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This is rather contradictory to his established character in the games, whose personality and actions could be described as selfish and dictatorial. In the current expansion pack Legion, the antihero of Warcraft 3 and its Frozen Throne expansion as well as the villain of the Burning Crusade expansion Illidan Stormrage was revealed to have been a hero all along. Again, this is something that the player can only learn of by reading an extensive novel.
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How did these characters end up here when it was established in the final raid for Mists, Siege of Orgrimmar, that Garrosh had been defeated and locked up in chains? The novel War Crimes explains this, as Wrathion and Kairoz had collaborated together to free Garrosh and head to alternate Draenor to build an orcish army to stop the return of the demonic Burning Legion. A major character from Mists named Wrathion also appears randomly at the end of the legendary quest chain in Warlords. In the Warlords of Draenor expansion pack, Garrosh escaped to an alternate reality version of the planet Draenor alongside the time traveling bronze dragon Kairoz. So how did Garrosh manage to obtain it? How did the dragons misplace such a dangerous object? This is explained in the novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, not in the actual game. However, in the lore, the focusing iris is in possession of the Azure Dragonflight who live at the north pole of Azeroth. In the Mists of Pandaria expansion pack scenario Theramore’s Fall, the Horde warchief Garrosh Hellscream obtained a device known as the focusing iris to build a mana bomb to destroy the Alliance city of Theramore. This isn’t even the whole list by the way. However, problems do arise when you look into the games themselves. Now, this isn’t necessarily surprising or even bad, as Star Wars does the same thing with its expanded universe. In fact, there is more expanded universe material than there are games. Blizzard has pushed for better character development in Legion, but the majority of their characterization comes from the novels. Now, a few days into 2017, Warcraft has expanded with its MMO and the novel tie-ins. It was a self-contained narrative, no prior research required. A few novels were written before Reign of Chaos hit shelves, but they were inconsequential to understanding the plot of the RTS.
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The earlier RTS games had characters and story, but the primitive technology of the DOS era didn’t necessarily lend itself to the scale Warcraft 3 had painted. Some were heroes, others were antiheroes. It introduced new characters and races to the world, each having a unique voice, design, and motivation. The golden age.Īrguably, the highlight of Warcraft lore was during 2003 when Blizzard released the hit RTS sequel, Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and its later expansion The Frozen Throne. The Expanded Universeīefore you can really touch up on what went wrong, you have to go back to what was right. Half the problem stems from two major flaws working against the game when it comes to writing. It is fundamentally flawed, and not all of it stems from problems in the lore department. I do not believe Warcraft works in terms of story in its current MMO status. By game mechanics and by writing mishaps, Warcraft dipped in quality. However, as I found myself getting older and my writing expertise grew, I began to see a lot of cracks in Blizzard’s plot armor. I immersed myself into the novels, comics, expansions, spinoff games, and Warcraft 3. I remember being introduced to Warcraft around 2006 when I picked up the MMORPG for the first time, instantly falling in love with its lore and characters. Aliens exist in the canon and don’t feel out of place. Tauren resemble minotaurs in terms of design but are actually a peaceful shamanistic people with Native American aesthetic, a far cry away from typical fantasy interpretations. It is incredibly unique in the fantasy genre as many of its races defy conventional fantasy archetypes. Warcraft is one of the biggest fantasy universes in gaming, with a deep mythos that has enticed players since its inception.
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