Getting your RTS background in before it's too late
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 26th 2008 at 7:40PM
Methedras asks once again over on WoW LJ if now is a good time to be playing the old Warcraft RTS games, and, actually no, now is probably not a good time to be playing them. You should probably be heading up to the Isle of Quel'danas and helping your realm and the Shattered Sun get those dailies unlocked.But yes, after patch 2.4 has quenched your interest in the World of Warcraft for a while, now would be a perfect time to play Warcraft III and its expansion, the Frozen Throne. Because we are right smack dab in the thick of the lore following both of those games -- Illidan and Kael'thas' stories have just finished, and the main event, with Arthas Menethil, is just about to start in Northrend. Up until the end of Wrath of the Lich King (and we're just now reaching the end of the Burning Crusade), World of Warcraft was really just a gigantic, cross-genre, extremely involved and detailed sequel to Blizzard's earlier Warcraft games.
There are other places to go beyond this, however, of course, and we've discussed a lot of them before (and will again, no doubt). But yes, if you haven't played the RTS games yet, you've already missed half of the story. Now would be a great time to play them, before you miss the second (and in my estimation, much more interesting) half.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Instances, Lore, NPCs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Uhit235 Mar 26th 2008 7:47PM
Cenarius has Phase 2 unlocked!
Charlie Mar 26th 2008 11:28PM
All i have to say about WIII is...
DooooooooootA!
I still play defense of the ancients on b.net. Such a great map. It's probobly bigger than the real game.
And speaking of blizzard RTS, i think SCII will make me cancel my subscription. That is unless it comes out at the same time as wrath. Ouch, i hope they dont do that.
Naix Mar 27th 2008 11:00AM
DOTA is the best thing going on WAR3 and has been for over 2 years.
dotorion Mar 27th 2008 3:40AM
Well, any lore fan should play WC3 even if it's still years to WotLK !
Oblivion Mar 27th 2008 11:53AM
I've been slowly playing through all the old Warcraft games and their expansions again over the last year or so. Just last night I took a break from Quel'Danas ganking in WoW and ran around Hellfire Pennisula with Kael'Thas, Lady Vashj, and Akama in the Frozen Throne. We were closing portals to other worlds and tracking down Magetheridon.
Those who haven't played the old Warcraft games (especially Warcraft III and Frozen Throne) are really missing out. Knowing the past stories from the previous games really enriches the WoW experience. I'd even recommend going back and playing Warcaft I, Warcraft II, and Beyond The Dark Portal if you have the ability too. The gameplay is a bit more crude, but you get to run through Karazhan, the Deadmines, and even attack Auchindoin. It's fantastic stuff!