wow-characters
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Characters of Warcraft updates with Mists, Hearthstone heroes
A new selection of characters have been added to Blizzard's Characters of Warcraft page on the official website. For those unfamiliar with the page, it's a collection of brief profiles on various figures in Warcraft lore, featuring a little background information, artwork, screenshots, and links to related characters and pertinent short stories or fiction that involves the featured character. In other words, it's a pretty handy little quick reference guide for those wondering who's who in lore. The new additions include heroes from Mists of Pandaria such as Shaohao, Sunwalker Dezco, Taran Zhu and more. In addition, players can now find profiles for heroes that have been featured in Hearthstone's class decks. It's a pretty good addition, particularly for characters like Valeera Sanguinar, who plays a prominent role as the representative rogue deck in Hearthstone, but doesn't really feature all that much in World of Warcraft itself. I was also happy to see both Uther and Rexxar have been added as well. Although the Characters of Warcraft page is by no means complete just yet, the new batch of updates is pretty reassuring to see. Hopefully it's an indicator that this feature won't be left in the dust, and will continue to be updated and filled out with characters that are both pertinent to the expansions we're currently playing, and those that have were important in expansions past as well. Check out the page for the new additions, and while you're there, don't forget to look for short stories you may have missed along the way.
Breakfast Topic: The character(s) you keep going back to
No matter how many WoW characters we've created over the years, there are some classes or characters we just can't escape. We keep going back to our favorites, through every nerf and class change. We may flirt with other classes for a while, or even get so far as doing end-game content with them, but our favorites never quite leave our hearts. For me, it's a blood elf healadin that I created just after Burning Crusade. I've never quite gotten back to playing it after Cataclysm, but I think it will always be a favorite -- probably because I have great memories of playing with friends and generally having grand adventures on that character. New characters just don't have that history, and though I had other characters before and have had other characters since, I'll probably always be a paladin at heart. What about you, dear readers? What are your favorite, most memorable characters, the ones you can't quite escape no matter how many new characters and classes you've tried?
What makes a compelling character?
I don't know how many of you frequent the official Story Forum. It can be an intimidating place. Beware, all ye who may mention the words "Lordaeron," "Sylvanas," or "Southshore;" and these days add "Sunreaver" and "Dalaran" to the list of ten-foot-pole topics. I still visit the Story Forum regularly and if you're a lore buff its often a good source for varied discussion and debate. The amount of detail folks are able to recite at a moment's notice never fails to impress me, and has more than once sent me scurrying to my personal Warcraft library to fact-check or reread something with an eye for a new interpretation. Recently, Nethaera has paid a visit to the story forum, and she asks you all directly: What makes a compelling character? What makes a character strong or weak or interesting or boring? What makes a character your favorite? What are the things that draw you to a fictional personality, what are the things that repulse you? As for me personally, well, I'm pretty sure the WoW community is more than familiar with some of my favorites (shameless self promotion). The reasons why I find those characters compelling are varied, but mostly boil down to the situation of being between a rock and a hard place. I like stories where there aren't good answers, where every way you look, you lose. Maybe I'm a Debbie-downer, but if the path to victory is obvious, I am bored to tears. Don't give me that, I don't want to read it. Give me someone who has struggled and fought and who will never be sure if they did the right thing. Give me something, and someone, that will haunt me. What makes a character compelling to you? What fuels your imagination? If you've ever wanted the chance to talk with a blue about your favorite WoW personalities and share your personal idea of what you'd like to see out of WoW's canon characters, now is your opportunity!
Breakfast Topic: Who's your new favorite NPC?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Maybe it was helping Tirion in the Plaguelands; maybe it was helping Mankrik find his wife. Everyone had a favorite NPC in the old world long before any of the Cataclysm changes took place. But now that Azeroth has been shattered and reformed, we have seen not only new faces but old favorites in new and strange ways. Questing recently (if you haven't taken the time to, you should!) has been a strange mixture of familiarity combined with entertaining surprises from characters we've never met before. Our guild has been abuzz with people having long discussions over who is the best, as most of us have been rolling up new low-level alts to poke, prod, and explore, or even just taking our mains out to do more Loremaster achievements. Some people love various quirky characters (or outright hate them), and other people like the more serious lore figures. All in all, we've had a lot to talk about regarding the people in the new Old World. If you've been out and about doing the new quests, who are your favorite new NPCs? Is it Zen'kiki in Western Plaguelands? Or Lunk from Searing Gorge and his adorable pacifism?
Breakfast Topic: What constitutes canon in WoW lore?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Can-on Function: noun [Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin, standard] a : an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture b : the authentic works of a writer c : a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works Lore is an incredibly huge part of the Warcraft universe. It tells us where the world has been and can give us clues about where it will be going. Unfortunately, it can become very muddied as more and more people contribute. When I was in high school, I can remember reading many of the Star Wars novels, which took place in the "expanded universe." The names and places were often the same, but there were often glaring inconsistencies from author to author. When you grow up with a universe, as I did with Star Wars, or when it grows up with you, those inconsistencies can drive you nuts. The difference that you find in the much of the licensed material that comes out about the Warcraft universe is that Blizzard has a much stricter control over what can be created. Blizzard works with the authors and artists and will often give them advance knowledge of where the property is going, story-wise, in order to make the work fit with unreleased game content. The first time I noticed a character from a licensed product in game was when I stumbled upon Dar'Khan Drathir in Deatholme while leveling my first blood elf. The first book of the Sunwell Trilogy was published almost two years before The Burning Crusade went live. As we progressed into and through The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, more characters from the books, manga and comic worked their way into the game.
