lore
Latest
Is M'uru faking it?
We've already wondered if the Draenei are too good for their own good, and now there's a theory floating around about the other faction's new race: it could be that the Blood Elves are being fooled.Inside their capital city of Silvermoon, in the Court of the Sun, you can find a Naaru (ethereal being of Light, there's lots of them in Shattrath, too) being held captive by the Blood Elves. This is how they're using the Light (to become Paladins and generally wreck havoc with Warcraft's lore) for their own purposes, by holding the Naaru named M'uru captive and draining his power.But Naaru are pretty darned powerful (even Khadgar, if you talk to him, sounds impressed with what they've got), and so a few players, Arlia of Bloodscalp included, hypothesize that M'uru might not be completely on the level about being "captured." Maybe he's just playing possum-- though for what purpose we're not sure. It could be to study the Blood Elves, or to bring them to the Light eventually. Or there's the possibility that "M'uru" is not a Naaru at all, and the Blood Elves don't have exactly what they think they have.Though it's true we can't know for sure from the lore available now, a few players say that what we see is real: the Blood Elves used to be the High Elves, and are just "magic badasses," capable of draining whoever they want, especially a magical form like the Naaru. But it would be very interesting if this Blood Elf-Naaru relationship was not what it seems.
Know Your Lore: Medivh
The second installment in the Know Your Lore series features the last guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh. Medivh isn't found hanging out around World of Warcraft like Illidan is, but his life and actions reverberate throughout the game, from the his tower of Karazhan to the Dark Portal itself. Who: Magna Medivh, the last guardian of Tirisfal. What: Medivh is a human by birth, but since he was possessed by Sargeras while still in the womb, he could probably be considered some kind of hybrid. History: Medivh's mother was Aegwynn, the previous guardian of Tirisfal. Aegwynn had been granted powers by the Council of Tirisfal to fight the Burning Legion on Azeroth. Against the Council's wishes, Aegwynn decided to have a child with the court conjurer of the nation of Azeroth, and named him Medivh. She passed on her powers to her young son, and set it that they would awaken when he reached maturity. Unfortunately, the titan Sargeras had planted his essence (ew) in Aegwynn in a previous battle, and he possessed young Medivh before his birth. This all occured 70 years prior to World of Warcraft.
Know Your Lore: Illidan
It has come to our attention that there are quite a few people out there who don't know anything about the Warcraft universe. Considering that the Burning Crusade expansion is chock-full of major lore characters, this is somewhat disturbing. While it's definitely not necessary to play the previous Warcraft games to enjoy WoW, this is an online roleplaying game set in a particular universe, and understanding a little bit of the history behind the game can make your time in Azeroth more enjoyable. Sure, it's not exactly The Wheel Of Time in complexity, but there's some cool stuff going on in the world that you can only "get" if you know who's who. With that in mind, the new Know Your Lore feature will present quick and dirty biographies of some of the most famous names in Azeroth. Our inaugural article showcases someone you've definitely heard of, and will be hearing much more from in the near future -- Illidan Stormrage, the ultimate boss of the Burning Crusade expansion.
WoW Books: Rise of the Horde now available
The latest novel set in the World of Warcraft has been released this week. While I haven't yet seen it in my local bookshop, it does seem to be available from Amazon.com. Rise of the Horde is written by Christie Golden, who wrote (with Don Perrin) Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, as well as a couple of Star Trek: Voyager novels. From Amazon's blurb: Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging Horde, they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy -- the Alliance. Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well. Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction. I've bought a couple of WoW novels in the past, but I've never really been drawn-in by them, preferring being in the game than to lazing on the couch reading about it. Rise of the Horde seems to be a little more interesting, as it may give some background going into The Burning Crusade. And hey, with a couple of weeks to go, and not a lot to do in-game, now might be a good time for me to give WoW novels a second chance. So, are you going to pick this one up? Have any of you read the past novels, and do you find they add to your enjoyment of the game, or just give you a nice break from staring at the computer screen? 01/16/07 UPDATE! Christie Golden has written in (YAY! THE AUTHOR!) and clears up a few things: Thanks for making people aware of the book! I do have a correctionfor you if I may--I did not write Lord of the Clans "with" DonPerrin. Lord of the Clans (as a novel that is, of course thebackstory and the world is Blizzard's!) is entirely my own creation,I never saw any of the work Don had done on the project before Istarted writing.Also, I'm delighted to report that many things made it from the bookRise of the Horde into the expansion, which is a real thrill for mepersonally and doesn't often happen in the world of media tie-ins.Blizzard is a fantastic company to work with. And yes, I play WoW.:D Thanks for the information, Christie, hopefully we'll see you in the Outlands!
.jpg.cf.jpg)
Do we HAVE to kill Illidan?
While roaming around the blood elf starting area in the middle of the night, I got into a discussion with some other neophyte elves about Illidan. Basically, we didn't want to kill him. See, Kael'Thas is rumored to have gone insane, and Vashj was never too good in the first place, but Illidan ... well, what Illidan says in the Burning Crusade introduction is pretty accurate. He was locked up for thousands of years for being reckless, was nearly killed trying to kill the totally evil Arthas, and then when he finally gets to Outland and is able to relax, millions of warriors invade his country from Azeroth to look for his loot. He doesn't seem to pose much of a threat to Azeroth, so why is it so important that we metaphorically and literally break into his house and rummage through his stuff? Illidan's admittedly many mistakes (creating a new Well of Eternity, consuming Gul'Dan's skull, dealing with Kil'Jaeden) were made out of recklessness and selfishness, not outright "Yay, let's destroy the world!" evil. There have been quite a few forum posts on the same subject. My fellow blood elves suggested that we be given the opportunity to ally with Illidan and his crew. To join them, you would have to forsake your allegiance, your homeland and your faction. You could still communicate with your old friends, but you wouldn't be able to group with them. You'd have different profession recipes, quests, towns, and maybe even different talent options. One even suggested that we could be double agents - we could still hang out in Orgrimmar or Ironforge, but have a chance to be detected and permanently cast out and maybe even lose some items. The instances could change too. Instead of fighting Illidan in the Black Temple, you could defend him from Kil'Jaeden's minions. And who says we have to preserve the timeline in the Caverns of Time? That's boring. Let's see what happens if Archimonde wins the battle of Hyjal and Thrall dies as a kid! Of course, that isn't going to happen. World of Warcraft is a pretty static world and you don't have many real character development options. The one big one we do have - the ability to go to war with factions - has caused enough complaints (see: Bloodsail pirates angry about goblin questgivers) and this isn't the Elder Scrolls series. Still, it's fun to speculate about. Then again, maybe Illidan is right, and we're just not prepared.
The most powerful being in Warcraft
Relative to the recent discussion about two well-known characters in the Warcraft universe battling it out, Kobrakaii asks on the forums who the strongest being in the entire Warcraft Universe is.There's lots of Warlock jokes (my favorite is the thought that the first Warlock with a 41-point Demonology talent will be the most powerful in the known Azeroth universe), "any pally for 8 seconds," the expected suggestion of Arthas the Lich King, and even a mention of High Overlord Saurfang (who, with that link, might replace Captain Placeholder as my new favorite NPC). In the end, the debate basically comes down between Sargeras on the bad side (he's a fallen Titan who's become the main villain in Warcraft lore) and Elune on the good side-- even though her identity in Azeroth as the "God" of the Night Elves isn't quite clear even inside the Blizzard offices. Sargeras, however, is currently trapped in an "unbeing" state, so the title probably goes to the Titans, a group of beings who oversee the Universe (and eat old gods like C'thun for lunch-- the Master's Glaive in Darkshore is a remnant of the Titans' power).Of course, as Drysc points out later in the thread, Chris Metzen is really the most powerful being in the Warcraft universe. Way to ruin the fun, Drysc.
Pardon me, but do you speak Darnassian?
Ishnu-dal-dieb, dear readers. But I am here to offer you the chance of a lifetime to learn the language of the Night Elves in the form of this phrase guide. Being the geek that I am, I can only wish it were more comprehensive -- nothing's more entertaining than insulting your foes in a language they can't quite comprehend. However, this guide is just a small part of a larger effort by Blizzard to create a comprehensive Warcraft Encyclopedia chronicling the lore of Azeroth. It is only a work in progress thus far, and hardly comprehensive -- focusing mainly on the various Elven races of Azeroth. It's a good compilation of resources so far, and I imagine it will only grow -- so take a look and learn more on the lore of Azeroth.
Finding Your Way Through Azeroth Lore
Garst from Stonemaul has a really interesting question on the forums: where can a lore newbie go first for information?Recently, I've been trying to get more and more into the lore of Azeroth-- instances especially are much more fun to play when you know exactly who you're fighting and why they're doing what they're doing. In the thread, Neth recommends a few books-- Day of the Dragon, Lord of the Clans, and The Last Guardian, and I agree with her in recommending scanning through (it's long and sometimes boring) the timeline of the WoW universe over on the website. For all of my interest in it, the only thing I've really done outside of the game is go back and replay Warcraft III (or just watch a few cinematics from it). Both Wikipedia and WoW Wiki have lots of good lore info. And one thing Neth doesn't mention is that there's lots of lore inside the game itself. Don't laugh, but especially in Scarlet Monastery and Scholomance, reading through a lot of the books laying around will give a really good background on what's happening in Azeroth.You're laughing, aren't you? Ok, well, a lot of players may just say "lore lol," but believe me when I say that giving the history a read definitely fills out the game a little bit, and shows you even more deeply the care Blizzard has taken in putting this universe together. Wielding Ashkandi is fun, but it's even moreso when you know who that sword used to belong to.
Draenei Lore Update
There's a new post up by Chris Metzen that makes an attempt at explaining the interesting quandary of the new Draenei lore. It's a fairly long post, so I'll summarize... The change in the Eredar/Sargeras encounter was an accident, caused by not reviewing the older lore. Sometimes you need to be a bit flexible with the world's history in order to "broaden the scope and accessibility of your setting." They're going to run with the story as it currently is on the Burning Crusade site. They feel it's a stronger story and have already started to build around it. However, there's a lot more in the post and I highly suggest checking it out if you have the time.
Breakfast Topic: The Importance of Lore
One of the reasons the world of Azeroth made a decent starting place for an MMORPG was its long history in the Warcraft series of games. Azeroth already had a detailed history that potential players were aware of and that could be built on in the construction of a larger virtual world. However, as WoW's appeal has broadened beyond the traditional gamer demographic, we're seeing new players who may be visiting Azeroth for the first time - with no knowledge of the world's history. What do you think - is the deep history of the world an important part of your play experience, or is it all about the gameplay?
Holidays in Azeroth - Love 'em or Hate 'em?
Have you noticed the way holidays in Azeroth seem to strangely coincide with holidays in the real world? Noblegarden shows up on Easter, Hallow's End on Halloween, the Feast of Winter Veil on Christmas, and the Lunar Festival on the Chinese New Year. Sure, CM Caydiem would always come up with fascinating reasons why each of these holidays fit properly in to Azeroth's lore, but doesn't it break down the immersiveness of an alternate reality when you see someone who looks suspiciously like Santa Claus sitting in the middle of Ironforge? I enjoy the change of pace provided by Azeroth's holidays as much as anyone else, but I do wonder whether Azeroth has any of its own holidays. So what's your take on Azeroth's holiday schedule - love it or hate it?
Warcraft lore
In my daily search for WoW material for all of you, I stumbled across one of the ultimate stores of lore material! It appears that dedicated warcraft lore fans have gone to extreme lengths to give us this great reference. You can find everything in there, from the Dalaran mages to the Draenei. I would highly recommend taking a gander through it all, I have learned a ton just clicking on a few links. The wiki even houses material about the upcoming expansion, including the rumors, so comb through and see what you can find - I have started to firm up my opinion based on info in the wiki! If I were a bettin man, I would look for the race to be Draenei for sure...
