Or: Therafail – Where’s My Story?
by J. Adams
Warning: Spoilers!
I play World of Warcraft (WoW). I have played World of Warcraft since
December 2004, which means I’ve paid $1394.07 (jumps to $2788.14 with my wife
playing too) in monthly subscription fees, $639.92 in Collector’s Edition (CE)
costs (4 expansions for which we purchased a copy of the CE each, including the
next one), and countless hours actually spent playing the game; though that’s a
number I’m not particularly willing to calculate because it might end up being
extremely depressing. Warcraft itself
has become a massive intellectual property – it has spawned action figures, a
Collectible/Tradeable Card Game (C/TCG), novels, manga, American comics, and
websites dedicated to the lore, gameplay, and number crunching (also known as
“theorycraft(ing)”). In short, Activision Blizzard (formerly just Blizzard) has
created one heck of a juggernaut and, as such, is subject to high expectations
from a massive player base.
The
newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, released
on September 25th and, among other things, promised a return to the
“Orcs versus Humans” (or “Horde versus Alliance”) that dominated the original Warcraft games since back in 1994
when Warcraft:
Orcs and Humans was first released. As has been their wont for the last few
years, the expansion was preceded by the release of a new novel by Christie
Golden Jaina
Proudmoore: Tides of War, that
supposedly details the buildup of tension leading to the reintroduction of the
Alliance v. Horde conflict the original game was known for. Those of us who have
played over the course of multiple expansions are no strangers to novel
releases that coincide with these expansions; Cataclysm was preceded by The Shattering, also by Christie Golden.
![]() |
Ah Pandaria - |
In
addition, the Wrath of the Lich King
and Cataclysm expansions were
preceded, by several weeks, by in-game events. For Wrath of the Lich King, the Scourge invaded the capital cities of
the Horde and Alliance which provided the impetus for taking the war to
Northrend, the new continent introduced for the expansion. Before Cataclysm, there was the Elemental Invasion
which introduced the “new” Twilight Cult and provided backstory for the
emergence of Deathwing, the dragon that ultimately causes the titular
“Cataclysm” that changes the face of Azeroth forever.
For Mists
of Pandaria,
it was hinted that the leader of the Horde faction was going to do something
terrible to one of the capital cities of the Alliance – this event would be the
cause of increased animosity between the Horde and Alliance and would lead into
the main conflict for the first part of the new expansion. Players were also
told that they would be able to experience this event from both a Horde and
Alliance perspective after the Tides of War novel released,
but until then there wouldn’t be anything revealed on a large scale. The novel
was released on August 24, 2012 and, of course, spoilers were posted all over
the internet in short order. I personally got my information from these
spoilers because I very much dislike Christie Golden’s writing and refuse to
buy/borrow the book. There are also a lot of WoW players of the impression that
lore (story) for World of Warcraft
should take place in World of Warcraft – I am also one of
these players.
As noted in the beginning of the article, I have already
invested far more time and money than I should probably be admitting into this
game, so why should I also be forced – in order to follow the lore and get the
whole story – into buying a book by an author I dislike? The bottom line is: I
shouldn’t.
Unfortunately, Blizzard did not agree – and here’s how they,
in my opinion, showed their contempt for all the players that love WoW and its
story but don’t believe they should be forced to invest in other media just to
keep the story straight.
On
September 17, 2012, the “Battle for Theramore” scenario was released as the
pre-expansion event leading up to Mists
of Pandaria. The event was hyped as noted above – players were going to see
to what depths the Horde leader was going to sink to start a war of
extermination against the Alliance, culminating in an atrocity that would wipe
an Alliance capital (Theramore) from
the face of Azeroth.
![]() |
Jaina’s Mage Tower in the center of Theramore.
|
The
Horde leader, Garrosh Hellscream, was to lead a massive attack on Alliance
holdings on the continent of Kalimdor, obliterating one of the largest military
and naval bases on that continent. Beginning with the fall of Northwatch Hold,
detailed in the novel – Northwatch Hold is also a main Alliance questing hub in
the game for lower level Alliance characters – the Horde army would then
advance on the city of Theramore, a city led by one of the more popular
Alliance lore characters, Jaina Proudmoore. The battle would be fierce, with
the Alliance and its allies sending other major lore characters such as Rhonin
Redhair, the leader of the Kirin Tor faction; General Marcus Jonathan of
Stormwind, a character that has been standing outside of the city of Stormwind
almost since the game was released; Admiral Tarlen Aubrey of Northwatch Hold, a
quest-giver for lower level Alliance characters; and Pained, a character that
has been associated with Jaina Proudmoore since the game was released to the
area to assist in the defense of the city. As detailed in the novel, the attack
is, in fact, fierce, but eventually the Horde forces withdraw, which confuses
the defenders, until a goblin zeppelin flies over the city and drops a Mana
Bomb, enhanced with an artifact known as the Focusing Iris, which obliterates
the city and its defenders, with the exception of Jaina herself, in a blast
that is the fantasy equivalent of an atomic bomb.
Great
story, right? I thought so – but what I actually experienced on the Alliance
side was, to put it as bluntly as possible, disappointing and almost entirely
disconnected from what the novel laid out. Entering the scenario, I was treated
to a long-distance view of Theramore Isle where the titular city is located.
The camera made a couple of passes over the towers and gave a fairly decent
view of the city prior to the destruction I was expecting – but within the
first 30 seconds, a goblin zeppelin arrives carrying a massive spherical object
that looks a lot like a bomb. The captain of the zeppelin proclaims, “We’re
gonna turn this place into a sinkhole!” The sphere drops, hits the ground, and
explodes, destroying Theramore.
![]() |
Somebody set us up the
bomb…
with no apparent reason. |
All the possible ways to actually make this event mean something, all the ways that
Alliance players could have been introduced to this, literally, earth-shaking
event and…nothing. To a person who knew nothing of the lore from the novel as I
described it above, there is no rational explanation as to why this bomb was
used to obliterate this city – or where the bomb came from, or who gave the
order to have it dropped, or why the
order to have it dropped was even given in the first place! A player that isn’t
aware of that lore has no reason to feel the anger and/or betrayal in the
subtext of the entire event. All the emotion that could have been evoked from a
well-told story is wasted. The real introduction to the escalation of the
Horde/Alliance conflict doesn’t even take place in the game that it
will be changing.
Keep
in mind that this is only from the perspective of an Alliance player. I don’t
have a max-level Horde character with which to attempt this scenario, so what I
have to go on is hearsay from trusted sources.
Keep
in mind that this is only from the perspective of an Alliance player. I don’t
have a max-level Horde character with which to attempt this scenario, so what I
have to go on is hearsay from trusted sources.
Speaking of the Horde, other events in the
novel encompass meetings with other Horde leaders like Baine Bloodhoof of the
Tauren and Vol’jin of the Darkspear trolls. Their meeting was thought to be a
secret, but Garrosh manages to crash the meeting toward the end and tell them
that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated in the future. Baine, however,
has already made a decision that Jaina should be warned of the attack and sends
a message to the city advising them of the danger – without Garrosh being
aware. Evidently Garrosh has also withheld the reason for this assault from
most of the army taking part in the invasion, and the greater portion involved
has no idea what is coming.
In the Horde side of the scenario, the players are in
Theramore after a “failed” raid, and they’re required to fight their way out
and also rescue a Blood Elf spy who is being held in the basement of the main
keep. After completing the objectives, including killing several commanders,
blowing up some tanks, and sinking a few ships, the characters rescue the spy
who only then tells them that the
attack was a ruse – oh, and go through this portal before the goblins drop the
bomb or we’re all going to die.
From a lore standpoint, and as someone who loves the story that WoW tells and wants to be part of it as much as the game will allow, I feel this was a horrible, horrible way to bring this event to the game and introduce us to what was happening. However, as a way to preview what the scenarios Blizzard would be bringing to us in the new expansion will be like, it was a nice appetizer and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of them – but I think previewing one of the other scenarios, not related to such a huge lore event, might have been a better idea.
Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street, the Lead Systems Designer for WoW, had the following to say when asked, “What’s your take on the Theramore event?” during a YouTube interview with Wowcrendor.
From a lore standpoint, and as someone who loves the story that WoW tells and wants to be part of it as much as the game will allow, I feel this was a horrible, horrible way to bring this event to the game and introduce us to what was happening. However, as a way to preview what the scenarios Blizzard would be bringing to us in the new expansion will be like, it was a nice appetizer and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of them – but I think previewing one of the other scenarios, not related to such a huge lore event, might have been a better idea.
Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street, the Lead Systems Designer for WoW, had the following to say when asked, “What’s your take on the Theramore event?” during a YouTube interview with Wowcrendor.
“We did not do a great job on messaging. Players expected an
event -- but what we were really doing is giving players a preview of
scenarios, there are a ton of scenarios coming in Mists of Pandaria. It's saying
"this is what scenarios are like", they're a new feature, a way to do
content quickly, in your lunch break, to get some more valor or gear.
I think players who understand that it's a scenario preview are enjoying Theramore, while those expecting a world event aren't. Players expecting a huge challenge aren't going to find it in scenarios, challenge modes are more for those players.”
It helps that Ghostcrawler is willing to admit that there was a
lack of communication regarding what expectations players should have. I wish
it could erase my disappointment over the whole issue. In any case, my
anticipation for Mists of Pandaria
hasn’t diminished, so next week I’ll be joining several million other
adventurers in the initial rush to dominate a new continent.
See you there.
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