Posts with tag nova

Week of Tuesday, Mar. 25 – April 1, 2014:

• Tyrande
• Stitches
• Diablo
• Tychus
• Kerrigan
• Nova

Along with the latest free-to-play hero rotation, we're getting some balance changes to certain heroes. There aren't a huge number of changes but many are significant, including a lot of nerfs to Uther! Hit the break for all the changes.

While wandering about the floor at BlizzCon, I stopped over at the TokyoPop Manga booth and spoke a bit with editor Troy Lewter, who we've talked to before.. Currently, the big series they write for the world of Azeroth is the Warcraft Legends series, which is on its 4th volume with a 5th due out next month.

Talking with Troy and other members of the Tokyopop team at the booth, what I was most struck with was the passion for the work and the universes of Blizzard's games that they display, and, perhaps more importantly, to the art and stories they tell.

Troy laid out three important concepts that they follow in creating the mangas: Telling a solid story, focusing on a few characters, and cross-pollinating with other forms of media.

In telling a solid story, the aim is to create the story such that you don't need to rely on the Warcraft world and characters, per se. In short, even if the story wasn't about Thrall or Varian or the Scarlet Crusade or anything else, you could still connect with the characters themselves.

Caiden of Dalvengyr was exploring in Netherstorm the other day when he came upon something unusual: a futuristic blue monument that lit up with different symbols, including a V and a horseshoe. A couple people tossed out guesses as to the purpose of the monument -- the Ashbringer, the iHearthstone, the key to defeating warlocks -- before Blizzard rep Drysc chimed in:

"Rest in peace Nova...

I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind...

/tear"

Nova, of course, is the heroine of Starcraft: Ghost. The flashing symbols spell out an approximation of her name. Apparently Blizzard has set up a memorial for one of their own games in Netherstorm. I guess this is as good as sign as any, along with the announcement of Starcraft 2, that Ghost has joined Duke Nukem Forever in the eternal vaporware bin.