Resources: In-depth History of Warcraft, Blizzard's Trend-setting RTS

"For Nazjatar!!!" --- Battle cry of the Naga Sea Witch


Now I know what Nazjatar means. For those who are not so familiar with the background story of the world of Warcraft, Nazjatar is an underwater city made by the Naga --- former Highborne night elves who were "cursed and transformed" when the first Well of Eternity exploded following Azshara's failed attempt at letting the dark Titan Sargeras loose upon the world.

(Lest people who personally know me raise their eyebrows, no, I have not flipped. I still am not going to play MMOs.

There are only three MMOs that so far have attracted my attention and I am listing them here along with the reasons why I do not play them:

• RYL - This is the only game where I witnessed a lot of running and pulse-pounding moments from my friends screaming (not unlike lost schoolgirls lol!) "Don't kiiiiil meeee!" when a group of enemy players staged an ambush. CON: I've heard that races now can co-mingle? Boring. Also, I can't seem to find the official website. They folded?
• Guild Wars - I saw this in action way back in the Open Beta of the first one. Magnificent. Plays like an offline game with quests and varied terrains. CON: Can't find a supplier here and I'm not going to pirate.
• World of Warcraft - I read Gamespot's review and wow, this one takes the cake. It doesn't penalize players for not playing everyday, which is a major bonus. CON: Hefty subscription fee. FOR ME I hate the idea of continually paying for something as trivial as a game. I am a gamer but when my hobby starts to intrude on my RL priorities, it makes me pause and oftentimes quit. (Our CEO provided the same reason so I'm not crazy. Or maybe we both are haha! Peace Gus!)

Universal reason why I don't play MMOs: This is for another article. )

Last night, for the first time in about three years, I was at a loss on what to play. With my videocard fried, all my games won't run. But then I spotted some CDs in one corner of my room and remembered that one of my cousins gave me his (old) Warcraft games.

I played Warcraft I, cheated, and blazed through the orc campaign in less than an hour. I was only interested in the story as the game is now considered very unwieldy. (No drag-select and control groups anyone?) I then started the human campaign and encountered the name "Lothar," which rang a million bells.

I searched the net and hit paydirt:

• Wikipedia entry: Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
  
• WoWWiki.com: Warcraft: Orcs and Humans entry - contains various resources including "Chronicles of the War of Azeroth," "Destiny of the Orcish Hordes," and descriptions of the two races and the creatures of the land.
• Chronicles of the War in Azeroth
• WoW entry: History of Warcraft - Contains the entire history of the world of Warcraft. The entire first chapter is also in the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos manual but has been revised here and there.