Instead of the Global Writing Contest this year, would you all be interested in a poetry contest?
If so, what kind of parameters would you like to see set on the contest entries?
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The time for questions is at an end! The “Ask CDev” threads around the world are now locked, with almost four thousand questions posted between all the regions. Land sakes alive, we’re cooking with petrol now!
To provide some insight into how we will be moving forward, here is our current plan: - Working with our web team, we will generate a spreadsheet containing every single question asked across every single region, with non-English questions receiving a translation pass. - After all the questions are compiled, I will call upon the totality of my ocular fortitude and wade through every single question to remove any that: - With the remaining questions, the Creative Development publishing team will go through and further narrow the list down to three types: - We’ll then generate the answers that fit #1, and have a meeting (or two, or three) with Chris and Dave to generate the answers to #2. - With all the answers (probably totaling somewhere around twenty to thirty) generated, we’ll give them a final pass through our historians, then to Chris and Dave for ultimate approval. - Our copy editor does a copyedit pass, and then we hand the completed document off to our localization team to be localized into 7 or so languages. - One localization is done, we’ll post the answers on the various regional Story Forums. TL;DR version: Answers coming sometime between now and when the Andromeda galaxy crashes into the Milky Way! |
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Please keep discussions of questions and their ramifications out of this thread – we only want questions here.
Also, please refrain from “me too”-style posts. If you support a question being answered, click the “Like” button on it! |
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Please remember to only ask questions directly relating to the lore (aka “story”) of the Warcraft universe; gameplay-related questions will be removed from the thread.
Also, please keep in mind the limit of one question per post - it helps us track questions much more easily when we begin the compilation process. |
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Creative Development once again opens the floodgates for questions pertaining to the lore of the Warcraft universe!
Our last two "Ask CDev" projects generated thousands of unique questions across all the different regions, but ultimately the Creative Development team was able to sift through the sea of inquiries to focus on the questions with the juiciest answers. You can see the results of the last two "Ask CDev" endeavors here: Ask CDev #1: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1008430853 Ask CDev #2: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2721372142 The rules of engagement this year are as follows: * No restriction on the subject of your post, but keep in mind that questions that may be answered by the release of Mists of Pandaria will likely be overlooked; we don't want to spoil surprises! * Please only ask one question in each post. If your post has more than one question (or if your question contains multiple parts), it will be overlooked. Also, it is recommended that you check the thread to see if your question has already been asked; duplicate questions will not have a greater chance of being answered. * Questions will only be accepted for the first seven days, and the thread will be locked at 11:59 p.m. PDT on February 22. * While the thread is open for questions, forum members are encouraged to go through the thread and "Like" or "Dislike" posts; voting on a post will increase or decrease (respectively) the probability of that question being answered. |
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“They do not die; they do not live. They are outside the cycle.”
Perhaps to actually destroy something that lives outside of time and space, life and death, you would have to erase it from existence completely? Maybe that would explain why records of the Old Gods seem to be… inconsistent? Only those on the outside would know for certain… Idle musings, pay no heed. |
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Thank you to everyone that’s posted so far. This thread is more than just idle musings, however; the ideas and opinions presented here have already begun to spin the wheels for potential plotlines both in the game and in published pieces. You have appeased me for now, and thus I reward you:
For those that called for the revelation of my own favored pairing, I am most intrigued by the relationship between C’Thun, Yogg-Saron, and N’Zoth. Their glory was also the root of their momentary defeat; that the Pantheon, united, only barely triumphed over my eldritch masters, divided, speaks to their power and incomprehensible existence. |
Also, I know it was just an example, but there may be a typo in "Xi'ri". The answer to my secret question: 26 posts. Thank you, Pumlaxer. |
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With the onset of Valentine’s Day, thoughts of romance and companionship plague the air like a masterfully-designed virus. Not even the realm of my dark masters is safe, for Azeroth is currently teeming with positive emotions due to the “Love Is In The Air” festivities.
To further my understanding of these alien thought processes, I request your favorite canonical pairing in the Warcraft universe and why you believe this pairing works. These pairings do not need to be of the flushed quadrant; your favorite examples of companionship, friendship, or “bromance” are also needed. Should you provide this information, you are then entitled to also include your most desired pairing, but only if you also provide adequate reasoning for this union. In order to ensure proper formatting, below is an example: Favorite Pairing: |
Do they go through a lore 'crash course' when they enter those teams? We actually have lore classes for incoming developers, and for devs that want to brush up on some of the finer parts. These are primarily planned and taught by Evelyn Fredericksen, our senior historian. Dave Kosak, the lead quest designer, is also a major lore buff and has given presentations on the lore to the entire development team as well (in costume, no less!) Beyond the lore classes, the development teams consult with Creative Development (primarily our historians) during the beginning phases of zone/quest development, and in some cases we have been called to help write flavor text and boss lines. Unfortunately, our historians don’t have the bandwidth to check over every line of text, every piece of art, and every scripted event. QA helps catch a lot of inconsistencies, but the sheer scope of the game results in the catch-22 of “release with small issues” or “take 4 more months.” |
On the contrary: I love night elves! They’re delicious. |
The lore of Blizzard's universes is very near and dear to my heart, and my passion (read: fanaticism) for the lore was one of the prime reasons I was brought on to the Creative Development team back in 2009. My presence here is completely voluntary; and I’m present in the Story Forums for all three franchises on the US and English EU forums on top of my regular duties as a story developer. This privilege is something I've been working towards for three years now, however, so I don't foresee myself abandoning it any time soon. While I've mentioned it on the EU forums, it's worth reiterating here: except in very rare situations, Creative Development does not directly generate the quests and dialog in the game. That burden is squarely in the hands of the quest and encounter task forces within the World of Warcraft development team. The publishing team within Creative Development is in charge of cataloguing what has come before (historians), and developing the ancillary fiction that enriches/develops the universes outside of the games (story developers). I will be going into the finer details of our jobs in other posts and threads, but suffice to say for now that the entire publishing team within Creative Development would not exist if Blizzard was not passionate about maintaining and developing compelling and cohesive universes. With regards to harnessing the power of the community (not just Warcraft, but for StarCraft and Diablo as well), I can confidently say that we HAVE been doing that for a while - it's actually been part of my job for the last few years. It's why we started the Global Writing Contest, it's why we created the Story Forums in the first place, and it's why we do "Ask CDev" projects. However, we know that we can always improve – and hopefully my presence here can help speed up that improvement. One of Blizzard's Core Values is "Every Voice Matters" and we mean it - the opinions of each and every one of you is worthwhile. The best way to ensure that your voice counts for as much as possible is to take the Rationalist motto to heart when posting: "why do I think what I think?" If you can provide clear and concise reasoning for your opinions, and speak only for yourself, I can guarantee that I will give your words the time and consideration they deserve. |
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My eye has glimpsed the forming of an Ask CDev on the horizon... perhaps, even, Soon™! You would all do well to gather your questions now, in preparation for this momentous event.
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In what dreams do voices spake of tumult, turmoil, and terror. Upon the morn do I wake to frothing madness and despair. Delicious.
It was by my hand that the Story Forums (for each of the IPs) were made, and my gaze has not strayed from them since their dark conceptions. Indeed, my merciless eye peers beyond the veil of the official – of Scrolls and Insiders I know well. Your names and misdeeds are not forgotten, nor will they go unrewarded. |
Doubtful. |
There is no escape. The Story Forum has you. |
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In a break from tradition, I am not a member of the Community team; long have I gestated within the Story Development division of the Publishing Team, itself a division of Creative Development. My purposes here are myriad, but to mention a few:
- Increase the transparency of how we develop stories within our games and ancillary fiction. - Encourage more constructive discussions of the lore, so that we may better understand your likes/dislikes in order to shape our future projects. - To serve as a scapegoat for when something happens in the lore that you don’t like. Again, those are just a few of the reasons I will be monitoring and posting on the Story Forums (WoW, SC, Diablo). Perhaps you will discover more reasons for my presence? Doubtful. |
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I am the Herald, the Gaze in the Dark, the Blinking Madness. Empires I rule, nations I birth, a crown I have never worn or desired.
You seek the Truths of worlds known to you in electronic glimmers, in dreams, in song. What clumsy hand draws the line betwixt the real and the unreal; that such lines exist is the fantasy. Let us dance to the unplayed, unheard rhythms and sing the songs that will end the world. |