Is SL the first WoW expansion not hanging on WC2 & 3's coattails?

[Michael Jackson]

Everything from Illidan to Arthas to Burning Legion to Azshara and many other themes/characters were subjects built upon WC2 and mainly WC3's missions and lore manuals included in the box (which were later expanded/butchered, depending how you look at it).

Is Shadowlands' world the first which has really no threads nor mention in the RTS games?

It feels kind of liberating.

[ecospherez]

I am no lore buff so correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't MOP be that?

[Wangming]

No, because MOP had Chen Storstout from the founding of Durotar campaign. But considering Shadowlands will see the return of Vash, Kel'Thuzad, Kael'Thas and Uther, this is pretty much the worst example of cutting the threads away.

[RadasNoir]

I am no lore buff so correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't MOP be that?

WarCraft III introduced Chen Stormstout and the barebones concept of the Pandaren, but otherwise yeah, MoP probably had the most "original" lore of the prior expansion packs.

[Michael Jackson]

I am no lore buff so correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't MOP be that?

No, because MOP had Chen Storstout from the founding of Durotar campaign. But considering Shadowlands will see the return of Vash, Kel'Thuzad, Kael'Thas and Uther, this is pretty much the worst example of cutting the threads away.

I don't think anyone takes MOP seriously since Metzen himself disowned it on stage by saying "now that the time of the whymsical pandas is over" (didn't even call them pandaren, called them whymsical pandas).
It's also one of the expansions that lost the most players base of the total playerbase at the time, from start to finish, with maybe 2-3 months where it actually gained back ~100k players.
For me personally, that expansion doesn't even exist, since pretty much none of its events or characters make any important appearance in the subsequent expansions. Wrathion does, and he's just a Mary Sue a la Thrall in Cataclysm.

As for some main characters coming back...they're just characters, but the world itself of the Shadowlands, and its inhabitants and events, have never seem to be remotely reference in the RTSes.

[Maljinwo]

If Pandaria doesn't count because of Chen, then Shadowlands doesn't count since it features Sylvanas

[Venziir]

I don't think anyone takes MOP seriously since Metzen himself disowned it on stage by saying "now that the time of the whymsical pandas is over" (didn't even call them pandaren, called them whymsical pandas).
It's also one of the expansions that lost the most players base of the total playerbase at the time, from start to finish, with maybe 2-3 months where it actually gained back ~100k players.
For me personally, that expansion doesn't even exist, since pretty much none of its events or characters make any important appearance in the subsequent expansions. Wrathion does, and he's just a Mary Sue a la Thrall in Cataclysm.

As for some main characters coming back...they're just characters, but the world itself of the Shadowlands, and its inhabitants and events, have never seem to be remotely reference in the RTSes.

... Yeah so, that was a joke leading up to everything and everyone in WoD being described as "SAVAGE!", even the plants.

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Everything from Illidan to Arthas to Burning Legion to Azshara and many other themes/characters were subjects built upon WC2 and mainly WC3's missions and lore manuals included in the box (which were later expanded/butchered, depending how you look at it).

Is Shadowlands' world the first which has really no threads nor mention in the RTS games?

It feels kind of liberating.

SL is, litterally, the continuation of the Sylvanas story from Warcraft 3.

[Varodoc]

No. Both Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria didn't rely on WC2 or WC3. Cataclysm's main villains are Deathwing and N'Zoth, both of which had like 2 seconds of screentime in the RTS trilogy. MoP's main villains are Garrosh and the Sha, who again barely have any connection to the RTS.

Also, Shadowlands has many connections to WC3. Uther and Kael'thas, who are two of the major characters in the expansion, are mostly WC3 characters (their screentime in WoW was very limited).

[Venziir]

No. Both Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria didn't rely on WC2 or WC3. Cataclysm's main villains are Deathwing and N'Zoth, both of which had like 2 seconds of screentime in the RTS trilogy. MoP's main villains are Garrosh and the Sha, again completely separate from the RTS.

Deathwing was mentioned a fair bit in BTDP, and appeared in two missions, where as N'zoth was never mentioned until Cataclysm, where he was a footnote.

[deenman]

I don't think anyone takes MOP seriously since Metzen himself disowned it on stage by saying "now that the time of the whymsical pandas is over" (didn't even call them pandaren, called them whymsical pandas).
It's also one of the expansions that lost the most players base of the total playerbase at the time, from start to finish, with maybe 2-3 months where it actually gained back ~100k players.
For me personally, that expansion doesn't even exist, since pretty much none of its events or characters make any important appearance in the subsequent expansions. Wrathion does, and he's just a Mary Sue a la Thrall in Cataclysm.

As for some main characters coming back...they're just characters, but the world itself of the Shadowlands, and its inhabitants and events, have never seem to be remotely reference in the RTSes.

yeah,im sure no1 takes mop seriously considering its in most peoples top 2-3 best expansions

[Sunderella]

If Pandaria doesn't count because of Chen, then Shadowlands doesn't count since it features Sylvanas

Exactly what I was thinking

[McNeil]

Sylvanas is the titular character who was also a major character in WC3. On top of that we will also see the likes of Uther and Kael'thas who will probably play a big role aswell. The best you get are Cata and MoP which at least tried to build new characters.

[Kyphael]

If Pandaria doesn't count because of Chen, then Shadowlands doesn't count since it features Sylvanas

This. MoP had the largest amount of new lore. Even the main villain, Garrosh, didn't exist in Warcraft III. Klaxxi, Mogu, Jinyu, Hozen, Sha, Y'shaarj, etc. Brand new lore and concepts. Shadowlands is being spearheaded by one of Warcraft III's most prominent characters.

[Varodoc]

Deathwing was mentioned a fair bit in BTDP, and appeared in two missions, where as N'zoth was never mentioned until Cataclysm, where he was a footnote.

Since WC2 barely had any storytelling, Deathwing was a bunch of pixels with a forgettable motive and generic personality. Cataclysm and the novels gave him a character. As for N'Zoth, he was not a footnote in Cataclysm. He is literally the one behind Deathwing's return.

[Nnyco]

I mean we are literally following sylvanas soooo no?

[Kyphael]

Sylvanas is the titular character who was also a major character in WC3. On top of that we will also see the likes of Uther and Kael'thas who will probably play a big role aswell. The best you get are Cata and MoP which at least tried to build new characters.

I thought of Cataclysm, but wasn't Deathwing in Warcraft II as well?

[Florena]

You could make an argument for Cataclysm. The old god stuff was barely touched upon in wc 3 itself, and Deathwing while he got name dropped, didn't have a role in WC 3 and was mostly fleshed out in the books. Though not much of that mattered with how Cata portrayed Deathwing anyway.

One could still say though that Shadowlands is hanging on from WC 3 still as well via Sylvanas, a popular character introduced in WC 3, being the driving force behind its plot.

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I thought of Cataclysm, but wasn't Deathwing in Warcraft II as well?

He was, but pretty much just kind of there as a big dragon thing and wasn't really much of a character in wc 2, it was the novels that really fleshed him out.

[Super Kami Dende]

Isn't the entire basis for SL riding on the coattails of the Lich King. The literal trailer for it is the Helm of Domination opening the rift.

[Krothar]

~Mists of Pandaria mostly had original content. The only thing that came from WC3 was a joke race.

Don't really see it as a bad thing though. A lot of WoW is expanding on lore from past games which can be quite enjoyable.

SL is expanding on lore to do with characters and items from WC3 which isn't a bad thing. Finding out the origins of the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne is one of the few things that might get me to actually play SL.

[Florena]

Isn't the entire basis for SL riding on the coattails of the Lich King. The literal trailer for it is the Helm of Domination opening the rift.

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lolwut? did you even actually play WC2?

I did. You got a brief story blurb of exposition before each mission and then you did the mission, there wasn't a ton of storytelling in the actual game. Maybe in the manual. But the game itself, not really.