Let’s talk about lore

This comment on WoW Insider got me thinking about Warcraft lore:

IMHO, the only way to do any more expansions is to make up lore (even moreso than they already do)

Yeah, and what’s the problem with that?

One of the most common complaints I read on forums, blog comments, etc, is that Blizzard is constantly “ruining their lore.” It ranges from “He’s not supposed to stand here!” to “Blizzard has no respect for lore and has ruined the Warcraft world beyond repair.” I seem to see more of the latter than the former.  Maybe (hopefully) it’s just the “vocal minority.”

Here’s a hint for all of you out there who feel that Blizzard has destroyed their own lore: IT IS THEIR OWN LORE THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO IT!

Who created the Warcraft universe and mythology? Blizzard, or a bunch of fanboys?  Warcraft is Blizzard’s creation, it’s their baby. It’s absurd to say Blizzard ruined the Warcraft mythology when they introduced the spaceship-like Exodar and alien-like Draenei.  It fits because Blizzard says it fits. The loremasters at Blizzard have every right to create new stories and make changes to existing Warcraft history. They were the ones who created it in the first place. If they feel that it is necessary to retcon something or add something new, so be it. If they want to expand on existing history, more power to them.

Blizzard has every right to add new content, new areas, new races, new mythology, new anything to the Warcraft universe. The commentor who got me thinking believes that the only way to make new expansions is for Blizzard to “make up lore” and he infers that this is a bad thing.  Let me get one thing straight here, if Blizzard wants to say that there’s a new portal to somewhere, or whatever they come up with, Blizzard can say that. The Warcraft universe doesn’t end with what is in WoW right now (or what was in WC3, for that matter). If Blizzard wants to “make something up” they have every right to do so. A series’ “lore” can change and evolve.

The world of Warcraft is huge, there is plenty of room for new stories and new adventures. But some people think that nothing should ever change, characters should stay how they’ve always been, no new story arcs are possible. Those people are wrong.

Basically, Blizzard can “make up” whatever they want and it is perfectly fine.  Fiction can change and evolve to suit new needs.  If Blizzard “makes up” something, that is what they are supposed to do.  How else do you think all the current lore came to be?  Warcraft’s lore didn’t just magically appear out of nowhere, it took people “making up” stories to flesh out the mythology that we have now.  You need to realize that fictional universes are “made up” and that this is not a bad thing.

EDIT:  I took out a few paragraphs that I realized took away from my main message.

Devs Doom Devastate

WoW Insider reports that all the warriors out there who were pissing their pants in glee at the damage Devastate was putting out on the PTR are in for quite a letdown.

The change to Devastate in 2.1 is being reverted and will not be a change for the patch once it goes live. We’ve done some additional damage testing and the output is in far excess of what we had thought it would provide.

Apparently in the patch, Devastate while duel wielding would cause you to hit with both of your weapons for a big chunk of damage (big for a prot warrior, anyway).  I know a few warriors in my guild who were testing the patch seemed very excited at this change.  But alas, it is not to be.

It’s funny how one poster from the forums puts it.

OMG, so we’ve been nerfed before we were even buffed?!

LAWL.

Public Test Realm Patch Notes (2.1.0)

Anyone who reads WoW Insider regularly has probably already seen these patch notes, but there are a few that I want to mention here. 

First up is something seemingly insignificant, but very beneficial to myself and fellow bloggers. 

– Screenshots captured using the Print Screen key are now saved in JPG
format.

Awesome news, because I’m lazy.  And it’s very annoying searching through all my screenshot files in Photoshop when I can’t get a preview of what they look like.  Having them captured as jpegs is music to my Photoshopping ears.

Next up we have the introduction of new areas, quest lines, and factions.

– The Consortium and Protectorate need your help! Players with Honored
or higher reputation with the Consortium should seek out Protectorate
Advisor Rahim at the Stormspire in Netherstorm or Commander Ameer at
the Protectorate Watch Post in Netherstorm to get a briefing on the
most recent nefarious activities of the Ethereum.
– Skettis is now available. Players will need a flying mount to reach
this new area.
– Nether Drakes are now in the game and can be gained by continuing the
Netherwing faction and quest line.
– Ogri’la is now available. Level 70 players can find this new quest
line in Blade’s Edge Mountains.

I’m sure that plenty of people are very excited that The Black Temple will be opening up, but that doesn’t excite me as much as new quest lines and single player content.  I’ll say that again.  Blizzard is releasing new single player content (!!!) for level 70s.  I love Blizzard for this.  Now maybe instead of grinding my life away for an epic flying mount, I can follow the Netherdrake quest line (me and everyone else, amirite?) and actually experience something fun and meaningful along the way.

Also cool is this,

– Warlock and Hunter pets will now be automatically dismissed when
you summon a mount. These pets will return on dismount. This does
not affect pet happiness for Hunters.

While I don’t play a hunter with a mount, I actually ran into this problem last night while questing.  My friend Dodin (70 dwarf hunter) and I were doing a quest, flying around on our mounts, and we wondered how he got into combat.  We realized that though he was flying high, his cat was running around on the ground aggroing everything in sight.  This was less than ideal.  So, good for this new improvement.

Various other interesting fixes,

– You can now interact with wanted posters while mounted. (This was wicked annoying.)
– Sounds and voice-overs have been added to all Outland dungeons and
raid zones. (It annoyed me that there were nearly no sounsd in some of the dungeons.)
– Holding down the shift key while mousing over an equippable item
that you can use will now show you the tooltip for the item you
currently have equipped in that slot as well (much like how the auction
house currently works). (Basically stealing from EquipCompare, but it’s cool cuz now I don’t need another addon.)

So yeah.  Woo for new patches with cool new stuff.

Hooligany!

I’m sure you’ve already seen this on WoW Insider, but I just had to post it here.  For two reasons:

1. I seriously see stuff this bad on a daily basis so I find it hilarious (it sucks being an editor in the IT field).
2. The word “hooligany” needs to be introduced into common usage ASAP.

I give to you, Top Ten Winning Momets for Hoard Paladins, by Cless.

i will always like to start where i usually start in point s

1:make them so the focus is centered and the axe is strong in hand, either left or both its right but doesnt seem make sense t me… maybe blizzard thinks about thisbefore next time

2)
as long as the entrance is open the exit has a natural advantage, always be able to lose sometimes

3)as a paladin it is our duty to protect

4)after doing this it is best to not focus on selfish tides and mindless hooligany, paladins are serious dedication have funnever back down

dont need to eat food
paladin can team with warlocks

9:once you mount running backwards isnt the best but sometimes necessary if you dont farm enough, ALWAYS FOCUS ON CORRECTIONS WHICH CAN BE IMPROVED

never let yourself be fooled by paladin jeers. people are jealous even on alliance in levels , u will be the best someday and no one lets u stop if u let them defeat ur

10: duskwood

That’s comedy.

April Fools

I gotta say, Blizzard’s April Fools stuff this year was a bit lackluster.  I just said “meh” instead of “lol.”  Though that attunement chart is something else.

Pally Bubble-Hearth FTW!

I entered this comic into Blizzard’s WoW Comic Contest a while ago, and it grabbed an honorable mention (which is awesome).

Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

Some people get it, some don’t.  What do you think?