“Too much story to fit into even two expansions”: Blizzard’s Struggle to Create an ‘Engaging Villain’ Led to World of Warcraft’s Worldsoul Saga
World of Warcraft didn't feature an engaging villain in a long time, which has led the team to initiate the saga to search for a suitable evil.
- World of Warcraft has been running for two decades with multiple expansions, though some of them failed to impress players.
- However, its realization of not including an impressive evil character in the series has led it to the Worldsoul Saga, which will have three expansions in six years.
- Even the World of Warcraft team realized that it should have listened to players to make the game much better.
World of Warcraft will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. The glorious run of two decades has been continuing with the Worldsoul Saga, a multi-expansion storyline that had its first expansion, The War Within, released a few days ago. At this crucial juncture, the developer talked about some vital updates, including its search for an engaging villain.
World of Warcraft is one of the defining gaming series by Blizzard Entertainment, which has been attracting attention for twenty years. Throughout the years, the series has received multiple expansions, but its search for an appealing villain has led it to the newest saga.
Blizzard Unfolds Secrets Regarding the Newly Launched Worldsoul Saga
World of Warcraft: Worldsoul Saga is supposed to be an epic storyline of three installments, which will be released within six years. While the storyline is supposed to bring tons of content, the game director confirmed that this saga is the result of the team’s search for a powerful villain.
During an interview at Gamescom 2024, World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas talked of multiple challenges the team generally faces with the game, and one of them is the villains.
According to him, using the villains that the previous installments have established in the MMORPG solved the problem temporarily but created more challenges for the team in the long run.
For a long time, the team was struggling to introduce “a credible, engaging villain” in World of Warcraft expansions, and as a result, the Worldsoul Saga came into existence. While initially it was planned to have only one expansion, the team later considered that there was “too much story to fit into even two expansions.” Thus, three expansions will come to complete the saga.
The story needs to have enough time to build the suspense and form the twists and turns. Therefore, time is crucial to stay on track and do justice to every aspect.
The Producer of World of Warcraft Revealed a Change She Wanted to Bring
The first expansion of the epic saga, The War Within, was released on August 26 but didn’t get the expected response from the fanbase. Players criticized this latest expansion for multiple reasons, including the same storyline, as soon as the pre-ordered access began.
This is not the first instance of a World of Warcraft expansion facing criticism. Dragonflight and Shadowlands are two of the glaring examples of World of Warcraft expansions brutally criticized by fans and considered to be the worst in the series.
Therefore, when the producer of the MMORPG, Holly Longdale, appeared for an interview, she mentioned something that the company could have done better, and that was to consider the player feedback more seriously.
The developer always has to balance players’ demands and keep the game’s story intact. Though initially, the process was tough, now, social listening tools and in-game analytics have made the work much easier. With these coming in handy, the team can always check out something it has initially missed.
The MMORPG has two more expansions left in the saga, and players are expecting these to bring something exciting and satisfying to experience.
