Players can kill Old Gold and Titans can't, why?

[Tread]

Lately I've been wondering. How come titans couldn't just kill off Old Gods and players could. I understand that the Old God were so huge during the events of shaping the Azeroth and they had to be imprisoned. Y'shaarj was simply ripped away from the grounds, but why they just couldn't simply kill them?

Players at the moment have killed few Old GOd without problems and the mighty Titans couldn't? I've searched internet for an answer and couldn't find one.

[etheldald]

because titans are incompetent losers who don't know how to run prisons and most of the problems that we deal in azeroth is because titans can't get the job done.

[naeblis495]

actually , i think that us killing the old gods caused the cataclysm to happen , at least in part .
or i'm totally wrong and would gladly be corrected .

[Pooti]

Why would anyone want to kill old gold?

[etheldald]

actually , i think that us killing the old gods caused the cataclysm to happen , at least in part .
or i'm totally wrong and would gladly be corrected .

no, n'zoth corrupted deathwing and him coming out of infralar caused the cataclysm.

[Varjo410]

Players have never killed Old Gods, only avatars or "parts" of them.

[Raetary]

Players have never killed Old Gods, only avatars or "parts" of them.

*sigh*

no we didn't.

we killed them, the old gods.
not any avatar or whatever.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

We are surgical tools, Titans are like sledgehammers and or chainsaws.

[Airlick]

Yeah, we never did kill any of the Old Gods. We pretty much only put them back to sleep. They are not so easily killed, anyway. Y'shaarj was actually killed by the Titans, but his heart still survived and was influencing Pandaria. Ripping him off almost killed Azeroth. That's why the Titans couldn't do it and decided on imprisoning them until such a time that Azeroth is born or they find a way to get them off without killing her.

[Raetary]

the titans didn't kill them because they feared it would hurt azeroth.
which is an acceptable excuse considering their size and what happened the first time they did it themselves.

why didn't they just send in the keepers to finish the job?
i bet even blizzard doesn't know.

[naeblis495]

no, n'zoth corrupted deathwing and him coming out of infralar caused the cataclysm.

my bad then

[Rozz]

actually , i think that us killing the old gods caused the cataclysm to happen , at least in part .
or i'm totally wrong and would gladly be corrected .

You're thinking of the well of eternity, which was the result when a titan yanked out Y'Shaarj

[fakaroonie]

Old Gods are parasites attached to a planet. You kill it, it hurts the planet host.

We never killed an Old God and probably never will. We killed tentacles and eyes and mouths and shit so far.

[shade076]

Yeah, we never did kill any of the Old Gods. We pretty much only put them back to sleep. They are not so easily killed, anyway. Y'shaarj was actually killed by the Titans, but his heart still survived and was influencing Pandaria. Ripping him off almost killed Azeroth. That's why the Titans couldn't do it and decided on imprisoning them until such a time that Azeroth is born or they find a way to get them off without killing her.

The lore has been completly back and forth on this. I believe as it currently stands in BFA players killed C'thun in Classic and killed Yogg Saron in Wotlk.

Chogall was attempting to resurrect a dead C'thun pre-cataclysm.

Edit: "It is ironic that the weakest of us may be the ultimate victor. C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and... well. Only one would remain to consume the world, that was always meant to be." - Some Xal'atath quotes also support the idea that the Old Gods were 100% dead in their expansions.

[Santti]

the titans didn't kill them because they feared it would hurt azeroth.
which is an acceptable excuse considering their size and what happened the first time they did it themselves.

why didn't they just send in the keepers to finish the job?
i bet even blizzard doesn't know.

I don't think there is a real answer, other than that the universe is big.

Oh, and the whole pantheon being dead, but I can't remember how recent that was.

[Varjo410]

*sigh*

no we didn't.

we killed them, the old gods.
not any avatar or whatever.

Well, you're wrong.

[Varodoc]

We didn't kill any Old God. We merely vanquished physical manifestations of their true selves. As can be seen from Warbringers: Azshara, or even from Chronicles Volume I, The Old Gods in their prime are mastodontic beings of flesh, the size of mountains, and they certainly couldn't be sealed inside simple chambers.

The only Old God who is gone for good is Y'shaarj. Nothing of him is left; The Sha, manifestations of his darkness, are annihilated, and the last essence of his shadowy heart vanished after Garrosh's defeat. The other Old Gods are still around though. N'zoth is the greatest threat to the world, Yogg-Saron attacked the player in Legion (his minions were still in Ulduar), and C'thun might still be around. I know that Cho'gall tried to resurrect him in Cataclysm, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Old God is still active. And Sargeras' actions might just have awakened/enraged him once more.

The trolls who think that Old Gods can be killed by a mere party of 25 mercenaries need to read Chronicles Volume I and realize that C'thun isn't just a tiny eye that can be locked in an underground chamber.

After all, the Old Gods are not easy to kill at all. They are the greatest and most powerful enemies that the world has ever seen. They do not live, nor do they die. They are outside the cycle.

[naeblis495]

You're thinking of the well of eternity, which was the result when a titan yanked out Y'Shaarj

nah , i was pretty sure i've read somewhere that us killing the old gods fucked up azeroth and then deathwing made it worse. made sense to me as the titans didn't kill them for azeroth's safety .
but that was just bullshit apparently , oh well.

[Santti]

nah , i was pretty sure i've read somewhere that us killing the old gods fucked up azeroth and then deathwing made it worse. made sense to me as the titans didn't kill them for azeroth's safety .
but that was just bullshit apparently , oh well.

I remember that one too, but I'm fairly sure it was just a theory. Might have been a blue post that fueled that one, even.

[Izalla]

my bad then

One of the devs heavily implied that once (as in, us killing them disturbed him enough to burst out of Deepholm at that time). I think it was when someone asked why killing them didn't result in anything bad and the answer the dev gave was something like "did you see the Cataclysm?"

It was never developed further or touched on since though so if they planned to tie those two events together more clearly (specifically Yogg's death and the Cataclysm), they abandoned the idea.

- - - Updated - - -

As for the OP, there is a theory floating around right now that the reason it is bad to kill the old gods is that because they don't really die (their corpses cause mayhem and they can be brought back anyway), but rather go to a death realm, where they now have control over death. That is the theory that ties together the death themes and old god themes currently present in BfA, and could explain why Sylvanas is so terrified of what happens to you after death.