Community Manager of the Year Zarhym posted a very extensive transcript of all the World of Warcraft developers AMA Q&As held on Reddit a couple of days ago:
Dave Kosak, Lead Quest Designer
A. Wait – we’re supposed to answer questions about Mists of Pandaria? I was hoping to just post pictures of my cat for karma. https://imgur.com/3UbZM
Q. What do you think the biggest challenge was in wanting to change how Mists plays compared to Cata?
A. I’ll answer as the Lead Quest Designer, although others can chime in.
We wanted Pandaria to have a wide swath of content for all different types of players. To this end we wanted to add really awesome hardcore skill-based challenges (getting gold in all the Challenge Mode dungeons is a FEAT to be PROUD of!), as well as more casual experiences (Pet Battles is a really wonderful, low-stress, turn-based system that everyone can enjoy.)
From the quest perspective, we’ve always wanted more things to do with your max-level character, especially if you’re not into Dungeons or Raids. One entire zone (Vale of Eternal Blossoms) is dedicated to level-90 content. It’s a randomized series of missions to experience every day. The Mogu attack different parts of the Veil every day. New quests and hubs will unlock as you adventure. And as you earn reputation with the Golden Lotus faction, you’ll unlock a story arc that carries through until you’re exalted.
That’s just one example. All of the factions have something special going on, so that they’re not just a bar that grows along the bottom of your screen. The Tillers give you your own personal farm. The Shado-Pan companions accompany you on your quests every day, and you can unlock more companions, etc., etc. These are just a couple examples.
I would say that’s one of the major differences between Mists and Cata – there’s just plain MORE TO DO, regardless of your playstyle!
Q. How pleased are you with the lore and storyline in MoP? Any hints or teasers?
A. The story for Mists was a real challenge because we wanted to tell a story that didn’t have a big giant villain on the cover of the box. I’m immensely pleased with how it all came together; it’s a real journey. After the widespread destruction of Cataclysm, Pandaria is a great change of pace. You can really delve in and explore a beautiful place.
We kick things off with a bang and then strand you on the continent to fend for yourself. You’ll get to know the locals, solve some local problems, and learn what makes this land so different from the rest of Azeroth.
We’ve got a whole story arc planned out for the subsequent patches, where the war between the Alliance and Horde really heats up and splashes onto Pandaria itself. The pandaren force us to question what we’re really fighting over – perhaps ultimately, it’s a story about the factions defining who they want to be.
Don’t worry – just because there’s no villain on the box doesn’t mean you won’t be fighting for your life against some really brutal badasses…
Q. I know this might sound like asking too much to give away, but the Sha have really interested me going into MoP. How significant are these strange negative beings going to be in the overall story and plot of Pandaria? What makes them unique to the continent of Pandaria? And in that vein, do they pose a threat to all of Azeroth?
A. Great question! Sha energy is CENTRAL to the story in Pandaria. It’s the reason that pandaren culture has evolved along the lines it has. (If you’re really curious about the Lore, follow the story of the Last Pandaren Emperor by finding all of his lore objects hidden in the world and talking to Lorewalker Cho.)
A. The arrival of the Alliance and Horde on the continent really uncorks the bottle – this long suppressed energy explodes out, causing havoc from coast to coast. You can earn the trust of the wary pandaren by helping to clean up your mess. There’s a real cultural exchange that happens: The pandaren learn a lot about the Alliance and Horde, and hopefully the factions learn a lot about the pandaren that they can apply to their own situation.
At a deeper level, there’s a lot of symbology with the sha, which is good from a storytelling perspective. There are some wonderful moments in the game – one of my favorite stories has to do with a Shado-Pan warrior dealing with the death of her husband, which opens up her heart to the Sha of Hatred.
If you’re intrigued by the concept, you’ll find that the sha plays a big role in a lot of the quests, dungeons, and raids. Sweet!
Is the sha a threat to Azeroth as a whole? Possibly. I’d be more worried about the orc with the nukes. 😉
Q. As much as you are able to go into, can you explain the thought process behind the legendary gems and the future of the legendary Black Prince quest line in MoP (and perhaps any more details about the future of the questline)?
How do you think this legendary or legendaries will affect guilds and LFR players alike? Did you go for something that won’t be as headache inducing as previous legendaries?
A. Wrathion has a vision for the future of Azeroth – a united Azeroth – and he’s not too particular about how we get there. We’re big fans of characters who flirt along the line between hero and villain.
In 5.0, Wrathion is definitely feeling out the factions and trying to formulate a plan. It’s up to you to impress him. You’ll have another chance in 5.1, when the war rolls up onto the pandaren shores. As for his next move… well, no spoilers.
One of our goals with the Legendary in 5.0 is to remove some of the guild headaches and drama often associated with Legendaries. Everyone can begin working on getting a Legendary immediately, even if you use LFR. (You’ll be able to gather faster with your guild, though.) Getting the final legendary (whatever form it takes) won’t be an easy feat – you’ll have to participate in content throughout ALL the patches.
It’s a great opportunity for ALL players to experience a legendary questline!
Q. Are we having more questlines like Angrathar the Wrath Gate?
A. I guess this depends on what you think defines that event. Are you asking for more quests that have an awesome climactic cinematic? Are you asking for more quests that require you to do a whole lot of things over one or more zones before it all comes together? Are you asking for quests where you delve into major cities for huge lore events?
The answer is: Yes, yes, and … yes. 🙂
Although these events are few and far between – we want them to feel special. And some big events will happen in the patches. Glad you liked the Wrathgate! It was a big milestone for WoW storytelling.
Q. I can still remember the Wrathgate cinematic starting up on my screen, completely unexpected. I burst into a huge, nerdy grin at the idea that the game’s storytelling was heading in this direction. WoW’s visual style is so well-suited to those specially-animated cutscenes; it’s like watching the coolest cartoon ever. I know those must take a long time to plan and create, but I sincerely hope they keep coming!
A. Hopefully this isn’t too buried, I wanted to talk briefly about cutscenes. If you’ve been playing the game since vanilla, you know that our storytelling is constantly evolving. We’re always trying new things.
When it comes to full-on cinematics, we definitely have more of them in Pandaria. They highlight KEY moments in the game and the lore; you’ll see one when you first get your mission to go to Pandaria, and there’s a whopper of a movie when you play through the climax of the Jade Forest. This stuff is AWESOME, we’ve got a great team who’s put together some really magical pre-rendered moments.
HOWEVER!
It’s way more important to us to convey story through gameplay, not movies. To that end, there’s a lot of “less flashy” stuff we do in Pandaria to surround your character with story as you play. NPCs will seamlessly start to follow you or fight with you, the environment will change around you as you do things, and we try to have a lot more key lore characters directly involved in your experience. We’re trying to do all of these things without breaking players into different phases constantly (there’s less phasing in Pandaria than in previous expansions), and we’re trying to do it without having super-linear zones anymore.
It’s tricky. I can’t say we’ve “nailed it.” But I think Pandaria has the best in-game storytelling we’ve ever had in an expansion. I’m really looking forward to seeing it all play out!!
Q. I have a couple of lore questions relating to some of the developments in Tides of War.
First, Jaina’s official status is in limbo. While she declares that she’s “anti-Garrosh” that seems to be the extent of her disdain for the Horde. This coupled with the fact that she’s now the leader of a neutral faction, which contains both Alliance and Horde members, and it seems that she’s effectively a neutral character now, and that after Garrosh is deposed she’ll go “full neutral.” This is the opposite of how many people thought was going to happen; after having her city destroyed by the Horde, even if Garrosh is deposed it doesn’t feel as though she should be a neutral character after being victimized by the Horde to the extent she has. Can the devs shed some insight on this?
My second question pertains to a subject that’s highly controversial on the forums, which is Lordaeron. This is not a question about whether the Forsaken qualify as the rightful owners or not (I don’t want to touch that subject with a ten foot pole), but rather in how the Alliance’s position there is and what the Alliance’s motivations are combined with what we see in Tides of War. In Wrath of the Lich King, Varian declared that he has every intention of retaking Lordaeron, and that the Alliance’s operations against the Scourge were largely conducive to that goal. In Cataclysm we see the Alliance making some effort, but it seems to be minimal as it’s easily forced back and in Tides of War, Sylvanas alludes to the idea that the Alliance has not attempted to retake Lordaeron in full force. Why is the Alliance holding back, and what is the Alliance’s plans for the future of the region? How does the Alliance look at the whole Lordaeron situation now, and will the Lordaeron citizens in the Alliance ever get a voice?
A.Re: Lordaeron. Without having the book in front of me, I’m not sure which passage you’re talking about. The Alliance can’t retake Lordaeron until they get to it; Sylvanas held them off at Andorhal, as depicted in-game.
What’s Varian been up to? Well, after focusing on the Lich King, he wasn’t using Alliance military might to conquer new territory. He used it to, among other things, provide aid and rescue the Gilneans. Does this make him a bad leader, or a noble one? That’s a good question.
Q. So…neutral or not?
A. I’m trying not to spoilerize here, man!
Q. Does this mean the Alliance has lost another lore character to neutrality? Really would like to see some Alliance lore figures that don’t die or go neutral.
A. Feedback from Cataclysm is that people don’t like when they “lose” a character to neutrality. So I hear you. Jaina’s story continues, and we have plans!!
Q. I finished the recently released book “Tides of War.” I rarely read novels, but since I enjoy WoW I decided to give it a shot. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the book and it even got me more excited about MoP, and also reading the other novels.
My questions are: How many novels are planned to be released over this expansion? Also, since you have stated Garrosh is the main antagonist during your big MoP reveal, do you feel you’ve hurt opportunities to write more exciting novels to build up this already hyped epic battle we will eventually experience in-game?
A. I’m glad you enjoyed the novel! Golden is a fantastic author who works very closely with us to do justice to the franchise.
If you’re getting psyched about the storyline, I think you’ll love the next novel which focuses on Vol’jin. Have you played the troll 1-10 intro experience? Vol’jin flat-out tells Garrosh he doesn’t trust him and he’ll stab him in the back the moment he sees an opportunity. The novel carries his story forward and really meshes in with the events of patch 5.1.
One of our ongoing goals is to make sure that the games and novels complement each other, and that major lore events don’t happen in the novels without some kind of representation in-game. This is a huge challenge for us!! But I think we’re getting better at it.
Q. SO excited to hear this–my troll character is the easiest Horde race for me to identify with fully and even though she is a tiny baby still I have a goal to go kill Garrosh with her while he is still Raid Finder content! I love Vol’jin, I want him to be warchief and then it won’t feel so forced if we have temporary peace dealing with the next larger threat. I mean, that dude already gave me a bunch of quests in Zul’Gurub so he has no problem at all working with humans and such. He is the greatest I am so happy for a novel maybe I will actually have the money to buy it yayayayay. (I have the Jaina one on hold at my local public library because of broke.)
A. Good to see a Vol’jin fan! You’re going to dig the novel. 🙂
Q. As you know Garrosh will be dethroned at the end of Mists of Pandaria. I’m not looking for this to be answered just to be recognized or give some insight on the decision.
Rexxar Champion of the Horde would be the best candidate for Warchief wouldn’t you agree? As he said he would never join the Horde unless it really needs him, but also the wild is his home.
A. Rexxar for Warchief! Who’s with me!?
Q. Is Thrall going to lead an attack against Garrosh?
A. It’s hard to tackle these questions without just straight-up spoiling stuff. I argue that the best stories are experienced through gameplay.
So: Thrall. Obviously Thrall feels that Garrosh is his mistake. We explored some of his emotions around this in the “Elemental Bonds” questline in patch 4.2. For that reason, he’ll DEFINITELY play a role in the ultimate conflict in Orgrimmar. But maybe not the role you’d expect.
He’ll be lying low in 5.0, but the current plan is for you to catch up with him in 5.1. (That content is still in development, so don’t hold me to that.)
Also, Horde and Alliance players will be happy to know that he’ll be focused on Horde content this time around, not a neutral NPC helping both factions (which made sense in Cataclysm, but overwhelmingly the feedback is players want to see him be Hordey again. Yeah, I just made that word up.)
Q. Is he going to retire from the calm Far-Seer position he got himself into in Cataclysm and get back as the old fearsome Thrall we had known in Warcraft III?
A. We really want to show Thrall developing as a character, not moving backwards. He’s learned a lot about himself after Cataclysm. He’ll continue defining himself in the wake of Mists…
Q. In the new expansion the tension between the Alliance and the Horde have increased drastically. Would there ever be a raid or dungeon that would happen to be an attack on a city such as Stormwind or Orgrimmar?
A. It would be difficult to dislodge a warchief without an attack on Orgrimmar. Oh man. I AM FIRED UP.
Q. Why did Thrall let Gallywix Live if he’s a slave owner? Why did Thrall ever even allow Slavery in the Horde?
A. Thrall’s vision of the Horde is a refuge for people in need. He’s a helpful guy. The Bilgewater Goblins just had their home destroyed, and they were refugees (he can certainly relate to that). They helped him in the Lost Isles, so he offered them a home. Presumably he’d put a stop to any slave trade (the player characters don’t remain slaves once they join the Horde.)
Of course… afterwards he was no longer the Warchief. Garrosh was probably a lot more hands-off of the goblins, so long as they showed their usefulness – as they demonstrated immediately in Azshara.
An excellent question, BTW!
Q. Given what Sylvanas and the Forsaken have been up to regarding the Plague, isn’t it inevitable that her desire to “procreate” the undead will bring the Forsaken into direct conflict with all the living factions (Horde and Alliance both)?
A. Well, first she’d have to run out of corpses, so from that perspective, the war is REALLY helping the Forsaken out… 😉
This is a good question, because the nature of the Forsaken makes them a really unstable ally. That leads to some great stories. At the moment, Sylvanas is fortifying her position – she’s making a landgrab, she’s fortifying her borders, she’s using the Valkyr to boost her numbers… But what’s her long-term plan?
At least Garrosh called her out on it. What will the next Warchief do about it? Better question: What if SYLVANAS is the next Warchief? Oh man.
