BFA's "role of the player:" Ambassador?

[Omedon]

A discussion on another site asking about "the role of the player" (you know, the former Garrison Commander and leader of a class faction?) in Battle for Azeroth, and my head exploded in speculation which I'd like to share with the crazy people here!

So it seems that in BFA there is like an "embassy" section of both capital cities where you have a hub for your allied race work.

What if the role of the player of this expansion is "ambassador," or something in that vein, and what if we're not just talking allied races?

What if the real "battle for azeroth" is the struggles of the ambassador to end or at least soften the faction divide because, as we know already, Magni is telling the players that "hey, this war is killing the planet," as he gives you the heart of azeroth, and the unbelievable act of burning Teldrasil (which is still quite shrouded in purposeful dev Shrugging) was purposely done by the real over arching PVE villain to spark the war to weaken the planet? What if the embassy expands to storylines that establish not just recruitment of the allied races... but to provide closure and/or common ground WITH EVERY RACE of the opposite faction? That common ground being the planet itself. Even if it's only enough for other ambassadors to have *choice* within this war that clearly and obviously will still be going on around us... such as the choice to fight together or against each other! You know, kinda like the open world PVP toggle!

We got 12 class campaigns and a whackload of repeated but still variant artifact quests for Legion. Bear in mind that, world narrative aside, leveling narrative aside, we can expect a LOT of "side stuff just for you the hero" of a storytelling lore level directed straight at the role that the player is to fill in this chapter of WoW. We are indeed more than a foot soldier, we are indeed more than just a guy to recruit some races to the cause. We were told to "declare our allegiance" and then given SIX character slots, that's the total number of allied races for BOTH sides. While of course this could just be an acknowledgement that Blizzard should support the "double agents" in their game, what if it goes deeper than that? What if it's expected that all six races will be "faction agnostic" content by the end of the expansion... along with EVERY OTHER RACE?

We've been given a one-blizzcon (an extremely light-on-details Blizzcon) pitch of "world faction war." That's a fine enough pitch for one year that will consist of Legion's denouement and 3-4 months of BFA being live and with PTR access to the next chapters. You can beat the war drum for that year, because, yes, I expect 8.0-8.1 to be flat out faction war... but next year, they are going to potentially be in a position to do another "Crazy Ion's house of too much information," (I'm sure everyone remember the panel that ended in "And then... Argus.") and they can't do that BEFORE the big swerve that will and must put us on a PVE storytelling path through this expansion, past this war that cannot end with either side winning and then lead to next expansion.

In the end, the faction war hype may be just for the year of Blizzcon 2017: A hype train leading to the first 3-4 months of BFA. The faction war may just be "the Suramar story" of BFA. How relevant does Suramar feel right now in Legion? It feels like forever ago. That's how I expect The faction war to feel two years from now, and we'll know the actual path of the expansion next year... and that path isn't going to tell half the player/customer base that they chose the wrong allegiance. It's going to put us all on the same side, as it must. They have to spend time on that story though, so enjoy the ride for this year.

Ultimately, the PVE narrative for this expansion is "the war is stupid," because the heart of azeroth is the lasting system that *will* be there for the whole expansion, and it's a gift from the guy that tells you: "This war is bad for the planet." I have a hard time thinking that we just take the necklace, and go kill the other side! We are, after all, the people in the story of the game most empowered with a perspective of the power of unity!

[Gaidax]

Yes! I am ready to serve as ambassador and mediate a meeting between my Chaos Bolt and Orc skulls!

[Omedon]

Yes! I am ready to serve as ambassador and mediate a meeting between my Chaos Bolt and Orc skulls!

"We have forgotten what makes us strong" certainly implies, as it must, that the faction conflict on an "iron sharpens iron" level will always exist. I don't think anyone sane will ever pitch a WoW without red vs blue, but just like there is division between factions, there is division among players as to whether the faction divide is "all that," and whether it should limit race choices or RL-friend connectivity! WoW can certainly have their cake and eat it too on this score!

[Colbor]

Its WARcraft.

[Deleted]

I don't think anyone sane will ever pitch a WoW without red vs blue

The word you were looking for is actually "adult". It's a bit longer than "sane" but it depicts a proponent of Azeroth without artificially sustained war a lot better.

[Omedon]

Its WARcraft.

Sure, and some form of red vs blue should always exist, but the IC and OOC tribalism is so forced and dated as an absolute. It's absolutely feasible that Blizz find a way to let friends play together regardless of faction while allowing faction pride in other aspects of the game! I'd say a story that allows for that is worth an entire expansion's narrative, it's an important future proofing move for the day when WoW can't really field two robust, busy factions all the time.

[Ineluki]

All I can say is I main a DK and as far as Im concerned both factions can beat their heads against each other. It will just make the scourge taking over easier in the end.

[Omedon]

All I can say is I main a DK and as far as Im concerned both factions can beat their heads against each other.

What's funny about this is pretty much every class was given a reason to laugh at the faction divide in Legion. Perhaps not as sinister a context as the knights of the ebon blade hehe.

[Khaza-R]

It seems like your character actively goes along with severing Alliance/Horde heads and claimining new territory for your faction. So I’m going to imagine their role is quite the opposite of an ambassador