[For Fun] How would you rewrite some of the story?

[WarpAvP2]

How would you rewrite some of WoW’s story to have better twists, better plots, higher or lower stakes? You can take any piece of the current game (what players are fed through the games, no third party explanations or material (minor wcRTS sources/references can count)) and mold it differently.

THERE IS ONE CATCH! You must hint at what this would change for the future of another plot. You don’t need to go full depth, but a super quick example would be:

Varimathras isn’t killed off in Legion. He returns in Shadowlands as a catalyst of conflict. (Lame but just an example).

[ro9ue]

Burning Crusade:
Elves go to Alliance and Ogres to Horde

Warlords of Draenor:
WoD keeps us in the same exact timeline. Chromie basically tells us this a big no-no and we need to fix it at all costs. Garrosh and the Iron Horde are the primary enemy, but this makes us have to help Gul'dan corrupt the Orcs and do his bidding the way it already played out or the timeways get broken and corrupted. I think it would be an interesting take for us to have to help one of the biggest villains in WoW's history, but for what is the greater good, and in the process get to be a follower and converse with him. A single timeline also solves the meaninglessness that arises from having an alternate bubble universe where events are more contained and we wouldn't have to deal with character duplicates that undermine the value of existing ones (ie Double Velen), not to mention the confusion that comes with that.

Battle for Azeroth:
The theme around the undead is an immunity/resistance to mind control. See: Will of the Forsaken. What Sylvanas's grand plan is actually that she knows N'Zoth is coming back and she needs to play her plan close to the chest. She needs to kill everyone or make them undead to be able to fight him. She meets with Helya to make a pocket dimension in the afterlife (which is what she's known for) to store all the souls people that are killed, like at Teldrassil. She mercilessly kills people and raises people. Characters don't understand they think she just snapped. What shes doing is trying to create an undead spirit/zombie army to defeat N'Zoth. So everyone thinks shes bad, but at a crucial point at the end of the N'Zoth fight we think we've lost, and she arrives with all of the souls (sort of like in LotR with Aragorn's oathsworn) and defeats him because htey are all immune to the corruption.

Btw this was actually what I thought was going to happen and wished it did. Then no Jailer and this other nonsense.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I've said this before, but WoW's two faction setup was conceptually flawed and resulted in a lot of the problems we have today. The Forsaken in WC3 were not set up to have legs. They can't ally with the Horde or the Alliance, aren't fleshed out like the Scourge are, and are pretty much a minor faction that will get eliminated in questing ASAP like the Scarlet Crusade. If you wanted a playable undead faction, then just make the Scourge the third faction. Also, don't bother with trying to claim that there is moral equivalency between the factions. If you really want playable Forsaken (and not Scourge) then you need to go back and rewrite WC3 to give them legs.

If you're going to do a faction war arc, you need to commit to it (ie, the Alliance defeats the Horde and occupies Orgrimmar), or don't do one at all (ie Alliance and Horde simply are in a cold war like in Vanilla).

Another problem is that Warcraft's story was not meant to go on forever. If the game was to continue after the Legion's defeat, then WoW should have transitioned away from the epic wars featuring the Horde/Alliance/Legion/etc to a story about the player adventurer exploring the rest of Azeroth, and eventually, the cosmos.

[Vellus]

Burning Crusade:
Elves go to Alliance and Ogres to Horde

Warlords of Draenor:
WoD keeps us in the same exact timeline. Chromie basically tells us this a big no-no and we need to fix it at all costs. Garrosh and the Iron Horde are the primary enemy, but this makes us have to help Gul'dan corrupt the Orcs and do his bidding the way it already played out or the timeways get broken and corrupted. I think it would be an interesting take for us to have to help one of the biggest villains in WoW's history, but for what is the greater good, and in the process get to be a follower and converse with him. A single timeline also solves the meaninglessness that arises from having an alternate bubble universe where events are more contained and we wouldn't have to deal with character duplicates that undermine the value of existing ones (ie Double Velen), not to mention the confusion that comes with that.

Battle for Azeroth:
The theme around the undead is an immunity/resistance to mind control. See: Will of the Forsaken. What Sylvanas's grand plan is actually that she knows N'Zoth is coming back and she needs to play her plan close to the chest. She needs to kill everyone or make them undead to be able to fight him. She meets with Helya to make a pocket dimension in the afterlife (which is what she's known for) to store all the souls people that are killed, like at Teldrassil. She mercilessly kills people and raises people. Characters don't understand they think she just snapped. What shes doing is trying to create an undead spirit/zombie army to defeat N'Zoth. So everyone thinks shes bad, but at a crucial point at the end of the N'Zoth fight we think we've lost, and she arrives with all of the souls (sort of like in LotR with Aragorn's oathsworn) and defeats him because htey are all immune to the corruption.

Btw this was actually what I thought was going to happen and wished it did. Then no Jailer and this other nonsense.

I like this a lot. I would love to see Blizzard go uber meta about how the story is butchered and have us work with the Infinite Dragonflight to "retcon" the timeline so the story ends up making sense.

[guro-tchai]

night elves should have been horde, the undead should have been alliance.

dump "lotr⁺ vs. metal", embrace freedom vs. order; chaotic good vs. lawful evil; nature vs. civilization; country vs. city.

reversing a single decision (NE allying with humans) made in early 2000s means other decisions can be changed as well - like WC3 plot, developed simultaneously with WoW.
instead of Grom fighting elves for lumber, it's orcs (with Thrall or Grom) helping NE with a human onslaught. let's say, Lt. Randeau, who saw his little girl chopped to bits by the orcs during the Second war, vows to hunt them down to the last and joins Jaina on her exodus with a different goal. seeking resources for his vengeance, he invades Ashenvale and kills Cenarius, drinking demon blood to help with the orcs and night elves. he fails, night elves and orcs find common love for slaughtering humans and nature, be it through druidic or shamanic framing.

the alliance is hellbent on bringing orcs to justice, the horde is just looking for a fresh start in harmony with the earth. they are too different; there is no reconciliation.
this time, the alliance elite is forced to join forces with the lordaeron raised dead, through shock and disgust - especially from the common folk. King Varian could lose his dear son after an accident under the Lordaeron ruins, but he's still blaming it on the orcs (or lead to believe that by Sylvanas, who's understandably forced to lie in fear of gaining an enemy after failing to look after the boy)
the alliance accepts that ends justify the means from the very start. the internal conflict is between grieving veterans, invading Kalimdor for vengeance, and ruthless industrialists, invading Kalimdor for resources. Theramore is not a backwater, but the New Lordaeron.

in turn, Hillsbrad and Zul'dare belong to the Horde, trying to reconnect with the Amani.

druid and shaman are Horde-only, mage and paladin are Alliance-only. instagrow food instead of conjuring, port through the Emerald dream, darkspear can't be mages.
in BC, blood elves instead of draenei for the Alliance, ogres instead of blood elves for the Horde.

it's harder to make blue Horde and red Alliance from this. the primary distinction mimics the irl political divide (urban/suburban). finally, savagery in night elves wouldn't have to be reduced - on the contrary, it would have to be amplified. the undead 'methods' wouldn't conflict with the rest of the faction, blood elves wouldn't have to be neutered.

it seems that making orcs and NE allies was an option early in development - their signs are both green on this map.
https://i.imgur.com/V8Ihc2Q.jpeg

[shoc]

Infinite Dragonflight drags us to 1000 years in the future, Cybercraft 2077.

[AlmightyGerkin]

Infinite Dragonflight drags us to 1000 years in the future, Cybercraft 2077.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=homqyBxHwis&t=1s