#the questlines were still lacking compared to other games BUT they had their good parts

[archer3-13]

impressions on the job questlines of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn

i was gonna put it off until i did the heavensward jobs, but those are different enough i feel confident in talking about these now. This is only impressions up to level 50 for each of these jobs and i'll be going over first how they all feel to play in a quick manner and then talking about the job questlines with a bit more depth on my opinions for them.

so, game feel. from best to worst, though spoiler warning i dont feel any one job feels outright bad to play.

monk. it benefits from pugilist being the most fun starting class to play in my opinion, is hurt a bit from stagnating when ya first get the soul crystal, but comes back around to being fun by level 50. well ya dont have any ranged poking options so when your avoiding attacks its either charge chakra or take a breather, the class more then makes up for it with how fun it is to get into a rythmn and when the chakra gauge starts autofilling after certain combos the whole thing is pretty much a lovely chefs kiss.

bard. this is about what i would want from a dps with buffing support elements and i find myself rather enjoying it. you have some nice debuff tools, some good buffing tools, and off ya go. its only issue i would say is that its basic attack rotation is... too simple.

warrior. aggressive tanking raar. well the starting tank classes start off near identical, when they get their soul crystals they begin branching into their own and i much prefer the warriors more aggressive footing.

dragoon. even at level 50 its kit just feels incomplete somehow, but other then that its a reliable useful class with good sound design and useful tools.

black mage. this one surprised me because thaumaturge is kinda a drag, but black mage really picks things up as a force of destruction thanks to its later tools being much easier to handle and use at successive rates.

white mage. ill never be super comfortable as a healer, but i do feel white mage is a pretty decent class to get used to healing on the whole. the levels ya get parts of its kit are rather inconvenient mind, but its kit is also just really useful on the whole especially when ya realize how valuable regen is.

summoner. it can feel fiddly at times, and parts of your kit feel kinda dubious. but on the other hand its fast and its kit can hit real hard once ya do get a handle on things. all around solid at the arr level of things.

scholar. well its faster and its tools more immediately useful, i actually find myself not liking this class as much as white mage once ya hit level 50. its certainly fast mind, but there are more parts of its kit i find redundant and it all feels a bit watered down on the whole.

ninja. i can appreciate what they were trying to do, but the mudras just slow everything down even if they are very powerful. plus a lot more of its kit ends up being redundant compared to other classes which especially sucks given rogue already had a shallower pool of skills to pull from.

paladin. im sure some people really like this class but the defensive tilt of the paladin just isn't for me.

so ya, theres the game feel. now as for the job questlines, we'll go from best to worst once more

dragoon. theres a good reason estinien got promoted to main quest relevant outside of the fact heavensward deals so heavily with ishgard. it tells a competent even compelling story, it has solid character writing, and it gets you doing things that feel unique or interesting enough. its all the strengths of what a job questline should be in essence, teaching you about the job in terms of how to use it but also the jobs relation to the world its suppose to exist in. all well still telling the story of a falling out between the dragoons golden child and his father figure mentor due to unresolved guilt and a lack of communication. as far as ARR goes this one gets the gold.

black mage. like the class this one ended up leaving a stronger impression then i thought it would. we start off strong with 'watch out for ye powers of hell, ye know not what ye trifle with' presentation and end with a naturally integrated 'the real power of hell was the friends we made along the way' kinda message involving beastmen friendships and the repentance of an old sinner trying to give his own comrades the peace they deserve. solid stuff. plus the quests themselves run the needle of fun, interesting and challenge.

white mage. i think what elevates this one is the quests which also run the gambit of challenging yet fun and interesting. in terms of story though this is good overall. nothing particularly revolutionary but i always enjoy a 'magic and spirituality relation' lesson, and it is telling a story about characters and growth, about long held traditions and culture and how beautiful it can be but also how it can restrict an individual or blind them with pride. with an appropriate if somewhat confusing conclusion of temporary spirit resurrection but hey it is white magic.

monk. i kinda enjoy this one as it gets more interesting and complex as it goes on, and windigart and erik become more interesting along with it. the problem is that the dragoon questline does what the monk questline does but better, both in a story sense and in a gameplay sense as well which is unfortunate. what does save the monk quest though is that it has a decent blend of humour to it and i like erik being the one to resolve things emotionally but also in defusing the situation by punching some sense into windigart something thats always tempting in stories like these. also windigart just gives you his shirt for the final piece of the outfit at the quests end which is hilarious.

bard. nothing particularly exemplary here but its still a good questline. you get a good appreciation for the jobs history, theres a working character arc for the job trainer that deals with trauma and ptsd in a respectful way. and well what your doing in the quests is kinda eh, its functional for getting the story across without being disengaging.

ninja. high production values and a ninja story send up save what is one of the more pedestrian stories. its fine for what it has going on, and as i said this is very much homaging ninja media in a fun 'ninjas but not in japan' kinda fashion. i think its problem is that karasu is its best character, tsubame is solid if ancillary, well the person whos suppose to be the 'main character' of the questline oboro is... the dim one. functional but not particularly exciting as a character either in what his journey as one is nor in terms of his personality. pretty fun in terms of what ya do mind, but again it has better production values on the whole.

summoner. this one rocks in terms of what your doing, with a strong flashy start and fun quests including faux primal fights with their boss themes kickin in and everything. the problem wit the summoner arr quests is that in terms of character and story its shallow as fuck. tristan presents some initially interesting questions until being revealed as just some asshole whos making deals with ascians, and other then him the story of the summoner quest is just focused on the learning how to use it as opposed to learning about it. i like the job trainer though even if i cant remember her name, shes fun.

warrior. your lucky that your kinda cute curious gorge. a whole lot of faffin about doing nothing of particular interest until a sudden last minute plot twist of gorge being more culpable for problems then initially appeared and taking the spot of your fight for the quest instead of the expected opponent. this quest is thankfully saved from being the worse by its characters being overall pleasant and for atleast not wasting time. though to an extent everyone involved in the quest almost comes across as too reasonable for whats happening.

scholar. ya do a whole lot of boring stuff for this questline in ARR right up until the end when suddenly a whole bunch of stuff about nym comes up and the tonberries. i definitely wish that was all more of its own quest and story stuff because its a lot more interesting then the job trainer who is just... so bland. wall paste bland. and as noted the quests themselves leading up to it are pretty boring themselves.

paladin. fuck the paladin ARR quests. they're both boring and actively infuriating at times with how stupid and irritating its job trainer is. and the quests themselves are equally boring, though thankfully not irritating.

[naernon]

OH on that ask meme where i was associated with (god bless) naemon, ondolemar, and serana, on that part where i touched upon best developed characters in skyrim and listed erandur and (hesitantly) cicero-- add miraak to that list. i could’ve sworn i was missing someone. of course, “best” is subjective, so i really mean “most” development/depth. also maybe astrid? aela also has some personality, and karliah.. maybe? OH and paarthurnax. more than i first thought, but still.

good job bethesda. you have a whopping total of around EIGHT (8) most developed characters in the game/characters with the most depth. good job. maybe in TES6 we can get to........ TEN three-dimensional characters!! but remember, don’t push yourselves!! we can also settle for nine. :)

[thegrunkiest]

Not gonna lie, returning to Skyrim over the past few days has reminded me of just how much I hope TES VI does factions like they did in Oblivion.

!Some critical ranting of Skyrim/positive rambling of Oblivion ahead!

I’m saying this after I started trying to immerse myself in the College of Winterhold, at last, after installing some good magic mods. But I just couldn’t. I couldn’t really care less about this Eye of Magnus or why the Psijic Order wants to talk with me specifically. I couldn’t care about stopping Ancano I can hardly remember what even happens in the questline aside from go into ruin, find orb, go into basement, talk to an aura, go to a ruin, beat up a skeleton dragon and something after that.

This is the same issue I’ve personally had with the Companions, and to a lesser extent, the Thieves Guild. I legit only remember the Companions as “the guild that gives you lycanthropy”. Thieves Guild is a little better, as I do distinctly remember a few of the characters and their quests could get quite creative. I never felt particularly invested however.

So why exactly do I (and possibly some of you) think Skyrim’s factions don’t work, and that they should look back on Oblivion when creating questlines for the next games? For me personally, it boils down to two components: the state of affairs, and sense of progression.

Sense of Progression

I’ll start with the simplest one first. Let’s use the College as an example again, comparing it to the Mage’s Guild of Oblivion. What do you do to gain entry to the College? Cast the requested novice/apprentice level spell (or alternatively, shout if you’re a Dragonborn or just schmooze if you, for some reason, already have 100 in speech). In Oblivion? You have to gain a recommendation from each of the individual chapters by completing a quest unique to each quild hall, which involve a little more work than simply casting a spell.

Alright, alright, so what do we do once we’re in? At the College, we engage in a little lesson with our many (see: three) fellow students. Cool (it’s also our only magic lesson from what I recall - great education system!). Then we’re immediately thrust into the questline, with no real or necessary deviations from the main subject regarding the Eye of Magnus. Then guess what - you’ve become Arch Mage!... wait what? I thought I just joined not too long ago?...

I find it hard to feel good about gaining the leadership role, despite me having just stopped a potentially devastating crisis to earn it, because I never felt more than a junior beforehand. This is how Oblivion does it right with its ranking system in my opinion. While I admit I might have chosen a bad example to draw from, as the Mage’s Guild quests also heavily concerns the main threat in at least some way, but what personally makes it more immersive for me is the fact you’re promoted whilst you’re playing - even to the point you’re being passed onto a different superior for more daring assignments! This is where the little things really count.

Then there’s the Thieves Guild. Unless there’s some backstory I’m glancing over, I don’t see why the Thieves Guild of Skyrim couldn’t have shared the same ranking system as the Oblivion branch, if no one else. In Oblivion, you can only initiate the quests after you’ve passed a certain threshold of fencing stolen goods, something that encourages you to actually be a thief to progress as a thief. I’m not just going from Pickpocket to Gray Fox, as I feel I am from an initiate to Nightingale/Guildmaster in Skyrim; you have various titles you earn in between.

If I had to summarize the point I’m trying to make - I’ll use Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood. Arguably one of the most popular questlines in TES. Now, could you imagine an Oblivion Dark Brotherhood without Whodunit?, The Assassinated Man, Permanent Retirement, etc. - just axe those unrelated quests in favor of focusing on rooting out the Traitor. No promotions, just primarily finding ways to stop a person who, probably, has killed assassins much more seasoned than you! A deadly threat! Why? Because you’re you! And you obviously deserve to become the Listener after being a Murderer the whole questline.

Which leads me into my next point....

State of Affairs

Skyrim’s questlines seem to have a fixation on factions that are destitute and/or are on the brink of extinction. Business is dry with the Thieves Guild; in the Dark Brotherhood, all but the Falkreath sanctuary is destroyed and the Old Ways are abandoned; the Companions are struggling with the lycanthropy that plagues its strongest members; the College of Winterhold have little reputation in quite an anti-magic province; hell, even the Blades, who were previously slaughtered and run into hiding. The Dawnguard factions I feel are an exception (a reason I like that DLC so much), as the Dawnguard can excuse its low wealth and reputation with the fact that it was just reformed, and the Volkihar Clan have, for all I know, have just been... existing, in the shadows.

Admittedly, Oblivion also has a bit of a running theme among its faction - stable and well-organized factions plagued by a specific threat. The Blades have their Oblivion Crisis, the DB with their traitor ordeal, the Mage’s Guild with the necromancers/Mannimarco, the Fighter’s Guild with the Blackwood Company, Court of Madness with Jyggalag.

The reason why I prefer Oblivion’s guilds over Skyrim, I suppose, is related to my personal problem of power fantasy. Skyrim is a big old power fantasy. You’re the Dragonborn, the chosen one, the Hero of prophecy. So obviously you need to be the savior of each guild, right? You have to be the one the Night Mother deems Listener; the one the Psijics talk to; the one Nocturnal makes a Nightingale.

One might say it’s more realistic that way though, as it adds to Skyrim’s aesthetic of a darker, more unstable time with the Civil War and return of dragons. That’s a fair point. But did 90% of the guilds have to be restricted to poor little groups? Surely the Companions could’ve had other bases in some of the cities somehow, or the Thieves Guild have another hideout in, say Solitude?

You could argue you’re also chosen in Oblivion, sure. But while Uriel saw you in his dreams, you’re place as HoK wasn’t in part due to a superpower, either. I felt I was closing the Oblivion gates because my characters were who they were. You aren’t the only one who can enter Oblivion gates, but you were determined and skilled enough to make it through to the end. While in the factions, you were, for the most part, a newbie working through the ranks until eventually, you’re trusted to confront the threat. In Skyrim it feels less like organizations, and more like ragtag groups that were waiting for you to come in and fix them.

Coupled with the sense progression, this makes experiencing Oblivion’s factions much more organic and satisfying - in my opinion. That’s what’s most important. I’m not ragging on anyone who likes Skyrim’s factions, and I still love Skyrim despite my endless complaints. I understand I may have missed a few points (like the Civil War and Arena), and the ones I made could be disputed.

TL;DR: Skyrim’s fondness for power fantasy and the lack of ranks makes its faction questlines less immersive and more forced, whereas in Oblivion climbing ranks as a sort-of average joe feels organic and more rewarding. This is just my opinion. I don’t hate Skyrim. You’re free to agree or disagree and add to the discussion.

[illegiblewords]

Notes under the cut!

Having made a lady WoL collection, I decided to do a dude one too. As before I have more, but not all are leveled and I have some I’m more attached to than others.

I do want to push for more range honestly--I’m not sure how I wound up with three midlander dudes and a highlander lol. I should really follow through with a male au ra, hrothgar, and lalafell. I did an odd green/brown hair hybrid that I suppose could qualify for brunette, but otherwise my tendencies toward black and blonde hair came through real strong. Mysteriously absent are redheads. I may also want to experiment more with color palettes and cultural influences a bit.

For the guys, there are spots where I played into job expectations and spots where I defied them. I wanted to try designing some characters in ways I hadn’t seen so much in-game, as well as designing characters who would immediately evoke a specific tone! There are also definitely jobs where I deliberately tried to show some traditional masculinity where it’s less expected, which was fun.

Cenric/Black Mage Midlander: People have criticized hyurs before by calling them “too vanilla”, since they’re the human stand-ins. I figure though, they’re hyurs. Hyurs are imaginary and don’t need to follow real world biology. Play with color palettes and features so you get a more definite fantasy look if you want to. With Cenric, I specifically tried to go super dark and de-saturated to evoke a walking silhouette (sort of like drow) and gave him the palest eyes possible with strategic face paint so they’d look like they glow. This was all in the name of making a character who evoked Final Fantasy’s classic black mage, just going in a more adult and extra spooky-goth direction.

Maerec/Dark Knight Midlander: Maerec, I designed specifically to both be a step off of the default midlander from commercials and to embody the Dark Knight questline as best I could. Giving him some edge visually while still feeling reasonably natural was fun to balance! To this end, I knew dark eyes would be important to helping the black hair fit in. Going with a very dark red I figure it almost seems like he could have brown eyes until you look closely. Making him feel very Ishgardian was also fun, with the horned helmet and Fray-esque glamour. I also designed him to both parallel and contrast with Lahabrea given their stories are intertwined. If there’s scattered angel/demon imagery between them that works even more.

Sublime Tiger/Samurai Hellsguard: I know that my natural inclinations go toward bishonens lmao, so figuring out the angle I wanted to work with the SUPER BEEFY male roegadyns was wild! One thing that gave me inspiration at the time was realizing that, with their black noses, Hellsguard roegadyns can 100% evoke big cats--among other animals. I usually prefer designing Sea Wolves for lacking the black noses because my impulse is for it either to be visually unified with the rest of the face/body or go without--so I often feel a bit more limited with what kind of designs I’ll do for Hellsguard. With Sublime Tiger, originally he had both orange and black striped hair (one of the styles available works it) as well as the black face paint evoking tiger stripes. I found the hair more limiting with helms though so made it pure black instead. Deciding what glamour would look good and play well with proportions was also a process--wanted him to feel like he’s from Othard since there is a big Hellsguard population there, so samurai made some sense to me in building that. After experimenting though, I wound up going with a look that took a bit of inspiration from One Thousand And One Nights. I have additional ideas for what I might try going forward though.

J’mor/Red Mage Miqo’te: This was a combination of a lot of ideas! One was wanting to embrace the physicality of red mage as a job, and explore it as a worldly kind of caster who works well with ease of movement and does a lot of darting around the battlefield. Mages in-general are often seen as kind of ivory tower sorts, and by shedding the usual frills I wanted to show that it’s possible to have a caster’s knowledge while being very connected to the world at large. Also give a strong sense of SWASHBUCKLER where the magic kind of slaps you in the face with additional power. I also noticed I hadn’t seen as many black male miqo’te in-general, along with fandom stereotypes about catboys as soft. So I decided to design J’mor with that in mind--playing him as a very shonen kind of hero while the beard brings an extra bit of hardness to his features.

Asah’zi/White Mage Miqo’te: Asah’zi is another case where I wanted to challenge the idea of male miqo’te as soft, and I added to that challenge by making him a white mage when that is often filled by lady characters. I was also interested, lore-wise, in the tension between Keeper of the Moon tribes and Gridania (where white magic has very strong ties). That Keepers of the Moon are also very matriarchal gave added interest for me making a more rough and traditionally masculine-feeling white mage sort, especially since Keepers often build a lot of their lives around hunting through the Twelveswood. I also wanted to bring some sense of druid into white mage as a job, given the nature ties. With Asah’zi, using skydruid skins, claws, a wooden cane, and on all contributed toward the vibe I wanted to build for him. Using emotes that show off his fangs helps bring a bit of cockiness to him too, which is fun. And stealing Thancred’s hair lets him have a bit of a roguish vibe lol.

Amir/Dancer Highlander: Like I said, I tend to go for bishonen-sorts in designs a lot. HOWEVER! I do love this highlander face type specifically a ton, and think guy highlander proportions are well-balanced overall while being beefy. I knew for a while that I had a specific design I liked a lot for male highlander with Amir, and I definitely wanted to do something with him. The choice to make him a dancer specifically came from a conversation I saw just after the job’s release. An IRL male hip hop dancer mentioned feeling a bit bummed out because a lot of the animations felt like they played more to softness/grace and traditional femininity, and he’d been hoping for the option of a little edge with battle dancing because that’s what he does. Some players said he should just play monk, others were kind of mean to him and acted like what he wanted was somehow shitty. I felt for the dude to be honest since he was coming from a place of feeling frustrated by stereotyping, so I decided to look at the animations and see how much they could be integrated into a design that felt more traditionally masculine. I saw a lot of bright greens (especially with the peacock feathers) so I tried to unify that with a green glamour. The mask reminds me of rave aesthetics a bit, and I’ve seen dudes wear shorts similar to the Nezha ones before. I’m a big fan of the idea that fashion can be a way to create what you want tonally, and I tried to explore that in this design.

Navarre/Paladin Midlander: At some point it hit me that I have been avoiding traditional knight-in-shining-armor looks like the plagues in my tanks lol. This made me think a fair bit. What struck me was that if the only thing a glamour has to say for itself is “this is a knight”, that doesn’t feel so interesting to me. If it’s supposed to be a knight in shining armor specifically though, bringing an almost angelic, elemental feeling to the look is something I’m 500% there for. And weirdly, people don’t seem to do this as much. I’m less used to paladins compared to dark knights, warriors, or even gunbreakers--and since paladins are so associated with that holy knight-vibe I figured it made sense to go that direction. While I was looking into glamours, one thing I found was that a lot of them dyed with unchanging patches of black, had edgy red woven in, or otherwise came across as having been designed with dark knight or warrior in-mind. I decided part of what I’d do in this instance was really make a Warrior of Light who immediately screamed “yes I am the Warrior of Light” when you looked at him, and took inspiration from Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV toward that end too. Every piece in this glamour was carefully picked not just for whether it worked as a silhouette, but also how it would dye.

Cesaire/Dragoon Elezen: Cesaire has gone through a lot of design phases. Initially he was a red elezen, because it’s a direction I don’t see used a lot but has a very doable fantasy feel I think is fun. Then he was a champagne/cream color all over as inspired by a particular breed of horses. Now, having put a lot of thought in, he is deep gold with blue eyes. The underlying concept for him was that I wanted to make a golden dragoon who looks like he should be terribly heroic, but then in practice he’s a kind of blood knight WoL who is about as close to Zenos as a Warrior can get without going outright evil. I played into gold and more general adventuring gear for the reason that I think Cesaire has absolutely left Ishgard behind him, and strongly prefers to be someone defined by what they do rather than where they’re from. Given elezens’ wide shoulders I also had to think about what combinations would work for balancing proportions, and I wanted Cesaire to visually hold his own visual niche within my overall Famfrit lineup so a lot was chosen with that in mind.

[burnouts3s3]

Anthem, a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Bioware Platform Required: Origin Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 59.99 USD How much I paid: 14.99 USD for Origin Premiere Access, a subscription service for Electronic Arts Rated: Not Rated as of the writing of this review. Can I play offline: No. Anthem requires a constant online connection to play. Controller Support: Yes. It was compatible with my Rock-Candy Xbox 360 controller.  Keyboard and Mouse controls are also available. How long I played: 16 Hours to complete the main story mode on Easy mode while watching the (skippable) cutscenes. Microtransactions: An in-game Store to purchase skins, individual paint jobs or emotes for various Javelins, suits in the game. Purchases can cost up to 20 USD. What I played on: My PC. Performance Issues: I would use many words to describe Anthem, but "optimized" is not one of them. With V-Sync turned on, the Framerate dips wildly between 30-60 FPS. Several instances of clipping and pop-in textures. 3 Game crashes requiring me to restart the game. One instance of the game not loading the forge yet and me walking into the bottom pit while the forge spawed up ahead and I got stuck so I had to reset the game. But hey, the facial animations are pretty passable this time around. My Personal Biases: I am a Biodrone/Bioware apologist. I’ve played every Bioware game since Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. However, I’ve been having doubts on the company since the buggy release of Mass Effect: Andromeda. My Verdict: Less like a complete game and more like a prologue to hook early adopters in, Anthem feels like the first time in a long time that doesn't have Bioware's roleplaying there. With no romance options, very few conversations with side characters with limited choices and a ho-hum story, Anthem feels sorely lacking in several areas. Wait until Bioware puts in more content and a price cut before picking this one up. Anthem, a review

And so it's finally here. After years of Development, Bioware finally releases its new IP: Anthem. After the critical and financial flop that was Mass Effect: Andromeda from even hardcore Bioware fans, will the developer be able to get back into the good graces of their fanbase? Let's find out. This is a review of "Anthem". You are a Freelancer. Riding around in your mechanical jet suit, a Javelin, you adventure outside the world collecting artifacts of, what else, the remains of an ancient and mysterious race of creators that shaped the world through the Anthem. Alongside your friends, a veteran Javelin pilot Haluk and a Cypher (psychics who can listen and understand the Anthem), Faye, you adventure into the Heart of Rage, a dangerous location where even the most hardened of veterans fall. But when the expedition goes horribly wrong and most of the other Freelancers have been killed, you pull Haluk out of the Heart of Rage and retreat to Fort Tarsis. While I can safely say that Anthem isn't nearly the disaster Mass Effect: Andromeda was, it leaves a lot to be desired. It's less of a full game than it is a prologue to something else. Then again, in the age of the ongoing dumpster fire that is Fallout 76, I suppose a less than optimized game isn't nearly as terrible as a continuing PR disaster. Two years pass and you are finding any sort of work given to you. People have begun to lose faith in Freelancers and you and your new friend, Owen, try to make ends meet. However, Tassyn, an informant from the Capital, comes with you with a job offer. However, as you continue your adventure, you meet up with the enemy faction, the Dominion (those who believe they can control the Anthem and reshape the world) as well as its bloodthirsty leader, Monitor. In order to defeat the Monitor, you'll have to reunite with your estranged friends, Haluk and Faye, improve your Javelin, pass trials and re-enter the Heart of Rage. Can you finish the mission you ran away from two years ago? Anthem is a third-person shooter in which you complete quests to earn gear. As you level up and do more difficult missions, you'll receive better gear. This is where Anthem shines: the level of customizing your Javeline is immense and there's a lot of room for originality. There are 4 classes of Javelins: the Ranger, an all-around, versatile mech, the Interceptor, a light mech focusing on Melee attacks, the Storm, a mage type class that can fire elemental attacks and the Colossus, the tank class capable of soaking up damage. While each of the 4 Javelins can equip any weapon, specific Javelins are limited to certain parts. You'll gather and accumliate parts and salvage the parts to get components. You can use components to craft new parts ranging from Common to Uncommon to Rare to Legendary. If you earn a blueprint, you can craft some Legendary gear. Earning items can be done by playing story missions, doing side-quests, participating in Strongholds (this game's version of Dungeons) or going into Freeplay, an open world element in which you fly around the vast world and look for 'World Events' random missions that have specific objectives and reward a treasure chest full of loot. Flying around in the mech is a highlight. Being able to soar through the air and water while watching for overheating is probably the best we'll get to an Iron Man experience. Combat and mission objectives aren't quite as compelling. It's mostly doing the same thing over and over again: defeat waves of enemies, collect echos or fragments, wait until the Signal is decrypted, etc. And while the Javelins have different playstyles, abilities and Ultimate attacks, it does little to change defeating wave after wave of enemies for the umpteeth time. While Customizing your Javelin is vast, customizing your player avatar is sorely lacking. There's no character creator as the game only gives you preset faces to pick from. Worst yet, the majority of the game while in Fort Tarsis is set in first-person, meaning you'll almost never see your character for the majority of the game. The lack of roleplaying bleeds out into Fort Tarsis. Frankly, compared to the vast world to explore in Anthem, Fort Tarsis is claustrophobic. It makes Dragon Age 2's Kirkwall seem big by comparison. There's very little to explore and not helping matters is the snail's pace you're forced to walk while traveling around it. For Tarsis is filled up with NPC's in which you can have conversations. To advance certain conversations, you'll either have to do missions or enter freeplay. Unfortunately, your dialogue options are VERY limited. The infamous Bioware Dialogue Wheel is nowhere to be found and you'll be left with two choices to respond. Not helping matters is that most of these conversations go nowhere and do very little to define your character. (Though there are some exceptions. For example, I liked listening to Zoe talk about her son and why her motherly instincts lead her to take extra care of Javelins or helping an old woman who confuses you for her dead child). While the results may differ depending on what choices you choose, all the major stuff is being done off-screen. It's one thing to have a veteran Javelin pilot reminisce about the old days but when other characters are having adventures and bringing you up to speed on taking your advice, you can't help but feel a disconnect. The main story doesn't really help either. You don't even get to pick dialogue choices at all and you watch as your Player Character does all the acting. It truly feels like the first time the game is on-rails and you're not voicing any input at all on how to react. Worst yet, certain points in the main questline FORCES you to do tedious grinding to advance. When Faye asks you to do trials, they can only be accomplished by doing in-game achievements (i.e. Kill X enemies with a Melee Attack or Revive X players). It feels needlessly tedious and only bogs the game down. This is (and I'm speculating here) only there to extend the playtime so that gamers who payed for the 10 hour trial do not blitz through the main storyline.

After that, you need to craft the Dawn Sheild and must help either Matthias, an Archanist who might be seeing triple or Sentinel Dax, a princess turned guard who's recklessness might get you killed, in order to do so. Worst yet, even after helping one of them, the game insists you help the other one to lower the crafting cost of the shield. The main questline is short and full of cliches. Not helping matters is that the Monitor is a completely generic big bad with no real personality and idiotic reasons for wanting to access the Anthem. I know Bioware is hardly the arbiter of original characters, but the Monitor is woefully lacking after the specific threats that were Mass Effect's Saren and Dragon Age's Loghain. And after it's done, the game 'teases' you with an after-credits scene that only exists so that Bioware can state "Don't worry; we have more content coming soon". Even after you complete the story and unlock the two other Strongholds, there's a woeful lack of content. You can repeat missions and do quests on higher difficulty levels to gain better gear, but it quickly becomes repetitive. Who is the audience for this game? In a world where Warframe is free to play, Borderlands 2 has a healthy player population and Destiny 2 has had its price cut, Anthem feels like a latecomer to the genre. But, even loyal Bioware fans (i.e. the people who bought Mass Effect: Andromeda on the first day and still defend said purchase), aren’t feeling this game. In fact, one of the Youtube creators I follow quit the game after he received a bug in which after unlocking his second Javelin, he was unable to access the account.

Why would Bioware change its formula now? And it's not as if Anthem is a priority for Electronic Arts, either. With Apex Legends continuing to dominate Twitch ratings and Playerbase, Anthem will probably be pushed to the sidelines. The game requires constant online connection and has an in-game store. Fortunately, said microtransactions are purely cosmetic and do not feature loot boxes plaguing the industry. And while it isn't as rediculous and allows you, the player, to buy the items with in-game currency, it's still a bad precedent. But I could even forgive the game as a service model as long as I got to roleplay. For example, (and I’m aware this is a very subjective opinion that is not shared by other people), I really like Star Wars: The Old Republic. Even though many gamers criticized the game of being a World of Warcraft rip-off (and rightly so, I might add), there was a sense of roleplaying and seeing my character on screen. Plus, it was cool seeing how different the class stories differed from one another. I could tell you how my Twi'lek smuggler who romanced Akaavi differed from my Pureblood Sith Inquistor who romanced Ashara. If you asked me what differentiated my Male Javelin Pilot from my Female one, I couldn't possibly tell you. (I suspect that the game will inevitably follow the footsteps of Star Wars: The Old Republic, go free to play when the playerbase dwindles while walling off things such as Strongholds for subscribers). And it's very telling how developers and animators were pulled from Mass Effect: Andromeda to help work on Anthem. CAVEAT: As a developer, Bioware has always put things like inclusion and diversity first and foremost, even at the cost of things such as quality assurance or facial animations. "Strong Alone, Stronger Together," says Haluk. And for a lot of consumers, myself included, they feel conflicted on criticizing something they view as a positive force for the games industry. But whatever the consumer is, whomever they love, whatever the color of their skin or what they identify themselves as, Electronic Arts is pulling out scummy tactics to milk them out of their money. There’s still an ongoing debate of where things like representation, inclusion, exclusion, diversity and egalitarianism have in the industry. But wherever you find yourself on the culture war, the one thing we can agree on is that the last thing required are for giant publishers co-opting those social issues in order to scam its customers out of their money. Verdict: Wait for a sale or Rental.

[goddessfavored]

“You are the Night Warrior herself, in fact,” Illidan continued smoothly. “I hear you’ve been put in charge of a band of your sisters.”

Well now she will be the Night Warrior herself indeed and I find this amusing

but anyways I intend this to be a rant about the Night Warrior, as it was presented in the War of the Ancients trilogy and why I actually love that Tyrande is going to represent this darker side of the moon in a time of war.

(Ayy this got super long, so it’s under the cut.)

To Malfurion, she looked more like the priestess of a war god and evidently Tyrande could read such in his expression. With a bit of defensiveness, she admonished him, “You may excel at your new calling, Malfurion, but you seem to have forgotten the elements of Mother Moon! Do you not recall her aspect as the Night Warrior, she who takes the courageous dead from the field and sets them riding across the evening sky as stars for their reward?”

The first time the Night Warrior is mentioned in the trilogy is this one. It doesn’t tell us much about it but, to me, it presented some interesting points: 

1. Elune isn’t a peaceful goddess, in the sense that her philosophy isn’t one of being dedicated solely to peace and healing. She has a warrior facet, that might not be her most known face, is a part of the goddess nonetheless. The fact Tyrande points this out to Malfurion as something he may have forgotten indicates that this part of Elune wasn’t something only those devout to the goddess and dedicating their lives to her would know, so I’d say that while not primary, it would still be one important aspect of Elune.

2. The idea that Elune “takes the courageous dead from the field and sets them riding across the evening sky as stars for their reward” is indicative that this aspect of the goddess glorifies war, even rewarding those that show bravery in the field of battle. It reminded me of the concept of warriors being rewarded with Valhalla for glorious deaths in battle, to some extent. If Elune has a face to her that is devout to war and that rewards warriors, this only reinforces the idea of her not being a goddess of peace, the way I see it.

Malfurion gaped at them, only belatedly realizing that they were not the soldiers of Jarod Shadowsong. Their armor was more silver and—he looked twice—shaped for more feminine figures. The song he heard was in praise of the Night Warrior, the fearsome battle incarnation of the Mother Moon. 

The Sisterhood of Elune had come to their rescue. 

For the first time, Malfurion saw the quiet, gentle priestesses in their wartime roles. Many carried long, curved swords, while others wielded short lances with points on both ends. A few even had bows no longer than their forearms, from which they swiftly shot dart after dart. 

 The effect on the demons was immediate. Felbeasts dropped, riddled. A priestess swung her blade with the ease of a soldier, decapitating a horned warrior. Two night sabers dropped upon another hound, slashing it repeatedly from both sides until all that remained was a bloody carcass.

1. Let’s ignore Malfurion’s perception that the priestesses can’t be awesome warriors because they should be “quiet and gentle”. 

2. In spite of the character’s biased views, I think this passage makes it quite clear that martial aspects are important to Elune --- the priestesses are trained, they don’t just fight “with the ease of a soldier” they are soldiers too. The Legion is attacking and while it is part of their duty to heal and help those in need, they actively participate in the fight, and are a considerable force on their own. 

3. Malfurion now refers to the Night Warrior as “the fearsome battle incarnation of the Mother Moon”. I find this interesting because it is one more quality we now learn about the Night Warrior -- when Tyrande talks about it, she mentions only courage, and when Illidan mentions the Night Warrior, it is as a compliment towards Tyrande. Malfurion, however, brings up “fearsome” and I think that it can add to this form of Elune not being solely that of a warrior connected to bravery and the usual ideals of “nobility” but of an aspect that is also imposing, powerful, and even scary to some extent.

Direct mentions of the Night Warrior end there, so there isn’t much. Let’s see what we have about her on patch 8.1 now.

There are mentions of a ritual, but the first time someone talks about the Night Warrior is Maiev, and she’s explaining why the ritual Tyrande intends on doing is dangerous.

What ritual do you speak of, Maiev? Who is the Night Warrior? She is the incarnation of Elune's wrath. Even witnessing the ritual to become her would put our lives at risk.

Maiev doesn’t talk of the Night Warrior as a warrior aspect of Elune, but rather as an embodiment of her wrath. Of course, wrath is suitable both to the current situation of the story (as it makes all sense that Tyrande, in her own wrath, would seek to become an embodiment of her goddess’ rage) and as important part of a warrior aspect in general. 

Legend says that long ago, Elune bestowed her fury upon our greatest warriors to secure Kalimdor.

Maiev continues to explain the Night Warrior, saying that they came to be through Elune’s fury, which furthers the notion that Elune’s warrior aspect is more tied with anger and even vengeance than with the more noble aspects such as bravery.

Now, I will serve you only if you grant me justice! With ancient words, I invoke your most ruthless phase. With this offering, I demand to wear your darkest face.

Elune! Make me the instrument of your vengeance! Now, we shall have justice.

I am no queen. I am the kaldorei's vengeance.

When Tyrande calls to Elune to ask for the Night Warrior’s powers, the Night Warrior is connected to justice, but also to ruthlessness and vengeance. She even says it is the goddess’ “darkest face”, which is completely coherent with the “dark side of the moon” theme, and with everything Maiev said, too. In the end, she does demands to be made an instrument of the goddess’ vengeance, and later, when she talks to Nathanos, this is what she claims to have become. 

It is time we reclaim our home. You, Maiev, must command our forces. Me? What will you do? I have known these woods all my life. The Night Warrior's wrath must be sated.

By the end of it, Tyrande passes on the command of the kaldorei forces to Maiev. The very last sentence indicates that being the embodiment of Elune’s fury comes with consequences, and that the Night Warrior demands the blood of her enemies to be spilled. This, of course, is just speculation, and there are many blanks to be filled (such as why Maiev cares if she lived or died in the ritual, or why they are even working together without any apparent distrust? idk).

Anyways. When it comes to the Night Warrior itself, the content we seem to be getting in game seems to be quite different from that of the books. Here, this face of Elune isn’t connected to simply being a warrior aspect of the goddess, or to courage; it is only tied with wrath, fury, vengeance. I don’t think the two representations are incompatible, though. When Tyrande links the Night Warrior to courage in WotA, she does so immediately after Malfurion seems judgmental about her war outfit -- she’s defensive, and would of course not talk about Elune’s warrior facet in any way that would further his apparently bad impression of it. The other “positive” mention of the Night Warrior comes in Illidan using it to compliment Tyrande, and is actually quite simply explained: she’s a priestess of Elune, and it is a logical conclusion that she would feel flattered to be compared to an aspect of the goddess she’s devout to. Not only that, as he is portrayed in the books, and in a time of war, I don’t see a reason why he would find Elune’s warrior aspect to be a bad thing.Praising bravery isn’t mutually exclusive with ruthlessness or wrath, either; and it is very likely that the Night Warrior was both of those things at once. 

I’m genuinely looking forward for Tyrande to assume this role; first, because the lack of Night Elf response to the burning of Teldrassil has been bothering me ever since it happened, second because I find this to be a very in character response from her. I like Elune not being a goddess of pure good, and I love that her followers not only are aware of that but would benefit from this side of her as well. I love that all that happened would make Tyrande question her goddess --- and that it isn’t quite her faith that is in question, but Elune’s actions as their goddess. Tyrande didn’t stop believing in her, but got angry that she would have allowed this to happen to her people.

Tyrande isn’t the sort of character to await permissions, and she often acts accordingly to what she feels is right, even when others disagree or try to stop her. It is through disobedience and following her convictions that she “adopted” Shandris, but also that she freed Illidan from his prison when she thought he could help them fight the Legion*. That she sought the Alliance’s support and chose to act even when denied is very much a Tyrande thing to do. That she sought Elune as a source of power, too. In Seeds of Faith, she recalls her superior questioning why she chose to join the Sisterhood of Elune, to which Tyrande replies she wanted to protect others, specially the ones she loved; her desire to protect others was extended to protecting her people once she became their leader, and she failed to do so. Now, she comes to Elune not seeking power to protect, but to bring justice to those who harmed them. I really like that they are giving the Night Elves a chance to answer to what the Horde did to them, and that it comes through Tyrande. This entire scenario feels much more like that character from Warcraft 3 than that questline about saving Malfurion in Legion. 

(*not that she owed obedience in this case, but Malfurion did try to forbid her and was awarded with a fuck you husband I’m doing this with or without you)

[itsclydebitches]

She's the kind to be like "i'll kill for you", it's all fun and games until she actually means and/or does it. I'm assuming it's the same if not similar in the books? it's just so annoying to see a character treat everyone, including the man she is supposed to be in love with like shit and have it just be "well that just makes her a good mum" like idk this kind of devotion isn't healthy for her or Ciri either.

I read a lot of posts all over talking about yen and why people do and don't like her and it's all "you have to get past the cold rude arrogant outside to learn deep down she does care", or there was this one said people take what she says as who she is over what she does, as if she isn't saying AND doing terrible things, but there was this other one that was "actions don't define you as a person" that was a fucking ride to read through.

Anyway I'm just kinda miffed cause I went in to this trying really hard and wanting to like yen but she's so unlikable it's crazy. Maybe if her first few scenes weren't her being rude to Geralt for no real reason (and that snark about him and amnesia like BRO??) there wouldve been something to build off? Idkkkk

tysm for letting me talk about this! there's still so much within the series to look at and I adore it. apart from some things lmao BUT as with everything, there'll be bits you really just hate I guess.

You kidding? I love chatting about all this! XD

From what I've read myself and encountered elsewhere (I've gotten a lot of snippets from the later books as fans post excerpts for various arguments) Yen is a bit more complex in the novels than she's presented in TW3, especially depending on which dialogue options you choose. I mean, it's eight books. There are absolutely moments where I've gone, "Oh yeah, that's cute/sensible/romantic/heroic/etc." of her. She'd have to be a pretty static character to have that much content and not produce those reactions at least some of the time. That being said... she's definitely too similar in the books for my taste. Really, Yen was going to be an issue for me from the start, just given how her and Geralt's meeting goes in "The Last Wish." Her cruelty, brainwashing, and nearly getting him killed aside - because let's be real, an enemies to lovers-esque dynamic can be great - the wish itself always tainted their interactions for me. Yeah, yeah, I understand the theme of Geralt choosing his family regardless of what destiny or magic might say about it... but that doesn't erase that they are ambiguously bound by some kind of magic. We can read Yen's "You've condemned yourself to me" as just a lack of self-confidence, Geralt's love remaining a true thing no matter what any genies might have to say about it, but I personally can't ignore the very real, in-world, magical influence here. Every time the books discuss how often they've split, cheated on each other, fought, betrayed... but deep down they were still meant for one another, I'm thinking, "Are they? Or is that just the magical wish keeping two incompatible people tethered?" We can read them finding joy in one another despite the magic as something beautiful, or something tragic because what other choice did they have? Given how central that rocky relationship is to our protagonist's characterization and how awful Yen can be in general, yeah, she's still an acquired taste lol. She does get better later on, but how better I think depends on how you perceive her attitude at the start. Idk if you're into My Hero Academia or not, but I often compare her to Bakugo. Those who were already inclined to excuse his behavior hail the amazing growth he undergoes; those who couldn't stand him from the start (me) find the comparative improvement to still equal a pretty unlikable person. They're both undoubtedly better... but if you're starting that low, "better" won't necessarily be enough.

Oof yeah, I've seen those threads lol. One of my favorites was a discussion about whether Yen was a "bitch" or not (it also doesn't help when conversations about her character devolve into generic accusations of misogyny) and there was a response to the effect of, "Just because she's cold, judgmental, makes cruel remarks, and doesn't listen to Geralt doesn't mean..." and it's like okay, so we're just supposed to ignore all those traits - bypass them - to reach a "Yen is actually a kind person" reading? I have trouble with that lol. Honestly, the majority of my respect goes to those who are just in their fandom corners with their John Mulaney voice going, "Yen is a bitch and I love her SO MUCH." Like yeah!! I love lots of mean, awful, bitchy characters too!! There's no need to bend over backwards trying to prove they're actually a uwu poor baby whose every action was justified (outside of, you know, fandom joking like the "I've done nothing wrong ever in my life" meme). But yeah, I WANT to like her too! I don't enjoy being a part of a franchise where such a core, prominent character is someone I don't like spending time with. Who would want that?? So I've given her so many tries since getting into Witcher... and it just never sticks for me. I tried in the comics too only to come across a panel where Geralt dreams of Yen, but isn't sure if it was an actual dream, or a magical vision where they literally met. Vesemir asks if Yen was kind to him and when he responds that she was, he's like, "It was a dream lol." And yeah, that's the characterization! Geralt knows he didn't actually meet with Yen because the real Yen wouldn't have been that nice to him. And it's not in a funny "My real lover ALWAYS teasingly insults me as an act of kindness!" way but a much more literal, "Yeeeaaah. Yen just isn't that nice a person most of the time" and the examples we can point to when she is kind don't outweigh/erase everything else for me. In TW3 at least, she's very much the kind of person who will, completely seriously, blame you for getting amnesia. And you know the best part? She had it too! Not only that, but she actually recovers her memories earlier than Geralt and never looked for him and you also learn in the second game that she had a relationship with another guy while trying to remember who she was... so the fact that she's pissed at Geralt for going through the exact same thing (not seeking her out/relationship with Triss - only Triss was actively seducing him, so) is just wild to me.

But yeah, TW3 is a MASSIVE game that deliberately plays with different choices and perspectives. To say nothing of its "Life is hard and people need to be harder" worldbuilding. It would be a miracle if we liked every single thing in it lol. Like, Blood and Wine is probably my favorite bit of gaming ever and yet I just fundamentally disagree with CDPR's idea of a happy ending there. For both the main questline and a particular side quest the game goes, "This one is the correct choice ;)" and I'm like, "Lol not to my mind I'll take one of the 'bad' endings thanks!" Yen is just another example of that. The game clearly wants us to like her - she and Geralt are canon in the source material - but giving us the ability to decide who Geralt is means that we might just go, "Nope. Sorry. This 'correct' choice is one I'm passing by."

[moriganstrongheart]

World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 3 – Review

by Blizzard Entertainment 2018, Dark Horse Books Hardcover, 223 pages, $39.99 USD

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Good: Third War well told, good use of retcons Bad: World of Warcraft narrative potential wasted

Of the three volumes I have read of the Chronicle so far, the third installment was the least exciting to me. I think my apathy with this volume is born out of familiarity; of all of the Warcraft lore, I am most familiar with the events of the Third War leading to the events detailed in World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 3 picks up at the end of the Second War and ends with the destruction of Deathwing at the end of the Cataclysm expansion. I continued to find enjoyment from this volume despite my apathy towards its content, though many of the issues I had with previous volumes have returned, namely issues with maps and formatting. You can read my reviews of the last two volumes here:

World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 1 review

World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 2 review

Maps were utilized a tad more effectively in this volume when compared to first volume; it’s easier to compare the use of maps in this volume than to the second, as the third volume is almost exclusively set in modern Azeroth. There are even some attempts at showing character movement across the maps, as the movements of armies are sketched out near the end of the Third War. Issues that plagued the first volume are still present: there are not enough maps, and the ones that are there lack legends and the details to provide context. While the addition of infographics was a nice touch, there needs to be more. And yet, mapmaking improvements have given me hope that we will see more detailed and informative maps in future volumes.

Formatting is quite possibly the worst aspect of this volume. The first half of the book—which deals with the events of the Third War—is generally well structured and follows the same formula we’ve grown accustomed to. Each event is told in its own narrative chunk and then strung together to create an overarching narrative. In addition, the events of Warcraft III and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne are quite possibly the most memorable events in Warcraft lore for veterans of the series and was the point of entry for many Warcraft fans, including myself. There are some noticeable retcons, specifically in reference to Illidan and Gnomes, but the narrative remains more less the same as it was in those games, with some additions from supplementary media. It is in the latter half of the volume—which covers the events occurring in World of Warcraft up to the end of its Cataclysm expansion—that the storybook format breaks down, detracting from the overall experience. Instead of events driving the narrative, it is major content releases, usually in the form of raids or major patches. Narrative space is also allocated to each expansion release, dwarfed only by the amount of narrative space given to the initial release of World of Warcraft itself. The choice to limit narrative blocks to content releases causes each section within the latter half of the book to feel forced and artificial, as if recounting events from a memorable college party rather than epic events from history.

However, I could be biased as I have played World of Warcraft while many of these stories unfolded, and the nature of the Chronicle does not lend itself well to expansive descriptions of historical event. Still, I can’t help but think that if Blizzard had focused on actual storylines within World of Warcraft, the Chronicle could truly fulfil its goal to be a storybook for all to enjoy. There are so many interesting stories that were introduced in World of Warcraft that deserve their own space inside the Chronicle:

The Defias Brotherhood’s rise, fall and resurgence

The Caverns of Time

The Burning Blade’s infiltration of Orgrimmar

There are some mentions of these interesting storylines within the Chronicle, but none of them really do the stories justice. Focus is instead placed on the defeat of raid bosses from each raid tier and on the overall narrative of each expansion. Additionally, I believe Blizzard made a mistake in trying to attribute the victories in World of Warcraft to specific factions of adventurers. I can see what they were trying to do; by associating the events in World of Warcraft with adventurers, they put the glory of conquest fully into the hands of the players and not lore characters. However, I don’t believe this works as well as they’d hoped. It adds on to the feeling of artificially constructed anecdotes that is pervasive throughout the latter half of the book as the Chronicle reinforces the fact World of Warcraft exists as a MMORPG and not as a vibrant, living world. This new approach to narrative is also inconsistent; some raid bosses are killed by Horde members, while others are killed by Alliance members. Most though, are killed by both factions, which begs the question: why make these distinctions at all? Especially when only about half the actual dungeons in World of Warcraft are mentioned, leaving a whole range of storylines unique to these dungeons untouched--without mentioning the large collections of questlines left untold.

I think World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 3 does not handle its material as well as the previous volumes, at least in the latter half once it begins dealing with the events of World of Warcraft. Everything up to the end of the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is handled well, as the narrative therein is singular and straightforward. However, Volume 3 suffers from the same issues as previous volumes, while compounding the Chronicle’s formatting issue as it fails to break up events from World of Warcraft into manageable chunks. There is simply too much going in World of Warcraft to summarize its events into a series of anecdotes; they would have been better off spending time fleshing out the lore from Vanilla and maybe the Burning Crusade instead of tackling the base game and three expansions. While I would definitely revisit the Chronicle to brush up events from Warcraft III, I will be going elsewhere when I want to experience the stories of World of Warcraft again.

Personal Rant

As with the previous two volumes, this section goes over my personal observations in regards to the presentation of lore in the Chronicle, to explain how I feel about changes made or the lack of detail in some areas. As always, my thoughts here should not be taken into consideration when evaluating the volume’s quality; I simply want to express my thoughts based on my own experiences. The following has spoilers for Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, supplementary material and the Chronicle itself.

Most of my issues with the lore in this volume have already bled into the actual review; the way lore has been handled so far is not only a detriment to the format of the Chronicle, but an insult to any player who has played through World of Warcraft. It is not a group of Alliance adventurers that took down Emperor Thaurissan, it is you. It is not a group of Horde mercenaries that cleared the threat from Maraudon, it is you. While I understand the intention, I don’t see how Blizzard could not have just have left things ambiguous as to whom participated in these quests. It would have allowed the reader to imagine anyone as the hero, while highlighting important lore moments and characters. Because despite their efforts to put the fate of Azeroth in the hands of the players, most of the events in World of Warcraft up to Mists of Pandaria have a non-player character as the lead actor. Names such as Thrall, Varian, Illidan, Arthas and Garrosh became well known for their parts played in major lore moments and we shouldn’t just brush them aside in an attempt to rewrite World of Warcraft’s history to favour player involvement.

I am so dissatisfied with the way the Chronicle approaches World of Warcraft lore that I’m unwilling to consider rereading the latter half of Volume 3 in the future. It would be much easier to refer to the fan sites mentioned in the first volume (WoWpedia or WoWWiki) or to simply play the game again. I will admit that stories in World of Warcraft do not lend themselves well to the kind of storytelling the Chronicle aims for; MMORPGs do not usually have the complex narratives as they must assume that the player will not be able to participate in all of the story content; they must instead provide smaller, isolated stories which contribute to the feel of the world instead, discarding nuance whenever possible. Still, the Chronicle could have simply taken its time to convey how the world of Warcraft feels instead of trying to get through the story as quickly as possible.

The former half of the book was enjoyable; I am more familiar with Warcraft III narratives than any of the previous entries in the Warcraft series. There are not that many changes from the original source material, though I did notice that Blizzard took some time to rewrite Illidan to match up with the retcons they did for Legion. They also spent a lot of time on Moira Thaurissan, building up her political presence in tandem with her prominent role in Cataclysm--and preparing her for Battle for Azeroth, or so I assume. While interesting, I still feel time spent on fleshing out these characters could have been better spent elsewhere. My final issue with this volume was the inclusion of what I thought was initially excluded: Rhonin’s time travel shenanigans in the War of the Ancients. They somehow made their way into this volume, being allowed a brief mention in the former half of the book. I would rather they not be mentioned at all, considering Knaak’s inclusion of his Mary Sues in the War of the Ancients has no impact whatsoever on the grander scheme of things...but alas, it is what it is.

Even with my issues with the way the World of Warcraft storylines have been handled so far, I’m excited to see what Blizzard does for Mists of Pandaria and beyond. Cataclysm is when I began losing interest in Warcraft lore; the dragon aspects have always been my least favorite element in the Warcraft lore, and I felt disconnected to the lore of Pandaria. By the time Warlords of Draenor came around, I had lost touch with universe and I have not had the chance to delve too deeply in Legion either. I have enjoyed what I have experience so far in Legion, but I would like the chance dive deeper into the lore without needing to read through the aforementioned fansites. One can hope that Blizzard can offer the best resource for enjoying the story of Warcraft, but we will have to wait and see for now.

Official Book Website