Page 1 of 7
1
2
3
... LastLast
  1. #1

    Why Don't Blizz's Writers Respect Their Predecessors?

    I'm sure we've all heard the rumors by now, that a large part of WoW's devs hate Chronicle and see it as 'constraining' them, and prefer to make up new stuff on the fly.

    We've also seen issues time and time again in the writing where characters will change dramatically, or repeat plot arcs over and over again...

    There are palpable concerns that BFA was a repeat of the Alliance vs. Horde war arc we saw in Cata/MoP simply because new folks on the writing staff wanted to 'do it right'.


    Does anyone else feel that instead of seeing their previous writers as building a framework and foundation for them to build on, and to be inspired by, that they're instead disrespecting the writers who came before them?

    Is each generation of writers just treating their position like a chance to write in their own fanfic rather than building a cohesive narrative?

    Cause that's what it sure feels like.
    Twas brillig

  2. #2
    Dreadlord Sagenod's Avatar
    3+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    The Upside Down
    Posts
    847
    Take respect out of the equation, the writers aren't putting that much thought into it. I'm more and more certain by the day that the writers of Warcraft don't give a damn anymore, considering the story they write takes the back seat to gameplay. And if the gameplay is lacking too, well...

  3. #3
    The writers don't give a crap and make up whatever they want at any given time and retcon on the fly.

    It's hard to give a shit about the story if the writers themselves don't give a shit.

  4. #4
    at any job it's generally better for your career if you can make your own ideas happen instead of merely doing what your predecessors did.

  5. #5
    The Unstoppable Force Lorgar Aurelian's Avatar
    7+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Land of moose and goose.
    Posts
    24,560
    Blizzard has never actually cared about there writing even when metzen was in control there were retcons holes all over The place there’s no reason to think it would have gotten better under new writers.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Hellobolis View Post
    at any job it's generally better for your career if you can make your own ideas happen instead of merely doing what your predecessors did.
    You misunderstand, it's entirely possible for people to BUILD on what came before without REPEATING.

    By not respecting the folks that came before, they ended up REPEATING and doing *what their predecessors did* with BFA
    Twas brillig

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Skytotem View Post
    You misunderstand, it's entirely possible for people to BUILD on what came before without REPEATING.

    By not respecting the folks that came before, they ended up REPEATING and doing *what their predecessors did* with BFA
    sure. but that's so 5 years ago. nowadays every writer anywhere will just take an existing universe and do w/e they want with it. seems to be the popular thing to do atm.

    the approach seems to crash and burn more often than not though, so it'll probably blow over in a few years.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Skytotem View Post
    I'm sure we've all heard the rumors by now, that a large part of WoW's devs hate Chronicle and see it as 'constraining' them, and prefer to make up new stuff on the fly.

    We've also seen issues time and time again in the writing where characters will change dramatically, or repeat plot arcs over and over again...

    There are palpable concerns that BFA was a repeat of the Alliance vs. Horde war arc we saw in Cata/MoP simply because new folks on the writing staff wanted to 'do it right'.


    Does anyone else feel that instead of seeing their previous writers as building a framework and foundation for them to build on, and to be inspired by, that they're instead disrespecting the writers who came before them?

    Is each generation of writers just treating their position like a chance to write in their own fanfic rather than building a cohesive narrative?

    Cause that's what it sure feels like.
    I'm almost certain that it came out that Metzen wrote BFA, because they work on multiple expansions at a time, and large story arcs are written many many years ahead of time.
    Quote Originally Posted by Addiena
    Whats the saying .. You have two brain cells and they are both fighting for third place !

  9. #9
    Immortal Schattenlied's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Washington State
    Posts
    7,475
    I wonder the same about their class designers when I look at the Legion revamps in the name of "class fantasy" that actually butchered the fantasy of most of them

    It seems to be a problem with the whole company... They all like to trample all over each other's past work.
    A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don’t have one, you’ll probably never need one again.

  10. #10
    Dreadlord Sagenod's Avatar
    3+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    The Upside Down
    Posts
    847
    Quote Originally Posted by Hellobolis View Post
    at any job it's generally better for your career if you can make your own ideas happen instead of merely doing what your predecessors did.
    We're talking about a story, not frickin 7/11. If JK Rowling passed the torch to some new writers and they began retconning a bunch of shit she wrote, what do you think would happen?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Stickiler View Post
    I'm almost certain that it came out that Metzen wrote BFA, because they work on multiple expansions at a time, and large story arcs are written many many years ahead of time.
    Untrue, he's confirmed he worked on nothing past the outlines for the very first cinematic of BFA.
    Twas brillig

  12. #12
    Immortal Schattenlied's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Washington State
    Posts
    7,475
    Quote Originally Posted by Stickiler View Post
    I'm almost certain that it came out that Metzen wrote BFA, because they work on multiple expansions at a time, and large story arcs are written many many years ahead of time.
    Maybe he did write some chunks of it, and maybe those chunks made sense in a vacuum before current Blizzard added a bunch of nonsense to fill the rest of it out it in order to cram it into the storyline where they wanted it to be (after Legion). I wouldn't be surprised at all if in Metzen's version the faction war was almost if not completely nonexistant and it was completely about the void... or at least had a better justification for the war in mind, like one side, or both, being deceived into thinking the other struck first by N'Zoth when in reality neither one had ever intended to start a war... That would have been so much better.
    A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don’t have one, you’ll probably never need one again.

  13. #13
    I think they care about the story but they don't want it to be cohesive. Their main goal is to make story that they consider good at cost of retconing the past if needed. However, I don't think it is that bad. Draenei retcon was great.
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...lopment-thread
    Quote Originally Posted by Nevcairiel View Post
    If you are suggesting to take my Night Elfs Shadowmeld away, then please find some pike to run yourself through, tyvm.

  14. #14
    Dreadlord Sagenod's Avatar
    3+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    The Upside Down
    Posts
    847
    Quote Originally Posted by matrix123mko View Post
    I think they care about the story but they don't want it to be cohesive. Their main goal is to make story that they consider good at cost of retconing the past if needed. However, I don't think it is that bad. Draenei retcon was great.
    What retcons have you liked since then?

  15. #15
    The one real gut-punch I ever had with this sort of thing was seeing Eitrigg in Arathi. In Of Blood and Honor he was a very honorable orc, to the point where he inspired a life-debt that Tirion felt obliged to uphold for him in Stratholme. That honorable orc is the one I came to know as Eitrigg, so to see him spitting insults at Muradin back and forth seemed incredibly disingenuous to the honor I thought he embodied and that I idealized - I thought him better than petty insults. It didn't seem befitting of an orc that should know so much of honor - is this the real advisor that has been talking to Thrall all this time? Is this the wise counsel he would speak to Thrall of? Death by combat, fighting as hard as you can and giving your all and respecting the life of your enemy is important... so, it's disappointing, I guess.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Sagenod View Post
    What retcons have you liked since then?
    Suramar and Kul Tiras. Also, grey orcs.
    https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...lopment-thread
    Quote Originally Posted by Nevcairiel View Post
    If you are suggesting to take my Night Elfs Shadowmeld away, then please find some pike to run yourself through, tyvm.

  17. #17
    Chronicle itself had a few missteps in it, largely in the realm of overexplaining the franchise. I'd bet N'zoth would get a better shake if he weren't basically a cosmic zit thrown by some assholes we've never seen or heard of. That said, Blizzard's lack of attention to consistency and retconning even when entirely unnecessary to the story they're telling is what makes the story hard to invest to, as without rules on what can and can't be done, you're bound to end up with arbitrary outcomes.

    As for Metzen writing BFA this is entirely false. Metzen said he was surprised at Teldrassil and the last thing he ever worked on was the intro cinematic - you know the one that's thematically completely at odds with what came after.
    Dickmann's Law: As a discussion on the Lore forums becomes longer, the probability of the topic derailing to become about Sylvanas approaches 1.

    Tinkers will be the next Class confirmed.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Schattenlied View Post
    I wonder the same about their class designers when I look at the Legion revamps in the name of "class fantasy" that actually butchered the fantasy of most of them
    God, so much that... I felt really insulted by the whole "class fantasy" of Legion.

  19. #19
    Herald of the Titans enigma77's Avatar
    3+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    EU
    Posts
    2,677
    Because it's easier to just make new shit up you think is cool, than to make new things that make sense within the context of the existing story.

    Bad writers, that's why.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by enigma77 View Post
    Because it's easier to just make new shit up you think is cool, than to make new things that make sense within the context of the existing story.

    Bad writers, that's why.
    Unfortunately I think that's the case.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •