enydimon

Night Elf Mages: Revisited

2009-09-30T11:01:10Z

Alright, since this one is probably the most debated one, I feel it needs an entry of it's own.

Even with the explanations of how balance is important in Night Elf culture, that Malygos showed us the terrible things to come from trying to eradicate all mortal arcane users and the fact that we've never faced Deathwing at full power and no longer have the demon soul; it wasn't enough to convince skeptics. And I admit, I can understand it being hard to swallow because a lot of people still bring up the point, "Well arcane magic was banned for many many years." but it wasn't until I sat and watched a lore debate on the WoW forums that something clicked with me.

We're not looking at the big picture, guys. We're all missing a major point of the Warcraft story. There's a glaring bit of lore we're all forgetting that Blizzard has been aware of the entire time.

Can any of you tell me how the Warcraft story begins? I don't mean Warcraft I or the pre-existing Gods, I'm talking about how the Burning Legion came to Azeroth. It all started with the Night Elves.

Now, as the story goes, there were two types of elves back then. Night Elves and pretentious Highborne. Now, both these types of Elves dabbled in arcane, but it wasn't abuse of arcane that brought their demise itself, it was delving too deep into the Well of Eternity that caused it. Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion, was attracted to the Well of Eternity. It's then that Sargeras reaches out to Queen Azshara, Queen of the Elves, and promises her that he can make her dream of cleansing the world come true. Azshara pretty much adopts Sargeras like a God and starts her quest of trying to summon him into the world. This requires several phases to accomplish and from Sargeras' trickery, the first portal unleashes some of the Burning Legion. Of course, Azshara thinks this is wonderful because the beasts are cleansing her kingdom.

Fast forward a bit and we know that not all of Azshara's Highborn agreed with her and they escaped with Tyrande Whisperwind who was imprisoned. At the end of the battle and the sundering of Kalimdor begins, Azshara realizes that Sargeras wont come so she puts a protective spell around her palace. It's then she hears the voice that tells her there is another way to gain power. The spell collapses, Azshara braces herself to drown but she doesn't. Instead she turns into the Queen of the Naga.

At the end of all this, Malfurion becomes the ruler of the Elves. He doesn't ban arcane magic because it's addictive, that's too soon. The reason why Malfurion banned arcane magic is because the Burning Legion could detect it and would come for them again. In Malfurion's mind, if there was no Well of Eternity about, then there is no way they could be found. It was the Well itself that was a danger, not the magic. Though the Highborne pleaded to go back to their arcane ways, Malfurion refused. It was during this time they did not realize that arcane magic can be drawn from elsewhere and not just from the well. The Highborne were already too deep into the well's magic that a sudden withdrawal made them get the shakes. Dath'Remar, the leader of the Highborne, and the rest of his people cast spells all across Ashenvale out of this anger. It was this, not arcane use, but betrayal, that got them kicked out.

Around the time of the first war(WCI), the Burning Legion rears it's head up again, only this time through Medivh. Now Sargeras is targeting humans, who now wield magic just about as recklessly as the Elves once did. We all know how this ends.

When we get to the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, at the end Velen comes along and with the spark of M'uru, cleanses the Sunwell of Fel Magic and instead replaces it with The Light. Now it might be important to explain that Illidan was tainted with Fel Magic and that's why Malfurion didn't trust him. It wasn't regular arcane magic, it was Fel Magic.

So, even if the Night Elves never practise arcane magic again, it wouldn't help them. Several races practise it religiously and the Burning Legion will always come after them because of this. The only thing holding them back would be stigma, but it's been nine thousand years and they've had more than enough time to realize all this. Especially considering Queen Azshara has reared her ugly head back up again and the Highborne want revenge no doubt. I wouldn't put it passed the Night Elves to get revenge either.

In the end, the Highborne were kicked out because they betrayed their people(which seems to be a common theme with them) and the Night Elves are still pissy. And Malfurion banned arcane because of the Burning Legion and the Well of Eternity, not because he thought it was evil. Toss in crazy Malygos, Deathwing at full power and the hopelessness that even if they denied the Magisters the Burning Legion would still come for them... they aren't really in a position to get snooty.

Thoughts on Cataclysm: A Lore Guide.

2009-09-04T21:07:24Z

Yes, Cataclysm was announced ages ago and some of you probably were waiting for a response from me. Yes, I know, nerd journal...

Now I'm a lore junkie and like to think that I'm not biased toward Horde or Alliance. I've heard enough complaints about this expansion and have enough answers to create this sort of thing. Are you ready? Here we go!

Races and Racism

Goblins:

Most people's concerns about adding Goblins to the Horde is that they're a neutral party. This is where people are wrong. Just like there are many different factions and sects of the other races, there are different factions and sects for Goblins. The neutral Goblins belong to the Steamweadle Cartel. The playable Goblins are Bilgewater Cartel and they come from the island of Kezan. Now, even the Steamweadle Goblins favour the Horde. The Horde still uses their Zeppelins and Goblins still fly them. They're even found in Orgrimmar. The Bilgewater Goblin's have been happy to serve anyone, but we'll see why they've joined the Horde.

A good way to look at this is that the Steamweadle Cartel are the city boys and the Bilgewater Cartel's are the farm boys. The story goes that humans start attacking the Bilgewater Goblins and Horde come in to save them. With the Horde already having such a good history in the second wars and even now with the Goblins, it's no wonder that they'd want to join. This story is similar to the Warcraft III storyline where Thrall's Horde saves the Darkspear Trolls.

Worgen:

This one is going to be long because I've heard most of the complaints about this one. Why are Worgen on the Alliance? Why would the Alliance accept them? Shouldn't the Forsaken take them in?

If you had to ask any of these questions, you probably don't know your lore as well as you'd like to think you do.

First off, let's cover the Forsaken bit. If you've ever played a Horde character through the Silverpine Forest quests, you'll find you're killing a lot of Worgen, but you'll also notice that you're killing human villagers from Pyrewood Village. Now if you've ever rolled an Alliance character and were on your way to the Scarlet Monastery, you'd notice that these Pyrewood Villagers are friendly to the Alliance players but aggressive toward Horde players. At night these Pyrewood Villagers turn into Worgen. The story behind the Pyrewood Villagers is that Dalaran, which is apart of the Alliance, has been aiding those villagers. Yes, Dalaran is still apart of the Alliance, they are just allowing Horde to use their city because they know they need the help. So the Alliance has already been helping the humans afflicted by the Worgen curse and clearly have no racial problem against them.

Secondly, Genn Greymane is still alive and still leading. That guy loathes Orcs. After the Second War, he didn't want internment camps, he wanted to slaughter them all. So why would this guy, suddenly love Orcs? Why would he like the Forsaken if they've been slaughtering people with his affliction? Not mindless Worgen, not Arugal, not Duskwood, but Pyrewood Villagers who still have retained their humanity like Genn's people.

Third, I present to you The Scythe Of Elune. This scythe was blessed by Elune to summon Worgen into Azeroth that would follow Velinde Starsong's command to rid demons out of Felwood and Ashenvale. If you're Alliance and follow the chain you'll come to realize how Worgen come to appear in Duskwood.

In conclusion, the Worgen have more reason to stay with the Alliance and almost zero reason to go to the Horde. The Alliance isn't nearly as racist as people make them out to be.

New Classes! World History and Chemistry!

OK, so not really, but I really did enjoy World History in School.

Tauren Paladins and Priests:

Going to tackle the priest first. In WCIII there was a Tauren unit called The Spirit Walker.

"Mystical Tauren caster with Ethereal Form, which allows him to avoid physical damage. Believed to be the ill omen of a coming age, white Tauren are held in near reverence by their people, often becoming reclusive priests who wander the land in search of kindred spirits. Attacks land and air units."

Tauren Priests have been around since Warcraft III.

As for Paladins, The Light is not a religion. It is a philosophy, one that can be interpreted in many ways, as all philosophy can. The Light is all about the connection between yourself and the universe in it's basic form. Sound familiar to you? As long as a Paladin feels his cause is just, The Light will always aid him, even if he is considered by most, evil. Now, Tauren are a literally down-to-Earth race. It'd be no surprise to me that the Tauren would find appeal in being one with the Universe. On top of that, these Paladins will be called Sun Walkers, sound familiar? If a Spirit Walker is a Priest, then that means they hold the philosphy of The Light in some form, therefore a Sun Walker would not be far off from a Spirit Walker and therefore I see the connection of the Tauren wanting to take it to the next step.

Dwarf Shamans:

Are already in game by the form of Wildhammer Dwarves. Considering they're still aiding the Alliance, it wouldn't be beyond them to share their knowledge with their cousins.

Troll Druids:

This is a lesser complained about combination, but I'm going to tackle it. Other Troll races have take power from animal Gods and are able to shift forms. It wouldn't be beyond the Darkspears to consider the path the Tauren Druids have taken without being corrupted. Case in point, Trolls have shown they can shape shift and have also thrown away cannibalism and voodoo when they joined the Horde.

Night Elf Mages:

I know a lot of people are flipping out over this one. But it's still canon and it does work out. First of all, not every Night Elf that became a Mage turned into a High Elf(See: Illidan.) There have been Night Elf Mages around since Vanilla WoW. Where? Dire Maul. While the Night Elves had good reason to get rid of Arcane magic, they've also seen that through Malygos there is an even bigger danger in pushing away Arcane magic than there is allowing it. Obviously the Night Elves have also become more open to Arcane magic if they joined the Alliance which has a heavy population of Mages. Warlocks, aside from the Forsaken, are pretty much unpopular with all the races who have them, could not the same thing be said for Mages? A necessary evil. Not only that, but like the Tauren Paladins, a Highbourne is trying to get into council with Tyrande so they can reintroduce Mages because something big is going to happen.

BAM! Catacylsm! Night Elves were worried Mages were going to blow up the world if they kept them in, not Deathwing. So, if the Night Elves are chummy with the Alliance that have a lot of Mages, they've seen what rejecting Arcane magic can do by Malygos and it was Deathwing to do what they feared, then they have no reason to deny Mages back in. They need them.

Blood Elf Warriors:

... Why are people complaining about this? The only reason why Blizz didn't give them Warriors was because of class balance, not lore. I point you to Warcraft III where you can find Spell Breakers, which are Warriors and probably one of the most notable and iconic Blood Elf Class there is. And as Blizz has said, any race can pick up a sword and fight.

But there are RETCONS!

No there isn't. There isn't a single retcon in all of Cataclysm.

Lore is what happens in the past, not the future. A retcon is when they go back, insert someone that wasn't there before or change something in thepast. None of that has happened in Catacylsm, but what is happening is that they're moving the story forward and adding story progression in the present time. There are explanations coming with all this and they're even being implemented in the game. Blizz isn't just going to dump the story on you, they're writing it out as we speak. You don't have to like where the storyline is going, but it's not a retcon.

Conclusion

People will whine over anything. Thankfully, these people seem to be a minority and most lore junkies like me have been happy with the changes and know that they make sense. A lot of people who complain about what's happening in Cataclysm by saying it's lore breaking don't seem to have a solid understanding of the lore. It's kind of ridiculous if you ask me that people who don't have a strong understanding of lore try to say something is lore breaking when they probably don't know much about it to argue it on that level.

But if you're someone who still thinks Cataclysm is lore breaking and my text is lost on your eyes or you don't like how the story is going then consider this:

"Lore is fluid. The only fixed Lore in the game is to make money for company to keep people employed and stockholders happy. Everything will be changed to accomplish the first two things.

Once you realize this you will either enjoy the game for what it is or decide to move on to a game that you think keeps lore protected until you find out they are all about making money also."

In BC they botched the lore, in WoTLK they learned from their mistakes, and in Cataclysm they're doing an even better job. I, for one, am excited for this expansion.

-Eny

World Of Warcraft: The Molten Core

2008-11-06T17:26:31Z

No, I don't mean the trading card game either.

Do any of you WoW fans remember the April Fool's joke Blizzard pulled this year? If not, you can find it here to get caught up: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/moltencore/

Pretty funny, right? In a sense, it was poking fun at raiders and long time players who have stepped in the raid instance Molten Core long ago. Many players have expressed their fond memories of the instance, even if tedious, and that they wish they were able to do it again. Of course, some people still do anyway.

Some people fell for this trick, others did not but wished it were real. A forumer named Tiros says,
"Many of you remember (or I hope some of you remember) April of this year when Blizzard teased us with a version of Molten Core lightyears ahead of its time. Yes... I'm talking about World of Warcraft: The Molten Core. I was so excited when I saw the announcement. The video... the screenshots... the word Epic could not describe it. Then I realized what day it was... and my excitement was pounded... to the ground."

Many shared the same feelings as Tiros. Just look at those graphics, the game play and even the sound is worthy of a soundtrack of it's own right!

Look at this fabulous start screen! The details and the colours are just so deep!

And the character selection screen is even better!

Check out this awesome gameplay! I have truly never seen anything more exciting than this.

Now, I know you're telling yourself, "Why isn't it real?! Why can't I play this?" Well don't lose hope just yet because hear what else Tiros has to say.

"But then I sought out to give you, the World of Warcraft community, and fans across the world who wanted to take names in Molten Core ATARI-style, justice. And so I present a recreation of just that: World of Warcraft: The Molten Core!"

That's right, Tiros has done the unthinkable and programmed World of Warcraft: The Molten Core!

Here are the links you can download it at:
http://www.box.net/shared/22irpmtmce
http://hosted.filefront.com/tirosmc

Cramped toes and a laptop

2007-07-20T20:07:22Z

Ever had a cramped foot before? I bet you know how much they hurt, so how about a cramped toe?

Last night I happened to run into that experience and I can tell you it hurts 10x worse. When you bend your toes, they're all supposed to bend together. Now imagine only your big toe is bent down and is stuck like that. It looked like it was broken.

I wanted to take a picture of it but it went back into place. It actually went back into place twice. I just saw it move on its own back and I was thinking it was over. Then I see it move down into the cramp and it hurt even worse. The thing is, I couldn't touch it, massage it or stretch it because every time I did, the other side of my foot would cramp up.

I wish I had a picture of it. Sure, it hurt a lot but it looked cool.

Yesterday we got a laptop. My dad has been wanting one for a long time :P

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.grp?lg=en§ion=1&group=1&product=7030&category=
Its got vista, which I haven't had a chance to experiment with. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Video games improve eyesight

2007-03-19T19:34:06Z

Video games seem to be the next medical therapy. At this rate, we'll have a video game to solve everything.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/studyplayingvideogamesimproveseyesight

Christmas Time

2006-12-23T04:57:56Z

It's almost Christmas time!

And that means sugar cookies with icing and milk!
And if you know me, you know I have a rather large sweet tooth...
COOKIES!!!

Hey

2006-10-06T22:55:12Z

I decided to get a journal here. I think a site specifically for this is a good idea for me.

Well, I'll just get working on customizing this thing.

-Eny