more in the WoD cinematic then Yrel did the entire Xpac.

[TheDestinatus]

Err..I made no personal attacks. You decided to start with the ad hominem in a feeble attempt to debunk stuff I am saying. I have provided many thoughts, reasons to why characters you have mentioned are boring and staid. Ok, let us look at Illidan.
Wants to be a druid, isn;t as good as his brother, throws a hissy fit and wants to be a mage instead to impress a girl. All standard and yeh I can accept it. Aliens invade his planet, and he decides to side with them when they want to completely annhilate his race and world. Erm...whut? That is a HUGE leap of it. Where is his reasoning? What is his logic behind this? It is never explained other than "I want the powwwwwwweeeeeerr!" which is a really, really weak argument, and really shitty writing.

Arthas- Prince of a Kingsom, beloved by all, training to be a force of light, and destined to perhaps be one of the greatest Paladins ever (according to Uther who is considered at the time the greatest of all, so his teacher is already OP) so we already have Mary Sue levels of crap there. They lose, so he decides to "do whatever it takes!" thus completely ignoring all the training he has had. I mean, do they not teach Paladins ethics classes, or mentor them at all? Seems not, he just goes mad decides he is doing it for the greater good without any real thought put behind it beyond "if I don;t they will win" without looking for any alternatives. Gets jibed at by a big bad, loses his temper, and he again is the stretch, decides to completely forgo his Kingdom, his people who he fought so hard to defend, and trollops off halfway around the world to beat this guy, then accept "evil cursed sword of doom" (we know it is cursed, Muradin even fricking tells him so), and rather than go "hmm, might wanna think about this, exhibiting you know, the patience and wisdom Paladins are meant to be renowned for, (also bear in mind, Arthas is meant to be the dogs bollocks as a Paladin) and taks it going "HURR DURR THE POWEEEEERRRR!" then goes apeshit, starts killing everyone and eventually turns into an evil Lich King who wants to rule the world, because, wants to.
Awesome writing right there....

Is it great fun? Absolutely. Is it enjoyable and a good read and ride? Hell yeh! Is it by any stretch of the imagination a "good well written character"? Hell no. It is enjoyable standard fantasy crap.

That is just an example.
I have provided many arguments and thoughts, explaining things and rationalising them, but you just willfully ignore it to start making personal critique and then whine when people retaliate. Seriously, it is lame as hell. The only person who seems incapable of anything on this thread is yourself I am afraid. Not going to bother replying to you, as it really is completely pointless.

Finally, something tangible to work with.

Uther was not the greatest nor was he ever considered that. Uther was the first, Turalyon was the most powerful light user.

Arthas being trained as a Paladin was a sign of privilege, you know there was no way he was going to be a priest with his attitude and you're spot on about him basically going against the tenants of the order every time they were contested. He was a spoiled brat with a "I'll do it my way", even to the point that it wasn't even vengeance for Lordaeron anymore it was just Pride driving him to defeat Mal'ganis after he let him get away. If he hadn't teleported away the story basically ends at Stratholme.

Compare that backstory to Yrel. Shes an insecure girl who you take from a mine and then hand hold through her character development. She lets everyone die on the boat rather then using the light to protect or help anyone, she somehow inherits Velens power and leadership because what, she was there when he sacrificed himself for the greater good? She just never does anything meaningful, everytime she does anything its because of the people around her making sure she gets the chance to do it. Maraad could have saved himself, hell Yrel could have shielded herself, she is a paladin ffs. Durotan could have taken a swing at Blackhands undefended back. Nope, gotten give the axe to Yrel... its oozes "prop up the woman so she can succeed" when they could have easily just made her not useless, have her cast a shield across everyone on the ship to show how powerful she is by keeping everyone alive.

[Coronius]

Because she had zero development. She just became some sort of hero without actually deserving it.