Why a time travel based expansion would suck!

[Warstar]

Time travel is cool. The caverns of time instances are really fun and let players experience the lore from back then. But, that's all they are is short little stories that don't advance the over all plot at all. They're wonderful little tid bits for lore buffs as a small part of an expansion but as a whole expansion it's just a waste of time.

There's a few reasons that I can see why if an entire expansion would be based around time travel it wouldn't be good:

1. Predictability. When the LotR movies came out everyone and their mother's had already read the LotR books and knew what was going to happen. While they were fun to watch everyone knew what was going to happen before the first movie was even released. In the same manner if you consider the story of WoW to be an ongoing process a time travel expansion would be like hitting pause on the main story and going and doing some random stuff that you already know how it's going to end.

2. It doesn't advance the story. Similar to the butterfly effect in the past we can't change anything. Every bad guy whose going to die has already died. Pandaria was a big leap in that it contained relatively no lore from the previous warcraft universe except for 1 character during a small portion of 1 game. But, Pandaria still advanced the warcraft story. It continued on Wrathion's part in the over all story and has set up the burning legion in a huge way. But, if we go back in time we can't actually continue on this path and won't actually see anything new.

3. It's a huge cop out. Players already complain about rehashed game play. A time travel expansion is just that. It's Blizzard reusing a bunch of old crap instead of actually progressing the story of warcraft.

4. Nothing matters. Unless it's stop the infinite dragon flight (again been done before would be boring again) then nothing that we accomplish in the past actually matters. All we'd be doing is playing a scripted role similar to puppets in a play where everything ends up the same every time. It's not like we're stopping kil'jaeden from entering azeroth. Or killing the lich king. Or stopping deathwing from fully destroying the planet.

5. Time travel just doesn't logically make sense. Bad guys can't disrupt the time line and destroy time because then their previous self dies and then their future self isn't around to disrupt the time line and so on. Good guy's can't go back and alter stuff because then the even never occurred that made them want to go back and alter it so they never go back and alter it in the first place.

6. They'd have to pull a new race/class out of their ass that has nothing to do with the current content. So far every time we've had a new race or class new added to the game it's been current content and is relevant to the story. If they make an expansion about hopping into a portal and going back in time then we can't meet up with a new race/relevant class since how would that race/class interact with modern azeroth?

Really when it comes down to it time travel/caverns of time type stuff are a fun way to see the old lore. But, really they're only good for an addition to the main story line as a side quest rather than the entire focus of the expansion. I have no problem with revisiting Draenor to some new area that was unknown or perhaps go through a portal to an area where people fled to during the destruction of Draenor as long as whatever we do is current content and not stuff done in the past.

[Gheld]

Time travel is cool. The caverns of time instances are really fun and let players experience the lore from back then. But, that's all they are is short little stories that don't advance the over all plot at all. They're wonderful little tid bits for lore buffs as a small part of an expansion but as a whole expansion it's just a waste of time.

There's a few reasons that I can see why if an entire expansion would be based around time travel it wouldn't be good:

1. Predictability. When the LotR movies came out everyone and their mother's had already read the LotR books and knew what was going to happen. While they were fun to watch everyone knew what was going to happen before the first movie was even released. In the same manner if you consider the story of WoW to be an ongoing process a time travel expansion would be like hitting pause on the main story and going and doing some random stuff that you already know how it's going to end.

I'ma let you finish but I never actually read the books. I read The Hobbit and learned the hard way that Tolkein's writing is just a bunch of worthless long-winded drivel. I knew what was going to happen due to familiarity with fantasy/movie cliché's. The fact is even with a non time travel related plot line in WoW it's pretty obvious what's going to happen in the game.

What makes a story compelling is striking the right balance between cliché and surprise. If the cliché doesn't ever come about, the reader/player/watcher eventually becomes frustrated at their inability to predict any of the plot. However if it's 100% predictable that too sucks.

[Warstar]

I'ma let you finish but I never actually read the books. I read The Hobbit and learned the hard way that Tolkein's writing is just a bunch of worthless long-winded drivel. I knew what was going to happen due to familiarity with fantasy/movie cliché's. The fact is even with a non time travel related plot line in WoW it's pretty obvious what's going to happen in the game.

What makes a story compelling is striking the right balance between cliché and surprise. If the cliché doesn't ever come about, the reader/player/watcher eventually becomes frustrated at their inability to predict any of the plot. However if it's 100% predictable that too sucks.

There's a difference between knowing that the game will end fighting the ultimate bad guy but not knowing how that will happen or what leads up to it rather than knowing everything that's going to happen and then what happens afterwards. I mean who knows we could go to Argus kick some butt and then if Titan gets delayed again possibly have more expansions after that. Probably not just saying there's a possibility for that.

[Deleted]

I agree with you on all points in fact. An expansion centered on the time-travel aspect is just not interesting. Center it on something else; Draenor as the example. It may work, but it seems to be an uphill slope.

[Marema]

Everything makes sense in a fantasy game. Leave the logic at home.

[WorldofWorkcraft]

Yeah, time travel isn't a good idea. But Blizzard and WoW are fairly well-known for placing sub-par ideas as centralized themes, so anyone who systematically breaks down why it would suck and why is a bad idea is actually reinforcing the probability of it being true.

On a side note, what's been going on at Draenor (Outland) between TBC and present day (MoP)? Has it just been left alone, as I assume Illidan/Burning Legion was eradicated? Why time travel to Draenor when you can just go there, find it newly inhabited and thriving, and have new friends and foes to face?

[Deleted]

I don't mind a time travel expansion as long as it's stable, so to say. At the beginning of the xpack we are going back and we stay there untill the end. I would be really disappointed if it will be cata style with tons of portals to get from timeline to timeline, zone to zone.

[Warstar]

Yeah, time travel isn't a good idea. But Blizzard and WoW are fairly well-known for placing sub-par ideas as centralized themes, so anyone who systematically breaks down why it would suck and why is a bad idea is actually reinforcing the probability of it being true.

On a side note, what's been going on at Draenor (Outland) between TBC and present day (MoP)? Has it just been left alone, as I assume Illidan/Burning Legion was eradicated? Why time travel to Draenor when you can just go there, find it newly inhabited and thriving, and have new friends and foes to face?

The rumor mill has it that Illidan is making a come back from various hints from devs and all sorts of stuff. The burning legion is still out there and stronger than ever (aka all of Wrathion's quest line in MoP leading up to the conflict with the burning legion). But as far as all the big baddies that were around at the time of TBC those major threats were all eliminated.

Gruul was killed so maybe more dragons are flying around out there?
Vashj was killed so maybe the water's have come back and are flowing to other regions allowing them to have a western plaguelands type rebirth?
Illidan died so maybe that stopped the hordes of demons coming through stopped so that people were able to start rebuilding?

[Mortal Strike]

If I mail something to my alt, will he get it in 100 years?

If my alt mails something to me, how do I get it if I haven't been born yet?

[Deleted]

OP, we are in accordance, you and I.

Hear hear! *shakes your hand*

[ReleaseDay]

You forget the biggest flaw that is, it would make no sense. Timetravel has never been done good in any book movie or anything ever, because it cannot be done. Time traveling makes no sense and should be ignored.

[Warstar]

You forget the biggest flaw that is, it would make no sense. Timetravel has never been done good in any book movie or anything ever, because it cannot be done. Time traveling makes no sense and should be ignored.

Time travel for the sake of lore is fine. Which is why the caverns of time work out well. They're just minor side plots to let people experience more of the lore of the warcraft universe that have no effect on the game play. I mean sure you can throw in the infinite dragon flight to give people something to do but really those instances are just for funsies and interactive story time.

But a time travel centered expansion would be bad and I really really really hope that they don't do that.

From all the lore stand points I've heard it seems like the burning legion has a hard time getting to Azeroth aside from minor demons and what not. Maybe it's different for Draenor? The burning legion really has to play a center role in the next expansion or the whole Wrathion quest line is retarded and obviously with a legendary item at the end of it it's something that blizz put a lot of stock into. Perhapes Draenor is a foot step towards the burning legion or something?

[Wyrt]

Time travel is either like a strip club where you can look but not touch or it's a whore house where you can touch all you want, but you might not like the price.

[Zaqwert]

WoW jumped the shark a long, long time ago.

At this point they can do whatever ridiculous crap they want to, and will.

[Seefer]

I just want to know where they said it even involves time travel.

[Kuja]

I just want to know where they said it even involves time travel.

How else would you go kill the warlords of draenor o:

[Teriz]

You forget the biggest flaw that is, it would make no sense. Timetravel has never been done good in any book movie or anything ever, because it cannot be done. Time traveling makes no sense and should be ignored.

Back to the Future, Chrono Trigger, and Quantum Leap say hello.

[ujx]

I agree 100% with the OP. If this xpac does indeed happen, it's a huge cop out and will be one big nail in the coffin.

[Sageofthe10paths]

Time travel only works if you don't know the past history of the time line you're exploring (we know way to much about the games lore). It also has to be for a goal that takes place in the future, not goals that are in the past. Going to just one point in time isn't good enough, it has to be numerous time lines to see how things have drastically changed. I really hope Warlords of Draenor isn't about time travel!!!

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Back to the Future, Chrono Trigger, and Quantum Leap say hello.

I loved Chrono Trigger! I think that's the best thing with time travel of all time.

[Seefer]

Back to the Future, Chrono Trigger, and Quantum Leap say hello.

The Terminator, Star Trek IV, Flight of the Navigator, Bill & Ted, Army of Darkness, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Heroes,