(context: https:/wowpedia fandom com/wiki/Warcraft_RPG)
A few weeks ago, a friend gifted me their old copies of the Warcraft and World of Warcraft RPG books, which naturally led to them getting devoured in a lore-hungry binge.
And OH. MY. GONK. They’re fascinating.
It’s such an interesting throwback to Metzen-era lore, where you can FEEL the difference in writing-style. Modern-era WoW has a palpable feeling of being a rotating ensemble cast of fantasy superheroes, but the RPG really sells how much the world and its various cultures/species are the main focus.
Yet, an interesting aspect of the storytelling is that it’s actually quite in-line with modern WoW in that it’s based in subjective perspective – meaning, you’re hearing the facts through an in-universe character’s POV.
The RPG lore seems to expand on so many details and missing pieces of the existing lore, that I wonder why it was de-canonized in a single Blue post at all. Is it that they were worried of keeping track of the vast wealth of information and that people would complain about retcons? Because … there’s an easy solution there (hint: it’s what happened with Chronicle).
I realize “make it all canon” would probably end terribly. But given the vast wealth of ideas present in these books, perhaps it’d be fair to think of RPG lore as “canon unless contradicted elsewhere”.
Because, honestly? This lore feels more canon than the Jailer.
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probably not.
but they can take bits and pieces. they’ve been doing that, little by little.
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Yes. I oppose that. A lot of that lore was dated and not in line with an mmorpg. Often times, when people bring up that older lore in discussions, it seems like something I am fine with leaving on the cutting room floor.
When ever we have lore discussions, the most outlandish arguments come from people who try and quote the non canon rpg or the non canon Hearthstone lore. That stuff can stay in its own lane, apart from the official lore.
Blizzard’s explanation worked for me.
No. That would not be fair. That would be incorrect.
I prefer as it stands now:
“The RPG is non canon - as stated by Blizzard - unless there is a specific detail that is featured as canon.”
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I honestly wish they took more from the RPGs than they have. They have been very selective in what they want to pull from, but as you stated we are currently in the era of “Warcraft Superheroes” and the lore surrounding everything seems designed to support that.
But I do like some of the more…I don’t want to say grungy aspects of the RPG canon, but I like that it wasn’t so sterile and uniform.
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The RPG’s death knight runeblade lore is the best lore.
I’m super sad Blizzard doesn’t use it.
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Considering that it was subcontracted to a third party, I don’t see any reason to assume the RPG lore was ever meant to be adopted by Blizzard. “Non-canon unless explicitly stated otherwise” makes more sense to me.
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They have been making parts of the RPG cannon over the years though. They seem to be taking things that they think will fit with their overall story and going from there.
It’s exactly the same thing Disney has been doing when they deemed the old star wars novels and comics Legends. It’s been a goldmine for them and they take what they like and modernize it to their liking
Yes, gradually make it all canon, or at least all the content that fills the many gaps that are left in the canon lore (as long as it doesn’t conflict with more recent canon lore and isn’t very dated. It must meet modern standards obviously, so get rid of all the awkward/sexist/racist stuff).
Canon lore is painfully thin when it comes to certain aspects, ESPECIALLY “mob races”. The RPG gave Makrura, Magnataur and Harpies much, much richer characterization. I mean, look at that : https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Makrura#In_the_RPG. They even have a capital !!! https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Mak%27aru Just make this canon.
As it stands, I’m fine with the “non-canon until stated otherwise” policy… IF the writers start to massively “state otherwise”.
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It would be a lot of work to take the RPG and reintergrate it into the canon lore without creating some serious continuity and lore issues.
That being said, it is something they do from time to time. They bring bits and pieces of RPG lore into the canon by having certain characters show up that are Prestige Classes from the RPG (such as the Lightslayer who appeared in Cataclysm and the Primal who appeared in WotLK) so if there’s something in the RPG that is also in the game the information in the RPG can be used IF it isn’t retconned by newer lore within other sources.
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Wholesale? Absolutely not.
Bits and pieces of it? Sure.
They have some good ideas but now a lot of them are quite outdated.
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No, it wouldn’t work. As someone who loves the RPG lore it just doesn’t work with the modern lore we have.
That said they could takae bits and pieces of it and rework parts of it to work.
It’s about a decade out of print.
It stopped being up to date after Wrath.
The company that published it no longer exists.
It’s time to let it go.
The PDFs are s till available in DriveThrurRPG but they are best left for homebrew tabletop campaigns. Although every now and then I think of making Herolab files from the material as long as I keep to the OGL stuff.
UPDATE: 6/2023. I’ve checked the site and all of the WOW RPG material has been pulled.
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I’ve been doing this personally for years now.
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There are certain parts I REALLY want, like Runemasters. Others should never have been written.
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Personally, I would like for them to at least take some of the remaining named Syndicate characters into the main story. Also keeping the Amani Empire as being larger than just Zul’Aman would be cool.
Could be a few other things I’m currently forgetting, but I think the Naga also had a capital under the Maelstrom in a place called the Rift.
Like others have said though, there are probably plenty of things that should be left behind.
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Are you sure?
https://imgur.com/a/DKrU9gs
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Hmm—well, as a counterpoint, he’s not credited as one of the writers on the book; he’s credited with “creative rules design assistance and additional material.” They do thank him for being “a huge help every single step of the way,” though.
Did that quote come from a press release? It’s hard to know how much weight to give those, because of course they want to make the product sound as valuable as possible for those who are interested in the game.
Anyway, if Metzen was heavily involved with the book, then he clearly changed his mind (or was overruled by others) about a lot of things later when it came time to implement them in the game, so at best it represents his take on the lore at one specific point in time.
Not wholesale, but as much as possible. Quality-wise and interest value, The RPG lore is head and shoulders above post-TBC WoW lore. There’s no competition. They even did “morally grey” better than Blizzard.
There is no way you could implement all of it without a gigantic retcon that invalidates most of WoW’s lore, as much as I would love to see that happen.
AKA, the “Disney Star Wars” approach.
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Weren’t the lore books written by White Wolf? That would explain why it’s different.
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I’m not a fan of disney by any stretch, but the idea that the old “not even lucas-canon” books were all perfect is just rose tinted glasses.
lucas was a hack, too, to be clear.
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