Breakfast Topic: How should WoW end?
by Robin Torres 
Jun 16th 2009 at 8:00AM
Blood Elf NPCs say this all the time, but how do they know? Are they just saying that to try to give us enough hope to finish the task they just gave us? Or do they actually foresee an end to the evils that we fight on a daily basis?
With 11.5 million subscribers, WoW is going to be around for a long time. Even if 8.5 million people leave for whatever reason, there will still be 3 million people left -- which is great for a pay-to-play MMO. But someday it will end and when it does, it would be wonderful if Blizzard provided us with a playable end of the world.
We discussed this a couple of years ago, but WoW has changed since then. We now have new possibilities for world-ending events and there will be more expansions and major content patches giving us even more paths to complete. But will the stories end and how would you want them to?
The Spousal Unit would like to see a closing of all the instances with significant lore bosses, maybe some terrain changes, and festivals celebrating the vanquishing of the Burning Legion.
A satisfactory end and a party would be a lot of fun, but I would like to see a darker conclusion to all of our efforts. What if we become so powerful, that we are like titans ourselves? The ensuing battle is one glorious free-for-all resulting in a cataclysmic event ending all life in Azeroth as we know it. Boom! Game over.
Holy Dueg suggests that the end of Azeroth may come after killing too many of the Old Gods. Perhaps Blizzard will coincide the end of WoW with a downing of the last few in one enormous world event. And then Azeroth floats apart, ending the adventures for everyone.
Historically, games go on as normal until the very end. If the players are lucky, the developers will give them a pretty light show, but that's it. The players of Tabula Rasa, however, were able to participate in an actual end to their story. Hopefully, the end of the World of Warcraft will be even more spectacular.
How would you like WoW to end?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Analysis / Opinion, Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Mongrel Jun 16th 2009 8:06AM
Not end? Is that an ending?
kala Jun 16th 2009 10:19AM
Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies!
Rivers and seas boiling!
Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes!
The dead rising from the graves!
Human sacrifice, Horde and Alliance living together ...
MASS HYSTERIA !!!
Erogroth Jun 16th 2009 11:57AM
LOL @ Ghostbusters Reference!
I will be said the day the servers shut down. I have not played another MMO since starting WoW 4 years ago. I look forward to playing a new game some day but the thought of leaving the World of Warcraft makes me sad.
Riley Jun 16th 2009 8:16PM
Tell him about the twinkie
Josin Jun 16th 2009 8:06AM
I'm guessing the love child of Sargeras and Hogger.
Hoggeras.
Mongrel Jun 16th 2009 8:27AM
lol
Cthulu Jun 16th 2009 8:08AM
Since I play Horde, probably me on a mountain top after an epic battle with looking into the sunset with a blood elf female by my side. The truth being the beast slain was ghostcrawler and the loot was a legendary hunter weapon that everyone could equip and benefit from (but of course never use) probably named "nerf" bat. And for good measure the blood elf female is actually a 32 year old guy named ralph and I will be horrible scarred and dejected.
Taladan Jun 16th 2009 9:23AM
No no no. You kill Ghostcrawler its loot is a simple legendary pony.
Issac Jun 16th 2009 1:43PM
I would imagine Ghostcrawler would drop a 5 pound bag of crap with 10 pounds of crap in it. Itd be a grey item. The vendors probably don't want that item.
Alpheias Jun 16th 2009 8:08AM
I personally hope for something like an epic ending! Say a new kind of super-titan-god that we haven't noticed thus far, will come to wipe us all out, including those titan-gods that failed to erradicate Azeroth of us. I think the ending of WoW would require a story that can also be used to create more WoW-games that will continue on using the lore. So basically we should still get a new Warcraft game, wether MMORPG or RTS, that will continue our story and our defeat....
what do u think?
grtz,
Deianeira - Agamaggan EU - For the Horde!
Alfabcd Jun 16th 2009 3:34PM
And after that complete erradication, a Starcraft MMO will appear
Seaborn Jun 16th 2009 8:09AM
It would be nice to have an end. I remember EnB's end. Sad day.
Trever Jun 16th 2009 8:10AM
The ending will be a massive flood. Out land will be our only survival....wahhhh no more SW. or Silvermoon.
themightysven Jun 16th 2009 8:12AM
we start working for the Infinite Dragonflight, get sent back to the corruption of Sargeras, defeat him, then fade into nothingness as our timeline has been erased.
Castigere Jun 16th 2009 8:59AM
Pretty close, we go back in time, change the past, and have to re-buy the original game and last six expansions to see the new content.
Dan Jun 16th 2009 1:56PM
I reckon it might have something to do with the dragon flight. Now that blizz have used some of its best known and biggest badd asses they have probably considered this in the lon distance and I think this is what the queen of the dragons has somewhat been put in wrath for. have you seen her Hp! Nothing comes close and even scaling in woud probaly be many xpacs before we see an end xpac raid boss like that. I wouldn't be surprised if either somehow she was the final boss or if she is used as a comparative tool to show the strength of the final boss (by the dragon queen getting pwned the the final boss).
OR
1- The Alliance and horde fight it out to some sort a conclusion to it all.
2- The final fight is so destructive that it fractures azeroth. Kinda like into many oulands. Each major city splits off onto its own peice of land. The closing cinematic focuses on stormwind and it has been isloated to all the other cities just like they have. There rock develops and they call the landmass thats left from the split Pangea. From the huge fight a lot of people died and a lot of the technology is lost. You see the landmass turn slowly into the currant earth continents we see today and you see a modern day scene, probably of some american parents in a bedroom with their kids. The kids say they don't wanna go to bed because their scared that trolls and goblins will eat them and the parents jsut reply with "silly there's no such thing". Then there will be some sort of metaphorical link to the start of the first warcraft game perhaps to tie it al up.
3- We take the fight to the Burning legion home world.
4- After fighting the final boss, you see your character with their awsome gear, truging slowly back to their starting zone. Be it, Nothshire abbey or something else. narrator says some peacefull speech about how your heroes fight for peace are complete and you see somerandom Npc waiting for you character who is presumably your spuose with presumably your child npc that runs up to you. You it is assumed that you live out your days in peace. Then perhaps the screen goes blank and the followup franchise story for the warcraft universe is realeaved.
Kierachel Jun 16th 2009 8:13AM
Sargeras comes along one day, picks up the planet and throws it into a basketball hoop above a trash can.
Arkensis Jun 16th 2009 8:14AM
I'd like to see an ending that uses phasing - you begin a quest chain, and it slowly phases out other characters and the world.
Maybe it takes the fight to a new "Dark Portal", and everyone goes through on their own, or with an army as they chase the Burning Legion, or whatever new threat there is.
As you pass through, a cinematic rolls, and it's the end of the World of Warcraft.
That way, it leaves it open for a sequel, and you get your epic Blizzardness.
Sorcefire Jun 16th 2009 12:43PM
That would just be awesome! Very much like a cliff-hanger alluding to a future that has yet to be written.
The sense of playing in a virtual world full of players and yet, as the ending progresses the people disappear until it's just me and my mount about to plunge into the void, would probably bring me to tears. It would be epic and it would be final.
/salute
Jaddedyn Jun 16th 2009 2:02PM
If the game were really coming to and end with all 11 million players with up to 50 characters an account I think it would be very hard for them to make an ending with a quest line or anything more than being able to sign into your account one last time to see a default cinema that shows some sort of closing to the game. Unless they decide and post "we are putting new content in the game for your characters to finish but you only have til this date to do it by__" I really hope the game doesn't end but if it does I just dont see how they could do it any way but a default cinema of some sort unless they plan on keeping the realms up longer for ppl to finish at their usual pace.
But at the same time if I were to choose some sort of ending for this game i'm so addicted to I'd love to have any last chance to play it and being able to do a quest line for my epic ending would satisfy me completely. :)