[OC News Team Application Article] Warlords of Draenor -- Blizzard is Back!

[Garneth]

Greetings, all! I would like to make my re-entry into OwnedCore by applying for the news team, and this article will serve as my application. I hope you guys like it!

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After a years off from Blizzcon in 2012, this year Blizzard was ready to bring it all and smack it down onto fans with full force. Blizzard announced the new World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, along with showcasing two other newer games, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm, and Diablo III’s new expansion, Reaper of Souls. Blizzard had the usual World of Warcraft Arena Invitational, with Skill Capped taking the crown as World Champions, and the World Championship Series for Starcraft II as underdog SOS took down crowd favorite Jaedong. All in all, this year was an amazing year for Blizzcon.

As Chris Metzen took the stage, getting ready to announce the new expansion, a sea of applause awaited him. When he finally rolled the trailer of the new expansion, Warlords of Draenor, tens of thousands cheered ecstatically, whether at Blizzcon themselves or at home watching via the Virtual Ticket. This new expansion, according to Blizzard, takes World of Warcraft back to its roots, before everything began. Garrosh Hellscream has escaped his trial, banding with an evil being to go back to the past, to his home world Draenor. This Draenor is not the same as today’s Outlands, rather, this Draenor takes place in the few years leading up to the orcish people drinking the blood of Mannoroth. Garrosh aims to prevent the drinking from ever happening, and banding the orcish tribes of Draenor under one flag, which he calls the “Iron Horde.” Players from both the Alliance and the Horde will journey back through the Dark Portal in an effort to prevent Garrosh from taking over the future, Azeroth’s present day.

Several new features were announced at Blizzcon, including a level cap raise to 100, brand new revamped character models for every class except Worgen, Goblins, and Pandaren (though Blizzard is considering the possibility of revisiting Worgen and Goblins if they have the resources and time). The Draenor that players will be visiting is not a simple reskin of today’s Outlands, rather it is re-built from the ground up, with only certain landmarks as a reference guide. Draenor is a lush, beautiful planet, with tons of new places to explore. While you’re exploring, consider making a Garrison for your character, a new feature in Warlords. With a Garrison, you can essentially make your own base, complete with buildings such as infirmaries, keeps, towers, and more. To help you build your Garrison, Blizzard has introduced followers, which you can hire to be part of your Garrison. You can send your followers on missions to raids, dungeons, scenarios, and more to gather resources and gold so you can build your Garrison. Pretty neat!

While the game is only currently in internal alpha, Blizzard has stated they are looking to launch the beta around the summer-time. It certainly looks like that will happen, too, because the previews of zones seen at Blizzcon look polished, elegant, and in a near-completed or completed stage. Blizzard has done an excellent job of expanding their development team so that they can get this expansion built quicker, but not at a loss of quality. Monsters you will see on Draenor include a fairly large amount of unique monsters, ones you can’t find on Azeroth, or even Outlands.

From an alliance player’s viewpoint, the storyline will be expanding upon the Draenei, as Draenor was the heart of their civilization. What is now the Black Temple on Outlands is on Draenor a beautifully-crafted Draenei city, which serves as the Alliance capital on Draenor. For the Horde, they will be kicking out a tribe of ogres from a keep in what is now Blade’s Edge Mountains, and that will act as their capital city. Shattrath has not been forgotten, however. Most of what is now Terrokar Forest is an extension of Shattrath City, which was much larger during this time. Auchindoun, which is currently an abandoned wasteland taken over by ethereals, arrokoa, and more, is now a holy Draenei temple, acting as a five-player dungeon. In total, Blizzard is planning to have about seven new dungeons available to players, including a revamped Upper Blackrock Spire. Sadly, Blizzard has not stated whether or not we will be bidding farewell to the infamous “Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy!” achievement, or if it will be redone in a new form.

Warlords of Draenor is shaping up to be an excellent expansion, and hopefully when the beta comes around we can see the masterpiece of a world Blizzard has crafted for us to enjoy. Some believe Blizzard is finally back with this new expansion, going back to their roots and bringing an expansion unique from others. Warlords of Draenor should definitely encourage players to give WoW another shot.

[Eryx]

Well written, Garneth!

I wish you good luck on your application!

[Garneth]

Well written, Garneth!

I wish you good luck on your application!

Thank you very much Eryxon! =)