did blizzard fail to make azerite interesting at all

[sillag]

so azerite is the new big thing for bfa but i cant help but notice it isn't compelling at all and there are a few reasons

first up azerite is supposedly the whole reason for this war. you can talk about stormheim and innocent/murderous goblin miners all you like but as per blizzard no one actually cares about those things and the war is starting because sylvanas thinks azerite will be used to destroy the horde / she can use it to destroy the alliance. so put all that other stuff out of your mind.

so azerite is supposed to be a kind of fantasy plutonium that sparks up hostilities and an arms race. but what can you actually do with azerite?. we've seen it do a few things:

1. anduin and sylvanas felt a bit funny when they held it
2. gallywix put some on his cane, to no practical effect
3. azerite bombs were used to attack darkshore
4. eventually, the horde used it to make a slightly larger siege tank

and that concludes the list of things azerite does

ok i think we can see the problem here. azerite is functionally no more impressive than any of the other many sources of destructive power we already had. yes we can use it to unlock traits and stuff in bfa but that's purely a heart of azeroth thing. the factions aren't using azerite to do anything new. if azerite was what was used to destroy teldrassil and undercity then that might turn up the stakes but for now it's seeming like no one knows why teldrassil burns and sylvanas self-destructs undercity with blight

uhh why is this stuff so important again exactly? what is so special about azerite that its appearance sparks the biggest alliance vs horde war of all time?

at the same time we had it spelled out from the beginning that azerite is the blood of the world which is currently dying. so it should be clear in all of our minds that using this stuff and fighting this war is a really stupid idea. i don't know why this had to be revealed from the beginning because it really takes the wind out of the sails of all-out faction war. i guess it was to throw a bone to the people who think faction war is a stupid concept but all it really does is make everyone look like idiots as we follow the single path blizzard laid for us. i mean that's nothing new but it would be nice if they tried harder for once.

so azerite does nothing special and everyone knows using it is a terrible idea. is this compelling to anyone. i cant help but notice no one on forums actually talks about the war starting because of azerite even though that's the reason blizzard went with. there's just nothing to say about this stuff. they deleted the mystery about it from the beginning and we're told its powerful but never given a demonstration.

maybe it will be used to destroy teldrassil after all but they seem to have backed away on the horde's war crimes after everyone hated their storyline. so who knows? at the moment though this stuff is a dud.

[Steampunkette]

Because Patch Content.

Azerite is being set up as this new element in the story, right now. And it's already gone from "We don't know what to do with this" to "Azerite-Laced Gunpowder". We'll explore Kul'tiras and Zandalar for a while, fight between the two sides in the first portions of the War Campaign and then once we're all set, we'll get into the -actual- war for patch 8.1.

And that is when we'll see the potential of Azerite in a few devastating battles before Azshara wrecks shit and we have to turn our Azerite on her fish-ass in 8.2.

Then in 8.3 either we'll find out that N'Zoth is -really- behind the war with a bunch of Old God Whispers manipulating people and hiding the truth to make different factions see the same events play out in different ways, and kick his ass, too, or we'll see Jaina or Sylvanas take up N'Zoth's power and do terrible things before becoming the final raid boss of the expansion so that N'zoth gets saved so the void can have a Gul'dan level raid boss in a future expansion.

[chrisisvacant]

Threads that start out with all this immature bullying are always a good laugh.

[Aucald]

Azerite gets a lot more exposure, as well as demonstrations of its power, in "Before the Storm" as well as during the events of BfA. From "Before the Storm" it is shown to have the following properties:

1.) It inspires creativity, typically in tandem with its holders specific personality and passions.
2.) It seems to enhance any substance it is added to, depending on ratio used. It is able to neutralize a lethal poison and render it edible, but if it is added to a poison in a lesser ratio it enhances the poison's lethality several times over.
3.) Foreshadowing seems to indicate Azerite has far more impactful uses.

In BfA, this promise is more or less realized as Azerite is shown:

1.) To create immensely powerful War Machines, as showcased at the Battle of Lordaeron and later by the Horde in Kul Tiras as one War Machine essentially decimates a fortified town.
2.) Added a pinch of Azerite to gunpowder turns normal cartridges or bullets into the equivalent of siege weaponry. One gun is later able to sink a ship in a single shot.
3.) The PC's own Azerite-imbued armor can be used as a magnifier for otherwise normal magic, turning a minor ritual into a huge bolt of magic that decimates an overpowering enemy force.
4.) Azerite trinkets and focus implements are used to enhance abilities of all kind, including Naga and other NPC's efforts throughout the new zones.

[Feanoro]

Since in game it's the new artifact power, I doubt we'll see anything more than maybe a cinematic where they gasp at its power, followed by no real change in game. About like the "biggest Legion invasion evar" was shown not even rivaling the previous two.

[Combatbutler]

Considering what Azerite is, it is incredibly underwhelming, it powerlevel is very low and its made into something as meaningless as gunpowder rockets and tanks, while its arcane properties should eclipse all of this by at least a hundredfold. Azerite is liquid in the ground and then hardens, the shard anduin held in hand and the one Sylvanas had in the cinematics alone should actually be enough to create a powersource like the sunwell.

But nope blizz decided to make it slightly more powerful saronite for whatever reason.

[Aucald]

Considering what Azerite is, it is incredibly underwhelming, it powerlevel is very low and its made into something as meaningless as gunpowder rockets and tanks, while its arcane properties should eclipse all of this by at least a hundredfold. Azerite is liquid in the ground and then hardens, the shard anduin held in hand and the one Sylvanas had in the cinematics alone should actually be enough to create a powersource like the sunwell.

But nope blizz decided to make it slightly more powerful saronite for whatever reason.

Azerite appears to be slowly growing in power as it increases in frequency, something commented on during BfA. Of course, it will likely cease to have any power should the World-soul die in the course of bleeding out.

[Doffen]

Looking at this forum, azerite is super-interesting. It's war even here

[Combatbutler]

Azerite appears to be slowly growing in power as it increases in frequency, something commented on during BfA. Of course, it will likely cease to have any power should the World-soul die in the course of bleeding out.

Which makes little sense really, why should it loose its power, despite already being a chunk of Azeroths power. I believe blizzard made a the fundamental mistake of spreading Azerite all over the place, it is not like she bled all over the planet once Y'Shaarj was ripped from her.

- - - Updated - - -

Looking at this forum, azerite is super-interesting. It's war even here

It has little to nothing to do with Azerite, but rather faction partisans.

[Doffen]

Which makes little sense really, why should it loose its power, despite already being a chunk of Azeroths power. I believe blizzard made a the fundamental mistake of spreading Azerite all over the place, it is not like she bled all over the planet once Y'Shaarj was ripped from her.

- - - Updated - - -



It has little to nothing to do with Azerite, but rather faction partisans.

Well yeah, they could have named it Candy and it would serve the same purpose, but azerite is the thing that forms the events as of now.

[Feanoro]

Which makes little sense really, why should it loose its power, despite already being a chunk of Azeroths power. I believe blizzard made a the fundamental mistake of spreading Azerite all over the place, it is not like she bled all over the planet once Y'Shaarj was ripped from her.

This presumes consistency from Blizz. Surely you know better!

[skumnasty]

i cant help but notice it isn't compelling at all

nice opinion there

[Combatbutler]

Well yeah, they could have named it Candy and it would serve the same purpose, but azerite is the thing that forms the events as of now.

A half baked faction conflict, with so many inconsistencies it isn't even funny?

- - - Updated - - -

This presumes consistency from Blizz. Surely you know better!

I personally feel already about BfA like I did for WoD and that is saying something, the whole thing just seems so meh.

[Doffen]

A half baked faction conflict, with so many inconsistencies it isn't even funny?

- - - Updated - - -



I personally feel already about BfA like I did for WoD and that is saying something, the whole thing just seems so meh.

Yes, it is funny And maybe a bit sad. The story could have been made so much better. Should have been alliance and horde against the old gods and Aszhara from the start. It would be enough. But that's how it will be from 8.1-8.2, knowing blizz.

[Feanoro]

I personally feel already about BfA like I did for WoD and that is saying something, the whole thing just seems so meh.

At least Orc to the Future wasn't a thinly veiled "Please please PLEASE pvp again? I know we completely wrecked it, but please?"

[cparle87]

Threads that start out with all this immature bullying are always a good laugh.

It's Sillag, what do you expect? Thought-provoking commentary without bias for or against the company that created the content in question, being judged solely on its literary and storytelling qualities?

[slime]

You know the definition of interesting at Blizz?
RnG

[Deleted]

Should be fine as long as Nomi doesnt decide to include it in cooking recipies.

However given the addiction created by the well of eternity shouldnt it also have properties like that ?

[Feanoro]

However given the addiction created by the well of eternity shouldnt it also have properties like that ?

Shh, quit exposing the plot holes that you could drive a tank division through!

[Aucald]

Which makes little sense really, why should it loose its power, despite already being a chunk of Azeroths power. I believe blizzard made a the fundamental mistake of spreading Azerite all over the place, it is not like she bled all over the planet once Y'Shaarj was ripped from her.

It would lose its power if the World-soul dies of the injuries (from Sargeras' sword). The Wound in Silithus isn't unlike the original wounding that caused the Well of Eternity, except in this case the foreign object that caused the wound remains embedded in the world whereas in the case of the Well of Eternity it was healed over (with the essence of the Well basically a leftover of the traumatic event). Torrents of mana from the original Well of Eternity also diffused themselves across the surface of Azeroth, which is how the Well of Eternity effected the evolution of everything on Azeroth despite being constrained to a small location near the center of pre-Sundering Kalimdor. The spread of Azerite isn't too dissimilar from this, the difference in the structure (liquid as opposed to sediment) is probably due to the World-soul now being more mature.