Patch 9.2 PTR - Build 41360: Sylvanas Cinematic

[Beet]

Honestly I love how people defend this writing by saying it was obvious she would be redeemed so it’s okay. No. No it isn’t okay. The story makes no sense. So now we’re meant to believe the real Sylvanas wasn’t in control of her actions at all and some imposter took control of her body after she died. It’s a joke and it totally kills the character.

Sylvanas was my favorite character by far for over a decade. It wasn’t until BFA when I began to change my view. They are ruining her with this bullshit. The most they should have done was give her a reason for doing what she did and then let her either go away or have players slay her. None of this redemption bullshit. It isn’t like with Illidan where he was basically doing only good things and unfairly labeled then killed. He deserved a redemption story. Sylvanas not so much.

After so much criticizing Blizzard for pretty much everything they've been doing for the past two years, I have to say this cinematic is amazing, the art is beautiful, voice acting perfect as always, they finally did something right, hope 9.2 is full of cinematics like this. Well done Blizzard, finally well done.

I just… what? Are we seeing the same thing? Using the HoTS engine which is an entire different look compared to WoW isn’t good.

[ZeroWashu]

because she was violated by a white male, Arthas, all her atrocities are his fault and not hers. Welcome to World of Wokecraft

Danuser apparently watched Maleficient more times than was healthy

[Beet]

He hasn't voiced thrall in years.

Yes. Yes he does still voice Thrall. A quick google search shows that but it’s kinda obvious from the voice itself.

[Khaza-R]

Sylvanas : "Her crimes are unforgiveable, and she - I - must face the consequences"

Uther : "Yes"

MMOCHAMP : "NOOOOO REDEMPTION ARC REEE"

I know most of you guys aren't the brightest sparks but jesus they literally spell it out for you; just because someone is a villain doesn't mean they can't do good things at some point. Nothing changes what Sylvanas did, nothing about this cinematic implies that

She's not going to face any consequences despite what is said in the cinematic.

And if she does it going to be something pathetic like "oh no, I have to live with this guilt for the rest of my existence" while they will never, ever touch on it again.

[Beet]

The people commenting on forums are still a minority. It's a louder minority that needs constant, never-ending validation of their negative opinion of Blizzard, though. And thanks to content creators like Bellendular and Asmongold, there's no shortage of fuel for the perpetual outrage machine or content pandered directly to that petty need for validation. We're just seeing the echoes of this extremely cynical self-fulfilling prophecy reverberate infinitely into itself around here.

Wow “Bellendular” you should told him off bro! So glad we have your quick wit replying to every single post that doesn’t like this shitty cinematic.

I find it hilarious too you have an issue with him of all people. That guy spent so many years carrying the water for Blizzard telling fans to wait to see what happens. He was once seen by most as the hardcore fanboy. So to go after him is just hilariously dumb. Seriously man it’s nice you love the game as it is and think the cinematic is the bees knees but you shouldn’t be so hurt that most people dont.

[Teriz]

Good cinematic. Hopefully this is the last expansion where Sylvanas is the focus. 2 expansions (and some of Legion) revolving around a single character is a bit too much.

[roboscorcher]

Sylvanas : "Her crimes are unforgiveable, and she - I - must face the consequences"

Uther : "Yes"

MMOCHAMP : "NOOOOO REDEMPTION ARC REEE"

I know most of you guys aren't the brightest sparks but jesus they literally spell it out for you; just because someone is a villain doesn't mean they can't do good things at some point. Nothing changes what Sylvanas did, nothing about this cinematic implies that

I really liked this scene. I was quite cynical going into this video, but it was amazing. This is the kind of thing I wanted at the end of WoD: a moment of clarity where Grommash saw his past with Thrall and the 'good' Horde, making sense of his turn to the good side.

But there's a deeper level to this scene that made me emotional. Blizzard itself has seen some horrible things come to light this year. Should the company try to cover it up, or face the consequences? A lot of employees have fought for their rights and put pressure on the higher ups for real change. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this is a metaphor for Blizzard (employees and fans alike): do we cover up the past, or face them and build something better?

[Very rare pepe]

I mean.. the games height? That was all the way back in Wotlk, we are talking over a decade ago here. ALOT of things has happend since then with Blizzard and especially the gaming world in general. Even how people interact with eachother online is way different now than back then. Just a simple thing as a streamlined game were you could be a character and easily chat with everyone was a huge thing back in the early days of wow. Today? Thats a given in almost any game, and if the game dont have it theres discord and whatnot to communicate on.

Gaming trends also shift. The young gamers of today probably want something different than MMORPGs, especially the ones that require alot of time investment(mostly a given in mmorpgs). We "old" gamers probably prefer it more and all we really have to lean on is wow or a select few other good MMORPGs.

I would bet most people play SoM right now also played when classic relaunched. Many of them again probably played vanilla one way or another. Would be interesting to see numbers on how many new players that plays classic(or retail) compared to us old farts.


If you are to compare wow of today to its heights(classic-->wotlk) theres SO much you gotta take into consideration than just "lol wow suck now, was great before".


Lastly - For all we know younger gamers of today might like retail wow better than classic. Who knows? They gotta cater to a everchanging gaming marked.

If you are to compare wow of today to its heights(classic-->wotlk) theres SO much you gotta take into consideration than just "lol wow suck now, was great before".

There was over 10 million subs in Legion at one point according to a WoW game designer, we don't have to go that far back to see there is still an appetite for a good MMORPG. We can talk about the market or whatever all day and there is probably real truth to some of it but if blizzard made an actual good expansion again instead of this tripe we have been served in the last 2, there would be millions more subs, maybe not 10m but 5?6? sure.

So yeah, my point was that there is a strong quiet majority out there that has just walked away(that would maybe come back if the product was actually worth time and money again)evident in my friends list on Bnet, where the only games loaded up now a days are Hearthstone for some reason? and raid loggers in TBC.

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Wow “Bellendular” you should told him off bro! So glad we have your quick wit replying to every single post that doesn’t like this shitty cinematic.

I find it hilarious too you have an issue with him of all people. That guy spent so many years carrying the water for Blizzard telling fans to wait to see what happens. He was once seen by most as the hardcore fanboy. So to go after him is just hilariously dumb. Seriously man it’s nice you love the game as it is and think the cinematic is the bees knees but you shouldn’t be so hurt that most people dont.

I think Bellular stole this guys lunch money in school to be honest.

[tehdef]

Cringe is what you are

Bro, you're the fucking cringe. Find fun in life, or stop.

[roboscorcher]

It isn’t like with Illidan where he was basically doing only good things and unfairly labeled then killed. He deserved a redemption story. Sylvanas not so much.

Not sure if Illidan is as squeaky clean as you think. I remember doing a questline as Illidan where he kills hundreds of elves to gain enough power to fight the Legion. Those elves would probably object to the ethics of that decision.

[Okacz]

Sylvanas : "Her crimes are unforgiveable, and she - I - must face the consequences"

Uther : "Yes"

MMOCHAMP : "NOOOOO REDEMPTION ARC REEE"

I know most of you guys aren't the brightest sparks but jesus they literally spell it out for you; just because someone is a villain doesn't mean they can't do good things at some point. Nothing changes what Sylvanas did, nothing about this cinematic implies that

My issue with it is that the only Sylvanas we knew is the one AFTER turning into banshee. Alive Sylv in WCIII had like 3 lines of dialogue in total.

Therefore everything people liked about her character back in the days, being vengeful and ruthless, yet caring for her people and the Horde later on - that doesn't matter. It turns out it must have been lies all along, because she was the EVIL Sylvanas for all this time, and good Sylvanas was trapped and could only watch. And sorry, but stereotypically villanous Sylvanas of BfA and SL doesn't match her previous character at ALL. Especially since in some short stories and novels, where her internal monologues show that she has many good qualities.

And yeah, it's still a shitty redemption arc at this point. This whole thing implies that Sylvanas had NO control over her actions for this entire time, it was only her EVIL part that was doing the bad deeds. Her good part is definitely in no way responsible for anything, no sir. At this point, if she chooses to "accept responsibility" for what her evil part did, it's only making it worse. It's self martyrdom at this point.

[Dejiko]

Yeah, because in the cinematic she was like: "Sup dudes, it wasn't me so chill, can we be friends plox?"
What she did will have lasting consequences - for her and for everyone else - whether it was conscious or not. So no, nobody's throwing 17 years of her arc to the garbage bin. If anything, for her alone, the 17 years will actually mean something now, and it won't feel pretty.

Nah it won`t have any consequences, just like all the other unresolved storylines.

Who cares about the giant sword stuck in the ground?
The planet itself was bleeding at some point, do you hear anything
about that now?
Teldrassil burned and Tyrande wanted vengeance, does anyone else care?
Why isn`t there inner turmoil within the Alliance from having a city burned to the ground?
Where is the civil war, the split in the Alliance populations as a result of genocide being committed?
What do the Dwarves feel about it, the Gnomes, where is Genn etc?
Are there any efforts being made toward making Lordaeron viable for life?
Is anyone talking about Azshara? N`zoth? C`thun?
And no, i`m not counting what`s written in the books, you either tell the main story in the game
or don`t bother.

They have a terrible habbit of more or less only giving attention to the self contained expansion storylines
at the expense of the world.
Nothing really matters unless it`s current, and even then it`s liable to be retconned into something
that`s entirely different from it`s original vision.

[crusadernero]

There was over 10 million subs in Legion at one point according to a WoW game designer, we don't have to go that far back to see there is still an appetite for a good MMORPG. We can talk about the market or whatever all day and there is probably real truth to some of it but if blizzard made an actual good expansion again instead of this tripe we have been served in the last 2, there would be millions more subs, maybe not 10m but 5?6? sure.

So yeah, my point was that there is a strong quiet majority out there that has just walked away(that would maybe come back if the product was actually worth time and money again)evident in my friends list on Bnet, where the only games loaded up now a days are Hearthstone for some reason? and raid loggers in TBC.

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I think Bellular stole this guys lunch money in school to be honest.

To be honest, my friendlist goes bananas everytime Blizzard releases a big content patch and especially a new xpac.Happend since the days of vanilla. With how gaming is today, people shift back and forth in a plethoria of choices all the time. Theres many good MMORPGs out now, let alone good games in other genres. If people feel "finished" with 9.1 in SL, why stick with it? Unsub, come back later when theres new stuff. Sticking to one game, play one game alone exclusivly for months or even years is getting rarer and rarer.

To be clear though - im not saying that Blizzard has released high quality content in wow the last couple of years. Theres been bad design choices left and right and all over the place, theres no doubt about that. But thats not the reason alone and its important to look at the big picture sometimes and not always think it was better before. At the time, alot of people was mad during legion. Now? Its much more liked. Heck, i've even seen threads here that people miss BfA.

My biggest hope for wow in the future is that Blizzard finally give up on forcing us to grind player power(like AP) in order to have some sort of player progression. Stop forcing us feeling bad for not logging in everyday, cause if you dont you are falling behind.

I want the game itself, the gameplay and the content it provides to be strong enough for us to want to log in. Classic literally has "nothing" of content besides leveling-->get gear, but I find that much more enjoyable. I dont fall behind except from lack of good gear.

And as I said - I want the gameplay & content itself making us want to play, not forcing us to play.

[Mehrunes]

Sylvanas : "Her crimes are unforgiveable, and she - I - must face the consequences"

Uther : "Yes"

MMOCHAMP : "NOOOOO REDEMPTION ARC REEE"

I know most of you guys aren't the brightest sparks but jesus they literally spell it out for you; just because someone is a villain doesn't mean they can't do good things at some point. Nothing changes what Sylvanas did, nothing about this cinematic implies that

Speaking of people that aren't the brightest sparks, the cinematic explicitly showcases that the Sylvanas who said the line you cherry-picked out hasn't actually done any of the crimes in question. She was just faced with what her other half had been doing in her absence from her body. Because, since you quite obviously hadn't been paying any attention to the story so far, she wasn't even in Sylvanas' body until recently and instead spent the last 15 years as a soul shard in Jailer's possession. I.e. she isn't the villain, the Banshee Queen half is. Likewise, it's not the Banshee Queen that does the good things in the end, it's the good Sylvanas.

And while she may feel responsible nonetheless, she objectively is not. And since the rest of the cast is made out of goody two shoes Blanduin orbiters, they aren't going to punish good Sylvanas for the Banshee Queen's acts that she had no hand or even a finger in, even if she wants to be punished herself.

[crusadernero]

Nah it won`t have any consequences, just like all the other unresolved storylines.

Who cares about the giant sword stuck in the ground?
The planet itself was bleeding at some point, do you hear anything
about that now?
Teldrassil burned and Tyrande wanted vengeance, does anyone else care?
Why isn`t there inner turmoil within the Alliance from having a city burned to the ground?
Where is the civil war, the split in the Alliance populations as a result of genocide being committed?
What do the Dwarves feel about it, the Gnomes, where is Genn etc?
Are there any efforts being made toward making Lordaeron viable for life?
Is anyone talking about Azshara? N`zoth? C`thun?
And no, i`m not counting what`s written in the books, you either tell the main story in the game
or don`t bother.

They have a terrible habbit of more or less only giving attention to the self contained expansion storylines
at the expense of the world.
Nothing really matters unless it`s current, and even then it`s liable to be retconned into something
that`s entirely different from it`s original vision.

I agree. Theres to much that Blizzard just entirly skips all the while often enough leaving us with more questions and cliffhangers. Theres never really an ending to anything. The sword in Silithus? Maybe in 5 years Blizzard has some plan for it and will say "yes yes, we have planned for this all along", meanwhile we are all left in the dark.

I've always said that Blizzard would benefit a whole lot of having a dedicated team that works on big & small storylines throughout the whole game. It could be content that was delivered between big patches. It doesnt even need to be huge & grand storylines either.

[Tietoso]

Nah it won`t have any consequences, just like all the other unresolved storylines.

Who cares about the giant sword stuck in the ground?
The planet itself was bleeding at some point, do you hear anything
about that now?
Teldrassil burned and Tyrande wanted vengeance, does anyone else care?
Why isn`t there inner turmoil within the Alliance from having a city burned to the ground?
Where is the civil war, the split in the Alliance populations as a result of genocide being committed?
What do the Dwarves feel about it, the Gnomes, where is Genn etc?
Are there any efforts being made toward making Lordaeron viable for life?
Is anyone talking about Azshara? N`zoth? C`thun?
And no, i`m not counting what`s written in the books, you either tell the main story in the game
or don`t bother.

They have a terrible habbit of more or less only giving attention to the self contained expansion storylines
at the expense of the world.
Nothing really matters unless it`s current, and even then it`s liable to be retconned into something
that`s entirely different from it`s original vision.

This +10
This cinematic ruined it for me, sylvannas was never in control it was some evil third party. This sucks they are killing her character.

[threads]

this new art style looks really weird. noodle hair

[Relapses]

Wow “Bellendular” you should told him off bro! So glad we have your quick wit replying to every single post that doesn’t like this shitty cinematic.

I find it hilarious too you have an issue with him of all people. That guy spent so many years carrying the water for Blizzard telling fans to wait to see what happens. He was once seen by most as the hardcore fanboy. So to go after him is just hilariously dumb. Seriously man it’s nice you love the game as it is and think the cinematic is the bees knees but you shouldn’t be so hurt that most people dont.

I don't think this cinematic is the bee's knees nor am I hurt that other don't like something I do. I do think there's an obscenely unfair amount of hatred and vitriol spilled on this website, though, and I think dishonest knobheads like Bellular and Asmongold are the reason for a lot of it.

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I think Bellular stole this guys lunch money in school to be honest.

I defended the guy when he wasn't making rage porn for ex-WoW players. Pity he sold his soul to the YouTube algorithm so he can buy hair implants.

[plugtheleak]

This was great.

[Nefastus]

Expansion will end with Sylvanas yelling Shadowlands are free.

The HOTS visual did make this custscene kinda diferent from the others, not sure if I like or deslike it.