World of Warcraft’s Battle for Azeroth expansion doesn’t even launch until August 14, and yet already the expansion’s new plot developments are causing hundreds of players to unite in protest and show visible proof of their solidarity via a somewhat unconventional (yet also strangely appropriate) way.
It all began last week when Blizzard released a new Warbringers trailer (the second in a series that started with the jaded human mage Jaina Proudmoore) for the current Horde Warchief, Sylvanas Windrunner. The trailer shows Sylvanas as she recounts how she was turned from a brave elven general into an undead servant of darkness at the hands of the Lich King, Arthas. Since then, Sylvanas has been the architect of several heinous acts, and the trailer ends with what is perhaps her cruelest move yet: the burning of Teldrassil, the World Tree that also serves as the home of the Night Elf race.
Unsurprisingly, many World of Warcraft players, Horde loyalists included, weren’t very happy about Sylvanas’ sudden plunge into the depths of true villainy (a move which, to be fair, she’s been skirting towards for some time now). In a more recent trailer, titled “Old Soldier,” Blizzard showed that the ire players felt was also shared by another iconic Horde character, the venerable Orc warrior Varok Saurfang.
Much like Saurfang’s casting off of his shoulder pads, World of Warcraft players are now using the game’s transmogrification system to hide their own shoulder armor as a way to show that they stand by the Horde code of honor which Sylvanas unfortunately burned away when she laid siege to Teldrassil. An in-game community called “Shoulders for Saurfang” has been created and already has over 400 members. Later today, Shoulders for Saurfang will be hosting an in-game event in which members will march from the Horde capital of Orgrimmar to Darkshore, the region where Teldrassil is located.
The burning of Teldrassil also factors into World of Warcraft’s currently ongoing War of the Thorns pre-launch event, and event which culminates today and sets the stage for Battle for Azeroth’s full launch next week.