Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: A Little Sugar Goes a Long Way...

This week's Blog Azeroth Shared Topic comes from Mataoka of Sugar & Blood. It prompts:

"[C]onsider the nicest, cutest, sappiest, and sweetest quests in the game; nothing sad or depressing but sweet and light."

Personally my favorite "nice" quest in the game is Orphans Like Cookies Too! in Stormwind City. It's one of the random daily cooking quests and tasks you with searching the various inns and general stores throughout the city to gather bags of confectioners' sugar to help Robby Flay finish a batch of cookies for the city's orphans. It's short, simple, and sweet as a sugar cookie. =P

One of the reasons I like the quest (outside the obvious fact that you're baking cookies for orphans. Cookies. For orphans.) is that it's all the more meaningful if you've paid attention to WarCraft's lore. The cookies aren't just being baked out of the blue, they're being baked at the behest of King Varian Wrynn, who was himself orphaned at the end of the First War. Despite becoming one of the most powerful figures in the Alliance, it seems he's still able to spare some thought towards making the days of his city's most misfortunate a little bit brighter. A little sugar goes a long way, indeed.



PS: I totally didn't realize that the Confectioners' Sugar could be purchased from certain vendors around the city until I looked at the WoWhead comments while writing this post. I thought they were only obtained from looting the Sack of Confectioner's [sic] Sugar objects at the inns and stores. /facepalm

Metzen for a 5.3 Day

Recently, a fellow Feathermooninite asked what we would do if we had the mythical lore-changing powers of Chris Metzen - Blizzard's Senior Vice President of Story and Franchise Development - for a day and could retroactively rebuild the lore of WarCraft as we saw fit. Since one day is quite a short period of time, it makes sense to me to focus on something that is not only relatively recent and seemingly easy to adjust, but also somewhat controversial: the Alliance storyline in regards to the Darkspear Rebellion in World of Warcraft's Patch 5.3: Escalation. I posted the general gist of this as a comment to Rohan's Alliance vs Horde Storyline Favoritism blog post over on Blessing of Kings, but I figured I would expand on the details here.

The crux of this issue is, essentially, that the 5.3 storyline vastly downplays the Alliance's war preparations and focuses almost exclusively on the Horde's (both Garrosh's Horde and Vol'jin's uprising within the Horde). On the most basic level, this shows up in Orgrimmar where Garrosh's Kor'kron soldiers are cracking down on suspected resistance and marshaling forces and supplies not too far from the city gates, whereas there's no real indication in the open world that the Alliance is assembling a war fleet, constructing siege machinery, or gathering its troops above the normal activity in Stormwind Harbor. There's a scenario and related quest indicating that the Alliance isn't merely sitting around doing nothing, sure, but it gives no real sense that it's truly an Azerothian superpower rivaling the strength of the Horde. Additionally, while changes were made to Vol'jin's dialogue during the 5.3 Public Test to show that the Darkspear Rebellion really does need the Alliance's help if it wants to survive, it does nothing to dispel the perception that the Alliance is nowhere near on par with the Horde until the Horde splinters and turns against itself - and considering that the Horde's self-inflicted implosion also happens to be the major lore reason why the Alliance won the Second War, it feels unbalanced on some level that the Alliance only ever wins because the Horde decides to throw the game.

Getting back to the topic at hand, what I would change for Patch 5.3's storyline would be to add elements that show that the Alliance is not only up to the challenge of taking the Horde head-on, but also actively preparing to take the fight to Orgrimmar. This comes in two parts, the first of which is to add the aforementioned war fleet, siege vehicles, and troop assemblages to Stormwind Harbor to give off the impression that the Alliance war machine has sprung to life and is steaming ahead full-tilt.

The second - not to mention far more substantial and significant - change I would make would be to adjust the story so that the Alliance is no longer working to assist the Darkspear Revolution, but is instead working in its own interests to subvert Garrosh's hold in the Barrens and prepare for the inevitable attack on Orgrimmar. While this would include intentionally not working against Vol'jin in any way, it would also mean that Alliance players would no longer be subservient to him either, which feels much better than questing for the ungrateful jerk after he completely forgets that Alliance adventurers answered his call to arms when he sent Darkspear emissaries directly to Stormwind during the Cataclysm era (Patch 4.1: Rise of the Zandalari) and acts like we're the ones who somehow owe him for that.

Since the question originally asked by my fellow Feathermooninite asked for specifics instead of just complaints, I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about exactly how I would implement the second change, had I the power to do so. My thoughts are as follows, starting with the quest A Little Field Work.

• A Little Field Work: Move Amber Kearnen and Sully "The Pickle" McLeary towards the southwest and closer to the path between Razor Hill and Orgrimmar.
  
  
• Gathering Intelligence: Upon completing the quest and returning to Amber and Sully, a patrol of Darkspear batriders captures the player, Amber, and Sully, and takes them to where Zen'tabra is found for The Darkspear Rebellion quest.
  
  
• The Darkspear Rebellion: This quest is effectively removed.
  
  
• Vol'jin of the Darkspear: This quest becomes the new The Darkspear Rebellion, and Amber and Sully both accompany the player and Zen'tabra to Vol'jin. Upon completion, a modified version of the infamous "calling Vol'jin's bluff" dialogue plays out between Vol'jin and Amber, but Chen Stormstout steps in when things appear to be going badly and suggests that if the Darkspear and the Alliance can't work together, they should at least try to avoid working against each other. Amber and Vol'jin begrudgingly agree to a pact of nonaggression/noninterference and Chen Stormstout offers to act as a go-between.
  
  
• Arming in Ashenvale: A new quest to make up for the removed part of the chain. Amber Kearnen tells the player to go find the Night Elf in charge in eastern Ashenvale and report recent events. She, Sully, and Chen then depart from Vol'jin's tower.
  
  In eastern Ashenvale, near the Azshara border, the player finds a small Night Elven camp, mostly made up of a pile of crates, a handful of Sentinels and wisps, an Ancient Protector, Su'ura Swiftarrow, and Tyrande Whisperwind herself. Turning in the quest causes Amber, Sully, and Chen to materialize and act as NPCs for the new hub, as well as unlocking several new quests and dialogues.
  
  To replace the "calling Vol'jin's bluff" dialogue, Tyrande will instead have a dialogue option that explains the Alliance war plan, which is for Varian to attack by sea with the bulk of Alliances forces and lay siege to Orgrimmar's southern gate to Durotar whilst Tyrande leads a contingent of troops east from Ashenvale into Aszhara in order to seal off Orgrimmar's northern gate. (That would make it the Darkspear Rebellion's responsibility to liberate their strong point in the Valley of Spirits and close off the city's western gate into the Northern Barrens.)
  
  
• Battlefield: Barrens (initial): This quest would now be given by Tyrande Whisperwind with the purpose of stockpiling supplies in preparation for the coming ground assault on Orgrimmar. The methods for obtaining the Kor'kron supplies would be identical to present - killing Kor'kron commanders and laborers; stealing them from Kor'kron bases; scavenging overturned Kor'kron caravans; and escorting Alliance caravans.
  
  
• Battlefield: Barrens (weekly): Given by Su'ura Swiftarrow, this quest would be to further stockpile supplies for the Alliance, but would still yield a Radical Mojo. Supplies, as well as the mojo, could then be traded to Sully, who replaces Ravika, the Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster, for Alliance players.
  
  
• The Old Seer: The only difference here would be Chen Stormstout's location when starting the quest.

Personally, I think this approach would have been preferable for many Alliance players, not least of all because allowing Alliance players to do things for the Alliance while blatantly avoiding conflict with the Horde playerbase's chosen faction feeds into the ideas of faction loyalty and uneasy cooperation without portraying one entire side as equal to a mere fragment of the other. Additionally, it shows Alliance leaders being proactive and thinking strategically about what it really means to take the fight to Garrosh, rather than being on the back-foot all the time as has been the case throughout Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria. Finally, many Alliance players have complained about Blizzard's treatment of Tyrande Whisperwind recently, especially in the scenario A Little Patience where she gives the appearance of being too impatient and bloodthirsty to be an effective leader, and I feel like putting her in charge of a significant part of the faction's efforts in Kalimdor would do much to help repair her image and show she is still a capable and trusted figure of the Alliance.

Oh, and also, I'd make it so /hugging Chen Stormstout would cause the player character to become drunk. That'd be canon. =P

Horde Favoritism in Theramore's Future?

Warning: This posts contains spoilers for the upcoming Mists of Pandaria pre-launch in-game event. Normally, I wouldn't even talk about this since it comes from datamined/unreleased sources, but I'm going to take the fact that Blizzard has taken the time to respond to the posts (including explicitly stating what happens in the events I'm referring to) publicly on their official forums as a sign that they don't mind public discussion about this. If you would like to read the threads and the official responses, you can find the first thread here and the second one here. Click the little Blizz icons to be taken to the first (or next) Blizzard post.

The posts linked above reveal an interesting plot point for the upcoming Mists of Pandaria pre-launch in-game event: the Horde under Garrosh Hellscream's leadership attacks and destroys the port city of Theramore. After the many losses suffered by the Alliance in Cataclysm (relatively speaking, compared to losses suffered by the Horde), some Alliance players are taking the razing of Theramore to be a sign that Blizzard is outright favoring the Horde to be the ultimate victor of World of Warcraft.

I disagree. The fact of the matter is that the Horde instigating an escalated conflict with the Alliance is the only way forward that makes sense. Both the Alliance and the Horde have suffered huge losses over the course of recent WarCraft history, especially in Cataclysm, and as such, both factions are trying to consolidate their power and rejuvenate their resources. It just so happens that the way these two factions go about this is in diametrically opposing manners that cut to the very heart of what it means to be Alliance or Horde.

The Alliance would most likely undertake this consolidation by renewing and reinforcing the ties between its varying races, as well as seeking someone to champion the cause of the faction as a whole, such as happened during the Second War with Anduin Lothar (and later Turalyon). During BlizzCon, Blizzard revealed that a major quest plot point for Alliance players in the future will be to act as a squire for King Varian Wrynn as he undertakes herculean tasks for the other Alliance leaders in order to be worthy of becoming said champion. Indeed, in addition to this quest chain, steps towards closer diplomatic ties between the Alliance leaders are already being taken as Prince Anduin Wrynn has been sent to study the ways of the Holy Light under the tutelage of the Draenei, who had until then been about as far from the center of Alliance political power as possible.

The Horde, on the other hand, is in the worst shape it has ever been in. The new WarChief, Garrosh Hellscream, is despised by most of the other Horde racial leaders. Cairne is dead by Garrosh's hand and Magatha Grimtotem's treachery, Sylvannas misses no opportunity to show her contempt for Garrosh, Vol'jin has been exiled and trusts Garrosh so little that he even sent emissaries to Stormwind City to ask for aid in the wake of the Zandalari resurgence, Trade Master Gallywix is certainly using the Horde for his own ends, and who knows what Lor'themar Theron is up to. The most obvious and orcish solution? Pick a fight with the Alliance to force Horde leaders to unite under the WarChief's banner.

Additionally, some posters in the above-linked threads are complaining that the next step they fear Blizzard may take after Theramore's destruction would be another Alliance loss with no consequence for the Horde. Personally, I don't think that's very likely because the lore itself does not bear that out. When we look at why the Alliance hasn't retaliated against Horde aggression thus far, two primary reasons come immediately to mind: 1)there were urgent matters at hand with significantly higher stakes; and 2)two powerfully influential proponents of peace were in perfect position to mitigate an Alliance military response.

The Theramore incident takes place after Deathwing's death, in the lead-up to the Mists of Pandaria expansion—an expansion in which Blizzard emphasized that there were not going to be any overarching doomsday plots that would suppress the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. Even if we were to completely ignore Blizzard's emphasis on factional conflict, the fact that there is no imminent threat from the Burning Legion or Lich King or Old God-controlled dragon aspect putting all of Azeroth in jeopardy means that point number 1 above ceases to be. In other words, the Alliance can stop focusing on whether or not there will even be a tomorrow and start focusing on what kind of tomorrow they wish to live in—and chances are said tomorrow will not include a unified Horde threatening their stability at every turn.

As for the second point, the two characters preventing the military might of the Alliance from turning to face the Horde were Prince Anduin Wrynn and Lady Jaina Proudmore. As mentioned earlier, Prince Anduin is off studying in the Exodar, conveniently out of the way and unable to talk his father out of war. Lady Jaina Proudmore, on the other hand, is caught right at the epicenter of the conflict. Something tells me that this time she's not going to advocate for peace after the Horde levels her city.

All in all, I'm excited, because if WarCraft past is any predictor of the WarCraft future, the Alliance is about to show the Horde exactly why you don't rouse a sleeping lion from its slumber. I can't wait. >=)

A Semi-Sensical Explanation of Warsong Gulch

There have been countless jokes about the dichotomy between the premise and implementation of the Warsong Gulch battleground since it was first introduced to World of Warcraft back in the 1.5.0 patch of June, 2005. For those of you who are not in the know—or have just plain forgotten—the premise of Warsong Gulch revolves around two factions vying for control over the southern portions of Ashenvale forest. On the Horde side, the Warsong Outriders seek to obtain valuable resources by making lumber out of the forest's trees. On the Alliance side, the Silverwing Sentinels seek to keep the land pristine by halting the Warsong Outriders' lumber operation. So, how was this premise actually implemented into World of Warcraft?

As a game of capture the flag, of course!

I'll let that sink in for a moment, shall I? For those of you who have known about this for a long time, feel free to take this moment to let the headache from slamming your forehead into the desk subside.

Feeling better? Good. Now I'll bet you're wondering how a game of capture the flag can possibly make sense in the above context. Well, the truth is that no explanation that makes sense in terms of game lore can actually explain Warsong Gulch completely without requiring some degree of creative interpretation (hence the "Semi-Sensical" in this post's title). Back when the debates about how the implementation of Warsong Gulch makes sense lore-wise were still common, one of the rationales was that the flags were symbolic of actual trees. Thus, by capturing flags, you were, in effect, raiding the enemy's lumber reserves.

Personally, I disagree. Why? Because I think I've come to a conclusion that I feel better explains the relationship between the premise of Warsong Gulch and its capture-the-flag implementation—capturing the flag is not a symbolic gesture that represents capturing the enemy's lumber supplies...it's a literal one! We're not really after the enemy's flag so much as we're all trying to capture the enemy's flagPOLE. After all, those flagpoles are the only movable lumber in the entire battleground. Suddenly, it all makes sense! =P

Wait, why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?