Breakfast Topic: Is your class missing out on in-game lore?
by Lesley Smith 
Jun 11th 2009 at 8:00AM
When was the last time you heard of a decent bit of Warlock or Warrior lore? And I'm not just talking a class quest here, but actual lore with a capital L?
Shamans got a bit in The Burning Crusade but only if you were a Draenei. What about Hunters, Rogues, and Priests? So I want to know, dear readers, do you wish there was more lore specific to your class? Do you feel neglected as a sub-group within Azeroth? What kind of lore would you like to see associated with your (insert class here)? Speak up and drop your thoughts in the comment box below.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Lore, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Axolotl Jun 11th 2009 8:04AM
My characters aren't lacking in Lore ... but maybe it has something to do with them being Paladin, Deathknight, Druid and Mage :-)
I agree that other classes seem to be lacking some Lorelove, hey, maybe next xpac?
Genxtrem Jun 11th 2009 9:36AM
The only thing I think is missing is a little cross class lore. You know the druids and the Hunters had to have some spats that needed to be resolved befor we all lived in semi piece in dalaran. Also the same with other classes like mage and warriors etc. etc.
Myk Jun 11th 2009 8:07AM
Warrior? Bahahahahaha!
We have Varian Wrynn, baby! That's all the lore we need!
VSUReaper Jun 11th 2009 11:00AM
Yes, b/c all warriors are emo crybabies that refuse to talk to others b/c someone kicked sand in his pudding cup. (Yeah, I'm horde, wanna fight about it?!?!?!)
I think warriors can relate to Saurfang/Hellscream or Anduin Lothar more than any current character in wow, but just barely, and only b/c we can wield versions of their weapons (gorehowl, arcanite reaper, and ashkandi)
Priests have.... ummm.... well they have that bishop dude that started paladins... but other than that, no one.
It is a lil sad about how some classes get all the lore love and the others just got... glanced over?
Kylow Jun 11th 2009 8:08AM
Garona.
Worcester Jun 11th 2009 2:52PM
I personally would like to get a little love from Ravenholt. It's such a great, yet nearly useless faction
nbuuck Jun 11th 2009 8:07AM
One might think that the Hemit Nesingwary involvement throughout Classic and the expansions would be tailored to Hunters, but being that those quest chains are not class specific, perhaps that's not the case? I can't think of a potential quest chain for WoW that is already justified by lore for my (the hunter) class, however, but I don't feel particularly neglected without such a unique quest chain.
Zul Jun 11th 2009 8:10AM
Shamans have a lot of lore... Especially Orc shamans. Even if they don't Orc's have enough lore to keep me going for a long time so I'm happy.
Gnosh Jun 11th 2009 9:05AM
There were three or four quest chains in Outland revolving around the Mag'har rebuilding their link to the elements. If that's not shaman-ey, I don't know what is.
Gnosh Jun 11th 2009 9:07AM
Meant to reply to Wulfkin.
And to add, that INCLUDES the Cipher of Damnation quest line (the longest quest chain in all of BC, if I'm not mistaken, with the exception of the now-defunct road to BT attunement), which leads you to destroying the Fire Lord at the heart of Shadowmoon Valley's corruption.
Blayze Jun 11th 2009 8:12AM
I'm a Warrior. I don't need Lore.
I have a mace. It breaks bones.
It does seem rare to see a notable figure who doesn't have at least some magical ability, but then again -- Varian, Garrosh and Saurfang are key names here. It's as if we have an entire EXPANSION to ourselves sometimes. :)
Wulfkin Jun 11th 2009 8:14AM
Shamans have some nice lore in vanilla via their totem quests and some other questlines. They also make an essential backstory for the Orcs and Thrall in particular. However, since vanilla WoW there hasnt really been any lore for Horde (read: proper!) Shamans. Sure you occasionally meet one on your travels, but there hasn't been any progression, any new storylines for them. Its not the end of the world but would be nice to get some love.
Syme Jun 11th 2009 11:35AM
"As a shaman, you are one of the spiritual guides of the people. You commune with the spirits and with the ancestors. Now go kill 8 robotic gnomes."
I think that, especially with the Taunka in WotLK, Blizzard missed the chance to develop shaman lore further. Taunka and Tauren approaches are very different, but it's very easy to miss even that little bit.
Let us also not forget that there is still no proper quest for the Horde shaman's air totem.
Heh, I'd love some more Tauren lore while we're at it. For an ancient, shamanic culture devoted to the Great Hunt, there's very little development of those ideas. I guess Metzen is more interested in doing manga about self-pitying human rulers.
Elvy Jun 11th 2009 8:15AM
maybe warriors and priest are just kinda taken for granted..
you need mass numbers for foot soldiers (warriors) and then you need mass healers to keep them up (priest)..
Calavera Jun 11th 2009 8:15AM
Is see my Night Elf Rogue as a sort of mercenary fighting for the greater good, a agent of the SI7, or just a loner Rogue living in the shadows making the best of things.
For Rogues it doesn't really fit to have some 'big organization' or 'big thing' like the Kirin Tor or the Emerald Dream, we are loners and through Classic we had our small hideouts, and in Wrath we sorta feel at home in the Underbelly and Black Market.
I think Rogues will stay as they are, with small shady places added to keep us happy.
But hey, we got race lore to keep us happy!
Shilling Jun 11th 2009 8:28AM
Don't forget Ravenholdt, or the Deathstalkers from Undercity. But yes, we rogues on the whole are a lot more individualistic.
I think Priests are in most need of lore. I guess Blizzard wanted to keep Azerothian religions vague, so as not to impugn on real-life religious sensibilities. But still, I think a priest ought to learn about whichever god or gods they are actually priest of, and something about the organized religion of which they are a part.
Eisengel Jun 11th 2009 2:45PM
Well... for the Deathstalkers, as I recall any Hordie can take the quests to become a Deathstalker, and it's pretty likely any Undead would since they are the intro quests that lead you into Silverpine. So even though the Deathstalkers seem pretty Roguey, it's good odds that any Undead you see completed them.
Ravenholdt is also really anticlimatic. You do this stuff, raise your rep, learn your disarm trap skill (which is great for telling Hunters where you are, and... umm... nothing else?) and then... nothing. There's entirely nothing else to do with it.
I really do wish there was some underground thieves/assassins' guild-type thingy for Rogues. Ravenholdt would be a nice place to put it. Oh... and while I'm on Ravenholdt, how come the uber Rogue trainer in there is wearing plate armor? I wantz the hvvy armorz too!
As for Priests... I think a lot could be done. We have the Old Gods, we've communed with some of the Troll's gods in Northy, fought more of them in ZA & ZF. I don't see how difficult it would be to have a large temple with shrines to the various gods of Azeroth. How awesome would it be to be a Priest who did quests for Har'koa and her pals as a low-level Priest, and later to meet them face-to-face in Northrend? Some special Priest and possibly Pally quests in STV dealing with Troll spiritualism could be interesting, although it would be more interesting to get a look at the religions and gods of the Tauren or the Forsaken or the Orcs. The Tauren are strongly defined by their spiritualism, but we see no roots of it. The Forsaken have Priests and Warlocks so they apparently are not blind to the supernatural forces of Azeroth... however what would they worship? In fact I'd like to see a reverse of the current trend in WoW to unlink class abilities from quests, and put the Cult of Shadow in game and have Priests go and do quests for them to learn Shadow abilities if they want them, like the Warlock demon quests. The Orc history and ties to their ancestors are quite strong, but I haven't seen much religion among them... although there are no Orc Priest PCs, but it would be interesting nonetheless.
M Jun 11th 2009 8:15AM
I play a pure DPS class. I just want to kill stuff.
Agerath Jun 11th 2009 8:19AM
I don't care much about class-specific lore.
We had plenty in this expansion as regards the Alliance in general; 'sgood enough for me.
pmcdaniel84 Jun 11th 2009 8:21AM
Just about every classes lore is fleshed out, though somewhat abstract:
Rogues: Garona (sp), SI:7, Ravenholt, Van Cleef
Warlocks: Burning Legion, Shadow Council
Shaman: Pretty much covered in TBC, directly related to a narru and healing the land in general.
Hunters: Rexxar, Sylvanas, (all the ranger lords in general). Zuljin, Troll kingdoms
Priests: Aside from the catherdral in stormwind, the priest story is prob the one lacking lore, there are some famous ones from the scarlet crudsade/onslaught. But nothing really sticks out ot me.