In a recent podcast done by Blizzard Watch (the company that watches Blizzard, according to Matt Rossi), there was a question brought up about whether the old meandering style of vanilla is better or worse than the current tight story, singular focus of expansions (you can find the podcast here: http://blizzardwatch.com/tag/blizzard-watch-podcast/). It was an interesting conversation that may have influenced one of Rossi’s recent posts on Blizzard Watch (found here: http://blizzardwatch.com/2016/12/18/wow-need-take-breath/). In the post, he poses the question “Does WoW need to take a breath?” In a nutshell, I would say yes. The idea is that we have been bouncing from one apocalyptic scenario to the next for the last several expansions (I’ll let you read Rossi’s post for a recap of recent events on Azeroth).

One of the inherent issues with this continual apocalyptic situations is that we are constantly read. We are always on watch. Always at war. Always ready for the next fight. We’ve proven our ability and power to defeat these enemies again and again. Though we may be weary of constant battle, we are ideally suited to take on any challenge because we will never be more prepared for another end of the world than we are now. So does WoW need to take a breath, yes. Our enemies have seen us rise to the occasion several times. Perhaps the best way for them to win is to bring us to a false sense of peace. We are going to Argus, and I suspect that we will win, but I do not think we will destroy the Legion. We might put an end to Kil’Jaeden and Archimonde and Gul’dan and all of the other major players. We might kill them once and for all. That would be a big blow to the Legion. But let’s not forget one thing: Sargeras is their true leader, and he will not so easily be bested. We might encounter a piece of him at the end of Legion, but he is ultimately a Titan. Albeit, a corrupted, destructive, and arguably psychotic titan, but a titan nonetheless. Let’s also not forget that he single-handedly destroyed the entire pantheon of titans. Sargeras is going to survive this little reverse invasion of Argus, no matter how effective we will be there, and if by some long shot we actually did destroy the fel titan, we still have the Old Gods on Azeroth to contend with.

The heroes of Azeroth are one giant war machine. We are running smoothly and efficiently. We have lost some key parts along the way, but those parts have been replaced and the machine is still moving on. The greatest way to weaken us, to bring us to our knees, is to let us rust. The Legion and the Old Gods have seen their plans thwarted (at least from our perspective) time and time again. It should be apparent at this point that launching another all out war against us is likely to result in very little change in the world. Rather, I believe they should let us rest. Let us see peace. Let us lax our defenses in light of that peace. The greatest threat to a champion’s ability is the lack of need for his or her ability. We’ve spent years fighting villains that are larger and more powerful than us, forcing us to work together and collectively. What would happen if we no longer had those enemies? What would happen if we could single handedly stop the various threats that appeared? What if the Defias Brotherhood was suddenly the biggest threat to Stormwind? How much weaker would that foe seem than Gul’dan or Xavius? Either of them could have probably wiped out the brotherhood on their own. What if the centaurs regrouped and began an assault on Orgrimmar? Compared to fighting Sha, that would seem like a cakewalk. I think WoW needs to take a breath, but I think it needs to do so to weaken us. To lull us into a false sense of safety and peace.

I think if N’zoth is going to become a major player, it needs to be done gradually. Give us an expansion where each capital city is dealing with its own local problem. With phasing and level scaling, it would be easy to have max level characters return to sections of low level zones to deal with a current threat. Varian is gone. Anduin is now king. Maybe Stormwind needs to have some minor challenges that conflict with his authority. Reignite the Defias issue. Have Anduin’s new authority challenged, and have it remain localized to Stormwind. Maybe the trolls in Stranglethorn regroup and the trolls of the Horde are sent on a diplomatic mission to try and obtain peace. The druids of Azeroth focus on restoring the balance in the elements that were sent askew by Deathwing and the Cataclysm. What if for most of the expansion we were doing a world quest style fight across all of Azeroth. Have an expansion that gives time for the various enemies of Azeroth to regroup, rebuild, and prepare while at the same time actually weakening us by not challenging us and forcing us to expand our abilities or improve our capabilities. Use small quest lines in localized areas to push this story. Perhaps it could be done in such an intricate way that all of them tie together even though we don’t realize that is the case. The Old Gods are patient beings. Maybe they are manipulating the situation, but have them do it for nearly a full expansion without revealing it’s them. Be subtle about it. So subtle that it’s not even apparent that it’s happening.

We are a war machine that has not stopped running since the Lich King. If our enemies really wish to defeat us, they need to let us turn that machine off. Let it age. Let it rust. Let is corrode. And then when it is needed again, we will turn it on and it will disintegrate. We will be weak. We will be hopeless in the face of a truly unbeatable foe. And then it will be up to us to once again rise to the occasion.