WoW Archivist: How each WoW expansion set the tone, part one
by Mathew McCurley 
Nov 7th 2011 at 4:00PM
The WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold?
Before we learned about Mists of Pandaria and where we stalwart adventurers would be exploring in the coming months, I wrote a post discussing how an expansion about Pandaria, specifically its title, would change the tone of World of Warcraft. Mists of Pandaria would be the first expansion that does not directly reference or reveal the main villain of the expansion's storyline. Blizzard and the WoW development team has been incredible stewards of tone, from the early days of Warcraft to Cataclysm's world-breaking motif. Tone is one of the most important aspects of the MMO because your game world needs to be compelling enough to call back players at any point. Good MMOs set good tone.
Tone has evolved in WoW after each expansion pack, changing considerably each time we swap settings and install the latest content. Alex asked me to write an article that spanned the history of World of Warcraft, and I could think of nothing more dynamic than the tone of the story and how masterfully Blizzard has handled it.
Warcraft before the World
Long ago, in a time long forgotten by memes and YouTube, there was a world of Warcraft before World of Warcraft. The Warcraft universe uniquely blended the RTS genre and its complexities and strategies with a brand of humor that compelled players to click, click, and click until every unit was milked of its hilarity. The look, feel, and especially the tone of the Warcraft games was one of the most talked-about features and aspects of the games. "Stop poking me" became a quick classic. Missions would send Orcs from another dimension after Human settlements to capture pop references and funny-named characters, all in the presence of a goofy voice from outer space. The Humans were so stark and proud, with the manner of the greatest medieval cosplayers the early '90s could offer. It was jokey with a hint of war.
Even in the transitional Warcraft III, where the series' story began to take on a more serious, cinematic vibe, the humor stayed. The tone shifted toward suspense and overwhelming danger while still retaining the old Warcraft humor and quips, even in the face of a darker world. Arthas stormed into his father's throne room, murdered his king, and ascended to his future as a death knight, all in a world where Goblins rode turtles, Humans joked about joining the army, and gyrocopter pilots could see their house from all the way up in the air. The key point is that both of these types of events existed in the same universe almost seamlessly.
World of Warcraft
The original World of Warcraft's tone was less about the world and more about the mechanics. The Azeroth that we first stepped into back in 2004 was an Azeroth built from the ground up with the previous generation of MMOs in mind. World of Warcraft was going to be the best of the old guard with new ideas and technology to create a mostly loadless world where the horrors of the MMO were a thing of the past.
Vanilla was, for all intents and purposes, a continuation of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne in terms of tone and focus. We were the lab rats set free in this Azerothian maze, with a focus on questing, fighting, exploring, and finding our old favorite places from the previous games. We compared maps, marveled at our favorite heroes rendered in the new world, and gracefully said goodbye to a lot of the awful MMO tropes of the past generation.
Tone in the classic game was a carryover from Warcraft III. The serious moments mixed in with the pop culture and the humor equally in the quests players would complete and the storyline shifted from the dramatic retelling of Darrowshire to the jokey fun of Booty Bay. The one constant was that this was undeniably Warcraft, from the bad to the good. Vanilla was the origination of how we would approach the game from here on out and understand the direction that the developers would take.
While the title of the original game "World of Warcraft" never told us who the enemy was or who the big bad causing all of the problems was, we had enough information in that this was Warcraft. The raid game began to take on a real set of ideals and its own tone as players embarked on the quest to end Onyxia and venture into the Molten Core. The stakes were high and felt real, culminating in Ragnaros' emergence out of the Firelands and into his little "too soon" pool. It was suspenseful.
Blackwing Lair was similar in scope and tone. Nefarian was teased during the game in humorous ways and, as a villain, he was Warcraft's first troll (except for the Trolls ... you know what I mean). While Nefarian's presence was daunting and suspenseful, his joking and mannerisms made the whole instance feel fun in the presence of a world-threatening evil.
Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas let the WoW development team put the tone of the next content updates in front of the players in a very real way. As Orgrimmar and Ironforge began to build up their resources for the coming war, physical manifestations of the fight would begin to appear in the cities. Resources piled up, hides stacked high next to a mint's worth of ingots. When the gong was rung and the gates swung open, a real war had begun. We felt it. We worked for it, and our payoff was war. The tone changed to immediacy and wonder as we passed through the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj and stormed the floating citadel of Naxxramas, all while C'thun whispered to us our deaths and Kel'thuzad screamed about his slain kitty cat.
World of Warcraft's first expansion was actually a sequel to Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, where players saw the culmination of the stories from another expansion and finally got to see the planet Draenor. The tone of The Burning Crusade was set the second you walked through the comparatively small portal in the Blasted Lands only to emerge a tiny speck in the shadow of the Outland's portal. On top of that, the armies of the Burning Legion ambushed your forces at the gate, prompting a hasty retreat behind the enemy lines as the action began immediately.
Outland's tone was all about the unknown. Wonderment was key. Blizzard had to convey a sense of wonderment and newness to a game that was very familiar to the Warcraft fanbase. The Burning Crusade's biggest hurdle was that it looked nothing like Warcraft but had to fit in a well-established universe. Many players feel that Blizzard succeeded, especially in molding in the new, alien races into the Warcraft canon. Draenei were just weird the first time we saw them, but their mannerisms and story eventually blended well. The expansion set a unique tone on a unique world -- what is this place, and how does it make you feel?
The Burning Crusade's tone worked for me and affected me. The way this expansion made me feel was, in a word, revitalized. The aim was to show something new and convey a sense of wonderment, and it worked. Warcraft had already been a colorful world, but Outland turned the colorful nature of the universe on its head. There is an entirely purple zone. Think about that.
The title of The Burning Crusade also started the trend of letting the player know and understand what was at stake straight from the title. When you bought the box, you knew what you were in for: The Burning Crusade. If you were a Warcraft fan, you knew who the Burning Legion was. You understood their crusade, and you knew the main players. Illidan, Kael'thas, and Vash'j were commonplace heroes in the Warcraft lexicon at this point. How did The Burning Crusade make you feel? It made me feel excited to fight demons on another world as the character I had adventured with from the beginning of the world.
Next week, I'll discuss the change in focus and tone that brought about a golden age in World of Warcraft with the release of Wrath of the Lich King, as well as the ever-presence of the main villain in the game after an expansion with no clear-cut enemy.
The WoW Archivist examines the WoW of old. Follow along while we discuss the lost legendary, the opening of Ahn'Qiraj, and hidden locations such as the crypts of Karazhan.
Filed under: WoW Archivist
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Task Nov 7th 2011 4:13PM
Although I never had a chance to play the original Warcraft, I did play WC2 and Beyond the Dark Portal and I was forever hooked.
The best part of WC2 was and always will be the following:
Human peon: "Yes sir." "Very well." "What?!?!"
Orc peon: "Zug Zug.."
ravyncat Nov 7th 2011 4:52PM
I loved poking sheep until they exploded. I admit I did that more than I actually played the game. XD
Verine Nov 7th 2011 4:32PM
From what I played of WC 1 (well after I had done WC 2 and the expansion), I remember being annoyed that all of my buildings had to be connected by roads. What is this, SimCity?
WC 2 had air/naval units and was more "free" or open if you will. I could put a tower in the middle of nowhere if I wanted to.
Kylenne Nov 7th 2011 8:44PM
The road thing from WC1 still makes me giggle to this day. It actually inspired me to whip up a little homebrew Warcraft mod for Civilization 2 way back when.
Kylenne Nov 7th 2011 4:50PM
I definitely agree with all of this. One of the things that got me hooked so much on the RTS games was the mix of Serious Business and goofy humor. I think they did a really good job of incorporating that into WoW, while expanding on the world building some. Regarding Burning Crusade, though: I agree that they succeeded in tone; Outland felt suitably alien, but to me it still felt like part of the WC-verse, as an RTS fan. The first time I stepped through the Dark Portal in WoW felt almost exactly how I felt the first time we saw Draenor in Beyond the Dark Portal and again in The Frozen Throne. Standing in HFP for the first time looking at all the red desolation, it made me remember what Kael and Vashj must have felt when they were wandering there lost.
Where BC lost me, however--particularly as a fan of TFT--was that I think it was the point where the story stopped driving the gameplay in favor of the opposite, and the end result was that RTS characters got shafted left and right in the name of having an excuse for raids. Vanilla wasn't perfect in how it treated some RTS characters, as Tyrande began her descent into irrelevancy there, but BC was where it really started. I've nerdraged enough on here about Illidan's stupid flanderization and Kael's laughably bad heel turn, but I actually think the worst example of this was Vashj and the nonsense in Zangarmarsh. Here you had a disjointed story that basically went nowhere as you were questing in the zone, and then suddenly you hit 70 and had to go back and kill her. It was such a tragic waste of an interesting character too, which is why it still sticks in my craw years after the fact. Maiev was similarly wasted, and while I'm hardly a fan of that character, I think it's pretty fucked up that she turned up in the final showdown with Illidan, only to be unceremoniously auf'd in a novel. This kind of thing only continued in WotLK with Anub'arak.
I really hope that Metzen & Co. learn from that, and particularly from the mud they dragged Kael through, when bringing legacy RTS characters to WoW in the future. When Alleria and Turalyon finally show up, for instance, I hope they're done justice.
Nathanyel Nov 7th 2011 5:12PM
As opposed to granting Justice Points on kill? :P
Dan Nov 7th 2011 5:14PM
As another fan of the RTS games, I definitely agree with you, Kylenne. When I first started WoW in mid-BC, I thought that Kael would be the faction leader of the Blood Elves. Imagine my surprise when I traveled to Silvermoon, saw some random dude in the leader spot, and then after a Google search I learned he was a raid boss. Huh?
Also, Illidan always seemed more like an anti-hero than a villain to me. Sure, he consumed the skull of Gul'dan, was corrupted, yada yada yada...but he used that power to kill a major Burning Legion lieutenant in WC3. He seemed like he was someone that basically wanted to do the right thing, but was corrupted by his addiction to magic, heartbroken from Tyrande's rejection of him, etc. Again, that seems more like anti-hero material, and having him as a raid boss seemed contrived after seeing his character develop in WC3.
I also found Anub'arak's unceremonious destruction in Wotlk rather ironic, since for most of TFT I used him more than I used Arthas (in fact, first thing I did with Arthas was to max out Death Coil just so I could heal Anub, haha).
Here's to hoping future heroes/villains from the RTS games - the few that are left, anyway - are given better treatment.
Kylenne Nov 7th 2011 6:07PM
@Dan: Yeah, that was my major problem with Illidan's portrayal in BC. It really seemed like all of the nuance and shades of grey he had in WC3 were just chucked out the window because they needed a raid boss; he was always more Chaotic Neutral to me than a mustache-twirling bad guy, which is what made him so interesting to me. Illidan was never evil, per se, he was just really fucking reckless and desperate for approval. BC was just such a blatant "we need bosses!" move on their part, with the Illidari. WC3 was my favorite of the RTS games because that's when the series started to move away from the black hat vs. white hat stuff from the previous games and BC seemed like a huge step backwards, in how Illidan was portrayed (and later, Kael).
The Feronas Sindweller quest chain in revamped Felwood is a huge step in the right direction to me, as far as remedying that, and I'm glad Metzen's been talking about redeeming Illidan and/or bringing him back. It's just bittersweet to me, because if it happens it's going to be without Kael and Vashj, and I loved the dynamic they all had in TFT and think the latter two deserve some rehabbing too. I would have loved to have seen Vashj break away from Azshara in favor of Illidan and play a role in the inevitable Nazjatar expansion. I kind of wish we could get a reboot of BC at this point, because there were some interesting plot elements in it despite the fail. :\
Llowe Nov 7th 2011 8:19PM
Amen. To all of the above. (Also, great article, and I can't wait for part two of this examination of tone!)
Aticus Nov 7th 2011 5:19PM
Wrath was the golden age of Warcraft? To each his own I guess. Give me BC any day!
Silversol Nov 8th 2011 1:27AM
I think it depends on what class you played in BC. As a druid, I'll take Wrath any day over BC.
Thereone Nov 7th 2011 5:47PM
Oh, the Dark Portal. I remember leveling up my first character to 60, getting the quest to go through the portal....and emerging onto what looked like the surface of Mars, but with DEMONS. I turn around to hotfoot it out of there - and I see the towering vastness of the Outland Portal before me.
I think I went "Meep!" at that point. Not my finest hour.
Akawaka Nov 7th 2011 6:11PM
As one who always raged on Outlands and only recently at last got through it (now lv 75), I gotta say this actually has made me appreciate it more. I went through Netherstorm instead of Shadowmoon, both have a great and distinct feel, and I really loved the crazy look and feel of these massive chunks floating in the nether. I was also quite impressed with where the story of the Blood Elves was taking me. One of my fav lil moments was the quest chain where you pose as one and walk down a row of warriors who all salute and you watch the story unfold. I jumped straight to Northrend at 68 and did not complete the zone but O gotta admit despite my own nerdrage I was impressed.
As for Northrend I am LOVING it, despite wanting to finally reach the 80-85 content like a mad man. The look and music alone of Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills and Cystalsong Forest make me so relaxed I just want to wander around. I am now in Zul Drak for the first time and despite being "Just more Trolls" I am impressed by the dark and desperate tone and it feels like nothing I have been through before including the revamped stuff.
Finally one thing I adore Northrend for is where Humans came from. I have always detested playing just human characters and most fantasy genres Humans are the "normal" guys or even one of the weakest races. But WOW gave us the idea of Humans coming from the Vrykul. This means for me those "normal" Humans have in their blood and genes an instinctual savagry bloodlust that would make the mightiest Orc think twice. So the apprent "good and virtueous" side of the Humans of Azeroth is sort of a way to desperately push down that inherit and uber savagry they do not even realize they have.
It makes rolling a Human so much fun knowing this so thanks blizz for making actually LIKE playing my actual species for once! Tho I still think Worgen and Draenei rule ;p
Blazing Rain Nov 7th 2011 6:18PM
Aqueous Transmission will be on replay the entire MoP.
joepsu777 Nov 7th 2011 6:29PM
This is why I am quitting when MoP comes out. However, I am very excited about 4.3. MoP doesn't set a tone...period. The trailer says almost nothing. There was nothing to cheer about.
Downvote me all you want but that's the truth. Meh. Maybe 7 years of the game is catching up to me.
Amanda A. Nov 7th 2011 11:53PM
You may want to wait on more information; we barely know anything about the expansion. The trailer was, admittedly, not the best showcase about what the expansion is about, but the hints as to the greater plot revealed in interviews sound interesting, IMO. And the features, along with the new 4.3 features (Darkmoon 2.0 is amazing) seem to indicate that Blizzard is trying to make the game fun again. This is in contrast to the tedious grind of archaeology, and the Cataclysm endgame, which seemed very unforgiving-- even overtuned for a true pug before we outgeared things. It forced the player base to become uncomfortably elitist, unable to tolerate even minor mistakes, because in the new system minor mistakes wipe raids. Sure it was fun, if you were a high end raider playing with your guild, you loved challenge, and you had good latency. If not, it was like mmo boot camp; I saw a lot of people get frustrated.
Even if the storyline does fall flat, I probably will be playing Pandaria for the features if they're as nice as they sound. (Archaeology sounded great until I did it, so it's possible that they could just... not work.) I love that Blizzard is trying to add features that appeal to everyone, not just the high-end hard mode raiders. New battleground styles (not just AB/WSG on new maps,) speed running competitions for the gogogogo crowd, pet collecting minigame for the people who like to collect pets, turn-based fighting... and you can sell the pets you train, in many cases, so it's almost a new profession.
underground_slacker Nov 7th 2011 7:51PM
the tone is balance. in every way. balance in the conflict. balance being unheaved with the war releasing the sha, the pandaren joining each side to instil balance in a war without none where emotions fuel the conflict.
This is the expansion about balance, pure and simple. the alliance and horde upset it. with consequences they dont foresee. to the pandaren they are the invading enemy like a certain horde coming through a dark portal in another age. but this isolated culture doesnt meet it head on in combat. they change it from within. bringing new ideas. calming the situation.
no doubt to unify the races of azeroth for a certain bigger, fel aligned threat to combat afterwards.
raingod Nov 7th 2011 8:44PM
No, it's your truth, not everyone's. Don't be a dick.
zoidfa Nov 8th 2011 11:13AM
I think that MoP sets a tone of adventure, and exploration, to go where no azerothian has gone before. Where we realize the world is round, not just 3 flat continents made from the original Kalimdor. In the wake of such devastation and upheaval deathwing brought about its time for the world to heal. This doesn't mean there is no threat, the most threatening enemy are those who make themselves known only when the time is right. It is a tone of recovery after such devastation from the scourge and deathwing. We still have threats, the Zandalari, The Old Gods, The Naga, and the Burning Legion are still out there. With Vanilla wow we weren't given a main bad guy to fight, its only in burning crusade, and wotlk, and cataclysm we had a unifying "big bad guy". Its time to work up to creating more big bad guys.