World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is gearing up for the release of Eternity’s End, its second and final major update. Heroes from the Alliance and the Horde will travel to Zerith Mortis - a workshop realm used by the mysterious First Ones to create the Shadowlands - in their hunt for Zovaal the Jailer. Zertih Mortis holds secrets of creation that could bring change and enlightenment just as easily as death.
Game ZXC spoke with World of Warcraft lead narrative designer Steve Danuser and lead game designer Morgan Day about the process of creating Zerith Mortis and the Shadowlands. They shared insights on telling a story in an otherworldly location, and the difficult decisions that went into picking and choosing the stories they wished to tell. Shadowlands gave World of Warcraft a unique and difficult opportunity.
Bringing World of Warcraft's Story to Life in the Realm of Death
Telling a story in a place like the Shadowlands is not easy. The balance between recognizable and innovative content is difficult, and Shadowlands has had to struggle with this since it began. World of Warcraft is a game first and foremost, but justifying game mechanics such as transportation, crafting recipes, and food in this setting was an unexpected challenge.
The portals found in Oribos that lead back to Orgrimmar and Stormwind are a good example of this. While ostensibly present to provide convenience for players, NPCs like the Lordaeron refugees Emma Felstone and Philia Fintallas, as well as tauren paladin Sunwalker Dezco, who seeks the souls of his deceased wife and child, can be found in the Shadowlands hub city. The implication that any old baker could go to the afterlife and peddle their loaves may be enough to make one’s head spin.
The universe of Warcraft is large one, far more than any one game or book could encompass. “There’s so much we want to explore,” Day said. “Some of those are like, ‘Can the bread guy walk through the portal?’ We don’t always have the opportunity to answer those questions.” Nevertheless, the development teams have done what they can to show, as Danuser called it, “This slice that is most appropriate to the kind of game that World of Warcraft is.” He said from the main plot to hidden cameos, and even peculiar crafting recipes and foods, World of Warcraft tells its story by relying on every facet of the development team – and invites players to muse about questions they don’t have the chance to answer.
“It was a great opportunity to show that everyone on the team is a storyteller, not just the narrative team or the quest team; it’s everyone working together to infuse story into everything they do, and that’s one of the hallmarks of what makes worldbuilding in WoW really stand out and resonate with fans year after year.”
For some, World of Warcraft’s approach has worked well. The veritable zoo of wonders in Shadowlands provides plenty to consume, and many are happy to take what they find and fill in the blanks. For others, Shadowlands’ storytelling has fallen short. These players are unsatisfied with surface-level answers, and even frustrated when those answers breed more questions. They want to know the impact that those portals have on the bakers of Stormwind, and think World of Warcraft has bitten off more than it can chew with Shadowlands.
Regardless, Shadowlands is coming to an end, and Eternity’s End is the zenith of this storytelling arc. Whatever happens after will hopefully learn from both the positive and negative aspects of Shadowlands to make something even stronger. With an end coming to these character arcs and cosmic mysteries, Danuser and the World of Warcraft team can start something new.
“[ Eternity’s End ] gives us the best of both worlds. We get to go to this really fantastic place that’s unlike any we’ve seen before and learn some hints at cosmic mysteries that tease out some potential future paths that may go well into the future, while also getting that very Azerothian closure to some of these character arcs for people we’ve followed and fought alongside or against for years.”
Choosing From World of Warcraft's Ensemble Cast
With nearly 30 years of history to pull from, World of Warcraft has a lot of characters. What’s worse, an expansion set in the afterlives opens the door wider, as dead characters are no longer off the table. Perhaps the hardest question World of Warcraft had to face with Shadowlands was which characters it wanted to feature in the story.
“We wanted to decide on a cast that we really felt was pivotal to these events, that would have certain perspectives that might be unexpected,” Danuser said. “There’s only so much time to feature characters, so we had to make some choices and say, ‘Okay, we’ll let some of these other ones wait on the sidelines for now.’” Shadowlands had to pick and choose who to focus on, and strike the balance between major existing characters, Shadowlands originals, and expected faces.
This approach has created an unprecedented experience in Shadowlands. Recognizable characters like Vashjj, Draka, and Alexandros Mograine have been hits with the crowd, with Shadowlands offering levels of characterization that would be impossible in a normal expansion; as well as new characters like Renathal, Merelith, and Pelagos who have been beloved by fans. However, some living characters with strong ties to the main cast of Shadowlands, like Tyrande’s husband Malfurion Stormrage, or Anduin’s mentor Velen, have been missing. Other deceased characters could have heightened the story, like Battle for Azeroth’s beloved Varok Saurfang or Anduin’s father, former High King Varian Wrynn. These absences have been felt keenly by many.
While all might agree World of Warcraft only has so much time to tell a story, not everyone will be satisfied with which characters are able to play a part. Shadowlands isn’t over yet; though Eternity’s End will conclude the main story of the expansion, but Danuser gives hope for a few other characters showing up in epilogues and in the build up to the next expansion.
“That’s part of the fun of giving a story an epilogue chapter - you get the opportunity to pepper in some of those characters that didn’t feature the main storylines, but who still might have some interesting perspectives."
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is available on PC. Eternity's End releases on February 22, 2022.
