War of the Thorns – Siege of Lordaeron Event

This was by far one the most spectacular battle scenarios that players could find themselves involved in. Player’s find themselves in an epic battle after initial pre-quests that start from where the opening Battle for Azeroth opening cinematic left off.

Both sides had their glorious moments of warfare excellence and it was a very moving experience for the players – who were given a mixture of emotions – on both sides. The Alliance side was there for vengeance against Sylvanas for the atrocities committed against the Night Elven people in Teldrassil and put an end to whatever schemes the Warchief had.

Horde players found themselves in a different situation since there was a moral split between Sylvanas’s win-by-any-means necessary techniques and that of honor that High Overlord Varok Saurfang speaks of. Last week, there was already a huge division in the Horde faction after the burning of Teldrassil from Warbringers and the Old Soldier cinematic.

It put Horde players into a situation of wondering, is the Horde evil as a whole or honorable? Players rallied behind the Old Soldier cinematic by taking off their shoulder armor – and other players took that in kind not to attack them in War Mode. People were very invested in the storyline now and were anxious to see what direction the Horde would go next.

What Caused Drama This Time in the War of the Thorns?

During the course of the battle – Sylvanas released blight upon the Alliance forces and upon her own troops – which killed many – and she then raised them from the grave to fight once more. Horde players were given gas masks – so the storyline did not necessarily have her killing the “players” – but it definitely opened some eyes.

Blizzard also gave the option of getting a gas mask and blight thrower to fight the Alliance or just a gas mask to go and rescue the Horde soldiers caught in the blight. The choice of using blight against their opponents or just going and saving others was completely up to the player.

The blight was incredibly effective and pushed the Alliance forces back until Jaina Proudmoore made her appearance upon a giant floating boat – where she unleashed incredibly powerful frost magic that cleared the blight and allowed the Alliance to push onward.

There was a tactical retreat where the Horde basically lured lured the Alliance forces deeper into the ruins of Lordaeron, and brought a cutscene showing Saurfang demanding an honorable death from the Alliance leaders – and then being spared and taken to the stockades. The Alliance King Anduin told Saurfang that his father Varian felt that the old orc was the representation of honor for the Horde.

Saurfangs capture was minor in terms of this War of the Thorns event – but will have deeper ramifications in the weeks to come – especially within the community.

The grand finale of this scenario came when Sylvanas was face to face with 4 faction leaders – who she almost managed to destroy by dirty bombing the entire Undercity with blight. Jaina saved the day and teleported everyone to safety – but this was huge for the WoW community since it showed the lengths to which the Warchief would go.

Conclusion

Overall what occurred during the War of the Thorns event this week is many talking points that the community is using to debate with each other. The Alliance saw that the Horde, or at least Sylvanas, is more than willing to use blight. This opens up many different story arcs and provides the topic of chemical warfare and the whole debate of war crimes to the wow community.

The Undercity has become lost and uninhabitable – which the community argues regarding who was victorious in that situation since the city was not actually taken. Yet – it seems strangely familiar to Teldrassil being lost. Going into Battle for Azeroth – both factions are down a city.

We saw that Jaina is incredibly powerful and frost magic can apparently deal with blight. Yet, the most important thing that may have occurred during this entire event was the capture of High Overlord Saurfang.

Since Saurfang is now a prisoner of the Alliance, he can be used in multiple different methods – making him a key player for some potentially explosive story arcs. Blizzard has definitely outdone themselves this expansion launch with their marketing and community involvement. I am proud to support these brilliant folks and am excited when Battle for Azeroth drops.