WoW plot/story?

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snobee

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Hi there,
I have been playing Guild Wars for nearly 4 years, and thought I would check out WoW while I wait for Guild Wars 2 this year. I downloaded the entire patched version last week (10 day trial without the expansions that took nearly a day at about 18GB), and started playing on Thursday. I created an alliance human mage, and started wondering around doing quests, killing monsters, etc.
Now, I assume there is a plot or primary story line, as currently I just seem to be wondering around doing quests. I reached level 20 today, got my first mount (horse), but am feeling, well ok... where do I go from here... keep on exploring? I was wondering if there is some main plot I am missing that drives the WoW story? Does that come later?
 
hmm, there are actually a lot of "short" stories in the game, while you level up.

The big stories (lore) comes later on at higher levels, like 85 will be focussed on Deathwing, where he comes from, what he has done/destroyed etc.

There are actually books about the lore of the game. Very interesting. I have 3 of the books, not sure how many of them are out there :p But due to them needing to keep the game interesting, they keep adding thing and removing or changing so the lore is more old school.
 
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There isn't much of a main plot in WoW in the 1-60 areas. Most seems to deal with Alliance vs. Horde battles, or recovering from the Cataclysm. TBC also doesn't have a prominent overarching storyline. WotLK does have a overarching plot, but isn't always clear what it is. For Alliance is tends to be Gaining a foothold -> Looking for a way into Icecrown -> Attacking LK's armies. There are also two other important plots (Malygos and Ulduar), but they are not as expansive.

Zones are independent for the most part. Each zone has it's own major story and a couple of substories and you don't need to complete specific zones to understand stories happening in later zones. As an example for a human mage, you can complete Elwynn Forest and then head to Westfall, or you can rather go to Darkshore, Bloodmyst or Loch Modan. There are breadcrumb quests in each major city from the Hero's Board that can tell you where to go if you are not sure. You can check it every 5-10 levels. Some zones are designed for 5 levels (Westfall is for 10-15), while others are for 10 levels (Darkshore is 10-20).

Here is a that shows you where to go for different levels.
 
Off the top of my head.

The current plot / story ... get 85, pew pew bossmobs, get leet epics and you all live happily ever after! :D

Sideline story ... pew pew other faction for points to get leet pvp epics! :p







Edit: Inb4 them fanboois go mental .. I'm just kidding fellas and ladies
 
...if you want a bit of story go and play warcraft III and it's expansion.
 
If you want a lot of the story play WoW. Though most of whats in W3 is in Wow anyways, including things like Athras burning Stratholme.
 
w1z4rd said:
If you want a lot of the story play WoW. Though most of whats in W3 is in Wow anyways, including things like Athras burning Stratholme.
Click to expand...

I don't really want a lot of story. I was just wondering around and getting tired of doing quest after quest with no real primary plot in the background driving me forward to each zone/area. I was wondering if I had missed something. That is fine, now I know, I will just explore, etc.
 
The Orcs first inhabited Azeroth. They where in constant battle with the trolls as the trolls started to take over their land. Then the humans came along. The trolls and Orcs who now had a common enemy joined forces against the humans. Somewhere in this whole thing, Sylvanas came into the picture and started an undead army from the corpses of the humans. To help the effort of the Trolls and the Orcs against the human onslaught.

Not to sure as to the Tauren yet, as I have never played a Tauren :o

But that is just about the back bone of Classic WoW & Warcraft.
 
snobee said:
Hi there,
I have been playing Guild Wars for nearly 4 years, and thought I would check out WoW while I wait for Guild Wars 2 this year. I downloaded the entire patched version last week (10 day trial without the expansions that took nearly a day at about 18GB), and started playing on Thursday. I created an alliance human mage, and started wondering around doing quests, killing monsters, etc.
Now, I assume there is a plot or primary story line, as currently I just seem to be wondering around doing quests. I reached level 20 today, got my first mount (horse), but am feeling, well ok... where do I go from here... keep on exploring? I was wondering if there is some main plot I am missing that drives the WoW story? Does that come later?
Click to expand...

Hmm main storyline I guess is there was a bunch of old gods. The titans came down and pwnd them then built some ****. Then suddenly there were elves that made this tree and blew the place to hell. Then some idiot opened a portal and let a whole bunch of orcs in, there was a few wars, lots of pewpew. A few more wars, another tree, more pewpew and so forth. Then Arthas got this badass sword and he died.

Then end.
 
Well to be honest, WoW is well, a World, There is no main storyline encompassing the whole of the game to the point of excluding all else. I admit there IS a main storyline which frequently changes when new content patches/expansions are released but overall you'll find a ****load of smaller stories, sometimes even bigger stories inside WoW. As I said it's a diverse world (maybe not so much once GW2 hits but ah well) Just level through the places and finish the zones once you start them, it's quite entertaining these days :)

But on another note, as mentioned the main story line does seem to only crop up near or at end game.
 
snobee said:
Hi there,
I have been playing Guild Wars for nearly 4 years, and thought I would check out WoW while I wait for Guild Wars 2 this year. I downloaded the entire patched version last week (10 day trial without the expansions that took nearly a day at about 18GB), and started playing on Thursday. I created an alliance human mage, and started wondering around doing quests, killing monsters, etc.
Now, I assume there is a plot or primary story line, as currently I just seem to be wondering around doing quests. I reached level 20 today, got my first mount (horse), but am feeling, well ok... where do I go from here... keep on exploring? I was wondering if there is some main plot I am missing that drives the WoW story? Does that come later?
Click to expand...

There is actually a few books out there if you want a story, latest being this one regarding "The Shattering" [the event that occurred most recently in the world of Azeroth, which you should have encountered in some form already ] .

http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraf...r_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293983326&sr=1-15
Thrall, wise shaman and the warchief of the Horde, has sensed a disturbing change . . . Long ago, Azeroth’s destructive native elementals raged across the world until the benevolent titans imprisoned them within the Elemental Plane. Despite the titans’ intervention, many elementals have ended up back on Azeroth. Over the ages, shaman like Thrall have communed with these spirits and, through patience and dedication, learned to soothe roaring infernos, bring rain to sun-scorched lands, and otherwise temper the elementals’ ruinous influence on the world of Azeroth.Now Thrall has discovered that the elementals no longer heed the shaman’s call. The link shared with these spirits has grown thin and frayed, as if Azeroth itself were under great duress. While Thrall seeks answers to what ails the confused elements, he also wrestles with the orcs’ precarious future as his people face dwindling supplies and growing hostility with...
Click to expand...


As was mentioned, [World] of Warcraft is a world with multiple story lines from different perspectives [i.e. from the Horde and from the Alliance sides] . I suppose there are stories all over the place, alot actually comes from the original strategy games [Warcraft 1,2,3] and carried into WoW . Arthas for example, major character , his story actually starts in the strategy game, likewise with Thrall ...

You might want to consider going through the Warcraft videos [from the RTS games] as seen here:

Start here:
"Warcraft Lore 1: The Burning Legion Returns to Azeroth" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akzF_rU1Fqg&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 2: Medivh Speaks to Thrall in a Dream. " : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9_4oqD3Mtg&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 3: Medivh, The Prophet's Warning to Lordaeron" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78NmcTyjupY&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 4: Arthas Murders His Father to be King of Lordaeron " : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRNwYpqbttI
"Warcraft Lore 5: Archimonde Destroys Dalaran " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3BxvHhz4XQ&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 6: Grom and Thrall Kill Mannoroth and free The Horde " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luuUE0x7-TY&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 7: Night Elf wisps kill Archimonde and save the World Tree" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpklIrmfxWA&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 8: Illidan Returns with Naga " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MieilxwdSsk&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 9: Arthas BecomesThe Lich King" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHY85O8mFo8&feature=related
"Warcraft Lore 10: Enter World of Warcraft" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucZJLqCrzqA&feature=related

etc ..tons of clips...the rest of the series are from WoW .

As you can see there's a nice "series" made out of the clips, so can go through them. Arthas is of course better known as the Lich King , and if you want to story how he went from Paladin to Lich , you'll have to go back before WoW and check the clips etc.



Now with all that said, i'd say Warcraft as a world has grown quite rich in content , much like Star Wars has grown multiple stories. If you however want a more focused plot, similar to Guildwars where you and your group are directly [and indirectly] involved in "saving the world" (kinda like that whole "The Searing" thing in GW Prophecies ) then i can only recommend LOTRO [Lord of the Rings Online] , since you will directly and indirectly follow the story as in the books (even though you are not playing one of the main characters in the book, you are involved in all the side events to open their way to Mordor). So in LOTRO you are always aware of the "plot" and as you progress in the world, you also progress this plot, which is actually a very nice experience. WoW in contrast, does not have this at all, there is no "overarching" plot at all, only bits and pieces and little stories and "lore" from the past (basically the main story already happened when you play in the WoW, kinda like Star Wars games)
 
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Thanks guys for the info. I appreciate the depth some of you went to explaining and giving links.
 
The story line in WoW is whatever you want to make of it.
Unlike single player games or strategy games there is not a single outcome that defines the game, but rather multiple paths you can follow.
Do you like to follow the warcraft lore and enjoy every single quest and story line? There are hundreds of them! Both factions have their own story lines and each race within the faction have some unique experiences.
Do you like to kick some bud killing the opposing faction in Battle grounds or show your skills in the rated Arena style games? From level 10 you can now level through doing only pvp so no need to quest etc. Many people play wow just for the PVP.
Do you like to be part of a social group (aka guild)? The game is based around a lot of social interaction, quests that need to be done in a party, instances, raids, etc.


For me personally, I love the social aspects of the game. I love to group up and do quests with friends, do some PVP, or just enjoy some of the guild activities our guild organize.
 
its all lies! there is no storyline other than kill little fluffy bunnies and to skin them :p

anyways, someone mentioned something about tbc having no storyline, you obviously never did the attunement for kara or bt then did you
 
The defias mobs you fight in Elwynn forest are key to the politics of Stormwind. At lvl 18 or so, you get quests to kill bosses in Deadmines. Most if the levelling quests up to this point are linked to this sub plot.

The backstory is essentially the relationship between humans and orcs and how they feel hard done by each other. Characters from each faction have then gone off made a deal with some baddie, I.e. some dragon etc.

As you level, the quests explain more of this. Most people don't even read the quest detail or listen to the npc.

My favourite has always been the Alliance quest chain that got you attuned to the Onyxia raid instance.

The Uldum quests from lvl 83 are good as well.
 
snobee said:
I don't really want a lot of story. I was just wondering around and getting tired of doing quest after quest with no real primary plot in the background driving me forward to each zone/area. I was wondering if I had missed something. That is fine, now I know, I will just explore, etc.
Click to expand...

I suggest joining a social guild. Half the fun is talking rubbish in guild chat. They will also help you out and explain things. It can get awfully boring grinding your way through the levels on your own. The game is not really suited to solo play.

When you login, queue in the dungeon finder. You can carry on questing/exploring. Don't get discouraged if you end up with 4 morons :)
 
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