Preparation: Loem of Gilneas

Cataclysm is coming. It looms closer and closer, excitement building crazily. I can hardly wait.

Even my guild is starting to prepare for the ending of the world... of warcraft... as we know it. The progressive raiding group in the guild has begun making plans for the chaos of having to level up again and how to deal with raiding once they get enough level 85 characters. People are talking about alts and who they will be and how this will change their characters. It's very exciting.

What is even more exciting is a new house within my guild, one that is starting entirely in preparation for the coming Worgen race. I would classify the guild as a whole as lawful good, for the most part, though a few of the houses might be a bit more lawful neutral. Wait... is that an option? Lawful neutral? I've never actually been that familiar with these categories, to be honest, as I think they're a DnD thing, which is something I've never played.

Anyway, the houses in my guild usually show unity by having a uniform and a specific mount and such to wear for RP events. What's totally awesome to me, is that the planned RP clothing I had already collected for my future rogue is the house's uniform... the Silver-Thread set. It's a beautiful set, honestly, and just about perfect for the house's theme. The mounts will be Silver War Talbuks, which will be fun to grind out. I've never, on any character, gotten enough reputation to purchase a Talbuk. They're very cool looking, though, so I'm excited.

As for other things for him, I've prepared a wish list that I've already started on. I'm getting Loem the Stained Shadowcraft Shoulders and Tunic, and probably at least one of the heirloom daggers (probably the Balanced Heartseeker). In fact, the tunic is taken care of already, though another alt is borrowing it for just a little while longer, 'till she hits Northrend, at least. It won't take me long to get the other things, as I'm doing the tournament dailies, rather than using Emblems.

Other preparations include getting bags and such for him, as well as certain materials and things. All that's left, really, is to ensure his story checks out. The story on this site is sort of the semi-polished draft, the story as I thought of it, with a bit of rewriting and reworking. It can change, and probably will change, before the cataclysm. Besides, I don't actually know the true Worgen story, yet, and that will need to be integrated as well before he becomes a truly solid RP character.

So much to do, and less and less time!

Thoughts: Retconning

Retconning. Blizzard does it on occasion, much to the disapproval of some of the more knowledgeable and die-hard fans of their story. I'm about to do it to my Brothers story, as well, as Loem's story is too shallow and has a few holes I want to fill in that can't be done in flashbacks or anything. So... yes, sometimes authors go back and change their story to suit their needs, especially in a drastically changing environment like an MMO.

I have no problem with Blizzard changing it up a little, seeing as they never expected WoW to gain as much popularity as it did so quickly. When they originally created the Warcraft story, they never imagined that it would come this far and become such an in-depth story (Some people may argue with me on that point, saying that the story is actually quite shallow, full of mary-sues, or whatever, and not well-written, but... well, just work with me here). When Metzen created Orcs and Humans, he probably never thought to write out everything: the backstory, the future, the cultural differences, the heroes, the villains, everything! Heck, even the maps/geography have changed since then, and it had to, to make room for more.

That said, every storyteller tries hard not to go back, to change what's already been written, because it makes them less reliable, less true. You lose faith in the story if they keep stopping, going back, and saying, "Wait, wait! This didn't actually happen this way, THIS is how it happened, and that's why Whatsisface is actually ALIVE in the future!" It makes you look silly, really, very much like you're just making it up as you go along.

Which, um... is... exactly what I'm doing. *blush*

Thoughts: Worgen

Worgen.

Bestial, angry, dangerous... and the new Alliance race once Cataclysm goes live. I'm beyond excited for Cataclysm, and for the opportunities it will bring. There's time, still, of course. Lots of time. The expansion won't be here until next year, earliest, and it will probably come out around the same time Lich King did. Still, hearing all the news regarding the next expansion is exciting. Ideas have already started cropping up in my head. I'm definitely going to create a worgen, but what class? What gender? What trade-skills will I want my worgen to have? It's a great deal to think about from an RP perspective.

From Blizzard directly, regarding the new Alliance class:

Worgens have a racial ability called Darkflight, which allows the worgen to temporarily increase their movement speed by 70%, and can be used every three minutes. This activated ability, like entering combat, will also force the worgen into its true form. Other worgen racials include a passive 1% increase to all damage, reduced duration from the effects of curses and disease, and a bonus to skinning, as well as the ability to skin faster.

All-in-all, very interesting racials, which allow for added depth for a backstory and lore. So now the questions have to be answered when rolling a new Worgen:

Male or Female? For me, it's purely aesthetic. I'm certain I could roleplay either one just fine. I have a great many male human toons, but not one female (not sure why... perhaps it's due to their eerie way of never blinking). While out of combat, you can choose to look human, so that has to be taken into account. The worgen form is purely cosmetic, although required while in combat, so it's what you'll see most. Perhaps I'll have one of my current toons become infected with the Worgen curse? A worgen rogue would be quite amazing...

What Class? Worgen can be anything but a Paladin or a Shaman. That still leaves Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior, and Death Knight. That's a great many to choose from. If I were to create one on my RP server, I would no doubt try to level a class I don't currently have near level cap... which is pretty much everything, to be honest (Pally, Death Knight, Warrior are the only ones I have over level 60). Perhaps I will go for that rogue after all... (hehe, poor Loem). A DPS class would benefit from the extra 1% to overall damage, and the reduced damage from diseases/curses/etc. would help in PvP.

What Professions? If I did indeed infect Loem with the Worgen curse, creating a Worgen Rogue character, I'd probably go skinning/leatherworking. To begin with, Worgen get an excellent bonus to skinning. It makes the most sense lore-wise as well. Leatherworking meshes best with skinning, obviously, and I've never actually leveled it up all the way, making it a new experience. At least a rogue will always have need of leather armor.

What's a Worgen's Background? Worgen (at least the playable kind) come from Gilneas, one of the older, human kingdoms on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. It's located behind the large Greymane Wall, sealed off from the rest of the world when the Scourge attacked, shortly after the 2nd war. Essentially, King Greymane chose to abandon the Alliance after coming to the conclusion that the Alliance needed the Gilneans far more than Gilneas needed the Alliance. Unfortunately for him, Arugal, an archmage, decided the only way to hold off the undead Scourge was to summon strange creatures... the Worgen. Barely controllable, Arugal found a way to curse humans with the Worgen affliction, turning them into the beasts. He made them his "children" and took up residence in what is now known as Shadowfang Keep.

New players will start in Gilneas, most probably before the Greymane wall has fallen, with phasing technology used to get the player from their home kingdom to the world outside. This would mean than any character would actually be a native to Gilneas (unless you were really stretching the story, or your character was older than the usual 24 or 25 years old). Or, I suppose you could really, really stretch and say you were one of Arugal's worgen, now freed from his control...

Regardless, I'm excited. I do think that a Worgen will be my second level 85, after my main.

First Thoughts

I often write as if I was writing any kind of fiction, just borrowing the lore from Blizzard (with thanks). Of course, knowing that what I write takes place with World of Warcraft in terms of the timeline and that what I write is supposed to be about my characters and the game world, there are certain things I occasionally have a difficult time dealing with. I'll try to cover some of those things in my "Thoughts" postings.

They'll cover all kinds of subjects, like time, distance, communication between characters in game, discrepancies in the game story and general lore, currency and how money is handled, etc.

For example, in the latest installment of Warhorse, the story of how the paladin Seona gets her first mount, she takes a ride on the Deeprun Tram. Now, in game this tram takes you from Ironforge to Stormwind in just 60 seconds. That's fast. Really fast. Too fast, actually, to be realistic. It's done as a courtesy for players because who the heck wants to play a game that gets too realistic? I mean, I play to have fun, not wait on some silly train that should technically take several hours (at minimum) to get me from one place to another.

That's something I have to think about when I write. Seona also makes purchases in the story, and currency in the game is not an actual, physical object, so how do I write about it? And mounts! Don't get me started on how easy it is for my Undead warrior, Yrovi, to carry upwards of 35 mounts with her at all times.

When it comes to RP in the game itself, how to players deal with this issue? Do they just limit themselves to one or two mounts, or finding some way of explaining that they have a private stable or something when they switch out mounts?

Lots of questions, and I have at least some answers for myself, though I'd love to find out what others think about things like this and how they deal with them.

Introduction

I wish to write.

Specifically, I wish to write fiction. Fan-fiction.

Ewww. I know. Fan-fiction? Why? Because I have a slight obsession with World of Warcraft and because the longer I play, the more I hear my characters telling me their stories. I'm very new to role-play, and only have just started a character on an RP realm, so the other characters' stories have to get out somehow.

My regular observations about the game and my characters can be found on my main blog site. This blog will be reserved for my stories. They may not be good. In fact, they might be terrible. I don't care. I need to get them out.

Hopefully the first bits of my story will be here soon, with more to come as time passes. I may even break out my tablet and illustrate a few of my posts, but lets just start with words for now. I'd hate to get ahead of myself.

For now, all the stories I write here are based on the World of Warcraft universe which is, of course, ©Blizzard-Activision (or Blizzard Entertainment). The characters, and places, and some events are from the game, but like all fan-fiction, I'll bet putting my own little spin on things.