This is not so much about the story itself, which can be liked or disliked. The focus of all criticism is currently the storytelling chaos, which Blizzard urgently needs to eliminate in order to inspire new players for World of Warcraft. At this point I would like to show you this video from Sync Weaver Recommend. As a FF14 veteran, Sync gets to the heart of all the storytelling problems in WoW.

A good start would be not to wrap the story in books, short stories and other external media, but to tell it directly in the game. Don’t get me wrong, the novels and literary supplements are a nice addition to the story. However, they should not include core lore elements that are important to the overall story of WoW. (buy now ) to understand. The current lore is like a dilapidated house that threatens to collapse at any time. Blizzard has paid no attention at all in recent years to the story foundation laid by Chris Metzen and the original Warcraft team.

Fans vs. developers

Metzen and his team had a good story for WoD, but they were not allowed to implement it.

Source: buffed

Speaking of Chris Metzen. Yes, I know most players don’t have good memories of Warlords of Draenor. I, on the other hand, really liked the early stages of WoD. The little game content that was there was great production. But what I remember fondly to this day are the shining eyes of Chris Metzen, who spoke in the Q&A session at BlizzCon about finally being able to tell the story with WoD that had been on his mind for years.

The Warlords of Draenor story should have focused not only on the Orc clans, but also on the moral conflict between Thrall and Garrosh. Hellscream Junior was even planned to be a key character. Garrosh should have learned that he cannot avert fate and redeem the orcs just like that. However, this plan was scrapped in the middle of development because WoW fans thought the idea of having Grommash Hellscream as the final boss of the expansion was dumb. The result was a lukewarm story with Killrogg Dead Eye and plenty of plot holes. This debacle, dear Lore fans, is on us!

Hardened fronts

With Chris Metzen, Blizzard lost its good connection to the WoW community. Many other charismatic developers of the first hour followed his example and started their own projects.

Source: Blizzard

Namely, after WoD, the developers stopped listening to player feedback. Why? Because they realized that they simply can’t please anyone. After Chris Metzen retired from the business in 2016, the story went downhill. Christie Golden should have succeeded him as lead writer, but instead of WoW, Golden had to put most of her time into the story of Warcraft 3: Reforged. And while Golden was busy with Reforged, Blizzard left the story to a new team of writers who were apparently overwhelmed with the classic Warcraft lore. This decision was absurd!

Warcraft 3’s story is a timeless classic, so what exactly should Golden have done to improve it? Then Blizzard put its foot in its mouth again. Although Golden was not involved in the story of BfA as the main writer, the author earned a lot of criticism on the net. The whipped-up emotions eventually culminated in hatred, and Golden even received death threats. She had to defend herself on her own and explain to players that it wasn’t her alone who was responsible for the story, but an entire team of writers. Why Blizzard failed to introduce the new team structure is still a mystery to me.

The embarrassing part of the whole situation, however, was that Chris Metzen had to step in as an alum to back up his successor. Good, after so many personal attacks, hate messages and threats, Christie Golden lacks the patience and aplomb to deal with the “fans”. I wouldn’t be surprised if she soon follows the example of Robert Brooks, the author of the Warcraft Chronicles, and leaves Blizzard as well.

The Warcraft Chronicles debacle

In the process, Robert Brooks could have saved WoW lore. Yeah, that sounds crazy. Brooks isn’t beloved by all fans of the story, with most blaming him for numerous retcons in Warcraft lore. However, a reference book that explains the entire backstory of WoW was sorely needed. Whether you approve of the retcons (like the disappearance of Me’dan) or not, with the Chronicles Robert Brooks finally eliminated the story anarchy and provided a solid overview for all players interested in the lore. The Chronicles wasn’t perfect, no question, but the book series was a good fresh start.

I also like Brooks’ matter-of-fact writing style, which clearly stands as a contrast to Christie Golden’s emotional expression. Both authors would make a perfect team. The best proof of this are the two short stories from the Collectors’ Edition of Battle for Azeroth – “Lament” penned by Christie Golden and “A Good War” by Robert Brooks.

Recently, we learned that Brooks also suffered heavily from the fact that Blizzard never clearly communicated the adjustments to the story to the outside world. Thus, quite a few players on the net went after not only Christie Golden, but also Brooks. The verbal attacks and threats certainly increased after Blizzard’s sexism scandal. You need a thick skin as an artist to work under this psychological pressure. It’s understandable that even Blizzard veterans are literally at the end of their tether at some point.

WoW 2.0 is not a solution!

While my editorial colleagues are dreaming of WoW 2.0, I am convinced that WoW can be saved without a reboot. And the solution to this problem would actually be very simple. WoW needs an author who is responsible for the entire story. Who should take on this important task basically doesn’t matter at all. There just needs to be one person who determines the direction the story should take. And yes, he or she must then be strong and powerful enough to respond confidently to criticism from Lore fans. That Blizzard does not currently have a solid lead story writer is bitter. Robert Brooks would have certainly risen to the challenge if Blizzard had let him take the helm.