Can Stratholme not be on fire?

[huth]

In retrospect I do think it's funny how Teldrassil was extinguished over the course of a single content patch, meanwhile Stratholme has been on fire for the past nearly two decades

Well, one of them has been on fire for years before the game even started. At that point, it continuing to burn isn't really all that surprising anymore. It's clearly not normal fire.

[Lord Pebbleton]

tbf they did do that, for 4 zones in BfA.

I would prefer everything gets done at once and upscaled. Seeing the Alterac mountains standing as tall as the new expac mountains for example would be cool. What I hate about the old world is that every zone is flat around the same elevation with mountains surrounding them. It is like empty egg carton with each spot for an egg colored differently from the next over. Seeing the dragon isles have the same weather across all the zones gives it a connectedness. classic zones its dumb you walk over a small hill and the sky changes dramatically.

I agree, it's super weird to get over a small mound and go from a swamp to a desert. I would love to see a decent overhaul, but if Cataclysm is anything to go by, just upgrading everything at once takes a lot of resources and doesn't really add anything to new zones and stories. The only possible out would be to make endgame content in the revamped areas to justify the time spent, but many people would not like having to go back to the same old, even with a new layer of paint

[loras]

I think the implication over the years is that what happened at Stratholme, and the fact that large amounts of Necromancy and a strong demonic presence (e.g. Mal'ganas and Balnazzar) has magically extended the burning of the city, such that the fires can't be quenched by normal means and don't consume what's left of the city's flammable environs. Stratholme is described as "ever-burning," and so will likely go on burning until powerful magic is employed to stop the phenomenon from continuing.

This.
And there is the broader fantasy trope of "places where lots of people died are altered / haunted forever".

The dead scar in Quel'thalas comes to mind.

[Al Gorefiend]

I agree, it's super weird to get over a small mound and go from a swamp to a desert. I would love to see a decent overhaul, but if Cataclysm is anything to go by, just upgrading everything at once takes a lot of resources and doesn't really add anything to new zones and stories. The only possible out would be to make endgame content in the revamped areas to justify the time spent, but many people would not like having to go back to the same old, even with a new layer of paint

There is an exception and that is if enough time has passed.

If the next expac sent us to draenor/broken isles/BfA isles/SL it would be garbage expac of the year.

If the next expac sent us back to classic to MoP era nostalgia power kicks in. An expac back in Northrend would probably do very well.

[Kyphael]

It burns because it's part of the aesthetic. That's like asking why a haunted house is haunted. If it wasn't, it would just be a house. Blizzard has no interest in restoring the Kingdom of Lordaeron, it's now synonymous with the theme of Undeath. If they restored it, it would just be Stormwind 2. It's why Gilneas is still plagued.

[Z3ROR]

They should update Stratholme as a reclaimed city. And give us access to small northern Lordearon part above Stratholme as extended questing zone.

[thomasstevens]

In the game's lore, Stratholme is depicted as a city consumed by the plague and subsequently set on fire by Prince Arthas Menethil. This event is a significant part of Warcraft lore and is tied to the backstory of several major characters.

[Ardenaso]

In the game's lore, Stratholme is depicted as a city consumed by the plague and subsequently set on fire by Prince Arthas Menethil. This event is a significant part of Warcraft lore and is tied to the backstory of several major characters.

surely it would have been extinguished by the time Arthas left out for Northrend AND the many months he stayed there