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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: 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.
Thrall's return to the Horde and more lore from San Diego Comic-Con
Blizzard's Chris Metzen was at the San Diego Comic-Con showing off new WoW, StarCraft, and Diablo merchandise with a panel of Blizzard writers and merchandise partners. After the discussion about merchandise, the future of Blizzard licensed products, and the new comics, the floor was opened up to questions and answers about anything, lore included. Fans took this time to ask Metzen all about the new direction Blizzard is taking Thrall, including whether the Horde will remain the same after Cataclysm. Metzen might have spilled the beans on what we can expect from BlizzCon this year, including some big revelations about the Horde and Thrall's place in it. Around the 51-minute mark of the panel, Metzen muses about how awesome it has been, growing the Warcraft story from its simple beginnings as an RTS and getting to flesh out the world. At one point, Metzen says, "One day, come on, your Warchief is coming back. Right? There's more with Thrall," and emphatically mentions BlizzCon, indicating Blizzard has much to announce on the subject.
Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects discounted for preorder on Amazon
Christie Golden's second Cataclysm novel, Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, is coming out on July 19, and Amazon has the cheapest copies around. The hardcover edition is currently available for preorder for $16.21 and the Kindle version for just $12.99. The first Cataclysm novel by Golden, The Shattering, told the prequel story of the newest expansion. Garrosh's rise to power and duel with Cairne, as well as Anduin Wrynn's involvement with the dwarven civil war, took center stage, while Thrall left leadership of the Horde to train as a shaman on the orcish home world of Draenor. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, continues Thrall's journey as a pivotal personality as the cataclysm and Deathwing ravage Azeroth. Thrall's journey will begin with a task for Ysera that eventually becomes fraught with green dragons, nightmares, and a bleak vision from Ysera herself, the Hour of Twilight. We will know more in a week, and I couldn't be more excited.
Blizzard to talk licensing at San Diego Comic-Con
Blizzard tends to keep to its own convention for most of the year, rather than taking part in other major conventions like E3, but it's breaking form with product reveals and licensing discussion next week at San Diego Comic-Con. Blizzard's Chris Metzen, The Shattering author Christie Golden, Cryptozoic Entertainment President Cory Jones, and others will be present for a panel on Thursday, July 21 -- that is, if you're already lucky enough to be going to Comic-Con (say hi to Christie for me)! Here's the full panel description, which is also available on the Comic-Con website. 1:00-2:00 World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft Swag Show -- Blizzard Entertainment creative and licensed partners unveil and discuss World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft-inspired products. In attendance: Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment SVP of creative development), Nick Carpenter (Blizzard Entertainment executive art director), Christie Golden (New York Times bestselling author), Hank Kanalz (SVP Digital, DC Comics and World of Warcraft comics editor), Sean Gailey(creative overlord, J!nx Clothing), and Cory Jones (Cryptozoic Entertainment president and chief creative officer). Moderated by Kat Hunter ( host of BlizzCon coverage on DIRECTV). Room 6BCF
Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects to be Christie Golden's next novel
News of a new novel from Christie Golden trickled into our tip line this evening. The novel World of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects appeared on Amazon.com a few days ago. This novel, which continues a longstanding tradition of too many colons in one book title, is very likely a direct followup to the recently released The Shattering. We're likely to see deeper exploration of Thrall's intentions and motivations in Cataclysm, some of which was alluded to by Chris Metzen at BlizzCon 2010's lore panel. Could Go'el, son of Durotan, be Azeroth's next Aspect of Earth? Probably, yes! [Thanks, Xeon!]
