Yesterday part 2 in the three week time-gated pre-patch event went live on the servers, and I along with many other players crowded at the docks of Rut’theran Village just waiting for the moment the new quest would appear. After all the build up and frankly anticlimactic conclusion to the previous week’s questline, I was ready for an epic battle in which I knew would probably result in Teldrassil going up in flames. I was ready for some of the puzzle pieces to start fitting together, and for everyone’s question of who burns Teldrassil? to finally be answered. What we got instead were maybe four or five quests that really don’t do a good job of advancing the story or give us the epic battle that I’m sure many of us were expecting. Now there are things I did like about this week’s quests, but I’ll talk about those a little later.
When I started the first quest and discovered that the Horde have scaled the mountains of Felwood into Darkshore and took the village of Lor’Danel by surprise, I was excited. When I read that first quest I felt a sense of urgency to keep going and see what happens. When I reached the village I was given three quests which involved saving innocent citizens, and killing members of the Horde and taking out their leaders. After that there was a showdown between Sylvanas and Malfurion that left the demigod near death, but Tyrande arrived just in time and they were allowed to flee Kalimdor and seek refuge in Stormwind. It is unclear if Sylvanas is aware that Malfurion is still alive, as she entrusted Saurfang to finish the job for her. That whole thing confused and angered me because it struck me as lazy writing. Tyrande abandoned her people while Darnassus burned, something that seemed out of character for the High Priestess of Elune and leader of Darnassus. If she stayed and fought or went to help her people, that could have expanded the questline, but instead all we got was one last quest in which we attempt to save Darnassian citizens then we are rewarded with a mount for what feels like minimal effort. The whole questline probably takes around 15 minutes, if that, and was not an epic conclusion to the burning of the World Tree like we all wanted.
The whole pre-patch thus far feels rushed, and the idea that the catalyst for war between the Horde and Alliance is the new Azerite resource seems forced. If Azerite is the driving force behind Sylvanas wanting to occupy Darnassus, then shouldn’t it be more present in the story? I understand that the expansion is still two weeks away and I really haven’t read what the War Campaign will be like, but Sylvanas’ reasoning for going to war confuses me. She expects the Alliance to submit to her after the burning of Teldrassil which is an, admittedly, terrible and sad outcome of this week’s events. In the Horde questline, she explains that she wants to control Darnassus in order to control the flow of Azerite leaving Kalimdor. While that makes sense to me, the importance of Azerite needs to be shown in game. After what happened in Silithus, I expected our pre-patch event to be there and involve us building up our small Alliance/Horde bases or something like that.
However, even though I main an Alliance character, it still bothers me the way that Sylvanas is depicted in these events. She is seemingly being written as a villain for no reason, when in fact she has done many good things for the Forsaken and is shown to care about their plight. Personally, I think she has some reason for her actions that is being hidden from us or she is being manipulated somehow by the Old Gods. Above all, I don’t want another Garrosh situation as that has been done before and would be lazy writing. I hope her’s is a story of redemption.
Even with my disappointment, there are things I did like about the events this week. If you were playing Horde, you got to see firsthand the Sylvanas Warbringers video, which was inserted into the final quest instead of a stand-alone video like the Jaina one. I have been fascinated by Sylvanas and her story since Warcraft 3, and seeing Blizzard tell her story in the Warbringers animated art style was great. We finally found out that the Elf kneeling next to Sylvanas is Captain Delaryn Summermoon, the Alliance questgiver from last week. Afterwards, I watched a fantastic video by Taliesin and Evitel Do Games that broke down the meaning of the video, and they talked about the reception of the pre-patch as well.
I also liked the final quest from the Alliance side, where players only have 2:30 minutes to evacuate 982 people from Darnassus. The futility of the quest is what makes it. It encompasses how Alliance players are supposed to feel when they figure out that they’ve lost. As a person who both mains a Night Elf and enjoys Night Elf lore, I felt sad. It was sad to see a city that always seemed so permanent and unchanging fall. It evoked the right emotions and I am not sure if we will be able to go back to Teldrassil and, if we do, I am not sure that it will be the same. After the burning and the questline was complete, and I got my glorious Hippogryph mount, I tried to take a portal to Darnassus only to wind up being ported to Darkshore instead. If you talk to a flightmaster, you will find that there are no flight points to Teldrassil anymore. This is a turning point, and I am waiting for next week when we storm Undercity and give the Horde a taste of their own medicine.
All in all, I was very disappointed by the events this week. I was hoping for some epic conclusion to the battle for Darnassus, and players did not get that. Horde players seem to have mixed feelings, many denouncing the actions of Sylvanas and others still fighting for her. The whole thing seems lackluster and is causing confusion among the players. Honestly, so far this pre-patch makes me scared for the quality of Battle For Azeroth and I hope that it is not a reflection of how rushed it feels right now. All I have to say is, I’m glad that the Kirin Tor Tavern Crawl was on the same day as patch day, because us players sure needed it!
Great post! I’m confused, as well, by the pre-patch events. Sylvanas’ actions seem odd, and explanations for why things happen are weak at best. Tyrande turning to the camera and declaring that Teldrassil is lost seems like Blizzard lost an entire plotline and had to hastily type some text in at the last minute.
Thank you! Something else I thought was odd that I didn’t mention was how Horde players were given their Undercity Plaguebat mounts already, even though the Siege of Undercity has yet to happen. It seems like they had to re-hash part of the story for this.