World of Warcraftfirst launched all the way back in 2004, making it one of the longest running and most successful MMORPGs of all time. The new expansion,World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, has players travel all the way to the realms of death itself, and theShadowlands: Afterlivesanimated shorts have hinted at the return of old foes and friends alike.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, more than any other expansion released so far, feels like a goodbye toWorld of Warcraft’s main retail run. There are a few key reasons that this is the case and some conclusions which can be drawn about what this might mean forWarcraft’s future.
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WoW’s Recent History
Shadowlands as a Goodbye
WoW: Shadowlandsappears to be a farewell toWarcraft, even if it doesn’t end up being the final expansion released for the main retail game. The expansion is themed around death, not in the same was asWrath of the Lich King, but in a far more literal sense. Players will be travelling the realms of death where many will be hoping to get closure on some of the most important characters in Warcraft lore.Is Arthas’ soul in the Mawand can it still be redeemed? What about Kael’thas Sunstrider’s soul in Revendreth, a character fans haven’t seen sinceThe Burning Crusade?
Even controversial figureGarrosh Hellscream is returning inShadowlandsif theAfterlives: Revendrethshort is to be believed, and it will be hard for many fans to shake the sense that Blizzard is taking the opportunity to do a farewell tour for some of the most beloved characters inWarcraft.
The player inWorld of Warcraftoriginally began as a near-anonymous adventurer, often introduced as someone left behind to pick up the slack while the stronger fighters among the Horde and the Alliance were conscripted into war. By the time ofShadowlands, the player character is a Champion of Azeroth who has adventured with some of the most importantcharacters inWoWlorefirst hand, but necessarily cannot be acknowledged in any way in the lore itself.
The narrative ofWoWfrom a player perspective is pretty saturated, with the new games increasingly centering the player in the story despite not being able to deliver a world that actually reacts to them as a powerful figure. By visiting the realm of death itself, Blizzard risks undermining the emotional weight of any death that takes place in theWarcraftmultiverse, and by having Sylvanas heel-turn, in particular against the Forsaken, the retail games risk repeating plot-lines, with Garrosh Hellscream also a former Warchief who – some would say uncharacteristically – turned against his people.
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The Future of World of Warcraft
It seems likely that Blizzard hopes to use theShadowlandssettingto bring satisfying narrative resolution to some majorWarcraftcharacters plot-lines, particularly ones like Garrosh who risked feeling chewed up and spat out byWorld of Warcraft’s constant need for new villains and raid bosses.
It could also simply mean that Blizzard now believes thatWorld of Warcraft’s greatest asset is its nostalgia factor, and the developer is trying to tie that into the new retail releases while also developing moreWoW Classic-style servers. With less and less economic incentive to focus on the main game and more to focus on old expansion servers, players could see Blizzard creating a breadth of options, perhaps not only including different expansions but different combinations of features.
For example, Blizzard could begin releasing “hardcore” servers or something similar where Dungeon and Raid Finders have been removed from the game to give it more of a classic feel even in later expansions. Players might also see servers which contain content from past expansions with some of the significant graphical upgrades made to characters models andcharacter customization inWoWbetweenWarlords of DraenorandShadowlands, though it is possible that this would run into technical difficulties.
In any case, it will be hard for many fans to ignoreWorld of Warcraft: Shadowlandsthematic focus on finality.World of Warcraftappears to be making the transition to its own afterlife, with a change in focus and potentially business model to take advantage ofClassicservers and other features which draw back old fans in a way the new expansions cannot. It remains to be seen if Blizzard will continue releasing expansions afterShadowlands, whether theBurning Crusadeserverswill be released, or whether a reliable old franchiseWarcraftwill ever truly rest in peace.
World of Warcraftis available now for PC. At this point,World of Warcraft Shadowlandsreleases on October 26 or 27 (depending on time zone) for PC.
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