Which was the worst expack lore-wise ?

[Deleted]

MoP,and now most likely WoD (not going to judge WoD completely until the expansion is finished).

[Pabzi]

TBC had a lot of interesting bosses...I honestly feel that MOP gave us a lot of good Lore.. its just people were hating on Panda's for the entire expansion.

[Ytlayol]

Hmm, tough choice. At the time, BC didn't interest me at all - I didn't know what was going on. Looking back at it now, story was pretty bland.

For wotlk, there was a reason why we went there and I really enjoyed the storyline and the introduction of the DKs.

Cataclysm was whatever, reminded me of how bland BC was with the added bonus of focusing the middle to end of expansion around Thrall.

Mope was just horrible all around, I was interested at first to see where the story with Anduin went but it just disappeared for me after the first zone. The only zone after that in which I was mildly interested in was with the Dread waste bug npcs, in which the story was just meh with the only thing continuing it was with dailies. Also with the added bonus of focusing on one faction for the entirety of the expansion made it such a bore.

WoD, to put it simply, is just a filler arc. Its like watching a show and when something good was supposed to happen we all end up with a non-cannon filler arc of how things would've happened if the characters did this or did that. Also, has over a dozen races to use but only focuses on one of them, just seems so uncreative.

So I can't really choose which one was the worst, since 4/5 of them are all pretty bad to begin with. Best one to me was wotlk though.

[Cute Chen]

But you saying that you want a villain who is bad for the sake of being bad. Garrosh is exactly that. There was no Sha guiding him, he was just an asshole who wanted the Orcs to rule Azeroth.

Don't get all angry now, lol. It's not my fault you can't understand a simple plotline.

please explain

[Twilight Cultist]

please explain

He isn't be controlled. He isn't like Deathwing or Cho'gall who says they are doing it for their master. He says multiple throughout the fight, before the fight (all throughout MoP) and after the fight (in Warcrimes and on Draenor in WoD) that he is doing this for the "True Horde." An army that is stronger than any other force that will conquer worlds. He is a villain who has had the same goals since he was introduced into the story to the end of his story. He is the only villain in the game who has stayed consistent.

[Bigbazz]

TBC

"Let's go kill some hereos from Warcraft 3" ... Why? "Because" ... Well fair enough, Warglaives it is.

[inboundpaper]

Burning Crusade was a delivery mess, but some of the stuff was actually really important. Cata was the same way. Probably a toss up between those two.

[NuLogic]

TBC draenei's, horde pallies and killing lore characters just for lootz. Then cata as it had some good lore other than the stupid holy cow retcon but it was done in game poorly and too much thrall. Mop was really awesome at first especially when we got to lei shen but then 5.3/5.4 hit and it went down the fucking drain.

Wotlk was the best with arthas and all that knightly lore

[Lyoncet]

This thread demonstrates the difference between two forms of bad storytelling:

1) A story where events have no/little explanation
2) A story where events have explanation, but the explanations suck

IMO, most people defending TBC lore are saying it isn't bad storytelling, because contrary to popular belief there were reasons for all the dumb shit that happened. And this miss the point that the shit is still dumb.

Simply having an in-game explanation does not redeem bad story.

[Keihndeth]

Anyone who is voting for TBC hasn't played Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal. I don't fault those people though, seeing as you can't purchase the game anymore. Luckily I still have my CD-rom. Many of TBC stories tie directly into it. Most of the stories were zone and instances oriented and there wasn't an overreaching story arc, but a focus on smaller shorter storylines - the complete opposite of Wrath. Most people only remember the lore of the raids in TBC, which was the weakest lore point in that expansion.

My vote definitely goes to WoD. Honestly, Garrosh escapes (really?!) and goes back in time (pre-WC1) in to an alternate universe that somehow finds its way to our present universe?!?! The whole story outside that is a giant "What if the Orcs didn't drink the Blood of Mannoroth?". Oh, the same exact thing - they're going to invade Azeroth. We know the Burning Legion is going to appear later in the expansion, but that story was already told in Warcraft 3. We also know it's going to tie in with the Infinite Dragonflight in some form (reserving judgment) I mean come on... Metzen must have seriously loved JJ Abrams take on Star Trek because it is a complete rip, isn't passionate about Warcrafts story anymore, or plain sucks at telling stories. Cliches abound.

[wych]

Anyone who is voting for TBC hasn't played Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal. I don't fault those people though, seeing as you can't purchase the game anymore. Luckily I still have my CD-rom. Many of TBC stories tie directly into it. Most of the stories were zone and instances oriented and there wasn't an overreaching story arc, but a focus on smaller shorter storylines - the complete opposite of Wrath. Most people only remember the lore of the raids in TBC, which was the weakest lore point in that expansion.

My vote definitely goes to WoD. Honestly, Garrosh escapes (really?!) and goes back in time (pre-WC1) in to an alternate universe that somehow finds its way to our present universe?!?! The whole story outside that is a giant "What if the Orcs didn't drink the Blood of Mannoroth?". Oh, the same exact thing - they're going to invade Azeroth. We know the Burning Legion is going to appear later in the expansion, but that story was already told in Warcraft 3. We also know it's going to tie in with the Infinite Dragonflight in some form (reserving judgment) I mean come on... Metzen must have seriously loved JJ Abrams take on Star Trek because it is a complete rip, isn't passionate about Warcrafts story anymore, or plain sucks at telling stories. Cliches abound.

Not true.

I was well aware of the story of Outlands, and of Illidan, Vashj, the burning legion and the orcs etc...

That doesn't mean that they weren't turned into generic bad guys with poor storylines and pay offs in order to entice players in. Hell, they pretty much retconned half of the old lore anyway by retconning the Draenei/Eredar stuff completely.

The story was delivered so poorly in TBC it's a travesty. I was well aware of who Gruul was, that doesn't mean that the story leading up to his raid (or lack of) was any better

[Keihndeth]

Not true.

I was well aware of the story of Outlands, and of Illidan, Vashj, the burning legion and the orcs etc...

That doesn't mean that they weren't turned into generic bad guys with poor storylines and pay offs in order to entice players in. Hell, they pretty much retconned half of the old lore anyway by retconning the Draenei/Eredar stuff completely.

The story was delivered so poorly in TBC it's a travesty. I was well aware of who Gruul was, that doesn't mean that the story leading up to his raid (or lack of) was any better

Draenor doesn't become Outlands until the very end of WC2:BtDP. Illidan, Vashj, and the Burning Legion were all continuations of WC3 and weren't around in WC2. More of a bowtie wrap-up than anything. Orcs, however, you're right about.

As far as retconning Draenei - they've done that harshly in every expansion pack. Wrath changed Northrend zones which were suppose to be entirely snow and Azjol-Nerub was suppose to span the entire continent, not just a small instance. Cata completely changed Deathwings character to be completely insane - he wasn't in WC2, just very vicious. MoP - pandaren - nuff said. They even retconned vanilla WoW from the warcraft universe - Azeroth was suppose to be a nation (not planet), with Stormwind being its capital.

Sounds like you're a main story-arc kind of fellow. Thats OK. By that standard TBC is the worst. Its a bunch of bowtie ending to stories and small stories. Examples: the rising of the Blood Elves after the destruction of Quel'thalas by Arthas (Eversong), Alleria/Turalyon and the searching of them by their son (Hellfire Peninsula), and the warlocks who were followers of Gul'dan that sundered Draenor trying to open portals to other worlds to escape the Alliance Expedition on Draenor (Nagrand).

[theostrichsays]

For as much as I dislike Pandaria, and Pandas, I do think they told MoP's story very well. My issue with them lore-wise, is they don't fit the other areas, and themes very well at least from a visual stand point, and I don't expect to see them move forth in our storylines a whole lot.

[Deleted]

MoP.

Garrosh destroyed the honorable Horde I grew up with and replaced it with a nazi regime

GG blizztard.

[Mekkle]

TBC lore was a mess

[Irian]

Anyone who is voting for TBC hasn't played Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal. I don't fault those people though, seeing as you can't purchase the game anymore. Luckily I still have my CD-rom. Many of TBC stories tie directly into it. Most of the stories were zone and instances oriented and there wasn't an overreaching story arc, but a focus on smaller shorter storylines - the complete opposite of Wrath. Most people only remember the lore of the raids in TBC, which was the weakest lore point in that expansion.

My vote definitely goes to WoD. Honestly, Garrosh escapes (really?!) and goes back in time (pre-WC1) in to an alternate universe that somehow finds its way to our present universe?!?! The whole story outside that is a giant "What if the Orcs didn't drink the Blood of Mannoroth?". Oh, the same exact thing - they're going to invade Azeroth. We know the Burning Legion is going to appear later in the expansion, but that story was already told in Warcraft 3. We also know it's going to tie in with the Infinite Dragonflight in some form (reserving judgment) I mean come on... Metzen must have seriously loved JJ Abrams take on Star Trek because it is a complete rip, isn't passionate about Warcrafts story anymore, or plain sucks at telling stories. Cliches abound.

I played WC2. I still think BC lore was god awful. I don't even really see how a lot of BC lore ties into WC2, other than Hellfire Peninsula alliance lore and Khadgar - Illidan wasn't even really a part of WC2 and he was the main "bad guy" of TBC.

TBC is the worst. While they flubbed other expansions (arguably in the case of MoP; i for one enjoyed it because i'm able to look past "omg pandas wtf blizz") TBC was the only expansion that was honestly detrimental to lore overall. It took several very important, likable and interesting anti-heroes and turned them into raid loot fodder with the typical "they went crazy" excuse.

[Chickat]

Tbc or Cata. TbC ruined Illidan and a lot of people and the story was told very poorly. Cata could have been good but it was also executed very poorly. The story in MoP while not grand was exectued pretty well imo, and they told the story they needed to. Wrath is the best.

So Wrath>Vanilla>MoP>Cata>TBC

WoD is it lives up to my expectations will be.

Wrath>WoD

[Bshippo]

Cata was rough.

[Gonder]

I honestly don't see Mists of Pandaria as having bad lore. In fact, it is quite rich when you look into it. You have to look aside the whole Panda thing and realise that these are a living, thriving race of people with a history before them, and almost all of it was new and fabricated come this expansion, showing the hard work and dedication of the lore team. Cataclysm was kind of rough and poor in some places, Wrath was pretty amazingly done, as was Burning Crusade in my opinion, though my vote for the worst expansion on terms of lore to date so far? I'm going to have to go with Warlords of Draenor.

As much as the whole alternate timeline and changing historical events thing tries to make unique lore, it's just.. still kind of poor, and in my opinion, has handled it the worst so far.

[rpdrichard]

TBC. There was hardly any story to it at all, other than "here are a bunch of guys from WC3/TFT, have fun killing them". And this is coming from someone who thinks TBC was the best expansion.



Maybe because MoP has had the best in-game lore to date. If you could get past your retarded hate towards "pandas", maybe you'd see that.

I would have relate more to marshmelow people than to pandas so while they have some dark stories, other elements of the race and the rest of pandaria (valley of the four winds and hozen) prevented me from taking them as something more than a silly joke that should have stayed that way imo.

Nevertheless I chose Cata, wow had a few pop culture references on their quest and it was ok that way but with the cata changes to old zones now they are even the driving story of complete zones (Rambo in redridge, indiana jones in uldum, among others). And lets not forget the dumbing down of deathwing from an evil mastermind to a mindless brute beast (*RAWR* dragon destroys). And the icing of the cake is the destruction of the awesome character that was Thrall to bring us the almigthy Green Jesus Goel.