So What Does The Alliance Want?

[Aquamonkey]

Most of Orgrimmar permanent changes will happen in a future patch, but before next expansion.

At least that's something. Whether those changes will reflect the Alliance presence/contribution there in such a way as to have made our helping the Horde worthwhile (after an expansion of being trashed by them), will remain to be seen. On an unrelated note, i'm expecting the race model updates to come before the next expansion; in 5.5 or perhaps 5.6 (the mention of "a future patch, but before next expansion" has me believing that there'll be more than one).

Roflmao. They just keep making it worse.

Taking bets on how little, if any, changes are to the Alliance in this "future patch, but before the next expansion."

Will the other leaders give Varian flak for going over their heads in the letting the horde go with no reparations made from them
Just because we don't take ten minutes to show negotiations doesn't mean there's no reparations. (Source)

[Austilias]

Will the other leaders give Varian flak for going over their heads in the letting the horde go with no reparations made from them
Just because we don't take ten minutes to show negotiations doesn't mean there's no reparations. (Source)

I'll be hesitant to believe them, never mind remain skeptical of the "reparations". They also happened to tell us that we'd be getting a fist-pumping moment; though i'm not so sure if many Alliance will be fist-pumping at the fact that King Varian is the one paving the way to Faction neutrality after an expansion wherein they were trashed by the Horde.

[KrazyK923]

Will the other leaders give Varian flak for going over their heads in the letting the horde go with no reparations made from them
Just because we don't take ten minutes to show negotiations doesn't mean there's no reparations. (Source)

I just love pandering.

[arcaneshot]

Horde/alliance really didn't 'help' each other until the end of BC. And Cata was mainly Horde centered. Not sure where you pulled that idea out of. It hasn't "always been Alliance." Cata and MoP are pretty strong opponents to your point.

Cataclysm was only as 'Horde centered' as people only seem to remember Thrall doing anything (and he really didn't do much until the Dragon Soul patch). Malfurion still gets flack even when he does something (or perhaps maybe when people remember he had a really big part in the Firelands patch).

[Deleted]

Cataclysm was only as 'Horde centered' as people only seem to remember Thrall doing anything (and he really didn't do much until the Dragon Soul patch). Malfurion still gets flack even when he does something (or perhaps maybe when people remember he had a really big part in the Firelands patch).

The same patch we got a whole epic questline centered around Thrall's issues? And Thrall's wedding, attended by all the aspects (bar Neltharion himself) ???
That patch??

[Aquamonkey]

The same patch we got a whole epic questline centered around Thrall's issues? And Thrall's wedding, attended by all the aspects (bar Neltharion himself) ???
That patch??

The Aspects also attend Malfurion's wedding. They even blessed Teldrassil while there.

[KrazyK923]

The Aspects also attend Malfurion's wedding. They even blessed Teldrassil while there.

In a book.

And Stormrage also is terrible, so pretending to use it in any context to support a bias one way or another is dumb.

[Aquamonkey]

In a book.

And Stormrage also is terrible, so pretending to use it in any context to support a bias one way or another is dumb.

There is a clear bias. Metzen loves Malfurion and loves writing him.

What can you tell us about the upcoming Worlf of Warcraft: Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak?
I would just say too, I mean Malfurion’s always been, personally, my favorite Warcraft hero. He’s my favorite to write, so I’ve waited a long time to get this guy back into the mix, and have him play a significant role in the shaping of Azeroth. He’s a mega player, and he’s been off the scene.

I’m really stoked on this book. We really designed the essential backbone of the book to be just hyper Druid overload. If you’re a WoW Druid, this book’s for you. It features all the major druid characters, and players. I love it. Love it, love it. (Source)

[Talen]

What did you expect? What are the alternatives?

Other than actually giving Alliance players a meaningful resolution to the campaign? Other than destroying most of the stories credibility - low as it currently is?

You start by ruling out what is impossible.

Nothing. Not even a full blown occupation of Orgrimmar. What would that have meant? It'd have meant a brand new capital site would need to be developed for the horde, perhaps in the new continent with the next Xpac, perhaps somewhere such as Silithus, or Kezan. That's a lot of work, but that simply makes it impractical...not impossible.

What else? Phased content. Blizzard has the technology to create a new phase for the affected zones. Why not use it? Doing so would allow the Alliance impact in the game to be represented in full without affecting PvP or levelling in those zones. Its been sued before to show Horde victories of lesser imapct on the game world...why not use it for the Alliance victories?

A lore based win? Ok - maybe Blizzard doesn't want to put in the time and effort to give Alliance players some sense of victory and fulfilment. That'd require them to do some work on old zones and blizzard doesn't really go in for the living world - unless the events are meaningful, yet small enough so they don't require huge amounts of work. Why not a cut scene or quest text simply stating the Alliance got its victory and the Horde withdrew? Yes...it'd be lame not to have any visible sign there....but frankly, the idea that the Alliance just pull out with nothing IS worse.

The "Forgive and Forget and let the Horde win" option is the single worst option they have available.

The Alliance regains lost lands? You do realize that the Alliance had more questing zones than the Horde in vanilla, right?

Completely and totally irrelevant. The idea that zone count is meaningful in any way is ludicrous. Even were it not, there are ways around that restriction and any so-called gameplay problems that result. Balancing around zone count was an incredibly dumb idea and continues to be dumb.

EJL

[KrazyK923]

There is a clear bias. Metzen loves Malfurion and loves writing him.

What can you tell us about the upcoming Worlf of Warcraft: Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak?
I would just say too, I mean Malfurion’s always been, personally, my favorite Warcraft hero. He’s my favorite to write, so I’ve waited a long time to get this guy back into the mix, and have him play a significant role in the shaping of Azeroth. He’s a mega player, and he’s been off the scene.

I’m really stoked on this book. We really designed the essential backbone of the book to be just hyper Druid overload. If you’re a WoW Druid, this book’s for you. It features all the major druid characters, and players. I love it. Love it, love it. (Source)

Good thing that's expressed in the game.

Oh wait roflmao.

[Aquamonkey]

Will the Alliance receive compensation lore wise (Doesnt have to be in game) after SoO?
They just conquered their enemy's capital. What compensation are you looking for? (Source)

Like making the Horde back out of Gilneas and Ashenvale?
I'm a gameplay designer. So what gameplay is there in losing leveling zones for Horde? (Source)
If Alliance players had some interesting way to spend time there, that would be different. (Source)

Do Allies gain NOTHING from this war except tens of 1000s dead and their lands stolen? Not even in lore? Goblins keep Azshara
Garrosh is the real problem, not the trolls and goblins. (Source)
Lore-wise we could say that zones changed hands but wouldn't it be lame once you visited them and saw that was not the case? (Source)
It's always a challenge doing a lot of work just for lore reasons unless it comes with awesome gameplay too. (Source)

Quest blurb "We of the Horde agree to withdraw all forces from Azshara...." is not a lot of work.
But they wouldn't actually do that unless we rebuilt the zone. Can't you argue that is lame as well? (Source)

[Deleted]

Will the Alliance receive compensation lore wise (Doesnt have to be in game) after SoO?
They just conquered their enemy's capital. What compensation are you looking for? (Source)

Like making the Horde back out of Gilneas and Ashenvale?
I'm a gameplay designer. So what gameplay is there in losing leveling zones for Horde? (Source)
If Alliance players had some interesting way to spend time there, that would be different. (Source)

Do Allies gain NOTHING from this war except tens of 1000s dead and their lands stolen? Not even in lore? Goblins keep Azshara
Garrosh is the real problem, not the trolls and goblins. (Source)
Lore-wise we could say that zones changed hands but wouldn't it be lame once you visited them and saw that was not the case? (Source)
It's always a challenge doing a lot of work just for lore reasons unless it comes with awesome gameplay too. (Source)

Quest blurb "We of the Horde agree to withdraw all forces from Azshara...." is not a lot of work.
But they wouldn't actually do that unless we rebuilt the zone. Can't you argue that is lame as well? (Source)

Basically "We are too lazy to change stuff so deal with it""

They did phase Theramore into a giant hole for "Lore reasons", that is a precedent, Why not do the same for the alliance?

Their care for the Alliance is FLOODING me so greatly.

[Aquamonkey]

Basically "We are too lazy to change stuff so deal with it""

They did phase Theramore into a giant hole for "Lore reasons", that is a precedent, Why not do the same for the alliance?

Their care for the Alliance is FLOODING me so greatly.

They redid Theramore because you just finished gameplay in Theramore. The new raid is in Orgrimmar (which they're going to change in a later patch). What do Ashenvale or those other zones have to do with the gameplay happening in Orgrimmar?

[Belize]

Replace Canada with the alliance:

[Deleted]

They redid Theramore because you just finished gameplay in Theramore. The new raid is in Orgrimmar (which they're going to change in a later patch). What do Ashenvale or those other zones have to do with the gameplay happening in Orgrimmar?

Because lore.

[Aquamonkey]

Because lore.

I've only ever seen them phase/change a location based on what was happening in that location. Not based on something that happened somewhere else.

[Deleted]

I've only ever seen them phase/change a location based on what was happening in that location. Not based on something that happened somewhere else.

The fact that they didnt do it before dosent render them unable to do it if they wanted.
They dont want it tough, they dont care about the alliance's supposed fist-pump moment, i get it.

[Aquamonkey]

The fact that they didnt do it before dosent render them unable to do it if they wanted.
They dont want it tough, they dont care about the alliance's supposed fist-pump moment, i get it.

There's a reason why they didn't do it before. Things get changed in the places where they happen. They prioritize resources to where things will have the largest impact. It's a waste of resources to make changes to something irrelevant to where the gameplay is happening. Nothing is happening in Ashenvale or those other zones relevant to SoO gameplay.

They didn't even redo Draenei/Blood Elf areas with the Cata revamp.

[Deleted]

There's a reason why they didn't do it before. Things get changed in the places where they happen. They prioritize resources to where things will have the largest impact. It's a waste of resources to make changes to something irrelevant to where the gameplay is happening. Nothing is happening in Ashenvale or those other zones relevant to SoO gameplay.

Then lets ruin Orgrimmar, That would be cool.

[Aquamonkey]

Then lets ruin Orgrimmar, That would be cool.

They already said they're changing Orgrimmar to reflect SoO in a later patch.

Curious, will we see Org back to normal after 5.4 such as the troll district? Be odd to see current 5.4 PTR next expac.
Most of Orgrimmar permanent changes will happen in a future patch, but before next expansion. (Source)