If you've read Before the Storm...what did you think? (Spoilers obviously)

[Aucald]

Just a question to people who have read the book:

How essential is this book for understanding the start of BFA? Are we at the level of War Crimes or are we in the area of Chronicles?

It's not really essential for BfA, no. "Before the Storm" is more or less a bottle-story - it primarily concerns itself with the event that reconnects the Forsaken with their Human family in Stormwind, and the disaster stemming from this incident. But it doesn't really connect to or inform BfA in any way that isn't covered by in-game quests, lore, or the comics that have been put out. "Before the Storm" enriches a few characters (Anduin, Baine, Genn, Turalyon, etc.) with additional influences, motivations, and events but none of that has a solid connection to BfA outside of secondary details.

- - - Updated - - -

I think his 'spider-sense' is the light very, VERY subtly trying to influence him.

Remember, he searched for his spider sense when trying to consider whether bringing Calia was a bad idea or not, and he felt nothing.

Bringing Calia turned out to be a terrible idea as she got everyone killed and allowed Sylvanas to solidify her position within the Horde. It was the wrong decision. Yet the light didn't warn him away. Was it the purity of Calia's intentions that ensured he wouldn't get a warning signal...or did the light have an ulterior motive?

After all, bringing Calia may have been completely in light with the light's purpose, if the purpose was for her to die and be brought back as a light based undead.

I'm not really sure on that score - the way the book is written seems to want to have it both ways, but more I think Anduin uses the pain of his old injuries as his own emotional litmus test, so to speak, a way of surveying his own feelings and then comparing them to what he thinks the Light wants or needs. The key here is that I don't think this "bone sense" is any kind of power - it doesn't grant him foresight (e.g. his trust in Calia proves disastrous regardless of what his senses tell him) and it doesn't plot a course that is ultimately beneficial to him.

I do think the Light is playing a part to further some agenda of its own, though; I get that from both Anduin being influenced by it as well as Saa'ra's cryptic words and shaping of Calia's trajectory. I think Anduin kind of relies on that sense as a crutch - it basically informs of him of what he already wants, and could also be a lever for the Light to use to subtly push him in a given direction as well.

[Obelisk Kai]

I must say as an Alliance player, this book makes me dislike Sylvanas even more. I get how she's portrayed, cold, distant, etc. But the way she thinks about and interacts with her own people is awful. She's supposed to have all races in mind, yet shows contempt for everyone she encounters. Then, obviously, her actions at the end are horrific.

I highly doubt Blizzard will kill off Sylvanas simply due to her massive army of followers. Yet, I really do believe that by the end of BfA, she cannot be warchief.

Sylvanas has a higher purpose, or else the loa would not have told Vol'jin to make her Warchief. And from the reaction the void had to Sylvanas, it almost certainly wasn't the old gods whispering to him in his dying moments.

We don't know how her story will end in BFA, but it won't be as a raid boss. No matter how much people may dislike Sylvanas, she is protected from that fate by virtue of the fact we have already done it. We have already torn down a corrupt Warchief. Blizzard won't repeat that story.

Could she leave her position as Warchief at the end? Possibly. Thrall returning as Warchief of the Horde is a story outcome I can easily see happening, particularly if Saurfang doesn't survive the coming war.

Or perhaps Sylvanas will improve as a person over the course of BFA and end up as a better Warchief. We don't know. We can't know. Hell this time two years ago we were wondering if the Avatar of Sargeras would be the final expansion boss and if the next expansion would see us in outer space battling the Legion, not knowing Legion was the swansong for the burning crusade.

We simply have to wait and see.

- - - Updated - - -

It's not really essential for BfA, no. "Before the Storm" is more or less a bottle-story - it primarily concerns itself with the event that reconnects the Forsaken with their Human family in Stormwind, and the disaster stemming from this incident. But it doesn't really connect to or inform BfA in any way that isn't covered by in-game quests, lore, or the comics that have been put out. "Before the Storm" enriches a few characters (Anduin, Baine, Genn, Turalyon, etc.) with additional influences, motivations, and events but none of that has a solid connection to BfA outside of secondary details.

- - - Updated - - -



I'm not really sure on that score - the way the book is written seems to want to have it both ways, but more I think Anduin uses the pain of his old injuries as his own emotional litmus test, so to speak, a way of surveying his own feelings and then comparing them to what he thinks the Light wants or needs. The key here is that I don't think this "bone sense" is any kind of power - it doesn't grant him foresight (e.g. his trust in Calia proves disastrous regardless of what his senses tell him) and it doesn't plot a course that is ultimately beneficial to him.

I do think the Light is playing a part to further some agenda of its own, though; I get that from both Anduin being influenced by it as well as Saa'ra's cryptic words and shaping of Calia's trajectory. I think Anduin kind of relies on that sense as a crutch - it basically informs of him of what he already wants, and could also be a lever for the Light to use to subtly push him in a given direction as well.

Which is how I see it too. He will be manipulated by a higher power in service of that higher power and he won't even know that he is being manipulated because it will exploit his trust in his own judgement.

And because of it, he will offer us three lies.

[Mehrunes]

Wow, I didn't know that.

The Horde one already had a small preview. It's where we first learned Night Elves mistakenly sent their fleet to Silithus, Night Elves in Ashenvale getting owned by Horde Rogues, a scout being sent with information to Darnassus to mount a defense, Saurfang taking on Malfurion so others could escape and few other minor things. The preview ended with Sylvanas entering the fray of Malfurion vs Saurfang fight.

This makes a lot of sense, since Blizzard has been releasing weekly content to prepare for BfA. So, I'll guess this is the schedule:

Interesting theory. Blizzard has been quiet about the show stories recently, even though they announced them quote some time ago. Would be nice to read them soon.

[sillag]

before the storm is about as bad as a wow book can be. i swear to god the way sylvanas is to the forsaken in that book is like the grinch not understanding why people like christmas. and this woman is trusted to lead a global superpower with literally no political opposition from anybody. its a joke that anyone was paid to write this. and i dont blame golden not only her. she doesn't decide the broad strokes here that man is alex afrasiabi and he is to blame for the """story""" of the expansion we are about to suffer through. but every blizzard writer is complicit.

and they know their story is utter trash. when's the last time they ever did an ask cdev. im pretty sure its so long ago the only surviving records of it are engraved on sandstone tablets in the british museum. they are scared to engage the players about the story so all we get is ion sitting on his chair mumbling something about moral relativism while more and more direct parallels to national socialism are inserted into sylvanas windrunner's regime. and if you think that is an unfair comparison i'm afraid you haven't been paying attention. i would dearly love to have a battle for azeroth that didn't turn the horde into "nazis, but worse" but that was not blizzard's vision this time.

[Aeula]

Just a question to people who have read the book:

How essential is this book for understanding the start of BFA? Are we at the level of War Crimes or are we in the area of Chronicles?

Christie Golden said she'll do her best to make the book as necessary as possible and that there'll be references to it in BfA that only book readers will understand.

[Aucald]

Christie Golden said she'll do her best to make the book as necessary as possible and that there'll be references to it in BfA that only book readers will understand.

If there are references to it they must come later on in BfA - as of the content available in the Beta there's been pretty much nothing that relates to this book. Even the major occurrence in Arathi goes unmentioned by anyone in the Alliance or the Horde so far.

[Aeula]

If there are references to it they must come later on in BfA - as of the content available in the Beta there's been pretty much nothing that relates to this book. Even the major occurrence in Arathi goes unmentioned by anyone in the Alliance or the Horde so far.

Whelp, she seems intent on making the book important.

CG: Now that I’m a Blizzard employee, the gates to the innermost sanctums have been opened to me. When I was writing novels before I officially joined the studio, I always felt welcomed and appreciated, and everyone was very helpful. But I didn’t know what I didn’t know... and being aware of all that was going on around this expansion sparked so very many ideas! You’ll find callbacks to the novel as you progress in-game. There’s has never been a World of Warcraft novel written by someone with so much access, and readers will feel that connection.

As ever, thanks for joining us on this journey, and I hope you enjoy reading Before the Storm as much as I enjoyed writing it.

TL;DR: 'Now that I'm in a position of power, I'm going to abuse it to sell my crappy book'

[Flurryfang]

Christie Golden said she'll do her best to make the book as necessary as possible and that there'll be references to it in BfA that only book readers will understand.

Thats a sad thing i think. I really think the game suffers, when they start building up events or characters in the game, based upon information outside the game.

[Zulkhan]

That they follow her "just coz" is the most nonsensical part of it all. Sylvanas should not even be part of the horde, let alone have been put in charge of it. The other racial leaders should have nothing to do with her actions. Following a title is nonsense even in the best of times, let alone in an entity like the horde, which formed from organically shared goals among often tenuous relationships in the first place.

It's not "just 'cuz", it's the law. Sylvanas deserves to be questioned and criticized by outright disobeying orders for no concrete reason at all can only be treated as treason, let alone it would outright disrespect the previous Warchief and his choice, one that, like it or not, he made for reasons that have nothing to do with blind sentimentalism (unlike the one Thrall made with Garrosh) in fact is one based on a superior insight compared to the vast majority of people.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Whelp, she seems intent on making the book important.



TL;DR: 'Now that I'm in a position of power, I'm going to abuse it to sell my crappy book'

Do people really have just a hate boner for golden that they think she has complete and utter control of the lore both in game and in books?

[SirCowdog]

Do people really have just a hate boner for golden that they think she has complete and utter control of the lore both in game and in books?

I think it's less hate for Golden, and more hate for going in the exact opposite of the expressed complaints. People are already bent about how much of the lore is not in-game, and instead of remedying that, they put even MORE stuff in the book instead of in-game.

[Deleted]

What if this is actually all a set-up to another Cataclysm-esque 'rebuild the world' expansion? Update Kalimdor for the Horde, and EK for the Alliance. I could see it...

I would love this.

The fact that Teldrassil and Undercity are lost gives credit to this idea. And Blizzard wouldn't have to update flying in Silvermoon or the Exodar if they are destroyed as well.

Let the factions have their own continent and let them rebuilt and colonize it. Maybe the Forsaken could live in Desolace? They could even give the new Allied Races a new home on Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms.

But how would leveling play out if the faction war doesn't play out during questing? Would we see a return of the lesser mongrel races? What threats would we face in such a new revamp of the old world?

[Traveler Voltin]

Do people really have just a hate boner for golden that they think she has complete and utter control of the lore both in game and in books?

lets see her pet is anduin and he can do no wrong. he is so pure and good. also the "spider sense/light sense"
She is writing Sylvanas as a psycho paranoid bitch thats being stupid.
Baine has a boner for anduin and is completely stupid because of it.
BTS recton part of the forsaken.

she is pretty much destroying the horde and parts of the alliance so her pet anduin can be king of azeroth

[Lorgar Aurelian]

I think it's less hate for Golden, and more hate for going in the exact opposite of the expressed complaints. People are already bent about how much of the lore is not in-game, and instead of remedying that, they put even MORE stuff in the book instead of in-game.

Oh it’s defiantly hate for golden she’s the new scape goat when ever some one doesn’t like something about the lore. I do agree though they really should put more in game the lore heavy spots are my favourite part of wow.

- - - Updated - - -

lets see her pet is anduin and he can do no wrong. he is so pure and good. also the "spider sense/light sense"
She is writing Sylvanas as a psycho paranoid bitch thats being stupid.
Baine has a boner for anduin and is completely stupid because of it.
BTS recton part of the forsaken.

she is pretty much destroying the horde and parts of the alliance so her pet anduin can be king of azeroth

Cute but no that’s not how hiring writers works. Every thing golden is doing is what blizzard wants done and has planned out golden just gets to express there plan her way. Why do you think they would hire a new writer and then just give them complete control it makes no sense that blizzard would do such a thing when they have always had things planned out in advance.

[The Stormbringer]

I would love this.

The fact that Teldrassil and Undercity are lost gives credit to this idea. And Blizzard wouldn't have to update flying in Silvermoon or the Exodar if they are destroyed as well.

Let the factions have their own continent and let them rebuilt and colonize it. Maybe the Forsaken could live in Desolace? They could even give the new Allied Races a new home on Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms.

But how would leveling play out if the faction war doesn't play out during questing? Would we see a return of the lesser mongrel races? What threats would we face in such a new revamp of the old world?

I imagine we would see lesser threats rearing their heads again. They've had time to rebuild while we've been fighting the Legion and each other, and other massive threats. Then you could also have things like the Void poking its tentacles into our business as well, or possibly new threats.

[Traveler Voltin]

Oh it’s defiantly hate for golden she’s the new scape goat when ever some one doesn’t like something about the lore. I do agree though they really should put more in game the lore heavy spots are my favourite part of wow.

- - - Updated - - -



Cute but no that’s not how hiring writers works. Every thing golden is doing is what blizzard wants done and has planned out golden just gets to express there plan her way. Why do you think they would hire a new writer and then just give them complete control it makes no sense that blizzard would do such a thing when they have always had things planned out in advance.

she is senior writer at blizzard. everything she says now becomes canon.
stop being so bloody delusional. the writing of BtS screams shitty fanfiction levels and its going to continue into BFA.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

she is senior writer at blizzard. everything she says now becomes canon.
stop being so bloody delusional. the writing of BtS screams shitty fanfiction levels and its going to continue into BFA.

Yes she is a serious writer and she works for blizzard not the other way round. You can dislike her all you like but the story is blizzard doing not a single persons. And really fanfic? Because zones like uldum were so well written clearly Warcraft has always been the highest tier of writting before golden got hired.

[Traveler Voltin]

Yes she is a serious writer and she works for blizzard not the other way round. You can dislike her all you like but the story is blizzard doing not a single persons. And really fanfic? Because zones like uldum were so well written clearly Warcraft has always been the highest tier of writting before golden got hired.

the fact that you will keep defending her is why this conversation is done.
she was fine up until this shit show of a book.

[Aucald]

she is senior writer at blizzard. everything she says now becomes canon.
stop being so bloody delusional. the writing of BtS screams shitty fanfiction levels and its going to continue into BFA.

I don't think "Before the Storm" is that bad, actually - I would say it's a 2.5/5 book, not stellar but not abysmal trash, either. It flows well and has a lot of rich detail as concerns many characters, and scenes that are both emotionally charged and poignant. Characterization could use some work, and Golden doesn't pull any punches with her respective "favorites" among the WoW cast as it were. I think people who are concerned with "moral grayness" would be shocked to find there's very little grayness to this novel - Nathanos and Sylvanas are both presented as pretty much evil through and through, and Anuduin and his peers are pretty solidly presented as forces for good. Genn is actually the "grayest" character of the book, but even he comes around by the conclusion to a degree.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

the fact that you will keep defending her is why this conversation is done.
she was fine up until this shit show of a book.

So you don’t have any actual counter points so the conversation is over? Got it. If you want to see her as a scape goat because you don’t like something go ahead. I don’t think she’s the best writer ever she might actually be the worse of all the books I’ve read but I’m not gonna pretend she has complete control and blizzard is being forced to change there story because of her.