I’ve been having a lot of fun finally playing “World of Warcraft” beyond the “Free Trial” but the story issues that have come up reminded me of the game I wish had been made when I first heard “World of Warcraft” was coming out after “Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.” I brought up in my review of the “World of Warcraft: Free Trial” how I wish Ogres and Forest Trolls had been part of the Horde rather than the Forsaken and Blood Elves and I’ll explore more of what that means here.
In this I’ll be exploring the factions and who they are made up of, the stakes and villains and the overarching story and finally the one thing I’d change in the gameplay. In this I’ll also be bringing up some of the problems that “World of Warcraft” has had since it’s creation and some of the later problems too.
The Factions
In my version of “World of Warcraft” there would be 3 playable factions. The Alliance who would have all the same races who they did at launch (Night Elves, Humans, Dwarves and Gnomes) while the Horde would have (Orcs, Tauren, Trolls (both Jungle and Forest as options) and Goblins). The third faction would be the Illidari (Blood Elves, Forsaken, Naga and Broken Draenei). The primary enemy factions would be the same as still existed and exist in game with Old Gods, Burning Legion and the Scourge. The Blood Elves and Forsaken with their mentality of revenge and ends justify the means is far more based in the Illidari mindset than the honor and seeking redemption of the Horde or the Alliance. It would be this mentality that would lead to the Illidari clashing with the other 2 factions where Alliance and Horde fights would largely be based around resources on Azeroth.
The Stakes and Narrative
The stakes would be the same of the different factions trying to stay alive and deal with the threats trying to destroy them. “Burning Crusade” would still be the first expansion with dealing with the Legion expanding it’s plans on Outland so it can invade Azeroth again. The 3 Factions would still be fighting against one another but having organizations that unite them against the common threats like what happens in current “World of Warcraft.” First game would be stopping the Burning Legion’s attempt to capture Outland, the next game would still involve the Lich King but be much more personal given Illidan’s failure to kill him and Ner’zhul and Arthas’s connection to the Alliance and Horde as for me they would be one being and not one dominant personality over another. Third game would still involve “Cataclysm” and the Old Gods and Deathwing before leading into “Legion” and stopping Sargeras. Additional folks who would become playable are Ogres in Outland for the Horde, Satyrs for the Illidari and High Elves for the Alliance. I’m okay either way if the Pandaren are added or not as a neutral faction. They are interesting but not essential to the story I’d want told.
The Gameplay
I chose a “Skyrim” screenshot as I would want the gameplay to mirror “Skyrim” in that zones would level up with your character. One thing that I’ve found depressing while playing my Goblin in “World of Warcraft” is lower level zones and dungeons are no longer a challenge and even bosses can be killed in one shot. I wish they’d get leveled up as the character leveled up like “Skyrim” so that the challenge of the threats in the different zones is still just as great and challenging. The same classes that were released can still happen. I’d also have end game content accessible to everyone who is fully leveled in endgame dungeons with raids as one of the options but not the only option to get endgame content.
This would be the version of “World of Warcraft” I would make. I’ll be putting out a review of “World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth” after I complete all the story campaigns related to the story but until than this is what playing “World of Warcraft” again inspired. This is one of my favorite fantasy universes and even with all the flaws the story has I’m curious to see where the story goes.
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I played WoW from vanilla through most of Dragonflight. I purple parsed on Heroic raids, easily broke 2100 IO in M+ runs (no point in going beyond that because the gear doesn’t scale) and was making consistent progress in PvP, chipping away at 1800 CR and then 1900 CR. I ultimately quit in disgust before deciding to continue my quest towards perfecting my Warrior game.
The lore and the vibe are broken. Classes are obscenely imbalanced; they always have been and they always will be. PvP is rife with cheating, and Blizzard doesn’t care. In fact, Blizzard is continuously churning out new ways to waste players’ time in order to fulfill time played metrics instead of deliver quality content. The Trading Post is another brick of the wall of FOMO-centered design, and of course the price in Tender for items has only inflated so you are made to want to purchase Tender for real dollars.
The majority of the community are a mix of jaded, resentful addicts and addicts so deep in denial, with Blizzard’s boot shoved so deep in their assholes that they gaslight new or questioning players.
Don’t do it. Don’t go further down the WoW hole. Play FF14 instead, because that game respects your time and the community is by orders of magnitude better.