Legion's story telling is too perfect

[Nalorakk]

And I don't mean that in a good way.

The only specks of dirt on the progression of Legion's story to date has been the initial Broken Shore fiasco and what happened to Ysera. Even the muddy footprints Illidan left when he opened a portal to Argus is getting washed away in 7.3.

Everything else is too good. It works out too well. There's no upsets to the calculations of our heroes or those we answer to. Everything just *works*.

And it's getting a little old.

WoD opened with a grating error on everyone's part: we let Gul'dan go because at the time we had no other option. Khadgar knew it would come to bite us in the ass and it did in a major way.

Cata and MoP were wrought with errors that shaped the story of Azeroth, culminating in Garrosh's tyranny.

Even WotLK had the Wrathgate (which is similar enough to the Broken Shore, but it's a very dated expansion and Blizzard has picked up their storytelling game since).

Legion is highly ambitious in regards to generating story and plot and lore and everything people have been asking for for so long, but it's too clean. This is supposed to be the biggest Legion invasion of all time and it's not living up to its name.

Why aren't the villains winning?
Why aren't we making mistakes when we're grappling with forces we hardly understand?

Yes, I'm aware of key things like Odyn and the Old Gods hanging on the periphery, but they're not in the spotlight and all we have are rumours and forecasts.

Things like Sylvanas making an unknown deal with Helya resulted in a big fat nothing because we killed the old hag before something could come of it.
And what of her shooting Greymane with an arrow that was riddled with something foul? Oh, he was sick in bed for a little while but after a few days rest he's up and at it again no biggie.

The story of Suramar had a few major hurdles and I really liked how it played out, but in an expansion with everything so positively geared it feels like its diminished in its hopefulness.

When we walk away from Legion, will there even be any dust left to settle? Any cleaning? Anything because of errors we've made?

What of the scars our foes have left us with?

Or is it going to be like signs are pointing to in 7.3, something with a capital A sneaks in out of left field opens the door for the next big bad?

[zlygork]

Khadgar: good job heroes, now I need 4756 troll tusks and 395 elven ears to prepare to fight the amethyst alliance

[Lochton]

I liked the story telling of Legion, but I liked the method of delivering it more in Warlords of Draenor.

[Nyel]

Yes, you're right. There's not enough loss and pain in Legion. We had many of that during the pre patch but since Legion came out nothing really "bad" happened and that makes it pretty boring.

[cparle87]

Well, it wasn't just Ysera. We also lost the top feral archdruid, one of the eldest ancients, the only redeemed Dragon of Nightmare was corrupted again and had to be put down. Not to mention guardian druids leading Xavius right to Ursoc and him being corrupted so we had to put him down too. Several druids flat out tell you Val'sharah will never fully recover from the Nightmare, which covers like a quarter of it. About the only ones we were able to save there were Cenarius and Malorne. Everywhere else we failed.

The blue dragons in Azsuna are still sterile and haven't had a viable clutch since Deathwing was destroyed, they're basically a relic. The Court of Farondis still haven't cured their curse to free themselves. The Wardens haven't been able to reclaim their Vault.

The Nightwell is dying and the entire Nightborne civilization is still in flux, with a population still loyal to the Legion as is shown on the Broken Shore. The Night Guard that stood for 10,000+ years is down to 3 members, the rest slaughtered. Not to mention the huge casualties. Like 10% of the city was practically burned to the ground with everyone on it. Civilian casualties, don't forget the countless withered out in the wilds who were all nightborne who were banished and ended up suffering a fate maybe worse than death as they're constantly tormented not only by their hunger but by the last lingering visages of who they used to be as they finally slowly die. I'd lay my money on the Nightborne population cut at least in half.

Massive slaughter of vrykul in Stormheim, both those who served Skovald and those who resisted him. The Thorognir storm drakes were massacred and are down to a few members. The ghosts of their ancestors are still trapped in Helheim despite Helya's death.

The Highmountain tauren and drogbar just got done with a freaking three-way civil war (Highmountain vs Drogbar vs Feltotem) with massive casualties including the leaders of each side and a virtual extermination of the latter. At least three tauren villages were completely destroyed and the landscape ruined.

That's just cycling around the zones thinking of stuff off the top of my head. There isn't a corner of the Broken Isles that hasn't been racked by conflict.

[Kazlofski]

I was convinced that Khadgar would die in 7.3 but doesn't seem like it yet from the datamines... I wonder when will that Vision of Kilrogg happen then... If at all that is.
I'd have to agree that things go too smoothly, we beat the avatar and Kil'jaeden all too perfectly without anything bad happening, 7.3 raises the stakes even higher and still it seems we prevail without problems?

So yeah a little disappointing. Maybe the thing with the "5 keys to open our way" or whatever that quote is the mistake we have done? Hopefully it is in the close pre-patch of the next expansion and not see it's consequences in only 2 expansions...

[Vexfu]

Plus we started with 2 major faction leaders dying..... But now... like think about it....

Literally some of the classes have done gnarly things..... The DH got that keystone that illidan used to open the Argus portal....

Odyn and his valajar are some serious power, Odyn is like the most powerful being in azeroth besides maybe being on par with some other titan keepers or elemental lords...

You have the FOUR ELEMENTAL LORDS in unity fighting the legion, they havent done that since fighting the black empire, and only lost because 5 old gods v 4 elemental lords so...... Like the farseer is even stronger and the Ele weapon is titan power manifest and was used to fight the Black Empire....

Mages literally have a Guardian stronger than the one that took down the avatar of sarg....

THE LICH KING BTW...

SO I think the gravity of the invasion got all the greatest powers in the cosmos besides like the titans themselves....

BUT I think the biggest thing is, this is the plan of the old gods.... so I think thats the point more than anything, its all going according to plan.

[Dastreus]

Well, it wasn't just Ysera. We also lost the top feral archdruid, one of the eldest ancients, the only redeemed Dragon of Nightmare was corrupted again and had to be put down. Not to mention guardian druids leading Xavius right to Ursoc and him being corrupted so we had to put him down too. Several druids flat out tell you Val'sharah will never fully recover from the Nightmare, which covers like a quarter of it. About the only ones we were able to save there were Cenarius and Malorne. Everywhere else we failed.

The blue dragons in Azsuna are still sterile and haven't had a viable clutch since Deathwing was destroyed, they're basically a relic. The Court of Farondis still haven't cured their curse to free themselves. The Wardens haven't been able to reclaim their Vault.

The Nightwell is dying and the entire Nightborne civilization is still in flux, with a population still loyal to the Legion as is shown on the Broken Shore. The Night Guard that stood for 10,000+ years is down to 3 members, the rest slaughtered. Not to mention the huge casualties. Like 10% of the city was practically burned to the ground with everyone on it. Civilian casualties, don't forget the countless withered out in the wilds who were all nightborne who were banished and ended up suffering a fate maybe worse than death as they're constantly tormented not only by their hunger but by the last lingering visages of who they used to be as they finally slowly die. I'd lay my money on the Nightborne population cut at least in half.

Massive slaughter of vrykul in Stormheim, both those who served Skovald and those who resisted him. The Thorognir storm drakes were massacred and are down to a few members. The ghosts of their ancestors are still trapped in Helheim despite Helya's death.

The Highmountain tauren and drogbar just got done with a freaking three-way civil war (Highmountain vs Drogbar vs Feltotem) with massive casualties including the leaders of each side and a virtual extermination of the latter. At least three tauren villages were completely destroyed and the landscape ruined.

That's just cycling around the zones thinking of stuff off the top of my head. There isn't a corner of the Broken Isles that hasn't been racked by conflict.

This post. However, I should note that most of these events occurred in the first patch of Legion. (Most. Nightwell thing is still ongoing.)

- - - Updated - - -

BUT I think the biggest thing is, this is the plan of the old gods.... so I think thats the point more than anything, its all going according to plan.

Uulwi ifis halahs gag erh'ongg w'ssh!

[Mahmeya]

I was convinced that Khadgar would die in 7.3 but doesn't seem like it yet from the datamines... I wonder when will that Vision of Kilrogg happen then... If at all that is.

It was just a vision. Even Killrog's own vision of death was massive retcon fail, because when Lords of War was released, they even said that the vision was changed to what Maraad thought, because he had no way to know what was in the vision. Plus, Maraad talked about MU Killrog (as he could not know about AU characters) while the vision we saw and everything around it was AU which only shows how massive clusterF- the whole thing is.

They later repurposed it for the needs of altered story and made Maraad's guess (because it was nothing more) used in the HFC fight.

[Nalorakk]

Well, it wasn't just Ysera. We also lost the top feral archdruid, one of the eldest ancients, the only redeemed Dragon of Nightmare was corrupted again and had to be put down. Not to mention guardian druids leading Xavius right to Ursoc and him being corrupted so we had to put him down too. Several druids flat out tell you Val'sharah will never fully recover from the Nightmare, which covers like a quarter of it. About the only ones we were able to save there were Cenarius and Malorne. Everywhere else we failed.

The blue dragons in Azsuna are still sterile and haven't had a viable clutch since Deathwing was destroyed, they're basically a relic. The Court of Farondis still haven't cured their curse to free themselves. The Wardens haven't been able to reclaim their Vault.

The Nightwell is dying and the entire Nightborne civilization is still in flux, with a population still loyal to the Legion as is shown on the Broken Shore. The Night Guard that stood for 10,000+ years is down to 3 members, the rest slaughtered. Not to mention the huge casualties. Like 10% of the city was practically burned to the ground with everyone on it. Civilian casualties, don't forget the countless withered out in the wilds who were all nightborne who were banished and ended up suffering a fate maybe worse than death as they're constantly tormented not only by their hunger but by the last lingering visages of who they used to be as they finally slowly die. I'd lay my money on the Nightborne population cut at least in half.

Massive slaughter of vrykul in Stormheim, both those who served Skovald and those who resisted him. The Thorognir storm drakes were massacred and are down to a few members. The ghosts of their ancestors are still trapped in Helheim despite Helya's death.

The Highmountain tauren and drogbar just got done with a freaking three-way civil war (Highmountain vs Drogbar vs Feltotem) with massive casualties including the leaders of each side and a virtual extermination of the latter. At least three tauren villages were completely destroyed and the landscape ruined.

That's just cycling around the zones thinking of stuff off the top of my head. There isn't a corner of the Broken Isles that hasn't been racked by conflict.

And how many of these things will be remembered / matter beyond the Broken Isles?

How many of these things even existed before the Broken Isles?

If all the turmoil ends up fruitless, what was even its purpose? The worth of the events of an expansion lay in what we take away from it, what lives on or what we lost because of it.

[Raiju]

Yes, you're right. There's not enough loss and pain in Legion. We had many of that during the pre patch but since Legion came out nothing really "bad" happened and that makes it pretty boring.

>ysera
>the loss of potential allies such as the majority of the drogbar/nightborne
>Sargeras managing to take over illidans body as was planned
>Continued attacks on dalaran despite our success in stopping guldan
>Argus and the legion being a portal away from us

@Nalorakk many will remember illidan was taken over by sargeras, and the entirety of argus as a plotpoint (THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. THIS IS A VERY BAD THING)

[Ramz]

I think the storytelling in Legion is plain awful. And it was deemed to be underwhelming. You'd imagine that everyone would like to have their share in defending world and not just factions on Broken Islands. They didn't learn from mistakes of Cataclysm.

And don't get me started on that sad condition the Horde is in. I was never this pissed on writing team.

[Clozer]

this isn't game of thrones guys. Not having drama isn't a bad thing..

[Pull My Finger]

Since Legion is the expansion with undoubtedly the most tragic losses, unexpected setbacks and weighty ramifications, I was able to officially identify this thread as glaring nonsense.

[Deleted]

I don't like its story telling anymore, it doesn't fit the genre. we should've been more miniscule compared to these events. on topic though, It's just the fastfood syndrome, people want whats promised to be delivered, look like its pictures and. they want it fhaaast

[XDurionX]

It's meant to be played by 12 year olds, what dirt do you expect? Really?

[Thage]

And how many of these things will be remembered / matter beyond the Broken Isles?

So struggle only counts when it applies to a global scale? Odd metric for weighing whether or not trials and tribulations matter in a story.

How many of these things even existed before the Broken Isles?

See above. For a real-world analogy, the September 11th attacks only really affected a small portion of New York City, which itself is a dot on the global map, but it had wide-reaching ramifications across the world even today, 16 years later. Just because these problems didn't exist before the Broken Isles were put ingame doesn't mean they aren't problems, that we didn't get several big setbacks in trying to sort the problems out, or that these problems won't be alluded to in the future.

If all the turmoil ends up fruitless, what was even its purpose? The worth of the events of an expansion lay in what we take away from it, what lives on or what we lost because of it.

By this metric, literally every expansion's events other than WotLK's were worthless.

Also, you're ignoring much of the order hall storylines. Rogues see Darkshire completely depopulated, costing the Alliance a necessary foothold south of Stormwind, Death Knights are pushing the boundaries of morality and ethics to the point that they skirt villain-protagonist status for much of their storyline, and shadow priests are currently walking around with an Old God herald whispering madness into their ears.

Yes, we tend to win--that is the nature of an MMORPG with a constantly-progressing story. Even in FFXIV, after that Big Setback early in the expansion, it's almost nothing but one resounding victory after another for us in Stormblood. This thread seems a lot like accentuating the negative because you expect storytelling like Game of Thrones, where so many people die off and so few characters are actually noble and attain any meaningful gains that it's not really worth caring about the story.

[Verdugo]

Since Legion is the expansion with undoubtedly the most tragic losses, unexpected setbacks and weighty ramifications, I was able to officially identify this thread as glaring nonsense.

Since you are disagreeing with it, I officialy identify this thread as valid.

[thilicen]

I'm just happy we're getting this much of it. Following the story in WoW has rarely been this fun, even if I don't like all the ways they are moving it forward.

[melodramocracy]

Sylvanas doesn't get to see her goal be reached (so far). There's also been plenty of loss, as described in this thread. Not sure what you're talking about really.

Having said that, I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaally want to see us, as players, wind up losing a ton of power while trying to claim victory in Argus. It's a great way to setup the concept that we won't have our artifacts for the next expansion, and would probably be good for the game overall.