Category Archives: horde

Breakfast Topic: What secondary character would you promote to a leading role?

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It's become sort of an undercurrent in a lot of WoW lore discussion lately that not everyone is happy with their leaders. Varian is too angry and doesn't do anything. Jaina's an appeaser and a crybaby. Malfurion's a jerk. Sylvanas is so evil that she makes Arthas look like a little puppy.

Of course, Blizzard has a whole new expansion coming soon, so we may just see more from these leaders that could change our minds -- or at least let us accept their story arcs. That said, what if Blizzard took an opposite tack? What if it just either killed off the leaders or swept them to the side and let other characters step up to drive the narrative going forward?

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Breakfast Topic: What secondary character would you promote to a leading role? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GuildOx shares the most popular Alliance and Horde names by race

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Last week, GuildOx shared with WoW Insider the top 10 character names by class in World of Warcraft based on the new data pulled from Blizzard's awesome new APIs and information sharing services. If you're not familiar with GuildOx, these guys catalog and rank top progression guilds in WoW and parse lots of cool information. Now, GuildOx is back with the top 10 names by race and faction, proving that the era of creating punny names on World of Warcraft is far from over. We'll first take a look at the Alliance races and then hit up the Horde.

Human
  • Palatinus
  • Percivale
  • Tyrael
  • Fordragon
  • Thrasius
  • Crixxus
  • Sangrial
  • Gavinrad
  • Dalson
  • Kikyo
Human names are tough to "pun up," as it were, because they are pretty much just us. Would you name your own children with punny-sounding names or ironic references to video games? Actually, don't answer that -- some of you with kids named Donkey Kong are going to get mad at me. Actually, when I do have a daughter and I name her Samus, I'll come back and read this paragraph and regret everything I've ever said.

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GuildOx shares the most popular Alliance and Horde names by race originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: "Blizzard’s Horde bias" — fact or delusion?

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Alliance and Horde crests
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

It seems every week on the official forums, other game sites, and in daily conversation in Azeroth or Earth, the topic comes up that Blizzard favors the Horde. When the claim is directed toward lore development, even Horde players sometimes agree. But is there merit to the accusation?

Chris Metzen admits he loves Thrall and gets excited talking about the Orc's story, but he's also named Malfurion Stormrage as his favorite character in the past. Developers incite cheers of Lok'tar Ogar and For the Horde! at BlizzCon while suggesting Not the face! for the Alliance's new battlecry.

Most of this, however, is not where players look for their sole source of faction pride. It's in the game. The Horde's story has gotten very interesting with Sylvanas' darker path, Garrosh's controversial leadership, and Thrall's place on center stage in Cataclysm. The Alliance, however, has seen very little involvement from its leaders, and some players feel what they have seen has been out of character for their leaders. Malfurion neutral as Ashenvale burns -- or worse, as Tyrande is attacked?

Perhaps the strongest supporting evidence for or against bias (depending how you interpret it) are Metzen's recent comments that the Alliance will get some needed attention to strengthen that faction pride in two novels focusing on the Alliance, first with Wolfheart by Richard Knaack, followed by a still-untitled novel about Jaina Proudmoore by Christie Golden. But is that enough?

Do you think novels will stir the passion in the Alliance players' hearts, or is Blizzard going down the wrong path for the right desire? Do you think there's any merit to the claim of bias to begin with, or is it just more faction feuding amongst players?

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Breakfast Topic: "Blizzard's Horde bias" -- fact or delusion? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First chapter of new Wolfheart novel free to read

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Varian Wrynn
The Sept. 13 publication date of Wolfheart, the newest WoW novel written by Richard Knaak, draws ever closer. We know surprisingly little about it at the moment. We know that it will take place on Kalimdor but will focus on King Varian Wrynn and his relationship with the wolf spirit Goldrinn and the new members of the Alliance, the Worgen. If you're eager for more information though, you're in luck. Shelfari, a book wiki run by Amazon.com, has the first chapter of the book available to read.

Click here for your free sample chapter and choose the Read First Chapter Free button below the picture of the book cover on the left side of the page. You'll be able to read the first chapter, as well as the chapter titles for the book (by pushing the back arrow on the pages). There are going to be a lot of spoilers in both the chapter names and the chapter itself, of course, so read at your own risk. For a quick (spoiler-filled) summary and a discussion of the possibilities, check after the break.

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First chapter of new Wolfheart novel free to read originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Lawbringer: Mailbag 5.0

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Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play?

Oh my, look at the time. Mailbag-o'clock already? That means we have questions to answer! If you'd like to send me a question for The Lawbringer, point a message from your email client of choice to mat@wowinsider.com with something having to do with Lawbringer in the title and ask away. This week, we've got some fun questions to go through.

Our first email comes from Lee, who wants to know if the Diablo 3 currency trading on the real-money Auction House could ever be big enough for a foreign currency exchange-type of marketplace for Diablo gold.

Lee asked:

You've talked at length about gold farming and the repercussion of gold farming in mmos. Much of it is related to currency trading. You've pointed out that Diablo's new model of selling cash on the auction house will eliminate gold farming and selling as we know it by creating gold to blizzard dollar currency exchange. Do you think we'll see the development of Forex style black box trading, using a Trading API add-on most likely?

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The Lawbringer: Mailbag 5.0 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: Did changing factions change how you play?

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I've had both Horde and Alliance alts throughout my time playing World of Warcraft, of course. With the exception of the Forsaken, I've always viewed the Horde as more or less morally equivalent with the Alliance. Sure, there were some things that bugged me, like naming the capital city of the Horde after Orgrim Doomhammer, a guy who enslaved the dragonqueen Alexstrasza and who went along with Gul'dan even though the warlock in question murdered his best friend and best friend's wife. But these were minor hiccups, and I especially loved the tauren, having leveled both a DK and warrior tauren to level 80 in the Wrath years.

Ironically, although I was somewhat negatively inclined towards Garrosh Hellscream, it wasn't until I switched factions on my main to play Horde with a new guild (and an excellent one, to be sure) that I started really, really hating the Horde. Every quest I've gotten so far on my main or my two leveling alts Hordeside has involved murdering people and stealing their land simply because I could (or because a guy using an axe I outgrew 15 levels ago says I should).

But it's done more than make me dislike the faction I'm playing. Paradoxically, it's made me fight really, really hard for that faction. I PVP a lot more now than I ever did when I was playing a worgen personally offended by what happened to Gilneas. For some reason, being in the Horde makes the semi-military feel of battleground PVP seem more like it has a point to me, as if I'd expect to find myself there. I'm more aggressive as a Horde player. My paladin has run through Desolace and now Feralas with abandon, thinking nothing of doing quests that massacre entire Alliance settlements for the crime of trying to continue to exist. For all that I often decry the Horde and its current Warchief, I'm certainly also part of the problem, because I'm the one doing the quests. I am the unprovoked fist of the Horde, crushing innocents and stealing their homes. Granted, I'm not known for my stability, but I have to wonder if anyone else has experienced this.

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Breakfast Topic: Did changing factions change how you play? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Transmogrification and the dismissal of the silhouette theory

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Blizzard recently announced at the Gamescom gaming convention in Germany that patch 4.3 is coming, and it's coming on strong. With brand new features like a separate bank for your old gear, a transmogrification NPC who can change the look of your gear, and even Deathwing himself as a raid, patch 4.3 opens up a ton of possibilities for the future of World of Warcraft that we might not have seen coming.

For me, the most stark change that patch 4.3 is bringing about is not a change to the systems or gameplay, but a philosophical change at the heart of World of Warcraft that spells out some of the potential big announcements that might be coming our way during BlizzCon.

Transmogrification is bigger as a philosophical leap than we think, and here's how.

The silhouette theory

World of Warcraft's factions are rooted in an idea called silhouette recognition. What this means is that you can easily tell who your friends or enemies are based on their aesthetic look. The reason there are no "humans" on the Horde side is because Blizzard wants you, as a Horde player, to point out a human on the battlefield. The same goes for every race. No two sides have races that feature identical silhouettes. This is even the reason worgen are forced into their bestial forms in combat -- players need to know that you're a worgen.

This goes for gear as well. Blizzard practically invented the gear tier system in raiding and made it so your two most prominent pieces, shoulders and headpieces, were the sought-after marks of power and prestige, and a physical reminder of player accomplishment. My shoulders currently tell you that I've been to the Firelands, killed many bosses, and taken their stuff. My silhouette is instantly recognizable as a raider who is geared and powerful.

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Transmogrification and the dismissal of the silhouette theory originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard debuts new products at San Diego Comic-Con

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Blizzard's Chris Metzen graced the floors of the San Diego Comic-Con today to talk Blizzard licensing partners and show off some awesome new merchandise coming this year featuring Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo wares. Diablo merchandies looks to include knee-high Diablo socks, a Diablo face belt, new shirts, and two hoodies modeled after Diablo's demon hunter class and the angel Tyrael.

StarCraft's line is expanding with new shirts, a first look at the MegaBloks Viking, a leather wallet, and StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres, which has been confirmed by Metzen to be a novelization of StarCraft: Ghost, the game that was and then never was.

Warcraft's wares continue along a familiar path with a slew of new T-shirts as well as what appears to be a beverage called the Forsaken Elixir of Undead ... I really have no idea, since it's most likely a joke slide. Metzen also previewed the covers for the forthcoming original graphic novels Horde and Alliance, coming out later this year.

[Thanks, Kotaku, for the tip and images.]

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Blizzard debuts new products at San Diego Comic-Con originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: Let’s make up our own WoW holidays

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One of the biggest issues that I have with holidays in World of Warcraft is that they mirror our own holidays in the real world and give them the ol' World of Warcraft spin. I am of the opinion that Blizzard should create a truly unique in-game holiday that does not have its roots in our traditional celebrations. Two holidays would need to be created -- one for the Horde and one for the Alliance.

We already quasi-have this to a small degree with World of Warcraft's heroes. Some quests during the Harvest Festival over on the Horde side of things, for instance, have us visit Grom Hellscream's monument and pay tribute to his sacrifice in removing the orcish blood curse. I think we could have two faction-specific holidays that show off the Warcraft history without being spiritual dopplegangers to real life events.

For the Alliance, a holiday could be created to honor the sacrifices of the men and women who charged through the Dark Portal and destroyed the other side, leaving them stranded on Draenor for what appeared to be forever. Nethergarde Keep could be the site of the holiday, as Alliance players go to pay their respects at the site of one of the bravest acts of heroism the Alliance exhibited in the war against the Legion-dominated Horde.

For the Horde, players could partake in some sort of release from bondage day, since at some point all of the races that currently make up the Horde were enslaved either physically; through addiction, like the blood elves; or through conflict, like the tauren. Rather than be a holiday wishing for the destruction of slavers, this time would be of appreciating the relative freedom that the races of the Horde now enjoy.

What do you think some in-game holiday, unique to the game world and lore, be? Would you like to see Blizzard make up actual in-game holidays instead of following by our own cultural moments?

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Breakfast Topic: Let's make up our own WoW holidays originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RC car enthusiast shows his Horde pride

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WoW Insider reader Rene is an RC racing enthusiast and Horde at heart. He sent us some awesome pictures of his Mugen Seiki MBX-5T RC racer done up in true Horde fashion. I have no idea how you would get a tauren behind these wheels, however. After taking an extended WoW break, Rene picked up RC car racing as a hobby and, well, I think the above shot says all that needs to be said.

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RC car enthusiast shows his Horde pride originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 12 May 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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