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Know Your Lore: State of the Alliance, 2012
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. It has never been harder to be Alliance. Throughout the years of war brought about by the orcish invasion of Azeroth, the Alliance has seen its ups and downs. During that first assault, Stormwind was destroyed, its king assassinated. However, the direct result of this was an Alliance of kingdoms that paved the way for the Alliance as we know it today -- a smart, level-headed group of races focused on survival. The survival of each race individually, and the survival of the world as we know it. A noble cause, and the Alliance is well-known for its nobility. Yet despite bouncing back from that original, horrific assault, the Alliance seems to be in a downward spiral in the days of Cataclysm, one which is spinning horrifically out of control. And despite the best efforts of Alliance leaders, trying to staunch the flow of death and despair is becoming increasingly more difficult. This has much to do with the effects of the Shattering, and even more to do with those enemies of old; the orcs and their united allies in the Horde. Even though the Alliance has come back before, the question of whether or not they can do it again is a heavy one that weighs on the minds of all. It has never been so hard to be Alliance, it has never been this dark. Or so popular opinion states.
Know Your Lore: The curious dissonance of Alliance leveling
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Back when I was writing up the five must-do Horde zones and five must-do Alliance zones articles, I decided to play through those zones again just for experience's sake. In beta and the early days of Cataclysm, I spent a lot of time going through the Alliance 1-to-60 leveling zones and experiencing the content. I remember being really pleased with how well the zones were laid out and how nice it was to see actual story instead of just, "I'd like six pig heads; go get them from the field next door." After that experience, I played through them on Horde side and was terribly pleased to see they were just as well done on the other side of the faction fence. I didn't really think about it afterwards, and it wasn't until I decided to do these two articles that I took it upon myself to level through these zones again. And this time ... something had changed, a little. Perhaps it was because it had been so long since I'd played through the Alliance zones. Perhaps it was because I had just finished experiencing the Horde zones when I went back to Alliance. But there was something very, very different about the experience. While leveling as Horde, I was having all kinds of lighthearted fun mixed with bits of serious story. While leveling as Alliance, I felt like there was an oppressive weight bearing down on me at all times, and that weight was never really removed. Odd, that.
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2011, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The development of lore in WoW has ramped up over the years. While vanilla saw a few lore developments, players could still wander the lands of Azeroth with nary a clue as to why they were there, skipping quest text altogether in favor of simply getting the job done. The Burning Crusade saw more of these lore-related quests introduced, and Wrath pushed the concept even further. But Cataclysm's taken lore and gameplay to a new level of interactivity. Last week, in segments #10 through #8, we talked about a few of those innovations in lore development, include the emphasis on focused, directed storytelling over the aimless wandering days of vanilla WoW and the trend of releasing free-to-read short stories on the official website. Both of these have their ups and downs, but the short stories weren't the only focus of Blizzard's writing department.
Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2011, part 1
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Since Rossi is taking a look at the top lore reveals of Cataclysm, I decided to jump in hand-in-hand with that. A little over a year and a half ago, I addressed some of the storytelling methods of Wrath -- what worked, what didn't work. It wasn't a look at specific lore moments as much as a look at how Blizzard was handling lore as a whole. Compared to the early days of WoW, Wrath made some giant strides forward in how we as players interacted and mingled with the various storylines of the expansion. Much like Wrath, Cataclysm observed all that had come before, took a good look at all of it, and promptly made some giant strides of its own. What we've gotten in the past year has been nothing short of astonishing in terms of creating a meld of gameplay and lore that draws the player in and keeps them there ... to a point. After all, nothing's perfect in this world, and there are always things that could be tweaked and improved upon. Let's take a look at the top 10 lore developments of 2011 -- not the story we've seen in the foreground, but all those wonderful mechanics behind it.
The Queue: Stat inflation, loading screens, Extra Buttons, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Every year, we make Allison Robert compile a Best of WoW Insider series for the end of the year, and 2011's Best Of series is in progress right now. I know all of you enjoy looking back on the biggest news of the past year, but it's something that's really cool for us, too -- when you're here doing this gig every day, sometimes you forget the really fun and satisfying things you might've written at the beginning of the year. It's especially interesting when Allison picks one of your editorials from January as a Best Of and when you look back on it 12 months later, you realize you completely disagree with yourself. Your thoughts and opinions can change a lot in a year. It's a fun experience, and I'm looking forward to the series starting up next week. ricard.bossle asked: There were any news about the 5.0 Stats Inflation and how this issue will be adressed in game?
Review of Wolfheart, by Richard A. Knaak
Let's face it: The Alliance has kind of gotten the shaft this expansion, from a story perspective. Oh sure, you can talk about the Dwarves of Ironforge and the assorted conflicts in Ashenvale and even the druids up in Hyjal with Nordrassil. But when you simply look at Cataclysm and everything that's come out of it, the Horde has seen more development and story than the Alliance, to the point of having the upper hand in the continual conflict between Alliance and Horde. The Alliance simply hasn't had much given to it in the way of novels, beyond the tales of the Worgen race and the leader short stories on the Warcraft website. That pretty much ends with Wolfheart, the newest Warcraft novel by Richard A. Knaak. For those who were tired of hearing of Thrall's exploits or the exploits of the Horde in general, Wolfheart is very much the book for you. Though we haven't witnessed any particularly huge conflicts with the Alliance in game -- instead being treated to the somewhat chilly reception of Garrosh Hellscream and his plans for the Horde -- it doesn't mean that there hasn't been any to speak of. In fact, there's far more going on behind the scenes with the Alliance than anyone could have guessed.
Wolfheart audiobook to include game sounds
Not only will our friend and the king of Stormwind (and my heart) Varian Wrynn be getting his own novel soon, but said novel will also be released as an audiobook. Richard Knaak's Wolfheart will not just be released as a novel, but also as a recording with special effects, in-game sounds and narration. The novel is scheduled to be released Sept. 13, 2011, and the audiobook is expected not long after. Are you excited? I'm excited! I'm actually looking forward to seeing how King Varian and the Worgen, especially their king Genn Greymane, interact in this book. Thanks to BlizzPlanet for the heads up!
All the World's a Stage: Plot points for worgen roleplayers
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. The worgen are the newest race to hit Alliance side, and though they are humans affected by a curse, they aren't exactly the same as your run-of-the-mill humans we've been playing since vanilla. Worgen roleplayers have a ton of information thrown at them during the starting levels, but after the fight is over and everyone's moved on, it seems as though there's not much in the way of excitement or roleplay potential. That isn't necessarily the case. The main issue I have with worgen -- and to a degree, their Horde counterparts the goblins -- lies in the fact that you are inundated with so much information in those first few levels. The story moves at a frenetic pace, and unless you're paying close attention, it can quickly become an overwhelming experience. Despite the relative lull after the starting experience is over, there is plenty for worgen roleplayers to use, even at level 85.
World of Warcraft: "Wolfheart" novel description now available
A preview description for the next book set in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm universe, Wolfheart, has appeared courtesy of BlizzPlanet. The novel, penned by Stormrage and War of the Ancients trilogy author Richard A. Knaak, follows the exploits of Varian Wyrnn, Genn Greymane, night elf leaders Malfurian Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind, and surprise guest Maiev Shadowsong. From the description, it appears the novel will focus on the tensions between Stormwind and Gilneas due to their tenuous new alliance, the Highborne's reintegration into night elven society, and the continued fight in Ashenvale against the surmounting Horde odds. Christie Golden's Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, is currently on the shelves, chronicling Thrall's journey post-Cataclysm with the Earthen Ring and his counterpart Aggra, as well as the dragons and their quest to stay alive and allied during Deathwing's brutal return. With Wolfheart, it seems we're getting an Alliance leader's story opposed to that of Thrall, who was once the Horde's warchief. World of Warcraft: Wolfheart is going to be available on Sept. 13, 2011. Hit the jump for the full description.
The Queue: Good Monday
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Hey, what do you know! We had a bunch of great questions for today's Queue, which is unusual for a Monday. I'm usually picking through scraps. I think that means this week will be a good week. Necromann asked: Do player character hitboxes differ? For example, can you hit a tauren farther away than you can hit a gnome?
Know Your Lore: Darius Crowley, Lord of Silverpine
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. I said last week that we'd be covering Broxigar Saurfang this week. I lied, just like when I told Sully I'd kill him last. This week, we're going to talk about an honest to the Light Gilnean hero. A patriot, a rebel, a lord who cared for his land but could see beyond it, a killer, a father who would die for his daughter without hesitation. Alone among the lords and ladies of Gilneas, Darius Crowley saw that without the Alliance, his nation was doomed. By his hand, civil war raged across the land behind the Greymane Wall. Forced to see his holdings in Silverpine truncated by a wall he opposed, he lost everything -- even his freedom -- fighting his misguided king. In the end, he cannot even take consolation in having ultimately been proven right. Made a beast, he fights on for his homeland and his ancestral lands, stolen by Sylvanas Windrunner and the Forsaken. Forced to choose between his daughter and victory, he chose her and retreated into contested Gilneas. While the king of that land tries to rally Alliance support to retake the homeland, Crowley does battle in the moors and the streets of his homeland. Whether Gilneas is ultimately saved or destroyed by the Horde, one thing is clear: Darius Crowley will be found fighting there.
Curse of the Worgen #4 on sale now online and at comic stores
Gilneas City erupts into violence as the worgen attack! During the madness, Halford seeks understanding behind who is friend and who is foe, while also dealing with his own animalistic worgen urge to kill. In desperation, King Greymane forms an unlikely alliance... The World of Warcraft comic miniseries Curse of the Worgen is nearly at the end of its five-issue run. Issue #4 is now available for purchase both online and at your favorite local comic shop. The five-part series, written by Micky Neilson and James Waugh with artwork by Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington, details the origins of Gilneas and the worgen curse in a way that the worgen starting zone can't even begin to encompass. If you have not picked up this series, I highly recommend it -- the artwork is stunning, and the story is one of the best put out by the Warcraft comics team to date. If you're a fan of the worgen in Warcraft, this series is a must-read.
Patch 4.1 PTR: Hints of a new Hallow's End
The Forsaken have already carpet bombed Southshore with plague, so their annual ritual of tossing innocuous stinkbombs into town probably isn't going to have much of an impact anymore. We aren't sure how Blizzard is planning to update Hallow's End for Cataclysm yet, but the patch 4.1 data has some hints as to what we can expect this year -- at least the fun and games portion, if not the lore. Mixed in with the latest additions to Wowhead's database are new versions of the Hallow's End masks. Rather than replacing your helm slot, it appears that the masks now go over your helm slot -- meaning your human female can wear her tauren male mask while raiding Blackwing Descent without losing the stats on her epic helm. As an added bonus, it appears the masks that aren't player races also supply a stat buff of their own. The Naga Masks, for example, are consumed on use and provide an intellect buff.
Know Your Lore: King Genn Greymane of Gilneas
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. He brought it on himself, ultimately. This is not to say that he deserved it, precisely. He was proud, perhaps arrogant, and entirely too willing to let the whole world be damned as long as he saw no danger to Gilneas in the damning. But he was not malicious. He did not wish ill on anyone so much as he only wished weal upon those people he saw as his, and he saw his duty to those within his borders first, last and always. If he did not see clearly enough how the situation outside those borders would affect the people of Gilneas, it cannot be said that his failing was an absence of love for his people. Genn Greymane, King of Gilneas, never failed his people by an absence of care or dedication. Like many who love something totally and completely, Genn's love for Gilneas was so strong that there was nothing he would not countenance in its defense. And sadly, it may well have been that willingness to do anything for her and anything to protect her, and the desire always to think of her first, last, and always, that doomed her. Even as his people have been forced to flee their kingdom, driven out by invaders who come to defile and steal a land that was never theirs, Greymane remains devoted to his land and his people.
Lord of His Pack live at Blizzard's community site
Do you like worgen? Sure, we all do! Well, I do, anyway. And if you liked the Gilneas starting zone and wanted to get to know more about the origins of the place and its independent-minded king, Genn Greymane, Blizzard has you covered. James Waugh's Lord of His Pack is all about the king himself, his relationships with allies and adversaries like Darius Crowley, and how they made the trip across the ocean to Darnassus following their flight from their homeland. The past and the present are both explored, and a fuller picture of the Gilneas that was and the Greymane that is come to light. Go check it out now.
Know Your Lore: Sylvanas Windrunner, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Sylvanas Windrunner had a very important question to answer both for herself and her people at the end of Wrath of the Lich King: "What now?" Since their emergence as an ally of the Horde, the Forsaken have sought ultimate vengeance against the being responsible for their unfortunate fate. At the end of Wrath, the Forsaken and Sylvanas attained that goal; the Lich King was dead, and the Forsaken were left with ... well, nothing really. Sylvanas had a lot to think about as a leader, her people were looking to her for guidance and a new goal to singlemindedly march toward. What Sylvanas discovered in her pondering was that she'd forgotten about one simple fact regarding the Forsaken -- they were undead. Ever since the beginning of World of Warcraft, new Forsaken were introduced as being former soldiers of the Scourge who had broken free of the Lich King's control. With no Lich King, there was no Scourge, and with no Scourge, there was no way to bolster the Forsaken's numbers. Without new Forsaken, Sylvanas' people would quickly die out. Please note: The following post contains spoilers for the Forsaken storylines featured in Cataclysm content. If you have not played through Silverpine, Hillsbrad Foothills or the Western Plaguelands, turn away! And go play through those zones, because they are amazing.
Know Your Lore: Shadowfang Keep
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Since I talked about Gilneas last week, it only makes sense to continue the discussion with one of the most worgen-centric places in all of the World of Warcraft, namely storied Shadowfang Keep. It debuted in vanilla WoW as a brooding ruin infested with those dastardly worgen and the angry, unquiet ghosts of their victims. Now, some six years on, it's a brooding ruin infested with those dastardly undead, led by three traitors to both the Forsaken and Gilneas itself, also jam-packed with the ghosts of its former worgen masters and their victims. In short, time hasn't done much to improve Shadowfang Keep's general disposition. Well, unless you like your keeps to be atmospheric, top-filled with raging monstrosities and jam-packed with the loots -- in which case, the former estate of Baron Silverlaine awaits you. Yes, before it was a dungeon, Shadowfang Keep was the ancestral home of Baron Silverlaine, a noble who owed allegiance to Gilneas and whose ancestral lands lay just outside of where the Greymane Wall would be erected. Ruling over the settlers of neaby Pyrewood Village, the Baron seemed a relatively capable leader... until, of course, the coming of the Scourge.
Cataclysm Beta: Genn Greymane receives his voice
Last night's beta patch implemented a number of new sound files, but this is certainly the coolest: King Genn Greymane, leader of the Gilnean people, now has unique lines of dialogue. While working through the worgen starting experience, it's quite strange to hear King Greymane talking about [spoiler redacted] before you ever experience it first hand, but it's cool nonetheless. Gilnean NPC Lord Darius Crowley has received a line of his own as well. He gives a hearty, "We will prevail." Sadly, that's the only line he has so far, and the sound quality on it is far worse than what we've heard so far in Cataclysm. He probably isn't finished and hey, that's OK! It's a beta. The video after the break, for people who don't mind being spoiled.
Ask a Faction Leader: Genn Greymane redux
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader! We recently spoke to High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, king of the gnomes, and he shed light on several key issues, including ADD, spontaneous gnomish combustion, mobilizing Ironforge, threatening letters and interior decorating. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be once again sitting with Genn Greymane, king of Gilneas. Our first reader question... King Greymane, I have recently found a book in Dalaran that states you told the great Alliance of Lorderaon that it was better to just kill all the orcs after the second war. When you meet the leaders of the Alliance of Stormwind, who will you most likely say "I told you so" to when they bring up the encroaching orcs in Ashenvale forest? Valerii Human Paladin Ghostlands Genn responds: I did discuss this matter the last time your group had an audience with me, and my opinion hasn't changed. I'd prefer not to know orcs from a hole in the ground. Because they'd be in the hole. In the ground.
Worgen starting zone preview from Scrolls of Lore
In lieu of providing any new information on Cataclysm in the wake of BlizzCon, Blizzard's been showing the goblin and worgen starting zones at a lot of major gaming conventions, which means a good handful of players have had the chance to try them out. Nostra from popular lorecrafting site Scrolls of Lore is one of those handfuls, and they've written up a fantastic walkthrough of the worgen starting zone, starting from your character's royal connections and subsequent infection and culminating in Deathwing's cataclysm. What's not explained (so far, likely because no one's able to get that far yet) are how the night elves play into the whole worgen "thing" as shown in the Cataclysm trailer, but there's still a lot of new information on phasing, quests, and scenery in Gilneas besides what we've already covered, as well as accompanying photos. It's definitely worth a read. Hopefully Blizzard will continue to fill in more blanks in the worgen storyline as we get closer to the expansion's release, or maybe even update the Cataclysm site more than once every four months. In the meantime we can rely on sites like Scrolls of Lore to give us exhaustive previews of public demos like this one. Thanks, Nostra! World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
