Project Lore

Just now, Blizzard's official Call of the Crusade page was updated to include the Patch 3.2 Trailer along with a summary of what the latest content patch brings to World of Warcraft. The trailer shows brief clips of a bunch of different boss encounters in both the 5-man instance and the new raid instance. Unfortunately, it doesn't include nearly as much lore or even any dialogue like the Patch 3.1 Secrets of Ulduar Trailer did. I suppose it is at least a bone thrown our way in order to hold us off for just a couple more hours before the realms come up, but I wish there was that little bit of back story besides, "The Argent Crusade calls and the players answer." It may have just been a last minute highlight reel from the PTR to appeal to those who wanted a trailer for 3.2, but given the quality of both Wrathgate and the 3.1 trailer, I am pretty disappointed. Other than the trailer, there's also a nice desktop background available for download to show off the latest and greatest content in WoW. What are your thoughts on the short video that Blizzard published?

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As you're reading this, the maintenance period for patch 3.1 has been extended, but very shortly, the gates of Ulduar will be opened, Emalon the Storm Watcher will start giving out free purples to whoever controls Wintergrasp, and duel specs will be live! Keep in mind that your talent points will be reset and you should probably take care of that before entering Ulduar. If you haven't already, go watch the official cinematic trailer. Note that it does contain spoilers if you have not completed the Wrathgate questline. Here are my observations from the trailer:

• Jaina Proudmoore has a new (old?) face! Instead of using the standard human female face model, she now has her own face that looks much more like her old model in Warcraft III. I've never played an Alliance character so I'm not too familiar with her "old" "WoW face" and like this new one much better.

• Garrosh Hellscream is one hotheaded little Mag'har orc. For being such a pansy when he was chilling in Nagrand, he is certainly taking after Grom.

• The Horde/Alliance conflict is being featured quite prominently. It makes me want to transfer back to a PvP server. It reinforces my suspicions that 3.2 may not contain a major raid and be PvP oriented.

• It is heavily implied that Yogg-Saron has influence over both Garrosh Hellscream and Varian Wrynn. I wonder if we will see a parallel of Grom Hellscream breaking free of the Burning Legion's influence by killing Mannoroth with Garrosh and King Varian. Not likely; maybe down the line leading us into the next expansion.

• Rhonin finally speaks! Rhonin is quite an epic character in the lore and seeing him play an active and audible role is awesome.

What is the first thing everyone is going to do in patch 3.1? Join up with your guild and hit Ulduar? Argent Tournament? Learn dual spec?

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Yesterday at the Leipzig Games Convention, Blizzard gave the world the first look at Wrath of the Lich King's cinematic trailer. The trailer initially blew me away with its fantastic animation, beautifully crafted landscapes, epic music and spot on narration by Arthas' father, King Terenas Menethil. Then a friend and I began discussing it and finally, comparing it to previous Warcraft trailers. We decided that it's lacking in content. I have seen all of Blizzard's cinematic trailers, for all their titles - heck, I even own the Blizzard Entertainment DVD Collection. This allows me to see the progression of their craft. Since the release of Diablo II, the technology, art, and design of their cinematics have always been groundbreaking. Especially the technology. But what is a cutscene without story? Arthas' turn in Warcraft III still resonates in my mind as one of the coolest things I have seen from the game industry. Was it an original twist? No, but the video's presentation made it amazing. But that comparison isn't entirely far. After all, that cutscene was just that, a cutscene. What I am actually discussing is a cinematic trailer, so let us compare apples to apples. In the original World of Warcraft trailer Blizzard introduced us to everything. The classes, the races, the setting, the landscape. The trailer told players what to expect - an epic struggle. The Burning Crusade cinematic featured a cocky Illidan Stormrage daring us to come out and do battle with him. Shortly after being told that "You are not prepared" the cinematic shifts gears, introducing the new playable races. What does the Wrath of the Lich King offer us? It shows Arthas crossing a frozen lake in Northrend shortly before he plunges Frostmourne into the ice. We see the release of a large dragon (probably Sindragosa) that then stirs Arthas' undead army as it passes overhead. An epic presentation but it doesn't lead us, or the story, on, as previous trailers did. Heck, even the Sunwell Plateau trailer (basically machinima) pushed the story forward. And where is the action that the other two presentations had? Sorry Blizzard, but for all you put into the presentation, you left the story at the door. I don't enjoy or expect the formulaic movie plot of build up, climax and close in my video game trailers. Your previous formula of slight build-up and a lot of climax always had me on the edge of my seat. Ultimately, those previous trailers lead me to want the game (which would present the close) that much more. Stream the trailer here, download the high resolution version for PC or Mac or an alternate mirror for streaming and download can be found at FileFront.

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