Posts with tag Faction-Leader

For this week's Community Blog Topic, we ask, "Who is your favorite leader from a playable faction?" Anyone who knows me won't be surprised at my answer: Lady Sylvanas. Her history is tragic. Being ripped from her former existence by Arthas and turning into the Banshee Queen is just delicious. And she's the only faction leader who breaks into song as a quest reward.

I also completely support her methods of increasing her people's numbers. I love that instead of waking up as a not-mindless undead has been replaced by being called up by a Val'kyr if you decide to roll Forsaken. And her little exchange with Garrosh in Silverpine Forest is priceless.

Yes, she's going on with the plague behind everyone's back, and that's a bad thing. But she has the Forsaken's best interests at heart, as desiccated as that heart may be. I wouldn't want her to become leader of the Horde though. She's much more fun where she is.

Who is your favorite faction leader from a playable faction? Why did you choose him or her? Blog about it and post your link in the comments below. Or if you don't have a WoW-related blog, just respond by commenting.

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The leader short stories continue with Sylvanas' own tale of vengeance, loss, and coming to terms with the death of Arthas in Edge of Night. Finally, we get to see Sylvanas ascend the Frozen Throne and come face to face with the broken and empty armor of the former Lich King, her pact with the Val'kyr, and the war front in Gilneas. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns, especially involving Sylvanas' pact with the Val'kyr, that may not be exactly how we imagined things had actually commenced between the former allies of the Lich King and the leader of the Forsaken.

Personally, I think this is one of the strongest leader short stories, delving into answerable questions and giving us real, solid lore to fill in the holes in the story. Seeing Sylvanas' grief and lack of focus after Arthas' death was something I had hoped would be addressed, as well as the Val'kyr, both of which were discussed and explained. Check out the story, written by non other than Dave "Fargo" Kosak, and marvel at a new chapter in the Dark Lady's story.

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Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!

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Patch 4.1 is all trolls, trolls, trolls. You know what? I love the trolls. With the emergence of the Zandalari trolls as stewards of a new troll empire, the rearming of the Gurubashi and Amani tribes, and Vol'jin's staunch opposition to the direction of the troll peoples of Azeroth, we've got a lot on our plate in terms of lore.

Blizzard's leader short story series continues with "The Judgment," written by Brian Kindregan, which chronicles Vol'jin from his years as a young, would-be shadow hunter to his exodus with the orcs across the sea. The series has been a success with WoW lore buffs, adding to the various faction leaders' histories and canon. Hit the jump for a spoiler-filled summary, and be sure to read the whole ordeal.

This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Changes in leadership at the top of the various races in WoW is a common occurrence these days. The dwarves, tauren, orcs, and arguably the night elves (depending on who you considered the real bosses in Darnassus) all took on new leadership as of Cataclysm. The humans and the Forsaken as well have experienced temporary shifts at the top of their power structures at one point or another.

Today's question is simple: Who's next?

Most of the obvious candidates for replacement are on the Horde side. Sylvanas is clearly running rogue and making even her allies uncomfortable. Absentee trade prince Gallywix has been living on borrowed time from the start. Garrosh and Vol'jin have a little philosophical disagreement going that seems likely to be resolved with fewer than two of them alive. And even Lor'Themar seems to be just waiting around for a blood elf with enough ambition to unseat him.

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject -- and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

Ask a Faction Leader's open Q&A returns with even more of your questions for your favorite faction leaders. Next week, we return to the full-length interview format.

My lady Tyrande,

I have been a humble servant of the Darnassian Order for as long as I can remember, and I have some concerns for my night elf brothers and sisters.

Since Arthas declared war on all of humanity and brave Alliance soldiers were sent to Northrend to defeat the Scourge and end the Lich King's tyranny, I have noticed there are very few night elves at the roof of the world. Having participated at the Battle of the Wrathgate, I only say one of my sisters there, and even she had to suffer the effects of the Forsaken bombs ...

So I ask you, Lady Whisperwind, do you hold your bond to the Alliance, or are we night elves just along for the ride?

A humble druid,

Phort <Brotherhood of Steel> on Atonidas (US)

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

Ask a Faction Leader has a storied history of presenting feature-length interviews with your favorite faction leaders, but today we're taking a slightly different approach. We asked you to send in questions for the leader of your choice, and today we'll -- err, they'll answer a smattering of those very questions.

Dear Regent-Lord Lor'themar Theron:

I noticed that, during the recent scuffle in Undercity, the armies of the Sin'dorei were not involved or invited to the conflict. It concerns me, what with the recent power struggles in the Orgrimmar, that it may seem as though we are not pulling our collective weight as members of the Horde. Do you happen to know why we were not represented as members of the task force set to retake the Undercity from the Scourge?

Sincerely yours,
Tejor Quel'Dalen, <Dark Guard>, Priest
-Somewhere in Northrend

Lor'themar responds:

You might have noticed that our Ask a Faction Leader column has taken an extended break. In fact, a whole lot of you did. So, since you asked for it, so AAFL is returning this Tuesday! To keep things fresh while we wait for Cataclysm, we're adjusting the format slightly -- rather than focusing on one specific faction leader per column, we're letting readers direct their questions to the leader of their choice each week. Wonder how Mekkatorque keeps his svelte figure? Ask him. Dying to know Vol'Jin's favorite band? Ask away.

To participate in the column, send your question to sacco@wow.com with the subject line "AAFL" (this is important!). I'll grab my favorite questions each week and answer them -- err, have the faction leaders answer them.

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, king of the gnomes, and he shed light on several key issues, including ADD, spontaneous gnomish combustion, mobilizing Ironforge, threatening letters and interior decorating. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be once again sitting with Genn Greymane, king of Gilneas.

Our first reader question...

King Greymane,

I have recently found a book in Dalaran that states you told the great Alliance of Lorderaon that it was better to just kill all the orcs after the second war. When you meet the leaders of the Alliance of Stormwind, who will you most likely say "I told you so" to when they bring up the encroaching orcs in Ashenvale forest?

Valerii
Human Paladin
Ghostlands

Genn responds:

I did discuss this matter the last time your group had an audience with me, and my opinion hasn't changed. I'd prefer not to know orcs from a hole in the ground. Because they'd be in the hole. In the ground.

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to the three brothers Bronzebeard, princes of Ironforge all, and they shed light on several key issues, including ale preferences, brotherly competition, beer goggles, lost leggings, and dwarf gestation. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, king of the gnomes.

Our first reader question...


Dear High Tinker,

I hear you have plans to retake Gnomeregan! In five years, I've never been happier!

I just have one question...not that I'm doubting you or anything, but ... what took so long?

Anonymous Gnome

Gelbin responds...

A fair question! You see, gnomes have ADD.

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Master Mathias Shaw, leader of Stormwind's SI:7, and he shed light on several key issues, including melee hunters, frenemies, cheesemongers, black dragons and erotic fanfiction. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with the brothers Bronzebeard, dwarven royals who tread very different walks of life.

Our first reader question ...

Dear Brothers Bronzebeard:

Thunder Ale or Rhapsody Malt?

Sincerely,
Alenei di Capernio
Shadow Council

The brothers respond:

Magni: Gettin' dwarves to agree on beer is like gettin' humans to agree on pizza toppings. Not possible. And ye'll never get a dwarf to say his favorite, either!

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the forsaken, and she shed light on several key issues, including undieting, hunter training, building this city, and bouncing idly. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Master Mathias Shaw, leader of Stormwind's SI:7, covert agents of the crown.

Our first reader question...


Hello Mathias,

Can you describe the feeling you got when you found out that you couldn't beat your granny?

Verenor, Warlock - Defias Brotherhood

Mathias responds:

Gahaha, that's what I like to see! Pullin' no punches, right from the get-go. Hard-hittin' questions.

It looks like the fans followed through, after all, and we finally get to see the Battlecry mosaic much sooner than I'd previously thought. The completed mosaic reveals a truly awesome piece of art by Wei Wang depicting all the current faction leaders. By awesome I mean truly mind-blowing, and Blizzard has high resolution versions of both the mosaic and the actual painting available for download in different versions. The full mosaic, for example, can be viewed in all its 14400 x 6150 pixel glory. Arguably the best version is the dual screen wallpaper which shows the most detail, although there are also much smaller versions for mobile phones.

The Battlecry mosaic is comprised of 20,000 player-submitted pictures called out by Blizzard as part of the World of Warcraft 5th Anniversary celebration. Each section of the multi-part mosaic unlocked various content over the past few months, which included sneak peeks at conceptual art and even a piece of the game's musical score. The final artwork is arguably the best and coolest rendition of all the faction leaders so far, including a dual-wielding Magni Bronzebeard in armor that's significantly different from what he's wearing in-game, which may or may not hint at a possible model change come Cataclysm. Congratulations to all the fans who contributed to the mosaic!

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Chromie, ambassador for the Bronze Dragonflight, and he shed light on several key issues, including gender identity, dwarven futures, Mary Sues, and going back to the future. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the forsaken.

Our first reader question...


Dear Sylvanas,

There have been rumors that your elder sister Alleria had a son with the Alliance paladin Turaylon. How do you respond to this?

Sincerely,
Wylendrin of Blackwater Raiders

Sylvanas responds:

With the opportunity to ask me anything, of course the blood elf paladin asks me tabloid questions.

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Vol'Jin, leader of the Darkspear trolls, and he shed light on several key issues, including voodoo proximity, detachable extremities, and residential communities, and free zeppelin rides for three. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Anachronos, interim leader of the Bronze Dragonflight.

Our first reader ques--


Anachronos responds:

A TERRIBLE AND COSTLY MISTAKE YOU HAVE MADE. IT IS NOT MY TIME TO GIVE AN INTERVIEW, MORTALS!

He just ... despawned. Okay. Uh, well, in that case, let's see ... Soridormi is busy dealing with the Infinites in the Caverns of Time, so ... I guess the task falls to Chronormu, better known to adventurers as Chromie -- ambassador for the Bronze Dragonflight.

Our first reader question ...

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to High-Shaman Rakjak, leader of the Frenzyheart wolvar tribe, and he shed light on several key issues, including dumb fat-tongues, carnivorous mailboxes, visitor permits, wolvar fertility, and jarred urine. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Vol'Jin, leader of the Darkspear trolls.

Our first reader question:


Dea' Vol'Jin,

W'at possesed ya ta train raptors fer ridin'? If ya hadn' noticed, we trolls be da tallest race of da Horde, and ridin' on da raptors only makes us even talla'! I can't fit though any of da doors in any of da major cities. Couldn' ya figure out how ta ride Crocklisks, instead? Dey be short 'nuff so I could git though da door into da Undacity elevator! So could ya give us some options? Would be nice...

~Fellow troll raptor rider

De way I see it, dis issue be about one t'ing and one t'ing alone.

Feddas.