The WABAC Machine takes you to early Azeroth
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Jun 25th 2007 at 2:45PM
For those of us who got into Warcraft lore through WoW, looking back at what the world used to be like can be shocking. Kurdran of Aegwynn stunned the WoW Forums with a map of the Azeroth of twelve years ago.
Not too many people are still able to play Warcraft I, so it was nice to see how the map originally looked. It looks vaguely like the middle of the Eastern Kingdoms today, with Stonard, Stonewind/Stormwind, the Deadmines, Moonbrook and Northshire Abbey in roughly the same places as they are in WoW. Rockard and Temple of the Damned have disappeared off the face of the planet, and "Orc Camp", "Medivh Tower", and "Grand Hamlet" turned into Grom'Gol, Karazhan and Darkshire.
I also enjoyed looking at this map from Warcraft II. Apparently Azeroth has been undergoing some strange tides, because a lot of the land that would make up Silverpine Forest, Hillsbrad Foothills and Arathi Highlands seems to be underwater. Kul Tiras, as shown on these maps, seems to have disappeared in WoW, and the Dark Portal migrates south every new game.
Checking out these maps makes me realize how tough it must be for the designers to reconcile the previous Warcraft geography with WoW. Now that Azeroth has gone from a place of isolated campaigns to a huge world you can run across, they had to retrofit all the lore locations into an accessible, unified form. Making Outlands must have been a big relief in comparison.
What do you think about how Azeroth has changed? What locations from previous Warcraft games would you like to see in WoW?
Filed under: Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rybob Jun 25th 2007 2:59PM
Plate tectonics will explain a lot here.
Joshua Ochs Jun 25th 2007 3:33PM
Plate tectonics are SSLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...
Sirg Jun 25th 2007 3:15PM
Gilneas peninsula, Kul Tiras, Grim Batol (still not finished) are missing from WoW.
But what I would like most is to pop the bubble of Dalaran and see what the Kirin Tor is doing there. I would like Blizzard to rebuild Dalaran as a big faction city (Violet Eye, or Kirin Tor), to be a Shattrath of the Eastern Kingdoms, with portals, traders and many magic curiosities.
xdiesp Jun 25th 2007 4:18PM
Old news. The original game box had a shot of Outland throught the portal, in 2004.
Preston Jun 25th 2007 3:23PM
I really miss the old, gritty Warcraft. Orcs were evil and bloodthirsty because that was their way of life. Warcraft III changed the whole tone of the storyline and gave us elves with purple swords, Burning Legion to explain evil orcs, bad voiceacting, etc.
And Thrall annoys me. He's too good and perfect unlike the other race leaders.
RJ Jun 25th 2007 3:40PM
Plate tectonics takes too long to be the cause. The best explaination I have seen, because it makes the most sense from a lore point of view, is simply that the people of azeroth have poor mapping skills.
Evil M Jun 25th 2007 3:49PM
I agree with (5) I think that is a very logical way to approach it.
I imagine the only way to draw an accurate map in Azeroth would be to fly over it with either the gnomish flying machines from WC2 or a Goblin Zeppelin. Even then, those machines can only travel so high.
NobleArc Jun 25th 2007 4:15PM
Northrend. Gimmie the Frozen Throne. =\
Adam Jun 25th 2007 4:50PM
"Tomb of Sargeras" in Warcraft II.. nice
Sirg Jun 25th 2007 5:09PM
Caverns of Time: Saving Lothar from the Deadmines (Warcraft I mission)
Tiforix Jun 25th 2007 5:29PM
One can argue that it's not the actual geography that changed, but just the accuracy of the maps and/or the art of mapmaking. Just look at some of the maps of Earth produced in the middle ages. Some of them are stange indeed.
Urthona Jun 25th 2007 5:43PM
This is my Caverns of Time mission, but it's not too far in the past.
"The Brothers Stormrage"
It was a campagin for the Frozen Throne expansion, the final Night Elf one if I recall. You play as both Malfurion and Illidan in a two-front battle against the Scourge in order to save Tyrande. The battle, I believe, takes place in either Silverpine or WPL, but with the emphasis on waterways, I have no clue. Could be a "hidden" flyover zone between Alterac/Hillsbrad/Hinterlands, like Alterac Valley.
The zone is separated into 3 forested areas, with Illidan and the Naga in the marshiest part versus some indigenous trolls and ultimately the Undead Scourge. In theory, I can see the battle done for 5-man content in steps, like Old Hills, but on an accelerating timer, like Dark Portal.
Basically, I want to play WoW as a Naga, and see this as a cheap way of getting what I want and adding something cool to the game. Plus: The inclusion of Illidan as well as Malfurion and the Undead Scourge makes a strong case for a transitional instance from Burning Crusade to Emerald Dream or Northrend. Thoughts?
Sevryn Jun 25th 2007 6:48PM
am i remembering wrong, or did opening sargeras's tomb cause the surrounding islands to be submerged?
Christian Stricker Jun 25th 2007 6:53PM
Sigh.. maps like these remind me how much I hate and love World of Warcraft. I hate how I have to dedicate several months in order to experience the "real deal", unlike the previous Warcraft installments.
Libri Jun 25th 2007 7:07PM
@2
Maybe Dalaran is trying to Heartstone out somewhere? Maybes it's a giant robotic Pally? =P
Kor Jun 26th 2007 1:07AM
You can see here that for Outland, they didn't have as much to work with either.
This if from the Warcraft II expansion:
http://www.wowwiki.com/images/thumb/b/be/Draenor_map.jpg/775px-Draenor_map.jpg
Vykromond Jun 26th 2007 11:03AM
I think a few things you said are off. Kul'Tiras, though unimplemented, hasn't been totally forgotten- it was on those pre-release WoW maps so presumably they'll implement it at some point. And Temple of the Damned- isn't that now the Altar of the Damned, in Burning Steppes?