What people don't seem to understand about the time travel in this exp.

[Deleted]

I think the idea is that Garrosh uses the dark portal to go to a draenor parallel to the one in our universe where the demon blood was not consumed. He then redirects the portal there. These are not past versions of the old Orc chieftains, they are them, 30 years older in a world where they did not drink the blood of mannoroth.

It's still dumb as all hell, but it is the only way their claim that it is not time travel can be correct.

[rhorle]

but don´t we prevent them from going through the portal for the 1st time by trying to prevent them to come to the present?
won´t the present orc martys not vanish?

No because we aren't really going into the past but a copy of the past that is now connected to our time line. It is more like a pocket of the past was merged into our time line and now exists in the present. It was done with "time magic" but we don't really do any time travel or have to worry about messing up the past. At least that appears how they are going to handle it if they don't just say "alternate reality". Which they haven't been saying so I'm guessing it isn't as simple as that.

They have stated that this isn't the "time travel" expansion and it is a Draenor expansion. The only way that we don't time travel and there is no risk of a paradox or time line effect is if Draenor was copied and pasted into our time line.

[Enthusiastic Steward]

Forget time travel, what people really don't understand is the Iron Horde is just a texture file.

[quras]

I don't understand why Blizzard is going so unclear about it. They really don't need to do more than say "It is an alternate timeline"

Boom, fixed.

Because if they say that players have no reason to care about the story or plot.

If it doesn't affect your time line then why worry. He can go rule his own time line/alternate dimension ours is safe.

If it's not safe, just go back in time and stop garrosh from escaping his trial.

The entire premise of the expansion is weak if you care anything for story.

[Chirri]

So, if altering the timeline only makes an alternate timeline and doesn't effect the future we are currently in

Why the fuck did we give a shit about what the Infinite Dragonflight was doing?

We're almost getting to biblical level contradictions in this lore.

The only reason I can think of that it mattered before was, we hadn't discovered the Timeless Isle. Timeless Isle gave one crazy Bronze the idea of ... sort of time bubbles that wouldn't mess with the things that happened outside their small sphere. Perhaps the former Infinite didn't have access to the ability to create stable, independent alternate timelines. It's felt like we've been able to change the path our timeline takes (the future), just not the path our timeline has already taken (the past). If that makes sense. Pre-Timeless Isle the Infinite wouldn't be able to screw with time without destroying Azeroth. Post-Timeless Isle the Infinite can create alternate realities for us to romp around in. Which still sounds silly and cheap but opens up limitless options for Blizzard's writers.

This is the brain baby of a very few of the Devs, so it doesn't have to make absolute sense. They all agreed on the story that would be told this expansion whether it makes sense or not, so that's what we're getting.

[rhorle]

Why the fuck did we give a shit about what the Infinite Dragonflight was doing?

Who says the Infinite flight is not beyond this? Blizzard has said that there is someone behind Garrosh and the Iron Horde driving them to invade Azeroth. And that this isn't a new way for the Infinite to mess with time. Instead of going back into time they brought the past to the present time. So there is time travel but we the players don't actually time travel.

Garrosh time traveled through time which enabled Draenor to travel through time to the Present. Also remember that in End of Time we had to travel into the future to stop the Infinite Flight from blocking the powers of the Bronze Flight in the present. We did that so we could retrieve the Dragon Soul from the past because it no longer existed in the present.

Time is complicated and not everything will have an impact even if it should.

[The One Percent]

The only reason I can think of that it mattered before was, we hadn't discovered the Timeless Isle. Timeless Isle gave one crazy Bronze the idea of ... sort of time bubbles that wouldn't mess with the things that happened outside their small sphere.

You would think Garrosh would prefer to fuck with the real timeline if he has the option between the two.

[Deleted]

No because we aren't really going into the past but a copy of the past that is now connected to our time line. It is more like a pocket of the past was merged into our time line and now exists in the present. It was done with "time magic" but we don't really do any time travel or have to worry about messing up the past. At least that appears how they are going to handle it if they don't just say "alternate reality". Which they haven't been saying so I'm guessing it isn't as simple as that.

They have stated that this isn't the "time travel" expansion and it is a Draenor expansion. The only way that we don't time travel and there is no risk of a paradox or time line effect is if Draenor was copied and pasted into our time line.

that would´ve been enough.
time magic - no further explanation needed

[quras]

Who says the Infinite flight is not beyond this? Blizzard has said that there is someone behind Garrosh and the Iron Horde driving them to invade Azeroth. And that this isn't a new way for the Infinite to mess with time. Instead of going back into time they brought the past to the present time. So there is time travel but we the players don't actually time travel.

Garrosh time traveled through time which enabled Draenor to travel through time to the Present.

It's all just terribly stupid.

Why go to this alternate past. Just time travel in our own time line and just stop garrosh from braking out to start with.

[Skorpionss]

Because if they say that players have no reason to care about the story or plot.

If it doesn't affect your time line then why worry. He can go rule his own time line/alternate dimension ours is safe.

If it's not safe, just go back in time and stop garrosh from escaping his trial.

The entire premise of the expansion is weak if you care anything for story.

but that's not what he wants. He wants to bring back an army to take revenge on the ones who defeated him... and going back in time is not an option since it would fuck up the timeways. so we have to follow him to draenor and stop him.

[hrugner]

It's all just terribly stupid.

Why go to this alternate past. Just time travel in our own time line and just stop garrosh from braking out to start with.

That would make an additional time line, but leave the old additional time line intact. This is probably the one bit of it that does make sense.

[Skorpionss]

If only there was some sort of bottle neck somewhere that we could hold them off at, or even close completely.


Oh, there is? We've closed it before too? Huh...

I'm sure they'll explain that a bit better later though.

yeah sure, let's forget what happened the last time some1 messed around with the dark portal (outland says hi)

[quras]

That would make an additional time line, but leave the old additional time line intact. This is probably the one bit of it that does make sense.

That's why we use our special time magic so another time line is not created. We only want to affect our time line. If he never escapes then we have nothing to worry about. This alternate time would never happen.

All is well.

[rhorle]

Why go to this alternate past. Just time travel in our own time line and just stop garrosh from braking out to start with.

Who says we can do that? What if we are being blocked from doing that by who ever sent him into the past? And that when we can't time travel and fix the problem that we must instead confront it.

Remember that for Hour of Twilight we had to travel into the future because something was blocking us from traveling into the past. What if that exists now and part of the expansion is dealing with whatever is blocking the time ways? What if it is like the Timeless Isle and not something that can be effected by the standard Bronze dragon flight magic?

[Krieghoff]

Don't think of it like Back to the Future. Think of it like Sliders.

[quras]

Who says we can do that? What if we are being blocked from doing that by who ever sent him into the past? And that when we can't time travel and fix the problem that we must instead confront it.

Remember that for Hour of Twilight we had to travel into the future because something was blocking us from traveling into the past. What if that exists now and part of the expansion is dealing with whatever is blocking the time ways? What if it is like the Timeless Isle and not something that can be effected by the standard Bronze dragon flight magic?

What if.....?

If the plot was Better and the story a little more solid, we wouldn't be here wondering what if.

That's the problem with time travel and a major problem with this expansion so far.

[hrugner]

That's why we use our special time magic so another time line is not created. We only want to affect our time line. If he never escapes then we have nothing to worry about. This alternate time would never happen.

All is well.

You would be creating a time line where Garrosh doesn't escape. There is also a time line where he does escape. The time line where he does escape has Garrosh going back and syncing our time line to the one where he prevents them from drinking demon blood. Even if we are no longer in the time line where he does escape, he still escapes in one and syncs our time line with that one.


Though I guess we could dodge him on the time line by going back far enough that he couldn't find the right time line anymore, and he would sync with the one we all ditched.

never mind, it wasn't simple after all.

- - - Updated - - -

Don't think of it like Back to the Future. Think of it like Sliders.

I've been rewatching sliders recently, and yeah, that's exactly it.

[Deficineiron]

I don't understand why Blizzard is going so unclear about it. They really don't need to do more than say "It is an alternate timeline"

Boom, fixed.

it is likely some of their own people aren't 100% clear on it.. its a very questionable storytelling device.

[quras]

You would be creating a time line where Garrosh doesn't escape. There is also a time line where he does escape. The time line where he does escape has Garrosh going back and syncing our time line to the one where he prevents them from drinking demon blood. Even if we are no longer in the time line where he does escape, he still escapes in one and syncs our time line with that one.


Though I guess we could dodge him on the time line by going back far enough that he couldn't find the right time line anymore, and he would sync with the one we all ditched.

never mind, it wasn't simple after all.

Snip....

It's not simple or easily explained and anything explained can be questioned by gamers In the current way gamers of WOW are doing.

That's the problem with using something as stupid as time travel.

[rhorle]

What if.....?

If the plot was Better and the story a little more solid, we wouldn't be here wondering what if.

That's the problem with time travel and a major problem with this expansion so far.

Oh so you know the exact plot that they are going with then? You know the story? So you can tell me who sends Garrosh back in time? It is what if because we know nothing yet about the plot or story other then some one sends Garrosh back in time and we now have to deal with the Iron Horde.