Source
r/wow•
baberg

South Park, Legion, and Member Berries

Minor South Park spoilers from this week below

This week South Park introduced one of its themes for the season in the form of "Member Berries" which are fruits that adults use to help them calm down and relax. They get their name from a shortened form of "remember" and, as they await to be eaten, say thing like "'member Chewbacca?" or "'member Spock?".

They are an analogue to nostalgia and our innate desire to see only what we've seen before. J. J. Abrams is featured in the episode because of how he has remade Star Trek and Star Wars, but really has told the same story with a slight twist.

I fear Legion is going to follow the same route. Legion is a J. J. Abrams "reboot" of The Burning Crusade. I can imagine my own pack of Member Berries saying things like

  • 'member Gul'dan?
  • 'member the Burning Legion?
  • 'member Demon Hunters?
  • 'member Illidan?
  • 'member Karazhan?

WoW is an ongoing story and so the same characters should be featured but I feel like we're seeing the same characters tell the same story in the same locations again with some minor details changed. I hope I'm wrong and that the writing team has something new planned.

Posted Sep 16, 2016, 2:33 PM UTC

09
Watts74•

This seems like the first expansion in a while where there's been development in the 'real' story. Sure they rehash a lot of things, but Warcraft is 20yrs old now and I'd argue that quite a bit of the player base never played WC1/2 possibly 3.

There's been much in the way of new character and story development so far.

5
samo101•

It totally is. That's not nessecarily a bad thing - just because something banks on nostalgia doesn't mean the quality is low. Especially a game where the story matters so little as in WoW.

(I mean in that you don't care about the story when you're playing the game, not a comment on the quality of the story itself)

2
Watts74•

I care about the story when I play...

3
samo101•

Maybe, but I would say not when you're farming ancient mana, or killing a boss in a raid. The gameplay is very seperated from the story.

It's not like a game like Mass Effect or Dragon Age where progressing through the story is the main goal of the game. WoW is a game about accumulating resources and power

Although, maybe i'm wrong, and you're just a totally different type of gamer to me :)

2
babergOP•

What I worry about is that banking on nostalgia prevents new ideas from coming to the surface. Especially in a group writing effort (as I assume it would be for WoW) Member Berries will prevent new ideas from reaching the surface.

One person could have a great idea, but another floats the idea of Illidan returning and everybody clings to that idea because of their own Member Berries.

The stories in Legion have been pretty good so far and Blizzard is clearly not afraid of killing off established characters, which is a good sign. But a completely new idea for an expansion would be interesting to me. Maybe the Titans returning and being pissed at what Azeroth has become. Factions of Goblin or Gnomish technomancers start to explore other planets.

The same story again, even if told very well, is sort of like junk food. Yes, it fills you up, but it's not very nutritious.

1
samo101•

You might be right, but WoW is a game where the Lich King's right hand man was Professor Farnsworth. I don't really think this is anything new, it's just a different way of doing what Blizzard does

3
Oddfeeling•

Member warcraft 3 frozen throne?

Spoiler WotLK

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Swvaredneck•

Member T0?

Member SS vs TM?

Member when there wasn't so many blood elfs?

2
Swiggens•

They've always reused things. Wotlk they reused Nax. Its just something they've always done.

1