Alliance players have a right to be angry with MoP

[Abstieg]

Matthew Rossi said it the best over at WoWinsider.

The problem with attacking the Horde and Alliance storytelling is that the Alliance don't really need a huge story or reason to siege Orgrimmar, while the Horde do.
So, Blizzard has to focus on the Horde in order for the story to make sense for half of their playerbases actions. But, they need to do more for Alliance story.

Basically, this. If everything was done 50/50 it would come off as shoddy writing. Horde is tearing itself apart and the Alliance are going to kick it while it's doing so. They don't need 5000 moments of Alliance asskickery to show that the Alliance is doing well.

[Nalnik]

Alltough it will make the alliance fanboys cry and make things worse.

If it just happens and there's nothing to it, then I'd say they would be right to cry. Seeing the alliance questlines, I'd half expect the event to go like this:

*Cutscene of a horde fleet sailing towards the harbor and launching a Sha-bomb
*A quest to evacuate the Harbor
*Cutscene of running away
*NPCs making empty threats against the invading Horde and the quest line being "Wait until Patch 5.4"

What would I suggest instead (and would have been great for 5.3 instead of their robo-cat)?

*Tie it into the High Seas scenario
*Surprise attack with a long distance Sha-weapon (Yes, slight problem with the Heart being mid-5.3/5.4, but bear with me).
*Horde troops land in the Harbor
*Quests to turn them back, destroy the ships, kill the Captain, disarm some further weapon, etc
*NPCs leading a counter-attack towards Orgrimmar
*Beach landing (near Razor Hill) and the alliance setup a base (phased with the rest of the SoO stuff).


Let's be honest here, no one expects 50/50 story telling, but we do expect an effort at it. When the story/questing team seems to be split 70/30 in favor of the Horde, there's a problem. [Yes, I'm pulling number out of the air from playing both factions. This is my opinion.] If the team is only large enough to do one faction at a time, fine, but you need to give both factions their due, even if it would have meant pushing an expansion release back a month.

[Terridon]

I have an awesome idea. Why don't you Whordes actually read what we've written before saying 'GTFO, GET OVER IT, LULZ DELISH ALLY TEARS, REROLL NUB LOLOLOL'

Great post. Thumbs up.

To OP
It's hard to take you serious too because you says you have a right to complain, which you in now way have.
You have a right to stop paying. You can disagree, but as some of the other posts shows not everybody agree with your view at the things ^^

Personally i find it fun to have to raid my own city. Don't see why you shouldn't think it was fun to raid the enemys city. Pretty sure others think it's fun, unlike you.

[LTCrystallite]

My view is that Blizzard kept promising some strong alliance action this expansion and I personally feel (as a former horde player, no longer playing atm) that it fell short of that mark. It's not over yet, so I guess just see what happens.

In terms of lore, I care more about where the actual leaders are and what their position is on all of the chaos going on. Who's noticed Wrathion enough to be suspicious of his intentions? He is a Black Dragon after all. Do the Horde have a back up plan just in case Alliance leaders or divisions have plans to attack Orgrimmar once it's rid of Garrosh? Will working with the Alliance make some room for some well deserved diplomacy? There are some very interesting directions this COULD go in, but probably won't. It'll end up with the Alliance leaving and the Horde rebuilding and naming a new Warchief. And then Wrathion will go ham, I guess.

[TheDangerZone]

After all the bitching about the Purge alliance side, I just can't with this constant alliance whining.

You don't want compelling storylines, you want to be flawless, bastions of virtue. You don't want to do anything morally questionable (thing we are forced to do every fucking day hoping it will get better) because you want to be the heroes, you want to be the better ones.

Screw that, keep y'all whining if you want. There's no way of making you guys happy, so then just keep being misserable.

Although I do present my most sincere condolences on Tyrande's character assassination.

[Spellweaver]

Personally, i'd be glad to turn into a panther and help the zandalari join the horde, than spend 2 years watching my faction implode and then help the opposite faction defeat us in a battle.

shrug, ymmv

I think you've misread the person you quoted.

You'll be controlling this: http://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screen...mal/370030.jpg
And you'll be freeing a Darkspear troll, not a Zandalari.

As for the ''faction implode'' thing, I'd rather be part of a faction that actually gets attention and interesting story progression.
Take Nazgrim for example, what happens with him in Orgrimmar will have much more impact on the Horde. While from an Alliance PoV, it'd just be another Orc going down.

An example of what they could've done with 5.3:

1. The Horde player gets to Sen'jin Village
2. Kor'kron start attacking it
3. Horde player successfully helps defending it
4. Vol'jin starts a counter-attack on Razor Hill
5. Rest of the Battlefield: Barrens stuff

1. The Alliance player starts on the shore, under the Orgrimmar docks
2. Alliance player controls the cat robot to gather intel
3. Intel shows more Kor'kron moving to Razor Hill
4. Alliance player, with the help of Amber and Sully, intercept the Kor'kron right before they reach Razor Hill.
5. Rest of the Battlefield: Barrens stuff.

Intercepting the Kor'kron could be a head-on attack (unwise, but possible) or an ambush along this road: http://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screen...mal/279734.jpg
Maybe even add a Kor'kron catapult that has to be taken out by strapping explosives onto the robo-cat.

[Deleted]

oh what if next expansion alliance gets a bigger story then the horde? you won't complain then..

[Holtzmann]

I think people can take it either way about the alliance's involvement this expansion.
I can understand people getting angry due to lack of storyline for alliance but at the same time can't they be happy that the alliance hasn't fallen to shit like the horde has?

The problem is that Horde falling apart is a great story. Sure, it's an uncomfortable situation, but conflict makes for good narrative.

Since the Cataclysm:

The Horde has a leader that starts out loved by his people, riding in on a wave of glorious victories in the wake of the Cataclysm and securing much-needed resources for his people. His methods gradually become more and more ruthless as he tries to find better and more efficient ways to destroy his enemies without a care for the consequences. He also reveals his favoritism towards his own race and starts using a near-omniscient secret police to murder anyone who voices any sort of criticism at all. It all results in him galvanizing the enemy faction (the Alliance) into action after Theramore, and also causing groups within his own faction to become discontent. He attempts to have the leader of his opposition (Vol'jin) murdered, but the attack does not succeed and so opposition starts rioting. He sends his army to push back the rebellion, but his commanders are too scared to send back requests for reinforcements and so they fail and the rebellion gathers strength. The enemy faction joins up with the rebels and both march into the Horde leader's well-prepared position in a battle that would literally cause the losing faction to cease existing.

That is a very long storyline, and one that received attention all throughout it. It was set up for a long time, and it affected all player races in the game. In comparison, the Alliance storylines since Cataclysm have resulted in important characters becoming either neutral (Malfurion), insane (Fandral Staghelm), dead (Magni Bronzebeard), or downright mischaracterized (Tyrande). The longer-running plots of Varian Wrynn learning how to lead and becoming the High King (theoretically the Alliance counterpart to the Garrosh story) and Jaina Proudmoore's fall from grace, all seemed either tacked-in and unfinished (A Little Patience and Blood in the Snow), or too morally-ambiguous (Purge of Dalaran) to feel satisfying. And above all, there is no great conflict in the Alliance. Their problem is with the Horde. And since the Horde is almost always the one to take the initiative and land the first blow, the Alliance feels like a reactive, incompetent force.

The story needs a lot more work. Both sides require internal and external conflict, and both sides require equal attention in terms of both story development and developer effort through an expansion. The Alliance Twilight Highlands and Battlefield Barrens starter quests are good examples of just plain more developer time being given to one faction as opposed to the other, which should not happen.

[Aquamonkey]

1. The Alliance player starts on the shore, under the Orgrimmar docks
2. Alliance player controls the cat robot to gather intel
3. Intel shows more Kor'kron moving to Razor Hill
4. Alliance player, with the help of Amber and Sully, intercept the Kor'kron right before they reach Razor Hill.
5. Rest of the Battlefield: Barrens stuff.

Intercepting the Kor'kron could be a head-on attack (unwise, but possible) or an ambush along this road: http://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screen...mal/279734.jpg
Maybe even add a Kor'kron catapult that has to be taken out by strapping explosives onto the robo-cat.

Nothing says covert intelligence gathering like jumping in and attacking the enemy without a plan. Reminds me of the terrible acronym F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon).

[Volitar]

People take Lore way too serious some of you actually sound insulted...its a game o.O.

[Spellweaver]

Nothing says covert intelligence gathering like jumping in and attacking the enemy without a plan. Reminds me of the terrible acronym F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon).

Reading comprehension, you should look into it.

Intercepting the Kor'kron could be a head-on attack (unwise, but possible) or an ambush along this road: http://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screen...mal/279734.jpg
Maybe even add a Kor'kron catapult that has to be taken out by strapping explosives onto the robo-cat.

Ambushes are usually planned strikes. Both Amber and Sully are part of the SI:7, which are supposed to be able to change their plans on the fly.
The Kor'kron force could even be taking out without letting them know that it was the Alliance taking them out.
Unless you paint the robo-cat blue, give it a couple of Alliance flags and have it repeat a soundfile that says ''THE ALLIANCE GREET YOU WITH THIS BOMB, ORCS!''

But hey, it was only an example to have a questline be a bit more balanced.

[angryplateguy]

So, alliance cry because they're not the major focus of this expansion, even though their victory is assured. They also get to be the morally upright white knights, never doing any wrong.

Horde are painted as the bad guys, especially if you play an orc. We kill garrosh, despite the fact they spent all of cata trying to make us like him. Then we're forced to accept help from the alliance, or basically we wouldn't be able to retake our own city, from our own warchief.

Honestly, I think blizzard just goofed. Neither side is really getting a good deal, but to be completely honest, I almost wish I mained alliance at this point. At least then I could be sort of excited killing garrosh.

[Aquamonkey]

Reading comprehension, you should look into it.

Ambushes are usually planned strikes. Both Amber and Sully are part of the SI:7, which are supposed to be able to change their plans on the fly.
The Kor'kron force could even be taking out without letting them know that it was the Alliance taking them out.
Unless you paint the robo-cat blue, give it a couple of Alliance flags and have it repeat a soundfile that says ''THE ALLIANCE GREET YOU WITH THIS BOMB, ORCS!''

But hey, it was only an example to have a questline be a bit more balanced.

Critical thinking, you should look into it. They were sent there to gather intel, ambushing a random pack of Kor'kron for no reason is way off mission and only increases the chances of them being discovered. What reason would they have to ambush that group? Just because? They would have no idea what that group's mission is.

[Hitei]

So, alliance cry because they're not the major focus of this expansion, even though their victory is assured. They also get to be the morally upright white knights, never doing any wrong.

Horde are painted as the bad guys, especially if you play an orc. We kill garrosh, despite the fact they spent all of cata trying to make us like him. Then we're forced to accept help from the alliance, or basically we wouldn't be able to retake our own city, from our own warchief.

Honestly, I think blizzard just goofed. Neither side is really getting a good deal, but to be completely honest, I almost wish I mained alliance at this point. At least then I could be sort of excited killing garrosh.

What victory? Alliance is helping their enemies win their own civil war. That's a Horde win.

[Florena]

What victory? Alliance is helping their enemies win their own civil war. That's a Horde win.

Because we're taking down Garrosh, the guy we've been warring with the last two expansions? Because doing so ends his war of aggression against us?

[angryplateguy]

The problem is that Horde falling apart is a great story. Sure, it's an uncomfortable situation, but conflict makes for good narrative.

Since the Cataclysm:

The Horde has a leader that starts out loved by his people, riding in on a wave of glorious victories in the wake of the Cataclysm and securing much-needed resources for his people. His methods gradually become more and more ruthless as he tries to find better and more efficient ways to destroy his enemies without a care for the consequences. He also reveals his favoritism towards his own race and starts using a near-omniscient secret police to murder anyone who voices any sort of criticism at all. It all results in him galvanizing the enemy faction (the Alliance) into action after Theramore, and also causing groups within his own faction to become discontent. He attempts to have the leader of his opposition (Vol'jin) murdered, but the attack does not succeed and so opposition starts rioting. He sends his army to push back the rebellion, but his commanders are too scared to send back requests for reinforcements and so they fail and the rebellion gathers strength. The enemy faction joins up with the rebels and both march into the Horde leader's well-prepared position in a battle that would literally cause the losing faction to cease existing.

That is a very long storyline, and one that received attention all throughout it. It was set up for a long time, and it affected all player races in the game. In comparison, the Alliance storylines since Cataclysm have resulted in important characters becoming either neutral (Malfurion), insane (Fandral Staghelm), dead (Magni Bronzebeard), or downright mischaracterized (Tyrande). The longer-running plots of Varian Wrynn learning how to lead and becoming the High King (theoretically the Alliance counterpart to the Garrosh story) and Jaina Proudmoore's fall from grace, all seemed either tacked-in and unfinished (A Little Patience and Blood in the Snow), or too morally-ambiguous (Purge of Dalaran) to feel satisfying. And above all, there is no great conflict in the Alliance. Their problem is with the Horde. And since the Horde is almost always the one to take the initiative and land the first blow, the Alliance feels like a reactive, incompetent force.

The story needs a lot more work. Both sides require internal and external conflict, and both sides require equal attention in terms of both story development and developer effort through an expansion. The Alliance Twilight Highlands and Battlefield Barrens starter quests are good examples of just plain more developer time being given to one faction as opposed to the other, which should not happen.

So you get multiple stories, Jaina and Varian, yet complain neither of them are satisfying. I say to you, that Garrosh's story is not satisfying either. We were told we were going to like him, much as you alliance were promised fist pumping. I did like Garrosh, then we have to kill him.

Jaina is too morally ambiguous? How do you even accept Garrosh's story then? Are the alliance not allowed to do anything wrong at all, to have it be an acceptable story? If Varian is too boring, and Jaina was too ambiguous, how do you ever become satisfied? I just don't understand.

You never got your fist pump, we don't get to keep the first active warchief since doomhammer. I'm sorry, I think we're pretty much even.

[Spellweaver]

Critical thinking, you should look into it. They were sent there to gather intel, ambushing a random pack of Kor'kron for no reason is way off mission and only increases the chances of them being discovered. What reason would they have to ambush that group? Just because? They would have no idea what that group's mission is.

Because the discovered intel couldn't possibly have the reason to ambush that group.

[Holtzmann]

So you get multiple stories, Jaina and Varian, yet complain neither of them are satisfying. I say to you, that Garrosh's story is not satisfying either. We were told we were going to like him, much as you alliance were promised fist pumping. I did like Garrosh, then we have to kill him.

Jaina is too morally ambiguous? How do you even accept Garrosh's story then? Are the alliance not allowed to do anything wrong at all, to have it be an acceptable story? If Varian is too boring, and Jaina was too ambiguous, how do you ever become satisfied? I just don't understand.

You never got your fist pump, we don't get to keep the first active warchief since doomhammer. I'm sorry, I think we're pretty much even.

Multiple stories that didn't seem to get even half the attention the Horde stories get? Yeah, I'll take having to kill my own leader after he goes mad with power any day of the week over always coming in late (Fall of Theramore Alliance-side) or having no victories that result in actual long-term gain (Purge of Dalaran, as Dalaran will become neutral again after Garrosh is defeated).

[Florena]

Multiple stories that didn't seem to get even half the attention the Horde stories get? Yeah, I'll take having to kill my own leader after he goes mad with power any day of the week over always coming in late (Fall of Theramore Alliance-side) or having no victories that result in actual long-term gain (Purge of Dalaran, as Dalaran will become neutral again after Garrosh is defeated).

Uh, wth makes you think Dalaran's going neutral again after what they did to the Sunreavers?

[Aquamonkey]

Because the discovered intel couldn't possibly have the reason to ambush that group.

And what reason would that be? What could the Kor'kron possibly be doing in Barrens that would be such an imminent threat that they are forced take immediate action and risk blowing their mission? Are they about to fire a death laser at Stormwind?