Originally Posted by
Rhozul
Having played through both sides, different factions shine in different places.
The Horde, for example, have a much better interaction with Lorewalker Cho in the Jade Forest. Aside from that questline, however, I found that the Alliance Jade Forest was much better than the Horde Jade Forest. The Alliance has a reason to be there; they're looking for Anduin. The Horde is basically only fighting the Alliance to have something to bring back to Garrosh when he finds out that his new airship has been completely totaled.
In Krarasang, the competition is close. The Horde's storyline with Sunwalker Dezco is very heartfelt, but it sort of tapers off after you do the final showdown with the Mogu, leading to the orc officer's death. The Alliance storyline has a very unimpressive beginning, but the sacrifice at the end of the Incursion storyline is so touching that overall it leaves a much bigger impact than Dezco's storyline. Both father and daughter are so obsessed with their goals that they both lose sight of what's important, and as a result they lose each other for it. Dezco's twins is an interesting storyline, but we never see how the death of his wife affects him; he only see him stoically pressing forward without ever showing remorse or sorrow or even talking much about his boys ever again.
Kun-Lai is lackluster all around. It suffers heavily from having too many stories to tell and not enough time to tell them. The Horde and Alliance camps go absolutely nowhere; they just sit there and train. Its a waste of time for both parties involved.
In 5.1, its difficult to pick Alliance over Horde and vice versa. The Horde storyline is very much about watching the Horde crumble from underneath Garrosh. All of their quests have the Horde almost entirely on the defensive except for one daily hub where you attack Lion's Landing. The Alliance, on the other hand, is almost entirely on the offensive despite being called Operation: Shield Wall. They're ahead of the Horde at every turn and they deal significant damage. Where the Horde is killing people and stealing supplies, the Alliance is destroying everything from oil rigs to supplies to major officers. They're using crazy new techniques and strategies and freakish gnome UFOs to abduct vital Horde resources. In terms of who's winning the war, you never feel like you're winning Horde side and Alliance side you feel like you're crushing the Horde easily.
Despite this, the Horde story quests are much more powerful than the Alliance ones, especially where Lor'themar is involved. You can really feel Lor'themar's frustration, like he's caught between a rock and a hard place. Vol'jin' story is short and sweet, clearly he's being set up for bigger and better things and the Chen cameo was very much appreciated. Alliance side is a lot of debate and turmoil. The storyline is about figuring out the Horde's goals and blocking them, which you very clearly do. Garrosh's big "victory" wasn't even a victory; he hurt Anduin, but he's not dead. Garrosh underestimates everyone, from the Alliance to his own allies which is a common theme of both sides of the story. Varian's transformation is somewhat sudden mostly because none of his character development in the books is ever shown in-game. He's just super nice and patient out of left field, which understandably frazzles players. I'm always confused by why Alliance players call foul when Varian dismisses you to take care of his son. Why? Because he's a warrior, he's not allowed to love his kid? I honestly think that as much as people dislike Anduin for his naivety, Anduin's presence is what has always kept Varian from becoming Garrosh. The love of a family is the one thing Garrosh has absolutely never known and I would not be surprised if its referenced at his death scene.
Now the real question is: Who gets the killing blow on Garrosh canon-wise? Is it Vol'jin, who sore to be the one who kills him in Cataclysm, or Varian, who swears over Anduin's broken body, or Jaina, who swears while tripping on arcane magic? Only time will tell!