Aleria Fadeleaf
10-07-2010, 08:12 AM
MEMO
TO: The TNG
FROM: Aleria Fadeleaf
SUBJECT: Fwd: "Night Elves going extinct?"
DATE: October 7, 2010
Forwarded Message:
If the new Cataclysm Forsaken areas are meant to be controversial, then the new Night Elven areas are tragedy and I'm sad there isn't more discussion about them.
In Cataclysm we see the Night Elves being pushed into a dark place indeed. Darkshore, the land which throughout World of Warcraft players were sent to try and heal from the aftermaths of the Third War, is now in ruins. Those who'd sought to somehow heal the lands are in turn struggling for survival as their village and homes are destroyed by natures upheaval while those that survive the initial destruction were then set upon by either the Twilight Cultists elementals or the Hordes sudden advance into the area, using the Cataclysm as their chance to gain a foothold.
The result in possibly one of the more depressing areas in Cataclysm. Playing as a Night Elf, you get the sense you're part of a 'rescue team' which arrived too late. Multiple quests have you aiding the dying and comforting them in their final hours while others are a desperate struggle to hold what little grasp the Night Elves have left in this ancient land against the encroaching forces which wish to destroy what little remains. Forsaken Apothecary poison the remaining wildlife while the Horde have allied with the Shatterspear tribe to invade from the North, all while the Twilight cultists continue to slowly sicken the land like a plague from within and nature itself is driven wild in the aftermath of Deathwings passing.
Meanwhile to the south Ashenvale, perhaps the last true ancient Night Elf land remaining, is similarly besieged. While the Cataclysm itself didn't have the same level of impact as in Darkshore, there are still erupting volcano and burning forests which threaten to reduce this sacred land to ashes. And through it all the Horde advance. Places like the beautiful lakeside Silverwind Refuge have fallen to the Horde, its trees older than the kingdoms of man and orc alike cut down for lumber while the ground beneath slowly dries up and dies. Similar fates threaten every other Night Elven outpost as well, from the druid grove Raynewood to Maestra's post which is on the brink of defeat and even Astranaar itself.
Even should the Horde be pushed back, you just get the feeling it might be too late. That these last two ancient Night Elven forests are dying and that it's only a matter of time before they're gone forever. As an Alliance player with a Night Elf main and fond memories of the early zones it's just... crushing. NPC which you remember once giving out quests are now dead or dying, beautiful scenic spots you remember gasping in awe at are now shadows of their former selves, and the conflict feels desperate and dirty in a way it didn't before. I don't want to fight the Shatterspear (From a story standpoint) for example, and frankly I resent Garrosh for having dragged them into this conflict and forcing Alliance to fight them when there are so many other threats which seem all the more pressing.
So what do you think? Is this the beginning of the end for the Night Elves as a people? Hyjal, though recovering, was destroyed in the Third War while Felwood remains corrupt and the Moonglade is too small to support a population even were it not home to the neutral Cenarion Circle. Darnassus meanwhile, while grand indeed, is actually a new place younger even than Orgrimmar and whose future is uncertain as throughout WOW before and in Cataclsym still it is plagued with problems from sickness to disease. That leaves among the ancient homelands of the Elves only Darkshore and Ashenvale, both of which are besieged and dying...
Is this the beginning of the end?
End of Forwarded Message
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27026325878&sid=1
I won't be able to respond to this until after I get back, (about 8pm my time) but I would be interested to see what people think of this.
Aleria Fadeleaf
Department of Alliancecentrism
Office #302B
TO: The TNG
FROM: Aleria Fadeleaf
SUBJECT: Fwd: "Night Elves going extinct?"
DATE: October 7, 2010
Forwarded Message:
If the new Cataclysm Forsaken areas are meant to be controversial, then the new Night Elven areas are tragedy and I'm sad there isn't more discussion about them.
In Cataclysm we see the Night Elves being pushed into a dark place indeed. Darkshore, the land which throughout World of Warcraft players were sent to try and heal from the aftermaths of the Third War, is now in ruins. Those who'd sought to somehow heal the lands are in turn struggling for survival as their village and homes are destroyed by natures upheaval while those that survive the initial destruction were then set upon by either the Twilight Cultists elementals or the Hordes sudden advance into the area, using the Cataclysm as their chance to gain a foothold.
The result in possibly one of the more depressing areas in Cataclysm. Playing as a Night Elf, you get the sense you're part of a 'rescue team' which arrived too late. Multiple quests have you aiding the dying and comforting them in their final hours while others are a desperate struggle to hold what little grasp the Night Elves have left in this ancient land against the encroaching forces which wish to destroy what little remains. Forsaken Apothecary poison the remaining wildlife while the Horde have allied with the Shatterspear tribe to invade from the North, all while the Twilight cultists continue to slowly sicken the land like a plague from within and nature itself is driven wild in the aftermath of Deathwings passing.
Meanwhile to the south Ashenvale, perhaps the last true ancient Night Elf land remaining, is similarly besieged. While the Cataclysm itself didn't have the same level of impact as in Darkshore, there are still erupting volcano and burning forests which threaten to reduce this sacred land to ashes. And through it all the Horde advance. Places like the beautiful lakeside Silverwind Refuge have fallen to the Horde, its trees older than the kingdoms of man and orc alike cut down for lumber while the ground beneath slowly dries up and dies. Similar fates threaten every other Night Elven outpost as well, from the druid grove Raynewood to Maestra's post which is on the brink of defeat and even Astranaar itself.
Even should the Horde be pushed back, you just get the feeling it might be too late. That these last two ancient Night Elven forests are dying and that it's only a matter of time before they're gone forever. As an Alliance player with a Night Elf main and fond memories of the early zones it's just... crushing. NPC which you remember once giving out quests are now dead or dying, beautiful scenic spots you remember gasping in awe at are now shadows of their former selves, and the conflict feels desperate and dirty in a way it didn't before. I don't want to fight the Shatterspear (From a story standpoint) for example, and frankly I resent Garrosh for having dragged them into this conflict and forcing Alliance to fight them when there are so many other threats which seem all the more pressing.
So what do you think? Is this the beginning of the end for the Night Elves as a people? Hyjal, though recovering, was destroyed in the Third War while Felwood remains corrupt and the Moonglade is too small to support a population even were it not home to the neutral Cenarion Circle. Darnassus meanwhile, while grand indeed, is actually a new place younger even than Orgrimmar and whose future is uncertain as throughout WOW before and in Cataclsym still it is plagued with problems from sickness to disease. That leaves among the ancient homelands of the Elves only Darkshore and Ashenvale, both of which are besieged and dying...
Is this the beginning of the end?
End of Forwarded Message
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27026325878&sid=1
I won't be able to respond to this until after I get back, (about 8pm my time) but I would be interested to see what people think of this.
Aleria Fadeleaf
Department of Alliancecentrism
Office #302B