The end of WoW
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Feb 12th 2007 at 3:23PM
All good things must come to an end, and so it will someday be with WoW. Whether in three years or ten, someday the servers will close, your characters will be deleted, and Azeroth will cease to exist. It's going to be a scary time. I can imagine hordes of people emerging from their homes, blinking in the sunlight, only able to communicate with crude language such as "lol nub" and "water plz."
Deadhoof of Thunderlord has already thought of that day, and he's wondering what the final boss is going to be at the end of WoW. We've already faced Kel'Thuzad, and we'll be seeing Illidan soon enough -- who is Blizzard saving for last? Who will be our Bowser, our Ganondorf, our Whatever The Bad Guy Is In Final Fantasy Nowadays?
Sargeras (the head of the Burning Legion) is the first name that comes to mind, but killing Sargeras will effectively end the Warcraft mythology, and Blizzard probably wants to keep the door open for the future. They've already said that we'll have to be around level 90 to kill Arthas, so he's a conceivable final boss if WoW only lasts for a few more expansions. Neltharion/Deathwing is always a possibility as well, but he was always a sideline to the main WoW story and thus unlikely to be the ultimate boss. My favorite suggestion comes from Gayleforce of Kel'Thuzad, who suggests that Blizzard pull a Time Magazine and make the last boss a mirror: "It's you! You are the last boss in World of Warcraft!"
If I had to bet, I would bet on Kil'Jaeden. He's a major figure, but his demise wouldn't totally destroy the story -- Sargeras can always find new lieutenants. Who do you think we'll fight at the end of Azeroth?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sylythn Feb 12th 2007 3:30PM
I cannot fathom that of which you speak. Speak of it no more...it is blasphemy.
Kyle Feb 12th 2007 10:21PM
IN all honesty, if there was to be a final raid, they should make each boss a member of the BLizzard head WoW team with the final boss being Chris Metzen. That would be a great tribute if you ask me and act a credits for the game. That's just an idea though to go along with all the other pop culture and real life references in the game.
multikast Feb 12th 2007 3:35PM
it will be the GM's.
That would actually be really cool
Gatowag Feb 12th 2007 8:25PM
The end con not be comprehended by any mere mortal...
And truely there shall be no "end", just a conclusion of sorts to this epic adventure, and that day shall cast a shadow over all of our souls (what's left of them atleast)...
Twill be a sad day indeed.
Datix Feb 12th 2007 3:40PM
Too many unknowns to call a final boss. However, Blizz will most likely come out with WoW 2 (new server backend and engine) before ending the lifecycle of our characters. I'd say they've got a good 20 years left in the game if they truly want to stretch it out.
Bad Mojo Feb 12th 2007 11:33PM
Titans. They'll come back and remake the world in a new fashion.
Dave Feb 12th 2007 3:43PM
Why not Sargeras?
One would have to think that with the current curve, a group of 25 people could beat up a titan given a full set of artifacts, legendary gear and whatever else sort of itemization they have to do to keep people interested in the game 6 years from now.
Northrend, Emerald Dream, Maelstrom. That's the next 4-5 years worth of expansion packs unless they pull some crazy crap and open the outland portals to some other unknown realm (ethereals would be my guess, or perhaps we'll invade the Burning Legion's home base and find that there's some magic group of new crazywhatsits that are struggling to survive with overpowered racial abilities and striking similarities to azerothian characters).
I'd have to imagine, we'll have destroyed all of the elemental aspects and guardians and dragons and whatever else by that point, so the only thing left lore-wise is to finally get the main titan once and for all, preferably with the help of other titans who put all sorts of crazy crap in our way, but bestow upon the champions of some uber-dungeon a priceless artifact to defeat one of their own with.
Or something. Most likely they'll just end with a message saying "sorry, game's over you've all been playing world of starcraft for 2 years and we figure you don't like this much, bye!"
Matt Feb 12th 2007 3:54PM
I try not to think about it. It wouldn't be the end of the world, of course, but I have a ton of fun playing WoW.
I look forward to killing many more bosses and getting many more phat lewtz with friends.
Deusirae Feb 12th 2007 5:44PM
It will be Sarah Kerrigan and the Zerg Overmind.
Geo Feb 12th 2007 4:20PM
To go along with multikast: Drysc should be the final boss. That would be a great way to sign off WoW.
braydn Feb 13th 2007 7:58PM
I think that this game will stick around as long as they are raking in the BILLIONS of dollars each year, they won't stop it unless they loose like 75% of the player base. So basically we won't have to worry about the final end boss for some time.
But I think that Sargeras WOULD BE the last boss to conquer, because they can always make to where you defeat him but not actually KILL him, he somehow gets away beaten to near death and he hides for a few thousand years to recoupe, or his body is destroyed but his demonic spirit takes over a lowly lifeform and he grows over time to retake the universe, or he escapes through a new portal to a new part of the galaxy, etc, etc...They can come up with a million different ways to take this story in any direction possible.
I think they WON'T do a WoW 2 though. I think they will revisit the Starcraft and then the Diablo stories. Would be cool to have a Starcraft MMORPG in my opinion, cuz it could show just how awesome Star Wars Galaxies COULD HAVE been if it was done right. And we all know Blizz would do it right. But Diablo would be hard to do into an MMORPG because WoW is that game already basically. Not sure how they would revive that story without it being old hat by the time WoW and Starcraft MMORPG's were over and done with.
I think WoW has at least 10-15 years in it at least for sure, so no end bosses to end all end bosses for a good long time. They can do expansions for the Maelstrom, the Emerald Dream, the planet of Argus, open up other portals, you name it, they can make all the end bossses indefinitely....They will just end up upgrading the whole game engine in a few years due to new technologies in processors being multi-core and video cards handling more and more.
Plus, if they do end up doing a Starcraft MMORPG, you would still only need the one account to play both WoW and Starcraft so that would be really cool. I think that is what will happen anyway.
Pritchard Feb 12th 2007 4:35PM
A warlock.
Though it is doubtful if Blizzard was actually able to come up with itemization to actually take one down...
Ben Feb 12th 2007 4:36PM
The thing is, whenever the final expansion/dungeon/boss/whatever comes out, you probably won't see it. You'll have moved on to the next big thing and WoW will have fallen by the wayside. There will be a couple more expansions to sate the few remaining loyal players and then it will end. If you still keep up with the MMO world, you'll read about it and it'll stir up memories of your time spent in WoW. You might even be tempted to roll up a character for old time's sake, but you probably won't. The story may well be something that totally panders to the fans of the series who still play; something like killing Sargeras would fall along those lines, but while it would be an epic and monumental event in the lore of Warcraft, it will have little relevance to gamers in general.
The thing is that an MMO is, by its nature, a game without a logical end. The only way it can end is when it stops bringing in money and it's no longer financially viable to support it. It's a weird intersection of real-world economics and game design that makes it impossible for an MMO ever to end with a bang.
Daghol Feb 12th 2007 6:35PM
It can still be Sargeras, but we don't have to kill him. Maybe the goal is the get him to 10% and then runs away back to through the Dark Portal to attack again at a later time. i think the final goal should be closing the dark portal.
Ekimus Feb 12th 2007 4:40PM
High Overlord Saurfang
http://www.wowwiki.com/Saurfang
http://www.wowwiki.com/Saurfang_facts
Deathlike Feb 12th 2007 4:44PM
Anyone seriously thinking about a GM as a boss, stop thinking that. If you think that killing a GM is a significant thing, or that GM weapons are cool, or even go "omg a GM!" when you hear about one, quit it. Nothing they have is actually "real" in the game. If a GM shows up ingame in actuality, they would also have the authorization to customize themselves.
Basically, if a GM dies, it's 'cause they wanted to die.
Plus you can't have an actual person fighting these guilds over and over again. It'd kill a man.
Flit Feb 12th 2007 4:53PM
How about finally ending the horde/alliance battle, and going at it, destroying major cities? Balance it so the numbers are even (on most servers they definately are not) and create a distruction system, where each city becomes sacked. That would last a month or so if ya do it right.
nea Feb 12th 2007 4:57PM
Tseric as big black doomguard summoning warlocks everywhere around, oh wait...
mr_disco Feb 13th 2007 9:14AM
hmm... I like the sacking cities Idea.. Come one, who hasn't felt like taking a run for Thrall's throne, or making it through Stormwind! Coming in on griffons and wyverns! That would be sweet!
Deusirae Feb 12th 2007 5:44PM
@10...Besides the fact you took it way too serious, you're right. But think about it, don't you think that at some point there has been a GM out there that said, "Watch me screw with these guys," and took over Onyxia for a little while...or ever Hogger just for fun. Yeah, let's see you kite Hogger to the arena in STV with a GM in control of him. All of a sudden, Hogger springs out with an instant Pyroblast and Shadowbolts. Toss in a nice combo of stealth, unlimited blink w/o cooldown and improved sap.
Just thank Blizzard sane people check my job application when I apply...or maybe they didn't.