Posts with tag akama

Are you sure you don't want green fire? Quite sure? Positively sure? Absolutely, one hundred percent sure?

Don't lie to me like that. You want it. You want to do the end of this questline, because it's so badass. I was spinning circles in my seat and giggling maniacally at how Kanrethad completely wiped the roof of the Black Temple with my body for two hours straight, because it was so much fun to be challenged not merely as a player, but as a whole warlock. You're going to use abilities you've almost never used before in this questline, and you're going to love all of it.

I hope I don't have to say it too much, but spoilers ahead.

After Chris Metzen's seeming joke at BlizzCon concerning the possible reappearance of Illidan in future WoW storylines, it occurred to me that we really haven't seen much of Outland or its storylines lately. Well, maybe that's not fair -- if you're leveling a character between 58 and 68, I imagine you've seen all too much of Outland and are heartily sick of the whole continent and its dungeons by now. Still, The Burning Crusade featured some great stories, and if Illidan ever does come back, there are a few people I hope he'll (metaphorically) drag alongside him.

The two that come immediately to mind are the Netherwing Dragonflight and the Ashtongue Deathsworn. What's up with the Netherwing since Deathwing's demise? Do they even know about it or what's happened with the Aspects? And what's going on with Akama now? I'd argue that he, more than Kael or Vashj or Illidan, was the greatest and most compelling character of WoW's first expansion, and he had one hell of a unique model. The brains behind the Ashtongue's high-stakes Batman Gambit (warning: TV Tropes link) has got to be up to something these days, and if Blizzard ever revamps Outland questing, I hope it gives players a peek.

Then again, that's assuming that yanking Illidan back from the dead is even a good idea to begin with (is it?) or that Outland stories can be made relevant to their modern counterparts. Thoughts, readers?

---

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

So now the stage has been set. The exiles have all arrived on the blasted remnants of Draenor, once the home of the orcs and last refuge of the draenei. Following the events of Ner'zhul's attempt to lead the orcs away from their dying world, the planet was shattered and torn asunder, pulled violently into the Twisting Nether that Ner'zhul's portals linked to its surface. Now Outland, a world drifting in the nether, is the remains of that destroyed place. A world where natural laws are often suspended, it hung overripe waiting for a clawed hand to pluck it.

That hand belonged to Magtheridon. Second among the pit lords only to his master Mannoroth, Magtheridon was the one the Legion chose to conquer this world, unique among all the planets formerly taken and crushed by this army of demons. For Ner'zhul's portals still worked, making Outland a kind of nexus wherein the Legion could pull entire armies through at will and easily stage them for new conquests. Holding Outland therefore gave the Legion a strategic foothold, one they were loath to give up.

However, circumstances were unfolding that would lead to exactly that.

Part 1: Forcing Fate's Hand
Part 2: Into the Outland

As I mentioned previously, Maiev Shadowsong is one of my favorite characters in all of Warcraft lore. When I said that, the statement was quickly met with the cries of people calling her all sorts of unpleasant names. And you know what? That's the beauty of the character. Sometimes, not all good characters are people you would sit down and have a beer with. In fact, some of them are downright nasty people. I wouldn't go that far with Maiev, but I think it's okay that she's not a peaches and sunshine sort of character, especially considering what's been done to her.

Yes, Know Your Lore has covered Maiev before, but now it's my turn. Elizabeth and I have pretty substantial differences of opinion on the Warden, so I don't think you'll mind too much.

Fal Bulon has a new, upcoming series called The Scourge. In case you don't recognize the name, Fal Bulon is the same German author who brought us Revenge of Akama. Like his previous work, "The Scourge" is spoken in German, and subtitled in English. We only have a trailer to look at right now, but we can be hopeful for the upcoming movie.

"The Scourge" has the same high-end production values we saw in "Revenge of Akama." The action is distinct and effective. Fal Bulon uses the lighting in his scenery to lend urgency and intensity to his characters. Overall, it was definitely fun to watch.

The trailer doesn't have a lot of plot indications, which is probably fine for a trailer. We know that the Scourge are attacking, and the orcs and humans are both caught up in it. We have epic indications of leaders making hard choices, and we have a whole bunch of fighting. (Knowing is half the battle, but the other half always comes down to fighting.)

Ultimately, this is a great trailer, and I can't wait to see the movie.

[Via WarcraftMovies]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Here's a secret gem from BlizzCon from our sister site, Big Download: The DVD Production panel. The DVD Production team, despite the name, actually oversees most of the video produced by or at Blizzard. That means that they had a hand in the South Park episode "Make Love Not Warcraft," as well as the "What's your Game" and "Lawgiver" commercials.

They also work on the gameplay trailers from World of Warcraft, and walked us through the creative process for the patch 2.1 Black Temple trailer, revealing some interesting lore behind Akama's betrayal. Finally, they revealed that they were the force behind the Wrath Gate cinematic. It's no wonder they were able to make such an epic cut scene though: One of their team members was a member of Rufus Cubed Productions, the creations of the epic machinima Return.

There's some other nice information from the panel, including the real identity of the villain from "Make Love Not Warcraft" and a preview of the lore of Diablo 3. Be sure to go check it out at Big Download!

Here's a heads-up to all our North American night owls early risers and Oceanic readers: It's Tuesday morning, and that means maintenance. Luckily, it's a short one today. Bornakk has said that they expect most servers to only be down a half hour, starting at 5AM PDT and ending a 5:30AM PDT. There are some extra servers that will be down slightly longer, until 6:30AM PDT. Those servers will be listed after the break. Aussies can rejoice as well, as any Oceanic servers not on this list won't be taken down until 5AM AEST (Which is noon over here on the American west coast).

For the list of servers that will have a longer downtime, read on:

Brace yourselves for Revenge of Akama, an epic 38 minute machinima by Fal Bulon, of Dei ex Machina. It has action, adventure, and excitement, among other things. Apparently it's the conclusion of a saga that focuses on Illidan, Malfurion, Tyrande, Akama, and Maiev. The main plotline for RoA centers around Illidan and his battle in the Outland.

This is a well done movie, but unless you download it, you'll have a hard time reading the English subtitles, as the entire movie is in German. In addition, some feel that it mimics Burning Crusade: The Movie too closely. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining video, and we look forward to seeing what else Fal comes up with!

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Yesterday we saw the story of Arthas as he rose (or sank, some would say), from the holy paladin prince of Lordaeron to the most powerful evil person in Azeroth, lord of vast armies of mindless undead -- all recorded from the original Warcraft 3 cut-scenes.

Today we bring you an similar piece that Sylvictus put together for The Burning Crusade, about Illidan's journey from down-in-the-dumps reject brother to the most powerful evil person in Outland, lord of mish-mashed groups of villians and misfits who really aren't as loyal to him as they seem. It doesn't actually begin from the real beginning of Illidan story -- you'll have to go to the Warcraft prequel novels to get that, but as far as the official in-game lore is concerned, this is real deal. Also keep in mind that the end isn't really the end for Illidan here. Illidan, too, is capable of doing a corpse run, and has acquired plenty of prime real estate in Outland to come home to. For those who are interested, the trailer for Blizzard's "Black Temple" patch also touched on Illidan's story, this time from the draenei Akama's point of view. It doesn't include Illidan's conflict with Arthas, but it sets the stage for the progression of the story within WoW.

So if you've been playing The Burning Crusade all this time and wondering what the deal was with the big blind guy with horns and wings, here's the story of Illidan Stormrage straight from Warcraft 3.

Previously on WoW Moviewatch...

Tseric informs us that the realms Aegwynn, Akama, Chromaggus, Draka, Drak'thul, Garithos, Hakkar, Khaz Modan, Jubei'Thos, Kul Tiras, Korgath, Malorne, Mug'thol, Runetotem, and Thorium Brotherhood have been taken down for urgent, but unspecified, maintenance.  Further the continent of Kalimdor seems to be having serious technical difficulties - reports in the general forums suggest that the continent may be crashing (or causing player disconnects) as frequently as every thirty seconds.  Ouch.  Thank goodness there's a lot of cool stuff in the Eastern Kingdoms - just hope you didn't log out in the wrong place...

Here's a quick update on how our guild building has been going. C.K. started the guild charter a few weeks ago and we have a few signatures, but neither he or I have had much time to play over the last week or so. We'll get it going eventually, but it may be awhile. In the meantime, if you'd like to play along on Akama with us, here's our Akama names:

SERVER: Akama. (this server will be where we play our WoW Insider horde characters).
Damien = Dab (undead warlock)
C.K. = Cks (undead warlock)
Josh = Kulain (tauren druid)
Mike = Groon (undead rogue)

SERVER: Chromaggus (this server will be where we play our WoW Insider Alliance characters).
Damien = Dab (human warrior)
C.K. = Cks (dwarf hunter)

And here are the characters we play on other servers, which we may or may not be on at any given time, including quite rarely. I'll update this list as other WoW writers get me their info on characters (if they wish to publicize them).

SERVER: Gorefiend
Damien = Shuffle (dwarf paladin)
Damien = Floss (night elf rogue)

SERVER: Argent Dawn
C.K. = Chaosyeti

SERVER: Bloodhoof
Josh = Krios (gnome warlock)
Josh = Kulain (night elf rouge)
Josh = Kelmor (dwarf hunter)
Josh = Kamoox (night elf priest)
Damien = Shuffle (gnome mage)

SERVER: Shadowmoon
Josh = Kulain (undead rogue)

SERVER: Shadowsong (EU)
Jennie = Arjuna (night elf druid)
Jennie = Kerowyn (human paladin)

SERVER: Dragonmaw (EU)
Jennie = Selenay (tauren shaman)

SERVER: Venture Co. (EU)
Jennie = Arjuna (tauren hunter)

SERVER: Cenarion Circle
Mike= Wakeman (paladin)

SERVER: Lightning Hoof
Mike = Greenslade (Alliance hunter)

SERVER: Emerald Dream
Mike = Slubbergull (troll priest)

Please feel free to add any or all of us to your friends lists on any servers listed above that you might play on, and particularly on the two servers we've indicated where we'll be building WoW Insider Horde and Alliance guilds. Hope to see you in game!