TFS
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Speaking of which, the Professor, who was randomly aggressive toward the hero, also somehow knew of all the hero's "sins" (what about the "and you are so innocent" line is meaningful? What has the hero done in Book 1/2 that is so awful to be compared to Konnan as equivalent?)
The player's defeat of Akriloth and SMUDD in Book 1 is what led to the elemental dissonance and Wargoth being able to take over. This is something that was stated on the DragonFable homepage for the entirety of Book 2 so the line always made sense to me, but this context is long-lost so I can see how it would be a weird non-sequitor in a vacuum or to someone playing through it today.
As far as the Professor's memorability goes, I understand that his goals and role in the world make more logical sense in the rewritten version, but he did lose memorability/uniqueness and that's not nothing. Like even if his actions weren't logical or rational if examined under the lens of off-screen context, the vibes (I'm hiding, fighting Wargoth is impossible, you ruined everything, the world is ending) were still consistent with the story being told which is why players liked him. I'm also not sure his old grumpy/irate personality is incompatible with the new version of the story. But like you said, this was something that had been around for a very long time, and that alone could be coloring my perspective on it.
EDIT: Also, the Professor already knew, or at least suspected, that the player was responsible for the elemental dissonance in the original version of the questline, per Disarray. Xan also outright says it in the same quest. Heck, the very first thing that happens when you first kill Akriloth all the way back in Book 1 is an NPC appearing to tell you that doing so has damaged the elemental balance and endangered the world. Professor also knows that it was the protag who killed Akriloth and SMUDD via Konnan. It's not 'the professor looked at the dragonfable homepage' as much as it is that it's just reasonable to assume that characters who are very knowledgeable about the game's world can discern the cause of an elemental imbalance.
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Wargoth bringing up the hero impacts Konnan's insecurities, and Konnan himself, not the hero. Why would Wargoth manipulating Konnan do anything to the hero besides feeling some pity that Konnan harbors these, as has been noted, false thoughts of how the hero feels? Then again, for some players it seems they're not false thoughts.
I think there was a misinterpretation - it would have been nice to see the protag be resentful of or disgusted by Konnan BEFORE Wargoth came in and said it out loud. I brought that up because I feel like Wargoth's manipulation would have been more impactful (and, again, made Wargoth seem like a more threatening villain) if it was actually rooted in some sort of truth. Setup and payoff.
There's also a point to be made that Konnan is pretty unambiguously one of the game's most heinous villains, and this sort of being whitewashed by the protag's very muted interactions with him makes his appearance here feel very disconnected from his appearances earlier in the game - which is not really ideal if the character is being brought back for a redemption story. It also could make his redemption feel more 'earned' if he was at all antagonized for his past, instead of just getting hugboxed by the Professor. I do think there's a middle ground between a trauma dump "wahh wahh you have to feel bad" scene, and just going "yeah ok bet" to everything - even just by having resentment/disgust bleed through in functional dialogue or even facial expressions a dynamic between the characters could still be expressed.
I think the point with both of these is that characters' personalities and interpersonal dynamics can add to the story even if it isn't something that directly facilitates the progression of the plot. I think this is a sentiment that's already colored how Konnan specifically is being rewritten, which again I do very much enjoy and find very compelling.
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The Professor worked to save the Ateala. Showing up on his doorstep with a bunch of Unael kind of helps your credibility. And I feel like The Professor, who again, fought Wargoth and tried to save the Ateala, having the same goal of "stop Wargoth" as the aforementioned Ateala, is probably the least surprising thing?
Well, no? In the old version of the story (and the new one, from what's been shown so far), the Professor helps the Atealans FLEE FROM Wargoth, which is very different from FIGHTING Wargoth. When the story changes from "the best we can do is just flee from villain" to "we have to fight villain," it detracts from how threatening the villain is perceived to be.
Also, again comparing old vs new Professor - in the old version, very little is told about the Professor's relationship with the Ateala, other than that they used his portal to escape from Wargoth and then venerated him for it after the fact. But then when we meet the Professor, he doesn't care at all about the Ateala and just wants to escape Wargoth - implying to the player that his helping the Atealans escape was incidental.
That's a lot of yapping but what I'm basically trying to say is that new Professor comes off as a character with no goals or motives besides pure altruism, which detracts from how threatening Wargoth 'feels' as an antagonist. The fact that the characters seriously entertain, and even aspire to, the idea of directly confronting Wargoth does the same.
< Message edited by TFS -- 3/1/2026 23:18:29 >
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