Zarhym weighs in on Theramore rumors in Mists of Pandaria
by Anne Stickney 
Oct 24th 2011 at 4:00PM
Scrolls of Lore is reporting that Theramore will find itself destroyed in the war between the Alliance and Horde, and it's set off a flurry of posts on the official forums as well. In fact, there are not just one, but two threads worth of commentary on the matter that has Alliance players feeling a little angry. Community Manager Zarhym weighed in on the issue with a few posts of his own.
Zarhym
Jaina Proudmoore is one of those characters who has remained relatively static during World of Warcraft's run, with few exceptions. I'm curious to see what Jaina's reaction to all of this will be, especially given that she sacrificed her father's life because she believed so fervently that peace was possible between Alliance and Horde. We haven't seen Jaina get truly angry -- this could be an exciting possibility.
The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
Zarhym
So, at BlizzCon we provided a few details about a new expansion and how it's going to have an ever-growing focus on the fight between the Horde and the Alliance in the wake of dispelling many very powerful threats to all of Azeroth. Then we find out a vague detail that some sort of unrelenting attack by the Horde on Theramore is to come. The Horde, to remind you, is currently a faction with an overzealous ruler and significant turmoil among their faction leaders; while the Alliance has almost never been quite so unified and far removed from the days of imprisoning orcs.
The first pawn on the chess board of what is to be the story for Mists of Pandaria is being moved, and you're angry at whose turn is first? I only offer that maybe there's a little more to the Horde and Alliance story lines in Mists than an Alliance town being leveled... like the entire expansion story you don't know about yet. ;)
If you wanna make an omelette...
The first pawn on the chess board of what is to be the story for Mists of Pandaria is being moved, and you're angry at whose turn is first? I only offer that maybe there's a little more to the Horde and Alliance story lines in Mists than an Alliance town being leveled... like the entire expansion story you don't know about yet. ;)
If you wanna make an omelette...
Jaina Proudmoore is one of those characters who has remained relatively static during World of Warcraft's run, with few exceptions. I'm curious to see what Jaina's reaction to all of this will be, especially given that she sacrificed her father's life because she believed so fervently that peace was possible between Alliance and Horde. We haven't seen Jaina get truly angry -- this could be an exciting possibility.
The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!Filed under: News items, Lore, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 14)
Udderpowered Oct 24th 2011 4:08PM
I'm quite sick of the constant Horde victories (and I do play them), hopefully the Alliance finally gets to do something big in MoP, I want to see Garrosh shit himself.
Tirrimas Oct 24th 2011 4:21PM
As a fellow Hordie, I concur.
Something major has to happen to make Thrall take the reins back.
Kuro Oct 24th 2011 4:21PM
So the reason that Theramore is going to be destroyed is neither a Blizz bias toward one faction or the other.
Christie Golden is writing a book about Jaina Proudmoore.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/jaina-proudmoore-book-tides-of-war/
Hello cross-media marketing plot tie-in!
Diop Oct 24th 2011 4:34PM
The whole thing does kind of remind me of a Mitchell and Webb sketch about two Nazis discussing if they're the bad guys, it goes something like
"Nazi 1: Have you ever seen a movie?
Nazi 2: Well...yes
Nazi 1: You see, it's just, I've never seen a movie where the good guys start out really strong, conquer everything suffering only minor setbacks and eventually achieve everything they desired
Nazi 2: Right
Nazi 1: Whereas, I have seen a lot of movies where the bad guys start out really strong, nearly achieve total victory, only for the good guys to overcome the odds and win out in the end"
I could really imagine two orc grunts saying this to each other. I think the Horde can only go so far! (and I play Horde).
vocenoctum Oct 24th 2011 5:00PM
It's odd, really. The factions are a fundamental building block of World of Warcraft IMO. I don't want them at peace.
But I don't want the game to constantly focus on their conflict either.
Wrath was a pinnacle for me in a lot of things. In this, the horde/alliance war was never peaceful, but at times they ignored each other. It was shown (IMO) that they were stubborn and oppurtunistic and all sorts of things, sometimes they could put aside the differences, other times they could not.
It was a good backdrop for a set of heroes (sometimes 1, sometimes 5 or 10 or 25...) to set the worlds wrongs right.
I pvp when I feel like it, I do not play on a pvp server. I don't want to have the War be central.
icetrix Oct 24th 2011 5:06PM
If you read Wolfheart by Richard A. Knaak, you see the most awesome looking Alliance victory in it..
Hope to see something in MoP^^.
Deathknighty Oct 24th 2011 5:25PM
I'm pretty certain we'll be getting Stonard and turning it into a stronghold to be proud of. It's not all bad.
I mean, I don't see how we couldn't seeing as we completely owned the orcs in that particular battle (something everyone seems to forget) and it would counterbalance the lost of a portal location.
mem0ryburn Oct 24th 2011 5:33PM
Kuro: Saying "Hello cross-media marketing plot tie-in!" makes it sound like you think this is something new... welcome out from under that rock!
Diop: I love Mitchell and Webb, longtime fan, and that sketch has always been a favourite of mine. "Are we the baddies?" Fantastic analogy XD
Everybody who QQs over Theramore getting smashed: Seriously, you guys would be the worst writers. Maybe it's too many years of sitcoms for you, where nothing of importance actually happens and every week hits a reset button. I for one am stoked because odds are Lady Proudmore is going to have to show us a side other than being a "lady".
Hih Oct 24th 2011 5:47PM
Regarding the "constant Horde victories", what Cataclysm did was even out factional territory balance. Before Cata, the Alliance held territories (and questing areas) were greater than the Horde's. All Cata did was make things EVEN.
You can complain about "Horde Favoritism" all you want, but the Alliance held more ground for 6 years. You really can't ignore that.
Besides, this is the FIRST MOVE. And we don't even know why it happens. I'm sure the Horde will lose a city too, but then again, Horde doesn't really have a city equivalent to Theramore. We don't have a race with two "Capitol" cities. While Horde mages get to port to a minor outpost in the swamp, Alliance mages get to port to a major city.
Let's just hold off on the accusations of Horde favoritism and cool our heads a little, and see what happens.
Darkseid Oct 24th 2011 5:56PM
Even as a primary Horde player, I'm sick of this crap that the Horde can constantly succeed despite the turmoil. Turmoil is turmoil. You don't continue on succeeding while it happens.
And as for the 'unity' that the Allaince has enjoyed, I still think its absolute nonsense from a story standpoint. NO WAY a race as ancient and experienced as Nightelves or Dwarves for that matter, would simply bow and curtsey to the insane leader of a shortlived race.(humans) It doesn't make sense to begin with, but when you add to it that Wyrn is no less crazy than Garrosh, it really starts to seem stupid.
I think its time for Blizz to pull a Cata style complete reconstruction to the leaderships of the two factions. Its just time. The status quo and grown stale and kinda ridiculous.
Doesn't matter much who is winning the war between the two factions, when players on both sides think the leadership structure is either boring or just plain ridiculous.(looking at you Garrosh)
Nathanyel Oct 24th 2011 6:03PM
If you think the destruction of Theramore is a "victory", you know nothing about the Horde.
Curzen Oct 24th 2011 6:30PM
If Blizzard had a better track record of actively pushing story lines along people wouldn't be upset. If it's business as usual at Blizzard then Theramore will be destroyed and nothing else of consequence will happen until the next expansion, it anything at all even then. I'm looking at you, Gilneas.
fudge Oct 24th 2011 7:31PM
Alright, I'm fine with the Horde "leveling" Theramore, but ONLY if Alliance has an option to take it back OR gets revenge on an equal scale (no, Stonard is not equal. Not at all).
Seriously, we NEED to be involved in this. If this is another loss for the Alliance that happens off-screen with no means of player interaction, then that is pretty much it for the story, as far as I am concerned.
And no, Zarhym, I will not wait for the second move. I'm still waiting to make a second move with regards to Soutshore, Gilneas, Ashenvale, Stonetalon Mountains and Twilight Highlands, you insufferable ... *is dragged off by his calm and collected valet*
fudge Oct 24th 2011 7:45PM
On the other hand, any scene that is remotely like this would totally make up for the loss of Theramore:
Garrosh, pleased with himself after a hard day of relentlessly murdering, pillaging and god-knows-what in Theramore, comes back to his quarters in Orgrimmar. He's at ease, maybe he's whistling, a Goblin servant pours him a nice horn of wine, then leaves him alone.
Garrosh relaxes his sour muscles and is about to put down his giant, phallic axe, when he hears a faint, whizzing sound, almost like one of these mage portal spells.
He turns around, slowly, something cold creeping up his gut.
A female human with golden hair stands before him, radiating power, as she raises her hand, from which silvery threads of magic erupt, enveloping Garrosh, lifting him off his feet, mercilessly crushing his windpipe.
"I am Jaina Proudmoore. You destroyed my city. And now you die," the human says, as everything around Garrosh fades to black.
Noyou Oct 24th 2011 8:25PM
Holy sh-t! When did Jaina turn into Jean Grey? Phoenix?
Natsumi Oct 24th 2011 8:37PM
How about we organize an Alliance "sit in" and completely wipe out Org on every server on the same day, then keep that damn place for 24 hours. Show the Horde that they've roused the Lion of Stormwind, and MAUL THEIR EFFING FACES OFF!
FOR LOTHAR! FOR LORDAERON! FOR THE ALLIANCE!
adyuaa Oct 24th 2011 11:34PM
"Alright, I'm fine with the Horde "leveling" Theramore, but ONLY if Alliance has an option to take it back"
Theramore as the new Wintergrasp/Tol Barad?
TonyMcS Oct 25th 2011 12:13AM
The thing that bothers me is lack of choice. I'm Horde, so I have to hate the Alliance? Yes I admit to a sometimes believing some Ally stereotype (like all Alliance are 12 year old foul-mouthed boys), but where are the conscientious objectors, the intellectuals and the pacifists or the Romeo and Juliet cross faction romances (I kissed an Orc and I liked it)? Any cursory reading of the Lore indicates both sides are about as bad/good as each other.
So while I understand the game mechanic of cross faction hostility, I sometimes wish for a neutral faction made up of all the races, who reject these petty brawls and actively work to prevent the excesses of each side ;-)
STHedgeHog Oct 25th 2011 6:44AM
"Theramore as the new Wintergrasp/Tol Barad?"
Although i really dont like PvP. I Really like this idea. Theres a series of Q's in Theramore that leads to you killing a huge fish monster. So who know what else might be around there to fill the new "one boss PvP drop" raids.
SR Oct 25th 2011 7:00AM
What I've gathered from leveling as both factions:
Alliance: You do quests to help out your current zone, get a lengthy quest line, only to have the whole zone taken over/lost, and your efforts end up in vain. If not, you spend insane amounts of time doing the quests to help the zone, and you accomplish the task, but at a great loss.
Horde: You do quests to help out your current zone. You are the central part of the entire movement. You are praised, babied, and revered by the entire zone, feel eternal glory, and get blues. You also justify mass-murders and uncalled hostility by... well, pretty much yelling "FOR THE HORDE".
It's pretty much a goody-goody-two-shoes that's stuck on a treadmill, and a delinquent that got handed a motorcycle and a bat and is now on a rampage in the goody-goody-two-shoes's neighborhood.