Blizzard story writing and way people react to it.

[geco]

The quote never said "the Kaldorei have Ashenvale," only that a treaty was drafted to remove the Horde from Ashenvale in exchange for Azshara. Treaties are unfortunately drafted but not recognized or realized all the time, just that the Horde didn't honor its part of the arrangement in a timely manner (hard a first for them).

So why do we have to assume that this time they did fulfill their part of the treaty?

It is also made clear in "good war" that the Horde no longer uses the "Zoram'gar" (Page 59) outpost, which is the one that leads to Ashenvale. That at least is an indication that they are not in Ashenvale. Now we have none.

Also, the Horde not yet facing the consequences for Teldrassil is by no means equivalent to the Alliance condoning it, or even the Horde condoning it for that matter - it's a deeply unfortunate reality, and they may well never be forgiven for it, but some in the Alliance, as well as the Horde, may also view Sylvanas as a third party agent now, and rightly or wrongly may not hold the Horde in its entity as responsible for the outcome in Teldrassil. The Horde could quite easily sell it as a Second War v2.0 if they were so inclined - with the Jailer and the Mawsworn serving in the place of Kil'jaeden and the Legion. I don't personally buy that rationale, but other people in-game might, just as it was felt by many that the Old Horde's corruption by the demons was a mitigating factor.

You are right, it is not the same. but it doesn't mean that they may not face consequences for Ashenvale in the same way that they did not face consequences for Teldrazzil.

I mean remember that we talked about Blizzard. That she officially said that Tyrande was too busy getting revenge to do something in the second half of BFA and that she had gotten revenge on her...and she hadn't even attacked the lumber mill by the looks of it.

[Asrialol]

1. LMFAO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THE MAJORITY ARE HAPPY WITH THE SHITTY WRITING?! And Yeah blizzard is doing SO WELL that they sold the company to Microsoft. Because they were doing so well.
2. Risk assessment? What the actual fuck are you even talking about? They don't know shit. It's why the game is failing, they stopped publicly posting sub numbers, and sold their company off. You prove you have no idea what you're talking about with each new statement.
3. I didn't complain. I stated how comparing WoW to LoL is objectively asinine. It's like comparing Mario Kart to Cyberpunk. And no, I compared the PLOT STRUCTURE of two things that base their worth mainly off plot. If you ignore that, it's purely because you refuse to admit you're wrong.

The first three super mario games weren't sold on their stories. I can't tell if you're actually astoundingly ignorant or you're being purposely obtuse. MMORPGs are supposed to have good stories. Without one, the majority of the game becomes flat and unenjoyable. The only responses people need to ignore are yours.

Wow not doing well doesn't mean Activision Blizzard isn't doing well. WoW is a small drop in their ocean of revenue.

[Ramz]

Blizzard writing has never, ever been stellar, which was my point. People act like the writing has only turned ridiculous in recent years, when in actuality it was always, at best, interesting on an extremely shallow level, even back in the days of the original Warcraft. Warcraft has always been childish and goofy, best not taken seriously. Shadowlands to me is no different in that regard, just another chapter in a silly but mildly interesting story. And to whoever mentioned good and bad authors, frankly, just because something is popular does not mean it was good writing. Harry Potter was incredibly popular, still is to this day, but it had an absurd amount of plot holes and stupidity to anyone who looked at it even slightly critically.

I would say that in RTS games it was competent, simple and enjoyable. IMO that is absolutely fine, I don't go to play to have some incredible level of writing, just to have very basics in how to handle the story, memorable lines and reasonable stakes.

I'd say that in WoW is where there was a certain drop in quality. Maybe not so visible in vanilla, but going from TBC it was evident, and the more the game went on the more unforgiving those oversights has become. I see a great issue in lack of continuity, in enormous amount of retcons, the ever growing stakes to the point it's becoming more and more ridiculous that in such a short period of time, we're constantly fighting world-ending threaths. Where some factions/ characters are overdeveloped, and some are constantly underdeveloped and continue to gather the dust.

I don't think I have some unreasonable expectations. I'd want for devs to plan in advance sensible plot for game where they keep continuity and successfully expand the world and story for playable races, and reduce the amount of retcons to absolute minimum. I'd like in each expansion for any subfaction (like Darkspears) to have some sort of involvement depending on how much it's affecting them (the bigger the spotlight the more important it is to them) just to show that they're doing *something* anything that might benefit them short or long term. It can be just one NPC quest, some small chain / entire town/ expedition faction.

For example if we went to Draenor and met Arrakoa, and we saw Darkspears interact with them - let's add a line, that they are checking the Arrakoa magic and seeing if they can adapt it for their own purposes. And next expansion - we see them using Arrakoa magic mixing with Voodoo to get some new effects. You don't have to give enormous amount of questing attention for that/ spotlight, but it would be very satisfying to witness.
Playable races goes to (x) Learns something new (y) and then you see it appear later when they adapt to new possibilities. It would give a player sense of growth that the race he picked is contributing something to the world even if it would be as small as creating Moonwell on Draenor and showing how it's done. More of that please.

[Aucald]

So why do we have to assume that this time they did fulfill their part of the treaty?

It is also made clear in "good war" that the Horde no longer uses the "Zoram'gar" (Page 59) outpost, which is the one that leads to Ashenvale. That at least is an indication that they are not in Ashenvale. Now we have none.

Zoram'gar doesn't "lead to Ashenvale" in terms of the Horde's access to Ashenvale, which is from the Barrens or Azshara, it's actually the gateway into Darkshore as it is situated in Northwestern Ashenvale - well away from any of the Horde's major points of entry into the region. Given that Zoram'gar is one of the fortifications deeper into Ashenvale, and thus further away from the Horde logistics train, it makes sense it would be one of the first to be drawn down in light of a forced evacuation of the area. Being closest to Durotar and Azshara, the southern Warsong Lumber Camp and Splitertree Post would likely be the last Horde fortifications to fold if the Horde removed itself from Ashenvale. This is likely what happened post-MoP, as well, Zoram'gar was mostly abandoned but the drawdown was halted in light of the Legion's invasion, and then Horde forces poured back into Ashenvale and reinforced these old strongholds when the Fourth War escalated during BfA.

You are right, it is not the same. but it doesn't mean that they may not face consequences for Ashenvale in the same way that they did not face consequences for Teldrazzil.

I mean remember that we talked about Blizzard. That she officially said that Tyrande was too busy getting revenge to do something in the second half of BFA and that she had gotten revenge on her...and she hadn't even attacked the lumber mill by the looks of it.

Remains to be seen, I suppose. I'd personally say reparations are due to the Kaldorei from the Horde for the atrocity of Teldrassil and damage done to Darkshore, but at least as of Shadowlands, the Horde wasn't really in any state to do that given the depletion of its reserves due to the war (mimicking the Alliance's dire straits in that regard). The Fourth War devastated both major factions both financially and in terms of military power. Once the Horde is back on its feet, though; I'd say the case for demanding reparations would be very strong for the Kaldorei. Tyrande, as the Night Warrior, became monomaniacally obsessed with vengeance against Sylvanas specifically, to the exclusion of any and all else. It was that monomania, which later boiled over into psychopathic rage, that Anduin and co. commented on. Tyrande herself later comments on it as well, and her behavior as the Night Warrior can easily be seen as inconsistent at best, and patently insane at worst. The Night Warrior ritual may bestow one with great power, but it seems it is always accompanied by madness as well.

[MsSideEye]

nelfs did have many events, trolls had tons of events with everyone, pandas stayed the same
pandas kept the exact same status of their lands since they took over their lands 10k years, Thunder King happened before they isolated pandalands, klaxxi war was same and constant for entire time
they added nothing, innovated nothing, that boring simple fact, the closet to them for inactivity is nelfs and they had entire forest and war of AQ events to name, and their role in wc3 saving the entire world (something that humans of SW were afk from...)

You do realize you actually point out how inactive the Night elves are in the exact same post you said they had 'many events', right? And what, pray tell, are these events that we actually see and MATTER between the Sundering that happened at the War of the Ancients and the plot of Warcraft 3? And no, having a random 'Oh, they fought this War in Y time' doesn't count if there's no reflection of it in game. Lore only matters if it has IMPACT on the story. No one cares if Night Elf General #346 died 8000 years ago in the fight for the badlands if it's never actually mentioned in game and there's no reason FOR us to know it.

And this is also ignoring the entire point of the discussion, which is the way Blizzard writes it's stories. And it can not be denied that the experience in Pandaria is among the best. You get to journey with characters entire zones and get exposed to them, learn about their personalities, their motivations, their loves and wants. I care more about Sully and his damn Racoon Socks more than I cared about just about anyone else in any other expansion because I was exposed more to him and his personality outside of 'Me Dwarf, Me Alliance, Me fight!'. The same thing goes for nearly ALL the characterization in Pandaria.

The Klaxxi are the best faction because they're not static. They grow, change, and even flat state their intentions should things change in the future, which it DID and is the entire reason they're a boss in Siege of Oggrimar. Taran Zhu is one of the best characters because we see someone who as the best of intentions for his land and his people, but was overwhelmed by the very emotions he warned the players against. The story of Garrosh wanting more and more power, while it is flanderizing him from his Cata incarnation, stays constant the entire expansion and grows naturally to him using the left overs of an old god to gain more strength.

I hold Pandaria and it's expansion in such high regard because it's the one real time in Warcraft's history that I felt like these characters could actually exist, that they were more then just pixels on a screen. I felt the brotherhood of Chen Stormstout and Mudmug, the sorrow of Lore Master Cho, and the growth of the Stormwind Royalty, all while feeling that there was more to them than met the eye, like I could get to know them a bit more if given half the chance. I can't say the same for Slyannas, for the Night Elves, or anyone else. It's all just a saturday morning cartoon where their personalities and experiences will reset just in time for the next episode.

[geco]

Zoram'gar doesn't "lead to Ashenvale" in terms of the Horde's access to Ashenvale, which is from the Barrens or Azshara, it's actually the gateway into Darkshore as it is situated in Northwestern Ashenvale - well away from any of the Horde's major points of entry into the region. Given that Zoram'gar is one of the fortifications deeper into Ashenvale, and thus further away from the Horde logistics train, it makes sense it would be one of the first to be drawn down in light of a forced evacuation of the area. Being closest to Durotar and Azshara, the southern Warsong Lumber Camp and Splitertree Post would likely be the last Horde fortifications to fold if the Horde removed itself from Ashenvale. This is likely what happened post-MoP, as well, Zoram'gar was mostly abandoned but the drawdown was halted in light of the Legion's invasion, and then Horde forces poured back into Ashenvale and reinforced these old strongholds when the Fourth War escalated during BfA.

my bad

Now I correct myself. The place is Mor'shan and if it is clarified directly that it was in the hands of the Kaldorei (But Varock in honor of him ordered Rogues to stab them in the back)
(Page 34)
And if the Kaldorei have control of the gate that leads to the forest. It sounds logical to assume that they have control of the forest as well.

PS: Mor'shan should be the last to retreat because is in Horde territory.

Remains to be seen, I suppose. I'd personally say reparations are due to the Kaldorei from the Horde for the atrocity of Teldrassil and damage done to Darkshore, but at least as of Shadowlands, the Horde wasn't really in any state to do that given the depletion of its reserves due to the war (mimicking the Alliance's dire straits in that regard). The Fourth War devastated both major factions both financially and in terms of military power. Once the Horde is back on its feet, though; I'd say the case for demanding reparations would be very strong for the Kaldorei. Tyrande, as the Night Warrior, became monomaniacally obsessed with vengeance against Sylvanas specifically, to the exclusion of any and all else. It was that monomania, which later boiled over into psychopathic rage, that Anduin and co. commented on. Tyrande herself later comments on it as well, and her behavior as the Night Warrior can easily be seen as inconsistent at best, and patently insane at worst. The Night Warrior ritual may bestow one with great power, but it seems it is always accompanied by madness as well.

Yes, well, I imagine that that excuse you say is what they are going to give and then Ashenvale is still in the hands of the Horde.

More than anything for not updating anything or advancing the story.

By the way, Dark Coast is completely destroyed, but Ashenvale, which had much more war, turns out to still work according to the book.

[Aucald]

my bad

Now I correct myself. The place is Mor'shan and if it is clarified directly that it was in the hands of the Kaldorei (But Varock in honor of him ordered Rogues to stab them in the back)
(Page 34)
And if the Kaldorei have control of the gate that leads to the forest. It sounds logical to assume that they have control of the forest as well.

PS: Mor'shan should be the last to retreat because is in Horde territory.

Mor'shan is only one of the entrances into Ashenvale from the Barrens, but the main entrance for the Horde would now be the widened Talondeep Pass leading from the Stonetalon Mts. into Ashenvale from the fortification of Krom'gar Fortress. Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor reports that the Kaldorei Sentinels have destroyed all the Horde siege weapons once stationed in Stonetalon, but the fortification of the fortress is still apparently present and actively occupied by the Horde.

Yes, well, I imagine that that excuse you say is what they are going to give and then Ashenvale is still in the hands of the Horde.

More than anything for not updating anything or advancing the story.

By the way, Dark Coast is completely destroyed, but Ashenvale, which had much more war, turns out to still work according to the book.

Darkshore isn't completely destroyed, but it has been deeply damaged by both the initial Horde incursion and the subsequent battle represented by the Warfront there. In Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor it is mentioned that the Grove of the Ancients is still active, and Shatterspear Vale is similarly buzzing with activity. Based on the reclamation of Southshore, even the Blighted areas of Darkshore will likely be recovered as well. Ashenvale, at least as of Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, would seem to still be lightly contested with the Horde holdouts around Splintertree Post and the Warsong Lumber Camp, although the state of affairs come Dragonflight are unknown.

[Itisamuh]

I think Shadowlands very character focused storytelling exposed especially a major issue in Blizzards writing: The lack of charismatic characters.
And that is a big fucking problem when you attempt to tell a character focused story.

I definitely don't disagree with that. I guess that's sort of what I was getting at though, Blizzard has never been very good at telling a good story on any sort of deep or meaningful level, it's just more apparent when they try harder like in recent expansions. The fact that they're at their best when they keep it shallow is fine, but at the same time, I think people have a major case of rose tinted glasses when it comes to older content. Arthas is by far the most iconic character in the Warcraft universe. He may have had a relatively good story in the RTS, but WotLK made him a cross between the wicked witch of Wizard of Oz and a Scooby Doo villain, showing up occasionally, spouting cheesy and horribly voiced lines, shaking his fist and saying he'll get us next time, and dramatically vanishing. Despite that, WotLK still remains the most beloved expansion, because ultimately the story quality isn't that important in an MMO.

I think zones like Drustvar, Maldraxxus and Revendreth were far better leveling and story experiences than anything in pre-Cataclysm WoW. WoW and frankly most MMOs in general are pretty weak on the story front compared to story driven single player games, but it's like people are only now noticing somehow, despite it actually improving over time.

[mickybrighteyes]

Blizzard has never been very good at telling a good story on any sort of deep or meaningful level, it's just more apparent when they try harder like in recent expansions.

I wouldn't say "never" cause there are a few gems. However... very rarely were any segments of "MAIN" quests any good.

[sam86]

You do realize you actually point out how inactive the Night elves are in the exact same post you said they had 'many events', right? And what, pray tell, are these events that we actually see and MATTER between the Sundering that happened at the War of the Ancients and the plot of Warcraft 3? And no, having a random 'Oh, they fought this War in Y time' doesn't count if there's no reflection of it in game.

entire zone of Silithus and AQ event is result of the 'no reflection' action of nelf...
you like pandas so much that u ignore how they were presented in first place: an april fool joke, blizz made a fart joke, they liked its stinking smell so much, they built entire exp on it, but since pandas are in end a fart joke, the 'panda' focused exp, turned to alliance vs horde and made pandas side characters in their own exp

[Shadowferal]

I hold Pandaria and it's expansion in such high regard because it's the one real time in Warcraft's history that I felt like these characters could actually exist, that they were more then just pixels on a screen. I felt the brotherhood of Chen Stormstout and Mudmug, the sorrow of Lore Master Cho, and the growth of the Stormwind Royalty, all while feeling that there was more to them than met the eye, like I could get to know them a bit more if given half the chance. I can't say the same for Slyannas, for the Night Elves, or anyone else. It's all just a saturday morning cartoon where their personalities and experiences will reset just in time for the next episode.

I hold MoP in equal regard for similar reasons. It was the first time I fel blizz was actually progressing in new territory with a cast of new characters that felt fresh and dynamic rather than stale and static...running on inertia that I felt we received with much of the previous "Cataclysm." (Messing up the various zones in Cataclysm might have seemed like good idea at the time, but the inability to return the respective zones back left me feeling more than annoyed)

[Grazrug]

Mor'shan is only one of the entrances into Ashenvale from the Barrens, but the main entrance for the Horde would now be the widened Talondeep Pass leading from the Stonetalon Mts. into Ashenvale from the fortification of Krom'gar Fortress. Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor reports that the Kaldorei Sentinels have destroyed all the Horde siege weapons once stationed in Stonetalon, but the fortification of the fortress is still apparently present and actively occupied by the Horde.



Darkshore isn't completely destroyed, but it has been deeply damaged by both the initial Horde incursion and the subsequent battle represented by the Warfront there. In Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor it is mentioned that the Grove of the Ancients is still active, and Shatterspear Vale is similarly buzzing with activity. Based on the reclamation of Southshore, even the Blighted areas of Darkshore will likely be recovered as well. Ashenvale, at least as of Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, would seem to still be lightly contested with the Horde holdouts around Splintertree Post and the Warsong Lumber Camp, although the state of affairs come Dragonflight are unknown.

The Horde was fully driven out northern kalimdor.

[Kralljin]

I think people have a major case of rose tinted glasses when it comes to older content. Arthas is by far the most iconic character in the Warcraft universe.

While you're not wrong, but i think you laser focus on that, the main plot.
Wotlk in particular had a bunch of different plots going on and the, compared to modern questing, less linear questing made that possible.

For example, you have a questchain in Howling Fjord that deals with some pirates robbing the graves of some Vrykul Sailors, which are now super pissed.
Turns out, those Vrykul sailor are the Kvaldir and gives room to speculate whether the Kvaldir, who appeared on the other side of Northrend, turned up because of those pirates which dug up these artifacts.

It doesn't shove the connection in your face, the player has to make it for themselves but these things still work on their own without having necessarily put those pieces together.

Another example would be Grizzly Hills, questing in there has very little connection to the Lich King itself, yet was still enjoyable to a lot of people.

The bottomline is, previously WoW gave enough escape room that even when the mainplot sucked (and without fail, it very much did), where story and lore could shine or at least be enjoyed.

With their modern storytelling and heavy focus on a single plot, that just completely goes away, it's all about the Jailer, Sylvanas, yadayada, it all hinges on that plot thread.
And if that falls through, the entire setting falls through.

Blizzard puts all their eggs in one basket, and then is surprised when eggshells fly past their faces.

I think zones like Drustvar, Maldraxxus and Revendreth were far better leveling and story experiences than anything in pre-Cataclysm WoW. WoW and frankly most MMOs in general are pretty weak on the story front compared to story driven single player games, but it's like people are only now noticing somehow, despite it actually improving over time.

I disagree personally, i think that both Maldraxxus and Revendreth simply fall through because as said earlier, they very much hinge upon the main plot of Shadowlands, which was at the time related to the Anima drought and thus Jailer / Sylvanas' actions.
Every major trouble or issue in Shadowlands was related to that mystery and how it made sense, which then had to be revealed and then turned out to be a rather wet fart in my view.

Compare that to Wotlk, why was Zul'drak invaded, which then basically led to a collapse of the Drakkari empire?
Because it's the Scourge we're talking about, you don't really need a big explanation and the Scourge is basically just a reason why 2/3 of the zone's story are happening ,as you are dealing with the fallout of the Drakkari turning on their own gods for more power.

[Aucald]

The Horde was fully driven out northern kalimdor.

We established that earlier on, yes. Splintertree Post and the Warsong Lumber Camp are in eastern and southeastern Ashenvale, closer to the Azshara border.

[MsSideEye]

entire zone of Silithus and AQ event is result of the 'no reflection' action of nelf...
you like pandas so much that u ignore how they were presented in first place: an april fool joke, blizz made a fart joke, they liked its stinking smell so much, they built entire exp on it, but since pandas are in end a fart joke, the 'panda' focused exp, turned to alliance vs horde and made pandas side characters in their own exp

Silithus and AQ are also vanilla zones that had no impact on the narrative it self, nor did anything beyond 'hey, here's the lead up to the raid' bits. Mind you, MOST of Wow is guilty of that, but Vanillia is worse off.

That said, you've completely shown how much you don't care about lore at all, but just first impressions and how the idea appeals to you. Let's call a spade a spade here and just admit that you hate the Pandas. It doesn't matter how good the story is or what was done to them, you're unwilling to look past surface appeal, and that makes all discussion with you pointless.

I hold MoP in equal regard for similar reasons. It was the first time I fel blizz was actually progressing in new territory with a cast of new characters that felt fresh and dynamic rather than stale and static...running on inertia that I felt we received with much of the previous "Cataclysm." (Messing up the various zones in Cataclysm might have seemed like good idea at the time, but the inability to return the respective zones back left me feeling more than annoyed)

Blizzard's running problem with all of Warcraft is their unwillingness to return back to storylines. As much as I praise Pandaria itself, even that couldn't escape it, as we never ever get a follow up to the Valley of the Four wins storyline about Cho, Lili, Mudmug, and the Stormstout Brewery. Blizzard seems to prefer to wait between expansions before we can see follow ups or additions to stories, and at that point entire years have passed. Good examples, one of which I've made before either in this or another lore thread, is Lilian Voss. Here's an interesting and engaging forsaken character that we meet at the the beginning of Forsaken storyline in Cataclysm. After you finish that, you're eager and anxious to learn more about her and see her take some action in the world itself. When's the next time we see her and do anything involved with her?

Mists of Pandaria, a full expansion later.

Even ignoring the whole aspect of Blizzard has never been all that fantastic about doing an ongoing, continued narrative as a whole, the simple fact has always been that it's hard to get invested in characters that you might enjoy if you don't see them for expansions at a time. Legion actually further hurt this by having characters only associate with specific classes, meaning that unless you decided to play EVERY class, you'd never know things like Si-7 Amber's death, Whitemane being turned into one of the Four Horsemen, Or Neptulon just kinda being there with no explanation of how he got freed.

Blizz is good at making interesting characters and having stand out defining moments. But telling an actual story from start to finish? I don't think they've ever really done it properly.

[sam86]

That said, you've completely shown how much you don't care about lore at all

i wish with how lore became... but no i actually cared about it since wc2 days, it was generic fun back then, wc3 retconned a lot
and i like how u escaping from answer, because it is fact: pandas are a joke that went too far
That doesn't mean MoP is bad exp, it is probably most solid exp for class gameplay, lore is another story, started as joke, ended actually good (also i hate how i was forced to ally with alliance against Garrosh, if i had choice, I'd stand with Nazgrim over anyone else)

[Shadowferal]

Blizz is good at making interesting characters and having stand out defining moments. But telling an actual story from start to finish? I don't think they've ever really done it properly.

They seemed to have made an attempt with Yrel. It was half-assed that become total-assed imo...but there was progression.

[Al Gorefiend]

Saying story telling is subjective is disgenuine. Its subjective to an extent. But there is writing that can be called objectively good or bad as well. The question is to what degree are they good or bad.

WoW writing, for the last two expansions for sure, is objectively bad.

I think it's the medium in which they have to tell their stories is a factor. WoW story can only be told so fast, broken up in patch cycles and expansion cycles where the story is told to us by chunks at a time instead of at a more natural pacing. Then there's the major problem of the WoW team splitting the story into so many different formats. So to get the full story of Shadowlands you needed to read the books, play the game, read their short web stories etc.

But I think the biggest crime to WoWs writing lately is that they can not juggle storylines worth a damn. So figuring out what happened to a character unrelated to dragons isn't going to happen for another 2 years.

[Sialina]

They seemed to have made an attempt with Yrel. It was half-assed that become total-assed imo...but there was progression.

One thing that I feel makes it hard to invest in some Blizzard character is the constant threat of "And then he/she went insane" being dangled everywhere. I'm not saying grey characters are bad, or even that characters that are somewhat unhinged can be extremely interesting, but with Blizzard it feels like any character can get the raidboss ball passed to them at any moment.

[geco]

I think it's the medium in which they have to tell their stories is a factor. WoW story can only be told so fast, broken up in patch cycles and expansion cycles where the story is told to us by chunks at a time instead of at a more natural pacing. Then there's the major problem of the WoW team splitting the story into so many different formats. So to get the full story of Shadowlands you needed to read the books, play the game, read their short web stories etc.

But I think the biggest crime to WoWs writing lately is that they can not juggle storylines worth a damn. So figuring out what happened to a character unrelated to dragons isn't going to happen for another 2 years.

You're right
The issue is that knowing this WoW stories should end in the same patch.
Instead we have several stories that literally never end.

I mean, as you say, the problem is not that we have 2 years of Dragons. But we are more interested in knowing what happened to Voljin, the Kaldorei, the Forsaken and the command of the Horde.