Project Lore

Even Hoover (And His Library) Is Worried Saying there has been a bit of speculation surrounding the next World of Warcraft expansion would be an understatement.  For months now players have been looking ahead even though we aren't even on the second content patch (of four).  Blizzard added fuel to the speculation fire when it was noticed that the company is trying to trademark the term "Cataclysm" for use in games and products.  The early July news sealed the deal for many players; BlizzCon 2009 will usher in the MMORPG's third expansion. What if that doesn't happen?  What if Blizzard jut sits on the company's figurative hands in 2009 instead of following up the Diablo III announcement?  Why bust in on Arthas' reign?  After all, he is the most popular villain in all of Warcraft.  What if the announcement turns out to be the in-the-works, hush-hush, this-isn't-the-MMORPG-you're-looking-for title we know they are working on?  What if, heaven forbid, no game is announced?  After all, they are already working on four games (and the expansion), two of which should be out "soon," Diablo III & StarCraft II.  Shouldn't they focus the marketing on those titles that are first in the schedule? Let's assume that Cataclysm isn't announced, or that it doesn't pertain to WoW.  What would that mean for our favorite MMORPG? Should things go down that way, I believe it could upset the disenfranchised players.  Judging by conversations with friends, guildmates and the comments here at PL, there appears to be many players at different stages of quitting.  Many are just enjoying the Summer, others are taking a break between patches, and some see Call of the Crusade as a lore-less filler patch with nothing for them.  If BlizzCon disappoints then these members may be "taking a break" a bit longer than the developers would like.  Should things go down that way we may see the subscription numbers drop for the first time.  Perhaps even below 5 million (China's 6 million are barred from WoW still)!  Unlikely, but scary. That's just one possible scenario.  To all the speculators out there I pose you this, what if...?

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Community Spotlight On LoreCrafter.com's Catalysm Ideas I, like many of you, absolutely love Warcraft's lore.  We've been talking about it much lately, ranging from various quests and zones all the way to the predicted reveal of the upcoming expansion.  To be completely honest, the lore is what I spend most of my time on.  I read about the universe all over the place, from manga and books to various websites and blogs.  I spend hours a week raiding, leveling and farming.  Yet, I'd wager that I dedicate almost an equal amount of time pouring over the many resources available.  And we need so many due to the immense size and scope of the universe that Metzen and his underlings have created for us to play in. I simply can't get enough of the lore.  Lunches, "smoke breaks", waiting for things to install.  I steal every moment I can to absorb the seemingly endless amounts of information, stories, conjecture and background to Warcraft.  It's this very reason that I have between 15-20 sites on my RSS feeder dedicated to this single purpose.  And one of them really caught my eye, and teased my brain, recently, LoreCrafted.com. Let's be clear, the latest series of posts by Tharion Greyseer are complete and utter speculation on the aforementioned upcoming expansion.  Over the course of a couple of weeks Tharion crafted a recap of what could be coming from World of Warcraft v4.0 and beyond.  The author even took the time to include Blizzard-esque role playing introductions for each patch, crafted a possible world event focused on rising seas and the incoming Naga swarms from the Maelstrom and addressed other popular expansion theories. I don't dare recap the entirety of the posts for fear of "spoiling" those who want to remain clean, and to force you to check out the excellent posts.  The information contained within is indeed pure speculation, and unlikely to be spot on, but it makes Cataclysm sound pretty interesting.  Not to mention complex if the intertwining lore aspects come to fruition.  Upon completion of the series I did enter into a surprising state of depression.  Reading the synopsis made me realize how formulaic the expansions can easily become. Who else dedicates unsafe amounts of time to reading Warcraft's past?  Have any of the non-Warcraft III players gone back and read about The Frozen Throne and the current lore?  May I recommend just playing it?  Enjoy the community spotlight? Interesting tidbit.  According to WoWWiki the bonus campaign in TFT, featuring Rexxar, was created to showcase the Orcs, because they weren't a large enough part of the story proper.  I guess that answers the 'what is the Horde doing' question I posed earlier.

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