So the Burning (spoilers)

[cowmuflage]

I'm sure I'll do the Alliance one at a point but I only have one high level toon and so she gets a bit forgotten sometimes XD

[Lisaara]

Do you need to borrow the feather duster? XD

[cowmuflage]

I might, elf ears gather a lot of dust.

[Sigrah]

I'll be honest. I loved playing the villainous henchman on my Horde side Death Knight. Seriously, she's an Unholy DK that literally infects her enemies with very contagious plagues as an undead minion tries to gnaw their arms off. It's nice to play her as the vile harpy she is instead of as the "hero" the world always seems to need her to be. Just my $.02.

[Thwip]

I main Horde. Still torn over my feels. On the one hand: I AM FORSAKEN and have been since Cata. At least on my main. Trolls are still my fav race forever, but I love Sylvanas too. She's always been on the outskirts of being just outright bad and I will not argue that. On the other hand: Goddamnit, I don't wanna kill my Dark Lady. I don't want this to just be a reskinned telling of SoO. (I'm still waiting for my Stormwind raid and Alliancebreaker title, k) I am not upset about burning the tree. I'm more unhappy with how it was handled. Sylvanas is -generally- not someone who makes snap decisions out of spite. BellularGaming did a fantastic video that pretty much sums up my feelings about the story telling here. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlCGqXH_cQg )

I'm uncertain how I feel, as well, on a narrative perspective. There's now only two ways this can go. We will either lose Sylvanas, or they're trying to set her up for some kind of redemption arch. However, Blizzards running record with Warchiefs right now isn't the best and I'm a tad tired of going through them so quickly. While I do understand that possibly years go by in game during each xpac, it doesn't feel like we keep them that long at all. 2 years a piece, which generally doesn't feel like '2 years', if that makes sense. But just getting a new one every xpac is getting old.

I'm still interested to see how this goes. If we do end up with SoO 2: Electric Boogaloo then I'll be disappointed, but I'm trying not to freak out too hard before we see how things shake out.

[Sukurachi]

I LIKED the dialogue option when you first meet Sylvanas in Undercity and she sends you off to The Barrens. If you jsut accept the quest and run off you miss all the dialogue that you get from clicking on the "hey Syl, why don't you tell me more about your plans girl?"

In it, her justifications for taking Teldrasil DO have a certain rationality to them: a preemptive strike against the supply lines of an enemy we KNOW still intends on attacking us as they have in the past. She even specifies that no citizens of Teldrasil would be harmed while the Horde occupied the city.

So what exactly happened between that and the giant bonfire?
How do you go from a logical, although yes morally GREY, plan to outright genocide?
It's entirely illogical and doesn't fit with what has been happening so far on the Horde side.
I simply cannot see any of the other Horde leaders being OK with this.

[Kalasta]

[Teigan]

I LIKED the dialogue option when you first meet Sylvanas in Undercity and she sends you off to The Barrens. If you jsut accept the quest and run off you miss all the dialogue that you get from clicking on the "hey Syl, why don't you tell me more about your plans girl?"

In it, her justifications for taking Teldrasil DO have a certain rationality to them: a preemptive strike against the supply lines of an enemy we KNOW still intends on attacking us as they have in the past. She even specifies that no citizens of Teldrasil would be harmed while the Horde occupied the city.

So what exactly happened between that and the giant bonfire?
How do you go from a logical, although yes morally GREY, plan to outright genocide?
It's entirely illogical and doesn't fit with what has been happening so far on the Horde side.
I simply cannot see any of the other Horde leaders being OK with this.

I would have, even as an Alliance main, been on board with the idea of the Horde invading and occupying Darnassus. It would have been ruthless, but made sense. There was so much potential there for interesting story. In a world where I'd never heard of Teldrassil burning, I would have assumed that that the Tauren would prevent anything really bad from happening. And maybe we would retake the tree one day. Oooh, maybe it would even come back with a graphics upgrade! That scenario would have been all kinds of interesting. But no, life is pain, burn the tree.

Looks alot like a scene from the Warbringers short, doesn't it, though I'd assume it was made before the short was released.

[cowmuflage]

Well that first bit of art is fan art, it was posted on Blizz's FB page so yeah probs not.

[Teigan]

Oh, I wasn't saying it was plagarism or anything remotely like that! No, I was basically trying to draw a parallel between the two stories! Sorry for it seeming otherwise

[cowmuflage]

All good dude I think I got mixed up myself XD

[Lisaara]

[Thwip]

[Kalasta]

^
Artist is Nina Ikävalko "Eepox" on Deviant Art and the story was written by a friend of said artist "Kaldrinal”.

"Trudging through the battle-scarred outskirts of Ashenvale, a lone saber searched for his lost rider. Together they had fought in the skirmish between the Warsong and Sentinels, fresh wounds from the fight still marring Basern’s body. But when the orcs' catapults had hurled down their fiery boulders, the blasts had separated both saber and rider. The heavy rain washed away the blood and dirt staining Basern’s fur, filling the battlefield with a damp haze. Smelling the familiar scent of his mistress, he followed the trail until he found her.

Lydira Mistgale lay in the grass, rain-thinned blood rolling off her unmoving body. The beast nudged her with his mighty head, imploring that she wake. But she did not. A deep rumble sounded in the saber’s throat, demanding that she move. But she did not. Basern’s ears turned down, head bowed as he stood protectively over Lydira’s lifeless body. His empty saddle weighed heavy on his back, never again to be ridden by the elf who raised him."

[Teigan]

I might cry.

[Lisaara]

^
Artist is Nina Ikävalko "Eepox" on Deviant Art and the story was written by a friend of said artist "Kaldrinal”.

"Trudging through the battle-scarred outskirts of Ashenvale, a lone saber searched for his lost rider. Together they had fought in the skirmish between the Warsong and Sentinels, fresh wounds from the fight still marring Basern’s body. But when the orcs' catapults had hurled down their fiery boulders, the blasts had separated both saber and rider. The heavy rain washed away the blood and dirt staining Basern’s fur, filling the battlefield with a damp haze. Smelling the familiar scent of his mistress, he followed the trail until he found her.

Lydira Mistgale lay in the grass, rain-thinned blood rolling off her unmoving body. The beast nudged her with his mighty head, imploring that she wake. But she did not. A deep rumble sounded in the saber’s throat, demanding that she move. But she did not. Basern’s ears turned down, head bowed as he stood protectively over Lydira’s lifeless body. His empty saddle weighed heavy on his back, never again to be ridden by the elf who raised him."

Ow...my feels....

[Lamiara]

I've played both factions since forever.
I like both nightelves and bloodelves (and care litte about all other races tbh).
I was very un-hyped over the idea of a faction war expansion, especially since it seems so redundant after all these years of having to band and fight together against big bad #387.

That said, I tried to do the quests on Horde side first. After the first few quests I logged out, told myself "screw that, no mount is worth doing this sh!t", relogged my allies and did everything on them.
Had I known both mounts are rewarded for doing one side, I wouldn't even have bothered talking to Sylvanas on my belf.
(the Horde bat is effing ugly to boot ).

While I appreciate Blizzard tries to do something large and new, I'm very discontent with the fact that each time Alliance loses something, it's the nelves.
Tidal Wave destroys settlements with countless injured and dead? Nelves.
Deathwings nukes a city district? Nelves.
Goblins terraform a zone into Horde symbol? Nelf lands.
Horde mass murders several villages and deforests all around it? Nelves.
etcetc
I'm just tired of that. The lead storywriter has openly stated he dislikes nightelves, so maybe he's on a crusade to delete them from the game or something.

If they think I'm going to buy 20 faction changes, they are mistaken.
I'm simply going to quit if this keeps up.

[Teigan]

I'm tired of them wrecking so many Night Elf related things, also. I loved Darkshore and just look at it now. It's been pummeled continually since WotLK to the point it looks like a bloated, overrated summer blockbuster disaster movie.

[Sigrah]

Really? I thought it was this guy. I mean, come on, what *HASN'T* he burnt at this point?

[Teigan]

Found the lyrics to the song the night elf priestesses sing in Elegy....

In purity, all things are born.
The eldest tree was once a tender sapling,
And even the stars were young.
O Lady Elune,
Weep tears so sweet
At the thought of the innocence
That once was ours.

The huntress' horn has sounded!
To battle, it calls us now,
To the defense of all we hold dear:
This city,
This well of the moon,
This soft song of the evening breeze.
it calls us,
And we answer.

The first have fallen,
The vanguard of this battle,
Preceding us
To the realm of wisps and shadows.
We yet have blood to shed.
Theirs. Ours.
It is the price
For time to save our shining city
Cradled in a tree of dreams and starlight.

The jewel of our city
Lies within their craven grasp.
One last time, we shall stand.
One final act, we shall perform
By the light of the moons,
By the flash of our blades,
By the song of our arrows,
We shall triumph--
Or we shall fall.

The tree has fire for leaves
And skeletons for branches
And its roots feed only upon
The ashes of the dead.
The winds that sigh through it now are the cries of the dying
And this son,
This lament
For horrors unspeakable,
For cruelty unimaginable,
For this life and the beauty and the grace that once were
And shall never be again.

By the moons' glow, listen.
Beside the river, listen.
Holding those you live, listen:
To the cries of the dying,
To the whisper of the wind over the silent dead,
To the song my broken heart will ever sing
Of the story of the Tree of the World
And the death of all the dreams
It once cradled in its mighty boughs.

It seems the night elves have been nearly wiped out? I didn't realize that. I mean, of course they have. Most of them lived there. I just hadn't thought about it that way, I guess. I wish I could get the collector's edition so I had access to the lore in the novellas (that should have been part of the game anyway)