Bringing magic and steel back to Warcraft
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 12th 2008 at 2:30PM
Alerinne starts an interesting conversation over on the forums about bringing WoW back into "Medieval Fantasy" -- swords and sorcery instead of alien Draenei and spaceships. Normally, the conversation about MMO genre runs along the lines of too much fantasy, but many players, it seems, would rather be running around with axes and fireballs rather than lasers and robots, especially in a world that is so akin to traditional fantasy (Orcs, Elves, and so on).To be fair, World of Warcraft has always had its own charms -- Dwarves have always been able to fire guns, something that's not usually in traditional fantasy, and even Goblins with their zeppelins (and Gnomes with their engineering) have always added a little extra flavor to the game that goes beyond purist fantasy. But it's true -- zones like Netherstorm and even Auchindoun go a little overboard for real fantasy fans.
So hopefully, as we hear in the thread, we'll see a little more traditional fantasy setting in Wrath of the Lich King. So far, lots of things we've seen there have had a bit of a Norse trend to them, from the Frozen Tundra to the Vykrul race found in the early zones. But there's more to this expansion that we haven't seen -- Icecrown Citadel is an old-fashioned ice fortress, according to the lore, and with the movement of Dalaran and the rumors of dragons up there, we definitely have a possibility of a return to the magic and steel that made this series so popular in the first place.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
gnam Mar 12th 2008 2:43PM
LOTR is that way------>
Retro Mar 19th 2008 3:05PM
I'm definitely hoping WotLK will return World of Warcraft to a more "High Fantasy" setting. I'm sure I'm not alone when I express my disappointment at getting epic hammers that look like Rock Candy tied to a stick, or bright purple swords. Despite the fact that WoW has always played with technology (Gnomes and Goblins are both more advanced in robotics than we are), that sort of fit the whimsical feel of WoW's game world.
The Draenei, crystal gear, Eco-spheres, and Spaceships all feel very out of place, both visually and lore-wise. Thus, I'm very happy to see WotLK looks to return us to a more traditional high fantasy.
Naix Mar 12th 2008 3:12PM
I completely agree with you. Spaceships, aliens, futureistic stuff needs to stay away from dragons, yetties, and goblins.
Save it for World Of Starcraft
mattarin Mar 12th 2008 5:17PM
i disagree. it shows how their "world" is evolving much the way ours is but thiers is so much faster. maybe we will have rocket cars for mounts in WotLK.
Lars Mar 12th 2008 5:35PM
I agree with Retro.
The guns always bugged me a bit. I always strove to use Bows unless I found a gun that was just too good to pass up.
I really hate the gear in Outlands though. I didn't want to trade off my cool looking medieval armor for what I like to call "spaceship parts". Me and most of my friends on WoW share this sentiment.
People always seem to talk about there being too much medieval fantasy RPG's out there, but there's a reason for it; people like it that way.
Theadrick Mar 12th 2008 2:46PM
Good. The sci-fi and steampunk elements were starting to get overdone imho. The tech level in vanilla WoW was just fine for me, and I have no problems with tinker gnomes which thanks to Dragonlance were already a fantasy staple, nor do the early guns bother me... cannons for example started showing up as early as the 13th century.
I like my fantasy in a dark ages, medeival, or rennaissance based setting for the most part... and the inclusion of alot of the sci fi elements in TBC (ethereals bug me to no end... they could just as well be a Star Trek or Star Wars race) were starting to grate on me.
I like what I am seeing thus far from Northrend and a return to traditional fantasy.
Manatank Mar 12th 2008 4:18PM
There is nothing Sci-Fi about Draenei or TBC. I'd like to be one to disagree with this notion that Blizzard needs to stop innovating and stick to boring pre-conceived notions of what fantasy is supposed to be about. It's magic, why does it have to fit a mold? If you want to use magical powers to create crystalline structures how is that not fantastic?
Traditional fantasy is boring and done to death. I hope Blizzard continues to break traditions and create content that is fresh and unique.
Calybos Mar 13th 2008 9:11AM
Spaceships and laser guns do not belong in fantasy settings, even "high fantasy." The tone is jarring.
And no, fantasy is never "played out" or "done to death." It's only boring if your creators run out of ideas.
Goosesausage Mar 12th 2008 2:48PM
I totally agree. I'm not a big fan of the direction the game went in TBC. I'm not really interested in playing World of Startrek. I'm looking forward to getting back to the axes, castles, forests and mountains of Azeroth.
LostOne Mar 12th 2008 2:59PM
Draenei were a poor concept I think. (I still have one, since I wanted a shammy on alliance side). They're like squids mated with a satyr...ewww...
Rich Mar 12th 2008 3:08PM
And after seeing the layout of the Exodar, I can see why they crashed...
Jeff Mar 12th 2008 3:07PM
I agree that some places in WoW are a little overboard but overall I like the current feel of the game. Warcraft has always had a different kind of fantasy feel to it with the portals to different realms, etc. And I wouldn't consider guns to be uncommon in fantasy (thinking along the lines of warhammer..). But I do like how WotLK is shaping up to look.
Jeff
http://www.wowdungeon.com
MechChef Mar 12th 2008 3:08PM
"I'm definitely hoping WotLK will return World of Warcraft to a more "High Fantasy" - Burning Crusade IS "high fantasy." Pre-bc is gothic/medieval fantasy.
Oblivion Mar 12th 2008 3:13PM
I think Burning Crusade is great! I really like the sci-fi element that Burning Crusade brought. Netherstorm is one of my favorite zones because it's so much different than anything we've seen in Warcraft before. I think it's great that Blizzard isn't stuck adhering to a very typical "magic and steel" tone. It's one of the things that makes this game great. I'm in favor of the variety, and I think it's working for them well. Wraith of Lich King should give us a hybrid norse/goth tone that will flip the setting yet again. Keep up the good work imo!
Bradshaw Mar 12th 2008 3:17PM
From what I have heard, WotLK will follow a much more gothic-magic art style (sort of like Devil May Cry).
Zali Mar 12th 2008 3:23PM
I didn't mind the little tangent into the Sci-Fi genre that TBC brought to the game. After all, the techno-geeky stuff was centered around an entirely different planet. Dev's for Blizzard, which also produce Starcraft, were probably sitting around one day tossing around "what-if's" in a board room when deciding where they wanted to take the game next and someone said, "What if we kinda mix in a little Starcraft in Warcraft? What if an alien race crash landed on a fairly midieval society? What would they bring to the table? And what if there was an ability to teleport back to their home planet? What kind of weapons would they have? What kind of races would they be?" I think it is a great use of imagination, the kind that gives Warcraft a little more character. If it weren't for these little tangents WoW would be just another vanilla fantasy game with no personality of it's own.
I don't see how this screws with lore, it just adds to it. OK, I agree that some of the armor and weapons are patently silly, but the devs did have to give the "same ol' same ol" an alien look and feel. After all, the word "fantasy" implies that there is a broad range of imaginative license given to the story developers. Just because LoTR was a fine set of books doesn't mean that every fantasy story to follow had to fit within it's cookie cutter construction. Terry Brooks has flying boats in more recent additions to the Shanara series, and even tied them with his Knight of the Word series. Robert Jordon, author of The Wheel of Time (may he rest in peace,) was adding colleges with inventors, who although human, wheren't much different than the engineers in WoW, yet had knights and witches and warlocks and demons, etc. That is the great thing about fantasy, is that you can mix it up to give it new flavor.
I expect WotLK will fit into everyones idea of what they usually associate with Fantasy because everything will be on or from the home planet. It won't feel very alien. Yea, echo-spheres feel out of place, because DUH they are from another planet. They're supposed to. Although they fit in perfectly in Outland.
Visually, I just don't know how they will top Outland though. How do you top Blades Edge or a giant mushroom forrest? Not to mention floating islands.
Goo Mar 12th 2008 3:30PM
Hmm..am I the only one who quite enjoyed Outlands? Azeroth might not be the first place to be populated in the universe? I don't really see any "startrek"-like objects in outlands. I don't see ppl fly around in spaceships nor any hi-tech machinery other than what the engineers make.
If WoW was meant to be "medieval" we wouldn't have goblins or gnomes now, would we?
I bet if the draenei race was already a playable race when WoW was first released, no1 would complain about it not fitting in.
When it comes to items that some calls "hi-tech" in WoW, many of these already existed in the old WoW. I think it's nice to see some new scenery and items that glow.
The most futuristic place in Outlands is Netherstorm and Mana Tombs and yes I do agree that the ethereals looks abit space'ish, but as I wrote earlier, Azeroth might not be where the beginning of life found it's place.
I enjoyed Outland very much and think we got some nicely new written lore along with it...but ofc some ppl enjoys only what's within their 4 walls, what's beyond that is of no interest.
Philo Mar 12th 2008 3:31PM
How exactly is Auchindoun outside the realm of traditional fantasy? It's a bone waste filled with ghosts...
dan Mar 12th 2008 4:05PM
Agreed. Bad example. Maybe it's the ethereal presence?
Mike Schramm Mar 12th 2008 5:16PM
I was thinking more of the Consortium in the Mana-Tombs and the Nexus-Prince and so on. But you're right, when you think about it, Auchindoun is a very fantasy setting.
It's not that I don't like Burning Crusade -- there are some great settings in it, and Blizzard has been brilliant in the way they've mixed a little sci-fi back in with their universe. But part of me does miss the old humans vs. orcs (ok, vs. undead and elves) setting.