1. #1
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    Alliance The Assault on Stormwind and what it means for BfA.

    So a long time ago in a world that hadn't yet opened up a massive skyportal to Argus, there was a short lived BG that you couldn't queue for called Assault on Stormwind.

    A 20 v 20 BG that you could queue for, no one ever saw the map because it wasn't something you could actually -join-.



    What if the devs were working on late-expansion content for Battle for Azeroth in creating that map? What if later in the patch cycle, Stormwind becomes a battleground, either at the walls/gates with the Horde trying to break through siege-style, or within the city itself, players fighting over the canals or trying to make choke points out of alleyways..?

    Could this be part of the end-goal for Battle for Azeroth? Varimathras did warn us that the Broken Mask (Symbol of the Forsaken) would hang above our Hearths. Could he have meant that Stormwind itself would fall? Are Teldrassil and Lordaeron just the opening shots of a city-stealing spree? What if the Assault on Stormwind isn't the Horde trying to break in, but the Alliance hoping to re-take the city?

    Is it possible, however unlikely, that Gilneas was added as a massive city in Cataclysm to have room for a major piece of war-content that makes it the New Capital of the Alliance, after Stormwind's fall? Or would the Devs be too afraid to pull the trigger on such a massive shakeup as to destroy one of the most powerful landmarks of the Alliance...?

    Or is that trigger meant to throw the Alliance Playerbase into turmoil and anger at the Horde Playerbase to stoke the fires of the already volatile faction wars on forums across the net..?

    Or maybe it's just a test-bed map for honor talents and PvP-target dummies to check out the amount of damage different specs can push out or resist... who can say? But it's so much fun to speculate!
    Last edited by Steampunkette; 2017-11-21 at 05:55 PM.
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  2. #2
    High Overlord ZachAttack's Avatar
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    Omg yes please

  3. #3
    I'd love a city based pvp map. Say what you will about Warhammer online, but pvping in Praag was an awesome feeling.

  4. #4
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    I think it could lead to some incredible storytelling, but I'm not sure the CDevs could/would capitalize on it.

    Imagine Anduin's war going poorly because he won't "Unleash" Genn on the Horde. He doesn't understand warfare itself well enough to truly manage things and the Horde manages to break through the lines at Kul'Tiras when the Sea Priests are revealed to be servants of N'zoth and their ship blessings fail, or are turned to Curses by some foul sorcery. The Forsaken, on stolen Kul'tiran ships, raised from the depths as is their way, sail to Stormwind and with the weakening of it's forces by the war effort, and possibly dark magic or Plague hidden away in the hands of the Cult of the Damned, manage to take the city.

    Stormwind's the most powerful fortress and kingdom in the Alliance, if it could fall, any nation could be conquered. Anduin must face his court and be stripped of the title of High King, Greymane and Jaina essentially take over the Alliance and they move to Gilneas as the new human capital. Anduin, while still the King of the humans of the Alliance, must try to rebuild his people while Genn and Jaina handle the war effort.

    Anduin must come to terms with his failure, and over the course of the next expansion grows into his role as a Priest in the form of a Crusader. Not a warrior, not a pacifist, but someone who fights for Peace, battling on fields of war or arguing across the table, doing his dead level best to prove himself with no more illusions about peace being achievable solely through words...

    And, eventually, the retaking of Stormwind happens, the people return, and rebuild, and he marries Calia Menethil in a political marriage as Lordaeron is rebuilt into it's former glory as well. The two human kingdoms return to prominence in the Alliance, possibly taking back the power from Genn who either holds onto it, bitterly, since the enemy has yet to be destroyed, or returns it to "His King" peacefully, and divests himself of the burdens of ruling the Alliance in favor of focusing all that attention on the War against the Horde and Sylvanas...

    ... could be damned cool.
    When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like injustice.

  5. #5
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    Maybe not in a legion patch, since Sylvanas will not "officially" think about attacking Stormwind before june 2018, but it may be part of the pre-extension event next summer if BFA come around fall 2018.

    Edit: sorry, i missread, I though by "What if later in the patch cycle" you were talking about a legion patch.

  6. #6
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    Well! That sounds cool.
    I doubt they will make Stormwind a BG for the rest of the game, but what if it's for something like a pre-event?
    Something like... Burn Teldrassil and while the Alliance is busy, lay siege to Stormwind.
    That'd be awesome.

  7. #7
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    Oh, I very much doubt it would be part of the Pre-Patch! I'm suggesting that if it even happened, it would have to happen after 8.2 reveals Azshara and the Sea Priests as servants of N'zoth, with the idea that defeating her/them is what weakens the Kul'tiran fleet to the point that the Horde can make the assault on Stormwind...

    Though with the book's prologue stating she longs for a battle and naming Stormwind, it -could- be pre-patch content, since the fall of the Undercity has been confirmed to be the first piece of expansion content. It's where the story stands when we head to Kul'tiras and Zandalar.
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  8. #8
    Well, I hate this a Horde player, but I can see why the Alliance would like it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shandalay View Post
    Well! That sounds cool.
    I doubt they will make Stormwind a BG for the rest of the game, but what if it's for something like a pre-event?
    Something like... Burn Teldrassil and while the Alliance is busy, lay siege to Stormwind.
    That'd be awesome.
    If this stormwind conquering thing actually does happen it has to come sometime after launch, unless "Stormwind Embassy" is just a ruse.

  9. #9
    I'd love to see a major shift of capitol cities, a half destroyed iron forged now ruled by a horde race? or two of the pillars of thunder bluff crumbled with the standing ones covered in rafters filled with dwarfs or another race?

  10. #10
    BG maps are largely symmetrical for balance reasons. What if defending is far easier than assaulting? or vice versa? Will Horde have to defend Stormwind in half the games for balance reasons?

    You would have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this to work. I don't think a city map works for instanced PvP. I could see it as a scenario but people expect balance out of BGs.
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  11. #11
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Halfdrop View Post
    Well, I hate this a Horde player, but I can see why the Alliance would like it.



    If this stormwind conquering thing actually does happen it has to come sometime after launch, unless "Stormwind Embassy" is just a ruse.
    What is it, as a Horde Player, that you dislike? It'd be a pretty big victory for the Horde and I'm sure there'd be a commensurate story on that side of the aisle as well, not just story focused on the Alliance's loss.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kraddark View Post
    BG maps are largely symmetrical for balance reasons. What if defending is far easier than assaulting? or vice versa? Will Horde have to defend Stormwind in half the games for balance reasons?

    You would have to jump through a lot of hoops to get this to work. I don't think a city map works for instanced PvP. I could see it as a scenario but people expect balance out of BGs.
    It might be that it's easier to attack, but then give the two sides assymetric resources. Like doing an AV style "Reinforcements" game with the Horde having more reinforcements to start with but a disadvantaged position (Or vice-versa. Whoever is attacking gets more respawns)
    When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like injustice.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Steampunkette View Post
    I think it could lead to some incredible storytelling, but I'm not sure the CDevs could/would capitalize on it.

    Imagine Anduin's war going poorly because he won't "Unleash" Genn on the Horde. He doesn't understand warfare itself well enough to truly manage things and the Horde manages to break through the lines at Kul'Tiras when the Sea Priests are revealed to be servants of N'zoth and their ship blessings fail, or are turned to Curses by some foul sorcery. The Forsaken, on stolen Kul'tiran ships, raised from the depths as is their way, sail to Stormwind and with the weakening of it's forces by the war effort, and possibly dark magic or Plague hidden away in the hands of the Cult of the Damned, manage to take the city.

    Stormwind's the most powerful fortress and kingdom in the Alliance, if it could fall, any nation could be conquered. Anduin must face his court and be stripped of the title of High King, Greymane and Jaina essentially take over the Alliance and they move to Gilneas as the new human capital. Anduin, while still the King of the humans of the Alliance, must try to rebuild his people while Genn and Jaina handle the war effort.

    Anduin must come to terms with his failure, and over the course of the next expansion grows into his role as a Priest in the form of a Crusader. Not a warrior, not a pacifist, but someone who fights for Peace, battling on fields of war or arguing across the table, doing his dead level best to prove himself with no more illusions about peace being achievable solely through words...

    And, eventually, the retaking of Stormwind happens, the people return, and rebuild, and he marries Calia Menethil in a political marriage as Lordaeron is rebuilt into it's former glory as well. The two human kingdoms return to prominence in the Alliance, possibly taking back the power from Genn who either holds onto it, bitterly, since the enemy has yet to be destroyed, or returns it to "His King" peacefully, and divests himself of the burdens of ruling the Alliance in favor of focusing all that attention on the War against the Horde and Sylvanas...

    ... could be damned cool.
    lol, what? Varok already threatened Sylvanas as of BfA and made it very clear that if she stepped out of line as a warchief, she'd be punished and you expect her to go utilizing Scourge magic? The Cult of the Damned isn't fucking Forsaken, LOL - you expect her to go out and utilize magic related to the Scourge and plague an entire part of one of the most major continents on the Earth, and the rest of the Horde, already distrustworthy of her to begin with, doesn't pay attention or care about the fact that she literally JUST USED THE SCOURGE TO DESTROY A CITY?

    I'm sorry, what?

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Steampunkette View Post
    What is it, as a Horde Player, that you dislike? It'd be a pretty big victory for the Horde and I'm sure there'd be a commensurate story on that side of the aisle as well, not just story focused on the Alliance's loss.
    It's a big victory for like 2 minutes, and then it's lost . In the end it's another fist bump moment for the Alliance and another defeated villain conquerer moment for the Horde, and the last time we got that it came with SoO.

    It's a well though out story, but it's not my preference, which is fine. C'est la vie.

  14. #14
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpookyMoonz View Post
    lol, what? Varok already threatened Sylvanas as of BfA and made it very clear that if she stepped out of line as a warchief, she'd be punished and you expect her to go utilizing Scourge magic? The Cult of the Damned isn't fucking Forsaken, LOL - you expect her to go out and utilize magic related to the Scourge and plague an entire part of one of the most major continents on the Earth, and the rest of the Horde, already distrustworthy of her to begin with, doesn't pay attention or care about the fact that she literally JUST USED THE SCOURGE TO DESTROY A CITY?

    I'm sorry, what?
    It's more than a bit of a stretch, but Varimathras suggested she's already moving to take over things, and with Admiral Taylor's Garrison on Draenor being turned undead by a Cult of the Damned member, it's possible she could be working with Bolvar, who is more active now than ever before and almost certainly heavily under Ner'zhul's influence, to begin undermining the Alliance. That's complete speculation on my part, of course, since we never got an explanation of why that cultist was there... But they do serve the Lich King.

    Though, in retrospect, it might be Kel'thuzad that is controlling them, if they think Arthas is dead and are unaware of Bolvar.

    That said I could also see her just having disguised Forsaken with plague barrels snuck into the city hidden away, as well. It's the other half of the suggestion in that sentence, after all.

    On the topic of using the Scourge, or more accurately using the Cult of the Damned (Who are mostly humans) to enact this plan: Sylvanas said it herself when Garrosh questioned her about what difference there was between her and the Lich King. "Isn't it obvious, Warchief? I serve the Horde." So long as it serves their ends, the Horde is liable to allow some pretty generous leeway. And destroying or conquering Stormwind would be a -huge- benefit to the Horde.

    I could also totally see Ner'zhul manipulating Sylvanas into using the Cult of the Damned against the Alliance by promising to give her more Val'kyr. One hellish bargain, to be sure, but her obsession with avoiding the darkness beyond the veil might push her to take it. Even with Saurfang's threat looming.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Halfdrop View Post
    It's a big victory for like 2 minutes, and then it's lost . In the end it's another fist bump moment for the Alliance and another defeated villain conquerer moment for the Horde, and the last time we got that it came with SoO.

    It's a well though out story, but it's not my preference, which is fine. C'est la vie.
    Oh. You misunderstand. I was suggesting that the Horde take Stormwind at the end of this expansion and have it throughout the rest of the next expansion, while Anduin is working up to who he will become, and then he recovers it in the following expansion.

    So BFA would end with the Horde taking and holding Stormwind.
    9.0 would be Anduin's growing as a Crusader/Champion/Whatever.
    9.3 or 10.0 would be Anduin taking the city back with the combined forces of Lordaeron, Stormwind, and Gilneas leading the Alliance against the Horde.

    It'd be a multiple-expansion thing, not just "Horde Takes it, Next Patch Alliance gets it back". It'd probably be 3-4 years of the Horde holding it, maybe modifying it and fighting against Alliance attacks... things of that nature.
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  15. #15
    The Lightbringer Steampunkette's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elven Athena View Post
    Lol The Horde lost nothing at the end of SoO. In fact lore wise it gained the zone of Azshara. Fist bump moment for the alliance is a bloody meme and nothing more.

    - - - Updated - - -

    How about the Alliance gets curb stomped, its useless leaders get executed and its people are ground into the dirt like the failures they are? Come on, this tit for tat bullshit is the worst garbage anyone could ever do.
    Never suggested execution or grinding into dirt. Only failure, growth,and return. Classic hero arc. Antagonist wins battle, hero's journey, hero's growth, hero's triumphant return wiser, stronger, and prepared.

    Horde's comes first with the end of their triumph being taking Stormwind, which sets And in on his journey, thus swings the pendulum back and forth as power waxes and wanes.
    When you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like injustice.

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