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Podcast episode 7 digs into the lore
Episode 7 of the WoW Forever podcast is all about the lore. Aggrend and lore historian Sean Copeland explain why Forever tells its own story, which forgotten characters get a role and how the world grows over the next years.
The episode lasts 76 minutes and appeared on 12 November on the World of Warcraft channel. Josh Corbett of Countdown to Classic hosts. From Blizzard come Senior Game Designer Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield and Lore Historian Lead Sean Copeland, who celebrated his birthday. The guests are the creators Platinum WoW and Nobbel87. Watch out: the episode has story spoilers.
First: faction balance
Before the lore, Aggrend explains the new limits on character creation on the PvP rulesets. Most of it is in our post about the faction lock: Horde players without a character there should “start making other arrangements”.
A story of its own
Forever is a separate branch of the story, like Hearthstone, and does not have to fit modern World of Warcraft. The first plan was to make it part of the main story. Aggrend and Chris Metzen dropped that after a chat at the food trucks on the Blizzard campus: both teams would keep planting landmines for each other.
The timeline is the first year of the original game, stretched out. Blizzard has a story plan for several years, but no golden campaign quests. Quests you do now at low levels already tie into content at higher levels, says Aggrend, and nobody has connected them yet. The original raids are the anchor points: Molten Core, then Blackwing Lair, then Ahn’Qiraj. There is no single big villain for years on end.
You are a hero, not the hero
Cutscenes are no priority. You can ignore the story and focus on loot, says Aggrend, and that is fine. Big moments should feel like the Onyxia quest chain. Events like the Scourge Invasion may return as stories over several updates instead of camps you farm.
Characters with a new role
- Vol’jin: in the original game you could not even talk to him. “Vol’jin’s doing something cool”, says Aggrend, without saying what.
- Pained: the bodyguard of Jaina gets a solo quest chain if Aggrend has his way.
- Ashbringer: the Scarlet Enclave and the Ashbringer story come back one day, though that may take a while.
- Undead Paladins: their story was shaped together with the team behind Warcraft III: Forsaken Kingdom. More in our post about Undead Paladins.
Riverglades and the Skyborne
The Riverglades east of the Burning Steppes started as three small zones. A world builder asked to make one big zone instead. The Alliance meets the Brotherhood of the Horse from Warcraft II, and finally lions in the Eastern Kingdoms. The Horde works with an ogre clan that broke with the Twilight’s Hammer, and Aggrend’s words about ogre allies set off a lot of speculation, see our post about the ogres.
The Skyborne are no High Elves because Blizzard has bigger plans for Quel’Thalas than a starter zone. Giving such a popular race to one faction would also tip the balance, as Blood Elves did. Another race for both factions is not planned.
New race and class combinations
New combinations have to be earned with content, Metzen told the team. Aggrend points to a priest of An’she in Thunder Bluff and would like more races with Shamans and more Horde races with Priests. The Tauren Mage and Night Elf in the launch video were no hint, just a choice of the video team.
Tips for lore hunters
Look around in Shaper’s Terrace, and maybe look up, says Aggrend. Sean Copeland can’t wait for players to reach Hyjal. Blizzard also talks about a roleplay slot for items like the torch, but stresses that it is no announcement. Next week, the podcast covers the systems.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment