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Know Your Lore: Why read a novel, anyway?
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. Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War is due out on the 28th of this month, and it's a big book in terms of story. It covers the conflict leading into Mists of Pandaria and gives some additional development to Jaina Proudmoore, who has been in sore need of something to do since Wrath's end. I already wrote a spoiler-free review of the book, but to reiterate what I said in the review: The book is solid, it's an excellent read, and Golden's a good author as always. It's no secret that I'm a fan of Warcraft's novels. I have the complete collection sitting on my bookshelf both for reference purposes for this column and simply because I like the series. While some novels rate far above others in the list that's been released, there's a spot for all of them on my shelf. I'm not the only fan out there, but one question I get asked a lot is why exactly would one want to read all those books, anyway? Well ... story, of course. But the answer is a little more complex than that.
The surreal concept of neutrality in Warcraft
Remember the Argent Crusade? It was a result of merging two factions -- the Argent Dawn, which spent its time in the Eastern Plaguelands trying to eradicate the Scourge, and the reformed Order of the Silver Hand, an Alliance order of paladins formed by Uther the Lightbringer and Alonsus Faol. The Argent Crusade accepted members of both Alliance and Horde who wanted to fight toward the Crusade's ultimate goal: the defeat of the Lich King. Today, the Argent Crusade sits in Hearthglen, working to restore the Western Plaguelands to their former beauty. The Argent Crusade is just one of the neutral factions in WoW, along with the Cenarion Circle, the Shattered Sun Offensive, the Earthen Ring and many others. Chris Metzen spoke about the Argent Crusade and the concept of neutral factions in our Mists of Pandaria press event interview, citing the Argent Crusade as one of the neutral factions that just rang true, whereas the Shattered Sun Offensive simply didn't feel quite as emotional. But here's the thing -- the Argent Crusade, while being very active in Wrath, is hardly doing anything at all in the Western Plaguelands. There's a fight for Andorhal going on on the Crusade's doorstep, but they aren't stepping in. The Forsaken -- members of the Horde -- are actively seeking out activities that look suspiciously like Scourge activity, even going so far as to recruit the val'kyr, former servants of Arthas. So ... what gives?
The Queue: Decisions, decisions
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Readers, I'm having trouble making a very tough decision today. I'm in the mood for two very specific things but can't make up my mind between them. I definitely can't have both. So before you read the rest of The Queue and pick apart its World of Warcrafty deliciousness, please, help me choose what I'm eating for dinner today. %Poll-44314% Boz asked... "Any word on whether School of Hard Knocks will be removed from the meta-holiday achievement, or if it will hammer Battlegrounds for another week this year?"
WoW Rookie: Reading about Warcraft
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic, and be sure to visit the WoW.com WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's. Even if you're not a roleplayer, it's almost impossible not to find yourself swept up by some aspect of the hundreds of compelling stories tucked into the World of Warcraft. The question is, how can you dig deeper? Where do you find more? The answer: Books ... Manga ... Comics ... RPGs .... Page after page after page of glorious lore. Blizzard approves the storylines and lore included in the Warcraft and World of Warcraft line of novels, although you won't find a straight and clear progression across the whole line. Not every story and character crosses over from books to game (and vice versa). Besides the Warcraft novels, WoW-starved readers can chew through enough manga, roleplaying game books and gaming guides to sate any lore feeding frenzy. The best part? You enjoy +Lore bonuses to your online play experience. Even the RPG books add color to the overall picture. Follow us beyond the break for a basic reading outline to escort you down Warcraft's path of lore.
BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Christie Golden
During Day One of BlizzCon this past weekend, I was given the opportunity to sit down and talk with author/novelist Christie Golden, the woman behind the best selling Warcraft novel Arthas and the upcoming Cataclysm novel(s) which we learned about in this very interview. I asked her questions about her personal background in Warcraft, her writing process, and what it's like to work with Blizzard's worlds. WoW.com: If you don't mind, we'll kick things off with a question I pretty much ask everyone... Horde or Alliance? Christie Golden: Yes. WoW.com: Good answer! Golden: Seriously, I play both, and I love them both. I have characters on both sides, I don't prefer one over the other. WoW.com: That definitely comes through in what you've written in the universe, starting with Horde material and then moving onto Arthas. When you say you've played both, how far? Are any of them level 80? Golden: I've been so busy with all of the writing I've been doing lately that I haven't been able to hit 80, I haven't seen as much of Northrend as I've wanted to. Around 70 is where I'm stuck for now.
