Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[SilverLion]

I don't think that's unintended, so that's not "terrible" writing. Wrathion, as the expansion keeps mentioning, is pretty childish. He's not a narcissist in the sense that a proper adult would be (i.e. mentally ill and kind of dangerous to others), but rather he's "young, dumb, and full of cum", as it were. Certainly it's intended that he looks rather arrogant - but he also a strong streak of insecurity, which the writing also picks up, again, because he's very young.

So maybe we shouldn't call writing that accurate portrays a character "terrible"? Hmm? I mean that's kind of the whole problem with fan critiques of writing across TV/movies etc. (esp. MCU/SW etc.), where people call writing "terrible" or "bad" because they don't like what it portrays, not because it's not good. And conversely, absolutely fucking SHITE writing, which is clunky, leaden and dumb, gets praised (I'm looking really hard at the MCU right now, and yeah absolutely including stuff like Endgame) because it gives fans what they want to hear.

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The writing in general is good (for what it is, specific kind of MMO), and there's a ton more of it (esp. given you can often ask people questions etc.), but the Centaurs have a standoffish attitude that I think is always kind of a mistake when genre writers decide to portray it, because it's just kind of unengaging. It's more of a conceptual problem than a writing one, because I don't think anyone ever did it well. Just don't write entire cultures as standoffish lol.

Quoting this for truth. The amount of bad takes about Wrathion has led me to believe the lore community wouldn't understand good writing even when it's obvious. So many opinions boil down to "I dislike the portrayal, it makes me uncomfortably, unhappy or something like that" when that's more often than not, the entire point. Wrathion has had more of an actual character arc than the entire cast of Warcraft combined.

[Super Dickmann]

Quoting this for truth. The amount of bad takes about Wrathion has led me to believe the lore community wouldn't understand good writing even when it's obvious. So many opinions boil down to "I dislike the portrayal, it makes me uncomfortably, unhappy or something like that" when that's more often than not, the entire point. Wrathion has had more of an actual character arc than the entire cast of Warcraft combined.

Wrathion isn't a bad character, he is an unqualified asswipe though who Blizzard will push through by virtue of name recognition.

[Gurahk]

Quoting this for truth. The amount of bad takes about Wrathion has led me to believe the lore community wouldn't understand good writing even when it's obvious. So many opinions boil down to "I dislike the portrayal, it makes me uncomfortably, unhappy or something like that" when that's more often than not, the entire point. Wrathion has had more of an actual character arc than the entire cast of Warcraft combined.

People hate him because Blizzard will choose him as the aspect over Sabellian, despite how much more qualified Sabellian is.

[SilverLion]

Wrathion isn't a bad character, he is an unqualified asswipe though who Blizzard will push through by virtue of name recognition.

There is no qualified Black Dragon by that logic. I'd rather deal with a character who had actual trials and tribulations than what is effectively nostalgia and fanwankery.

Edit: If anyone can link or highlight Sabellian having actual lore and arcs in game, please do. Because after doing all of his BC questing, I think people are bsing about his qualifications.

[Sondrelk]

Wrathion isn't a bad character, he is an unqualified asswipe though who Blizzard will push through by virtue of name recognition.

Doesnt that kinda make him the perfect character though? He is the only Black Dragon we know of, and because he additionally has done a lot of interesting stuff with the player he feels that he is the main character in this story.
Suddenly meeting Sabellian who has often been quoted by more lore savvy players as a potential uncorrupted Black Dragon, who then makes the valid point that he is more qualified to lead, does lead to an almost perfect bit of storytelling genius.

In short. Wrathion is an asshole who we have had to live with because we believed he was the last dragon. Suddenly having Sabellian back from Outland both makes perfect sense in the story, and leads to a great moment of having to contend with someone unknown, but clearly qualified, taking the spotlight from Wrathion.

Wrathion has always been insufferable, but in Dragonflight this works in favor of the story, rather than against it like it did after MoP.

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Yeah, reagant bags should have been 50. Quests cap 50... etc

At least we have a reagent bag. Can you imagine using the same bags as before, except with reagent and crafting quality?

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The sheep herding quest at the traveling Centaur pack is one of the worst dailies I've ever done. Otherwise the quests are great.

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Also there is a bug/possibly a teaser? of the Night Elf story.

https://twitter.com/portergauge/stat...fF6TfkZ90IeUBQ

So far the only quests I hate are the Obsidian Citadel ones. Quests in Elite Areas that are not actually elite quests annoy me to no end.

[Super Dickmann]

There is no qualified Black Dragon by that logic. I'd rather deal with a character who had actual trials and tribulations than what is effectively nostalgia and fanwankery.

Edit: If anyone can link or highlight Sabellian having actual lore and arcs in game, please do. Because after doing all of his BC questing, I think people are bsing about his qualifications.

A cardboard cutout is more qualified than Wrathion by virtue of not almost dooming the world several times and enabling invasions/spurring conflicts of the world he's meant to be defending. A cardboard cutout has also killed less of his brood than he has.

It's not about the quality of the character, though I find DF Sabellian very solid since the storyline uses his obscurity in his favour, as @Sondrelk says, but purely in terms of the position of the character to go for the job he's after. Things like throwing himself at an Aspect-tier dragon and then begging for another few billion in military aid from an injured Alex so he can liberate a place he can only populate with his humanoid hangers-on. This at the expense of the flights who'd actually be enabling his win, in a position that'd be untenable without an intervention by Sabellian he has no way of knowing about make him an interesting character, as he's been throughout, but as far as the in-story characters are concerned, it's short-sighted, ambitious and inept. I generally enjoy following Wrathion's story, but everyone in the setting who's come into contact with him has had a worse time because of it.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Wrathion isn't a bad character, he is an unqualified asswipe though who Blizzard will push through by virtue of name recognition.

Generally, the office of Black Aspect does make sense as a potential direction for his character, but he'd realistically have to undergo a very good amount of character growth to really be suitable for it. I also would only really be satisfied with that if it didn't somehow involve hitting Sabellian with the villain bat.

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A cardboard cutout is more qualified than Wrathion by virtue of not almost dooming the world several times and enabling invasions/spurring conflicts of the world he's meant to be defending. A cardboard cutout has also killed less of his brood than he has.

It's not about the quality of the character, though I find DF Sabellian very solid since the storyline uses his obscurity in his favour, as @Sondrelk says, but purely in terms of the position of the character to go for the job he's after. Things like throwing himself at an Aspect-tier dragon and then begging for another few billion in military aid from an injured Alex so he can liberate a place he can only populate with his humanoid hangers-on. This at the expense of the flights who'd actually be enabling his win, in a position that'd be untenable without an intervention by Sabellian he has no way of knowing about make him an interesting character, as he's been throughout, but as far as the in-story characters are concerned, it's short-sighted, ambitious and inept. I generally enjoy following Wrathion's story, but everyone in the setting who's come into contact with him has had a worse time because of it.

That's generally my feelings on the matter—I like Wrathion and think he's a nuanced character. I do hope we get plenty out of him this expansion. However, the office of Earthwarder doesn't seem suitable for him from a Watsonian perspective at the moment, and given the choice between the two I'd prefer Sabellian. More prominently, there is the potential threat that his character will be neutered in the process of taking up the mantle—Blizzard has a habit of giving characters greater relevance at the expense of rendering them more bland as a result. I also think Sabellian is just a breath of fresh air from the typical Golden/Danuser fair, so I just want to see more of him, Earthwarder or not, for that reason without him eventually taking a villain bat to the schnoz.

For the resolution proper, I'd ultimately be good with either on a Doylist level so long as Sabellian, as I said, does not inexplicably become a villain just so the Wholesum new generation can beat him for being a legacy character.

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Doesnt that kinda make him the perfect character though? He is the only Black Dragon we know of, and because he additionally has done a lot of interesting stuff with the player he feels that he is the main character in this story.
Suddenly meeting Sabellian who has often been quoted by more lore savvy players as a potential uncorrupted Black Dragon, who then makes the valid point that he is more qualified to lead, does lead to an almost perfect bit of storytelling genius.

In short. Wrathion is an asshole who we have had to live with because we believed he was the last dragon. Suddenly having Sabellian back from Outland both makes perfect sense in the story, and leads to a great moment of having to contend with someone unknown, but clearly qualified, taking the spotlight from Wrathion.

Wrathion has always been insufferable, but in Dragonflight this works in favor of the story, rather than against it like it did after MoP.

That's how I feel on that front. Wrathion being an insufferable and uppity prick works on a Doylist level, just not the Watsonian. I like his characterization thus far because it generates good conflict. What would be the problem for me is if the writers end up wasting Sabellian, also by all means a good character, by whacking him with the villain bat. Admittedly, the more of this particular arc that comes out the less concerned I am about that, but usually expecting the worst with the narrative direction is sensible.

[Super Dickmann]

Generally, the office of Black Aspect does make sense as a potential direction for his character, but he'd realistically have to undergo a very good amount of character growth to really be suitable for it. I also would only really be satisfied with that if it didn't somehow involve hitting Wrathion with the villain bat.

There's 0 chance of Wrathion going evil, but I am worried/already writing off Sabellian. That said, there is meat here. Being an Aspect isn't just having a seat in the chair, it's in the name, it involves a certain magical process. The Earthwarder is connected to the earth in a setting where even now in a generally nice time the earth has continent-sized carcasses of gods in there, along with a recently wounded god. Wrathion's recent story had him stressing about ending up like his dad, being trapped in his body etc. Someone who constantly makes poor decisions without such pressure'd be even more inclined to do them with it on his back. It'd be a place where you could also bring back Anduin and add some more meaning to his stay as a sockpuppet of the Bald Man, because it'd be something they'd have in common.

Alternatively, if Sabellian weren't doomed, you could just as easily use that for the reason why someone some serious and experienced should take the Aspect gig. Sabellian's main thing is that he's out of the way of corruption and in the DF version used this time to build up his flight and be ready to take responsibility. Wrathion has worked more as a mortal-facing special agent than he has any kind of representative of his flight and his interest in said flight has been mostly aesthetic, what with killing most of those related to it and showing zero interest in rebuilding it. Wrathion has gone after his 'father''s calling without necessarily tying in with his flight and keeping that while also having him have to cooperate with an Aspect Sabellian'd add to that dynamic.

It's a rare case where both routes are viable, but they heavily hinge on not villainizing either character which isn't Blizzard's strong suite. I have a strong preference for the latter because I like how Sabellian's been presented and the amount of hoops you'd have to jump through to get Wrathion into that spot and have him cope with it are beyond Blizzard's writing talent without fucking with the characterization of a whole host of others, but it's not barren story-wise. Also, let's face it, it's exponentially more likely.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

There's 0 chance of Wrathion going evil, but I am worried/already writing off Sabellian.

Disregard that—while you were typing, I realized I accidentally wrote "Wrathion". I meant to write "Sabellian". As you can see, I edited that just a fleeting moment before you posted that. This is just an instance where I can't get my point across on account of the fact that I'm an idiot.

[Super Dickmann]

Disregard that—while you were typing, I realized I accidentally wrote "Wrathion". I meant to write "Sabellian". As you can see, I edited that just a fleeting moment before you posted that. This is just an instance where I can't get my point across on account of the fact that I'm an idiot.

Happens to the best of us. On the plus side, I ended up replying to a lot of what you later expanded on without knowing you'd already written in it, so we're covered.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

everything else

As for the rest of this, I don't have anything to add beyond "yep, pretty much". Sabellian works best because Wrathion is simply a character who is fairly interesting on his own and I can see continuing to grow and develop effectively as an independent agent, whereas Sabellian is a character who is established as a leader figure by his nature. Both are very good characters and both have different reasons that one could argue for them to be crowned Aspect, but I just lean ever so slightly to Sabellian just because it precludes him being unnecessary labeled a villain and another older character getting whacked.

From a Watsonian perspective, of course, Sabellian plain deserves it on account of the fact that he's a competent leader who wants to actually take responsibility and isn't quite as hot-headed or short-sighted as Wrathion is, but on a Doylist perspective I would not be dissatisfied with either because any character in a high leadership and relevant lore position with some degree of moral convolution and an actual personality would be good. If I trusted Blizzard to know how to write interpersonal conflict for an extended period of time without one party randomly being demonized, I'd even be all good with a long-term schism in the Black Dragonflight.

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nostalgia and fanwankery.

To be entirely fair, I frankly think that these aren't bad things to appeal to per se. A major problem with the narrative thus far is that it's sort of become a Ship of Theseus—there's so little connection between certain elements of the old and new lore, and so many older characters have come and gone, that any lynchpin of stability would be a good thing.

I'd also say that his questing still did characterize him effectively as someone who makes a good leader—he's not an established character, but he has the makings of both a good character and, from the Watsonian perspective, a good leader. We see throughout the Blade's Edge Mountains questline that he is interested in generally advancing the agenda of the people under his charge and that he makes an active effort to eradicate immediate and serious existential threats to them. He seems decently cooperative with other parties (if fairly gruff and rude) and very competent.

[Super Dickmann]

If I trusted Blizzard to know how to write interpersonal conflict for an extended period of time without one party randomly being demonized, I'd even be all good with a long-term schism in the Black Dragonflight.

Pretty much. There's nothing wrong with keeping the spot open. I'll need to write a longer-form response on the belf thing on the other thread, but in general there's nothing wrong with keeping a plot open. In fact, quite the opposite in an MMO, since having both options leaves more story opportunities and the format precludes any definitive ending. So once you solve someone's story too thoroughly, they just have to truck along doing fuck all. Neither Sabellian nor Wrathion really have this problem, since they're flexible enough in usage, especially Wrathion who recovered from having the thing he was allegedly preparing for take place entirely in his absence, but the Primalist/Aspect conflict for example isn't something that really needed to be settled for all time. The stakes can basically be just regional so long as they fight each other, no one's destroying the world, and they're interesting enough ideas to keep going. There's a reason I maintain that the Wrath ending was actually one of the wisest Blizzard calls because it kept the Scourge on the board.

[oathy]

Can't help feeling an expansion rebuilding Azeroth after the battering it's taken would have worked better.
hit level 65 on my main just now and it feels like all the quests have been done better in other expansions.
There's not a lot of imagination, What I had pleased about was the Talent system and getting some spells back
like the rifts for my destruct lock.

A good indicator is the wow token price it's now at 270k, It's not been that low in months.

[Cheezits]

Can't help feeling an expansion rebuilding Azeroth after the battering it's taken would have worked better.
hit level 65 on my main just now and it feels like all the quests have been done better in other expansions.
There's not a lot of imagination, What I had pleased about was the Talent system and getting some spells back
like the rifts for my destruct lock.

A good indicator is the wow token price it's now at 270k, It's not been that low in months.

They weren't ready for a world revamp. I agree it would've been better, but based on the old-world models they STILL had to update (Gnolls, Centaurs, airships, boats etc) there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ship out an EK/Kalimdor expansion.

[Sondrelk]

Can we take a moment to talk about how the writers clearly had to have changed their mind at some point as to whether the Dragon Isles were dormant or not? Because that seemed to have been the original intent, what with decayed buildings and the seeming permanent cloud layer in the trailer. But once we get there it's clear that everyone kept going like nothing had happened. Ohn'ara even went there often, so I don't see why the Dragons couldnt. Emerald Dragons especially, the portal is right there.

[Nymrohd]

Here is the thing. Nothing about Wrathion being the last black dragon enabled him to do whatever he did. He is not a particularly powerful dragon, he doesn't have some unique magic either.
What made Wrathion special was that he actually had the drive to save the world. He fucked up a lot but he was still there and he was still trying because he thought that was what he was supposed to do with his life. Though I am not giving credit to the writers for doing this, he is a poster child for infantile omnipotence who then grows up to be a the "precocious teenager that saves the world from the apocalypse while surrounded by vastly more qualified adults" which has been the bread and butter of teenager media for at least two decades now.
So while I don't expect any nuance I see to be intentional my character perceives Wrathion as a well intentioned teenager that causes disasters, while Sabellian has no good intentions and doesn't give a crap about Azeroth up until there is some power for him to claim (else he'd have moved to Azeroth soon after N'zoth died instead of waiting for the Dragon Isles and the prospect of becoming an Aspect). Ultimately I can trust that Wrathion will be there when we need him far more than I can trust Sabellian to be there (Legion notwithstanding but I just blame the writers for that brainfart).

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Can we take a moment to talk about how the writers clearly had to have changed their mind at some point as to whether the Dragon Isles were dormant or not? Because that seemed to have been the original intent, what with decayed buildings and the seeming permanent cloud layer in the trailer. But once we get there it's clear that everyone kept going like nothing had happened. Ohn'ara even went there often, so I don't see why the Dragons couldnt. Emerald Dragons especially, the portal is right there.

My assumption is that the other cultures just kept living their lives as always while the various dragonspawn servants slowly abandoned their posts in the rest of the Isles and moved to Thaldraszus.

[Nyel]

Can we take a moment to talk about how the writers clearly had to have changed their mind at some point as to whether the Dragon Isles were dormant or not? Because that seemed to have been the original intent, what with decayed buildings and the seeming permanent cloud layer in the trailer. But once we get there it's clear that everyone kept going like nothing had happened. Ohn'ara even went there often, so I don't see why the Dragons couldnt. Emerald Dragons especially, the portal is right there.

I don't get this either. So life was sprawling on the Dragon Isles and it was never a forgotten and lost place? I mean there are entire civilizations on the Dragon Isles. This gives me some strange flashbacks to Broken Isles when we "discovered" them. It just doesn't feel genuine or natural, contrary to Pandaria, which was introduced with another sentiment - which worked, whereas it pretty much does not in the other cases.

[Reinhart11]

I think only the titan constructs and races like the djaradin went dormant, while the magic removed the knowledge how to reach the islands from the dragons minds and prevents them to gain the knowledge. The other living beings remained active, but stuck on the isles.

Ohnara represents a problem though, if she could leave at will. She should have been stuck there as well.

[huth]

I think only the titan constructs and races like the djaradin went dormant, while the magic removed the knowledge how to reach the islands from the dragons minds and prevents them to gain the knowledge. The other living beings remained active, but stuck on the isles.

Ohnara represents a problem though, if she could leave at will. She should have been stuck there as well.

Not the knowledge, the ability. They knew exactly where they were, they just couldn't get there and the barrier could only be opened from inside. That's what the first cinematic with stony boi was about.

What went dormant was mostly elemental energies, "regular" mortals were pretty much unaffected.

With Ohn'ara, there's the question of how much she is physically present, or if she's pulling something like Kalecgos in the mountains.

[Sondrelk]

I don't get this either. So life was sprawling on the Dragon Isles and it was never a forgotten and lost place? I mean there are entire civilizations on the Dragon Isles. This gives me some strange flashbacks to Broken Isles when we "discovered" them. It just doesn't feel genuine or natural, contrary to Pandaria, which was introduced with another sentiment - which worked, whereas it pretty much does not in the other cases.

Broken Isles i could get behind. Like most islands on Azeroth we always knew where it was and how to get there, we just never had any reason to.