Does WoW need to return to swords and sorcery?

[FelPlague]

I think the biggest issue for me was in WoD with all the hardcore industrialisation, the advanced military, machines, trains, bombs and guns! Now with Legion and the fel cannons and fel ships. It's leaving behind the adventurer and turning us into the terminator.

remember in vanilla and even warcraft we had guns, mortors, airships, boats, teleporters and seige tanks?

[Deleted]

I don't like how they went back with the techno-Legion feel from Burning Crusade a bit with the new Mo'args and such. I was kind of expecting Argus to be a festering hive of infernal industry and not some untamed wilderness with talbuks and untouched ruins.

Though I also thought the purpose of the AU plot device in WoD could have been a way to "reset" WoW with us getting stranded as refugees in a foreign Azeroth of a different timeline or universe where events unfolded slightly differently and we'd have to carve out a living and form alliance with the natives.

[Nathreim]

Yes more magic and mystery. Add some more true gods along with Elune use DnD as inspiration again.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

I know it's canon that the Eredar were already super advanced like 20 thousand years before our time but it's still weird how we go from dirigibles on Azeroth and shitty Goblin rockets in Outland to an inter-dimensional armada. Not only that but we're essentially pissing all over them with our pot-bellied warframes and conveniently placed portals.

The power level between us and the Legion just feels way out of whack since the Legion should really have no problem smashing Azeroth to bits with the amount of fire power they posses but I understand it's all for gameplay reasons so I'm really not that mad.

[Sithalos]

The whole greater power thing is fine, I'm just tired of spaceships.

If I wanted Sci-Fi I'd play Swtor.

[Zigrifid]

Do you even believe the bs that you type? You're seriously comparing imperial star destroyers to the shredders of westfall? That's some crazy fanboying if you can't admit what a mess this game has become.

mpoufo

tech is tech, in a game of pure sorcery and sword tech even if its just a simple westfall shredder has no place,if this company wants it that way then this way it will be, but i guess you are one of those nostalgia whores who always qq about the game but dont stop cancel their sub.
Edit : Also dont forget that back in the magical beautiful classic/TBC prepatch wow , draeneis came to azeroth with SPACESHIPS.

[Morg]

remember in vanilla and even warcraft we had guns, mortors, airships, boats, teleporters and seige tanks?

Don;t forget the giant electro powered train between two cities going underneath large lakes and mountains

[Deleted]

no one said WoW is a game of pure sorcery and sword, we said it's gone too far with the tech and it doesn't make sense
blizzard has always struggled with scale but at least in the past it was mostly things like having no idea how to construct a chronology, not the kind of things we're seeing the last few years in WoW

yes, WoW always had a bit of steam, and TBC may have took it to a different level by adding a bit of cyber but it was still handled a bit tastefully, and the idea of travelling to an alien planet and seeing alien things still kept it slightly grounted

the current situation is those overblown elements taking center stage and converging with an overall indulgence into overblown and bloated story and world-building elements which destroy the little modecum of humility the setting had

[Mormolyce]

I'm sure we will after this expansion.

Personally I'm just hoping we're done with demons for a good long while...

[nyc81991]

Once you go intergalactic planetary you never go back.

I mean I get it. In WC3 I though the burning legion was some sort of magical portal driven race of demons. Turns down they are a galactic empire with Star Destroyers. Not where I thought it would end up if I were to go ask myself back then. But I am not sure if it really matters to me now.

I guess this is what happens with a game that spans into multiple generations of fans and developers. It goes to different places. Some will be good and some will be bad. All we can do is hope for the best.

Blizzard messed up their own game / story. It's almost as if they had to cut a lot of people from the WoW dev team and looked at StarCraft to fill in the blanks for a story involving demons. Oh wait, the WoW team did cut / lose a lot of people that made the original Warcraft / WoW lore. Hmm...

[Soon-TM]

The most bizarre part about WoW is that, if you look it from outside, so to speak, you can't tell what time of history is the plot set on. On one hand, you have medieval kings, priests, swordsmen (both the traditional and the knightly type, cf. warriors and paladins) and archers. On the other hand, you have advanced technology such as helicopters, grenades, chemical warfare and even dimensional-warping ships like Tempest Keep. Not to mention the whole time-travel issue, that was silly when it was introduced in BC (seriously? what the **** did we need the Caverns of Time for?) but it went completely apeshit-crazy with the AU Draenor.

[nyc81991]

The most bizarre part about WoW is that, if you look it from outside, so to speak, you can't tell what time of history is the plot set on. On one hand, you have medieval kings, priests, swordsmen (both the traditional and the knightly type, cf. warriors and paladins) and archers. On the other hand, you have advanced technology such as helicopters, grenades, chemical warfare and even dimensional-warping ships like Tempest Keep. Not to mention the whole time-travel issue, that was silly when it was introduced in BC (seriously? what the **** did we need the Caverns of Time for?) but it went completely apeshit-crazy with the AU Draenor.

The Caverns Of Time at least made some sense with the Bronze Dragon Flight. WoD was Blizzard trying to force an idea that they almost instantly abandoned after committing to it. Legion is literally Blizzard saying "We don't really care anymore, so here is some StarCraft to fill in blanks. By the way! the Void though!".

[derpkitteh]

i like the industrialization brought by the iron horde, i like the advanced technology of the legion.

in the illidan book, there's a dead world with brass skyscrapers. the universe isn't in a single technological state, and i love it.

magic means there will always be swords and sorcery, mixing it with scifi elements will always be the best.

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The most bizarre part about WoW is that, if you look it from outside, so to speak, you can't tell what time of history is the plot set on. On one hand, you have medieval kings, priests, swordsmen (both the traditional and the knightly type, cf. warriors and paladins) and archers. On the other hand, you have advanced technology such as helicopters, grenades, chemical warfare and even dimensional-warping ships like Tempest Keep. Not to mention the whole time-travel issue, that was silly when it was introduced in BC (seriously? what the **** did we need the Caverns of Time for?) but it went completely apeshit-crazy with the AU Draenor.

that's what makes wow great. it's not set in any specific time period, and it fucking works. it's amazing.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Blizzard messed up their own game / story. It's almost as if they had to cut a lot of people from the WoW dev team and looked at StarCraft to fill in the blanks for a story involving demons. Oh wait, the WoW team did cut / lose a lot of people that made the original Warcraft / WoW lore. Hmm...

You seem overly bitter about this from a couple posts I have seen. With passive aggressiveness towards Starcraft for some reason over this. Not very healthy. But I do get entertainment from it.

[Escepticus]

I think the same, OP. To me, all this giant spaceships and lazers and planets stuff is becoming too much (in warcraft-wow vanilla to wotlk the "tech" was minimal and not too intrusive).

[Xheoul]

I love Legion and I really dig that WoW has it's own fantasy setting where it's high fantasy combined with sci fi stuff. It's a little bit for everyone.

I personally would like the plot to focus on the Alliance vs Horde aspect. Kinda bring back that faction hatred again.

[FelPlague]

Don;t forget the giant electro powered train between two cities going underneath large lakes and mountains

Well to be fair its going under the ocean, but got changed (it used to go to darnasus but that didnt make sense, so they changed it to go to iron forge, that is why you go under the ocean...)

[Matt0193]

Short of being stranded on a planet and not having access to Azeroth's resources, we're never going to be able to go back to simple and basic technology again. Same reasoning as to why we'll never just be adventurers again.

[Benomatic]

Keep in mind that dwarves, gnomes and goblins have always ensured that WoW wasn't a true fantasy game, with tanks, helicopters and whatnot, and TBC did away with fantasy in its entirety with its crystal spaceships and so on.

But, would I like to see a return to Vanilla/Wrath settings, themes, and opponents? Absolutely.

I was more invested in Arthas as a villain, in part due to him being the main charcater of the RTS' and in part because he wasn't the size of a watchtower, and not the commander of an intergalactic armada belonging to a galaxy, and realityspanning army of demons hell bent on destroying Azeroth so the minions of unfathomable cosmic monstrosities don't corrupt the titan world soul within the planet we call home.

He was just a powerful death knight, necromancer, and king of liches.

But he nearly brought Azeroth to heel.

This is what I am aiming towards as well due to the very nature of homegrown villains and adventures! Something within our range.

The titans and being involved with celestial affairs have catapulted us from Elwynn forest directly into the primordial chaos of fabric shattering and time echoing dimensional creation.

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I personally see WoW hitting an industrial age, where there is a whole lot of technology... but the level of skill with less technological weaponry, and the existence of magic, makes everyone on an even playing field, even with technology.

I will remind you that the deeprun tram, the horde zepplins, the dwarven tanks, guns, all of gnomeregan, the engineering profession, Goblins and Gnomes, and the thousand needles raceway, were all in Vanilla.
Over the years, we've added: magical crystal spaceships via the Draenei and Naaru, Paddleboats, airships flying like out of the avengers (BEFORE the Avengers), industrialized Orgrimmar, submarines, sentient giant robots and tanks built by the titans... all before Pandaria. What did WoD add? a steam train is actually a step down from the deeprun tram, a bomb on wheels (big deal, we got exploding robot sheep!), and an even bigger tank.
Legion borught us: Fel powered ships, larger fel robots, and a new draenei magic crystal ship.

I think the last time WoW was swords and sorcery was actually before Warcraft 3, 'cause even that had dwarven mortar teams.

But within the realms from WC1-Classic then back to WOTLK there was a sense of swords and sorcery over the steampunk vibe. The industrialisation has always been there and I enjoy that, but with the end of MoP and SoO, then with WoD its seems it is becoming more Command and Conquer than WC.

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I've talked about this extensively elsewhere, but put shortly yes I think we need to go back to a more grounded fantasy setting. Escalating threat and spectacle is not compelling and not relatable. I'm sure it works for someone; after all the Transformers movies are still a thing, but I find it boring.

Maybe like Bioware, Blizzard has decided that myself and people like me are not the target audience anymore and it's all about chasing that Michael Bay money. Which is a shame, but there's always CDPR.

I 100% agree!

[CaptainV]

Does WoW need to return to a simpler time of swords and sorcery? We are increasingly rushing headlong in to greater threats and associating with beings of such great power such as the titans that I fear we are losing sight on the simplicity and enjoyment of the swords and sorcery aspect we were introduced to.

I understand the story needs to progress, but I am worried by the current expedited increase of the threats we face and our own grandeur and how we are becoming a galactic universal force of power.

Does anyone else feel we need to come back down to earth and confront threats out of our reach but feasibly able to defeat.

No, its far too late for that personally the entire story was like this from the start most people just dont pay attention, go back to Outland in WC2 and you can see "space" has always been there from the start.

Ion was also asked recently how crazy he wanted the genre to go and has already given his view on it saying that there are many void creatures/monsters beyond Argus we have yet to face.

Meaning, its likley going to become more sci fi, not less as the genre goes forwards.

I for one, am okay with this, traditional fantasy is a boringly used trope, LOTRO has that if your into it.