Breakfast topic: Did you play the previous Warcrafts?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Mar 5th 2007 at 8:50AM
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Confession time: Despite playing WoW for almost two years, despite deeply enjoying the lore behind WoW, even despite being paid to write a feature called "Know Your Lore" -- I have never played any of the previous Warcraft games. I got into WoW while watching a friend play his tauren shaman, and in spite of his cajoling, I started playing WoW without understanding any of the lore or the world behind it. In time, I caught up by reading books and web sites and listening to the arguments of guildmates ("What do you mean you've never played WCIII?")
I know I should really go back and play them, but I always get distracted by some other game, whether it be Kingdom Hearts, Oblivion, or WoW itself. Plus, I've never played a real-time strategy game and have a strong feeling that I would probably suck at it.
Have you played the previous Warcraft games? Do you think that they're a requirement to truly enjoy WoW, or is the divide between the games and WoW enough that WoW can stand on its own? If someone only had time to play one of the Warcraft series, which would you choose?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bugmaster Mar 5th 2007 9:00AM
FIRST!!!(always wanted to do that)
well i guess u can play wow on its own but playing especially WC3 and tft expansion gives a much more in depth look on wow and TBC. i guess that if u had to choose id choose WoW cause its a far bigger game then WC3 and expansion, but then again u dont have a monthly fee on WC3:P
Zuuler Mar 5th 2007 9:07AM
I started with Warcraft II. Never played Warcraft: Orcs and Humans because my brother told me it wasn't nearly as good compared to Warcraft II.
I bought WCIII as soon as it came out and loved the storyline. I was at bootcamp when The Frozen Throne came out, and when I finished boot camp I completely forgot about it till my brother told me about WoW. He got me to try WoW and the more I learn about the lore, the more it seems like TFT plays the biggest part in the current storyline. So I ordered TFT last week (since Best Buy only sells the battle chest, and I already have Reign of Chaos), and have been playing through Reign of chaos this week while I wait for it to be delivered.
I'd have to say, play WCIII and its expansion. It has more to do with why things are in WoW the way they are. Why the Orcs aren't bad, why BE's aren't part of the alliance anymore, and where those NE and Tauren came from.
The only thing in WoW that WCIII doesn't explain is where those pesky Dranei come from. Stupid retcons.
edthurston316 Mar 5th 2007 9:11AM
I've played all the Warcrafts since the first one came out in the early 90's, and the games definitely give WoW a lot of its value and meaning. Like the awe of meeting Thrall (wearing the black plate armor and warhammer of the great warcrief Orgrim Doomhammer!), the Orc who helped save the Horde from corruption along with Grom Hellscream... or meeting Khadgar in Shattrath City and freaking out (because you remember playing the missions in the Warcraft II expansion with him where you were trying to stop Ner'zuhl's scheme of opening portals from Draenor with him)...
Or what about how awesome it is to be an Orc riding a Wolf, which was made popular by the strongest warriors of the Horde back in the first Warcraft?
Of course, it means you have to cringe when the lore is taken to its breaking point (extra-dimenional ship crash landing in Azeroth bringing a new race into town), or the Orcs, who fought so hard against demonic corruption to become free, honorable, and noble, having a multitude of Orc Warlocks running around in their main city...
It's enough to make a diehard Warcraft fan wince.
KB Mar 5th 2007 9:11AM
I've got my original box of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans with its 3.5" floppies sitting on my shelf in my office. Gotta love the head to head play over the null modem cable in the days before home networking!
overneathe Mar 6th 2007 4:15PM
All except War1. Also read all the books, and have them too. The mangas... Well you can see I like Warcraft from before WoW.
Mats Mar 5th 2007 9:17AM
I have played them all, I remember pirating the first game from a friend with 6 or how many floppydisks it came on. Played that game over and over.
Got the second one as well, my first LAN experiences with that game.
When the third one came out, I thought it was far to much story and to many "add-hock" elements in that game. The first and second where all about "build base, kill other base" while the third, and it's expansion had all these strange time trials, 1 man army, and xp-driven goals. It was a letdown then, however I went back to them after playing WoW and now they really shine as the best games.
Twinny Mar 5th 2007 9:19AM
never played them, which is suprising really as i was a huge C&C/Starcraft RTS fan.
Felsir Mar 5th 2007 9:23AM
@4. Yeah null-modem cables! I've played many "WC:orcs and humans" battles that way.
It's the nice touches in the Warcraft games like clicking characters 10 times and they start shouting "stop poking me!". I tried it with a grunt in Stonetalon and he responded by the same catchphrases from the strategy game. Nice.
Toolio Mar 5th 2007 9:27AM
I used to watch my brother play WCIII and thought he was a huge nerd. A few years later I got sucked in to WoW... The full circle and irony was that a not long after I started playing (I think my toon was lvl 15 or so) I introduced my brother to WoW. He called me a nerd. Now he has an account, too.
So the answer is no, I never had/played any previous versions. And having played WoW I'd still pass. Those style of games just don't interest me.
Sylythn Mar 5th 2007 9:31AM
I tried, I really did...all my friends loved them. But the one hangup I always ran into was that I SUCK and suck hugely at RTS games. I've never been able to get a handle on them, and quickly lose control and get trounced. And I never got into Diablo because I really hate the shallowness of hack 'n slash, kill-to-level, RPGs (for comparison, I prefer Elder Scrolls, D&D, the longer and more epic the better). But after about 2 days in the World of Warcraft, I was hooked...it's got the gameplay style I'm good at, and the story/depth to keep me interested. I am however, very proud to say that my first Blizzard game was The Lost Vikings on the SNES...and I STILL love that game! I'm trying to at least pick up what I can from the original games by reading the novels based on them.
Chris Gardner Mar 5th 2007 9:45AM
This is going to be a touchy subject, as you have the 1-2 million diehard Blizzard fans out there (like myself) who has played every one of their games and known their quality for some time. Then you have the 6 million people we roped into playing Wow (well, we roped in our friends, then they roped in theirs, etc).
To be honest, there's too much of a divide between Wow and the previous games. Yes, the story is there, but you didn't need 40 players (25 now) to take on the toughest challenges. You didn't need to spend 4 hours playing to get anywhere. If Wow was anything like the previous games, the only thing in it would be large-scale PVP battles featuring hundreds of players, cities falling (and being rebuilt), etc. in 30 minutes or less. Instead, you have a game that borrows a bit too much from Everquest.
Not to say that Wow isn't a fun game - it is. But it is kind of personally upsetting that the games I honed my teeth and played well in, RTS, nets me nothing in Wow. There are all kinds of hardcore guilds with EQ backgrounds that have gotten farther and (more importantly) have experienced more of the lore in Wow, which is particularly upsetting. Anyone could take part in the Battle of Hyjal in WCIII -- how many will take part this time around?
WASD John Mar 5th 2007 1:43PM
Yes! I have played Blizzard games from the get go (Mainly their RTS games). My first Warcraft experience came in the form of a demo disc for Warcraft: Orcs & Humans after I bought a new sound card for my PC. I was hooked from that moment on. The only blizzard game that I did not get into was Diablo. I really can't wait till they release the next Starcraft game, I'm hoping we see Starcraft II (RTS game) before the decade is out, and then the Starcraft mmorpg, maybe "Universe of Starcraft?!?"
Wamphyri Mar 5th 2007 9:59AM
I've never played any of the previous games as RTS just isn't my thing. I was reluctant to try WoW at first, a friend was telling me how wonderful was and that I should try it. I was playing Oblivion at the time, it hadn't been out long, I didn't get far with that game as I became a WoW 'addict'.
I've no real understanding of the lore of Warcraft, but I don't feel it spoils my enjoyment of the game.
Savok Mar 5th 2007 10:02AM
As WoW stands, I'd call not playing the previous games a major advantage in your enjoyment. WoW has mangled the lore so much you'd cry, it's better you don't know the details of what happened in the past.
As for non-RTS people who REALLY want to spoil WoW for themselves with the old games, in single, just turtle whenever you can and build up your tech tree and forces, then crush everything in one big zerg. Missions you can't do that in, use the cheat codes.
Cetha Mar 5th 2007 10:05AM
i attempted to play the third once in a demo form, but those kind of my army vs. your army games aren't really my style and i find them quite boring,so it wasn't till i saw a friend playing WoW that i got hooked.
Part of the reason i got hooked, is that was obsessed with diablo and more importantly diablo 2 and it's expansion. It's interesting that #9 didn't care for diablo as i find that WoW is way more diablo in its mechanics ( we even get socketed items now!) than it relates to the previous warcraft games with it's lore.
Odas Mar 5th 2007 10:13AM
I started out in RTS games with C&C and then migrated on to Starcraft when I started dating a girl who was a pro-gamer and ranked #4 in the world at SC. When WCIII came out she and I started playing it along side SC. Then the expansion hit and we played mostly WCIIItft.
When WoW beta was being tested I got myself a beta key - I think because I play on a Mac and Mac game testers were in short supply.I dropped out about 1/2 way through because I was more into console and RTS games than MMO games. I only picked up WoW again about 8 months ago and there's been no looking back. I think I've played SC once since then.
All that being said - I really don't have much of a clue about the lore. I played WCIII without ever getting into it. I've picked up bits and pieces of it along the way but I couldn't really tell anyone the back story. I think that knowing the lore would definitely enhance the in-game experience because I'd pick up on a lot more subtleties. But it's a blast without it, so I don't think anyone who didn't play the RTS games is missing out on too much.
Matt Park Mar 5th 2007 10:13AM
Man. . . these responses are sort of depressing.
I started playing back with WCII (I even bought the battle chest and tried WCI, but it's REALLY hard to play if you're used to playing modern RTSs) and I've followed the series the entire way. If you're a lore person, you HAVE to at least play RoC and FT - that's actually how I got my girlfriend interested in WoW. If you suck at RTSs, don't fear - Blizzard put in plenty of cheat codes so you can skip past the army stuff and just get to the story.
ninja Mar 5th 2007 10:17AM
i've played every single game Blizzard made...starting with warcraft: orcs and humans into WCII, Starcraft, SC Broodwar, WCIII and TFT.
i have to say that if it wasn't for WoW and the legacy it offers, altough its not a follow up of the WC series, i probably would't play any MMO to this day.
i knew the races, i knew my favorites and even tough i loved to play the orcs i now have as my mai WoW char a night elf rogue and no orc alts...
Zuuler Mar 5th 2007 10:15AM
I can see some places where WoW has mangled lore, but I don't think its as horrible as some of you make it out to be.
Sure the Dranei were a bit out there but not entirely out of phase with existing lore. An inter-dimensional ship is pretty much just a structure that operates much like the dark portal. Instead of being an entracne to another place, it moves the whole ship to another place. Its mostly the fact that the Dranei barely existed before TBC, and the fact that part of their race formed the burning legion (which should have made them a much more important factor previous to TBC) that seems a bit out of touch.
While WoW may change the lore from time to time, I think they aim to keep things in line with existing lore unless they can find no other way around adding a feature without changing lore.
I agree that orc warlocks are a little weird considering the lore, but these warlocks seem different than the ones you encounter in WCII. Instead of becoming slaves to the demons, they make slaves out of demons. I am sure some warlocks lived in the orc prison camps, and so long as they are not being corrupted by the demons, I think they are tolerated as a powerful ally, much like the forsaken and BE being in the horde.
What I find much less believable is that practicing warlock magic is banned in Ironforge, yet any gnome or human warlock can enter the city without being attacked and do their business there. I don't think warlocks were explicitly banned by the horde which makes it more believable that there could be orc warlocks.
Gitr Mar 5th 2007 10:21AM
I played every version through the storylines and countless hours of scenarios to test my limits.