Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 3

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

If you happened to miss the first two parts of our year-end countdown, I'd suggest going back and reading over both part one and part two before continuing on with the final four developments featured today. I love the lore in Mists of Pandaria, and it's mainly because everything is so completely new that it is almost impossible to predict what's going to happen next. This doesn't stop Matthew Rossi and myself from coming up with any number of crazy theories, but it does make it harder to see where the story is going to go next.

That's actually a pretty good thing. Without that continual introduction of new material, the story, and the game itself, would get pretty old and stale. And while the rest of the top ten for 2012 offered plenty of points where Blizzard could improve on existing methods of storytelling, the top four are a little more absent of criticism. It's because there are points, in Mists, where success has been achieved to a point where it's hard to say something needs work.

That doesn't mean that I'm not critical, however.

4. Voice acting

The good Voice acting in World of Warcraft has never been better. There are a myriad of characters that have been given voices in Mists, and none of them sound the same. More importantly, there are very few that even sound remotely contrived -- the performances by the voice actors have all been on point and top-notch. Despite the abundance of voice-acted scenes this expansion, the presence of voice acting isn't hindering gameplay in the slightest. In fact, the placement of voice-acted scenes only serves to emphasize the importance of what is going on. In the end, it makes these scenes have far more of an impact than mere text could ever offer.

The not-so-good To be perfectly honest, there isn't a lot of not-so-good to offer in this instance. I have yet to run into a scene that warranted voice acting and didn't get it, like we saw in various parts of Cataclysm. And I honestly don't have any words of wisdom regarding improvement, either -- this latest round of voice actors and their performances have all been so spot-on that it seems like Blizzard's finally found its groove with this particular aspect of drawing people into the story. Blizzard's gotten the balance down, and now it's a matter of whether or not it can keep that balance in check.

3. Character development

The good Pandaria is full of people. Not just NPC characters that send you on random errands -- actual people with backgrounds that seem to be fairly fleshed-out. Somewhere along the line with Pandaria's development, someone hit upon a magic formula for developing NPCs, and it shows. It doesn't matter if the character is a hero of the Golden Lotus, or a hapless grummle taking a long trek with a heavy pack on his back. It doesn't matter of that NPC is helping Chen Stormstout find his long-lost family, or simply lighting the lanterns on the Wandering Isle. NPCs in Mists have personality.

More importantly, Pandaria isn't just about the pandaren. Each race that is present on Pandaria has its own history, and while we as players may not know the full extent of that history, it has been tied into existing lore in such a way that these creatures don't feel like otherworldly aliens. They're from Azeroth, and they feel like they are from Azeroth, weighted in the world just as readily as any human, night elf, or troll.

The mogu are menacing, yes -- but they're also a fascinating mystery that we're still trying to unravel. The mantid walk that fine line between enemy and ally in a creepily charming way that is ultimately riveting to watch. The hills of Pandaria are alive with the people that walk them, and it's reflected not only in every quest, but in every minor interaction as well.

The not-so-good On the other hand ... because we are dealing with a new continent, new races, and new history, our old friends from the rest of the world seem to have fallen by the wayside just a little. While Alliance and Horde characters in Pandaria are just as lively as their pandaren friends, faction leaders didn't really make an appearance until 5.1. And while some of these faction leaders are giving us an entertaining show, there are others that still haven't quite got that same sense of life.

Varian Wrynn seems to be in a perpetual limbo of trying. In Wrath it was about trying to re-establish himself after his long absence in vanilla and Burning Crusade. In Cataclysm it was about trying to get himself back together and resolve the issue of his dual personality. In Mists it seems to be about trying to earn the respect and support of his fellow faction leaders, and trying to reign in his son.

How things can improve Varian, dear Varian, I'm really tired of seeing you try to do things, and I'd like to see you actually do something. The Alliance doesn't need a leader that tries. They need a new lion of Azeroth. And while the Horde side of the 5.1 quests involve faction leaders like Vol'jin and Lor'themar to a major degree, and even bring in Baine for additional emphasis on Garrosh's failings, the Alliance side doesn't seem to have that same emphasis.

Tyrande is there in the scenario A Little Patience, but what does she do beyond that scenario? Genn makes a trivial appearance, and Velen gets a mention, nothing more. While the Alliance side of the story does seem to be making progress, the Alliance leaders are still woefully underdeveloped compared to the Horde. It's all about balance.

2. Attention to detail

The good Let me tell you a story about a hozen named Tak-Tak. Tak-Tak hangs out at the Horde camp for the Dominance Offensive. As you progress through the chain, you're told to speak to him to get flights to various areas -- the Horde shrine, Kun Lai Summit. When you fly with Tak-Tak, he'll give you a nice bit of exposition that catches you up on any story you may have forgotten about.

During one quest on the Horde chain, I was asked to head to Silvermoon City. At first I thought I'd just take a portal to the Horde shrine, and the Silvermoon Portal from there, because this was a logical way to go. And then I remembered Tak-Tak. And in a moment of what some may consider insanity, I went to speak to Tak-Tak. Sure, the quest didn't tell me to go talk to him. It didn't even mention him. But hey, Tak-Tak took me everywhere before, right? Imagine my utter surprise when he gave me an option to fly to Silvermoon City. I mean, what kind of trip would that take?

So, somewhat bewildered and curious, I clicked the option.

After I got done laughing, I marveled at what is ultimately number two on this list -- attention to detail. Let me explain what I mean. Someone creates a quest, and it has a logical progression of steps. The logical response would have been to head to my faction's shrine and take a portal as suggested. The fact that someone had the forethought and presence of mind to not only predict that some players would be peculiar enough to speak to Tak-Tak and expect a flight, but also write a response just in case someone decided to take that highly illogical option is nothing short of genius.

Pandaria's got a great story, and great quests to go along with it. But it's all these little, crazy, unexpected details that are just the icing on the cake. It's a quiet wink from the quest and lore development team, a little bonus for those that are just crazy enough to click everything. There are an untold number of these little bonuses scattered throughout Pandaria, and they only emphasize the sheer amount of attention and work that was poured into this expansion.

How things can improve You'll notice there isn't a not-so-good in this section, and that's mainly because something like this can't really be construed as bad. It encourages the player to explore, and offers a subtle reward to those that choose to do so. I love seeing things like this, and the only suggestion I can offer is to give whoever was responsible for these subtle little nods that pop up all over Pandaria a basket of cookies for doing an excellent job above and beyond what we'd normally expect.

1. Directional lore/gameplay

The good Number one on the list for 2012 may seem a little odd, especially when last year's list pointed out the overly linear nature of Cataclysm. But Mists is a departure from Cataclysm in the best possible way. It's found a really good balance between linearity and open-world, allowing players to explore and complete quests as they encounter them, but still managing to draw us in to a story that has been, so far, pretty riveting overall. And it's not just the story of Mists, it's the nature in which that story is presented.

We have the standard set of leveling zones, and the stories within those zones. But these stories are just the smallest building block in what is shaping up to be a pretty epic tale. It's not a tale of world-ending demons or kings of the damned, it's a much more introspective one. It's the story of us -- players, characters, Alliance and Horde. It's about what makes us what we are. As we play, we discover Pandaria and all it has to offer -- but it also opens up more questions about who the heck we the players are, and how we fit into this mad, crazy, sometimes funny and sometimes sad world.

And each aspect of the game only serves to further advance that story in a meaningful way, providing a direction for that lore to follow. Dungeons have been injected with stories that further the overall plot. Scenarios are being used to drive the plot forward. Quests have always been a method to tell a story, but even raids are being used as more of a functional storytelling tool. Daily quests may have been shaky at first, but the quests in patch 5.1 serve to offer up more story in a streamlined fashion that really works.

Sure, for some players the purpose of the game may be to get gear and fight dragons on the internet. But for others, it's about the story, and it's always been about that story. In vanilla, we really didn't see the story integrated into the game at all. That's been changing with every expansion, as the balance between gameplay and story has been carefully tweaked. In Mists, that story is part and parcel of the actual gameplay, no matter what aspect of the game you happen to be interested in.

The not-so-good In fact, the only place left in game where the gameplay really isn't injected with story at all is PvP. Battlegrounds are still very much a mechanical place where it's far more about what that guy at the other end of the field is going to do to you personally, rather than anything political going on in Pandaria. But let's face it -- those that participate in PvP aren't really doing so because they have a vested interest in advancing the story of Pandaria; they are there because they really enjoy smashing other players into a fine paste. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all -- PvP should be about PvP, not the outlying story of the world.

However, even though the story has been injected into almost every aspect of gameplay, there are still points where it falters. And it's not the fault of the story, which is good -- it's the fault of where that story is placed, and what's on the other side of it.

How things can improve There is a seamless quality to content and story in Mists of Pandaria, but it's not perfect. Combining all of those gear-gathering activities like dungeons, scenarios, raids and questing along with story advancement is an incredibly good idea. But for many players, the game is still about those purple pixels, and letting the story -- no matter how good that story happens to be -- get in the way of obtaining those purple pixels is a no-no.

I'm speaking of course about the choice to put valor gear behind dailies and reputation rewards. While valor gear isn't necessary to advance in the game, it still represents an improvement to your character. And if an improvement to your character is locked behind something, that something it is locked behind automatically feels like a chore. Story should work effortlessly alongside character improvement, it shouldn't be an impediment to progressing your character. If it can be viewed as such, then the story loses its value in the eyes of the player.

Blizzard has done wonders with the way that story works in Mists of Pandaria. Incorporating story in all the little ways that matter has made a world of difference in understanding the overall story of the expansion itself, even for those that barely look at the lore. It's a far, far cry from the convoluted and sometimes poorly presented story of Cataclysm. With all the advancements we've seen so far just from the outset of Mists, it makes me very excited to see what 2013 is going to give us, and what kind of innovations we can expect in the coming year.

For more information on related subjects, please look at these other Know Your Lore entries:

While you don't need to have played the previous Warcraft games to enjoy World of Warcraft, a little history goes a long way toward making the game a lot more fun. Dig into even more of the lore and history behind the World of Warcraft in WoW Insider's Guide to Warcraft Lore. Tags: featured, guide, guide-to-lore, lore, lore-guide, role-play, role-playing-guide, rp-guide, world-of-warcraft-lore, wow-guide, wow-lore, wow-role-playing, wow-role-playing-guide, wow-rp, wow-rp-guide, wow-rping

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

View the original article here

Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 2

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

In part one of our look back at 2012's best lore developments, we looked at the various aspects introduced to better introduce lore to those that had only a passing interest in it. While the Lorewalkers, print media and instance developments were also tremendously appealing to those that already have a handle on Warcraft lore, they also served as a method of getting the lore out to those that weren't really interested in the minutiae of mogu and mantid.

And that's honestly pretty important. There are plenty of players that play the game simply to play it, not paying attention to why they are playing at all. By implementing subtle elements that introduce the lore in an unobtrusive fashion, the developers have quietly found a way to make sure that regardless of how or why you play the game, you still have some sort of basic understanding of what is going on. Cataclysm had a story, but it was so complex that it was difficult even for those with a strong grasp of lore to puzzle out exactly what was going on and why we were doing what we were doing.

But the fun doesn't stop there -- and today's picks are those that are slightly less unobtrusive in regards to lore and story.

7. Cinematics

The good We touched on cinematics in last year's review of lore development, and talked about the introduction of what I called "mini-cinematics," scenes in which the gameplay is interrupted and you temporarily lose control of your character as the camera highlights what your character is doing. In small doses, this mechanic worked fairly well -- but in zones like Uldum, these mini-cinematics rapidly went from engaging to incredibly annoying.

We've seen more of these mini-cinematic situations in Mists of Pandaria, including some really effective out-of-body experiences in the Jade Forest, as you explore what happened to a scouting party. Players encounter the same mechanic again when they take over and play Chen Stormstout in the Valley of the Four Winds. It's a similar mechanic to The Day that Deathwing Came, a wildly popular quest from Cataclysm located in the Badlands. And it's exactly the right direction for these mini-cinematics to take.

Rather than telling a tale and asking the player to read it, players are instead shown the tale in its entirety. Players don't necessarily enjoy reading miles of quest text. Turning that exposition into actual gameplay is not only a great way to skirt around that hurdle of presenting story without words, it also makes for compelling storylines that players tend to enjoy.

In addition, there are some of the usual in game cinematics -- the end of the Jade Forest has a spectacular one, the pandaren starting zone has a couple that are equally exciting, and most of the zones in Pandaria culminate in some sort of cinematic event. Cinematics seem to be evolving into something that is used to highlight a particularly important part of a storyline, or simply streamlining the story into something that can be played rather than explained.

The not-so-good I mentioned Uldum in last year's review as an example of mini-cinematics gone wrong. The fact that you spent nearly half your time leveling in the zone watching your character walk across a sand dune rather than playing your character was a mistake that only grew more irritating with every alt that a player wanted to level. This has been remedied in Mists, and there is no Uldum in Pandaria. But it almost feels at times as though the controls have been dialed a little too far back.

Kun Lai Summit is a massive zone, but there's only a couple of these cinematic events to be found. Dread Wastes is a fascinating zone, but again, it's lacking in that cinematic content. The same applies to Townlong Steppes. It's as if the team finished up Jade Forest and Valley of the Four Winds, and then decided the in-depth treatment that those two zones received was enough, and it didn't need to be carried to any additional zones.

How things can improve The dial needs to be turned in the other direction -- not a lot, but just a little. Cinematics are a great tool, and they're best used at the height of a story. It almost feels like these cinematics should be used not just as a tool for gameplay, but also as an indication that there is something really important going on -- something that the player should just sit back and pay attention to.

But cinematics also offer something more than just a little story -- they offer a break in play. Quests are fun, and an important part of gameplay and the leveling experience, but simply doing quests for hours can get a little repetitive. Jade Forest and Valley of the Four Winds did an excellent job of breaking up the quests with just enough cinematic events to keep things engaging in a non-repetitive way, it would be nice to see future zones or events follow suit.

6. Scenarios

The good Scenarios were introduced to the game as something that wasn't quite a solo quest, and wasn't quite a dungeon, either. They're a solution to Cataclysm's removal of any kind of group quests, and they work surprisingly well in that aspect. It's group content with decent rewards and a low wait time. And in some cases, these scenarios are also being used to introduce story along the way.

It wasn't until patch 5.1's scenarios that the possibilities of this new feature really began to show. Patch 5.1 introduced a handful of new scenarios, including four that were specifically designed for each faction -- two for Alliance, and two for Horde. These scenarios tied in directly to patch 5.1's storyline and helped propel that story forward.

The use of group quests in World of Warcraft has evolved over time from simple kill quests to the chains of group quests seen in Icecrown during Wrath, all of which advanced the overall story of the zone. Scenarios take that concept and run with it, while neatly avoiding any of the many phasing issues that plagued Icecrown in Wrath. There's no danger of eventually running out of leveling players to complete group quests -- the scenario tool finds people for you. And there's no danger of being phased out of certain areas, because the scenario itself acts as an instance would.

In between the mechanical delights is a tool that is ideal for presenting story to players in small, easily-digestible chunks that offer a reward at the end. Scenarios lead players through the content by offering a handy to-do list of what must be completed to move on. And while players complete those to-do lists, the story plays out seamlessly around them, immersing them in a lore experience that they'll notice, even if they don't particularly care about lore.

The not-so-good There's one major issue with scenarios, and it lies in the way that they are currently implemented in the game. We saw this in stark relief when the Theramore scenario was introduced to players at level 85 as a preview of the feature. Although scenarios present chunks of story, with Theramore there was no lead-in to that story at all. It simply existed as a thing in a list of things to queue for, without any kind of exposition whatsoever.

There are quite a few of the Mists scenarios that work in the same fashion -- there is no lead-in to completing these scenarios. They simply exist. Some scenarios have a lead-in quest that can be discovered by wandering around the world, but if you haven't really been paying attention, it's easy to miss these lead-in quests. There's nothing that really roots these scenarios in the game itself. The Temple of the Jade Serpent and Stormstout Brewery dungeons are far more rooted in the game world than the scenarios are.

How things can improve That issue has already been at least partially addressed with the introduction of the scenarios in patch 5.1. In the case of the Dominance Offensive, part of the lead-in quests for the event involve the sudden appearance of Vol'jin, who is then told to head where the scenario Dagger in the Dark begins. We see this as players, and when we are asked to assist Vol'jin, the scenario seems like a natural inclusion in the storyline.

More importantly, the events that occur in Dagger in the Dark are later reflected in the overall storyline for the Dominance Offensive. What you do in that scenario, and what you witness while you are in there, has a direct effect on everything that comes after. Because of this, the scenario has weight and substance within the game world, and it feels like there is a definitive point, a reason for completing it.

It's that kind of treatment that should be applied to scenarios from here on out. They aren't just a replacement for group quests. They've evolved beyond that, and they have the potential of being a really strong vehicle for delivering story in a significant way. It's just a matter of figuring out how to weight them in the world, and I think patch 5.1 shows that Blizzard is on the right track.

5. Daily quests

The good Cataclysm saw a marked reduction in daily quests. While some factions like Therazane had chains of daily quests that could be completed every day, others like Ramkahen relied solely on a tabard and endless dungeon runs to gain reputation. For some this was fine, for others, it felt like a marked reduction in available endgame content. Mists marked the return of daily quests in spectacular fashion, offering a dizzying array of new reputations and new daily quests to complete.

More importantly, it offered a story and a point to all of those daily quests. The Tillers, the Order of the Cloud Serpent, the Shado-pan, the Golden Lotus, the Klaxxi -- all of these factions had reasons for you to be doing quests for them. As you did the quests, stories played out in different ways. Each faction felt like it had its own unique purpose, with a unique way of grinding out all of that reputation. And each had its own story with its own unique ending, once exalted reputation was reached.

It's a far cry from the days of Therazane, where one simply did errands and didn't really get any significant story out of the bargain. Now players are doing errands and performing tasks for these factions for a reason, one that is explained and culminates in a unique climax that ends up with something good for the player, to boot. It's taken daily quests to a new space where they feel a little better than a chore that one must complete every day.

The not-so-good You'll notice some factions are missing from the list above. It's because while Mists did a wonderful job of offering more daily quests, not all of these factions were presented in a way that worked. While some seemed effortless and fun, others didn't really offer the same experience. I did a series of reviews of each reputation grind that highlights what worked and didn't work for each, so I won't go further into that here -- but I would suggest that you take a look at those articles if you're interested in individual factions.

However, there was one other glaring error to the daily quests system that made a lot of players incredibly upset. Valor point rewards were placed behind a reputation wall. If players wanted to spend their valor points on rewards, they were pretty much required to complete the daily quests in order to unlock those vendors. While the gear wasn't necessarily needed to progress, it still felt like a brick wall placed between the valor earned, and the items they could spend those points on.

This had the unfortunate side effect of placing that stigma of "dailies as a chore" back upon the daily quest system. Because of this, it overshadowed any and all story information that was contained within that daily grind. If a player feels like they are being forced to do something, they won't pay attention to any of the good that may be presented along the way -- all they are doing is focusing on the fact that they don't want to be doing it. There's no enjoyment in that.

How things can improve Dailies need a purpose. They stand as something that can work hand-in-hand with scenarios and story, if that's the direction Blizzard wants to take them. Or they can stand as a gating method for reputation and gear, if that's the direction Blizzard wants to take them. But blurring them into a space that is somewhere in the middle of a story-vehicle, a reputation grind, and a gearing mechanism does not do them the justice that they deserve.

It's clear when you look at the opening selection of faction and daily quests that Blizzard was experimenting with different systems. Likely it was just to gauge which methods were wildly successful, and which didn't work. The daily quests in patch 5.1 seem to reflect this, because they have taken everything that was good out of that original selection and squished it all together into a story-driven vehicle that was, quite frankly, utterly brilliant.

Operation Shieldwall and the Dominance Offensive proved that daily quests can be an enjoyable experience, if they're given the attention that they deserve. And I really think that daily quests work far better as a story vehicle than they do as a method for obtaining gear and items. We've got dungeons, scenarios, and raids to provide gear for players -- what we don't have is a tool that is designed specifically to deliver story. Daily quests have the potential to do that, if they're given the correct treatment.

Next week, we'll wrap up the top 10 with a look at the final four developments that have rocketed lore to new levels of fun in 2012.

For more information on related subjects, please look at these other Know Your Lore entries:

While you don't need to have played the previous Warcraft games to enjoy World of Warcraft, a little history goes a long way toward making the game a lot more fun. Dig into even more of the lore and history behind the World of Warcraft in WoW Insider's Guide to Warcraft Lore. Tags: cinematics, cutscenes, daily-quests, featured, guide, guide-to-lore, lore, lore-development, lore-guide, mists-of-pandaria, patch-5.1, role-play, role-playing-guide, rp-guide, scenarios, story-development, world-of-warcraft-lore, wow-guide, wow-lore, wow-role-playing, wow-role-playing-guide, wow-rp, wow-rp-guide, wow-rping

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

View the original article here

Know Your Lore: Top 10 lore developments of 2012, part 1

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

2012 was a bit of an odd year for World of Warcraft. While yes, we did see the successful launch of Mists of Pandaria, that didn't happen until September. Prior to that? There was a whole lot of nothing in game. Patch 4.3 came out in November of 2011, which meant that players had nothing new or exciting to look at for nine months -- an astonishingly long period of time. So why bother doing a top 10 lore developments for 2012, you may ask?

Because the moment Mists of Pandaria hit live servers, we were inundated with so many different lore developments, changes and tweaks that there is more than enough material for this list. Oddly enough, although we definitely spent far more time this year entrenched in Cataclysm, it already feels like there's been more time spent in Pandaria overall. And the changes made to lore development between Cataclysm and Mists are something we should pay attention to, because they spell the beginnings of a very bright future for further Warcraft lore.

10. New lore and the Lorewalkers

The good Mists of Pandaria introduced new lore. A lot of it. In fact, everything about the continent of Pandaria and its residents is brand-spanking-new. Because of the sheer amount of new lore available, Blizzard had to come up with a way to quickly give players enough background information to fill them in on the basics of Pandaria. We saw that come through in a series of new quests, but more importantly through the introduction of a new faction, the Lorewalkers.

The Lorewalkers are quite literally the historians of Pandaria, and are there pretty much for the purpose of filling players in on all that backstory. To make it more appealing to players, the Lorewalkers were introduced as one of several new reputations to nab in Pandaria, and getting reputation with them was incredibly easy to do. Simply find the lore objects scattered around Pandaria, and turn them in for giant chunks of reputation. At the end, you can even purchase a pretty cool mount for your efforts.

And in between all of that hunting and reputation gathering? Players are learning the history of Pandaria. Those that really care about the lore paid attention to the items they were gathering, and the stories told as those items were turned in. Those that didn't care too much about the lore may have skipped the stories and focused on reputation, but just in case they wanted to go back and learn, those stories were filed on a convenient bookshelf for later viewing.

In other words, the Lorewalkers represented a somewhat permanent feature of archiving the history of Pandaria, available for as many repeat viewings as the individual player wanted to see. As a vehicle for offering an overview of all of this new lore, it succeeded with flying colors.

The not-so-good Although the Lorewalkers introduced a ton of past history, there were still gaps in that story, and no timeline really attributed to all of the events that played out. Given that Pandaria is a massive continent that has been hidden for ten thousand years, I'm willing to let that one pass -- particularly since we'll likely be seeing more of those holes filled in as the expansion goes on.

How things can improve While the Lorewalkers were an invaluable tool to give players an overview of Pandaria's history, there's still the matter of Azeroth's history. Vast and far more complicated than Pandaria's tale, the history of Azeroth has been revised and shuffled around numerous times with each iteration of the game. It would be great to see a way to archive the history of Azeroth as well as Pandaria -- and it'd be great to have a place to store all those books that players can read as they travel the world. Why not have the Lorewalkers teach the value of archiving history to other races of Azeroth? Brann's already got his nose in there.

9. Gameplay and print material

The good The trend of trying to integrate lore and print material within the game has continued with Mists of Pandaria, starting with the novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War and continuing all the way to the website with offerings like Quest for Pandaria and Li Li's Travel Journal. Much like the written works we saw in Cataclysm, the events that play out in the novels and stories are directly tied into events in game. Long gone are the days of standalone novels that don't really reflect current events at all.

Instead, we've got the game reflected through the eyes of the characters that live in that world. That's the biggest difference with the novels, and the notable change that seems to be staying put. Why would you read a Warcraft novel? Because while it doesn't represent the pinnacle of literary masterpieces, it's still a rollicking good read about a game you love and the characters that live within that game. Sure, it may not be The Hobbit, but it's a peek into the minds of beloved characters, what they are thinking and how different events affect them.

And it's not just that the novels offer a glimpse into character development -- the events in the novels work their way into the game, and the game works its way into the novels as well. This back-and-forth trend has gotten a lot more fluid with Mists of Pandaria, although there's still room for improvement in the relationship between game and print material.

The not-so-good Let's face it -- the Theramore scenario was a flop. As a method of integrating Tides of War into the game, it failed. While Horde players got a scene that was hinted at in the books, Alliance players were presented with an event that wasn't a part of the novel at all. And when a novel is the standing canon material for lore, you absolutely have to make sure that what is in the game reflects that canon material.

This is doubly the case with Tides of War, because it was made clear where that scenario was supposed to begin and end in the novel itself. There was a scene written especially for Alliance players. Characters were not referred to by name, but they were intended to be the players that took part in the Theramore scenario. The fact that the actual event in game ignored this scene in the book means that the event itself spawned mass confusion.

Those that took the time to read Tides of War are confused, because the scenario didn't accurately portray what they had read. Those that hadn't read the novel are also confused, because the events of the Theramore scenario lack the emotional weight that by all rights should be there.

How things can improve It's just a matter of watching what goes on between book and game, and making sure those two things sync up. The sheer amount of potential in game and book integration is pretty staggering. There's potential there for books and games to be this streamlined, back and forth experience that works seamlessly together or separately. Read the book and play the game and get something really awesome. Play the game and still know what's going on in the book without having to read it. Read the book on its own as a standalone, and have that book draw you into playing the game.

It's a trifecta that needs to be carefully managed. If even one section of that interlocking exchange is out of place, the whole thing falls apart. But if it's carefully kept in balance, you've got this marvelous thing of beauty that serves up the lore in a uniquely elegant fashion. As with any balancing act, this is something that will take practice to perfect. But given the next novel and its Vol'jin-centric theme, it looks like things are on the right track.

8. Instance lore

The good I love it when I pose a question in a review, and it gets answered in spades by development. Last year, I pointed out instance lore as one of the top developments -- specifically the interaction between zone and instance, and how it worked really well together. I also pointed out how it faltered, particularly in low level zones. Players at level 85 weren't about to go back and play through Westfall just to see the story of Deadmines, nor were they going to be happy about an attunement that required you to play through all that introductory lore. So what do you do?

How about making the dungeon a part of the leveling experience itself? In Mists of Pandaria, there's a new and unique twist to some dungeons -- the fact that you play through the dungeons as part of regular gameplay. Say what? It all begins in Jade Forest, where players quest in the Temple of the Jade Serpent as part of the leveling experience. All of the bosses you encounter and the places you go in the Temple dungeon are explored via a series of quests. In a way, you're getting a preview of what that instance is like before you even set foot in it.

And as part of that questing experience, you're also learning the story behind that dungeon, and why you will eventually have to head in there and set things right. This continues with the Stormstout Brewery, where players make not one but two trips into the Brewery, once as Chen, and once accompanied by Chen, Mudmug and Li Li. This natural interaction with the dungeon does much to clarify its purpose in the game, and why the player is running around killing things in there to begin with.

The not-so-good Sadly, this wasn't the case for all of the Mists dungeons on the table at launch. In some cases this was understandable -- the Shado-pan Monastery was part of a series of quests, but those quests ended with the realization that there was something dark going on in the Monastery itself. What exactly was going on and how to resolve it was part of the instance, so it made sense that players didn't get to venture past the Monastery walls prior to entering the dungeon.

Mogu'shan Palace, on the other hand, didn't really have much in the way of introduction at all. Crucial questions like "Whoa, what's with all the mogu in here," and "Why exactly am I in here, again?" weren't really addressed prior to heading into the instance itself. As for the heroic-only dungeons, they didn't really have a directed lead-in either -- although zone questing as you progressed to level 90 helped explain things a little bit.

How things can improve You see that whole big section labeled "The good?" Give us more of that. Way more of that. In fact, it'd be pretty cool to be able to venture into a raid zone prior to even raiding it, for that matter. Seeing the Terrace of Endless Spring before the Sha of Fear's arrival would have been pretty sweet. Sure, the pandaren aren't exactly likely to let strangers into what is basically a sacred area. But why not have Lorewalker Cho instead tell us the tale of the Terrace, complete with some sort of cinematic walkthrough?

Mogu'shan Vaults was handled pretty well in terms of story -- having Cho along to explain what was going on was helpful. But Mogu'shan Palace didn't quite seem to fit. After all, here is the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, guarded by chosen pandaren for thousands of years, but there's a giant palace with four different tribes of mogu just sitting around inside and discussing what's going on sitting smack in the center of it all? How did they get there? Why haven't the Golden Lotus driven them out?

The line between questing area and dungeon was successfully blurred with Temple of the Jade Serpent and Stormstout Brewery. In their own peculiar way, they prepared players for actually running the dungeons themselves. It wasn't quite a training ground, but it was enough of a glimpse to learn the layout and know where to go next, which is incredibly helpful for players approaching new dungeons. Seeing more of that would be great.

Next week, we'll take a look at more of the highlights of 2012, including a look at a new feature, a look at some fresh new interpretations on old features, and a discussion about one of the more hotly debated features of the new expansion.

For more information on related subjects, please look at these other Know Your Lore entries:

While you don't need to have played the previous Warcraft games to enjoy World of Warcraft, a little history goes a long way toward making the game a lot more fun. Dig into even more of the lore and history behind the World of Warcraft in WoW Insider's Guide to Warcraft Lore. Tags: featured, guide, guide-to-lore, jaina-proudmoore-tides-of-war, Li-Lis-travel-journal, lore, lore-guide, Lorewalker-Cho, lorewalkers, mogu-shan-palace, pearl-of-pandaria, quest-for-pandaria, role-play, role-playing-guide, rp-guide, stormstout-brewery, temple-of-the-jade-serpent, theramores-fall, tides-of-war, warcraft-comics, warcraft-novels, world-of-warcraft-lore, wow-guide, wow-lore, wow-role-playing, wow-role-playing-guide, wow-rp, wow-rp-guide, wow-rping

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