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You didn’t think I’d let 2008 pass without making another post, did you?
This post is predestined to be a favorite of mine, simply because this is the first post that I can honestly say I have written, “by popular demand”.
Dragons. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 2% [?]
In a few short hours, Wrath of Lich King will be released. There has been a lot of talk about the loot, the dungeons, leveling, the grind. Here of course, I’m going to talk about the lore. Now, I know the way it works. We’re going to get that box in our eager little hands and we’re going to shoot like a bullet for 80. So, as your friendly neighborhood loremaster, if I had to carve my lore suggestions down to one key point, it would be this: Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 8% [?]
So… yesterday Bioware officially announced their next MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. This is the Knights of the Old Republic MMO I mentioned back in July. Now this isn’t a news site, but since we’re all Lore Dor– Aficionados here, I saw there were a couple items in the press release worth mentioning. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 8% [?]
One of the strongest differences in the lore between Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft are the gray areas. Namely, WoW has them and WAR does not.
Within WoW, neither the Horde nor Alliance are predominantly good nor bad. And because of this, neither faction predominantly defines your character.
I have to confess, I didn’t notice this at first. I took it completely for granted until I began playing Warhammer. And I have to say, I miss the gray.
Within Warhammer, Order is good and Destruction is bad. Heck, even their names tell you that.
So, for my first Warhammer character, I rolled on the Order side as a Shadow Warrior. Shadow Warriors are High Elves and High Elves are good. They love the land, protect the animals, and don’t drive 55mph in the carpool lane with a chain of people behind them.
Well, last night I rolled a Dark Elf… Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 10% [?]
So I’ve been playing Warhammer, and yes, it’s awesome. And yes, I’ve been playing my uber-awesome Shadow Warrior. (And yes, there’s a lot of them.)
There’s just one thing bugging me about the game in general. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 12% [?]
Bring up AOC amongst a group of gamers and one of them will invariably bring up its “amazing, realistic graphics“. Bring up WoW amongst a group of gamers and one of them will invariably complain about its “cartoony graphics“.
So why is AOC realistic and WoW more like a cartoon? Obligatory decision? Personal preference of the designers? You could argue that WoW has cartoony graphics so it scales better with older machines. That makes sense, but there’s something else to consider here.
WoW is High-Fantasy. AoC is Low-Fantasy.
Let me put it another way. Comic Book Movies. Yes. Comic Book Movies. More specifically, X-Men. Even more specifically, Wolverine. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 14% [?]
With the NDA now lifted on Wrath of the Lich King, I can happily report that I’ve been playing it since the Friends and Family Alpha. While there are plenty of sites rambling on about mechanics, balance, and talents, not too many are yammering on about the lore.
Here it all is in two and a half words… it’s awesome.
I don’t know if the guys and gals at Blizz actually read that forum post of mine or came upon it themselves, but the immersion has definitely been cranked up a few notches.
Examples? I’ve got plenty (minor spoilers ahead). Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 25% [?]
As most of you already know, Diablo 3 was announced just over a week ago at Blizzard’s Worldwide Invitational. There’s not much to say at this point, other than it has been 7 years since the last Diablo game was released, so it might be time we all beefed up on our Diablo lore. Fortunately, it looks like Blizzard thought the same thing, as the lore page on Diablo 3’s official website is insane.
I’m actually surprised, since Blizzard has often been rather… odd with their lore support. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 16% [?]
Leveling up in Age of Conan, I was reminded of something I hadn’t experienced since 2004 when leveling up my first World of Warcraft character…
Money, back then, was epic. And with AoC, 1 Gold once again means something. These days, in WoW, 1 Gold is what you give beggars to piss them off with how stingy you are. It’s like throwing them a penny and shouting, “Have a night on the town!”
The difference, of course, is that AoC is brand new while WoW is four years old.
But that’s just it. Why does money have to stop feeling epic? Why do the days of, “One Silver?! YES!!” have to stop?
It doesn’t.
You may wonder why I’m prattling on about game economics. I’m, what we’re ultimately talking about here is lore. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 17% [?]
I stumbled upon an absolutely awesome interview of Chris Metzen the other day. This is a must read for anyone interested in how stories are designed for games.