Hey, I am asking this question here since most of you are RP/lore experts. Are Mages basically scientist in Wow or nay?
They could be! I guess it depends on how much you get into it. Magical spell discovery takes a lot of research time in lore (I recommend looking at the Kirin Tor Schools of Arcane in game books). Your character could be a researcher and go through the scientific process of discovery, or you could use what others have learned in battle/adventure/etc.
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Shoot. Typed up a response but lost it. I’ll try again!
I see Mages more of a “traditionalist” since when I think of Science, I think of new discoveries and pushing things forward. Mages tend to be more concerned with learning about the past and being more like a Historian. I do also think that Mages have a lot of practical applications for Science by using their spells in place of science equipment.
Most of the sciencetist I can think of in-game do not seem to be magically inclined but more like Engineers and Alchemists. Worth noting that both Engineering and Alchemists were combat professions before WoW and a lot of NPCs (especially earlier ones) pull more from Warcraft than WoW.
Finally, I also think that race plays a larger part of it. A Goblin or Gnome Mage may be more interested in a more scientific pursuit where a Pandaren Mage may be more keen on preserving and learning about the past.
BUT! The wonderful thing about RP is that really any of that works. This is really more of an opinion. I don’t think you could go wrong with a Mage Scientist.
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Like they stated above, it really depends on the context of who the character is.
No two people are alike. Everyone who hunts deals with animals, but not every hunter is a beast master with profound relationship to animals. Some are poachers, some are trackers, some are beast masters ect.
So like they said, mages do have a lot they have to do that deals with experimenting and how things react to each other. So there is a science to it, but they are not all necessarily scientists by name unless they are doing things purely FOR the science of it. Since ther are those who study alchemy, potion making, chemical reactions ect…
Would you consider Medivh a scientist? Khadgar? Or Jaina?
What about Gandalf from Lord of the Rings?
Part of the mysticism of mages and wizards is that their power is sometimes unexplainable to the average person. It’s runes, incantations, spells and dazzling colors.
So again, it really just depends on what sort of person it is getting into the study of magic, how the view it, and how they chose to wield it.
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My own two cents:
Magic is a very real thing in the Warcraft universe, and the rules of magic are just as present and important as the rules of physics. But instead of accessing those rules by computer or machinery, you access it through formula and energy manipulation.
I see it as the invisible code that makes up the universe, and magi learn how to manipulate that code to alter reality. Get it just right and the spell works. Mess up a line or hand motion and you could destabilize reality and get someone/a lot of people killed, or end up in a wall instead of at your brother’s wedding (teleportation).
Teleportation spells, for example, most likely work with coordinates. That’s how the old Dalaran Portal spell still deposits you in the sky high above the Dalaran crater, where Dalaran used to be. There’s a science and logic and order to it. Some have greater potential to see and understand it.
Some/most of that is my own headcanon but it works for me.
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In general I tend to see Mages as a variable mixture of scientist and artist. On one hand the means to manipulating arcane magic, especially considering the current cosmology, is a generally intellectual and orderly practice; but there may be a variety of means within to achieve a particular goal, as well as a variety of means of learning ultimately common practices. This is due mainly to the esotericism inherent in the practice, likely existing due to nature of arcane as a power.
In short I somewhat see the study and practice of Arcane magic to be akin to real life Alchemy; or, to compare with a more mundane intellectual pursuit, the Alchemy to Engineering’s Chemistry. Overall an scientific system but obscured.
One could also liken the Arcane arts to a field like archeology compared to medicine; both scientific but in differing ways with distinct methods and applications.
With all that said the most consistent aesthetic, at least to me, that Mages tend to be given is akin to a scholar than a scientist. Granted these two things need not be mutually exclusive. Of course it also depends on the individual, as some others have said.
In summary:
The Arcane Arts may be considered a science, albeit an esoteric one, but Mages may not always be considered Scientists.
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