So why Draka? What should we expect?

[Rozz]

It sounds like people are fishing for problems they want to invent. I assumed she was picked, because of all relevant orc characters she has poor coverage. This is a chance to expand on a character without changing much about the ones we already know.

[Soeroah]

Draka was probably a good choice for Maldraxxus because she canonically started out as sickly, weak and unexpected to survive in Orc culture but worked hard enough to become a strong warrior by the time she ultimately died.

There are hundreds of other warriors and fighters in WoW lore that could have been focused on in Maldraxxus, but none of them have a convenient pre-existing story of having started at such a disadvantage as Draka.

[Baconeggcheese]

Draka was probably a good choice for Maldraxxus because she canonically started out as sickly, weak and unexpected to survive in Orc culture but worked hard enough to become a strong warrior by the time she ultimately died.

There are hundreds of other warriors and fighters in WoW lore that could have been focused on in Maldraxxus, but none of them have a convenient pre-existing story of having started at such a disadvantage as Draka.

How does that tie into maldraxxus? I haven't really looked up any of the lore surrounding covenants.

[TigTone]

I say they chose Draka in order for thrall to meet her and find himself again. Also Orcs! Nothing more warrior like than an Orc.

And it fucking really doesn’t matter what imaginary sex organs a character has. For fucks sake enough with the “ it’s CuZ sHe a wOmeN and mAn bAD” bullshit.

Possibly to have him lead the Orcs of the horde or even the whole horde itself again.

Besides it’s not like Draka is the sole old Azeroth character their.

I would understand the whine if she was the only one in the entire story of Maldraxxus.

[Soeroah]

How does that tie into maldraxxus? I haven't really looked up any of the lore surrounding covenants.

Maldraxxus is the military branch of the Shadowlands, and it often takes people who were either powerful or who sought power in life, whether for good or ill, so it can train them properly and use them to help defend the Shadowlands against internal and external threats.

Draka may not be as physically or magically powerful as some of the other characters there, but the Arbiter would have seen her humble beginnings and her refusal to give up in the face of the odds she was fighting against and it would have decided to send her to Maldraxxus because that's the kind of person an army of the Shadowlands would prize most - someone determined, who doesn't give up, who fought against the odds to gain the respect of her people, as opposed to simply being born strong and being overly proud or lax because of it.

[rrayy]

I think the argument he is making is that its weird to use a character who noone really have any investment in as opposed to the 20 or so orc warriors who could just as easily have been featured but actually did a lot of things that we know about, and that people are invested in. Leaving some to believe it can only be because they wanted a women instead of a man on the cover and there are really no interesting orc women to pick from.

No the argument he is making is that this is about war and women aren't fighters completely ignoring the fact that women were prohibited from fighting in many of the wars. It was outright sexist and was nothing more than "She can't be chosen because she is a female".

[Neverafter]

I am interested to see where Draka's story goes.

She was basically shunned in life as a runt until she proved to have inner strength that surprised her clan. Then she (a warrior if I am not mistaken) is sent to Maldraxxus to the House of Eyes which seems to be an almost Rogue like house. It doesn't make sense even to the characters in the story, but at the end of the video, they basically say Draka now has the strength of a warrior and a rogue. Maybe all of Draka's life, the illness as a child, the shunning of the clan, everything is related? Regardless (sarcasm) how dare Blizzard take a character with very little backstory and build up that(/sarcasm)

[Darknessvamp]

I expect we're going to get very little from Draka's story considering they've already messed up and claimed she was a Warrior when she was a Trained, rather than natural born, Hunter and that she died protecting what she loved despite not knowing if her child would even survive as she died. They're probably going to further mess it up by having Thrall immediately recognise her in later Necrolord content or in future patch content and then have her fan his ego about how great it is that he is alive and has kids and maybe something about how he kept the Horde going only for him to be shameful about it.

Honestly Doomhammer would have been the prime character to have appear in Maldraxxus, previous Warchief, could have some guidance on the failings of the current Horde and someone that Thrall can actually have some development with other than "lol you're my 'rents" again.

Also people using the sexism argument to try and counter criticism of the character choice, you'd think they would be kicking up a bigger stink about the Winter Queen, the Archon, the Arbiter, most of the Paragons, Sylvanas, Helya and the Accuser. Nevermind the fact that Vashj is seen as a better point of focus for the zone than Draka.

[ClassicPeon]

I really don't get the hate that this is getting. There's no problem using Draka. Not every character we meet has to be this massively relevant huge lore character. Obviously they wanted to do something with an emotional hook for Thrall. Using the dude's mother as a storytelling element seems like a pretty natural choice.

This is true. But for a cinematic to be good we have to be invested and there is just nothing to be invested in

- - - Updated - - -

I listed an Orc female specifically for that reason with Blackhand. There was also the 4 from BRF: Ka’graz and the Iron Maidens. Hagara the Stormbinder from DS.
It doesn’t even need to be an Orc which would open it up more.
Blizzard made a choice. Maybe their choice was directly made to be someone we don’t know much about to actually bring that person in the forefront and make them more known, instead of retreading old ground.
He also has specifically stated in multiple posts about it being a woman. Who cares Blizzard chose a woman? Blizzard is obviously trying to branch out and make characters, new and old, to represent and appeal to players of every walk of life, and there are people on mmo-c that are so close minded they complain about it like it’s a personal affront to them.

Like i said. I dont think his problem is that its a women. I think his problem is he think they choose a women because "we had to fit women in there" when there was noone really interesting to pick from, instead of picking from the many interesting orc hereos that exist

[Th3Scourge]

Can someone please explain to me, if I'm following the lore, why she was sent to Maldraxxus? Are they trying to push that she was suddenly some great warrior? If so, what were her heroic deeds? I can't see any reasons why we should suddenly believe she is something she hasn't been shown to previously be. This is, yet again, another case of diversity for diversity sake.

And even then, why not use Lady Vashj? She is there too, has been in the lore since WC3, is very well known and has a fleshed-out backstory since you campaign with her in the RTS and fight her and the naga (who we just beat their queen) for a very long time. I just seen no reason for Draka to hold any emotional investment with the player base that makes the story compelling.

And, if not Vashj, and they REALLY wanted a Orc, they should've found a way to kill of Garona in BfA, like many many others have mentioned. Literally anything else is more interesting than a diversity hire

[ablock87]

Can you imagine how dope it would be if it was Broxigar instead of Draka, a character with 0 lore or interest?

Even cooler still, how great will it be if Saurfang meets Broxigar in Maldraxxus? Or even his son, you know, the character that had a major role in a cinematic during BFA.

[Eapoe]

This is true. But for a cinematic to be good we have to be invested and there is just nothing to be invested in

- - - Updated - - -



Like i said. I dont think his problem is that its a women. I think his problem is he think they choose a women because "we had to fit women in there" when there was noone really interesting to pick from, instead of picking from the many interesting orc hereos that exist

That still breaks down to it being a woman as a problem. Regardless of the reasoning Blizzard chose, whether for some SJW reasoning or because they jus chose her to expand on, the problem the person I quoted (and others) is because it is a female.
Even if you want to keep arguing this and trying to stick to an existing Orc Warrior, all I can follow up with is simply: who cares? Blizzard wants to expand on a character instead of bringing one people are more familiar with into the game. That sounds like a great thing. Get invested into a new character instead of one that we already know more about. If you are still upset about the fact it’s a female character then that means you are upset about it being a female, and nothing else.

[CalamityHeart]

Can someone please explain to me, if I'm following the lore, why she was sent to Maldraxxus? Are they trying to push that she was suddenly some great warrior? If so, what were her heroic deeds? I can't see any reasons why we should suddenly believe she is something she hasn't been shown to previously be.

Draka wasn't "great", but she was a warrior. She had a fighting spirit and a warrior's resolve. In a culture that celebrates strength, Draka was born weak, with zero expectations held for her. But instead of accepting that lot in life, she strove through sheer hard and deadly work to overcome her naturally sickly constitution to become strong, someone that her people could actually be proud of, and held onto that strength for the rest of her life. Is that a glorious and heroic deed? It's not world-shatteringly noteworthy, no. But that resolve shaped her life, and it made her worthy of Maldraxxus, which is not a realm exclusively for big-name heroes and elysian gloryhounds. It's for those with strong spirits, not necessarily legendary feats.

This is, yet again, another case of diversity for diversity sake.

But I'm guessing you didn't actually want an acceptable answer to the above question, did you?

And even then, why not use Lady Vashj? She is there too, has been in the lore since WC3, is very well known and has a fleshed-out backstory since you campaign with her in the RTS and fight her and the naga (who we just beat their queen) for a very long time. I just seen no reason for Draka to hold any emotional investment with the player base that makes the story compelling.

Inarguably, Vashj would've been a more storied and interesting character than Draka to follow into Maldraxxus. And there are plenty of dead characters in general who likely would've fit that bill themselves. But Thrall is in the Shadowlands. I want to believe that perhaps Blizzard is taking this opportunity to make something interesting out of a character of lesser significance like Draka, but to be completely honest, I think she's purely where she is because she needs to be a prop for Thrall's character development. It's gonna be real, real sad if that's the case, but I've just got this feeling.

Literally anything else is more interesting than a diversity hire

Well, good news for you. See above. The chance is there that Draka won't be a shoehorned diversity pick. But rejoice! Because instead of that, what she could and probably will end up being is nothing more than a fleeting chapter in another, more prominent male character's story.

That's... that's good, right? That probably falls under 'literally anything else', I imagine. That's gotta be more interesting and appropriate than putting a female character under a spotlight because she's female... right?

Sorry. Sarcasm off. Plain and simple, my hopes are low for Draka after seeing her Afterlives short. But the question of "Why Draka?" isn't really a question much worth trying to level out the answer too at this point. It's much sooner to go bad places than good. I'd rather think about "How Draka?" As in, how can they write her well? Because if she ends up being a really good character in the story of Maldraxxus and Shadowlands (and maybe beyond, but unlikely) as a whole, then the first question stops mattering, except to pieces of shit who will never be able to let go of the fact that she's a woman.

[Th3Scourge]

Draka wasn't "great", but she was a warrior. She had a fighting spirit and a warrior's resolve. In a culture that celebrates strength, Draka was born weak, with zero expectations held for her. But instead of accepting that lot in life, she strove through sheer hard and deadly work to overcome her naturally sickly constitution to become strong, someone that her people could actually be proud of, and held onto that strength for the rest of her life. Is that a glorious and heroic deed? It's not world-shatteringly noteworthy, no. But that resolve shaped her life, and it made her worthy of Maldraxxus, which is not a realm exclusively for big-name heroes and elysian gloryhounds. It's for those with strong spirits, not necessarily legendary feats.



But I'm guessing you didn't actually want an acceptable answer to the above question, did you?



Inarguably, Vashj would've been a more storied and interesting character than Draka to follow into Maldraxxus. And there are plenty of dead characters in general who likely would've fit that bill themselves. But Thrall is in the Shadowlands. I want to believe that perhaps Blizzard is taking this opportunity to make something interesting out of a character of lesser significance like Draka, but to be completely honest, I think she's purely where she is because she needs to be a prop for Thrall's character development. It's gonna be real, real sad if that's the case, but I've just got this feeling.



Well, good news for you. See above. The chance is there that Draka won't be a shoehorned diversity pick. But rejoice! Because instead of that, what she could and probably will end up being is nothing more than a fleeting chapter in another, more prominent male character's story.

That's... that's good, right? That probably falls under 'literally anything else', I imagine. That's gotta be more interesting and appropriate than putting a female character under a spotlight because she's female... right?

Sorry. Sarcasm off. Plain and simple, my hopes are low for Draka after seeing her Afterlives short. But the question of "Why Draka?" isn't really a question much worth trying to level out the answer too at this point. It's much sooner to go bad places than good. I'd rather think about "How Draka?" As in, how can they write her well? Because if she ends up being a really good character in the story of Maldraxxus and Shadowlands (and maybe beyond, but unlikely) as a whole, then the first question stops mattering, except to pieces of shit who will never be able to let go of the fact that she's a woman.

I think you're missing the point. It's just not an interesting pick. And you've even eluded to it, that she might just be the focal point to prop up Thrall. That's even worse and even far less interesting. We've done Thrall to death. Vashj would've been far better for the Afterlives short given we've had plenty of time to get to know the Naga and considering how much BfA focused on the Naga.

I'm actually advocating for a female character. But one that is there on merit, not just shoehorned in to fulfil someone else's story (which just turns her into a diversity hire). Many have mentioned the missed opportunity with Garona, and what having her die in BfA and appear here would have been able to accomplish

[CalamityHeart]

I think you're missing the point. It's just not an interesting pick. And you've even eluded to it, that she might just be the focal point to prop up Thrall. That's even worse and even far less interesting. We've done Thrall to death. Vashj would've been far better for the Afterlives short given we've had plenty of time to get to know the Naga and considering how much BfA focused on the Naga.

No, I think I've got that point. I've acknowledged it outright. Draka is a weird minor character to give this kind of prominence to, compared to others. But what makes the pick interesting to me is how uninteresting it is. Making a major character out of a minor one, if just for a little while, is a bolder move that, if done right, will expand the cast and make the lore of Warcraft broader instead of taller. Vashj being there is still interesting in and of itself, and perhaps we will get to interact quite a bit with her as well over the course of Maldraxxus. Vashj would've held my attention just as much as Draka did, and I would've been just as disappointed by the Afterlives short if it was Vashj instead of Draka, because the short being as below-average as it was had less to do with the characters than it had to do with the cinematic simply failing what it was trying to accomplish. But Draka being a smaller character than Vashj just peaks my interest more, because I'm rooting for a comparatively minor character to be written well as a major one. Again, it's less of an issue for me why they chose Draka than how they'll utilize her.

I'm actually advocating for a female character. But one that is there on merit, not just shoehorned in to fulfil someone else's story (which just turns her into a diversity hire). Many have mentioned the missed opportunity with Garona, and what having her die in BfA and appear here would have been able to accomplish

Maybe I am missing this point, though. Draka being a less prominent female character than the likes of Vashj and Garona doesn't make her a diversity hire, and her being poorly written by the end of Shadowlands wouldn't make her one, either. Just like the cinematic, if the story of Maldraxxus ends up being disappointing, it won't be because Draka didn't have the merits of a real character, it'll be because WoW's writers shit the bed, in which case the characters they used, of the many they could have used besides Draka, wouldn't have mattered anyway. I just don't think that Draka's prominence is an experiment in diversity. I want to believe it's an experiment in broadening the horizons of some minor cast that hasn't been touched on, which I'm hoping they do well.

[ClassicPeon]

That still breaks down to it being a woman as a problem. Regardless of the reasoning Blizzard chose, whether for some SJW reasoning or because they jus chose her to expand on, the problem the person I quoted (and others) is because it is a female.
Even if you want to keep arguing this and trying to stick to an existing Orc Warrior, all I can follow up with is simply: who cares? Blizzard wants to expand on a character instead of bringing one people are more familiar with into the game. That sounds like a great thing. Get invested into a new character instead of one that we already know more about. If you are still upset about the fact it’s a female character then that means you are upset about it being a female, and nothing else.

Nah the problem is that they chose a relatively unknown person who most people dont have a connection too.

The reasoning people think blizzard has is that it had to be a women, but that doesnt mean the problem is that its a women. It could be a women and not be a problem if we where emotionally invested in her before the cinematic happened or if they made us invested in her during the cinematic.

[jellmoo]

This is true. But for a cinematic to be good we have to be invested and there is just nothing to be invested in

Well, I would suggest two things:

1) The goal of this piece may simply be informative, rather than something designed to elicit an emotional response. A small media piece to get us quickly up to speed on what's happening in a corner of the Shadowlands.

2) We haven't always had that emotional investment in the cinematics. Remember the one from MoP? There was little to nothing to it that really resonated, at least in the way that's being described in this thread.

[Sadeyes]

Draka was probably a good choice for Maldraxxus because she canonically started out as sickly, weak and unexpected to survive in Orc culture but worked hard enough to become a strong warrior by the time she ultimately died.

There are hundreds of other warriors and fighters in WoW lore that could have been focused on in Maldraxxus, but none of them have a convenient pre-existing story of having started at such a disadvantage as Draka.

Draka's story is told in the Warcraft novel Durotan. She does have a great if somewhat sad backstory. Unfortunately it was not well covered in the game itself.

[Aleksej89]

These days female characters are popular and often parroted despite not being given any proper development and depth.

Blizzard is also a huge fan of orcs and forsaken so... yea, that is pretty much it.

Frostwolf clan is one of the more interesting orc clans so that is at least a nice choice.

[qwerty123456]

I don't think we should expect anything from her other than some interaction with Thrall as she seems to be receiving the Yrel and Talanji "character development" treatment of having people die for them to boost their importance.