If you could retcon WoW

[Biomega]

I'd start by rebooting the franchise, taking what elements work (azeroth and its denizens) and what doesnt (All this cosmology and universal pantheon shit)

While that's a noble sentiment, there's a reason they went that route - you simply run out of content to go through with powerful enough iteration. You can't squeeze out 10 expansions and continuously up the stakes while within the confines of a (narratively speaking) small setting like Azeroth. Otherwise you quickly run into problems of ridiculousness, like where was big bad character XYZ during event ABC and so on. It's what the MCU is struggling with at the moment in movies.

Me personally, I echo everyone's call to erase the alternate timeline bullshit. If they wanted to go back to Draenor they should have made Outland 2.0, revamped old TBC content to not be horrendous (similar to Cata's old world facelift) and come up with some storyline there. Also the Burning Legion was handled terribly; while Legion on the whole was a good expansion, it never did justice to the cosmic scale the BL supposedly operated under and turned THE biggest villain in the entire WoW lore universe into mostly a throwaway joke that was simply ex-machina'd away.

[WowIsDead64]

A magic faerie appears, granting you a wish. The condition is you can only change or completely rewrite WoW in your vision and have Blizzard executives carry through with it. You have one chance to rewrite the story in a way that will appeal to the masses and bring back all the fans.

What do you do?

Give me your best WoW Revision story pitch.

Dunno. Story-wise things started to get wrong in Cata, that rehashed Vanilla instead of bringing something new. But at that point it looked like good idea, because it was that long awaited "Return to Azeroth" xpack, players ask for now. BFA should have been such xpack, according to it's name. Only quality of content was bad in Cata, otherwise it would be the best xpack ever made. Pandas themselves were also long awaited, but their story was abandoned to switch to another "Orcs vs humans" PVP crap. WOD was already about pure Draenor retcon. Legion was TBC retcon. BFA wasn't actually that bad. Only it's PVP theme was bad. And SL is pure retcon, because all long dead characters can be revived there. This opens another Pandora's box of being able to revive and rehash any dead character, such as Arthas.

So, overall, it's Cata-Pandas time, when story should have gone some other way.

[facefist]

"You" will fuck it up. No way anyone here will "rewrite the story in a way that will appeal to the masses and bring back all the fans" (unless that faerie also brainwashes 100 million people into believing your game design diarrhoea is actually awesome)

- if they could, they would be working on any of the MMOs that tried to de-throne WoW.

Are you ok? Its not like threads like this are serious attempts to re-write WoW and all of the ideas should be carried through. You are stating the obvious that everyone knows already.

[Krakan]

I would of fleshed out kel'thuzard's story more. For how competent and interesting his story was it criminal slyvanaas got the focus.

[HansOlo]

A magic faerie appears, granting you a wish. The condition is you can only change or completely rewrite WoW in your vision and have Blizzard executives carry through with it. You have one chance to rewrite the story in a way that will appeal to the masses and bring back all the fans.

What do you do?

Give me your best WoW Revision story pitch.

WoW never happended and we had 2 decades of WoW to come(or if we could go 20 years back in time).

[Kellorion]

-After Siege, Vol'jin orders Sylvanas to destroy all plague works. And allows the Crusade to have overwatch on its completion.
-Have Vol'jin and Baine, Anduin, and Varian, Velen and Khadgar align the Horde and Alliance and then into dissolution of the them and into 1 united government. (Like having a member of an old overthrown goverment be made president for a few hours to sign papers moving one to another)
-We get Ethereals from Alleria, and not void elfs.
-WoD still happens, but is done correctly. Bladespire and Karabor, Ogres added in a future patch from Outland/Draenor/Azeroth. Alliance get Saberon.

[Tarba]

I actually like that idea and it makes more sense, except Gilneas since they clearly cut themselves from world (it was in warcraft rpg books, they were preparing lore for wow itself btw before blizz decided to make them non-canon for reason of Jaina brother who ended being canon -.-)
I always wanted Theramore to be far more horde friendly than they ended in wow, making a real fraction between alliance itself (who btw is insanely powerful, we talk about SW citizens raking up to 200k, more than all horde capitals combined), and it would been amazing political drama with the already logical couple of Thrall x Jaina together

Yeah I put Gilneas in it to add a close tension with Forsakens, Stormwind being to far away. Seeing the world in chamble with an army of undeads at their doorstep. Also it was because of their direct conflict with Lordaeron on what to do against the orcs that they decided to leave. With Lordaeron gone, they would like to expand and take it for them. Human supremacists.
I would keep obvious hatred between bloodelves and alliance.
KulTiras focusing against the horde/theramore for revenge with help of Stomwind (they have a great reason to hate ORGRIMmar".
Night elves vs nagas.
Bloodelves and Lordaeron forsaken natural hatred toward orcs and trolls.

This way every one hate each other but there is a bit of complexity to it. Kaelthas / Tyrande-Malfurion knowing each others, but night elves hatred for magic users making a great come back (blaming their lost of immortality because of them bringing the legion). Stormwind having second thoughts about Theramore. Relation Stormwind -> Bloodelves being a subject to debat. Nobles using racism to gain personal power.

Dwarves have a lot of potential in internal conflict.

The idea would be that most of the problems are between countries more than factions. With also internal struggle so we don't have three soulless factions.

In conflict zones being between two factions of the three, the player could have acted as a mercenary, chosing which faction to help at the start unless his faction is in the lot. And with why not a reputation with enemies races depending of who you help the most lowering / highering prices and rewards and how they talk to you.

There was so much to do in that universe that was completely wasted.
A warcraft 4 with an actual writer would have been much better.

[sam86]

Yeah I put Gilneas in it to add a close tension with Forsakens, Stormwind being to far away. Seeing the world in chamble with an army of undeads at their doorstep. Also it was because of their direct conflict with Lordaeron on what to do against the orcs that they decided to leave. With Lordaeron gone, they would like to expand and take it for them. Human supremacists.
I would keep obvious hatred between bloodelves and alliance.
KulTiras focusing against the horde/theramore for revenge with help of Stomwind (they have a great reason to hate ORGRIMmar".
Night elves vs nagas.
Bloodelves and Lordaeron forsaken natural hatred toward orcs and trolls.

This way every one hate each other but there is a bit of complexity to it. Kaelthas / Tyrande-Malfurion knowing each others, but night elves hatred for magic users making a great come back (blaming their lost of immortality because of them bringing the legion). Stormwind having second thoughts about Theramore. Relation Stormwind -> Bloodelves being a subject to debat. Nobles using racism to gain personal power.

Dwarves have a lot of potential in internal conflict.

The idea would be that most of the problems are between countries more than factions. With also internal struggle so we don't have three soulless factions.

In conflict zones being between two factions of the three, the player could have acted as a mercenary, chosing which faction to help at the start unless his faction is in the lot. And with why not a reputation with enemies races depending of who you help the most lowering / highering prices and rewards and how they talk to you.

There was so much to do in that universe that was completely wasted.
A warcraft 4 with an actual writer would have been much better.

great idea
u reminded me with how thud was adding belf to horde, instead of a lot of internal problems between belfs and trolls, u can rightfully say Darkspear trolls have np with belfs, but the reverse shouldn't be possible, belfs should been flat out hostile toward trolls since as warcraft history itself shows: alliance species don't distinguish between other species, for belfs a troll should be a troll, no difference between a darkspear or amani

[Razion]

The next big desires of the player-base, huh? Okay, this is my perspective. The big things left right now.

Races: Playable Ethereal, Arakkoa, Naga, Ogres, Broken, Alteraci.
These are the big playable races left.
Classes: Bard, Alchemist, Necromancer, Runemaster, Dragonsworn, Warden, Blademaster, Dark Ranger, Shadow Hunter
Are the major classes left.
Features: Customizable Player Housing, Path of the Titans (Religion), Sailing Combat, Woodcutting and Woodworking Professions, Cata-style Revamp to Azeroth Major, and Azshara Crater BG.
These are the big features left.
When: The Final Confrontation of Light and Void (future), The Creation of the Universe (past), War of the Three Hammers (past), Troll Wars (past), Nozdormu's Corruption and Murozond's Ascension (future-past), Void's Spreading Among the Cosmos (past), Legion Destroying the Universe (past)
These are the big events we have yet to see in-game.
Where: Dragon Isles, (Full) Azjol'Nerub, Water Realm Raid, Emerald Dream, Ogre Empire, Northern Lordaeron & Lower Quel'Thalas, Undermine, Eversong & Azuremyst revamps
These are the big locations left.

Total Summary:
Building an expansion purely for mass-appeal, If I were building an expansion right now for this goal, this is what I'd give it: Ethereal and Arakkoa two new core races, with a new playable Bard class, Customizable Player Housing, taking place in a Time-themed expansion featuring the Troll Wars & War of Three Hammers with the Infinite Flight & Murozond as the primary antagonists (finish with sending Murozond to where he will be defeated by us as we did already) and majorly taking place in Northern Lordaeron & Dun Morogh - excusing a revamp of Eversong and Azuremyst at the same time.

[Amarys]

I'd start by rebooting the franchise, taking what elements work (azeroth and its denizens) and what doesnt (All this cosmology and universal pantheon shit)

Yep this.. also time travel needs to be completely removed. As is, if WoW was realistic in any way, everyone would use it and there would be millions of alternate Draenors, Azeroths, Gul'dans etc.

[ceall]

The only thing I would change is class design.
That being said, the fairy would rewind classes to their cataclysm (4.3) state, bring back dot snapshotting and never change them again in how they played.

[Tarba]

great idea
u reminded me with how thud was adding belf to horde, instead of a lot of internal problems between belfs and trolls, u can rightfully say Darkspear trolls have np with belfs, but the reverse shouldn't be possible, belfs should been flat out hostile toward trolls since as warcraft history itself shows: alliance species don't distinguish between other species, for belfs a troll should be a troll, no difference between a darkspear or amani

Exactly. And also wow forgot that forsaken are from Lordaeron. Orgrim ravaged their lands and bloodelves's. Orcs still butchered lordaeron villages during war3.
Even if Thrall and darkspear don't want war. A tribe of orcs in a city named after the greatest butcher of azeroth's history tends to send the wrong message.
And Sylvanas really hated trolls too...
But heh, that's like what would you do if you won the lottery. Nice for a while then you remember you didn't

[Arikara]

Garrosh dies in Outland, or otherwise never existed. Better yet, he dies at Wrathgate by taking Dranosh's place

Therefore Cairne becomes Warchief in Cata, and actually uses the power responsibly. Negotiates a satisfying solution to the Ashenvale conflict involving druids cooperating to provide the lumber the orcs need. Sylvanas is never pushed into invading Gilneas and mellows out instead of going down her ridiculous batshit-crazy route (or better yet, she stays dead after suiciding at Icecrown). The worgen receive the night elf help they needed and don't lose their homeland in the process. The conflict in Barrens never occurs, and Theramore is never bombed, so Jaina isn't ruined either. MoP is an era of exploration and cooperation instead of fucking conquest and civil war. WoD never happens, therefore, Legion, BFA, and SL never happen either.

And the only thing that was lost is all the unnecessary drama.

Alternatively, just delete Chronicle

[Darththeo]

As much shit as I give Garrosh, I could get behind this. I can see the potential that was there and wasted. I would have been more okay with the whole decent into madness by Y'Saarj if they'd first built him up to be more than just another "Warmongering Orc" leader.

Honestly, there was a lot of potential there that they just did "He evil now? He evil now.."

[EntertainmentNihilist]

1. Cataclysm is the same *except*: During the final battle with deathwing, he partly succeeds in a "second cataclysm" and it unleashes Azerite all over Azeroth. The alliance and horde stop fighting for a bit, but tensions are still high. The player character retires.

2. Time skip of 5 years or so, BFA / MoP mix story with Alliance and Horde returning to all out war years after Cata, new organizations have emerged, and the player is called back into action. Ends with a dramatic, final conclusion to the Alliance/Horde war with a bunch of characters dying in the process and few capitols getting destroyed.

3. Retcon the Emerald Dream and the Shadowlands into being different names for one place (a realm of the dichotomy between life and death), and have that be the next story. N'Zoth is behind the problems there, and he's the final showdown of the expansion (Nyalotha is manifested inside this realm). Before he is destroyed he vaguely alludes to the Burning Legion coming.

4. Return from Shadowlands / Dream realm, next expansion is basically Legion except with Queen Azshara instead of Gul'Dan, and the final patch is Nazjatar instead of Argus. The final boss is Azshara.

5. Azeroth is messed up again after the Legion assault is repelled; forces of Azeroth decide to take the fight to the Legion instead of waiting for another invasion. Que expansion of traveling around the Warcraft universe in the Vindicaar gathering allies for a final battle against the Legion at Argus in the final patch. Final boss is Sargeras.

Admittedly, this ends at 8.z with the Argus showdown, no idea what to do after that. Maybe you could include a time-travel expansion (better than WoD, hopefully) with a Murozond conclusion in there somewhere.

[saixilein]

Timeskip, big godlike enemys are gone and we are just normal soldier/adventures again, that dont safe the world for the 100th time, with godlike power. Its so boring.

[Benitora]

That ever since our encounter with Yogg-Saron, we have been living in a fever dream. Most of our accomplishments have been fake.
We never defeated the Lich King. The great black dragon Deathwing never emerged and attempted to destroy Azeroth.
Pandaria was mist.
Warlords of Draenor was Yogg-Saron for a bit loosing his grip on us, as that was just too insane.
Legion never occured.
And Shadowlands is just his way to really fuck with us.

[huth]

None of BFA was great

Well, given that they called the patch currently on the PTR great and would only retcon starting from one we don't even know anything about yet...

- - - Updated - - -

Yep this.. also time travel needs to be completely removed. As is, if WoW was realistic in any way, everyone would use it and there would be millions of alternate Draenors, Azeroths, Gul'dans etc.

Except a) it's hard to do and b) there's an entire dragon flight specificially for policing it and stopping this kind of thing.

Maybe people need to actually pay attention to the story before they try to change it. Most of you ask for something to be changed that either never happened to begin with, or didn't happen the way it is described.

[Northem]

All of WoW was all a dream, by Thrall. :P

Fixed: All of WoW was all a nightmare, by a drunken murloc

[Orby]

Fixed: All of WoW was all a nightmare, by a drunken murloc

Oh thats better, only a drunk Murloc could dream of such a mess :P