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I'd like to go deeper into this.
On a cinematic scale, this new intro looks great. Stormwind looks vibrant and alive even with such minimalistic NPC touches, much like Lion's Rest on an RP server. It's nice to see!
However... it's a little troublesome in its implications. https://twitter.com/valarynn/status/1273068501092179968
On a cinematic scale, this new intro looks great. Stormwind looks vibrant and alive even with such minimalistic NPC touches, much like Lion's Rest on an RP server. It's nice to see!
However... it's a little troublesome in its implications. https://twitter.com/valarynn/status/1273068501092179968
One of the greatest things BFA suffered from was racial gentrification. WoW is such a diverse world with so many different races and cultures, yet it feels like the narrative is scared to capitalize on them. The Alliance many times ends up boiling down to "Stormwind & Friends."
It's understandable that it's difficult to juggle different racial narratives all at once, but at times it feels as though it wasn't even attempted. Every race was often shoved into generic 7th Legion armor and treated the same as your average Stormwind Guard.
Setting apart that the intro replaces all cities with simply Stormwind, this trend continues with this guard - a Draenei in generic Stormwind armor. Why? It's unnecessary, there's already human guards in the intro. Why not diversify it by putting her in Vindicator gear?
The issue was persistent even before BFA started - the war was kicked off by an event that most greatly affected the Kaldorei, yet it most seemed to be used as a catalyst for human protagonists' conflict. Reclaiming a human kingdom didn't even seem like a response to Teldrassil.
The narrative needs to convey that the people in the Alliance aren't just tools to whip out when they need a gimmick - dwarves aren't just mole machines, gnomes aren't silly boss fights, and Kaldorei aren't simple ranged units. All these people are members of the Alliance too.
And yet, they just kind of exist. It doesn't feel like they're autonomous or have a voice of their own. They're just secondary to their great Stormwind overlords. Some races were entirely ignored, like the Draenei.
It's a niche mold, but they insist on stuffing everyone into it.
It's a niche mold, but they insist on stuffing everyone into it.
I spoke a while on how the phrase "getting back to our roots" - used to describe BFA in buildup - concerned me. WoW's come a long way since Orcs and Humans, and yet it feels like we've regressed all the way back to it.
WoW has grown past its roots. WoW needs to move forward.
WoW has grown past its roots. WoW needs to move forward.
I thought I could speak more on this, but I don't know that I can without sounding like a broken record or that I'm blathering. It's just becoming increasingly tiresome to see the same contrived themes forced upon every people, when the opportunity for more is right there.
