Superheroic Fantasy

NOTE: This article was from the previous incarnation of LoreCrafted. Due to the recent lore discussions surrounding Blizzard's release of the fall of Theramore in World of Warcraft, I felt it important to resurrect it once more. Originally posted on November 15, 2011.

I've been a fan of Warcraft lore for a long while now, but I didn't truly get into it until Warcraft III, when the story truly kicked itself into high gear. When World of Warcraft launched, learning the lore became an outright necessity in order to craft my roleplay characters, especially Tharion Greyseer.

Over the past seven years, I've struggled with many of the story decisions made by Blizzard. Some of them I've enjoyed, but there have been a great many others that have made me raise an eyebrow in questioning disbelief. I realize now that my aversion to some of these ideas spawned from a core misinterpretation of Warcraft's flavor.

You see, sometimes I wanted a complex setting with storylines that avoided all the standard tropes and clichés of the fantasy genre. Other times I wanted a serious portrayal of the subject matter that would truly make me reconsider my outlook on the world in general. There were story arcs that I developed for guild roleplay that traveled depths of darkness akin to the gothic horror setting of Diablo. And sometimes there were ideas I had that would rival the gritty war-like setting of Starcraft. All of these, I thought, were Blizzard franchises, so all of these could, in theory, have interchangeable themes.

However, I soon came to realize that Warcraft has its own distinct flavor. It may echo certain things from other genres, but it's definitely a creature with a unique style. And the best way I can describe that style is by the title of this article: superheroic fantasy.

This struck me hardest during BlizzCon, when Metzen asked whether or not the crowd enjoyed the "far out there" look and feel of Outland during The Burning Crusade. The crowd applaused loudly, even when Metzen admitted that many folk inside Blizzard preferred a more traditional fantasy flavor. I was disappointed to hear that, because I was one who truly loved the unique feel of Burning Crusade. Granted, Warcraft demons and demon hunters have been favorites of mine since Warcraft III, so it's no great revelation.

I began to wonder why the "let's stick to standard fantasy" attitude rubbed me the wrong way, and I came to a simple conclusion: Warcraft is so much MORE than standard fantasy, and narrowing the style would be such a loss.

Warcraft's attitude and style parallels those found in the comic book universes of both Marvel and DC. Warcraft has heroes and villains, many of whom are even costumed. There are superpowers. There are epic characters, weapons, and artifacts. There is science, magic, and technology. There are factions and groups who band together around distinctly identifiable mechanics or themes. Warcraft is also as colorful as its comic book counterparts in both visuals and story.

Most of plotlines that once made me cringe would feel right at home in a Marvel or DC setting. Most of the unbelievable victories and defeats in this universe would be a perfect fit in the hands of the Justice League or the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Superheroes and supervillains are plentiful in Warcraft, just as they are in comic books, and the stories reflect the same overall attitude.

I realized that even the number of retcons and lore adjustments is on par with comic book continuity. Multitudes of writers are all jamming in a singular universe, attempting to write interesting stories that both honor what came before while bringing us, the audience, into the future. They're not trying to craft literature to rival that of Shakespeare or Poe. They're trying to craft events to rival Brubaker, Johns, or Bendis.

The reason this idea overtook my thoughts during the Outland discussion was simple: Outland is Warcraft's "cosmic" setting. Whereas DC has Green Lantern and Marvel has Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Warcraft has the Draenei, the Pantheon, and the Burning Legion. Instead of Darkseid or Galactus, we have Sargeras. Outland and the Twisting Nether are one the same epic scale as the cosmic universes of both companies. And, as such, they have their distinct place in the overall story. I realized that, if Warcraft were to stick wholly to the "traditional fantasy only" milieu, we'd basically lose our sense of scale.

I recently posted an article that explored why game fiction generally has the stigma of low quality. But what I didn't truly touch upon was the idea that sometimes the "lesser quality" is embraced by the creators. It's not that anyone's intending to make "bad" fiction, but there are many who intend to make "popcorn" fiction.

Sometimes George R.R. Martin is too heavy a read; we don't always care about politics or betrayals. Sometimes Tolkien is too thick to enjoy; we don't want to explore the internal struggle of an innocent hobbit seeking to cast an ancient ring into a fiery mountain. Sometimes we really do just want tales of overt heroism, villainy, and kick-assery. Sometimes we want our heroes to wield a giant hammer, axe, or sword and smack down his or her foes in grand epic fashion.

And sometimes that's all the creators are trying to give us.

Overall, this outlook has changed how I judge the fiction for Warcraft in general. I'm not expecting something on par with Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin, or Tolkien. Theirs is a different realm with a weight that I may not always want in my games. Ours, however, is a realm of popcorn and fun; a realm where we can speak about the heavy and the lighthearted with the same breath and still enjoy the ride.

Afterall, didn't Metzen once say that Thrall was his Superman?

Theramore's Fall Review, Alliance Side

UPDATE: It has been mentioned to me that Blizzard never intended the Theramore's Fall scenario to be the pre-Mists event. While I can understand their intent, it's important to realize the community assumptions around a piece of content launched, with great hype, the week before an expansion's launch. It may not have been Blizzard's explicit intent, but I guarantee you that a large portion of the playerbase is treating it as such.

Much to the surprise of many, the Theramore's Fall scenario went live on the World of Warcraft servers yesterday. Originally planned for release today, this scenario gives us the catalyst that sets off the war between the Horde and the Alliance in full force. This is the latest attempt at providing WoW players with a pre-expansion world event that sets the stage for the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion.

For a few months now, Blizzard has been touting their new focus on tightening the integration between external story (novels, graphic novels, etc) and internal story (events found within World of Warcraft itself). This a direct response to player criticism received since the end of Burning Crusade, where we saw Anveena's sacrifice and the effect it had on Kalecgos. Unfortunately, much of the playerbase had little to no knowledge of these characters. Only those of us who knew them through the Sunwell Trilogy manga, a series largely skipped over by the raiders who were plumbing the depths of the Sunwell Plateau, had any idea what was going on.

Theramore's Fall is Blizzard's first true attempt at creating an in-game event that parallels the events of one of their novels (Tides of War, by Christie Golden). Does it resolve the issues that people have with how Blizzard handles their story elements? Does it make sense in the context of the overall WoW story? Is it fun?

Tides of Whaa...?

Unfortunately, while the Theramore scenario proves that this new type of content is viable, it fails to prove that Blizzard can provide a complete story experience for its players. The opening in-game cinematic is perhaps the most shocking event of the entire Tides of War novel. The problem is this: the novel gave us over a hundred pages in build-up to this event. It gave us new characters to love and to hate. It cast known characters in new (or, perhaps, always expected) light. It made us angry when we saw the aftermath, and it charged us up for the expansion-long war that was to come.

The scenario provided none of this. It opens with the horrific act around which this conflict revolves, but provides no context about how or why this was done. None of the villainy is highlighted. Few of the characters from the novel (who are, in turn, known characters from the game) are even present. There are notable NPCs not from Theramore who perish during the event in the novel, but the scenario does not even touch upon them. At best, we'll see a few empty spots in the world where NPCs used to exist. At worst, where the NPCs are located in pre-Cataclysm content, we may not even know they're supposed to be gone!

For many of us on Earthen Ring US, it was the efforts of the roleplaying community that made it worthwhile. Through the use of character journals and in-character updates, a segment of the community was able to build up the anticipation for the battle. There were even attempts to simulate parts of the novel through RP-PvP events. Were I on a server without such a community, I'd be wondering what was going on.

But There's Potential!

This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the scenario experience overall. I found it fun, and the lack of specific roles meant that I could run it with my regular 3-person crew. There wasn't a need to wait on any specific class to participate, and I'm a fan of this idea for this type of content.

However, the actions within the scenario itself felt a little hollow. Because I knew there should have been more build-up, the things we did within the confines of the scenario felt a little too mundane. I know this is a spoiler-free review, but I don't think it's a major disruption to reveal that "kill the enemy" is your focus through out most of the event. And since your objectives are handled through an automatically updating task list instead of a manual gathering / turn-in of quests, it feels a little like you're being lead by the nose.

All that said, I can see how this scenario structure could be used more creatively in the future, and I hope that Blizzard has some interesting things planned for us.

But Was it an EVENT?

I still remember the pre-expansion event for Burning Crusade. I remember donning my RP armor set (which, since I RP a demon hunter, was just a leather kilt, a mask, and a pair of swords) and jumping into the flood of Burning Legion demons pouring through the Dark Portal. Of all the pre-expansion content that's been released, the Burning Crusade invasion was my favorite by far.

The Wrath of the Lich King event was a little more toned down. The spread of the plague and the zombie mechanics were fun, but it all just ended rather abruptly. It helped to spread the activity across the entirety of the known world, which avoided the lag issues we experienced in the Blasted Lands, but it also reduced the overall focus for me.

Cataclysm's event was interesting, but also a little lesser than the Wrath event. The quakes leading up to the release of the "new" old world provided a sense of anticipation, but there was no real anchor around which we could muster ourselves. The world itself just broke, and we were helpless to respond until the expansion itself shipped.

As a precusor to Mists of Pandaria, Theramore's Fall fails. It has the impact of your average leveling dungeon, and that adds little to no weight to the looming expansion. Over the past month, the cry of "Remember Theramore" has been repeated. Even Jaina says it when it's all said and done. Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of pre-expansion content, Theramore's Fall is one that'll be forgettable.

Conclusion

I did enjoyed the scenario, despite my criticisms above. It was fun, and there was a lot of potential therein. But after months of anticipation and a well done novel, I do not feel that the scenario itself did the story part of the event justice. Where the novel gave us a villain upon which we could focus and plenty of personal tragedies for various characters, the scenario just felt like every other quest we've already done.

Every pre-expansion event has had its story missteps, but I feel that Theramore's Fall was the biggest. And since it was supposed to be the most tightly integrated, the disparity is glaringly obvious.

First MythWalker Playtest a Success!

At 4pm today, the first non-local playtest of MythWalker started within the First Encounter Playtest Hall (FEPH) at GenCon 2012. Much to my happy surprise, the four players who played through enjoyed the game immensely.

As the game stands now, the consensus is still: "the core is strong, but the numbers need to be balanced." I cannot express how excited I am to get this type of feedback. While I still expect about a year's worth of development, it's heartening to know that the fundamentals of the game feel strong for other players.

We have a meeting with Matt Forbeck tomorrow, and then one more playtest on Saturday. I'm hoping they go as well as the FEPH!

GenCon!

GenCon has begun!

You know what this means: MythWalker gets its first true exposure to those outside of my local gaming group. On Thursday and Saturday I'll be running a 2 hour session within the First Encounter Playtest Hall. Hopefully we'll be able to get some solid feedback on the game's core mechanic.

Aside from that, we have a meeting with Matt Forbeck on Friday, and I'm actually kind of nervous! It's not often that I get to speak with industry veterans like that, so I'm quite eager.

And, of course, there's the rest of GenCon to consider. Games, gamers, miniatures, seminars, authors, and media guests of honor all factor in to this four-day event. I'll be exhausted afterwards, I'm sure, but it'll be worth it.

I'll keep you posted!

Of Myths, Walkers, and Weavers, Part I

Some of you have asked me about MythWalker and what, exactly, it is. To help answer that question, I've added a MythWalker page to this site with a few teasing pieces of information. It can be found under the "MythWalker" link on the left menu.

Now, when I said "teasing," I really DO mean teasing. MythWalker is still deep in early development, and it will change its shape over time as the game gets tested and refined. I'll be posting progress updates here as progress is made, but please know that everything is still fluid.

I've registered for a playtest session at this year's GenCon, and I hope to secure a slot therein and get some feedback from random gamers. The game is far from complete, but it will be beneficial for me to test the current iteration of the core mechanics at this stage. If they're good, then I can move forward with the rest of the game. If not, then I haven't lost too much development time.

So why did you choose to create a card-based role playing game?

I'm a gamer of all sorts. I enjoy console games, PC games, portable games, smartphone / tablet games, tabletop RPGs, collectible card games, miniature games ... I could keep going, but I think the idea is clear. In my explorations of each of these hobbies, I've paid attention to the multitude of player behaviors that surround the games and groups themselves. In particular, I've noticed something with many tabletop RPG gamers that concerns me: the amount of time needed to get a game going.

There is a large amount of preparation needed by a GM to run a tabletop RPG campaign with a particular gaming group. There's also a solid amount of preparation needed by players as well, especially if miniatures are involved. At the most basic, a GM needs to study a printed module's content and prepare assets for the particular session including monster stats, NPC stats, dialogue, plot events, and loot. If the GM is running a completely custom adventure, however, then the preparation needed can increase exponentially. Because of this level of effort, most gaming groups run a tabletop RPG session once a week. Some can manage much more frequently, but my experiences seem to indicate that the once-a-week session is a reliable average for most (my personal gaming group runs once or twice a month).

Compare this schedule to that of your average collectible card game player. How often can a CCG game be played? Does the player have to wait days for his or her opponent to prepare the game? No. Most CCG players will play multiple games in a day. They get their gaming "fix" on a much more frequent basis. The very nature of tweaking one's deck requires multiple test games to truly understand the effectiveness of each change.

I realized that character design in a traditional tabletop RPG can be the same way. How well does one skill work with another? What spells are most effective for my stat build? Should I really spend points on this aspect over that one? All these are questions that come up when building or leveling a tabletop RPG character, but they're done without the benefit of the multiple test sessions that a CCG player has. To me, this is rather disappointing for the player, as he / she cannot truly experience the build any more frequently than once a week. Even MMO's allow players a quick-and-dirty way to test new character builds rather quickly: join up for a random instance or two!

So I began to imagine a game played using only cards. Back in the heyday of the CCG craze, you could easily find fellow players nearby. When Magic: the Gathering was rising, I could walk the halls of my high school and find people playing between classes. And if I wanted to play? I just had to have my deck on me. And, really, how hard is it to carry a deck-sized box of cards on you wherever you go? Portability became something that I wanted to see for this new game. Afterall, a deck of cards is much more portable than a library of hardcovers, a character sheet, dice, and a miniature. And if everyone has the necessary tools to play on them at all times, game frequency increases.

In addition to the portability of cards, I also wanted to eliminate the issue of the "rare GM." This is a problem I noticed mostly from MMO's, but also from traditional tabletop RPGs. There is a huge difference between the number of people creating and managing content for others (GMs, roleplay content, guild leaders, raid organizers, etc) and the number of people consuming said content. This quickly leads to burnout, and burnout quickly reduces the numbers in a pool that's already rather small. I know this effect personally.

Imagine, if you will, a card-based RPG where your deck of cards served as both your character AND an adventure through which other players can run. Imagine further, that EVERY player had the capability of being a GM. Now imagine a world setting constructed to support the idea of the "pick-up" encounter. Imagine a setting where heroes of great power could stride across the cosmos to different worlds and step into a multitude of different adventures. Imagine if your character was no longer restricted to just the one world / setting of your regular GM.

This is the game that I imagined: a game where every player can be a GM; a game where every player has a deck; a game where every player can sit down with any other player and have enjoy the game on their own terms.

This game is MythWalker.