Shadowlands Alpha - Introduction Experience
The Shadowlands Alpha servers are back up and the introduction experience is now available for testing!

CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS

  • You begin by taking a portal to the top of Icecrown to find the leaders of the Alliance and Horde talking to Bolvar and his death knights. Anduin, Jaina, Baine, and Thrall are suspiciously absent from this meeting however.
  • Darion Morgraine greets you, explaining that "before her minions abducted key leaders, the Banshee Queen attacked Icecrown. She cut a path to the Frozen Throne and seized the Helm of Domination. Look to the sky and you will see the results of her actions. I...have never beheld anything like this. But shattering the helm also freed Bolvar Fordragon from the burden of the Lich King. Bolvar has recovered and believes he knows where the Banshee has taken those she abducted."
  • As you approach, you find the two factions arguing. Lor'themar remarks that these are troubled times and both factions need stability. He doesn't seem to believe that sending Azeroth's leaders on a potential suicide mission is smart, and thinks those who are not present would also agree.
  • Tyrande calls him a coward and exclaims that she would pay any price to see the Banshee impaled upon her glaive. Genn says he wants the same, but agrees with Lor'themar. Anduin wouldn't want them to risk the well-being of the Alliance for his sake.
  • Calia tells Tyrande that the kaldorei will need their leader to have any hope of finding peace, to which Tyranda responds by scoffing at the idea of the Forsaken speaking of peace after what they have done.
  • Bolvar silences everyone, stating that the war is over and a more pressing threat is now at hand.
  • When you talk to him, Bolvar explains that when Sylvanas shattered the Helm of Domination, her soul became indelibly linked to the helm, much as his had when he donned it. He can now sense her presence, and knows where she has gone. He says the helm can bring us to where we need to go to rescue our leaders, but it cannot bring us back. Only we can do that on our own. He asks you to complete the ritual at the Frozen Throne to open to the rift into the Maw.
  • As you place the shards of the helm around the center rune, Bolvar talks about how he glimpsed many realms of death as the Lich King, and always felt a dark presence at the edge of his consciousness. It was not Arthas or Ner'zhul but something else. He now senses it lurking in the sky above, and it cannot be left unchecked. He lends you the Knights of the Ebon Blade for your travels.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Shadowlands Alpha - Introduction Experience started by Stoy View original post
Comments 86 Comments
  1. Feroxxy's Avatar
    World of Warcraft: Fanficlands

    The opening sounds very boring, with a lot of "this just happens whatever deal with it!" moments like the kidnapping of key leaders thrown in the mix.

    generic bad guy vibes, sylvanas still being MoRaLlY gRaY, maw is unescapable yet we immediately escape it as the snowflakes we are.

    mcGuffin helm of domination so bolvar can sense Sylv even in another dimension (I bet they totally forget to make him help us track her in the rest of the story)

    helya shouldve responded with "It's merely a setback" to the taunt, seeing her plans with sylvanas have come pretty far.
  1. cface's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Halfaheart View Post
    The rightful heir to Lordaeron has nothing to do with the undead denizens of said kingdom? riiiight.

    - - - Updated - - -



    "i haven't seen anything I just know in my gut it's shit" solid logic
    call it instinct not logic lmfao.. seriously? And am I wrong?
  1. Verdugo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pebrocks The Warlock View Post
    So you're judging something you haven't even seen based off of one image? Also do you understand what opinions are?
    He is right in this case. Nice CGI but Avatar had that too and it was also hard to watch.

    Quote Originally Posted by SirBeef View Post

    Yet this forum championed the idea of Calia leading them but now that it's happening, it's all of a sudden bad idea.
    Only people that champion this are Stormwind human fans. There are others but they were humoring the idea out of spite because they dont like Forsaken.
  1. SirBeef's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Verdugo View Post
    He is right in this case. Nice CGI but Avatar had that too and it was also hard to watch.



    Only people that champion this are Stormwind human fans. There are others but they were humoring the idea out of spite because they dont like Forsaken.
    You got the receipts for that? I know quite a few that are Horde. Plus here and the official forums had plenty of serious discussions about it
  1. Verdugo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SirBeef View Post
    You got the receipts for that? I know quite a few that are Horde. Plus here and the official forums had plenty of serious discussions about it
    You were the one that claimed that this forum championed the idea.
  1. Pebrocks The Warlock's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Verdugo View Post
    He is right in this case. Nice CGI but Avatar had that too and it was also hard to watch.
    Replying to me "he is right" won't suddenly make me agree with either of you. Not sure how you can even agree with someone that hasn't actually seen it themselves.
  1. SirBeef's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Verdugo View Post
    You were the one that claimed that this forum championed the idea.
    And there were plenty here that did.
  1. Verdugo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by SirBeef View Post
    And there were plenty here that did.
    Look it up and you will see that they are either full-on Alliance fans or they were doing it out of spite.
  1. Dannihilate's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ilyiana View Post
    them dropping comparisons to the army of the Legion as a size measurement feels a little forced-that's the only thing I don't like. i was NOT expecting to see helya so soon, but it's freaking awesome.
    i am in awe of how pointless bfa feels next to this opening, which is predominantly a continuation of at least four plot threads from legion. this is the last time they should use "suicide mission with impossible odds" as an opening though, it's getting old. it works this time but one more past it won't be good, and the main reason it works for me this time is because the player ends up in oribos, alone, after all is said and done-that's awesome. tanaan and broken shore both left you with a big loss but majority of your army intact. this has you well and truly all alone at oribos and having to save people from the maw later, which is actually super cool. i like what i see, even if nods at "soul of your world" and "first ones" are a little alarming-those need to be handled well for me to have interest in them. I get that Legion introducing Azeroth as having a world soul means that pretty much every conflict after it will be related to that titan somehow. my guess is that this is the first expansion of several to follow with the chief forces of warcraft cosmology battling to try and get control of the world soul. the legion, serving chaos, already happened. the void had a decent shot in bfa but flubbed a bit. death's turn, next will be light+void. it works, but sooner or later that titan has to rise.
    anywho, I'm into it and I am super eagerly waiting for the payoff of Sylvanas' 36D chess. They keep baiting it and I hope it is meaningful, if it doesn't work it'll be kinda sad. but like i said, this is good. bring on more!
    Back a year ago I thought it that it was Sylvanas' secret plan to let Azeroth die so that she could raise a massive Undead Titan to take on the Void Lords. Looks like that might be The Jailer's plan instead (though I doubt his plan is to fight back the Void).
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...1#post51122101
  1. Lohal's Avatar
    Plot twist: the captured leaders are actually dead and that’s why they can’t escape the maw.
  1. Explosivo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darkguyver2020 View Post
    Not nearly as boring and generic as the same old menchildren complaining all the while on this site. Change your tune already.
    did you notice the part where you admitted it IS boring and generic though? lol, smooth brain.
  1. runepower's Avatar
    Wait sylvanas abducts people like jaina :O now that sounds like crappy leak but this time it's actually real... don't know if i can still trust in these writers.
  1. Rhlor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hyral View Post
    Why are Calia and Valeera on the horde side...
    calia is the leader of the forsaken

    veleera always said that she was not loyal to the alliance just follow the orders of the house wrynn now that anduin is trapped in shadowlands he can return with her own race.
  1. Dystemper's Avatar
    Well, this looks boring as fuck. I sure as hell won't take slts through this shit until it's skipable
  1. Hyral's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rhlor View Post
    veleera always said that she was not loyal to the alliance
    Or the horde.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Verdugo View Post
    Only people that champion this are Stormwind human fans. There are others but they were humoring the idea out of spite because they dont like Forsaken.
    Not even us championed that ridiculous idea. I recall every instance of Calia after her resurrection would have Alliance players link her to the idea of lightforge undead, not to give her away to the Horde. But such is the way of things in this game.
  1. Rhlor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hyral View Post
    Or the horde.

    - - - Updated - - -



    Not even us championed that ridiculous idea. I recall every instance of Calia after her resurrection would have Alliance players link her to the idea of lightforge undead, not to give her away to the Horde. But such is the way of things in this game.
    calia is part of the horde leadership in the new novel
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...ising-spoilers
  1. Tyrathius's Avatar
    Alliance players wanted Calia to be a living human who could represent the living survivors of Lordaeron who fled to Stormwind after it's fall. Horde players wanted her to be a Forsaken who lived and died with her people and either supported Sylvanas (back when Sylvanas was actually a somewhat likable character) or could embody the tragic monster aspect of the Forsaken after Sylvanas and her followers became too unsympathetic.

    Blizzard tried to take a middle road but it ended up just being the worst of both worlds. Alliance see her as just yet another wasted Alliance character trying to make excuses for the poor little genocidal maniacs in the Horde rather than fighting for her actual people. Horde see her as an Alliance bootlicker and puppet who abandoned her people and only came running back to them after others did the work of ousting Sylvanas for her. And nobody wanted her to be some weird light undead that's frankly ludicrous as a concept and probably only exists as setup for the inevitable THE LIGHT IS EVIL expansion.
  1. Wangming's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Soikona View Post
    Or to lure us in. It seems like a trap to get us here.
    She hardly needs bait for that now that everyone and their grandmother is out for her blood
    Quote Originally Posted by Sigxy View Post
    Oh my GOD, I didn't realize how stupid Sylvanas is... why do people like her again?

    Wanting to torture someone instead of killing them which could've solved so many issues? Where have I heard that before, given the biggest chance to kill someone without anyone stopping her... Not Baine, because he did need a public execution for semi-good reasons. No, someone else... oh, right.

    ARTHAS.
    Yeah well Blizzard writing was never good. In his defense Arthas was training us and in the final moment just decided to oneshot the entire raid. If not for the stupid deus ex machina, But in this case, it hardly makes any sense. Why kidnap someone and drag them into the underwold for torture, when you can just kill them and send their souls to get that very same torture?
  1. Sigxy's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Wangming View Post
    Yeah well Blizzard writing was never good. In his defense Arthas was training us and in the final moment just decided to oneshot the entire raid. If not for the stupid deus ex machina, But in this case, it hardly makes any sense. Why kidnap someone and drag them into the underwold for torture, when you can just kill them and send their souls to get that very same torture?
    I didn't mean about WotLK with what Arthas did, it made sense. He wanted to train us to become THE stongest of the Scourge.

    I talk about TFT when Arthas was weakened and all alone in the woods. Sylvanas shot him with a poisoned arrow and he told her to finish him. She taunted him, stating with the things he did to her - she is going to make it slow and painful.

    Aaand then Kel'Thuzad pops up and she runs away like a coward (just like her sister at the Sunwell), rather than making a stand, kill Arthas and get revenge while also becoming a hero of Azeroth. But n'aw, Sylvanas being Sylvanas... :>
  1. mitre27's Avatar
    WHy is helya back.

Site Navigation