World of Warcraft®

Ever been to the Firelands? Everything that happens there is pretty much his all his fault. But does he even care? Noooooo...

I think I finally understand.

He has a lack of consideration of others.
Barely acknowledges Tyrande's affections.
Prefers to be with animals over his own people.
Has an obsession, in this case with nature.
Completely averse to change.

Malfurion has Aspergers.

It was the Legacy of Leyara quest chain that made me give up on Malfurion as a character ... I just don't care what happens to him anymore. It doesn't matter to me.

Have they fixed the thing where, if a Horde raid attacks Tyrande, he just stands there and watch her die?

Because that was (is?) the most insane point of mechanical neglect in the game, and while it is just game mechanics, it says alot about how Blizzard views Malfurion and the Horde, and Malfurion and Tyrande.

03/18/2014 11:46 AMPosted by Arkaran

Have they fixed the thing where, if a Horde raid attacks Tyrande, he just stands there and watch her die?

Because that was (is?) the most insane point of mechanical neglect in the game, and while it is just game mechanics, it says alot about how Blizzard views Malfurion and the Horde, and Malfurion and Tyrande.

That's purely game mechanics. It would be unfair for one of the Alliance leaders to be invincible thanks to her Super Saiyan husband. It is very jarring though. Maybe they could have him automatically blow up the Horde raid when Tyrande goes down?

The only thing wrong with Malfurion is his model.

Hes irrationally hated because he didn't obliterate the Horde and he was rude to Tyrande once and she has a larger and more rabid fanbase than Sylvanas.

Kill Malfurion using magma giants. Its fun.

03/18/2014 09:58 AMPosted by Telonis

03/18/2014 09:34 AMPosted by Elthrendas

I prefer him over Tyrande, I mean would you rather have Tyrande or Malfurion, who would save the world?

Technically both HAVE saved the world and EACH OTHER. It was Tyrande that led the last, desperate defense of the World Tree to buy Malfurion some time to complete his spell. Jaina's and Thrall's forces had already been overcome or routed.

But you proved my point. A lot of us on this forum are old-school WC players from back in the WC2 or even WC1 days. We know the lore and some of us literally grew up with these characters. The fact that someone would even ask if Tyrande, who was a complete badass and once billed as the greatest military commander in Azeroth, could save the world really shows how badly her character has been mutilated.

It makes us sad, frustrated and angry. Those emotions are transfered onto Malfurion, unfairly for the most part but there it is, because so much of Tyrande's mutilation was done for the sake of making Malfurion look better.

I totally agree here. I think Furion should have his own stories apart from Tyrande. I think if they had him do his druid things and had her do her priest/war things they could compliment each other when they do interact in the same space.

And, to top it off, the whole "Hush, Tyrande" thing went over like a lead balloon.

03/18/2014 11:26 AMPosted by Aurric

It was the Legacy of Leyara quest chain that made me give up on Malfurion

Yeah that was probably the final nail in the already nail ridden coffin.

03/18/2014 11:26 AMPosted by Aurric

It was the Legacy of Leyara quest chain that made me give up on Malfurion as a character ... I just don't care what happens to him anymore. It doesn't matter to me.

"One of my students was so deeply wounded by my negligence getting her daughter killed that she turned to the service of Ragnaros? Lel, she cray kill her pls."

He is so utterly uncaring about all sapients that it boggles my mind how he hasn't been run out of Darnassus.

My big hope in WoD is that at the end Thrall decides to stay behind to help guide the remnants of the IH towards the right path. The reason being is that this is a good opportunity for Blizz to start weeding out the "Mortal Gods" of WoW and eventually have Azshara (whenever they get around to bringing her back) kill off Malfurion in an epic showdown in front of Tyrande then have her lead the charge on the Naga.

Granted, none of this will happen because Blizzard but a guy can dream.

I like Malfurion and don't agree with the haters. I think his only mistake was C-blocking the Frozen Throne sinking in WC3:TFT.

From his PoV, he spends all his time in the Dream trying to fight the Old Gods, and keeps getting woken up to fight world ending threats that both the Horde and Alliance are working together to stop. He's not around for the middle times when the faction war is the main event. So I find it understandable that he's not a bloodthirsty orc killer.

03/18/2014 02:16 PMPosted by Threeslotbag

I like Malfurion and don't agree with the haters. I think his only mistake was C-blocking the Frozen Throne sinking in WC3:TFT.

From his PoV, he spends all his time in the Dream trying to fight the Old Gods, and keeps getting woken up to fight world ending threats that both the Horde and Alliance are working together to stop. He's not around for the middle times when the faction war is the main event. So I find it understandable that he's not a bloodthirsty orc killer.

You're such a hypocrite, Threeslot. You extol that douche when he does it, yet, never chide other supposedly neutral heroes, i.e. Thrall, when they kill Alliance personnel.

03/18/2014 02:55 PMPosted by Dallanna

You're such a hypocrite, Threeslot. You extol that douche when he does it, yet, never chide other supposedly neutral heroes, i.e. Thrall, when they kill Alliance personnel.

The only time Thrall did that was when a crew of EVIL Alliance taking orders from a minion of the Old Gods were trying stop him from saving the world and killing any neutral civilians who saw them.

Even after they killed a bunch of his friends blowing up his ship he didn't seem angry with them. In Thrall's own words in that scene, they weren't going to give up and were going to keep trying to stop him from saving the world, so they had to be disposed of.

03/18/2014 10:22 AMPosted by Orlesian

I dislike Malfurion because he is purple-Jesus. Like Thrall, but purple. Thanks to their over the top lore, Malfurion is god and is way too strong. The problem is, they decided to wake him up.

Now they have Alliance Racial Leader, that is obligated to protect the forests (Ashenvale) and destroy those who disrespect nature (Everyone on the Horde - Taurens and maybe trolls.) and since Furion is so strong, he could do that.

Problem is, then there would be no Horde and the game needs to continue. So, instead he does NOTHING which ruins his character, and makes the story suck even worse. It would be better if he died, so that they wouldn't have to worry about incorporating him into the story and have people laughing when people murder his wife he loves so much... And he doesn't even move.

In other words, short-sighted writing.

I also thought of Malfurion as "Purple Jesus". Back in Wc3 he seemed like an O.K. guy, but in the WoTA trilogy and his self-titled novel, he was Knaak-ified into a God Mode sue who can scare Archimonde into retreat, create a weapon that can harm Sargeras himself, conjure torrential rainstorms that can drown the whole world, and "shake" said world from the Emerald Dream. I find it all so over the top.

03/18/2014 11:49 AMPosted by Aemon

03/18/2014 11:46 AMPosted by Arkaran

Have they fixed the thing where, if a Horde raid attacks Tyrande, he just stands there and watch her die?

Because that was (is?) the most insane point of mechanical neglect in the game, and while it is just game mechanics, it says alot about how Blizzard views Malfurion and the Horde, and Malfurion and Tyrande.

That's purely game mechanics. It would be unfair for one of the Alliance leaders to be invincible thanks to her Super Saiyan husband. It is very jarring though. Maybe they could have him automatically blow up the Horde raid when Tyrande goes down?

Would you prefer that Malfurion fights the Horde while Tyrande just stands there and watches? Because it might be a bit more accurate considering Tyrande's new personality.

If not, just imagine that Malfurion is in the Emerald Dream whenever your raid is attacking. According to the book Stormrage, he's able to be in the Emerald Dream and the real world at the same time.

03/18/2014 03:23 PMPosted by Charbosk

I also thought of Malfurion as "Purple Jesus". Back in Wc3 he seemed like an O.K. guy, but in the WoTA trilogy and his self-titled novel, he was Knaak-ified into a God Mode sue who can scare Archimonde into retreat, create a weapon that can harm Sargeras himself, conjure torrential rainstorms that can drown the whole world, and "shake" said world from the Emerald Dream. I find it all so over the top.

In general I agree that the mortal gods in the WC universe need to go away. It is because of them moreso than the PC that WoW is experiencing a DBZ effect.

But there are some misnomers here that I wanted to address. First, the torrential rain I think you are refering to is the rainstorm he summoned after Tyrande was kidnapped. If I am wrong please correct me. That storm was relatively local in scope though tremendous in effect. Also, Knaack used a common literary devise that I call "Emotional Power Release". It may have a proper name but I don't it.

In an EPR a person, usually the hero since heroes are generally good and thus guarded with their power, experiences some emotional trauma that causes them to lash out. The usual guards and restrictions on their power are lowered and we, the audience glimpse what the hero is capable of. It is a vehicle to show us that the hero can indeed compete with this usually uncommonly powerful and very experienced villain.

Second, is the axe Brox used on Sargeras. It was made by a combination of Malfurion and Cenarius. Through Cenarius the axe had a small measure of Titan power and was imbued by both with the power of Nature, or Titanic Order; both of which are ananthema to Sargeras. Further, the "wound" Brox caused was more like a papercut. You notice when it happens but go on almost immediately. Sargeras's scream at the attack was more shock and surprise than pain.

Finally, what Krasus did was essentially squirt lemon juice on said papercut. It was the timing of Krasus's actions that meant the most in that instant. Sargeras was trying to stabilize the portal enough for him to cross, which took all of even his considerable power and concentration. What Krasus did was draw his attention from his primary task just long enough for the portal to destabilize to the point where even a Pantheon Titan could not recover it.

But yes, Malfurion has become a mortal god like Thrall and Varian. That is why most people dislike all of those characters. Which is a shame because at least Furion and Thrall used to be very popular.

That you for all your respones! It is clear too me that you all hate him with very good reasons!Thanks :)

03/18/2014 11:49 AMPosted by Aemon

03/18/2014 11:46 AMPosted by Arkaran

Have they fixed the thing where, if a Horde raid attacks Tyrande, he just stands there and watch her die?

Because that was (is?) the most insane point of mechanical neglect in the game, and while it is just game mechanics, it says alot about how Blizzard views Malfurion and the Horde, and Malfurion and Tyrande.

That's purely game mechanics. It would be unfair for one of the Alliance leaders to be invincible thanks to her Super Saiyan husband. It is very jarring though. Maybe they could have him automatically blow up the Horde raid when Tyrande goes down?

Well, they may be game mechanics, but they are a perfect metaphor for the problem.

That said, I think Malfurion gets a bit too much flak around these boards. That doesn't mean that I don't have serious problems with him, but not all of it his fault.

First, I did enjoy his presentation in Warcraft III. Yes, he was aloof and "worldly", but he was still grounded. I legitimately felt like at the end of the day, he cared about things other than just druidism. He had emotions, he got angry, and he made mistakes. He's not my favorite from Warcraft III, but I didn't hate him either.

In World of Warcraft of course, we made him vanish because reasons. Can't have him fighting the Horde after all. Then in Cataclysm he urgently had to deal with the plot contrivance birthed from the question we know came up during the brainstorming session: "Wait, if the Horde invades Ashenvale, wouldn't Malfurion intervene?" From a lore perspective, the plot contrivance wasn't his fault, and it's not a fault in his character.

However, the plot contrivance doesn't cover the matter of his opinion on what's going on in Ashenvale, or whether he cares or not for the people he consistently calls on to defend nature with him. In every appearance save for Wolfheart and the Leyara questline, they tiptoe around the subject, going so far as to make Tyrande's short story as completely unrelated to the elephant-in-the-room war going on in Ashenvale as possible so that Malfurion could take part.

Leyara was a huge missed opportunity. This should have been the moment where Malfurion shows at least some emotion about the decisions he believes he has to make - when confronted with the cost of those decisions, and the fact that it isn't just his sacrifice to make. Instead he writes it off. His position is that of reason, hers was not. No further discussion, no introspection, no anger, no grief. Barely any consideration to speak of.

For me, this reminded me of the scene from Watchmen when Dr. Manhattan explains: "A live human body and a deceased human body have the same number of particles. Structurally there's no difference."

Of course, the reason for this is also clear. Malfurion is no longer a character. He's an author mouthpiece. He is there to convey the author's opinions and to be correct. In this case, this was transparently a rebuttal to critics who consistently asked why neither Malfurion nor the elven members of the Cenarion Circle seemed to care about the brutal war being waged against their people. Let's leave alone that straw man arguments aren't exactly logical.

Malfurion and the Cenarion Circle share the same problem. They exist in a vacuum, disconnected entirely from the world around them, and Malfurion's lack of action in the game during city raids is testament to this. They're disconnected to push a particular narrative and moral, similar to how prior presentation and lore are sacrificed upon the altar of the same god. Malfurion in that sense isn't the problem itself. He's a symptom of "I don't care, just make it work" storytelling.