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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.

World of Warcraft is absolutely full of trolls — not the trade chat kind, the actual race. Whether you’re traveling the southern continents or icy heights of Northrend, the trolls are everywhere; vanilla WoW and both expansions have all included troll content of some kind or another. The original game had Zul’Farrak, Sunken Temple and then later Zul’Gurub. The Burning Crusade didn’t see much of the trolls in Outland (beyond a few settlements, of course), but trolls played a large part in high elf (now blood elf) history and currently plague the Ghostlands. Eventually we saw the release of Zul’Aman, and with Wrath’s release, we were introduced to the ice trolls of Zul’Drak and their capital, Gun’Drak.

While there have been vague hints — stone tablets and other records — documenting the history of the race, there’s very little solid information regarding the trolls. Big events have been documented, but the day-to-day life and the origins of the trolls aren’t really addressed beyond “they have been on Azeroth since the beginning.” Of all the various troll tribes, only one is playable — the Darkspear tribe that now makes its home on Kalimdor. The trolls of the Darkspear have not only made a new home for themselves upon Cataclysm’s release, but they’ve also found two new paths to follow; players will be able to choose troll druids and warlocks with the expansion’s launch. In order to understand the Darkspear, a closer look at its origins and the origins of one of the bloodiest wars in Azeroth’s history is necessary.

WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain spoiler-free, do not continue.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The dark past of the Darkspear

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: The dark past of the Darkspear originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

The dwarves of Warcraft are an interesting bunch of characters — though they haven’t had much “screen time” in World of Warcraft, over the course of the expansions we’ve seen more focus on this odd race and its mysterious origins. Rather than evolving or being created as a natural being like the trolls or the tauren, the dwarves were originally a race called the earthen, created by the Titans with the specific purpose of shaping and documenting the progress of the world of Azeroth.

The earthen were quite literally of the earth. Created from the stone and earth of the planet they watched over, these creatures shared a deep connection with the world itself. Each movement of the ground, every earthquake or natural disaster was felt by the earthen and affected them in a profound way. The explosion from the Sundering — the destruction of the Well of Eternity which caused the continent of Kalimdor to split into the continents we know today — affected the earthen deeply, and many retreated to the safety of the Titan cities from which they had originated after the explosion.

WARNING: The following post contains some spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain spoiler free, do not continue.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Taking flight with the Wildhammer

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: Taking flight with the Wildhammer originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

When considering the new race and class combinations that Blizzard has to offer, some are immediately recognizable, such as human or Forsaken hunters. It stands to reason they’d exist; they already have in game since the very beginning. Some take a little more research, such as the history of the Shen’dralar and how that effects new night elves that would like to study the arcane. However, some of these new race and class choices are so far out there and so inconceivable that the very mention of them existing seems completely out of place.

The tauren race has long been a follower of nature, the spirits of the elements and the mysterious “Earthmother,” as well as the elusive Mu’sha — also known as Elune by the night elves. Yet in Cataclysm the tauren will be following the path of the Holy Light — the paladin and the priest class. At first, the announcement seemed entirely out of line for the nature-loving race, but examining the tauren a little more closely gives the answers and the explanations we’re looking for. To explain the tauren paladin and priest class, we first have to go way, way back to the dawn of tauren civilization and the only know records of tauren history, the Thunder Bluff scrolls.

WARNING: The following post may contain some spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain spoiler free, do not continue.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: An’she and the Holy Light

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: An’she and the Holy Light originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Care and Feeding of Warriors is about warriors, who hurl themselves into the fray, into the very teeth of danger, armed with nothing more than the biggest weapons and armored with the absolutely heaviest armor we can find. Hey, we’re not stupid — we’re just crazy.

Good morning. I had said at the end of last week’s column that this week would most likely be more about Cataclysm. Why, then, the sudden switch? Well, three reasons.

• I want to give the beta a chance to drop another patch. Without a numbers pass, most of what I’ve said in previous columns more or less holds true. But discussions of changes to the way rage generation will work definitely have me in a holding pattern as far as actually discussing the nuts and bolts of any spec. Quite frankly, my worgen warrior leveling to 60 already needed to use Battle Shout and Bloodrage on cooldown to generate rage; if they change rage gen so that critical hits don’t generate more rage, he’ll be looking at complete rage starvation. Rage will need to be tweaked upward quite a bit to give the “you can do your rotation and occasionally a Heroic Strike” feel; right now, it’s more of a “please give me some rage, sir, I’m ever so rage-starved” feel.
• I also want to give the people who complain we talk too much about the beta a week off from writing angry emails. I personally love talking about beta issues and the way they show us the progression of the class, but I get that not everyone feels that way.
• I considered writing the arms report card instead, but considering the PvE state of arms, I just got depressed. “Still OK for PvP” doesn’t seem like enough for a column.

With this all swimming in my head, I wanted to talk about the lore of the warrior class and who it derives from in the setting. We know who the paladins are (Turalyon, Uther, Arthas), who the hunters are (Alleria, Sylvanas, Nathanos, Shandris), who the mages are (Medivh, Khadgar, Jaina, Kael’thas) and who the gigantic demon-tainted night elves are (seriously, I wonder if we’re ever going to get demon hunter as a class) — but who are the warriors?

Well, it’s called the Warcraft setting for a reason. There are quite a few of them. (So many, in fact, that this could end up being a series of posts.) Today we’ll look at three: one Alliance, one Horde and one who could be claimed by both.

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Warriors in lore

Filed under: Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Lore, (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Warriors in lore originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

When looking at the new race and class combinations that are coming out with Cataclysm, some are far easier than others to digest, such as the addition of the hunter class to the human race. Of course the humans can be hunters, that’s not a terribly far-fetched statement at all. But what about the other new race that, as of Cataclysm, gets to take up the bow and tame beasts as well? I’m speaking of the Forsaken, of course — the thought of an undead creature holding a biscuit and coaxing a wolf to be his new best friend is just a little off-putting.

In Wrath, we’ve seen a sudden return of the dark rangers — the forsaken remnants of what used to be Sylvanas’ corps of elven rangers. As Ranger General of Silvermoon, Sylvanas led and commanded the Farstriders back before the Third War. After the events of the Third War, Sylvanas found herself turned into a banshee, and then after regaining her body, a dark ranger — the first dark ranger of the Forsaken. But the Forsaken we play in game aren’t really elven — they’re humans, the former residents of Lordaeron. How do they fit in? There’s a few different and absolutely reasonable theories kicking around, but first we should take a look at the first and only human ranger lord — Nathanos Marris.

WARNING: The following post may contain some spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain unspoiled, stopping here would be advised!

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Nathanos Marris and the dark rangers of the Forsaken

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: Nathanos Marris and the dark rangers of the Forsaken originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

When looking at the new race and class combinations that are coming out with Cataclysm, some are far easier than others to digest, such as the addition of the hunter class to the human race. Of course the humans can be hunters, that’s not a terribly far-fetched statement at all. But what about the other new race that, as of Cataclysm, gets to take up the bow and tame beasts as well? I’m speaking of the Forsaken, of course — the thought of an undead creature holding a biscuit and coaxing a wolf to be his new best friend is just a little off-putting.

In Wrath, we’ve seen a sudden return of the dark rangers — the forsaken remnants of what used to be Sylvanas’ corps of elven rangers. As Ranger General of Silvermoon, Sylvanas led and commanded the Farstriders back before the Third War. After the events of the Third War, Sylvanas found herself turned into a banshee, and then after regaining her body, a dark ranger — the first dark ranger of the Forsaken. But the Forsaken we play in game aren’t really elven — they’re humans, the former residents of Lordaeron. How do they fit in? There’s a few different and absolutely reasonable theories kicking around, but first we should take a look at the first and only human ranger lord — Nathanos Marris.

WARNING: The following post may contain some spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain unspoiled, stopping here would be advised!

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Nathanos Marris and the dark rangers of the Forsaken

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: Nathanos Marris and the dark rangers of the Forsaken originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

There’s been plenty of chatter regarding the upcoming expansion, and both Rossi and myself have been doing our best to fill in the background on lore figures and races that will play some kind of part in it. One of the questions I find myself asked a lot in regards to Cataclysm is how the new race/class combinations will fall into play lore-wise once the expansion launches.

The answer to that question is easier than you’d think — most lore for these new race and class combinations already exists in one form or another in game. Over the next few weeks I’ll be giving you some background and history into each class and race, and how these combinations make sense in the face of existing lore, as well as speculation on possible conflicts we might see in the future with regards to these choices. Please note, the following post may contain spoilers for the Cataclysm expansion — if you’d rather avoid all discussion or speculation regarding Cataclysm, it’d be advised to steer away now.

Today we’ll be discussing one of the most baffling of the new announcements — night elf mages. Although the original announcement left some (including myself) horribly confused, later revelations made the choice perfectly logical. While they’ve been addressed briefly in the post regarding elven evolution, we’re going to take a closer look at the Shen’dralar — the Highborne that make their home in Dire Maul.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: History of the Shen’dralar

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: History of the Shen’dralar originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With only a short stretch of time left until the release of Going Rogue, Paragon Studios has released a new video documentary about the anticipated City of Heroes expansion. This time, the focus is split between the new characters and powers to be featured within the expansion, diving into the lore that surrounds Praetoria and the Emperor’s entourage. Much like previous installments, the documentary both serves to preview some new material to existing fans and show off what’s coming for new players or those long absent.

Emperor Cole, naturally, gets to show off front and center, as does Calvin Scott of the Resistance. The designers stress that the intent is to create two sides of very different moral character in Praetoria, rather than a simple choice between good and evil. We also get a look at some of the Kinetic Melee and Electric Control powers in action, and of course, more of the cityscapes players can look forward to with the expansion. Check out the video embedded after the cut, which shows that City of Heroes isn’t at risk of slowing down too soon.

Continue reading Third video diary for Going Rogue explores City of Heroes lore and powers

Filed under: Super-hero, Video, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Game mechanics, Previews, News items

Third video diary for Going Rogue explores City of Heroes lore and powers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

Last week we talked about the Old Gods, both ones we know as of right now and ones we can speculate upon come the Cataclysm. This week, we turn an unblinking gaze upon the master of unblinking gazes, the Old God that has arguably the most direct impact upon all of Azeroth. Not only did it indirectly create the nerubians and directly altered the qiraji into their modern form, not only did it battle a Titan to a standstill, but its connection to the Twilight’s Hammer and their demented leader Cho’gall means that even during the upcoming Cataclysm, the consequences of its actions are unfolding.

Most interestingly, this Old God did not even have a name until its own creations gave it one.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The Old Gods part two — C’Thun

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore, Cataclysm

Know Your Lore: The Old Gods part two — C’Thun originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

The Eternals of Azeroth are by and large fairly well known by the mortal races — the Ancients of the night elves were a strong presence in the War of the Ancients, and the trolls worked intimately with their Loa gods. But there are still Eternals out there that are by and large unknown quantities in the universe — vague historical records have been made, but the mortal races are mostly in the dark as to who these Eternals really are, and what their purpose is in the world.

Of all of the Eternals, the ones that remain the biggest mystery are the Titans, specifically the Pantheon of titans that were responsible for Azeroth’s creation as we know it today. While the dwarves have uncovered a lot of information recently, there are still large chunks of time seemingly out of order or unaccounted for. There are a few different timelines, and varying opinions on what exactly occurred in each timeline — so writing about the Titans and the creation of the world is an exercise in careful speculation. Today we’ll be looking at the Pantheon — the titan high council — who they were, what roles they played in Azeroth, and where they are today, as well as taking a look at the creation of Azeroth.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The Eternals part three — the Titans

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Know Your Lore: The Eternals part three — the Titans originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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