Blizzcon 2019 Opening Ceremony

[Verb8im]

Is there a video from the Warcraft audio panel yet? It required a virtual ticket, but I'm sure somebody will upload it

 

[Rui]

Blizzcon 2019 Opening Ceremony

Ok, I've figured it out. It's on Nov 2, you just need to use the bar at the bottom of the div, and scroll to the far right.

 

[deepstrasz]

@Augustus

From the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction manual:

Spoiler

Muscles are legit but still I think they're too big

---

K guys, want to make some things clear before we start playing Diablo IV.

Lore but not from outside the games.

Stuff about Lilith:
The Writings of Lilith (Diablo III)

About Inarius:
The Testament of Inarius (Diablo III)

Spoiler: from the Diablo manual

I've also attached the manuals for the first two games so you'd know the background of mostly everything important to the franchise/universe.
Damn, Chris Vincent Metzen was such a good writer, even with that simplicity. Concise, informative and intriguing. Much for imagination and speculation, little for plot holes (well, except between sequels; mostly retconns though).

No mention of Inarius in Diablo II's manuals, neither of Lilith (even in the first Diablo manual).
Basically Inarius was some sort of Lucifer in the first game's story.

The point I'm making is that they should explain the gaps in Diablo IV, not in outside material like books, comics, whatever not related to the games directly like the manuals.

---

@Archian

Spoiler

---

Too bad no Chris the Man appearance this year :\ Well, there's still time

 

[Mr.Goblin]

I'll be honest. I like everything about Diablo4 ... but I don't feel the same energy of dread and mystery, then the first 2. Like.... completly pitchblack areas with only your character that has light. and the terrain reveals itself as you move along. I feel like we see waaaaaaay to much around the characters in the darker areas

 

[HerrDave]

^ The Goblin gets it!

 

[Razorclaw_X]

I'll be honest. I like everything about Diablo4 ... but I don't feel the same energy of dread and mystery, then the first 2. Like.... completly pitchblack areas with only your character that has light. and the terrain reveals itself as you move along. I feel like we see waaaaaaay to much around the characters in the darker areas

View attachment 336411

Diablo was never that dark in the first place unless your brightness was set that low on your monitor (or your monitor was aging, where it would become darker naturally)

 

[HerrDave]

Yu wot?

Spoiler

 

[Death Adder]

Honestly everything about Diablo IV looks great and promising, except the actual gameplay footage...


Love that they brought back talent tree like in D2, the darker tone (honestly I'm really surprised since blood and gore is seemingly illegal in China), etc. but the one (and only) thing D3 got right was how fluid, crisp, and responsive the gameplay was. It just "feel" good to play D3,

Like don't get me wrong, Barbarian looked like it would play smoothly, but the Druid... the concept is nice but as far as I could tell the Druid appears to be a clunky mess. Not sure about the Sorceress.



Also, I do like open world, I'm generally not a fan of linear stages. However, if the game is open world, then I'm guessing that enemies will also be level scaling in the game—which I absolutely abhor. Because level scaling is completely antithetical to RPGs, if there's level scaling then there's no point to have the player character level up in the first place...

 

[A Void]

Why is Lilith holding Diablo's skull? I mean, is that even existing anymore? Guess Malthael only cared about the rock.

All in all, I hope it's not a Diablo II reboot.

Is that really Diablo's skull? I think it may her father's - Mephisto.

 

[Ardenaso]

Guess Bolvar got fat and out of shape sitting on that throne all those years that Sylvanas could single-handed get through all defenses and defeat the couch potato.

If I'm not mistaken Sylvanas made some deal with something Helya and Aszhara and whatnot and gained some powers like she made some power blast to Saurfang that fried him. Then Bolvar didn't have Frostmourne with him and Arthas/Ner'zhul's wills were dead.

Still shitty writing though

 

[deepstrasz]

I'll be honest. I like everything about Diablo4 ... but I don't feel the same energy of dread and mystery, then the first 2. Like.... completly pitchblack areas with only your character that has light. and the terrain reveals itself as you move along. I feel like we see waaaaaaay to much around the characters in the darker areas

Yeah, but that would kill more of the environment which is eye candy. Besides, you need to see spells and ranged projectiles coming toward you as well as the ranged monsters casting them.
Don't worry. It's not even the beta version.

Love that they brought back talent tree like in D2, the darker tone (honestly I'm really surprised since blood and gore is seemingly illegal in China), etc. but the one (and only) thing D3 got right was how fluid, crisp, and responsive the gameplay was. It just "feel" good to play D3,

Just hope they keep the DIII spell switch system. I'd hate to start over with the same class only to try the other spells out.

Also, I do like open world, I'm generally not a fan of linear stages. However, if the game is open world, then I'm guessing that enemies will also be level scaling in the game—which I absolutely abhor. Because level scaling is completely antithetical to RPGs, if there's level scaling then there's no point to have the player character level up in the first place...

I guess it's the idea of choosing where to start from, not having to play zone by zone in a linear fashion.

Is that really Diablo's skull? I think it may her father's - Mephisto.

Thought about it too but Mephisto's horns were not bent like Diablo's. Lilith didn't have such a good relationship with Mephisto soon after meeting Inarius.
Would the main villain reside in the Zakarum dungeons like Mephisto then? Assuming the skull is still there as we don't know what happened to the place after DII('s Act III).
Maybe Diablo's skull is important because it harnessed the black soul stone's energies of all those evils?

If I'm not mistaken Sylvanas made some deal with something Helya and Aszhara and whatnot and gained some powers like she made some power blast to Saurfang that fried him. Then Bolvar didn't have Frostmourne with him and Arthas/Ner'zhul's wills were dead.

I don't know if it's necessarily bad writing but it's forced.

On second thought, that destruction of the helm was... really... awkward. I mean, Sylvanas can destroy anything.
What's with the chain creating arrows? For me, Warcraft has become too fantasy to the point of below 16years old cartoons.

 

[Venombite]

Have they revealed the release date for Warcraft III Reforged? Or anything about it? There is basically nothing on wowhead. The only thing I care about this Blizzcon, I don't care about the Shadowlands tbh, I do love the Cinematic, but that's about it.

 

[Ardenaso]

Have they revealed the release date for Warcraft III Reforged? Or anything about it? There is basically nothing on wowhead. The only thing I care about this Blizzcon, I don't care about the Shadowlands tbh, I do love the Cinematic, but that's about it.

Should be around within 24 hours today. I'm too lazy to check our time zones

 

[Blackcat]

Have they revealed the release date for Warcraft III Reforged? Or anything about it? There is basically nothing on wowhead. The only thing I care about this Blizzcon, I don't care about the Shadowlands tbh, I do love the Cinematic, but that's about it.

The Reforged panel is 11 hours from now, I believe. Grubby is hosting it.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Here's a very handy schedule that auto-converts to your time zone and has a nice countdown to all the panels.

Blizzcon 2019

If you don't have a Virtual Ticket, you will most likely find a recap of the Reforged panel either on Wowhead or MMOChampion

 

[kyle18]

Warcraft 3: Reforged’s story won’t be retconned by WoW after all


Terribly disappointed from Blizzard. Some probably wanted nothing to change, but I wish I had the choice between the old campaign and a reforged campaign. What it offers us is nothing more than a resource pack that has actually made the original game unstable by the updates.

I would have loved to see the new Silvermoon ;w;

 

[deepstrasz]

Terribly disappointed from Blizzard. Some probably wanted nothing to change, but I wish I had the choice between the old campaign and a reforged campaign. What it offers us is nothing more than a resource pack that has actually made the original game unstable by the updates.

They were referring to character dialogues and stuff. I'm quite sure the looks of characters, campaigns (+loading screen maps) will be WoWified.

 

[A Void]

They were referring to character dialogues and stuff. I'm quite sure the looks of characters, campaigns (+loading screen maps) will be WoWified.

He wasn't talking about the looks or art style direction of characters. He meant the story line, it will stay the same.

Warcraft 3: Reforged’s story won’t be retconned by WoW after all


Terribly disappointed from Blizzard. Some probably wanted nothing to change, but I wish I had the choice between the old campaign and a reforged campaign. What it offers us is nothing more than a resource pack that has actually made the original game unstable by the updates.

I would have loved to see the new Silvermoon ;w;

I'm also disappointed. I wanted to see more character development. Now it's just a reskin... damn. The real reason is probably money, they'll need more time and money to revoice characters and put a new story line.


Also this is how Mephisto looks like in Diablo 3 Concept Art:

Lilith is holding her fathers skull, or at least it looks like it...

 

[deepstrasz]

He wasn't talking about the looks or art style direction of characters. He meant the story line, it will stay the same.

That's what I implied. But he did mention seeing places. And I'm sure Quel'thalas will look similar to WoW's.

I'm also disappointed. I wanted to see more character development. Now it's just a reskin... damn.

Yeah, a WoW influenced reskin, lol, to some extent at least.

Also this is how Mephisto looks like in Diablo 3 Concept Art:

That explains it.
That picture is from external material.

 

[A Void]

That explains it.
That picture is from external material.

Maybe she's planning to revive her father?

 

[Venombite]

I would have loved to see the new Silvermoon ;w;

If I understood right, you will see the new Silvermoon, and Dalaran and Stratholm etc... They are just gonna keep the original storyline, like they won't mention that Jaina is a princess, Muridan will die(shown dying), Illidan will be shown dying.
I too would like the WoW retconns in Reforged, but it was obviously cut for budget reasons. I mean I wouldn't like to see Maiev and Illidan fighting by the giant Arcane dome, though it would be hilarious, but I would like the explanation on how doesn't Maiev know about a 10 000 year old top secret Warden Jail on the islands, and Tyrande about the most sacred temple of Elune, and Malfurion about the holiest site of the Druids etc...And some creeps from WoW, why not?

 

[deepstrasz]

Maybe she's planning to revive her father?

...
Anything is possible now since DIII's black soulstone, that's really too bad.

In DII Mephisto's soulstone was destroyed meaning the demon should not be appearing anymore.
Besides, it's silly. It's a skull. Demons need live hosts not a dead body.

Possibly, it's a sort of Hamlet Yorick thing.

 

[Ardenaso]

Warcraft 3: Reforged’s story won’t be retconned by WoW after all

Hopefully just the "story", or else that Stratholme trailer, Anasterian, Thalorien, etc. will be null and void

Muridan will die(shown dying)

To be fair, there was NO blood spilled when he was "killed", making people free to speculate that he was just knocked out

I too would like the WoW retconns in Reforged, but it was obviously cut for budget reasons. I mean I wouldn't like to see Maiev and Illidan fighting by the giant Arcane dome, though it would be hilarious

Rhonin raised Dalaran sometime after WC3.

If you meant Suramar, it was also made so it was hidden from view, I think. Also, Maiev landed on the Broken Shore, which was far enough from the Vault of the Wardens and Suramar City itself

 

[deepstrasz]

Hopefully just the "story", or else that Stratholme trailer, Anasterian, Thalorien, etc. will be null and void

Hopefully, just the overall story. Those characters just being there as eye candy will not create a new gameplay experience.

To be fair, there was NO blood spilled when he was "killed", making people free to speculate that he was just knocked out

Muradin not dying, totally makes the scene void. Period. The idea was sacrificing everything/anything to get the power needed to do what Arthas thought would be greater good.

 

[Venombite]

Hopefully just the "story", or else that Stratholme trailer, Anasterian, Thalorien, etc. will be null and void



To be fair, there was NO blood spilled when he was "killed", making people free to speculate that he was just knocked out



Rhonin raised Dalaran sometime after WC3.

If you meant Suramar, it was also made so it was hidden from view, I think. Also, Maiev landed on the Broken Shore, which was far enough from the Vault of the Wardens and Suramar City itself

Tomb of Sargeras was part of the Suramar palace. And Maiev should know about the Vault of the Wardens in every way.

 

[deepstrasz]

Tomb of Sargeras was part of the Suramar palace. And Maiev should know about the Vault of the Wardens in every way.

What Vault of the Wardens? That's a WoW retcon, not Warcraft III's concern at all.
The concern is how does Maiev understand orc runes?

 

[Venombite]

What Vault of the Wardens? That's a WoW retcon.

Vault of the Wardens

 

[Feng Shui]

D4 is actually looking pretty fucking good. Get a load of them tzimisce meat curtains.

 

[A Void]

What Vault of the Wardens? That's a WoW retcon, not Warcraft III's concern at all.
The concern is how does Maiev understand orc runes?

Those weren't orc runes, they were just general runes, similar to the ones we see in Dalaran and Cityscape tilesets.

 

[deepstrasz]

Vault of the Wardens

I KNOW!
Again, it's a WOW RETCON!

Those weren't orc runes, they were just general runes, similar to the ones we see in Dalaran and Cityscape tilesets.

I don't buy it.
You're saying Gul'dan knew general Azerothian runes and specifically wrote them for Azerothians as a warning sign?
I don't buy it.

 

[Venombite]

I KNOW!
Again, it's a WOW RETCON!

90% of people who will play Reforged will know about the Vault and find it strange.
Good point about the runes, and Gul'dan leading shamans. But if Maiev was reading runes in an ancient night elf temple...

 

[A Void]

I KNOW!
Again, it's a WOW RETCON!

I don't buy it.
You're saying Gul'dan knew general Azerothian runes and specifically wrote them for Azerothians as a warning sign?
I don't buy it.

Okay, you're correct those were orcish runes. Apparently the only explanation was that those runes gave Maiev visions of Guldan's journey. She didn't actually read them, she touched them.

 

[deepstrasz]

Good point about the runes, and Gul'dan leading shamans. But if Maiev was reading runes in an ancient night elf temple...

It's a temple. We don't know if it was night elven. We can speculate. We know that the demonlord Sargeras was buried there.
It matters not what temple it was but that Gul'dan wrote orcish runes which Maiev understood and the Shaman thing, was a lazy part on their behalf not using the Warlock model unless they actually wanted to show that Gul'dan was exploiting remaining Shamans for his interests, which I doubt, of course.

About the V

Okay, you're correct those were orcish runes. Apparently the only explanation was that those runes gave Maiev visions of Guldan's journey. She didn't actually read them, she touched them.

Maiev is no far seer. Still doesn't make sense. Lots of plot holes in TfT, sadly.

tzimisce

???

 

[Venombite]

It's a temple. We don't know if it was night elven. We can speculate. We know that the demonlord Sargeras was buried there.
It matters not what temple it was but that Gul'dan wrote orcish runes which Maiev understood and the Shaman thing, was a lazy part on their behalf not using the Warlock model unless they actually wanted to show that Gul'dan was exploiting remaining Shamans for his interests, which I doubt, of course.

The (Gul'dan's) Horde didn't have any shaman left at the time. All of the shaman on Azeroth were part of the Frost Wolf clan, and they weren't part of the Horde. They were thrown out by Gul'dan and found their way to Alterac mountains.
Sargeras is the size of the whole planet. He wasn't dead. It was only his avatar.

RoC plot hole. How did Medivh show up, when he was killed in WC1?

 

[Ardenaso]

Tomb of Sargeras was part of the Suramar palace. And Maiev should know about the Vault of the Wardens in every way.

The gamepedia doesn't say when was the vault created (and they claimed that that's more updated than wowwiki), so it may have been created some time after Burning Crusade; else, it's another shitty and disappointing yet unsurprising retcon since Gul'dan raised that part in WC2

 

[Venombite]

The gamepedia doesn't say when was the vault created (and they claimed that that's more updated than wowwiki), so it may have been created some time after Burning Crusade; else, it's another shitty and disappointing yet unsurprising retcon since Gul'dan raised that part in WC2

Read the trivia.

 

[Ardenaso]

Read the trivia.

Well shit it is a shitty retcon then. They could've just placed it somewhere in Aszhara coast or Darkshore.

I played OutsiderXE's The Last Guardian and apparently, Medivh's good side ghost was "saved" after Khadgar killed his bad side that was possessed by demons. Not sure anymore it's been 2 years since I played and I don't plan to play again. But since he said he "abandoned his humanity long ago" in the Tutorial, then it is indeed his ghost or whatnot.

 

[Venombite]

Well shit it is a shitty retcon then. They could've just placed it somewhere in Aszhara coast or Darkshore.

I played OutsiderXE's The Last Guardian and apparently, Medivh's good side ghost was "saved" after Khadgar killed his bad side that was possessed by demons. Not sure anymore it's been 2 years since I played and I don't plan to play again. But since he said he "abandoned his humanity long ago" in the Tutorial, then it is indeed his ghost or whatnot.

The Last Guardian, though the best and by far most important story in Warcraft universe, came after even Warcraft 3, and 10 years after Wc1. With respect to all other campaigns on hive, The Last Guardian is arguably the best, I will definitely replay it when Reforged is out or in a few months.

 

[deepstrasz]

The (Gul'dan's) Horde didn't have any shaman left at the time. All of the shaman on Azeroth were part of the Frost Wolf clan, and they weren't part of the Horde. They were thrown out by Gul'dan and found their way to Alterac mountains.
Sargeras is the size of the whole planet. He wasn't dead. It was only his avatar.

RoC plot hole. How did Medivh show up, when he was killed in WC1?

I'm not taking WoW into consideration when writing these things, mind you.

Sargeras was the demonlord (WcII) retconned in Warcraft III as a titan.

Spoiler: Warcraft II

It was written as being a rumour so Sargeras could indeed not be dead and the RoC did not actually retcon the character's story.

In RoC:

Spoiler

Doesn't look like Sargeras was planet big but titanic, maybe Himalaya big.
The rest of the RoC story is similar to WoW's with Sargeras being a titan and becoming corrupted by the eredar and nathrezim while trying to destroy them all. No information on the titan size though. Minor touch on the Old Gods as living on primordial Azeroth and being worshiped by the primitive creatures there. They didn't want the titans giving their metallic touch to the world and used the elementals to fight them. However, the titans won. Lol, who's actually bad here? The Old Gods were chained far beneath the world's surface.

About shamans

Spoiler

The Frostwolf clan doesn't even exist in Warcraft II. It was created in RoC, possibly on Azeroth or at least off-screen in Draenor.

Warcraft III on shamans and Frostwolf:

Spoiler

RoC plot hole. How did Medivh show up, when he was killed in WC1?

Medivh was no mere spell caster, mind you, but a Guardian.
Excerpts from Warcraft II's manual:

Spoiler

Also some information about Medivh's mother and Sargeras right above.
Kil'jaeden was afraid of Medivh and I don't think it was just because the magician was powerful but because Sargeras was part of the character. It's the first time we hear of a demon corrupting someone like that as if possessing that character. Not even Archimonde or Kil'jaeden has done something like that. Kil'jaeden took lots of security measures to contain Ner'zhul but to little use in the end.
So, it makes sense that Sargeras was in fact killed there. RoC does not say Sargeras is still alive but only introduced the character as a titan corrupted by the demons thus becoming their leader.
Both Kil'jaeden and Medivh told Gul'dan about the Tomb of Sargeras as a place of great power. Kil'jaeden possibly didn't know the full story and wanted to have that power through Gul'dan(?) while Medivh knew the deal and fooled Gul'dan.
Warcraft III mentions Kil'jaeden as second in command to the Burning Legion. So, it makes sense that K'j wanted to get Sargeras' place. Archimonde might have been third but it is only mentioned as one of the first demons to rally behind Sargeras. Kj is mentioned first in the part where Sargeras chooses the commanders and Archimonde mentioned after. No mention of Aegwynn and Sargeras in the RoC manual as if it was totally retconned or something. But we have the RoC and TfT story which doesn't say anything about Sargeras still living, trying to get to Azeroth or the like. Thus, Sargeras at this point was most likely "dead". The manual mentions Archimonde invading Azeroth this time in Sargeras' name.
A bit of a retcon that Kj appears first to Ner'zhul to corrupt the orcs and then to Gul'dan while WcII says Gul'dan stumbled upon the demon through the astral plane/Twisting Nether via telepathy/astral projection.
Also the fact that Ner'zhul went through the portals not as a means of escape but to find other worlds to conquer or whatever but in RoC it was because the character wanted to escape K'j's wrath as the Horde lost the war.

It was because Medivh was trying to resist the corruption that the heroes might have succeeded in killing the dark mage. However, how the character managed to rupture the evilness from the spirit afterward is speculation and frankly controversial. It could be that the mage's mother played a role but that's a stretch. It could be the dragons (Emerald Dream, something), it could be the Twisting Nether, it could be lots of things but at this point it remains that the character's body dying meant nirvana.

 

[Archian]

Inarius, in the prison Mephisto put him? From the D4 trailer.

 

[deepstrasz]

Inarius, in the prison Mephisto put him. From the D4 trailer.

Awesome. I guess, the place is somewhere else than the Zakarum places we went to in DII to kill Mephisto?
OK, it doesn't say that the crystal cathedral of mirrors was built in Zakarum.

Since they basically made the angels faceless, well, pretty much fleshless and bodiless (more or less), since DII (first time they appear by the way ), we won't see the character's deformed face and body. However, the wings were supposed to be cut as per Diablo (I)'s manual.

 

[Venombite]

I'm not taking WoW into consideration when writing these things, mind you.

Sargeras was the demonlord (WcII) retconned in Warcraft III as a titan.

Spoiler: Warcraft II

View attachment 336457
View attachment 336458
View attachment 336459

It was written as being a rumour so Sargeras could indeed not be dead and the RoC did not actually retcon the character's story.

In RoC:

Spoiler

View attachment 336462
View attachment 336463
View attachment 336464
View attachment 336465

Doesn't look like Sargeras was planet big but titanic, maybe Himalaya big.
The rest of the RoC story is similar to WoW's with Sargeras being a titan and becoming corrupted by the eredar and nathrezim while trying to destroy them all. No information on the titan size though. Minor touch on the Old Gods as living on primordial Azeroth and being worshiped by the primitive creatures there. They didn't want the titans giving their metallic touch to the world and used the elementals to fight them. However, the titans won. Lol, who's actually bad here? The Old Gods were chained far beneath the world's surface.

About shamans

Spoiler

View attachment 336460

The Frostwolf clan doesn't even exist in Warcraft II. It was created in RoC, possibly on Azeroth or at least off-screen in Draenor.

Warcraft III on shamans and Frostwolf:

Spoiler

View attachment 336461

Medivh was no mere spell caster, mind you, but a Guardian.
Excerpts from Warcraft II's manual:

Spoiler

View attachment 336470 View attachment 336471
View attachment 336473

Also some information about Medivh's mother and Sargeras right above.
Kil'jaeden was afraid of Medivh and I don't think it was just because the magician was powerful but because Sargeras was part of the character. It's the first time we hear of a demon corrupting someone like that as if possessing that character. Not even Archimonde or Kil'jaeden has done something like that. Kil'jaeden took lots of security measures to contain Ner'zhul but to little use in the end.
So, it makes sense that Sargeras was in fact killed there. RoC does not say Sargeras is still alive but only introduced the character as a titan corrupted by the demons thus becoming their leader.
Both Kil'jaeden and Medivh told Gul'dan about the Tomb of Sargeras as a place of great power. Kil'jaeden possibly didn't know the full story and wanted to have that power through Gul'dan(?) while Medivh knew the deal and fooled Gul'dan.
Warcraft III mentions Kil'jaeden as second in command to the Burning Legion. So, it makes sense that K'j wanted to get Sargeras' place. Archimonde might have been third but it is only mentioned as one of the first demons to rally behind Sargeras. Kj is mentioned first in the part where Sargeras chooses the commanders and Archimonde mentioned after. No mention of Aegwynn and Sargeras in the RoC manual as if it was totally retconned or something. But we have the RoC and TfT story which doesn't say anything about Sargeras still living, trying to get to Azeroth or the like. Thus, Sargeras at this point was most likely "dead". The manual mentions Archimonde invading Azeroth this time in Sargeras' name.
A bit of a retcon that Kj appears first to Ner'zhul to corrupt the orcs and then to Gul'dan while WcII says Gul'dan stumbled upon the demon through the astral plane/Twisting Nether via telepathy/astral projection.
Also the fact that Ner'zhul went through the portals not as a means of escape but to find other worlds to conquer or whatever but in RoC it was because the character wanted to escape K'j's wrath as the Horde lost the war.

It was because Medivh was trying to resist the corruption that the heroes might have succeeded in killing the dark mage. However, how the character managed to rupture the evilness from the spirit afterward is speculation and frankly controversial. It could be that the mage's mother played a role but that's a stretch. It could be the dragons (Emerald Dream, something), it could be the Twisting Nether, it could be lots of things but at this point it remains that the character's body dying meant nirvana.

WoW. You just helped me realize how much the story has changed. Almost nothing here has anything to do with the current lore.

About shamans

Spoiler

View attachment 336460

The Frostwolf clan doesn't even exist in Warcraft II. It was created in RoC, possibly on Azeroth or at least off-screen in Draenor.

Warcraft III on shamans and Frostwolf:

Spoiler

View attachment 336461

That being said this is the story before RoC. Many Shamans on Draenor were Clan Leaders. As such they would remain in power, but would loose their shamanistic powers. Examples being Zuluhead and Ner'zul. Zuluhead was guided to the Demon Soul by Deathwing, but was unable to muster it, cause he has lost all of his powers, and the Demon Soul was made resistant to elemental powers, cause that's Deathwing's Aspect power. It was only thanks to Nekros Skullcrusher, one of Gul'Dan's students and a powerful Warlock, that they managed to muster the Demon Soul. Only by using Nekros's Warlock powers.

Frostwolf Clan is one of the oldest and most noble and powerful clans on Draenor. That part of the manual was taken from the novel "Lord of the Clans"(2001). They were exiled by Gul'dan, cause their Chieftain Durotan(Thrall's father) refused to abandon shamanism, and drink Mannoroth's blood. Gul'dan didn't do anything on his own. He was led by Kil'jaeden all the time.

 

[deepstrasz]

@Venombite yeah but that was added later between WcII and RoC.
Only Nekros is mentioned in the RoC manual, lol. And only Zuluhead in Warcraft II

Here are the manuals: Warcraft original lore | HIVE in case you're curious.

 

[Venombite]

@Venombite yeah but that was added later between WcII and RoC.
Only Nekros is mentioned in the RoC manual, lol. And only Zuluhead in Warcraft II

Cuase Zuluhead went back to Outland, while Nekros stayed on Azeroth.

 

[deepstrasz]

Cuase Zuluhead went back to Outland, while Nekros stayed on Azeroth.

That's beside the point. It doesn't even say that.

 

[Augustus]

I don't think Blizzard have ever created anything as artistic as that Diablo 4 cinematic. I love all the subtle storytelling, like how evil lurks where you least expect it and how vile, weak and corruptible humans are, including the scholar. And that final shot of the skin cloak. Beautiful and disgusting at the same time. They outdid themselves. Unlike D3, I don't think there was anything generic about it. If they made a movie just like that I would devour it.

 

[deepstrasz]

I don't think Blizzard have ever created anything as artistic as that Diablo 4 cinematic. I love all the subtle storytelling, like how evil lurks where you least expect it and how vile, weak and corruptible humans are, including the scholar. And that final shot of the skin cloak. Beautiful and disgusting at the same time. They outdid themselves. Unlike D3, I don't think there was anything generic about it. If they made a movie just like that I would devour it.

Truly a piece of art.I hope they do something like that for each act like with Diablo II. It'd be amazing for all short films to have around 10 minutes or more as the intro. Wow.

There are unexplained things like how did the ritual work when only the Zakarum priest was hypnotized to give blood willingly while the others were practically unwillingly murdered, one of them being killed without notice.
Another issue is how did Rathma teleport beyond the lowered wall and inside that body (or was it just a sort of decoy/mind trick although it looked like that guy's raised corpse or was it for impression?) and did the tomb raiders actually think they would get out afterwards when they were basically outnumbered by the undead?

Rathma's voice needs a bit of work on the echoed parts.


Also, guys, please write your concerns and wishes for Diablo IV here (Diablo IV suggestions) if you want.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I hope they do something like that for each act like with Diablo II.

I don't think they're keeping acts - that said, it's totally possible we'll get a few cinematics, hopefully of similar quality.

There are unexplained things like how did the ritual work when only the Zakarum priest was hypnotized to give blood willingly while the others were practically unwillingly murdered, one of them being killed without notice.

He was the only one who objected to completing the summoning, the other two guys wanted to go through with it even though they didn't know what would happen. It was probably because of that objection that the pale guy didn't just fling the priest to the wall and sucked him like the others.

Another issue is how did Rathma

Did they confirm it was Rathma?

 

[deepstrasz]

I don't think they're keeping acts

Well, world part acts or what are they going to call them. I wasn't referring to the Diablo II linear fashion since they said the game will not play this way, at least, most of it. I guess you won't be able to fight Lilith or the main boss at level 1 if you so desire.

He was the only one who objected to completing the summoning, the other two guys wanted to go through with it even though they didn't know what would happen.

They did the first time but after seeing the danger, who knows? Debatable, I guess.

Did they confirm it was Rathma?

No, but it makes sense. He's obviously a necromancer and it's known from the Diablo II manual that Rathma was one of the powerful ones who created the necromantic order they kept the balance between Order and Chaos and believed in the dragon Trag'Oul which was said of that the world lay on its back.
And, well, external material depicting the character as Lilith and Inarius' son as well as these official Diablo III site source:
Deadly Roots: The Lore of the Necromancer
Rise of the Necromancer

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well, world part acts or what are they going to call them. I wasn't referring to the Diablo II linear fashion since they said the game will not play this way, at least, most of it. I guess you won't be able to fight Lilith or the main boss at level 1 if you so desire.

I guess there will be some major story milestores. For example, they've said that we're going to descend into Hell at some point - that's one opportunity for a huge story moment that could have a cinematic. They were also talking about Inarius - if we meet him, this might be another cinematic.

They did the first time but after seeing the danger, who knows? Debatable, I guess.

They never openly objected - the priest did. I think that's the big difference here.

No, but it makes sense.

I know who Rathma is. I think it would be interesting if he was the one to summon Lilith, but they better have a good explanation for it - after all, the last we've seen him, Rathma was all about maintaining balance and since the High Heavens are supposedly shut closed, it kinda appears that summoning a powerful demon would only further upset the balance.

Or maybe... maybe that is his plan? After all, in Diablo 3 the Heavens were saved by the Nephalem, so obviously the angels know how insanely strong Nephalem could be - and, uhm, Lilith always wanted to dominate both Heaven and Hell by using the Nephalem, so she'd definetely be considered a major threat by the Angiris Council.

Thus, maybe Rathma wants to ensure that the High Heavens stop their isolationism by forcing their hand? Or maybe he needs Lilith to free Inarius in hopes that he knows a way to open up Heaven? Or maybe he just got tired of the balance thing or came to a conclusion that the only way to ensure balance is to do exactly what Lilith wanted, i.e. wipe out the Burning Hells and the High Heavens, leaving only the Nephalem, who by nature are both good and evil?

Don't know, but it's definetely interesting to see how they explain Rathma getting involved, but ultimately - I don't think Rathma and Lilith are going to be our enemies, heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we, more or less knowingly, worked for them through the base game, only to find out that our victory at the end wasn't really a victory at all.

What could they want, though? We know that we're going to Hell at some point - Inarius, who appeared in the cinematic - just so happens to be tortured in Hell. Could it be that we'll go to Hell to free him? Maybe Lilith manipulates us into doing so, because - I don't know - she needs Inarius to create a fresh breed of Nephalem?