WRUP: Orcs orcs orcs
The weekend's here. It's been one hell of a week, hasn't it? This is not the place to discuss all the headlines, though; just the WoW ones. Among the news of the day, we've finally seen the cinematic. And while we could opine about plenty of the week's events, let's stay focused on that. Of course, that means we need to ask the obvious question: What did you think of the WoD cinematic? Was it everything you hoped for? What do you think of the fan reaction to it?
Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) Blizzard always amazes me with their cinematics. They're some of the earliest memories I have of the original Warcraft games sticking out from everything else. I don't remember a ton of specifics from what I played 15 years ago, but I remember sitting in my friend's basement and watching the Warcraft RTS cinematics as we learned to play those games. They started me on the path that's lead to here and now, so every time I see one I get very nostalgic and end YouTubing all the others. This one was Blizzard's best yet -- and I absolutely LOVE the tie in to the original Warcraft game at the end.
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) This weekend is going to be spent doing more of the usual writing I'm always up to and that's mostly boring. That cinematic on the other hand was absolutely not -- it was stunning! Watching Gul'dan's plans fall down around him before they even had a chance to begin, all the throwbacks to the original cinematics from the RTS games -- I mean yes, Garrosh is a villain and that was made blatantly clear in Mists, but there was still something about watching him show up and help his dad pretty much re-write that moment Garrosh was shown, the whole final showdown with Mannoroth. That little scene with Thrall and Grom pretty much kicked Garrosh's life into motion, so there was something kinda cool about seeing him change that bit of the past, both for his dad, and theoretically for himself as well.
... the subsequent building of the Dark Portal and invasion of our world, that part sucks big time, but I've always liked Grommash. It was cool seeing him again. And then there was Lords of War, which I'm ridiculously excited about -- between the gorgeous artwork and the dose of lore history, it was brilliantly done.
Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) This weekend I'll probably be working on more mount and pet battle achievements, in addition to prepping more Challenge Modes 101 pieces. Cinematic? Fantastic. And now I need to go purse that "Azeroth-B is a tangent universe à la Donnie Darko and is inherently unstable" theory.
Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) I'd say this is probably the best cinematic to date. Most of the cinematics in the past feature a lot of fighting without much (if any) explanation as to why it was happening. I understand that the Warcraft races and factions hate each other but that doesn't explain why they're in some random location and why they're always ready to charge right into battle at the sight of one another. This is the first time where the fight scene made sense as a natural progression of what had already occurred onscreen. I find this a lot more compelling than some random shots meant to make no name characters look cool.
Elizabeth Harper (@Faience) The cinematic looked great, but I have no emotional attachment to it. I've played the beta and think it is tremendously fun, but all of the advertising holds absolutely no appeal to me. More stories about orcs and Garrosh's endless well of daddy issues, which we were first introduced to in Burning Crusade. Let's find some different stories to tell. (And maybe we could have a cinematic with gnomes in it for a change?) I'll probably be doing more in the beta this weekend to finish up some garrison write-ups I'm working on.
Joe Perez (@lodurzj) I wanted to share the image that tied in the original Warcraft III game. I really like the continuity nod in the cinematic when compared to the WC3 cinematic. As always it was top notch. :D
Matthew Rossi (@MatthewWRossi) Honestly I'm more excited about Lords of War than the cinematic. Lords of War, despite being all horde all the time, at least had Varian and Maraad in it.
Sarah Pine (@ilaniel) Like Matt Rossi, I'm more excited for the Lords of War miniseries than the cinematic. The cinematic itself was excellently made (as usual) and there were a lot of great visual callbacks to the older Warcraft games, but ... it just didn't grab me so much. I did appreciate Garrosh's Deathwing-esque jaw though.
The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!
