Amazing In Game Cinematic! SPOILERS!!!!!

If you hadn't seen this yet, holy cow! If this is the type of story we will be getting, I'm so onboard! The Cata cutscenes were awful compared to this! Not since the Wrathgate have we seen anything of this quality in game. As I understand it, this is in the first area of Pandaria. I honestly hope their are more cutscenes like this.

If you didn't already know, Pandaria is built in a way that tells a full story. We will supposedly get a complete story arc in the opening content. Then the action is going to shift back to the war in the later patches. I would imagine Scenarios are going to be a major plot builder. So I expect that patches will have a few scenarios, a few dungeons, and a raid. How that affects gear progression remains to be seen.

The three raids in Pandaria are also gated, and tell a complete story. They are:

• Mogu'shan Vaults

• Heart of Fear

• Terrace of the Endless Spring 

The story will play out in that order. The Sha will be a major focus. I suspect a lot plot wise, but will keep my mouth shut, for now. I tried to throw out some theories on the Official Forums, but got less than stellar results. My thread is here if you are interested.

In other news, the Dark Riders graphic novel has a release date! May 7 2013. Woot. Don't hold your breath....

MOP Opening Cinematic

Watched the trailer and loled! Didn't expect this type of trailer honestly. No real hint of the end boss (Garrosh), no trace of Sha or Sha corruption. Just a taste of the war, and the discovery of Pandaria. Blizzard seems to be trying to invoke the feel of the original World of Warcraft cinematic with this one. The mystery of Pandaria is highlighted, and the general badassness of the monks is on full display. Getting giddy about this expansion!

Also, the Jaina novel, Tides of War, drops on the 28th, the same day the Theramore event goes live. Good time to be a lore nerd!

Best moment in the history of WOW!

Y’shaarj! (MOP SPOILERS!!)

Photo from wowpedia.

Over on Scrolls of Lore, some new info on Mists of Pandaria is leaking out. It seems the Sha may in fact be connected to the Old Gods after all. Apparently, the Mantid worship a seven headed deity that the Titans destroyed. This deity, named Y’shaarj, breathed a horrible nightmare onto the land (Pandaria) with his dying breath. The speculation is just now setting in, and this could all be horribly wrong. But as one member posted, this could be why the Old Gods are not killable. If they die, they poison the land with Sha, hence the efforts to imprison them. This would make the stained glass in Ulduar more of a warning than a decoration. That also makes four Old Gods in Azeroth.

If that is the lesson we learn from Pandaria, I wonder if that doesn’t shed some light on what corrupts Garrosh. We still have N’zoth running around with the Naga. What if Garrosh makes a move against N’zoth, somehow kills him, then gets corrupted by N’zoth’s Sha. The pursuit of great honor would cost him everything.  But this kind of story arc would fit well with his character, and add a tragic twist. I can see a number of ways to make this happen, but I’ll wait to predict anything else.

One final thought. If N’zoth were to die in this expansion, that would leave Azshara and the Naga in bad shape, as they are controlling the Elemental Plane of Water at the moment with the help of N’zoth. Without a powerful ally, perhaps she would again seek the aid of the Burning Legion…

Cannot possibly wait for September 25^th!

They are talking about this on the WOW forums here.

Release date!

So September 25th. Two months from now. Guess its time to start blogging again... Been reading, a lot. Also been exploring the Alliance side of the Warcraft story, as I have been horde for most of my wow experience. Will update the timelines, or whatever they are soon. Goal is to have toons at max level on both sides to explore Pandaria at the same time. ya know, for lore and stuff.

As far as lore goes, The following goodies are all incoming soon:

• Tides of War on August 28th.
• Pearl of Pandaria on Sept 11th.
• Quest for Pandaria (a short story) sometime before the expansion hits.
• Mists of Pandaria on Sept 25th.

 They seem to follow that general order as far as time-frames are concerned, so lots of good stuff is coming!  I also noticed that Michael Stackpole is writing a WoW book that is due out in April of next year. A new voice joins the wowverse!

Also no word on the Alliance and Horde Graphic novels.....

The Final Boss of Mists

So I read the giant press release on MMO Champion about Mists... and I feel slightly better about where this is going now. Understand that as a lore nerd, I was very disappointed with the end of Cataclysm. So disappointed that I stopped blogging, even stopped playing, for a good length of time. I really felt like Mists was a massive digression that had little to do with the story of Warcraft. Honestly, we should be chasing Naga, Trolls and or an Old God at the moment, not playing Columbus discovering Pandaria....

I claim this land.... Is that a giant fucking panda?

The press release confirms that at least SOME of the plot points left dangling in Cata will be addressed in Mists. We have confirmation that Lilian Voss will return in Heroic Scolomance. The War between Horde and Alliance will amp way up, with futher escalations in the pre and post release patches, which is kinda nice. The pandas seem to be connected to the distant past, which may give us more hints at what the hell is going on that we aren't seeing. Also, the expansion also DOES have a final boss - Garrosh.

Come at me bro!

This is interesting. During the lead into Cataclysm, there was talk that Garrosh would segregate Orgimmar. He would be a controversial leader, and divide the Horde. Instead he added the Dragonmaw, and demanded the Horde fight with Honor, discouraging Sylvanas from using chemical warfare, and killing a general for using a WMD. Garrosh may be aggressive, but he has been a leader.

So what dark path will Garrosh walk, such that the Horde and the Alliance will unite IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR to bring him down. Will he be corrupted? Sha? Old God? Power? Will he die, fallen to corruption like his father Grom?

Grom was redeemed in the end, and died a hero. What fate now awaits young Garrosh? ...and who will be the next Warchief?

The mysteries of Pandaria don't intrigue me near as much as the mysteries in Orgrimmar.

Checkmate

We have all been had. N’zoth just won, and no one is the wiser.

For long time I was convinced that Sergeras was the endgame. The Burning Legion was the last stop on the World of Warcraft journey. I was sure of it. Then I saw the final Cataclysm cutscene. You know, the one we all watched even though we hadn’t downed Deathwing yet. It was so… anti-climactic.

Come at me Thrall!!

<SPOILERS!!>

The Dragonflights gave up all of their power to stop one of their own. They gave everything to stop Deathwing. Fools. By turning the Dragonflights agasinst each other, the Old Gods got everything they could want and more.

The Horde has been turned over to a mad man (er.. orc?), hell bent on war and conquest. Thrall, who was a million times more patient and kind, was pulled into the conflict with Deathwing in an effort to help the elementals of Azeroth. The Horde hangs together by threads.

Varian is also hot headed. Leading the Alliance in directions not even the players are agreeing with. Varian is rash and dangerous to those around him. He also doesn’t seem to trust other races in the Alliance. The Alliance too, seems to be barely holding together.

And even though Deathwing has fallen, N’zoth still remains, hidden, watching and waiting. While we bested his strongest champions, it has cost everything to do so. And he still has a piece on the board.

Azshara.

She's way hotter without the scales.

She was formally introduced in the new Well of Eternity dungeon. They made a mistake by not presenting Deathwing to the players beforehand, causing a lukewarm reception at best. Blizzard won’t repeat that mistake.

And, what was Azshara doing in the Well of Eternity dungeon anyway?

Summoning the Legion to Azeroth!

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble....

 N’zoth is breaking us.

The Twilights Hammer started the war in Ashenvale.

Deathwing shattered the world, unveiling things once hidden beneath the surface.

The Earth Warder is now dead, and the Dragonflights are now powerless.

The titans think flesh is a curse, so contacting them might be a bad move, assuming we even could.

If we don’t manage to kill each other, the Burning Legion would be willing to finish the Job.

The Burning Legion has a million reasons to want into Azeroth, including the orcs and the Dreanei (and Valen in particular).

Azshara knows how to open the door.

Checkmate.

Meanwhile, on Panderia…..

Looking Forward

With Deathwing’s imminent demise in Patch 4.3 coming any day now, one has to wonder, what’s next. Where the hell do we go from here? It’s already announced that the Alliance vs. Horde war is the main “antagonist” in Mists, which basically means the horde and the alliance get to beat each other senseless in the next expansion. It’s also assumed that the Zandalari storyline will be wrapped up. What else is left to be resolved in (or before) Mists?

Come at me bro!

The War

In Lorderaon, the Forsaken war is still wide open. Gilneas is still occupied, the plaguelands are still a mess, and the Alliance will still want to retake Southshore, although there isn’t much left to retake… Oh and Sylvanas is still using chemical warfare. Regardless, this is the biggest open wound as far as the war is concerned, except maybe….

…the Southern Barrens. The Alliance has built a road to the Barrens through Dustwallow Marsh. They destroyed Camp Taurajo, and lay siege to the very gates of Mulgore. They brought in the weapons, soldiers, etc. from Theramore. Rumor has it Theramore is going to be destroyed in a future patch, and in the new Jaina book, Blizzard promises big changes for Jaina. I can’t think of anything bigger than losing her home to the very people shes been trying to form a peace treaty with.

Ashenvale is another serious point of conflict. The Horde is trying to gather supplies and the Alliance is trying to protect their lands. I was led to believe that this conflict is resolved in Wolfheart, but I haven’t read it yet.

A resolution in Eastern Kingdom (Alliance victory in Gilneas) and a resolution in Kalimdor (Theramore burns), would serve to escalate the war for both sides. I wonder again what is being planned for 4.4. And even then, we finish the war, dance with pandas, whatever the hell else happens in Pandaria, but where to then?

Important Characters/Groups At Large

Hawt!

Azshara – The biggest open plotline at the moment is Azshara and the Naga. They have kidnapped Neptulon, the Lord of the Elemental Plane of Water. What now? What is she up too? I can’t help but think the reason the War of the Ancients will feature her so prominently is to introduce her and offer some kind of clue about her motivations, which would allow them to continue her story at a later time. The largest mistake they made with deathwing was not introducing him in-game before he torn the world up. Having her in a dungeon should help to solve that issue. If the Naga get some play in Mists, all the better. I can’t help but think about portals when I think of her….

I'll huff and I'll puff..oh wait...

The BurningLegion – With portals in mind, I turn to the Legion. They want into Azeroth bad. The people of Azeroth have made fools of them more times than you can count. All they really lack is a good, welcoming portal. Azshara tried opening a portal for Sergeras once. You know, the guy who happens to lead the Legion. All these connections are astounding!

Nom Nom Nom Nom

 The Old Gods – How many are there? Three? Five? More? Wasn’t one of them behind the corruption of Deathwing? Yeah N'zoth. So wheres he hiding? We also know the faceless ones are allies/servants of the Old Gods, and we saw a lot of faceless helping the Naga to capture the Abyssal Maw. More connections. But why would the Old Gods want Azshara to have control of Neptulon. He was a servant of the Old Gods before the Titans imprisoned them all. Hmmmm. And can you kill an Old God anyway? 

Best. Wallpaper. Ever.

The Titans? – Remember the Titans? Not the football team, but the creators of life on Azeroth. If they were to make an appearance in the game, would they be friend or foe? Rumor is they think flesh is a curse. That could be bad.They are perhaps the biggest mystery in the game. If Algalon had sent them a message, would they even respond? I had a theory once that the Legion wiped them out but I have no direct evidence to support such an outlandish idea.

The Jesus of Azeroth?

Med’an – One of the more odd warcraft characters, Med’an thus far is only featured in the comics. He is the (New) Last Guardian. The son of Garona and Med’ivh. Part Human, Orc, and Dreanei. Also, he is the only thing that stands between Azeroth and the Legion if shit hits the fan.He has rediculous amounts of power and can stand toe to toe with most of the Legion. Makes him a tempting target. The Twilight's hammer tried to take him out, and got their clocks cleaned. Cho'gall got a beat down. It wasn't pretty. In the first days of the Alliance, Lothar was chosen to unite the people as the High Commander of the Alliance. This guy, with his mixed heritage, could be that guy. You know, if the Burning Legion were to.... come back and all. Just sayin'....

I'll be back?

Illidan? – Rumor also has it that this guy is coming back at some point. This is THE demon hunter. Wanna train some folks to fight the Burning Legion? Make this guy your drill sergeant. And If he does make a comeback, care to take a guess at what the next new or hero class will be? Yes, the demon hunter starter zone. Think Scarlet Enclave, but with Illidan in place of the Lich King. Speaking of.....

Return of the King?

The Lich King? – This one is the wild card. Put on your tinfoil hats guys, cause this is serious shit. We have the Horde and Alliance damn near destroy each other on Pandaria. Meanwhile, the Naga, led by Azshara, open a new dark portal to usher in the Legion. Only this dark portal leads to Argus. The legion homeworld. Med’an and the New Council of Trisfal know that this is THE chance to end the Legion, once and for all. But with the Horde and Alliance basically broken after the war, who would have an army big enough to lead a counter invasion? This guy. Bolvar would be more than happy to defend Azeroth again, and I’m sure Ner’zhul would jump at the chance to strike at Kil’jaeden. So we have plenty of motive and an entire army of undead warriors set on passive mode. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I have no clue what the folks at blizzard plan to do, and in some ways I think they may not either. But the clues are pointing in a very good direction.We have a storm brewing in what could be the greatest expansion or two in gaming history!