Q. I have a couple of lore questions relating to some of the developments in Tides of War.
First, Jaina's official status is in limbo. While she declares that she's "anti-Garrosh" that seems to be the extent of her disdain for the Horde. This coupled with the fact that she's now the leader of a neutral faction, which contains both Alliance and Horde members, and it seems that she's effectively a neutral character now, and that after Garrosh is deposed she'll go "full neutral." This is the opposite of how many people thought was going to happen; after having her city destroyed by the Horde, even if Garrosh is deposed it doesn't feel as though she should be a neutral character after being victimized by the Horde to the extent she has. Can the devs shed some insight on this?
My second question pertains to a subject that's highly controversial on the forums, which is Lordaeron. This is not a question about whether the Forsaken qualify as the rightful owners or not (I don't want to touch that subject with a ten foot pole), but rather in how the Alliance's position there is and what the Alliance's motivations are combined with what we see in Tides of War. In Wrath of the Lich King, Varian declared that he has every intention of retaking Lordaeron, and that the Alliance's operations against the Scourge were largely conducive to that goal. In Cataclysm we see the Alliance making some effort, but it seems to be minimal as it's easily forced back and in Tides of War, Sylvanas alludes to the idea that the Alliance has not attempted to retake Lordaeron in full force. Why is the Alliance holding back, and what is the Alliance's plans for the future of the region? How does the Alliance look at the whole Lordaeron situation now, and will the Lordaeron citizens in the Alliance ever get a voice?
A.Re: Lordaeron. Without having the book in front of me, I'm not sure which passage you're talking about. The Alliance can't retake Lordaeron until they get to it; Sylvanas held them off at Andorhal, as depicted in-game.
What's Varian been up to? Well, after focusing on the Lich King, he wasn't using Alliance military might to conquer new territory. He used it to, among other things, provide aid and rescue the Gilneans. Does this make him a bad leader, or a noble one? That's a good question.
Q. So...neutral or not?
A. I'm trying not to spoilerize here, man!
Q. Does this mean the Alliance has lost another lore character to neutrality? Really would like to see some Alliance lore figures that don't die or go neutral.
A. Feedback from Cataclysm is that people don't like when they "lose" a character to neutrality. So I hear you. Jaina's story continues, and we have plans!!
Q. I finished the recently released book "Tides of War." I rarely read novels, but since I enjoy WoW I decided to give it a shot. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the book and it even got me more excited about MoP, and also reading the other novels.
My questions are: How many novels are planned to be released over this expansion? Also, since you have stated Garrosh is the main antagonist during your big MoP reveal, do you feel you've hurt opportunities to write more exciting novels to build up this already hyped epic battle we will eventually experience in-game?
A. I'm glad you enjoyed the novel! Golden is a fantastic author who works very closely with us to do justice to the franchise.
If you're getting psyched about the storyline, I think you'll love the next novel which focuses on Vol'jin. Have you played the troll 1-10 intro experience? Vol'jin flat-out tells Garrosh he doesn't trust him and he'll stab him in the back the moment he sees an opportunity. The novel carries his story forward and really meshes in with the events of patch 5.1.
One of our ongoing goals is to make sure that the games and novels complement each other, and that major lore events don't happen in the novels without some kind of representation in-game. This is a huge challenge for us!! But I think we're getting better at it.
Q. SO excited to hear this--my troll character is the easiest Horde race for me to identify with fully and even though she is a tiny baby still I have a goal to go kill Garrosh with her while he is still Raid Finder content! I love Vol'jin, I want him to be warchief and then it won't feel so forced if we have temporary peace dealing with the next larger threat. I mean, that dude already gave me a bunch of quests in Zul'Gurub so he has no problem at all working with humans and such. He is the greatest I am so happy for a novel maybe I will actually have the money to buy it yayayayay. (I have the Jaina one on hold at my local public library because of broke.)
A. Good to see a Vol'jin fan! You're going to dig the novel.
First, Jaina's official status is in limbo. While she declares that she's "anti-Garrosh" that seems to be the extent of her disdain for the Horde. This coupled with the fact that she's now the leader of a neutral faction, which contains both Alliance and Horde members, and it seems that she's effectively a neutral character now, and that after Garrosh is deposed she'll go "full neutral." This is the opposite of how many people thought was going to happen; after having her city destroyed by the Horde, even if Garrosh is deposed it doesn't feel as though she should be a neutral character after being victimized by the Horde to the extent she has. Can the devs shed some insight on this?
My second question pertains to a subject that's highly controversial on the forums, which is Lordaeron. This is not a question about whether the Forsaken qualify as the rightful owners or not (I don't want to touch that subject with a ten foot pole), but rather in how the Alliance's position there is and what the Alliance's motivations are combined with what we see in Tides of War. In Wrath of the Lich King, Varian declared that he has every intention of retaking Lordaeron, and that the Alliance's operations against the Scourge were largely conducive to that goal. In Cataclysm we see the Alliance making some effort, but it seems to be minimal as it's easily forced back and in Tides of War, Sylvanas alludes to the idea that the Alliance has not attempted to retake Lordaeron in full force. Why is the Alliance holding back, and what is the Alliance's plans for the future of the region? How does the Alliance look at the whole Lordaeron situation now, and will the Lordaeron citizens in the Alliance ever get a voice?
A.Re: Lordaeron. Without having the book in front of me, I'm not sure which passage you're talking about. The Alliance can't retake Lordaeron until they get to it; Sylvanas held them off at Andorhal, as depicted in-game.
What's Varian been up to? Well, after focusing on the Lich King, he wasn't using Alliance military might to conquer new territory. He used it to, among other things, provide aid and rescue the Gilneans. Does this make him a bad leader, or a noble one? That's a good question.
Q. So...neutral or not?
A. I'm trying not to spoilerize here, man!
Q. Does this mean the Alliance has lost another lore character to neutrality? Really would like to see some Alliance lore figures that don't die or go neutral.
A. Feedback from Cataclysm is that people don't like when they "lose" a character to neutrality. So I hear you. Jaina's story continues, and we have plans!!
Q. I finished the recently released book "Tides of War." I rarely read novels, but since I enjoy WoW I decided to give it a shot. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the book and it even got me more excited about MoP, and also reading the other novels.
My questions are: How many novels are planned to be released over this expansion? Also, since you have stated Garrosh is the main antagonist during your big MoP reveal, do you feel you've hurt opportunities to write more exciting novels to build up this already hyped epic battle we will eventually experience in-game?
A. I'm glad you enjoyed the novel! Golden is a fantastic author who works very closely with us to do justice to the franchise.
If you're getting psyched about the storyline, I think you'll love the next novel which focuses on Vol'jin. Have you played the troll 1-10 intro experience? Vol'jin flat-out tells Garrosh he doesn't trust him and he'll stab him in the back the moment he sees an opportunity. The novel carries his story forward and really meshes in with the events of patch 5.1.
One of our ongoing goals is to make sure that the games and novels complement each other, and that major lore events don't happen in the novels without some kind of representation in-game. This is a huge challenge for us!! But I think we're getting better at it.
Q. SO excited to hear this--my troll character is the easiest Horde race for me to identify with fully and even though she is a tiny baby still I have a goal to go kill Garrosh with her while he is still Raid Finder content! I love Vol'jin, I want him to be warchief and then it won't feel so forced if we have temporary peace dealing with the next larger threat. I mean, that dude already gave me a bunch of quests in Zul'Gurub so he has no problem at all working with humans and such. He is the greatest I am so happy for a novel maybe I will actually have the money to buy it yayayayay. (I have the Jaina one on hold at my local public library because of broke.)
A. Good to see a Vol'jin fan! You're going to dig the novel.
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