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Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 4:31 pm
by Lansiron
Not sure this even qualifies as a spoiler, but in case you hadn't seen yet: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/und ... ecrown.xml

My thoughts:

-Story arc closure for non-raiders? Oh lawd, be praised.

-Lore nods! Obscure named captain guys from the book!

-More Ulduar-ish level gear for non-raiders. At the end of an expansion's lifecycle no less. There'll still be QQing.

-Does Blizzard favor Horde over Alliance? Compare:
Alliance: Accompany Jaina Proudmoore to the encounter with Arthas; she wants to reconcile him.
Horde: Accompany Sylvanas Windrunner to the encounter with Arthas; she want KILL, MAIM, BURN

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:56 pm
by Shaila
I don't think the goals for each are a matter of favoring one faction over the other. Their intentions just make sense for their respective characters.

I also have a very very bad feeling that this instance will see the death of Jaina. We know we're not killing Arthas until the raid instance, and Jaina was strangely absent as a major player on the Cataclysm website despite having a big hand in all interfaction dealings so far.

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:24 pm
by Shaila
I just had a really screwed up thought...

Blizzard says the final room involves Frostmourne. All this time they've been insisting Arthas is just playing us all. What if, in the final fight against him in the 5 man, he turns US, if only temporarily, and makes US fight/kill Jaina and Sylvanas?

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:43 pm
by Delion
That would be a very Blizzard thing to do, too.

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:54 pm
by Varenna
*kneejerk emotional reaction* FUCK THAT SHIT.

*measured and calm response* I don't think a party mass-MC will be the case. While it wouldn't surprise me to see Jaina and Sylvanas bite it in some epic fashion, if they do it had better be at Arthas's hand. He desperately needs the villain credit. Moreover, while the runesword-fuck-up-your-soul gambit is a classic one, Frostmourne is currently busy nomming on his soul. And further, apart from his damn horse, Jaina is supposedly Arthas's lifelong megacrush, so I'd expect him to have the decency to knock her out in person rather than letting random five-person groups of scrubs do it for him a million times a day.

Also, the website says we're fighting Arthas, not "surprise contestant with the pretty blonde hair." It could be lying, but I think what's most likely is that we'll come upon a brooding Arthas, kick him around a bit like the whiny little kid he is, then he'll either run off crying to the Frozen Throne, or surprise K.O. our escort and then run off crying to the Frozen Throne. Also, I'm hoping for another Angrathar-style cinematic somewhere in all of this.

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:07 pm
by Lansiron
Killing either of them would be rather difficult. Not impossible, but it would create incredibly jarring plotholes.

We know this: Post-WotLK Azeroth is being updated to be chronologically "present" as of Cataclysm. They devs have stated as much, and have been churning out screenshot after screenshot to back it up. This means that it's going to depict a time after which the Lich King is no longer a threat. However, they will probably deliberately avoid mention of him 'til the 80-85 zones (if they even mention him then).

We do not know what's happening to Theramore, we do not know what's happening to the Undercity. It would be quite possible that Theramore is getting wiped out. The Undercity, not so likely. While Jaina and Theramore play a small role in some moderately important Alliance quests, Sylvanas and the Undercity play an enormous role in several major Horde quests. "We revere our lost Queen, fallen in battle against the Lich King!" "Then, who's that singing that pretty song down the hallway?"

Furthermore, both characters play massive roles in the Wrathgate questline. They've stated that they intend to leave Outlands and Northrend alone, as their self-contained stories are relevant enough that they shouldn't be adjusted this soon. Just like the above example, it would be somewhat strange to find yourself fighting alongside a heroine whom you've been told was dead up 'til 15-odd levels ago.

Now, if they wanted to kill either of them off, they could avert this massive plot-mess with some careful use of phasing that only affects characters above level 80, who've had to have completed some quests in Icecrown that decisively set the new post-Jaina/Sylvanas status quo.

It's a bit of a headache to think about. If the WoW devs became dead-set on actually forwarding WoW's story to that degree, chronicling dramatic events like that while not breaking even the most indulgent player's suspension of disbelief, they could probably manage it.

Me, I'm thinking they'll probably see it as too much trouble to do it right, and decide that fussing with it is just going to take time away from polishing the "crunchier" game content that they're also working on.

However, we'll probably be able to know what happens the day that the 3.3 PTR hits.

One thing I am almost entirely sure of, however:

Tirion Fordring and possibly Darion Mograine are gonna die awesomely, and manly tears shall flow.

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:15 am
by Beltar
All I'll say is:

Bronjahm, the Godfather of Souls.

HIT MEH! I FEE GOOD! AAAAIIIIIEEEEE!

Re: Five of You vs. Arthas

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:46 am
by Aleros
One of the achievements on the PTR is to escape the Lich King in under <Time to be determined>.

Just saying, we're probably not killing him if one of the achievements for the 5 man is to escape his wrath.