Has WoW gotten "too" family friendly?

[username993720]

I personally wouldn’t hold out any hope for the trolls that were beaten by rampaging Murlocs in classic. I mean I’ve always been a fan of Trolls but dark spear are just lame compared to all other tribes even back in classic.

Zandalari are top notch though.

Well, yes, they are a bit weak for a tribe. But, try to imagine them as Jungle Trolls in general. Something like Gurubashi Trolls.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Well, yes, they are a bit weak for a tribe. But, try to imagine them as Jungle Trolls in general. Something like Gurubashi Trolls.

Well that's kinda the problem isn't it, the Darkspears aren't part of the Gurubashi any more because they were unlike the other jungle trolls they are pretty much the weaker more pathetic version of trolls coming from a Golden empire to a savage jungle to losing to a bunch of Murlocs.

the dark spear give the rest of the trolls a bad name.

[Zodiark]

I totally understand the sentiment here. I also totally understand what the WoW team is trying to do.

Dragonflight is a big reset button on the: "COOL GENOCIDE! LETS BOMB CITIES! BILLIONS DIED AND WE'RE GOING TO HELL! IT WAS ALL FOR A GOOD REASON THO!"
Granted, this isn't actually what's happening in the game, but player's responses to their favorite bikini elf being a mass murderer or different bikini elf getting murdered became a kind of outrage feedback loop that essentially THIS is all anyone knew or talked about the game online. They started to pivot away from this mid Shadowlands, mostly... but the damage was done by some weirdos making WoW a spectacle game, and not a game where background character narratives and geopolitics left breathing room for you the players to RP. That's what made Vanilla to Wrath feel special - big stuff was happening, but the game was mostly about you, a ground level adventurer going to new lands and slowly discovering things and turning the tide one small victory at a time.

Dragonflight is playing it safe with those big gotcha moments, negativity, antagonism, etc. to give breathing room for the player to just be their character, explore, chill and live the life of an adventurer while some a-holes poke around Titan vaults if you're into that kinda thing. This might be the way the game is from now on, or it might just be a pause button for a bit while we all collectively detox from the cringe of Shadowlands (which I thought had some fun stuff, but overall the intrusive and pointless narrative killed it).

Yeah the Narrative WAS terrible in Shadowlands. I actually enjoyed some of the stuff in SL but thought the connective fiber holding it all together was terrible. It felt disjointed and uninspired. Like Hey we have all these ideas in the pot how can we tie them together? Then Covid hit and we got... Shadowlands.

But all that aside. I think Blizzard made some, lets say questionable choices over the years. First off as I alluded to in several of my posts. Dragons for generations in western civilization have been part of dark legend and lore. Supreme wicked beings who's existence often foretold the coming of calamity and destruction. Even going back to the times of the Bible a dragon was foretold to come during the end times to devour the dead. As time went on and stories like the Hobbit came about new life was breathed into these with the creation of dragons like Smaug who was himself inspired by medieval lore.

Dragons could have been a great source for storytelling by creating powerful antagonists. The dark shadows ever looming in the background pulling the strings of their underlings who sew the seeds of discord around the world in their name.

A really cool idea for dragons came from a game called Breath of Fire IV. In that game as well as it's predecessors but especially in IV, Dragons were like forces of nature. Thier very existence while awakened was so powerful that the world around them and the destiny of all those in their immediate presence would become forever changed merely by the strength of the dragons life-force. There were so many deep existential story elements to this game that even today whenever I replay it I often take time to ponder some of their meaning.

Blizzard could have delved into deeper storytelling with elements like these but instead they made dragons commonplace and took all the mystery out of them. Even Raszageth was so two dimensional.

- - - Updated - - -

This 1000x! I've been pointing this out for years, the shift from Warcraft's root in Alex Horley's 80s desaturated powermetal album covers with gritty texturing to tumblr face with clean texturing and oversaturated colors, and yet the fanboys insist that retail WoW looks the same as it was 20 or even 10 years ago.

Part of when some of that powermetal vibe died is a big part of why the overall "feel" of wow changed over the years. Part of the allure to heavy metal was the whole feeling of IDGAF about society, mentality. My way or the highway or to Hell's Bells with you! When Blizzard merged with Activision much of these tones changed.

[shane brannigan]

Wow has definitely been sanitised.

I saw Spiketooth <slave driver> the other day and I was like "wow, no way blizzard would make a Player aligned NPC today that has slaves".
Then I blinked three times and though "remember when people could separate fiction from reality". So I blew him a kiss, and did his quests.

[username993720]

Well that's kinda the problem isn't it, the Darkspears aren't part of the Gurubashi any more because they were unlike the other jungle trolls they are pretty much the weaker more pathetic version of trolls coming from a Golden empire to a savage jungle to losing to a bunch of Murlocs.

the dark spear give the rest of the trolls a bad name.

Not everyone can be on top, i guess.
Even the Bloodhoof Tauren were a saved tribe.
The Horde is comprised of refugees, so not the strongest bunch i suppose.

What i really want, in terms of Trolls, are Blood Trolls. They are sick.

[baskev]

This is an absolute crock of shit and you know it, the art style shift is the MOST evident in gnolls, or the weird pastel-like color scheme that has become so prominent. Even the model rigging is changed to make them look like they came out of a damn Pixar film.

Storywise, most of your examples were simply shallow attempts at shock value (Teldrassil especially) with little in the way of actual grit tone-wise due to the constant mood whiplash. All your post did was show your complete misunderstanding. Show me a story like Darrowshire, In Dreams, or even Mankrik's Wife.

Its not crock sh**.

First off look at the art style/animation options back then. You can say: it was way more greulsome...but thats mostly because they did not have the tech back then. And again, old model rigging was limited.
So comparing it is silly at best. Tech etc all has changed. And when i see the gnoles is do not think they have changed that much. Hell take a look at this: https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Gnoll#Gallery
You can see gnolls their true the ages. And they look crisper and better because of the graphic increase...but other then that...nope.
So again, its not any type of sh**.

Storywise, most of your examples were simply shallow attempts at shock value (Teldrassil especially) with little in the way of actual grit tone-wise due to the constant mood whiplash.

No story telling thats called. And not misunderstanding. I am just saying you fill in things that are not there. You say its not dark, and bad. But when people give examples you go like: but that, because thats not dark. Or the only do it because of shock value etc.....And other stories are not there for that?

Darrowshire: darkshore? a whole zone thats like darrowshire.


again you are pushing the woke/incel stuff here. WoW/blizzard has not gone full cartoony. Your opinion has changed. And that is okay. But say its not dark when their child killing, corpses, torture. Hell just played the diablo 4 beta....

So i would say have fun thinking it. Because if you say things like :

Show me a story like Darrowshire, In Dreams, or even Mankrik's Wife.

but when you give examples that are pretty much the same you say this:

most of your examples were simply shallow attempts at shock value

then i can link stories that would be exact the same type of stuff. and you will still say the same things...because you want the game to be bad, colorfull and "woke". so you can hate it.

[anakin57]

I think a little bit, yes, but IMO it hasn't taken away from my experience or enjoyment. It's still unbelievable how long WoW has stuck around - remember when everyone was saying it would survive another year or some other MMO would overtake it?

[Ginnung]

I think a little bit, yes, but IMO it hasn't taken away from my experience or enjoyment. It's still unbelievable how long WoW has stuck around - remember when everyone was saying it would survive another year or some other MMO would overtake it?

To be fair, people say this about every MMO lol.
I've played FFXIV since ARR and people have said this every expansion too that it was dying, and in reality FFXIV is the only MMO that has been consistently growing with every expansion to this day.
So even when a game is growing and getting more and more popular people will still say it's '' dying ''.

WoW isn't going anywhere.
One thing I do think is quite problematic for WoW tho is attracting new players.
I really wonder how many WoW players are actually new and how many are just returning/ old players who always play regardless.
Stagnation might actually be a big problem.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Wow has definitely been sanitised.

I saw Spiketooth <slave driver> the other day and I was like "wow, no way blizzard would make a Player aligned NPC today that has slaves".
Then I blinked three times and though "remember when people could separate fiction from reality". So I blew him a kiss, and did his quests.

Lady Vashj was a main character in the necro lords who ran a whole slave mine.

[shane brannigan]

Lady Vashj was a main character in the necro lords who ran a whole slave mine.

I do not remember this but I'm willing to believe you because I've blocked 80% of shadowlands out of my memory.

[Malcho]

What the hell. It's not family friendly. The game is designed by people who I would not feel safe leaving kids around.

[Akibaboy]

Dragons could have been a great source for storytelling by creating powerful antagonists. The dark shadows ever looming in the background pulling the strings of their underlings who sew the seeds of discord around the world in their name.

I really like that. It's also a major part of Warcraft 2 and WoW Classic - Deathwing as Daval Prestor, and the entire Alliance / Human leveling campaign with Onyxia... so if it was done again everyone would cry "Wowowowoowow Onyxia 3.0!"

A really cool idea for dragons came from a game called Breath of Fire IV. In that game as well as it's predecessors but especially in IV, Dragons were like forces of nature. Thier very existence while awakened was so powerful that the world around them and the destiny of all those in their immediate presence would become forever changed merely by the strength of the dragons life-force. There were so many deep existential story elements to this game that even today whenever I replay it I often take time to ponder some of their meaning.

This is a primary, foundational plotline of Final Fantasy XIV, WoW's direct competitor. The Primals are forces of nature that when awakened have often disastrous effects on nature and the surrounding populace. Those in their presence were in danger of being "tempered", or otherwise enslaved by their power of their life-force or aether.

I agree that the dragons could be cooler, but I think the damage done was in Cataclysm. That said, I'm ok with the game not revolving around this massive, oppressive force and giving me space to exist, explore, and make new stories.

[Wewlad]

Darrowshire: darkshore? a whole zone thats like darrowshire.

Stopped reading at this nonsense. Was your thought process, that the naming scheme was similar so the stories must be too? Give me a break.

Also you are blind as a bat regarding the gnolls. I'm not going to discuss this with someone who's eyes don't work.

[baskev]

Stopped reading at this nonsense. Was your thought process, that the naming scheme was similar so the stories must be too? Give me a break.

Also you are blind as a bat regarding the gnolls. I'm not going to discuss this with someone who's eyes don't work.

Again, agression only proves my feeling that you are just hating to hate.

darrowshire in a nutshell:
( from wowpedia)

Darrowshire is a village located in the southern part of what is now the Eastern Plaguelands. During the Third War, Darrowshire came under attack by a Scourge force led by the ghoul lord Horgus the Ravager and the death knight Marduk Blackpool. Though the defenders of Darrowshire made headway at first, the defenders were eventually slaughtered.

so....lets take a look at darkshore...a zone attacked by the horde...lead by a UNDEAD boss. And while people in darkshore fought...they still lost and death camps ( ingame lore btw) came to being......
Like darkshore is just a zone wide version of darrowshire.
Its pretty much the same story. ( is t weak to copy the story.....yeah)

as for the gnolls....i linked you a whole gallery worth of gnoll pictures from a reputable site like wowpedia.
Hell the gnolls portrait from the original warcraft 3 looks more cartoony then what we have now.
And trading card game gnolls also look like the gnolls now...trading card game is a very old product

So again i have proven. And you saying i am blind because i do not follow your opinion so you do not discuss is weak. Even more so, when i give proof ( galary wowpedia). That gnolls always have this astehtic.

So again, it says more about your opinion . And how it might want something more dark. Then that WoW has gone from Hardcore 18+ game to carebears.

I have proven my points with evidence. You have not. You just shout because you are "losing" the "discussion". Come with proof. counter my points with fact. I dare you.