- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
- Messages
- 7
Blizzcast had a huge show with J. Allen Brack and Jeff Kaplan who are the production director and lead game designer, respectively, and later with Chris Metzen the senior vice president of creative development. Many interesting things to note here..
-They mentioned that they were working on World of Warcraft at the same time they were completing Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and Northrend was one of the prototype zones that they first worked on. It was considered for the first expansion before they decided on visiting Outland first in the Burning Crusade.
-They discussed the idea of creating the new hero class for WOTLK, narrowing the ideas down to a Necromancer, which would have acted as a ranged caster, the Runemaster which would have played a melee role like a rogue or monk, but ultimately decided on the Death Knight, incorporating some ideas together ("Corpse Explosion" was originally planned for the Necromancer).
-They are asked what was the major lessons learned from the first expansion. One was the mistake of having only one starting zone (Hellfire Peninsula), and in WOTLK you have the choice of two zones. Another thing was having the villain be more involved. In WOTLK you will encounter Arthas several times before you even get to Icecrown, while in the Burning Crusade players would only encounter Illidan in the Black Temple.
-They discuss the new "phasing" system and explain that it was designed to allow better storytelling and that the expansion is meant to have three acts, with the Angrathar cut-scene and Battle for Undercity being the finale of the first act, and the story will be continued in upcoming patches.
-They confirm that a Ulduar raid is coming soon.
-They wrap up their bit talking about how there is more to cover in future expansions once the Arthas story is wrapped up, hinting at Deathwing and Sargeras, specifically.
-Chris Metzen discusses what has changed in the story since the Burning Crusade and talks about the return of Varian Wrynn who has no love for the Horde and will re-ignite tensions between the Alliance and Horde.
-He says that they really wanted to put Arthas in your face, to make him feel like a personal enemy, like you have something at stake there. They wanted to ramp up tensions between the factions and says that while we may ultimately defeat the Lich King, it will be very costly for the forces.
-He mentions the old god Yogg-Saron and hints that there may be a connection between him and the Lich King. The story of the old gods will not end in Northrend.
-The Dragonflights and their current role is discussed. Metzen talks about how they have all been distracted. That there is a "nightmare" within the Emerald Dream that has kept Ysera distracted, that Malygos lost his sanity for a long time, how Nozdormu has been missing and the Bronze Dragonflight struggling to keep the timeline in place, and how the Black Dragonflight has been corrupted and veered from its true purpose. He hints at their being an unseen force that has been manipulating things to destabilize or bring ruin to the dragonflights that were originally empowered to protect the world. He says that it seems awfully timely how their conflicts coincide with the Lich King's war and says that all of this will be explored a little further down the road.
-They discuss Medivh and whether there are plans to bring him back anytime soon. Metzen says they don't want to end up like X-Men comics and the character of Phoenix who returns every couple of years (although he is an X-Men fan). He strongly hints that they will return to the "Order of Tirisfal" story again and that it would be interesting to have the guardian not be a human.
-He discusses Varian, Thrall, the Wrathgate event and the Battle for Undercity. The event created tension not only between the Horde and Alliance but within the Horde itself. It was questionable for Thrall to take the Forsaken into the Horde many years ago because of potential situations like this. He says that Jaina won't have much success negotiating peace, which will be heartbreaking to her because she knows Thrall and knows that he is a noble guy. Thrall is watching how things are playing out and the stability of the Horde is tearing away and that is terrifying him.
-Metzen says there is a lot planned for the Order of the Ebon Blade (the Death Knight faction) and how they get along with the Argent Crusade and Paladins.
-They mentioned that they were working on World of Warcraft at the same time they were completing Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and Northrend was one of the prototype zones that they first worked on. It was considered for the first expansion before they decided on visiting Outland first in the Burning Crusade.
-They discussed the idea of creating the new hero class for WOTLK, narrowing the ideas down to a Necromancer, which would have acted as a ranged caster, the Runemaster which would have played a melee role like a rogue or monk, but ultimately decided on the Death Knight, incorporating some ideas together ("Corpse Explosion" was originally planned for the Necromancer).
-They are asked what was the major lessons learned from the first expansion. One was the mistake of having only one starting zone (Hellfire Peninsula), and in WOTLK you have the choice of two zones. Another thing was having the villain be more involved. In WOTLK you will encounter Arthas several times before you even get to Icecrown, while in the Burning Crusade players would only encounter Illidan in the Black Temple.
-They discuss the new "phasing" system and explain that it was designed to allow better storytelling and that the expansion is meant to have three acts, with the Angrathar cut-scene and Battle for Undercity being the finale of the first act, and the story will be continued in upcoming patches.
-They confirm that a Ulduar raid is coming soon.
-They wrap up their bit talking about how there is more to cover in future expansions once the Arthas story is wrapped up, hinting at Deathwing and Sargeras, specifically.
-Chris Metzen discusses what has changed in the story since the Burning Crusade and talks about the return of Varian Wrynn who has no love for the Horde and will re-ignite tensions between the Alliance and Horde.
-He says that they really wanted to put Arthas in your face, to make him feel like a personal enemy, like you have something at stake there. They wanted to ramp up tensions between the factions and says that while we may ultimately defeat the Lich King, it will be very costly for the forces.
-He mentions the old god Yogg-Saron and hints that there may be a connection between him and the Lich King. The story of the old gods will not end in Northrend.
-The Dragonflights and their current role is discussed. Metzen talks about how they have all been distracted. That there is a "nightmare" within the Emerald Dream that has kept Ysera distracted, that Malygos lost his sanity for a long time, how Nozdormu has been missing and the Bronze Dragonflight struggling to keep the timeline in place, and how the Black Dragonflight has been corrupted and veered from its true purpose. He hints at their being an unseen force that has been manipulating things to destabilize or bring ruin to the dragonflights that were originally empowered to protect the world. He says that it seems awfully timely how their conflicts coincide with the Lich King's war and says that all of this will be explored a little further down the road.
-They discuss Medivh and whether there are plans to bring him back anytime soon. Metzen says they don't want to end up like X-Men comics and the character of Phoenix who returns every couple of years (although he is an X-Men fan). He strongly hints that they will return to the "Order of Tirisfal" story again and that it would be interesting to have the guardian not be a human.
-He discusses Varian, Thrall, the Wrathgate event and the Battle for Undercity. The event created tension not only between the Horde and Alliance but within the Horde itself. It was questionable for Thrall to take the Forsaken into the Horde many years ago because of potential situations like this. He says that Jaina won't have much success negotiating peace, which will be heartbreaking to her because she knows Thrall and knows that he is a noble guy. Thrall is watching how things are playing out and the stability of the Horde is tearing away and that is terrifying him.
-Metzen says there is a lot planned for the Order of the Ebon Blade (the Death Knight faction) and how they get along with the Argent Crusade and Paladins.
