Lessons From The Past: Faction Development

[Skytotem]

A thread for ongoing discussions on how to best develop the Horde and Alliance going forward.

At the moment, the myriad races that make up the Horde and Alliance are in pretty different places due to the mix of 'screentime' and/or lore 'progress' they've had.

Part 1: The Traditional members

Orcs: The orcs have felt like they're in a pretty weird spot after Garrosh and WoD, once the mainstays of the Horde, we've seen their 'redemption' arc kind of get shut down by some very unflattering developments and it's not clear where they're going now. I think the best thing would be for a reformation of the 'clan' system as military units in the modern Horde, we've already seen this to an extent with the Shattered Hand being the Horde's "Rogue" faction. This will allow us to utilize aspects of WoD organically without delving too deep into the Time Travel mess, and replace the many orc characters that got slapped with the villain bat, or at least build up some of the lesser known / used ones (Gorgonna, Jorin Deadeye, etc).

Humans: Lots of screentime and things look promising for Anduin and Jaina, but while Kul'tiras and the human portion of Gilneas have interesting culture, that leaves Stormwind a bit bland and it's not clear yet to what degree Stromgarde will get history or development. A good way to pave the way for a mix of character AND faction development here is to juxtapose Stormwind and the other nations as players interact with them, while also dealing with the respective nations histories with each other providing an organic way to talk about Stormwind's past while telling us more about the other human nations.

Darkspear Trolls: Oof, Darkspear have suffered for a long time, being the smallest, weakest and least interesting of tribes without any notable specialty compared to the cool stuff a lot of other trolls have, and now they're likely going to be Overshadowed by the Zandalari. Thankfully we'll be seeing a bit of Vol'jin's narrative this expansion, and my hope is that the Darkspear will get a bit of story interacting with the Zandalari, as the two tribes that were highest and lowest become equals as part of the Horde. The darkspear are in dire need of some character focus and magical development, a focus on those 'tiki mask' spirits would fit Darkspear perfectly.

Dwarves: The Dwarves have been in a relatively good place over WoW's life, while the story of Moira and Magni has been updated sporadically, the dwarven clans have slowly been coming together and we've learned much of their titanic history. Now in WoD we're seeing the Dark Irons become playable and so hopefully it's just a matter of time till we see an "army of three hammers" with Dark Iron golems/casters, Wildhammer gryphons/shaman, and Ironforge MountainKings/Tanks Fighting Horde or old gods. Not sure whether we'll ever see the Frostborn again, but it'd be nice for them to make an appearance at some point.

Tauren: Effectively upstaged by the Highmountain, much to my chagrin, the primary Tauren tribes have yet to finish off Magatha and Baine is a character of mixed reputation. Some people like him for being peaceful, others feel his short story made him so peaceful he didn't care Quillboar were killing his own people. To a lesser extent, the development of Tauren ties to Druidism and The Light has somewhat overshadowed the shamanistic flavor a lot of people liked about them originally, as it feels like they're just copying the nelfs and traditional paladins rather than being given their own development. Hopefully Baine and Mayla's interactions allow the classic tauren to be more distinct and find the balance between being peaceful and being too passive.

Gnomes: Oof, gnomes have had the worst treatment out of any race ingame, constantly the butt of jokes where their inventions don't work properly and even hurt their own faction members, while Gnomeragan remained unreclaimed even in Cata. Mekkatorque's new armor suit is amazing though, old quests from Vanilla noted that there were gnome tools among Daelin Proudmoore's ships in Durotar so we can definitely explore gnomes working in Kul'tiras on their ships, and mechanical hunter pets give precedence to cool new ways for gnome characters and normal npcs to show up on the battlefield. Gnomish submarines would be an INCREDIBLE asset in an aquatic alliance campaign, and frankly, even if we can't have Gnomeragan rebuilt due to the instance, building a new city with elevators that go to subs or boats/airships on the Dun morough cliffside would be an amazing hopping off point for Alliance forces in EK.


EDIT:

Part 2: Traditional members continued

Forsaken: A controversial species. Many players have felt the Forsaken get away with anything, and their focus on Sylvanas is a mixed blessing. She's a prominent character but deeply controversial and soaks up their narrative, which has felt like it's taken a weird turn since Wotlk, where they had surprisingly little direct conflict with the Scourge. Since Arthas death their writing has started treating them as heirs to Lordaeron rather than a new people/nation which their Pre-Cata narrative behaved as. With news of the Desolate council in the new book "Before the Storm" i'm hopeful we see a Forsaken council where they develop characters outside of Nathanos and Sylvanas, and explore alchemy outside of the usual blight. With the loss of Undercity we don't know where the Forsaken are going yet, so there's a lot of unknowns here. Right now, many players question why the Horde puts up with the Forsaken, so hopefully BFA helps develop connections between the Forsaken and the rest of the Horde, because right now they just feel kind of... 'there'. Alchemy with goblins, closer ties to the trolls, tauren or orcs based on deathly banshee/val'kyr derived magic, we've seen glimpses of the Forsaken working with the Revantusk in hinterlands (notable cause Sylvanas doesn't like Forest trolls) so hopefully we see some new developments here and in their conflict with the human nations.

Night Elves: Night elves are a contradiction, while their place as the core of the Cenarion Circle has gotten them lots of screentime, many have felt the playable faction of nelfs have been somewhat crippled by the majority of their race's focus on Druidism and neutrality, losing many of their ancient allies and losing much of their ancestral land to the horde, with many towns destroyed and their once pristine zones damaged. Moreover, inconsistent writing has hurt many of their characters leaving many nelf players feeling they're suffering so that the Stormwind-focused EK Alliance can thrive, losing their characters distinctiveness or skills to make Varian and Anduin look better. Whether the Night elves resettle southern Kalimdor or move to the EK, things are going to be very tough narratively for them, but an improved Elunite focus may help but that will be... strange with Nightborn on the Horde. Shandris and other characters like Estulan making an appearance as the Horde moves to secure Kalimdor in BFA might be a shot in the arm for beleagued nelf fans and help the nelves rebalance the three pillars of their society. Druidism, Elune worship, and arcane usage in equal measure, rather than with Arcane or Druidism dominating, might be a good angle for them.

Goblins: With Kezan appearing as a dungeon in BFA, we have to wonder whether it'll just be Bilgewater port again, or are we going to see within Undermine? Goblins and Zandalari have a bit of history with each other, so it'll be interesting to see them interact, and hopefully we'll get a bit of interaction between the Cartels as well. The goblin racial leader Gallywix has yet to -properly- appear ingame, but hopefully we can see him in a new model for BFA. I'm not a fan of his handling in the starting zone, (what the hell Thrall the guy's a slaveowner) but Blizz seems to have adjusted their writing of him a bit, so it's unclear where they're taking him now. It's been awhile since we saw the Gob Squad, but Hobart and a few others have made appearances here and there, so overall goblins are in a good place as the orcs buddies, but it'd be nice to see them interact with other races in the Horde too, and play up their Alchemy angle alongside their engineering.

Worgen: Well Worgen seem to have had a bit of a switch since Cata, with the night elves now out of a home, they may be retaking Gilneas. The worgen narrative suffers a bit from Blizz stating their curse is not passed on to their offspring, making it feel like Worgen are more of a subrace than a proper member of the Alliance. There's a difficult balance to be struck between showing worgen characters dealing with their curse, making it clear it's not just a superpower to be passed to all humans but also not so debilitating as to make them look bad, but between Ivar Bloodfang, Lorna, her father, Tess and Genn and Mia, there's a decent mix of characters to work with. If they have retaken Gilneas then while battling the forsaken may take a bit of focus, it may also be worth addressing that Kul'tiras was originally settled by GILNEAN sailors, and exploring the history between the two nations.


Part 3: Traditional Members Concluded

Blood Elves: Allowed into the Horde due to the Forsaken vouching for them, they're in a tight spot without Undercity. With the Zandalari joining the Horde and the Alliance marching up EK with Stromgarde (home of the TROLLbanes), I have to wonder if this might finally be what pushes the Forest Trolls and the Blood Elves to work together. In a broader sense, the belfs have been doing surprisingly well in the story, Lor'themar, Liadrin, Rommath, are all written quite well. Aethas is a mixed bag, but hopefully we see more of Taethalan and Astalor in the future, refining blood magic (one of our enemies IS a faction of blood trolls in zandalar). One concern i've seen with the blood elves is that their redemption arc has gone a tiny bit too far and they seem a bit more good/light themed than even their high elf cousins, and it may be best to dial that back a bit as they face off against the Alliance and do battle alongside the Horde. I'd think by now among the belfs there's a bit of a culture shift from interaction with the rest of the Horde and it'd be nice to see the belfs and the rest of the Horde rubbing off on one another.

Draenei: The Legion's finally been defeated, it's the culmination of thousands of years of fighting and journeying Blizz MUST explore the fallout from all of this. I imagine some draenei are overjoyed and happy, but I imagine others are let down, likely they'd pictured paradise or peace after the legion's defeat, not more war against another enemy. The draenei aesthetic is closest to the night elves and it'd be nice to see them stand by the nelfs in their hour of need as Teldrassil is burned, supporting them in new lands. The Legion's defeat paves the way for a new generation of Draenei, defined not by their demonic predecessors or exile, but as part of the Alliance, shaping crystal and ore alongside dwarves and humans in Kul'tiras. Slight spoilers, but the existence of 'Argus the Unmaker" has implications for Draenei / Dwarf interaction and to a lesser extent human/gnome as well.

Pandaren: A war across the high seas and islands wouldn't be complete if it didn't touch on Pandaria and the Wandering isle at least a bit. The Tushui and Huojin haven't figured greatly into the faction's stories, and mainland Pandaria is likely still recovering and not able to play a major role (much as I'd love it uniting into a third power), but Interaction with the Zandalari will likely be a bit interesting for the Pandaren regardless, and trading ships going to/from Pandaria to the rest of the world may interact with Kul'tiras sailors and pirates.

[Wyrt]

The biggest change I hope to see is a development in the typical faction roles.
The entire idea of Horde = monsters and Alliance = heroes is quite terrible and doesn't allow any progress.

Please. Anything that isn't another generic "humans are the best and other races follow them unquestioningly" would be nice.

[Tabrotar]

The biggest change I hope to see is a development in the typical faction roles.
The entire idea of Horde = monsters and Alliance = heroes is quite terrible and doesn't allow any progress.

So with Sylvanas attakcing and burning the worldtree care to say again they´re no monsters/bad guys.

[Pawstruck]

Holy shit man, is this your Ph.D thesis or something? I'm all for trenchant analysis, but this is really impossible to get through; did you really need to address EVERY race in depth? Damn.

Here's a lesson from the past about faction development: We don't all want to be BFF's. It's boring and soulless and reflects everything that I hate about unity for unity's sake. Keep what makes each faction special: The ragtag gang of Horde and the high treaties of the Alliance. Of course it isn't as binary as "Horde is evil." Anyone who's ever thought that doesn't know anything about the actual lore.

[Aucald]

Holy shit man, is this your Ph.D thesis or something? I'm all for trenchant analysis, but this is really impossible to get through; did you really need to address EVERY race in depth? Damn.

Here's a lesson from the past about faction development: We don't all want to be BFF's. It's boring and soulless and reflects everything that I hate about unity for unity's sake. Keep what makes each faction special: The ragtag gang of Horde and the high treaties of the Alliance. Of course it isn't as binary as "Horde is evil." Anyone who's ever thought that doesn't know anything about the actual lore.

It once was as binary as "the Horde is evil," way back in WC1 and WC2 - which is something people have held onto as a desire either because they want to be arrayed against an obvious evil or they want to actually role-play as being part of an evil faction. It wasn't until WC3 that the Horde and the Alliance both became grayer factions from an ethical standpoint.

[Sigxy]

That's my entire point.
We all know how this is going to turn out!

Horde does something that looks evil.
Alliance freaks out because they are oh so righteous, ride in with shining armour.
Then, when playing the Horde, you find out that you were actually doing a okay/good thing but it only looked evil because the Alliance doesn't know the whole story.
Alliance doesn't want to know about it and overreacts.

Right, I kinda see what you mean, but... remember the Broken Shore? I put the blame on the Horde. Why? NO ONE TOLD THE ALLIANCE WHAT HAPPENED! :<

[Aucald]

Right, I kinda see what you mean, but... remember the Broken Shore? I put the blame on the Horde. Why? NO ONE TOLD THE ALLIANCE WHAT HAPPENED! :<

Would the Alliance have listened? Especially its more partisan elements like Jaina or Genn? After all, an overwhelming attack causing a crumpling of the Horde flank is the perfect excuse for a willful absenting from battle designed to allow the Legion to crush the Alliance muster in the open plain below.

[Sigxy]

Would the Alliance have listened? Especially its more partisan elements like Jaina or Genn? After all, an overwhelming attack causing a crumpling of the Horde flank is the perfect excuse for a willful absenting from battle designed to allow the Legion to crush the Alliance muster in the open plain below.

I'm pretty sure ANDUIN would listen to it.

[Wyrt]

Right, I kinda see what you mean, but... remember the Broken Shore? I put the blame on the Horde. Why? NO ONE TOLD THE ALLIANCE WHAT HAPPENED! :<

Both Tess Greymane and Mathias Shaw know that the Broken Shore was a Legion trap that was orchestrated by using SI:7 to give bad intelligence reports.

So, yes, the humans know what happened, and it was actually their fault. They just don't care.

[Aucald]

I'm pretty sure ANDUIN would listen to it.

Anduin isn't really the Alliance, though - and the story of the time has him cast as the newly field-promoted High King which many people (including a few of his erstwhile generals) have yet to trust or respect in the position.

[Domcho]

Rexxar, Rokhan, Baine, Saurfang, Gallywix Gazlowe, Mekkatorque, Shandris and Muradin need screen time. Might have missed somebody. But at least as far as we know, faction leaders will play a bigger role in Battle for Azeroth than before. Baine is even getting a new model. Darkspear tribe really had it worst with Vol'jin's death and Rokhan barely making any appearances. Same for Shandris - I feel like she appeared more often in Warcraft 3 RoC campaign than in all those WoW expansions...

[Maljinwo]

Darkspear tribe really had it worst with Vol'jin's death and Rokhan barely making any appearances. Same for Shandris - I feel like she appeared more often in Warcraft 3 RoC campaign than in all those WoW expansions...

Shandris x Rokhan confirmed

[Plehnard]

My hopes are that they'll give every leader within the the two factions some development, that is what what WoW lacked the most in the past. Some got a little spotlight here and there just to be forgotten again.
On the other hand I hope the execution is better than what happened in Val'Shara. That Tyrande - Malfurion interaction was just terrible executed while the overarching story was kind of good. (especially with the end)

PS.
The longer I think of it the more I come to the conclusion that the night elves won't leave Kalimdor. We all know how much Blizzard loves to mirror things which would mean that Ashenvale would become the mirror region of Arathi highlands as a warfront with the Horde keep at Zoram strand probably being the equivalent to stormgarde keep and an ongoing guerilla warfare between night elves and the Horde.
Controlling a region doesn't necessarily mean that the war there is over.

[Maljinwo]

While developing leaders is a MUST, there should also be development for other members of a race. You can't define every orc just by developing Thrall or Saurfang. You cant define every Draenei with Velen.

I'm not asking for a whole book on Vanira, but damn. Develop at least some important characters. Blood elves have lots of them.

[Skytotem]

While developing leaders is a MUST, there should also be development for other members of a race. You can't define every orc just by developing Thrall or Saurfang. You cant define every Draenei with Velen.

I'm not asking for a whole book on Vanira, but damn. Develop at least some important characters. Blood elves have lots of them.

Yeah hopefully the Darkspear will have Vanira and some others interacting with the Zandalari.

[Verdugo]

Would the Alliance have listened? Especially its more partisan elements like Jaina or Genn? After all, an overwhelming attack causing a crumpling of the Horde flank is the perfect excuse for a willful absenting from battle designed to allow the Legion to crush the Alliance muster in the open plain below.

You would think that Alliance leadership would listen to their spymaster.

They certainly did when he was a dreadlord.

[Skytotem]

Rexxar, Rokhan, Baine, Saurfang, Gallywix Gazlowe, Mekkatorque, Shandris and Muradin need screen time. Might have missed somebody. But at least as far as we know, faction leaders will play a bigger role in Battle for Azeroth than before. Baine is even getting a new model. Darkspear tribe really had it worst with Vol'jin's death and Rokhan barely making any appearances. Same for Shandris - I feel like she appeared more often in Warcraft 3 RoC campaign than in all those WoW expansions...

Shandris had a cool moment in Feralas but you're right, I'd really like to see more of her and all of those characters, Vanira too for the Darkspear, Gorgonna and Jorin Deadeye for the Orcs...

[Directionalk9]

In one of the interviews, maybe The Lost Codex, they talked about how Legion was telling the story of the Classes and that BFA is going to be telling the story of the factions, and that telling the story of the races might be saved for a later expansion.

With that in mind I hope BFA really helps define the differences between the two factions. Right now I feel they are more or less mirrors of each other.

[TheFirstOnes]

Please. Anything that isn't another generic "humans are the best and other races follow them unquestioningly" would be nice.

"EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW HUMANS"

Illidan: No you fucking shouldn't.

Everyone: Oh. EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW SYLVANAS!

Anduin: NO YOU FUCKING SHOULDN'T! FOLLOW THE HEROES OF AZEROTH!

Everyone: Oh. LET'S FOLLOW HIGH KING ANDU---

Blizzard: NO! Stop that. Shame on you. Follow the Heroes, NOW! We made them fight a Universe Destroying Titan for you guys. We gave them Azeroth's heart for you guys. WE GAVE THEM CLASSIC FOR YOU GUYS! We had them fight Sargeras on MYTHIC mode, to weaken his ass enough to ensure his eternal imprisonment for you guys. FOLLOW THEM, RIGHT FUCKING NOW! WE HAVE THE PLOT, SO WE SAY SO!

Everyone: .......k.

[Skytotem]

In one of the interviews, maybe The Lost Codex, they talked about how Legion was telling the story of the Classes and that BFA is going to be telling the story of the factions, and that telling the story of the races might be saved for a later expansion.

With that in mind I hope BFA really helps define the differences between the two factions. Right now I feel they are more or less mirrors of each other.

True, but I'm curious about where they draw the line, it's pretty hard to talk about the factions without dealing with their member races.