Archive for the “Lore” Category
Between Grimm in DS and my own undergeared butt in Heroics, we’ve finally – as of last night – gotten to see all the threads in the endgame story for this expansion. It’s gratifying to see that the endgame has a more solid narrative than ever before. Only twice does it succumb to what I call the "Gallery of bads" syndrome.
 If you remember the pilot movie for Babylon 5, you no doubt remember the Gratuitous Alien Gallery, a venue that Sinclair and Alexander cut through on the way to somewhere more useful. The Alien District, as it was called, resembled more of a toxic petting zoo than a place where aliens lived and carried out business – glass booths with aliens standing in them, cubicles with aliens standing them, empty spaces with aliens standing in them – you get the picture.
A lot, it might be noted, like Icecrown Citadel, and many other raids. Just dudes. Standing around. Doing standing around dude things.
Some examples.
- Karazhan – you have to beat up the stable boy, the castellan, and a travelling group of troubadours to even get close to the guy that’s making the place go bad. And even then, there are rooms off to the side with a couple of dragons, a bereaved father, and a studious demon that you can go beat up just for funsies.
- Icecrown Citadel – With an airship at your disposal, you can just fly to the spire and take care of business. But instead we go the long hard way through a gallery of bads, none which even matter, and some which were plain made up – had no previous connection to lore – for this instance.
- Naxx – For this gallery of bads to even make SENSE, they had to force you to clear each wing as part of unlocking a portal to the one guard dragon that stands between you and the big bad.
- The Eye – Aside from Alar (and who doesn’t want a shot at a flaming mount?), you can walk right in to Kael’s throne room and start beating on him. And speaking of dudes just standing around. Don’t belfs own chairs?
- Ulduar – After taking down XT and Kologarn, not much stopping you from just jumping down into the pit and getting jiggy with Yogg. Well, aside from the invisible barrier that forces you to go the long way, but it is not mentioned as part of the lore.
 The common thread here is that you have a bunch people standing around scratching their butts, doing nothing but looking decorative until a bunch of mercenaries comes along to rob them. You don’t have to kill off Moroes – he doesn’t drop a key. You don’t have to kill off Putricide to get to the Lich King. Notwithstanding game mechanics, why exactly is Ignis standing around? What is the purpose of Aran, other than fleshing out some lore that didn’t, really, exist?
While this is coming off as a rant against how artificial and contrived the circumstances of most raid bosses are constructed, it is intended as praise for Dragon Soul.
The five-mans leading up to it, while somewhat contrived and confusing at times, do actually link up to the raid elegantly. The escort quest at the end exists for a reason (as any raider knows, the front door is blocked). And, granted, the "echoes" do fall into the "contrived bad dude just standing around thinking bad dude thoughts" trope, but the next instance in the chain more than makes up for it in integrating the bosses into the story.
 The only raid-related boss issue in this case are Zonza and Ballchucker. They exist only to be beaten and looted. They serve no part of the story other than to stand around and look lootish. Had they been integrated better I’d have no complaint, but they weren’t. They block nothing, unlock nothing, drop nothing related to the story. They are Miscellaneous Bad Dudes. In holes.
But, overall, the endgame for this expansion has proven to be far superior to what we’ve seen before. I don’t know how much of an actual story that MoP will have. If it does, I hope they improve on the linear story-based raid instance over the collection-of-loot-piñatas rogues gallery approach. It was a lot more fun and a lot more interesting.
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In a vaguely worded drive-by comment on the official forums, community manager Zarhym (aka talking head) dropped an incredibly vague hint about something getting leveled. There was somehow a rumor that Theramore was going to get trashed by the Horde in 5.0, people were upset over obvious Horde favoritism, and Zarhym stepped in with this.
So, at BlizzCon we provided a few details about a new expansion and how it’s going to have an ever-growing focus on the fight between the Horde and the Alliance in the wake of dispelling many very powerful threats to all of Azeroth. Then we find out a vague detail that some sort of unrelenting attack by the Horde on Theramore is to come. The Horde, to remind you, is currently a faction with an overzealous ruler and significant turmoil among their faction leaders; while the Alliance has almost never been quite so unified and far removed from the days of imprisoning orcs.
The first pawn on the chess board of what is to be the story for Mists of Pandaria is being moved, and you’re angry at whose turn is first? I only offer that maybe there’s a little more to the Horde and Alliance story lines in Mists than an Alliance town being leveled… like the entire expansion story you don’t know about yet. 
This was interpreted, far and wide, as absolute confirmation that Theramore would fall. Let’s dissect a little.
Then we find out a vague detail that some sort of unrelenting attack by the Horde on Theramore is to come.
DID NOT SAY that Theramore was to fall. DID SAY, "unrelenting attack". I’m not gonna look up "unrelenting" for you but I assure you it does not mean "Theramore falls."
The Horde, to remind you, is currently a faction with an overzealous ruler and significant turmoil among their faction leaders; while the Alliance has almost never been quite so unified and far removed from the days of imprisoning orcs.
Really, why did Zarhym put that in? What does that have to do with anything?
Well, since we’re guessing, I’ll guess that it means that Theramore does not stand alone. Why would Zarhym say that? What does it matter unless Theramore does NOT fall? I mean, if it falls, it’s a sure bet that the entire Alliance will stand with Jaina Proudmoore. There is no doubt. So it doesn’t make sense to go out out of the way to say this, unless it means something. I’m gonna guess, Theramore stands, and the Alliance stands with it, and the war front between Theramore and Orgimmar becomes a key part of the next expansion’s PvP game, at the very least.
The first pawn on the chess board of what is to be the story for Mists of Pandaria is being moved, and you’re angry at whose turn is first?
Again, implying Theramore is the first pawn in the game (or Org’s armies are the first pawn, depending on point of view), is not saying that it falls. Theramore might be like Pearl Harbor, or it might be like Lexington and Concord. This is as noncommittal as you can get.
I only offer that maybe there’s a little more to the Horde and Alliance story lines in Mists than an Alliance town being leveled… like the entire expansion story you don’t know about yet.
In other words, this isn’t all there is to see about this situation. And AGAIN, Zarhym went to great pains not to reveal anything or confirm anything with this statement.
I did not come away with conformation of anything. Other than, duh, war. In Warcraft. Holy coincidences, Batman!
Recently, Dave "Fargo" Kosak published a "Dev Water cooler" article about faction favoritism. Besides a clear indication that, yes, Alliance has taken a serious pounding, were a few more interesting things relevant to the above.
Garrosh Hellscream has a vision for the Horde, a vision of a united Kalimdor that can only be realized over the ashes of the Alliance. He’s craftier than any of his foes realize, and his grim determination to win at all costs — even at the expense of his own people — is plunging the world into chaos.
If nothing else, this is clear indication that things are heating up in Kalimdor and confirmation that he’s going to stop at nothing to raze anything in his path to make it happen. All hail the King of Ashes. /spit
I digress.
I’m not going to try to deny that war is going to happen. I’m just not sure that Lady Jaina’s going to roll over.
Makes no sense from a gameplay perspective, either.
Suffering is the gasoline that drives our story engine.
Remove Theramore, and the only remaining war front for the Horde on Kalimdor is the Night Elf front, and it spreads down the entire length of the western side of Kalimdor. Plenty of room for suffering there. But the thorn in the Orcs’ side, no doubt about it, is, and always will be, the Humans that humiliated them time and again in the East. The game NEEDS this conflict to fuel Garrosh’s hatred. He’s a hater, and he’s gotta have something to hate.
The Taurens are also not likely to allow genocide of the Night Elves given their commonality across the Druidic arts. But they can’t possibly feel as kindly towards Humans that rampaged across their borders and slaughtered entire villages. They won’t stand for all-out war on Elves, perhaps, but I bet they’d at least be willing to tolerate all-out war on the Humans. I’m sure Garrosh, despite his thick skull, will see the advantage of a war on the Humans.
All of this falls apart if Theramore falls, though. There is no war because there is nothing to make war upon. This is the peace of the Orcs, brutal and nasty business, but neither the developers or the players want PEACE. They want war, and war upon Theramore – sustained war, with many opportunities for "honor" (/spit) is the perfect excuse for Garrosh to whine about resource shortages to keep the Warsong offensive going. I can’t imagine a more perfect opportunity to not only keep the fires burning, but to plant the seeds of the next "great" war upon Ashenvale as they grasp for more trees to burn and fluffy woodland beasties to grind into nutritious paste.
Conflict is necessary
Fargo makes quite a few good comments in his post. Fact is, you need conflict of some sort to have a compelling story arc. And expecting the faction balance in one expansion to be completely even is, while *seemingly* realistic, in practice ridiculous. One side winning and one side losing provides inspiration to the former and desperation to the latter, itself a form of inspiration. And holding out the possibility that it could all turn around just further fuels the losing side to fight harder. Again, destroy Theramore and you turn the possibility of defeat into actual defeat, and that’s a lot harder to draw inspiration from – for either side.
I’ve asked around. I’ve asked may times, of people that I am told are pretty solid in lore, what the source for this certainty is. Everyone keeps pointing back to Zarhym’s post on the forums. So, barring a better, more conclusive source, this is all still guesswork.
I’m going to take a no doubt unpopular position here until I see something more concrete from an actual Blizzard source that, yes, Jaina Proudmoore is in the market for a new apartment.
Show me the Monet.
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Last night, Flora got benched so I could participate in a unique guild event. So, thanks, Flora, for not setting my Cheerios on fire this morning.
AnyHOO.
When the nature of 4.2 and the introduction of a new Legendary staff was clear to us, we actually had a vote ahead of time to pick who would get the staff fragments, should it ever drop for us. Well, it did, indeed, drop for us, and our esteemed GM, Alas, was the designated recipient – a choice I highly approve.
Last week, she obtained the final fragment and thus began the harrowing next steps, which apparently includes soloing a special instance of The Nexus – one of the rare times that such back-referencing happens. I wish I could have been a bug on a wall for that, from a lore perspective. Alas avers it was extremely difficult. Well, that’s fitting, it’s a Legendary staff, after all.
Last night’s event, then, was to obtain a branch of Nordrasil that Ragnaros’ chums had obtained. To do this required us to go in as a raid and engage several bosses long enough for her to obtain bits and bobs, and then a new, special boss encounter for the branch.
I can’t speak to the lore aspects, but from a gameplay perspective, I gotta say I like the way this is going. Engaging to the recipient, difficult but not impossible, and engaging to the whole guild. This is a great thing. It promotes esprit de corps, strengthens the whole guild identity thing.
As a guild we chose the one to whom this staff went to, and as a guild we are there helping her complete it. That’s pretty awesome.
I have yet to see the endgame for this from within, but so far, it looks like Blizzard hit it out of the park.
A note: somebody in vent was saying there was like nine months of full clears to go in order to get the rest of the stuff for the final staff. Mathematically, that’s not possible. I’ve seen several people get this staff already – you can’t miss it if you live in Stormwind – and 4.2 hasn’t even been around for nine months. So if you see exceptionally large numbers presented in guides, seek a second opinion. I have reason to believe they are wrong.
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This Sunday is often retro raiding night among the Effers. Tonight is Ulduar, a raid that even Jas hasn’t seen the end of, so you know I had to go. Unfortunately, we failed to get three of the achievements we need for the drake, but we’re still pushing on to see the end of the affair, eventually.
The place did have a revelation.
Yeah, sorry guys. We had no idea at the time, and he was being a bit of a jerk, so, well … we kill ‘im. Sure didn’t see that end of the world thing coming.
But, we’re on it now. Keep calm, carry on and respawn. We’ll take the wee starman down here shortly.
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Posted by Floramel in Lore
Grimm tells me we’re getting company so I should be nice. So I’ll be nice. See? Nice. Me.
On the topic of niceness, let’s talk about faction hating. Or, more precisely, hating on one’s own faction leaders.
Now, Hordies, I can see where you’re coming from. But when your faction is lead by an invasion force, that’s the way it goes. You get a walking talking war machine. I won’t really say much more about the guy, since he and I haven’t been besties since that thing in the bar, but, really, you don’t go to war with the warchief you want, you to to war with the warchief you have. Until you don’t. /wink
Alliance, however, seems to have real problems with its faction leaders.
I’m not going to spend any time with Genn Greymane since he hasn’t had time to settle in yet.
Velen, we can’t really say much about. He’s been a good fellow and not rocked the boat so much ever since crashing a Draenai space fortress into our planet. The worst I can say for the fellow is that he’s probably a good choice for a Jeopardy stumper.
The Night Elves got a little relief when Archdruid Staghelm was put down, but for a while he was the Alliance faction leader most likely to get ratted out by his own players. A fine distinction, for sure, but it got out of hand when Alliance players started escorting Hordies to the boat in Darkshore and buying tickets for them to get across the sea to punch his clock. Tyrande Whisperwind, at least, doesn’t go out of her way to offend.
Up until the Cataclysm, dear old Magni was probably the Alliance favorite by a mile. Everybody’s favorite boozy old uncle, it’s been a real blow to see him replaced by a council that has that unbearable grump Moira on it.
(OW! Okay, okay, got it. NICE! Right!)
And that, ladies, and gents, leaves us with the lovable visage of Stormwind’s former absentee landlord, Varian Wrynn.
 I have heard a lot of hating on this guy. How people feel he’s cut Westfall loose to fend for itself (not true, but a certain miss VanCleef would like you to keep believing that). How he’s a warmongering jerk (He might have a reason to be hating on the Horde. Or a dozen. See below). How he has statues built for himself while his subjects beg at the gates (Okay, on that I’ve got nothing.) In general, people just seem to think he’s a jerk for no good reason at all.
Let’s review this chump’s happy-go-lucky life.
As a child, his father was assassinated right in front of him, by a half-orc, as other Orcs sacked Stormwind.
As an older child, the man that filled in as his father was killed. By orcs. Again.
As king, his wife was killed by rioting stonemasons (soon to become the Defias),
As king, he was kidnapped and memory-wiped by Onyxia.
After that, he was enslaved. By orcs. And forced to fight in gladiatorial combat until he got sprung and got his memory back.
Back on the throne, he watches in horror as the man that watched over his son while he was missing – was killed. By Horde operatives.
And to put the icing on the cake, his own son was almost lost to him when Princess Moira besieged Ironforge from within.
Might you be a bit scrappy, a little irritable, maybe, under similar circumstances?
Really, I think what he needs more than anything is a big hug. It’s been a rough few years. A hug, a drink or two, and a real vacation, only with less mind-wiping.
I’m enough of a cynic to think that none of that matters to most people.
That’s right Joey. And you would know.
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If you remember the pilot movie for Babylon 5, you no doubt remember the Gratuitous Alien Gallery, a venue that Sinclair and Alexander cut through on the way to somewhere more useful. The Alien District, as it was called, resembled more of a toxic petting zoo than a place where aliens lived and carried out business – glass booths with aliens standing in them, cubicles with aliens standing them, empty spaces with aliens standing in them – you get the picture.
The common thread here is that you have a bunch people standing around scratching their butts, doing nothing but looking decorative until a bunch of mercenaries comes along to rob them. You don’t have to kill off Moroes3 – he doesn’t drop a key. You don’t have to kill off Putricide 4 to get to the Lich King. Notwithstanding game mechanics, why exactly is Ignis standing around? What is the purpose of Aran, other than fleshing out some lore that didn’t, really, exist? 
The only raid-related boss issue in this case are Zonza and Ballchucker. They exist only to be beaten and looted. They serve no part of the story other than to stand around and look lootish. Had they been integrated better6 I’d have no complaint, but they weren’t. They block nothing, unlock nothing, drop nothing related to the story7. They are Miscellaneous Bad Dudes. In holes.
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