Thrall
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Does Garrosh Hellscream deserve to die?
Likely one of the most contentious things to come out of the Mists of Pandaria press event was the news that we do indeed have a final boss for the expansion -- and it's the current leader of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream. Garrosh has been a figure in lore since The Burning Crusade led Horde players to Nagrand and introduced the younger Hellscream, an orc who had been raised thinking his father was the reason the orc race had been through so much suffering. This depressed him to the point that we players actually stepped up and took care of many of the problems surrounding the Mag'har village in an attempt to cheer him up. But his true salvation came in the form of Warchief Thrall, who was not only gratified to find his grandmother alive and the name his mother and father intended for him, but happy to find the living descendant of one of his closest friends as well. It was Thrall's words that finally broke the stupor of shame and depression that Garrosh had been living with for his entire life. And it was Thrall who took Hellscream under his wing, away from Garadar and to a land he'd never before set eyes upon: Azeroth.
Breakfast Topic: That first WoW trailer no one seems to remember
Many of you might not remember the trailer at the top of this Breakfast Topic. I remember looking for it a few months ago and just not being able to find it in hard media form, only remembering that it was on one of the Blizzard discs that I had lying around my apartment. It was a futile attempt. However, someone sent me a link to the YouTube version, so I was very excited. To be honest, I don't even remember where I saw it. My best guess would have to be on the Warcraft III disc with all of the cool trailers for upcoming Blizzard games. What struck me about this video is how much of Warcraft is still here, so many years ago today, than what was originally pitched to us. That orc shaman has the exact same kind of mannerisms and mysticism surrounding him in his few seconds of screen time that it feels like Thrall has in his storyline. It felt fun and prophetic to look back and see the World of Warcraft still relatively the same tonally, even though we've all changed so much since we first saw that video. Oh, yeah, that's Peter Cullen doing the voiceover. What do you guys think? Would this trailer still sell you on the Warcraft?
Mega Bloks wants fans to channel their inner Thrall
Mega Bloks has a well-known partnership with Blizzard to produce buildable block sets based on the Warcraft and StarCraft franchises. It kicked off this relationship at BlizzCon with a life-size Thrall statue made out of Mega Bloks, allowing fans to pose with the blocky former Warchief of the Horde. Now, Mega Bloks is asking fans to "channel their inner Thrall" for a chance to win a life-size Doomhammer made out of Mega Bloks. You can enter right now by submitting a photo with one (or more, ostensibly) of the following conditions: Pose like Thrall (Stand proud, warrior!) Pose as Thrall (cosplay) Pose with Thrall (BlizzCon statue, figure, etc.) Then ask your friends, guildies and coworkers to vote for your photo when it appears on the contest page. You can also vote for your favorite one (mine is, of course, our good friend Orkchop's) while you're there. The contest ends in a week, though, so you should probably enter it soon if you want to get your hands on that Doomhammer!
Breakfast Topic: Would you vote-kick that NPC from your party?
Pokey-slow NPCs on escort quests have long been the butt of player jokes, but with more extensive NPC participation in the patch 4.3 5-mans, I've started wondering if things are going from bad to worse. Shortly after patch 4.3 hit, I wrote on Twitter that Tyrande, Illidan, and Malfurion in the Well of Eternity are all shining examples of players who would be vote-kicked from the average PUG. Really! Think about it: Tyrande runs out of arrows, still manages to pull aggro, and then stops DPSing entirely past a certain point during the Mannoroth fight. Illidan thinks he's leet and never shuts up, and he's also the archetypal Go Guy from Wowcrendor's How to win at PUGs and Gear Score. Malfurion goes AFK before the boss fight and then (conveniently enough) shows up while loot is being distributed. So does this mean that the average person with a bit of common sense is a better player than three major lore figures? I think it kinda does. This is not to say that all NPC participation in your questing or 5-mans is bad (Anduin Wrynn during the Alliance's pre-Twilight Highlands quests is pretty cool), but I hope this isn't a sign of more to come. Oh, and Thrall -- epic ground mounts are not expensive these days. You have no excuse.
Breakfast Topic: Do you mind being the unsung hero?
Without a doubt, the characters we play in World of Warcraft are great heroes. We were there when the gates of Ahn'Qiraj were opened. We were there to fight off the Burning Legion at the Sunwell. We were there to see Arthas fall. We were there to down Deathwing -- twice. Hell, we have even traveled through time to be instrumental in events that happened before we were born. Of course, we're never the real hero. The real hero of the fight against Deathwing was Thrall. Anveena vanquished Kil'jaeden. It was Tirion Fordring who saved the world -- and you -- from complete destruction at the hands of the Lich King. It's like we're the Secret Service agent who saved Ronald Reagan from being assassinated. But if we were also the agent who saved Gerry Ford twice -- and then traveled back in time to save JFK and Lincoln, too. And then found Saddam Hussein and killed Hitler. And also maybe you caused the Big Bang too. It's an inevitable fact of MMORPGs. You're always there, but you never get the credit. Does that bother you at all? Do you wish that it was your character with the statue along the entrance to Stormwind? Or are you OK with your character's role, serving as the bridesmaid in every wedding to ever occur throughout history?
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 Light and How to Swing It: Blinding Ultraxion with the Holy Light
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. As the fifth boss of Dragon Soul, Ultraxion is the gateway boss to pursuing Deathwing and stopping the second cataclysm. While Thrall and the dragon aspects are busy with the Dragon Soul itself, we're tasked with defending Wyrmrest Temple from Ultraxion's assaults. Simple, right? Ultraxion is an incredibly simple fight for tanks and damage dealers. In fact, it's already being called the Patchwerk-fight of this tier. Aside from a few extra button presses, non-healers are simply tasked with bringing Ultraxion down as quickly as possible. Healers, on the other hand, play a very special role in this fight. We're fighting against rapidly increasing AoE damage to the raid, and the aspects themselves step in to help us accomplish our task. Ultraxion is the healer-centric fight of this tier, like Baleroc and Chimaeron before him.
Know Your Lore: Cataclysm's end
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. Patch 4.3 signifies the end of the story of Cataclysm, the moment of Deathwing's demise. Much like patch 3.3 before it, 4.3 features three dungeons that are directly related to the endgame content -- what you do in the dungeons is 100% part of the story that leads to the Dragon Soul raid. So we have End Time, the Well of Eternity, and the Hour of Twilight, all three offering different parts to this story. All of this information has led to hundreds of questions. If we kill Murozond, what happens to that alternate future? If we take the Dragon Soul from the past, doesn't that mean our future is irrevocably altered? Perhaps most important is the last cinematic for the Dragon Soul fight, which was leaked earlier this week and raises way more questions than it answers. Please note: Today's Know Your Lore is full of spoilers for patch 4.3 -- we're talking everything from the story behind the new heroics to the new short story to the end of the Dragon Soul raid. It also holds spoilers for the novel Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects. If you're avoiding spoiler content, turn away now.
Blizzard short stories continue with "Charge of the Aspects"
Blizzard's run of short stories continues not with another highlighted leader but with an event: the release of patch 4.3. Charge of the Aspects picks up on the slopes of Hyjal, where the Cenarion Circle and Earthen Ring seek to heal the earth after Ragnaros' defeat. Though Ragnaros has fallen, something must be done to put an end to Deathwing's reign of terror and to prevent the horrors of the Hour of Twilight that threatens us all. The story highlights the Aspect's decision to use the Dragon Soul against Deathwing and where Thrall fits into the plan. The story was written by Matt Burns, the author who gave us the excellent leader short story The Council of the Three Hammers: Fire and Iron earlier this year. Council was a well-written and gripping tale, and Charge of the Aspects follows in its footsteps. In particular, the plight of Nozdormu as he struggles with his duty and the grim nature of his fate is fascinating. The story also gives us a brief glimpse into the mind of a maddened Deathwing and just what he thinks of the Titans' charge. Check out the story on the official site. If you have any questions about the new heroics or how they came to pass, this sets them up quite nicely. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Know Your Lore: The Dragon Soul
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 was a tiny, small, inconsequential disc. Golden in color, simple in appearance, the talisman was far more dangerous than any could comprehend. Well ... almost anyone. The goblin servants of Neltharion, the Earth-Warder, created the object, and even they weren't truly aware of just how terrible that creation truly was. For the golden disc held not only the power to tear through the Burning Legion; it held the power to control every dragon, every flight in the world -- with the exception of Neltharion, of course. For he would rule them all. The voices told him so and promised him glory above all creatures of the world, mortal or immortal, no matter how insignificant. The Burning Legion was simply an army of pests to be eliminated, as were the kaldorei; the War of the Ancients was a petty squabble marring the glorious moment of his ascension. It was only a matter of time. The Dragon Soul was perhaps the most dangerous creation in existence, and it was held in the claws of a dragon that was most certainly completely insane. Today's Know Your Lore contains some information regarding Thrall, Twilight of the Aspects, the 4.3 5-man dungeons and the Dragon Soul raid. If you're avoiding spoilers, I'd skip this for now.
Dev Watercooler: Faction favoritism
Lead Quest Designer Dave "Fargo" Kosak has just posted the latest Dev Watercooler. This time, the topic is faction balance. In the wake of BlizzCon, this perennial topic has flared up pretty brightly. While the devs did indicate they wanted to give the Alliance a bit more good stuff during some panels, some other incidents during and after BlizzCon (including the news that Theramore, one of the most iconic Alliance cities, will be razed to the ground) has left some doubtful, leading to intense debates and 100+ page forum threads on the subject. The way Kosak explains it, the devs definitely want to make sure that there is faction pride for both sides, and, he argues, while the Alliance may be getting beat up, the Horde has taken its share of lumps too. But in the long run, heroes are not born out of easy times. The Alliance will go through tough times, but it will give heroes the opportunity to arise. The Alliance's time is coming. One thing he did admit to is that Blizzard needs to do a better job of making sure people can interact with their heroes. He acknowledges that the Alliance may not think of Thrall as theirs or part of their story, and he promises that once Cataclysm as over, we will catch up with other characters. Whether you agree with all of his reasonings and conclusions or not, it's a good read, and it does prove that Blizzard is hearing us and is at least planning to try to address some of the complaints of faction parity and Thrall overload. Check after the break for the complete text of Kosak's post.
Master prop-maker Volpin builds Thrall's Doomhammer
Volpin Props master prop-maker Harrison Krix (aka Volpin) has painstakingly created an amazing replica of Thrall's signature weapon, the Doomhammer. Made with incredible accuracy and intricately crafted materials, Volpin's Doomhammer is a work of art. The wolf heads are made from handmade casts, and the wood used in the hilt and body of the hammer were shaped with a lathe. I can't stop looking at the hi-res pictures, looking for new little details that I missed. If you'd like to see the "making of" shots as well as learn more about the replica Doomhammer, check out Volpin's site. His Flickr page also has some amazing shots of the Doomhammer. %Gallery-140111%
Win a Mega Bloks Thrall figure from WoW Insider
Visitors to BlizzCon 2011 got an exclusive lil' Thrall figure courtesy of Mega Bloks, and if you didn't make it to the con, then you might not ever get this particular mini-World-Shaman -- that is, of course, unless you get one from WoW Insider! We happen to have five Thrall figures to give away to lucky readers. For a chance to win, all you have to do is comment on this post by Friday, Nov. 11 at 11:59 p.m. PST. There are a few rules, of course! You can only enter once, and make sure you have a valid email address attached to your profile, since that's how we'll get hold of you if you win. Only legal residents of the 50 United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) can enter, and you have to be 18 years of age or older. See the complete official rules for details.
Know Your Lore: Lore and Story Q&A highlights
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 have to be honest here -- while I love the Q&A aspect of the Lore and Story Q&A panel, I was really hoping we'd see some sort of lore panel devoted to Mists of Pandaria this year. That said -- hey guys, how about those Pandaren? For those thinking that Pandaria is going to be all and end all of this expansion or that Pandaria sounds like something that could be potentially boring, I would suggest that you wait patiently here. We didn't get a lore panel dedicated to Mists, and therefore we don't know all there is to know yet. However, the Lore and Story Q&A panel this year did deliver some interesting tidbits of information, even if there really weren't a lot of Pandaren-centric questions to be had. I wouldn't be annoyed by this if I were you -- after all, those asking questions had no idea Pandaria even existed until 24 hours before the panel, so formulating questions for the upcoming expansion would be a little premature, to say the very least. That said, in between all the questions we did manage to weasel out a few chunks of Pandaren lore, as well as some other interesting info.
Cryptozoic announces new WoW card game Clash of Champions
Cryptozoic Entertainment, which puts out the WoW Trading Card Game, has announced a new way for you to enjoy the Warcraft universe with Clash of Champions, a new deck-building card game. This game allows you to take on the role of a major hero of the Warcraft universe such as Thrall, Jaina, King Magni, Garrosh, or Varian Wrynn and fight monsters and epic bosses. As you fight, you level up, and you can add new abilities and loot to your card deck. As you may expect from the basic outline of the rules, this will be a separate game from the TCG, with new rules and new ways to play, but it sounds like an epic playing experience and a fun way to battle with your favorite characters from the Warcraft mythos. The new game is expected in spring 2012.
Blizzard DOTA, coming soon to a new platform called Blizzard Arcade
Blizzard DOTA was back on the floor of BlizzCon 2011 last week, after spending a year away from the spotlight being "completely rebooted." We played the game as soon as we possibly could, finding it to be a much more polished take on the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) gametype. "Last year we had basically the style of the art, and the look that we were going for," says Samwise Didier, Blizzard's Senior Art Director. But as I said when I played the early version of the mod, the game itself wasn't quite as polished as the look and feel. "This year," says Didier, "we really focused on taking the DOTA-style game and really making it our own." Blizzard has done a few interesting things to the gametype that has made League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth so popular. But the most interesting may just be how the company plans to release it. Blizzard is going to make sure everyone has a chance to check it out, even if they don't own StarCraft 2. "We haven't figured out the details," says Didier. "But there will be a free-to-play Blizzard DOTA on our Blizzard Arcade. We don't know how many heroes there will be, or how many maps, but we definitely want to make sure that everyone knows it will be free-to-play." %Gallery-137263%
Know Your Lore: The Shattering, part 3
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. Garrosh Hellscream is probably one of the most contentious additions to the Cataclysm expansion. Oh sure, he existed all the way back in The Burning Crusade, but he wasn't Warchief at that point in time. Nobody thought for a moment that the depressed Orc in Garadar would one day be leading their characters into battle against the Lich King. And nobody dreamed that Garrosh would one day be sitting on the Horde's throne. It wasn't so much the surprise of the situation that people took issue with, however. Instead, it had much to do with Garrosh's attitude throughout Wrath of the Lich King. Headstrong, ruthless and downright bloodthirsty, Garrosh's decisions in Wrath didn't ring right or true with the playerbase. Even more jostling to players was the notion that despite the player dislike of the character, the NPCs of the world loved the guy. It may very well be the first time that a large chunk of a faction's players have blatantly disagreed with a fictional NPC faction -- and the NPC faction won out. The Shattering makes it clear that Garrosh's position is only temporary, but in Cataclysm, he's certainly attacking the job with gusto. Today's Know Your Lore contains pretty much every possible spoiler that exists for the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden. If you're avoiding spoilers, run away! Run away!
BlizzCon 2011: Mega Bloks Thrall figure and more
Earlier this year, it was announced that Blizzard would be teaming up with MEGA Brands, Inc. to release Warcraft- and StarCraft-themed Mega Bloks sets. It looks like they're definitely going to have a presence at BlizzCon 2011, and the toys look great. BlizzCon attendees can look forward to a Thrall giveaway figure as an exclusive gift -- but there's plenty more to be had, including a limited edition Battlecruiser. Only 3,000 of these Battlecruisers were produced, and they are available for purchase to all BlizzCon attendees and Virtual Ticket holders. You can order yours on the official Mega Bloks BlizzCon site. Oh, but that's not all. Attendees can also tweet to win by taking their photo with a massive Mega Bloks statue of Thrall. On top of that, you can also enter to win a chance for a one-of-a-kind Mega Bloks Frostmourne replica by guessing the number of bloks that went into creating the sword on display at the Mega Bloks booth. Be sure to stop by Booth C-303 to take a look at the Mega Bloks creations and get in on the contest action! Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup cohosted by Wowhead, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Know Your Lore: The Shattering, 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. One of the biggest questions people have in regards to the Shattering patch that took place at the end of Wrath of the Lich King is just how much time passed in game during those events. Unfortunately, there aren't any concrete answers to that question, which makes trying to muddle out time lines a little more difficult than usual. The official time line on the original World of Warcraft website was removed when the site underwent its major facelift, and a new time line was never implemented. However, taking a look at the old time line over on Wowpedia seems to indicate that Blizzard likes patches to last approximately one year in the Warcraft time line. So classic World of Warcraft and all the events we encountered, from Molten Core to the original incarnation of Naxxramas, took place over the span of one year in the time line. The Burning Crusade and all events associated with it also took one year to complete. It stands to reason that Wrath of the Lich King would follow the same trend. But again, without concrete confirmation, we've got no way of really knowing for certain. That said, the novel The Shattering seems to take place over the course of at least a few months or so, if not more, so there was a bit of a time jump between old-world Azeroth and the Azeroth that was implemented in patch 4.0.3a. And now, let's continue on with what went down in that novel, shall we? Today's Know Your Lore contains pretty much every possible spoiler that exists for the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden. If you're avoiding spoilers, turn away now!
Know Your Lore: The Shattering, 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. On Nov. 22, 2010, millions of players logged in to World of Warcraft to view the old world one final time. Whether venturing to out-of-the-way spots, running around the park in Stormwind, or saying goodbye to Magni Bronzebeard and Cairne Bloodhoof, every player was well aware that the next day, these locations and people would no longer exist. As for me, my guild leader took those of us who wished to go on a romp around the hidden places in Azeroth that many had never before seen and would never see again. On Nov. 23, players logged on to find an entirely different, harsher world waiting for them. Orgrimmar was transformed into a bristling fortress of iron and steel. Stormwind's façade was forever marred by the charred claw marks of Deathwing, and the lovely park nestled in the corner of the mighty city had been torched and fallen away into the sea below. In Ironforge, the city was now ruled by a council of three; in Orgrimmar, a new Warchief sat on the throne. In Thunder Bluff, Baine Bloodhoof now stood in the place of honor once reserved for his father Cairne. For those who read the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden, all these events made perfect sense. For those who hadn't picked up the book, the resounding question asked was a simple "What happened?" Today's Know Your Lore contains pretty much every possible spoiler that exists for the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden. If you've been putting off picking up the book and giving it a read and would like to remain unspoiled, I would highly suggest turning away now.
