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Simplified WoW lore
The WoW community is growing ever larger, and for lots of people the entire Warcraft story is a puzzling maze of overlapping tales. I know if I were a new player and someone told me, "Oh yeah, you can go play this other stategy game to get some of the story... or you could read some books!" I might balk at the time commitment required just to understand the background story for this new game.Dawnbow has a solution though. This is the cliffs-notes version of WoW Lore. It won't keep you on the edge of your seat with spine-tingling suspense, but it'll give you a rough idea of what's going on behind the scenes of the game, without you having to spend extra time and money on other things.A few responders to her original post on the forums say that there may be a few errors here or there in her summary, but don't worry too much about that. Lore fans often disagree on details -- sometimes they're both right, sometimes both wrong, and sometimes Blizzard just hasn't been consistent. Either way, if you're looking for a quick catch up on the essentials of the WoW story, spend a few minutes with some simplified WoW lore, and then check out WoW Insider's own Know Your Lore column for some the juiciest character portraits you'll ever read about a game story.
MacHeads: The movie
Perhaps you've seen the documentary Trekkies. Hosted by the late Tasha Yar (curse you, Armus!), it profiles several of the show's most zealous fans and by that I mean people with serious mental disorders. Did you see what they did to that poor truck? None of us would get so carried away with our Apple fandom.Just a minute. Before you set your phasers to Smug, check out the trailer for MacHeads: The Movie. It feels like a cross between Trekkies and Leander Kahney's The Cult of Mac. Several users proclaim their love, including the guy with the tattoos and the girl who states in no uncertain terms that she has never slept with a Windows user. A few Mac celebs appear as well, including the man who isn't America's least-beloved technology pundit. The movie looks awesome, and we can't wait to see it. Not that we're obsessed or anything.[Via JSTAMANT.com]
Could MMOs be a substitute for high school spanish class?
Educational games have traditionally occupied that strange territory between "don't know" and "don't care." The very phrase evokes an image of a brightly colored box adorned with the image of Dora the Explorer or perhaps, if you're lucky, Bob the Builder. The idea of an educational MMO is one that has eluded me entirely. That is, until we found out NASA may be working on one. But a more general question, and one that's brought up by the blog A Ding World: would MMOs be a good vehicle for teaching players basic grammar and vocabulary in a foreign language?It's actually sort of an intuitive idea, as A Ding World points out. There are already games out there that have some sort of imbedded language mechanic built into the game. There's the language of the V'rix in Earth & Beyond, or the simple utility of the Logos language in Tabula Rasa. While it's debatable whether most players pay attention to these instructive nuggets within the game, it seems plainly obvious that the work/reward mechanic of an MMO would have some utility that high school Spanish teachers would have a hard time competing with. If studying had the same rewards grinding did, we might all be bi-lingual by now.
The Daily Grind: The importance of lore
Having a good back-story is very important for some. For other people, being forced to read scrolling quest text, or listen to an NPC go on and on about who was where in what battle is boring and a waste of time. The very presence and seeming popularity of leveling guides seems to indicate that many people are trying to get through games as quickly as possible these days. Yet, games like LotRO and its growing subscriber base are indicative that a good back-story is important to some. For today's question we'd like to ask -- is the lore important to you in a game? Or alternately, do you think too much importance is placed on lore and instead just want new and enjoyable game play mechanics, monsters, and locations?
LotRO players, Isengard calls you!
More specifically, active players of LotRO: Shadows of Angmar are eligible to participate in testing new and revised content well in advance of any of it appearing on public servers! This is the Isengard Programme, named after the tower in which Saruman consolidated his power (yes, lore fans, I know its history goes much further back, but if I type it all out, I'll never get this post completed).The requirements for acceptance as a tester are: Must be age 18 or older Agreement to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) A solid grasp of the English language If you're one of those people who keep checking the 'Net for news of updates and new content, this position is perfect for you! If you're interested in participating, please send an e-mail to isengardeurope@codemasters.com and tell them a little bit about your LotRO experience. You should include the following in this e-mail:Name:Date of birth:Forum name:Best forum post / bug submission:Your own LOTRO experience:Here's the originating link, for you purists out there. Seats are limited, so get cracking on this ASAP![Thanks, Boltar!]
Saving quests for level 70
As early as Hellfire Peninsula (which I'm playing through on my Hunter right now), it becomes pretty clear that Blizzard packed Outland with quests and things to do. By the time you hit Zangarmarsh, you're probably already at 62, and with a few instance runs, it's pretty easy to get all the way to level 70 without ever seeing certain quest areas or zones in Outland. So Dacronic wants to know: what zones did you save for level 70, when you didn't need XP any more and just wanted to get money or have fun?On my Shaman, I barely saw Netherstorm before 70, and went up there way after I'd hit the highest level to go looking around for cash. And there are lots of fun quests to do up there, too. Shadowmoon Valley was another one that I didn't actually quest in for a while after 70, but now that I've done it, I'd say that it should actually be a priority ASAP-- there are a ton of terrific quests in SMV, not only for lore's sake, but just really well-done content as well.When you hit 70, what areas did you head towards to continue questing in? And what areas did you "save" until you were as powerful as you could get, and reading to have fun instead of just grinding?
Behind the Curtain: More Plot Please
So, I've been playing Bioshock pretty much non-stop for the past few days, and it's got me thinking. Not only did it get me thinking that I'm super clever for figuring out the twist about ten minutes into the game, it also got me thinking about story and plot and the importance they play in games. The story in Bioshock is handled masterfully – it's handed out to you in a careful and controlled manner, feeding you it piece by piece with just enough to keep you hooked, but not so much that you're getting hit with an info dump every half an hour. I'd like to see more story in my MMOs. Certainly, an MMO needs to have a good story set up around it, something to give the world some life, and get you interested from the word go. Or it may not, maybe you just want out-and-out PvP with no RP noobs or lore geeks to bother you, in which case I feel a little sad for you and I ask you kindly to move along and find another column to read.
Come discover High King's Crossing in Middle-earth
So you say you like rivers, but even more than rivers you love big, tall statues? Well that's good, because Lord of the Rings Online just added High King's Crossing as a new point of interest for any travelers looking to explore. The three massive statues that guard the crossing of Baranduin river are very ancient ruins (as are most ruins in Middle Earth) that were created in honor of the kings of old. Abandoned after the fall of the North-kingdom and the fading of the Dúnedain of the North, it is now being preserved by the Rangers.Feel free to follow the link if you'd like to read through the lore in full, it's worth a minute of your time if you like anything Tolkien. Aside from the nice injection of lore for anyone who enjoys that sort of stuff, the page also has a great integration of the Google maps application. The first thing you might find yourself doing after reading through the lore entry is to wander around the interactive map -- at least if you're anything like us.
Is WoW popular because it is fantasy?
Richard Bartle at Terra Nova asks an interesting question regarding MMORPGs in general, wondering why so many of them tend toward the fantasy genre. Did Lord of the Rings have such a phenomenal impact on our cultural imagination that it made every story (or gaming environment) even loosely based on it more likely to succeed, or is there something deeper here? The question sparks an interesting discussion which I encourage you to read. It certainly makes me think about WoW in a new light. Suppose we imagine that Blizzard had made a different decision about which franchise to develop into their first MMO: would World of Starcraft have been as popular as World of Warcraft is today if its gameplay was more or less just as good, or is the science fiction environment inherently less appealing to the masses than fantasy?To me, it makes sense that Blizzard chose the Warcraft franchise over Starcraft (or even Diablo for that matter), not just because it is fantasy, and certainly not just because it draws on elements of Tolkien's literature, but because it draws on a wider range of mythic elements, contains more layers of conflict, and generally provides a greater diversity of opportunities for a new gamer to find something he or she likes in it. What's your opinion?
Killing off our heroes left and right
This conversation seems to come up whenever a new raid instance is announced, and it looks like the Sunwell will be no exception. Vulpe from Venture Co. sends a shout out to Blizzard.. for killing all of our heroes. In Burning Crusade alone, Illidan, Kael'thas, and now Zul'jin have fallen to our raids, and in the coming future, we're going to see Kil'jaeden and maybe even Arthas bite the dust. And later in the thread, Melynda comes up with an even longer list of people deep in the lore whom we've seen fit to off.Sure, as Bornakk says, everyone who's gotten some has pretty much deserved it (and even though we don't know what's happening with Arthas yet, let's not forget that he murdered, y'know, all those people, including his father). And Blizzard has told us before that they feel that they have more than enough lore to go around-- even if they kill off the Warcraft stars, they've got other folks on deck to rise up into the storylines.But the most interesting thing to come from this iteration is that we have to kill these people-- if we didn't, we wouldn't be the heroes of Azeroth that we're supposed to be. Back when WoW first came out, the devs told us that it would take a raid of level 80s (this was back when level 60 was the max) to take down Arthas, and guess what-- when we see Arthas in a combat situation, we will actually be level 80. We may be killing off all of the heroes of Warcraft III, but it's only to make room for the new heroes of World of Warcraft-- namely us.
Lorebook spotlights Gamgee handiwork at Bag End
Most of us love Hobbits. Really, how could we not? These are people for whom pie-eating is a cornerstone of society. It's hard not to be envious of that laid-back lifestyle.And few Hobbits have lived more comfortably and extravagantly than Bilbo Baggins, the old proprietor of Bag End. His adventures with Gandalf and the Dwarves netted him a personal fortune, and he spent no small part of that fortune on his gardens.Those gardens -- maintained by Ham Gamgee and his son Samwise -- are the subject of the most recent featured article in LotRO's Lorebook. Sneak up to Turbine's window and start droppin' eaves to learn more!
WoW logo gets completely frozen
If you haven't visited the forums or the official site in a while, you'll probably not have noticed that the ice we'd seen before on the logo has now overtaken it. Not too surprising-- the background on the forums and the homepage has changed as well, and considering that Winter's Veil is here, odds are that Blizzard is just getting a little seasonal with their graphics.Or are they? The original ice showed up more than a month ago-- way back, according to our readers, when Wrath of the Lich King was announced in August. And so, despite the candy canes, it's hard not to wonder if this signals a turning point in the WoW universe. We've still got the Sunwell coming before the expansion, but is there a chance that this icy winter could be here to stay? Northrend ahoy?Thanks, Joene!
Lorebook describes things older and fouler than orcs
Another Lorebook entry has been featured on the official Lord of the Rings Online website. This time we get to learn a bit about the Rogmul -- a monster found in high-level encounters.While Turbine has worked hard to stay as faithful to Tolkien's literature as is practical, they've had to extrapolate a few new things from the texts to fill up the game world. For example; the Neeker-Beekers of the Midgewater Marshes are based on an odd sound described in one one line from the books.The Rogmul are also a Turbine invention. They're lesser demons that serve the Balrogs. "Wherever a Balrog is or once was," says the Lorebook, "it can be wagered that a Romgul or two is not far away."
Skinning Tauren for leather
We've definitely had this conversation before, but Bhou on the EU forums brings it up yet again: why don't we treat the various races like they, y'know, are those various races? He asks why we can't skin Taurens for leather, but that brings up all the other race issues in Azeroth. Why aren't Undead immune to fear? Why aren't Gnomes tameable? Oh wait, that last one might not be right (though it would be funny).But besides the game balance problems, the fact is that the racial abilities are about as well-represented as they're going to get (and in fact, if there are any changes in the future, they'll probably be towards conformity rather than radically away from it). You can't skin Tauren because, guess what, they're humanoids. Undead can't be immune because guess what, they're humanoids, too, and while a weakness to holy spells might make the game interesting, it won't help towards balance.The Warcraft world is a mean one, but would the Alliance really go so far as to skin fallen Taurens on the battlefield anyway? For game balance or for lore reasons, it just doesn't make sense.
Festival (and the Jester of Festivult) returns to DDO: Stormreach
Reader Schad, who seems to have become our de facto DDO representative (remember that you're free to send us news about your favorite game on our tipline anytime), reminds us that they're celebrating the holidays in Eberron, too. Turbine has posted on their forums about the comings and goings of Festivult, a time when the Jester of Festivult (not to be confused with) runs around Stormreach and trades Festival coins for presents from the dragonmarked houses of Cannith and Ghallanda. Man I love this D&D 3rd edition lore!In game terms, there'll be a dwarf NPC wandering around Stormreach that will trade buff food for special coins that have a chance of dropping from treasure chests all over the world. But if that's too technical for you, you can bask in the light of not one but two Festivult poems over on the Turbine forums. Merry Festivult to us all, Warforged and Human alike!
Building a better MMOusetrap: Why we fight!
Dawn stretches its sleeping muscles and peeks out over the snow capped mountains, coaxing a faint mist to mist to take flight over a frozen lake. Animals of all shapes and sizes begin to stir and wake from a cold night's sleep huddled together in dens and burrows, and bird song threatens to break the night's quiet. A sharp echo snaps through the air as the heat from the rising sun causes the ice on the lake to crack and shift, marking the coming day as faithfully as a rooster's crow, and around the dog-leg in the road comes the faint tell tale sound of boots crunching snow, the clink of freshly polished armour, and a nervous laugh.It is day break in the mountain valley of Dun Morogh, and the Wee Men march on the irradiated city of Gnomeregan. They have been made aware of the dangers that lurk in the caverns and halls beneath the mountains, and the horrific changes to the citizens that could not escape. Their blades are sharpened, spells learned and remembered, shields shined, and tools checked and re-checked. This is not a task they take lightly, as this city was once a place most of them called home. A place where their families lived, where they were born and grew, and where they had hoped one day to grow old and die in. But all that changed the day the attacks began in the lowest parts of the city, and there was nothing they could do but grab anything and anyone close, and run for the surface. Now their lives are changed forever, forced into action they became the heroes that their city so desperately needed in it's darkest hour, the heroes that could have battered back the advancing forces and saved countless lives. Some simply call them adventurers, but they know themselves as liberators, saviours and champions to the causes so often forgot in todays world. Though in stature they may be small, in their actions and deeds they are giants.
Know Your Lore: Azshara
Queen Azshara might be one of the best-hidden characters in WoW lore. Her time of action came long before Warcraft I, she's never been seen in any of the games, and the only reference to her lies in the nearly abandoned wasteland that used to be her palace -- Azshara. But she's still out there, and one of these days Blizzard's going to run out of ideas and make that underwater instance that everyone but warlocks is dreading, and we'll have to fight her. And her tentacles. So on that future day, between the endless chain pulls of level 92 elite murlocs, you can read this and know who you're getting ready to wipe to. And by the way, the censored picture is from an official Warcraft RPG manual. Apparently octupi don't like wearing tops, even while posing for portraits. The pic links to the uncensored image. Who: Queen Azshara of the Kal'dorei, Empress of Nazjatar, the Light of Lights, Vision of Perfection, Glory of Our People, Daughter of the Moon, Flower of Life ... and it goes on like this. As you might have guessed, Azshara was not lacking in the ego department. What: Formerly a night elf, now a naga-like thing. History: Thousands and thousands of years before Medivh opened the Dark Portal and let in hundreds of arguments about whether the Horde is really evil, the most advanced civilization on Azeroth was that of the Kal'dorei, or night elves. They were split into two social classes: the common Kal'dorei, and the elite, magic-using Highborne, or Quel'dorei. The Kal'dorei were deeply jealous of the Quel'dorei, envying their social status and magical powers. But the one uniting factor between the Kal'dorei and Quel'dorei was their love of their queen, Azshara.
Heads roll in new Age of Conan trailer
GameTrailers published an exclusive new Age of Conan trailer today. It (and everything else on GameTrailers this afternoon) will probably and unfortunately be blown to the wayside by the thermonuclear hype-bomb that is the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer, but really, it's worth viewing. You can watch or download both standard def (embedded here) and high def versions of the trailer.It's narrated by an old warrior at a bar. He describes the decline of his homeland and the trials that followed -- all against a backdrop of countless shots of AoC characters decapitating one another to epic music. So, pretty much the Age of Conan we've grown to love and expect -- blood that runs like rivers, graphics as impressive as Steve Jobs' resume, and women as loose with love as cable news networks are with the facts!
As the Worlds Turn: Neverending Stories
Imagine, if you will, the following: In a dimly lit boardroom, a collection of men and women, disheveled and sleep depraved, stare blankly at a room filled with wads and scraps of paper. A broad shouldered man sits alone at the head of the table, the only indication he is there is the low red glow of his cigar. Finally someone speaks. "Ok, how about this? There is this ancient evil that lives ... um ... in a castle and ... ah ... there is a good king who lives in another castle and ... he needs heroes to help defeat this big, bad evil king ... dude." A thick silence falls on the room. Through a puff of gray smoke, "I love it. Let's pump a couple million into this baby. Let's make sure we set up the billing structure and get me some in-game advertising! Let's roll, people!" I confess. That might not be entirely accurate but what role does the story play in our lovely MMO games? It serves as the backdrop for all the contextual details of the game but beyond the introduction movie, what importance or what prominence does the story play in MMOs? We're going to look a few of the more popular MMO games out there and how they deliver the backstory. We'll start with the obvious.
LotRO lorebook heads north, finds civilization
Turbine have returned to their Lord of the Rings Online lorebook groove with a spotlight on Ost Forod, one of the main outposts in the Evendim region. Last week it was wolf-men, this week it's brigands and tomb raiders. No, not Lara Croft.Northeast of Lake Evendim (which in itself is north and east of the Shire), Ost Forod is a trading village not so much built on the bones of an ruined fortress as part of one. But by the time you visit, there's more than a little bit of trouble in paradise.Turbine have really flexed their creative muscles for the whole Evendim area. Even if you're not a fan of LotRO, you have to admire Turbine's phenomenal handling of the enviroment; they're living and breathing lore so well it's not always obvious what's Tolkien and what's Turbine.
