One Door Closes
Sunset
It is a bit hectic for the characters, and players, of Wildfire Riders (and their friends. For the record, that’s Chelody’s idea, not mine.) On the player side, we have jobs, work and someone is getting married. On the Character side, babies have been kidnapped and returned, loved ones have been haunted, complicated relationships have resurfaced…and the final assault on the Citadel has begun. Other than making one crazy busy, what do these have in common?
Each one of these factors is either a) has an ending or b) is an ending in and of itself. While jobs have a particular start and end time (typically in 8 or 10 hour shifts), jobs themselves mark the end of adolescence and the start of adulthood. The kidnapping, and eventual return, of Naiara marks a number of beginnings and endings, including the ending of her “invincible” childhood (While this is more poignant for her parents, it’s still there). The Fall of Arthas is the ending of an arc started in Warcraft III–an ending that plays a huge roll for a number of characters. Endings also mean something else: A new beginning.
While Wrath’s story isn’t complete finished yet–Echo Isles, Operation Gnomergon and the Ruby Sanctum are on there way–it is winding down. For a number of people, the Wrath Related RP is also coming to a close. As these stories end, an entirely new arc is about to begin.
For some, this new Arc is going to be an amazing shift of story. Characters with connections to nature, the elements, dragon flights or the Old Gods will have a chance to shine. Characters who are more connected to Wrath of the Lichking: Dispossed Lordaeroners, Death Knights, plague victims may feel that their time is over. The Shiney Appeal of Cataclysm has not sunk in yet, as players may be fretting about the end of Wrath. While those of us who fret–I count myself in this population–may worry about how they are going to fit into this completely different expansion.
This is where one has to trust their RP circle. While Blizz’s meta-plot will be contained within the quests, raids and content they create, shortly after the pre-Cataclysm events begin in game, players will begin to generate their own ideas and stories. As these stories take shape, all of the characters within the circle will have something to do. A gnome Death Knight fresh from Northrend may not know anything about Deepholme, but that same gnome may have become fast friends with an elemental Shaman who knows all too well the dangers of that particular plane. Where in Wrath the Death Knight may have rallied the troops for the final push into the Citadel, in Cataclysm, it is the shaman calls who calls upon the Death Knight.
Cataclysm is going to represent a change in storytellers. The more I recognize this, the more comfortable I am with the upcoming changes. I trust the people I RP with to come up with new and inventive ways to keep us all involved.
So as the door closes on Wrath, keep in mind that this ending just sets us up for a shift in stories. Once the transition occurs, and characters with deeper connections to the content begin to tell their stories, fantastic RP is sure to follow.
Filed in Character Development,RP,World of Warcraft 2 Comments so far
Jezriyah on 29 Apr 2010 at 3:07 pm #
Nice commentary. As a player of a troll — who never had much stock in Wrath or Arthas except the general “save the world” aspect — I’m thrilled to have the retaking of the Isles and the Cataclysm on the horizon.
With the exception of the Wrathgate event and Garrosh’s rise to prominence, this has really been the Alliance’s expansion. I had no real problem with that; Arthas was prince of Lordaeron for heaven’s sake, and the Scourge story has been almost entirely that of the Alliance from the word go. The Kalimdor contingent of the Horde (which is ICly the largest part, no matter what the number of PC blood elves tells you) had no moral or philosophical dog in this fight. We were just in it to keep the world from getting destroyed.
On my server at least, the vast majority of RP happens in Silvermoon, and (much to my annoyance) tends to be completely removed from world events. The Echo Isles and the implied dissent between Horde leadership — I’m guessing/hoping that it’s Vol’jin standing up for his blood debt to Thrall and telling Garrosh where to shove it — will give Jez TONS of story work besides “let’s go kill bad guys”, and I’m going to be re-rolling her priest mother as a druid too.
…I wish RP on my server didn’t suck. ;_;
Kyraine on 01 May 2010 at 11:39 pm #
Excellent post. I’ve really enjoyed the storylines in Wrath, even though Arthas was mostly an abstract concept for all of my characters except my death knight. The thing I am very much looking forward to, aside from Gnomeregan, is Gilneas, because that is going to end the story arc of what’s going on at home that began for Kyraine when I rolled her before Burning Crusade came out. And it’ll be a new beginning for her, too. I’m also curious to find out what Azaar, my DK, is going to do once the Citadel falls.
The thing I’m looking forward to most of all is the stories people are going to come up with. I think Cata is going to be the expansion that directly affects everyone in a similar manner. Blizz is going to break apart the entire world- and I don’t think anyone, no matter where your character lives now or was born, is going to escape its effects. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. It’ll be fun.