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[MetroidPrimeRib]

Today is the WarCraft series 20th, and consecutively at the same time World of WarCraft’s 10th anniversary. This series means different things to different people, and could really be split into two separate series, as I have basically done in the title. But for all those who have either only played the RTS entries, only played the MMO, only played the F2P card game, have only watched the South Park episode, have only a passive curiosity, or have done it all like myself, this is the thread to talk about your experiences and memories of this series. Feel free to follow the formula of naming favorites!

>>>OFFICIAL THREAD THEME CLICKY CLICKY<<<
What’s Blizzard doing for the Anniversary?
World of WarCraft OT here!
Hearthstone OT here!


WarCraft: Orcs and Humans – November 23rd, 1994

From Blizzard’s site:

For ages, the fallen titan Sargeras plotted to scour all life from Azeroth. To this end, Sargeras possessed the human sorcerer Medivh and compelled him to contact Gul'dan, an orc warlock on the world of Draenor. There, Sargeras' demonic servants among the Burning Legion worked to corrupt the once - peaceful orcs and forge them into a bloodthirsty army known as the Horde. This cursed force invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal, a dimensional gateway created by Medivh and Gul'dan, and clashed with the human nation of Stormwind. Aided by the half-orc Garona, human champions like Anduin Lothar fought valiantly to protect their kingdom. Yet, in the end, the mighty Horde shattered Stormwind's defenses. Amid the city's tragic fall, Garona betrayed her allies and assassinated King Llane Wrynn, sealing the nation's defeat.

This is, shamefully, the only entry in the series I have not played, as it is before my time. This set up the RTS series, following in the footsteps of Dune II, baseline of gameplay – collect resources, build your base, destroy your opponent. You could only play as human or orc, and the differences between the two were negligible. This was Blizzard’s first real commercial success, and they would soon release a sequel…

WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness – December 9th, 1995

The human nation of Stormwind had fallen before the Horde. Knight Champion Anduin Lothar gathered the scattered remnants of the human army and led the refugees north across the Great Sea to the kingdom of Lordaeron. By enlisting the aid of other nations - humans, gnomes, elves, and dwarves - Lothar helped form a great Alliance to stand against the orcs and their ruthless new leader, Orgrim Doomhammer. The seemingly unstoppable Horde continued its rampage, reinforcing its growing army with savage trolls and brutish ogres. But, on the eve of victory, Gul'dan and his followers selfishly abandoned their allies to seek out powerful artifacts, forcing the weakened Horde to retreat. Doomhammer momentarily rallied the orcs when he slew Lothar in a harrowing battle, but the hero's death did not break the Alliance's resolve. Turalyon, Lothar's loyal lieutenant, quickly took up leadership of Azeroth's defenders and finally defeated the Horde.

Released around the same time as the original Command and Conquer, these two competing with each other would be the main catalyst to the rise of RTS popularity. While the original WarCraft was a success and received some critical praise, WarCraft II was a major success, winning many Game of the Year awards and having great critical praise, as well as selling over 2 million copies. I played this like once. But I played the expansion way more…

WarCraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal – April 30th, 1996

Following the destruction of Azeroth's Dark Portal by the victorious Alliance, the orc shaman Ner'zhul took command of the remaining Horde on Draenor. There, he plotted to create portals to other unspoiled worlds and invade each in turn. To enable the rituals for his dimensional conquest, Ner'zhul sent orcish forces through his world's intact Dark Portal in search of powerful relics on Azeroth. Wary of the Horde's plans, the heroes of the Alliance invaded Draenor to end the orcish threat forever. Facing certain defeat at the hands of his enemies, Ner'zhul succeeded in opening numerous portals to new worlds. The resulting magical stress shattered Draenor, trapping many of Azeroth's greatest heroes on Outland, the damaged remains of the planet.

The gameplay remains rather unchanged save for the addition of hero units, which were in the base game, but they did relatively nothing compared to how they are in Dark Portal. This was also the first WarCraft game to use Battle.net, a feature that would return for every game after. I did play this, not a lot but not little, and I really don’t remember much. I preferred StarCraft: Brood War at the time, which came out November 30th 1998.

Also the game came out on PlayStation and Saturn but who cares about that

WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos – July 3rd, 2002

After years of languishing in captivity, the remaining orcs on Azeroth were liberated by a former slave named Thrall. This young shaman and his reformed Horde fled to the continent of Kalimdor to escape the invasion of the Burning Legion, a demonic army that sought to ravage all of Azeroth. To weaken the world's defenses, the Legion unleashed a horrifying new weapon: the undead Scourge. Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron fought bravely to protect his lands from this dreaded enemy, but his fear and desperation led him to join forces with the Scourge's mysterious leader, the Lich King. On Kalimdor, Thrall's Horde set aside old hatreds and united with other races to thwart a massive Legion assault helmed by the demon lord Archimonde. At great cost, the unlikely union of humans, night elves and orcs defeated their enemies atop sacred Mount Hyjal.

The first to expand beyond just Orcs vs Humans, WarCraft III added Night Elves and Undead into the mix. In a way it’s also the first to make the races unique, ala StarCraft, as the differences between races in the first two games were there, but not as big as they were in StarCraft. This meant unique buildings, unique units, unique heroes, unique tactics. Although I played this a lot, I played Frozen Throne way more, and my memories of the two games kind of blur together. I think I played more of the Campaign then the multiplayer in Reign of Chaos.

WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne – July 1st, 2003

While the armies of humans, orcs, and their allies recovered from their battle against the Burning Legion, Arthas Menethil - now a Death Knight - slaughtered the living denizens of Azeroth's Eastern Kingdoms in the name of the Scourge. But new forces emerged that threatened to destroy Arthas and his minions: the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner rebelled, creating a splinter faction of undead known as the Forsaken, and the demon-tainted night elf Illidan Stormrage sent his armies to the icy continent of Northrend to strike at the Lich King. Arthas rushed to his master's defense and defeated Illidan, who fled to Outland in shame. At last close to the seat of the Scourge's power, Arthas did the unthinkable, and willingly merged his own spirit with that of the Lich King.

Ah, Frozen Throne. My favorite game of all time, for a multitude of reasons. The campaigns, the multiplayer, the custom games. But mostly the custom games. This is a game I sunk a lot of time into, over a long, long course of time. It still had an active playerbase up to the release of StarCraft II, as I recall, and you can still play it now and it probably has a sizeable playerbase for an 11 year old game. But by now it’s been overrun with people who are insanely good at matches or bots in custom games. To me, custom games are what made this game so special. There was no limit to what could be made or played, as Blizzard took a hands off approach for the custom games playlists. Of course there was DoTA (which stands for Defense of the Ancients, in case you ever wondered) which eventually eclipsed the main game itself in popularity, and came back in the form of Dota 2, and the endless amount of clones. I’m sure a sizeable amount of people bought WarCraft III just for DoTA, and never looked once at the campaign or matchmaking. But beyond that, there were tower defenses, life simulators, mazes, survival games, whodunnits and roleplaying games, just to name some of the most popular variants.

Throzen Throne added a lot from base WCIII. A new hero for each race, plus 8 new neutral heroes to buy from the tavern, plus new buildings and units for every race, along with balance changes. The World Editor (a tool used to make custom games) was also greatly expanded.

Favorite Race: Undead
Favorite Unit: Frost Wyrm
Favorite Hero: Blademaster
Favorite Custom Game: Footman Frenzy and Angel Arena

World of WarCraft – November 23rd, 2004

Intent on settling the arid region of Durotar, Thrall's new Horde expanded its ranks, inviting the undead Forsaken to join orcs, tauren, and trolls. Meanwhile, dwarves, gnomes and the ancient night elves pledged their loyalties to a reinvigorated Alliance, guided by the human kingdom of Stormwind. After Stormwind's king, Varian Wrynn, mysteriously disappeared, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon served as Regent but his service was marred by the manipulations and mind control of the black dragon Onyxia, who ruled in disguise as a human noblewoman. As heroes investigated Onyxia's manipulations, ancient foes surfaced in lands throughout the world to menace Horde and Alliance alike.

The game itself, the still reigning king of the MMO genre, and easily the biggest time waster I and many others have ever encountered. Referred to as “Vanilla” by most, World of WarCraft’s massive success and cultural phenomenon level status have dropped off over the years, but it still remains a juggernaut.
Starting with 4 races each side, Alliance and Horde – Human, Dwarf, Gnome and Night Elf for the Alliance and Orc, Troll, Tauren and Undead for the Horde. There were 9 classes – Warrior, Rogue, Priest, Druid, Warlock, Mage, Hunter, Shaman and Paladin – the last two being exclusive to the Horde and Alliance, respectively. Two continents, Kalimdor in the west and the Eastern Kingdoms in the East, made up the Vanilla map.

Favorite Zone: In Vanilla, this is an impossible pick. I have to split between Stranglethorn Vale, Tanaris and Westfall.
Favorite Dungeon: Deadmines, Scarlet Monastery or Zul’Farrak
Favorite Raid: Naxxramas

World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade – January 16th, 2007

The Doom Lord Kazzak reopened the Dark Portal to Outland, flooding Azeroth with the ravenous demons of the Burning Legion. Expeditions from the Horde and Alliance, reinforced by their new blood elf and draenei allies, passed through the gateway to stop the invasion at its source. On Outland's desiccated Hellfire Peninsula, the Alliance discovered several of their heroes who had crossed through the portal many years before, while the Horde made contact with the Mag'har - 'uncorrupted' orcs who had not participated in their race's original invasion of Azeroth. The expedition into Outland dragged Horde and Alliance armies further into conflict with the agents of the Legion and the lieutenants of Illidan Stormrage, who had claimed the shattered realm for his own.

The first expansion, and the one to set the pace for all the rest. Introducing two new races, Draenei for Alliance and Blood Elves for Horde (at the same time allowing Alliance to use the Shaman class, and Horde to use the Paladin class), raising the level cap to 70, adding in heroic mode for dungeons which would later be applied to raids, adding flying mounts (previously the only mounts were types like horses and raptors which could only move on land) and opening up an entirely new continent, Outland, featuring new leveling zones, dungeons, factions, raids, and Shattrath, the neutral capital city.

Favorite Zone: Nagrand
Favorite Dungeon: Magister’s Terrace
Favorite Raid: Karazhan

World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King – November 13th, 2008

In the wake of the Sunwell's purification, a period of suspicious quiet had swept over the world. As if on cue, the undead Scourge launched a massive assault against the cities and towns of Azeroth, this time extending its reach far beyond the Eastern Kingdoms. Under pressure to respond with a full army, Warchief Thrall deployed an expedition force to Northrend led by Overlord Garrosh Hellscream. Meanwhile, the missing human king Varian Wrynn at last returned to Stormwind City and reclaimed his crown. He sent an equally powerful Alliance army, commanded by Bolvar Fordragon, to defeat the Lich King - and any Horde forces who would stand in their way.

The second expansion opened up another new continent to the north, aptly named Northerend. The first, and so far only “hero class”, the Death Knight was added. This hero class allowed you to start at level 55, so long as you had a character at that level already. After going through the quest line, you could pop into Outland in awesome gear for someone just entering the Dark Portal, to the chagrin of some others. It didn’t help Death Knights were very strong at launch as well, and every race could be one (except the later Pandarens). As with Burning Crusade, the level cap was raised to 80, new factions were added, a new neutral capital city, Dalaran, was added, and new raids and instances. Achievements were also added, dooming many more to further extended playtime. Also added was a mechanic called Looking for Group, in Patch 3.3.0 (Icecrown Citadel) which allowed you to be randomly hooked up with people wanting to do the same dungeon.

Favorite Zone: Grizzly Hills
Favorite Dungeon: Anything that’s not The Oculus or Violet Hold
Favorite Raid: Ulduar

World of WarCraft: Cataclysm – December 7th, 2010

The victorious Northrend expeditions returned home to find all of Azeroth shaken by erratic elemental forces. This unrest preceded the return of the maddened Dragon Aspect Deathwing the Destroyer, who erupted from his lair in the bowels of the Elemental Plane, shattering Azeroth in the process. With the elemental realms now open to the world, chaotic elemental spirits and their tyrannical lords emerged to help the Destroyer and the nihilistic Twilight's Hammer cult bring about the Hour of Twilight: the end of all life on Azeroth.

And here we have the third expansion, Cataclsym. In my opinion, by far the most ambitious expansion. Instead of adding in a new zone, the old world from Vanilla would be “destroyed” by the awakening of the expansion’s big bad, Deathwing, and remodeled. This would happen even if you did not buy the expansion. The idea was ballsy for sure, and upon launch I found myself liking the new world. Not only did terrain change, but questlines were revamped and removed, and the ability to fly (previously restricted to Outland and Northerend) was granted in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. But as anyone who played when this expansion came out can tell you that wore off the further the expansion went on. By the time the final raid Dragon Soul rolled around or to be more accurate, a few months after it rolled around, people got tired. The wait from Dragon Soul to Mists was a staggering 301 days. It isn’t a stretch to say WoW’s numbers falling is directly related to Cataclysm’s lack of content, or the content that never came out. It didn’t help Dragon Soul kind of sucked too, and that the final fight with Deathwing was as anticlimactic as could be.

The level cap, for the first time, was raised from 80 to 85, an interval of 5 and not 10. The capital cities were moved back to Stormwind for Alliance and Orgrammar for Horde, doing away with the Shattrath and Dalaran neutral capital cities. The Raid Finder introduced in Patch 4.3 (Dragon Soul), allowed players to take the Dungeon Finder mechanic and use it to find raids, albeit a far easier version with worse loot, also much to the chagrin of some others.

Favorite Zone: Uldum
Favorite Dungeon: Zul’aman
Favorite Raid: Blackwing Descent

World of WarCraft: Mists of Pandaria: September 25th, 2012

With Deathwing's menace ended, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream seized the opportunity to strike at the Alliance and expand the Horde's territory on Kalimdor. His assault completely obliterated the human city of Theramore, causing world-wide violence between the factions to erupt anew. A destructive naval skirmish left Alliance and Horde forces washed ashore on the fog-shrouded island of Pandaria, which had appeared in the open sea, defying modern maps and charts. As both warring factions established footholds on the resource-rich continent, they made contact with the noble pandaren, one of its most prolific peoples. This ancient race worked with the Alliance and Horde in the hopes of dispersing the Sha: dark, ephemeral beings roused from beneath Pandaria by the bloody conflict.

Upon announcement, people were confused. Pandas? Taking a minor unit from WarCraft III and basing an entire expansion around them? Kung Fu Panda jokes were everywhere, and they never really stopped. But I personally think that, at least personality wise, this was a good expansion. Kinda. Getting away from all the death and rage (mostly) from the previous expansions -especially Cataclysm- into a world inspired by Chinese mythology and architecture was nice. New lore and storylines (if that was your thing) were more important and central here. And yet the biggest mistake of Cataclysm (Dragon Soul’s huge content drought) was replicated again here, except longer. While Siege of Orgrammar was a good raid, and a longer one then Dragon Soul, the wait between its launch and Warlords of Draenors launch was a ridiculous 429 days. As with Cataclysm, this was one of the main reasons for the subscriber exodus.

This expansion brought the level up to an even 90 from Cataclysm’s 80-85. A new continent, Pandaria to the south, became available, and with it, a new race and a new class. The Pandarian race is the first neutral race, able to choose to be Alliance or Horde. The Monk class, another jack of all trades class like Paladin or Druid, can Tank, Heal or DPS (damage per second, just the damage dealing class). Also introduced were Scenarios, which were like dungeons but faster and smaller.

Favorite Zone: Kun-Lai Summit
Favorite Dungeon: Honestly the dungeons were weak in MoP. But if I had to pick, Scholomance (which is a revamped Vanilla Dungeon)
Favorite Raid: Siege of Orgrammar
Favorite Scenario: Battle on the High Seas

World of WarCraft: Warlords of Draenor – November 13th, 2014

It is the era of an Old Horde, forged with steel rather than fel blood. A union of great orc clans, the Iron Horde, tramples the planet Draenor beneath terrifying war machines. Azeroth falls next. Worlds uncounted will follow.
You must mount a desperate charge on Draenor – savage home of orcs and adopted bastion of stoic draenei – at this pivotal moment. Your allies are legends from across time; your fortress a foothold in an alien land. Lead the armies of one world against another…before the future itself is unmade.

This just came out so I don’t have a lot to say, I'm only level 98. The new models are nice, dungeons and raids seem to be more difficult again, and areas and leveling have been generally pretty good.

This expansion was the first to not add either a new race or a new class. The max level has increased to 100, from Mists 90. A new continent, Draenor, which is the form of Burning Crusade's Outland before it was destroyed by the Burning Legion. This is because of time traveling orcs. Garrisons, the biggest feature of this expansion, which allow you to build your own outpost and do missions with acquired followers, are a good addition, but I wonder how they will be implemented in later expansions. Personally I’m finding Warlords more enjoyable then Cataclysm and Mists right now.

Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft – March 11th, 2014

Sheathe your sword, draw your deck, and get ready for Hearthstone - the fast paced strategy card game that's easy to learn and massively fun. Start a free game on Battle.net and play your cards to sling spells, summon creatures, and command the heroes of Warcraft in duels of epic strategy.

Blizzard's F2P card game that exploded into popularity, it's fast fun and free. It's as good of a time waster you could expect from Blizzard, and I have sunk a lot of hours into it. With one free expansion (Curse of Naxxramas) and another one coming (Gnomes and Goblins), Blizzard is taking more of a content drop approach then WoW's 2-3 year wait for expansions. I don't have a lot to say about it though, as there's less content to talk about.

Spoiler

Nerf undertakers plz

And that’s the series that is WarCraft! Obviously I didn’t cover everything, more in depth things and stuff like books, board games and the TGC got skipped or I’d be here all day. What would you like to see for the future of this series? More WoW expansions are inevitable, more Hearthstone cards and expansions coming as well, but I would like to see more smaller games like Hearthstone, and there is that movie. Trying to pump new life into the old RTS games would be welcome as well, an HD remake of WarCraft III? Or WarCraft IV, if such a thing is even possible at this point?

And remember what you have to lose gain from giving in and picking up Warlords...

 

[Sage00]

I'm always impressed at how well the cinematics in this series, like most of Blizzard's work, stand the test of time. My favourite still looks fantastic today.

 

[SargerusBR]

I'm really impressed with Warlords, easily the best expansion since Wrath of the Lich King.

Now if only Blizz releases a remastered version of the Warcraft Trilogy...

 

[A Black Falcon]

RIP Warcraft, 1994-2004... Blizzard was my favorite gaming company in the whole industry for almost 9 years, and then WoW happened and they haven't been remotely the same since.

 

[Trace]

Please Blizzard, when you're done making dead games named Starcraft, can we have a Warcraft 4?

Pretty please?

 

[RP912]

I played the living hell out of warcraft 2 when I was younger. Blizzard lost me with warcraft 3 and wow. I heard good things about warcraft 3 though.

 

[Mohonky]

RIP Warcraft, 1994-2004... Blizzard was my favorite gaming company for almost 9 years, and then WoW happened and they haven't been remotely the same since.

Yeop. Warcraft died in 2004 for me also.

I played the living hell out of warcraft 2 when I was younger. Blizzard lost me with warcraft 3 and wow. I heard good things about warcraft 3 though.

Warcraft 3 was really good.

 

[GamerKingFaiz]

I'm really impressed with Warlords, easily the best expansion since Wrath of the Lich King.

Now if only Blizz releases a remastered version of the Warcraft Trilogy...

I honestly don't understand what people are raving so much about. I'm enjoying this expac as much as MoP. To be honest, there are some things that bug me such as no flying in Draenor and the whole Garrison management thing along with the garrison resources and apexis crystals being the resource for EVERYTHING is pretty annoying.

At the very least there aren't as many daily quests as there were in MoP!

Disclaimer: I'm a Wrath baby who didn't start playing seriously (i.e. raiding) until the end of Cata (i.e. Dragon Soul).

 

[UnrealEck]

RIP Warcraft, 1994-2004... Blizzard was my favorite gaming company in the whole industry for almost 9 years, and then WoW happened and they haven't been remotely the same since.

Sucks for those that don't like MMOs I guess. Good for those who do and Blizzard since it's the most successful game ever made.

 

[HellBlazer]

I don't think Warcraft RTS is necessarily dead. It would just be silly to work on two RTS games at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked on a Warcraft 4 after they're done with the Starcraft 2 trilogy though.

 

[Conkerkid11]

I honestly don't understand what people are raving so much about. I'm enjoying this expac as much as MoP. To be honest, there are some things that bug me such as no flying in Draenor and the whole Garrison management thing along with the garrison resources and apexis crystals being the resource for EVERYTHING is pretty annoying.

At the very least there aren't as many daily quests as there were in MoP!

Disclaimer: I'm a Wrath baby who didn't start playing seriously (i.e. raiding) until the end of Cata (i.e. Dragon Soul).

The dungeons are rather impressive, and both the lack of flying and garrisons which you complained about are seen as some of the best parts of this expansion.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Yeop. Warcraft died in 2004 for me also

Yeah, on that note, RIP the Blizzard I loved, 1993-2004. From The Lost Vikings until WCIII: TFT they were the best! And then WoW happened. (Guild Wars 1 is better! I love that game so, so much... ArenaNet was founded by some people who left Blizzard, and they outdid Blizz's RPG in my opinion.) But in the RTS genre, nobody has replaced Blizzard; instead the genere has just faded in prominence, sadly enough.

Warcraft 3 was really good.

Indeed. WC3's story is kind of disappointing compared to Starcraft 1's, and in Normal WC3's campaign is way too easy, but otherwise it's a fantastic game, one of my favorites! WC3 has some of the best multiplayer ever, for instance... it's been a while since I played online multiplayer games a lot, but SC and WC3 I played online for so, so many hours. SC2's good, but it's just not the same, and as I said, the rest of the RTS genre has faded too, sadly, and I just don't find MMOs (or MOBAs) fun. Guild Wars 1 I really love and played for over a thousand hours, but any MMOs, including Guild Wars 2, just have never held my interest for long...

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I don't think Warcraft RTS is necessarily dead. It would just be silly to work on two RTS games at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked on a Warcraft 4 after they're done with the Starcraft 2 trilogy though.

I think a WarCraft III or Trilogy remaster is more likely. A WarCraft IV isn't impossible, but I don't really see how they would do it. They would either have to retcon everything or make it go along with the current WoW storyline, and since WoW isn't going to stop anytime soon, that's something they would have to deal with.

 

[Wolf Akela]

The campaign in WC3+FT was soooo long, but I enjoyed the entire ride. I never enjoyed multiplayer though.

 

[Corran Horn]

Always wanted to play the warcraft games being a huge starcraft fan but felt its too late to get into now. Been waiting on a remake of the original games :/

 

[HellBlazer]

I think a WarCraft III or Trilogy remaster is more likely. A WarCraft IV isn't impossible, but I don't really see how they would do it. They would either have to retcon everything or make it go along with the current WoW storyline, and since WoW isn't going to stop anytime soon, that's something they would have to deal with.

Well, I'm not familiar with how the narrative is developed in WoW, but couldn't an hypothetical Warcraft 4 just be a story that happens between two expansions of WoW or something?

 

[Dawg]

Instead of making a RTS remaster, I would love blizzard to make a singleplayer-RPG on consoles and PC.

Maybe even set during WC 1-3.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Well, I'm not familiar with how the narrative is developed in WoW, but couldn't an hypothetical Warcraft 4 just be a story that happens between two expansions of WoW or something?

Yes, that could work. Never really thought of it but it's feasible.
The problem is how many lore villains they have used up (Illidan and Arthas are both dead) and just how much lore there is in general, I think. And finding a good scenario to use all 4+ races against each other, since Orcs and Undead and Night Elves and Humans are on the same team. I guess they could forgo that in multiplayer anyway.

Instead of making a RTS remaster, I would love blizzard to make a singleplayer-RPG on consoles and PC.

Maybe even set during WC 1-3.

WarCraft Adventures was kind of like that, I think. Wouldn't be surprised with Hearthstone's success if they decided to do some more small scale games or tried prior and cancelled them quietly.
I think Telltale could make something interesting to say the least.

 

[SSJLuffy]

So.... I've never played this game and I'm wondering if its worth getting into for a newbie.

I wish there wasn't a subscription because I'm super broke right now, haha.

Also, it seems like theres a fuck ton of crazy lore.... I'd feel so lost if I started playing. Haha, are there any good videos that explain lore for noobs?

 

[Dawg]

Yes, that could work. Never really thought of it but it's feasible.
The problem is how many lore villains they have used up (Illidan and Arthas are both dead) and just how much lore there is in general, I think. And finding a good scenario to use all 4+ races against each other, since Orcs and Undead and Night Elves and Humans are on the same team. I guess they could forgo that in multiplayer anyway.

Blizzard is crazy as fuck. Just look at WoD, it's basically a second timeline they're exploring. They can do anything at this point.

They might as well make a WC4 where the WoW timeline never happened.

 

[Zertez]

I think a WarCraft III or Trilogy remaster is more likely. A WarCraft IV isn't impossible, but I don't really see how they would do it. They would either have to retcon everything or make it go along with the current WoW storyline, and since WoW isn't going to stop anytime soon, that's something they would have to deal with.

They could go far into the future without having to deal with the lore of WoW much. The player base would miss some of the heroes from Warcraft 3 they are familiar with, but it would be easy to make some new ones.

 

[SargerusBR]

Well, I'm not familiar with how the narrative is developed in WoW, but couldn't an hypothetical Warcraft 4 just be a story that happens between two expansions of WoW or something?

This gap is already covered by novels. For a WC4 storyline to work it has to

A) Be a prequel set in a period uncovered by previous works
B) A sequel to WoW's storyline, but for that to happen WoW needs to be terminated, which will not happen anytime soon.

 

[Data West]

I really want a Warcraft 3 remaster using the Heroes of the Storm art assets

 

[Belfast]

Silly to think Blizzard died in 2004. It's been implied that World of Warcraft was the kind of game they always wanted to make based on the universe. Maybe not an MMO, but certainly one where you get to run around in a big world and be a hero. Remember that Warcraft 3 almost ended up being that kind of game, before they decided to shift it back to a more traditional RTS.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

So.... I've never played this game and I'm wondering if its worth getting into for a newbie.

I wish there wasn't a subscription because I'm super broke right now, haha.

Also, it seems like theres a fuck ton of crazy lore.... I'd feel so lost if I started playing. Haha, are there any good videos that explain lore for noobs?

If you started now, there would be so much content you would be kept occupied for a while. And there is a free trial.
And yeah, there is a lot of lore. Most of it is dumb and you can just read a wiki to find out everything.

Blizzard is crazy as fuck. Just look at WoD, it's basically a second timeline they're exploring. They can do anything at this point.

They might as well make a WC4 where the WoW timeline never happened.

Well, you're right about that lol. Maybe I should rephrase and say I don't know if they would do it as opposed to I don't know how they would do it, because they can find a way for sure.
The caverns of time could provide some wacky shenanigans for an easy way into a WCIV. I always thought they were implemented as a get out of shitty lore jail free card so they could just do whatever down the road.

 

[The Lamonster]

Warcraft 3 is

a m a z i n g

 

[Dark_castle]

I need Warcraft 4 in my life.

 

[GamerKingFaiz]

The dungeons are rather impressive, and both the lack of flying and garrisons which you complained about are seen as some of the best parts of this expansion.

I can understand why some people like Garrisons, I for one think it becomes too much of a cow clicker type of thing.

As for flying though, don't people want to get around faster? 0_o

 

[Cipherr]

So.... I've never played this game and I'm wondering if its worth getting into for a newbie.

I wish there wasn't a subscription because I'm super broke right now, haha.

Also, it seems like theres a fuck ton of crazy lore.... I'd feel so lost if I started playing. Haha, are there any good videos that explain lore for noobs?

Theres a free trial, so just fire it up. This is by far one of the most newbie friendly games ever. They do a fantastic job in WoW of acclimating you to game mechanics, as long as you aren't afraid of a little reading here and there (tips pop up an important moments to help you along) then you will very quickly grab hold of the games mechanics and be off to the races.

Play a few hours, if you like it, just sub for a single month, because while the trial is nice to see if you will be interested, it has a TON of functions disabled due to it being a trial, so its better to just buy it once you see you might like the game.

I can understand why some people like Garrisons, I for one think it becomes too much of a cow clicker type of thing.

As for flying though, don't people want to get around faster? 0_o

You lose something with flying though versus when everyone has to use the ground. Game started to feel immensely empty right around the time subs peaked in BC because everyone flew everywhere.

It was faster, sure, but it just...... took something else away aesthetically I suppose.

 

[Kain]

Yeah, fuck the Occulus.

I think the highest point of WoW was the period between Black Temple-Hyjal and the end of the Lich King.

I really liked Cata at the beginning, but the management of the game was bad and they abandoned the thing for a damn year. And here I was hoping for the water counterpart to Firelands...

I guess eventually they'll dedicate an expansion to Azshara and that raid will pop out somewhere.

 

[SSJLuffy]

Are private serves illegal? Just wondering.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Are private serves illegal? Just wondering.

I think they fall into the same category as emulators and the like, as in kind of but not really.
It's a grey zone.

 

[grandwizard]

WC3 + TFT are incredible games, I hope Blizzard one day updates them with proper widescreen. Even if they don't I will probably do a replay soon.

I'm cool with them doing Starcraft now and maybe after LoTV that team can take a look at Warcraft. It's weird though because so much has happened in that universe due to WoW that they can't just ignore all that for a WC4, so for people like me who never got into WoW it'll be a strange reentry point.

 

[Yoshichan]

Wow, didn't expect such an awesome thread. Good read.

 

[Syphon Filter]

beat me to it, i was going to make a thread for WoW 10th ann.

 

[Data West]

I remember in WC2 if you used the god mode cheat, the Death Knights could kill you in one hit because you were a 'God.'

Hated it as a kid. Think it's hilarious as an adult.

 

[Maximus.]

One of my favorite franchises. Loved WC3 and WoW, really hope WC3 gets a remaster or WC4 gets magically announced.

 

[Mr Swine]

If blizzard ever does a remake of the Warcraft trilogy, will they raise the unit limit in Warcraft 3?

 

[Wazzy]

Loved this franchise. I really need to play the older onea(recently beat III) but for now I think I'll final start WoW again.

 

[Randy]

WoW has aged pretty well. Blizz really made a fine engine.

-->

 

[CassSept]

World of Warcraft is probably the best gaming experience I've ever come across. It's a terrific game, through and through, meticulously designed, deep, rich, incomparable. After the slump at the turn of the decades right now it's coming off the best expansion yet into what is shaping up to be an even better expansion.

I can't wait to see what's in store, Mists of Pandaria was terrific, Warlords of Draenor thus far is incredible, WoW has never been in a better spot than now.

 

[Thoraxes]

The leap from WoD is just incredible over where we were when I started playing vanilla that long ago. Plus being able to play it in 4k is a plus!

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Seeing WoW evolve over time, for better or worse at times, really is a pretty amazing thing and something that's unrepeatable.
I wish I could've been playing since Vanilla launch and not just from the last few months of Vanilla.
If you think of all the content that has been added since Vanilla, it's nearly a new game. I'm not sure if any other game or most entire series has as much content as WoW does. There are so many raids and dungeons and revamped raids and dungeons that it must be past 100 by now.
That alone is staggering to me. And for raids at least, they keep coming up with new ideas, designs, character models and encounters. That must be starting to get insanely difficult. Although I enjoyed the Ulduar/ICC period the most, I think most of the raids are good or at least worth going through. There's only a few bad eggs like Battle for Mount Hyjal, Dragon Soul and Trial of the Champion.

 

[daedalius]

Warlords is really gorgeous, especially if you come off playing an alt in Burning Crusade!

Been playing Blizz games since WC1, don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

 

[Nokterian]

I have played them all and love them all. To me when Warcraft came out even before that i dreamed to walk around on Azeroth and wanted to explore it i really did then it happend in 2004 best gaming experience ever even today is WoW my most played game of all time.

Warlords of Draenor is the best expansion to date the most fun i have in a long long time.

And for people saying Warcraft died in 2004 well guess your imagination of the who and how didn't go beyond to explore the world..yes i want a new RTS from them but don't see it happen any time soon.

I mean you get a molten corgi right now if you login best thing ever. A special level 100 Molten Core version and Ragnaros drops a mount for everyone and Tauren Mill vs Southshore PvP deathmatch like the old days.

 

[Jolkien]

This thread makes me feel old. So glad to be back for Warlords, amazing expansion.

 

[Kangi]

WoD has had a really solid start thus far. If it doesn't drop the ball on content (like not including Farahlon or something), then it could eclipse Wrath.

Wrath was great through 3.1, but then the Argent Tournament happened. So many missed opportunities and cut pieces of content. Cataclysm then decided to one-up Wrath's worst parts and give us awful content patches and drop entire storylines out of nowhere. Pandaria brought things back on track by way of actually doing all it set out to do (and doing it well), but the post-release content still suffered. Let's actually get new dungeons this time around and not be stuck on the last raid for over a year, shall we?

A "well done" for recent endeavors (RoS, Hearthstone, WoD) and a bit of cautious optimism for the future.

 

[Thoraxes]

WoD has had a really solid start thus far. If it doesn't drop the ball on content (like not including Farahlon or something), then it could eclipse Wrath.

Wrath was great through 3.1, but then the Argent Tournament happened. So many missed opportunities and cut pieces of content. Cataclysm then decided to one-up Wrath's worst parts and give us awful content patches and drop entire storylines out of nowhere. Pandaria brought things back on track by way of actually doing all it set out to do (and doing it well), but the post-release content still suffered. Let's actually get new dungeons this time around and not be stuck on the last raid for over a year, shall we?

A "well done" for recent endeavors (RoS, Hearthstone, WoD) and a bit of cautious optimism for the future.

I still consider Ulduar to be the pinnacle of the raids they've released. It has yet to be topped.

Which is fucking nuts that something like the Argent Tournament came directly after it.

 

[Kangi]

I still consider Ulduar to be the pinnacle of the raids they've released. It has yet to be topped.

Which is fucking nuts that something like the Argent Tournament came directly after it.

I rate it second to AQ40, but Ulduar was still phenomenal. The fact that they followed it up with their laziest* raid ever is baffling.

* Arguably, Dragon Soul was lazier.

 

[Thoraxes]

I rate it second to AQ40, but Ulduar was still phenomenal. The fact that they followed it up with their laziest* raid ever is baffling.

* Arguably, Dragon Soul was lazier.

I missed the boat on AQ40 by half a year or so, but I have a handful of friends who tell me it was incredible!