Can you take the Jailor, as long term Xpac villain, really serious ?

[Aresk]

If your benchmark for taking a villain seriously is Deathwing, then yes, I can. Given Deathwing murdered a ton of people in the pre-patch event and then just sort of plateaued from there, not really showing up again until the last raid, where his big ultimate plan was to fly to the center of the world where he had started, I can take pretty much any villain that seriously unless they opt to make Budd or Silvermoon Harry the next big bad. While the Lich King was a lot better as an expansion villain, we cannot forget the true final boss of that expansion: Halion. That makes Deathwing the only time the final boss has been the primary enemy from pre-patch to conclusion, and as I mentioned above, the story had some flaws.

[TigTone]

Well dumb? Or well done? Cause, if you mean "well done", that's very debatable. I'd argue N'Zoth, Garrosh, and Archimonde are much worse.

Him not being "well dumb" is also debatable, as there are some very intelligent threats in WoW.

I only reason I’m calling him not dumb is I’m making the assumption he ordered the dreadlords to infiltrate all the cosmic forces.

Seeing how the Dreadlords are highly intelligent and manipulative I’m assuming Zovaal is the same way.

[Kyphael]

Beats the hell out of having to take Sylvanas as a long-term expansion villain.

[Verdugo]

I'll take him seriously when they build him up a bit more. Right now, he still feels SLIGHTLY boring to me. Though, I will admit, he has gotten better. Especially with the whole Dreadlord thing.

We dont even know if Dreadlords answer to him.

[WhirlwindTV]

I don't think expansion worthy villains need to comment on my wolf hunts and berry gathering while leveling to be intimidating. And maybe it's hindsight, but i thought of Illidan as a solid villain.

Because you knew Illidan from before to emotionally connect you to him and then expansion-wise you knew that he was trying to take over Outland, with the results of his directives clear to see. The trailer directly has him just standing there and pretty much "Come at me bro"-ing the audience. The Jailer has none of this foreshadowing. Nothing. Even the prepatch isn't going to have anything because remember we all still essentially think Sylvanus is the villian and we're "chasing" her.

Also, Arthas didn't comment on wolf hunts, there were significant party level quests where you fucked up his plans for the zone and he showed up to taunt you and tell you what you did wasn't important. It established a connection deeper than Illidan.

[Niwes]

interesting poll results. thats why i love polls. if i had to bet on, whats the major opinion is, 1 week ago, i had set 100 bugs on „he is lame, can not take him serious“. also when i look at the comments here, it is at best 50/50.

that surprised me. just to clarify: i am totally fine with that result. i am for sure not here to value/change/expect some personal opinion or being mad, that not everybody goes like „he is shit“ or just complain to complain. i was just curious, what the majority really thinks. therefore a poll is a great tool. and 184/84 votes is not completely unrepresentative.

but the votes/result so far surprised me. it seems, a good sized crowd is ok and ready to go for Shadowlands big boss / story. and this is fine. just not expected that.

thx to all ppl participated in here!

[scrappybristol]

Let me see what he is capable of.

Think of the biggest villains in wow: Arthas, Sylvanas, Deathwing all showed off what they are capable of in cinematics. The Old Gods didn't get cinematics but it's kind of hard to project their abilities to that medium. The Legion showed their power before WoW was even a thing.

So I've got to see what the Jailer can do before I can assess his villain viability.

[ymirsson]

Because you knew Illidan from before to emotionally connect you to him and then expansion-wise you knew that he was trying to take over Outland, with the results of his directives clear to see. The trailer directly has him just standing there and pretty much "Come at me bro"-ing the audience. The Jailer has none of this foreshadowing. Nothing. Even the prepatch isn't going to have anything because remember we all still essentially think Sylvanus is the villian and we're "chasing" her.

Also, Arthas didn't comment on wolf hunts, there were significant party level quests where you fucked up his plans for the zone and he showed up to taunt you and tell you what you did wasn't important. It established a connection deeper than Illidan.

We have to agree to disagree on the second part. I'm sure this is a rather personal view, but almost never feel like i am directly responding and subsequently defeating to an expansion level threat. Feels corny to me, especially because often enough, you are only the saviour in the actual raid instance. Back in town you still pay full price for a beer and noone mentions it. Shortcomings of the medium, but still immersion breaking.

[Icelin]

I would rather they make new big bads tbh. So Jailer does not bother me.
How many times are people going to kill Kael'Thas? Oh ya we might be killing him again...Ok scratch that..
How many times are people going to kill Garrosh? Eerr oh ya he's making a comeback too. I don't think they will make us kill again but still..
That's my whole point I prefer new big bads.

Beats the hell out of having to take Sylvanas as a long-term expansion villain.

Yes, yes it does.

Hmm some people been pushing N'zoth as they felt Blizzard did a poor job with him. I am more lenient with Old Gods unfortunately. I also look at them more as cosmic beings than Azeroth lifeforms.

[Kyphael]

Yes, yes it does.

Hmm some people been pushing N'zoth as they felt Blizzard did a poor job with him. I am more lenient with Old Gods unfortunately. I also look at them more as cosmic beings than Azeroth lifeforms.

Same, they're all pretty interchangeable in terms of personality and purpose to the story. They can always use N'zoth again in the Void-focused expansion. I'd be cool to fight him, C'thun, Yogg-saron, and a restored Y'shaarj and G'huun in the same raid and/or encounter.