Nethaera (Link)
We are pleased to introduce the Warcraft Story Forum where players can discuss the storylines of the Warcraft universe, as told in-game and through the novels, manga, comics, and short stories that Blizzard publishes. Be sure to visit the new forum here- http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=26354482&sid=1
This has been something that alot of roleplaying and storyline oriented players have been asking for for a long time. A place where they can discuss and explore the rich storyline behind World of Warcraft.
There is already a 'roleplaying' forum, so the purpose of this new one will be to discuss the actual storyline of WoW rather than players personal experiences in the game.
Nethaera (Link)
What is Creative Development?
Creative Development (CDev) is a "hub" within Blizzard, facilitating the development of ancillary products and services that tie into Blizzard's game universes. While there are several different divisions of CDev, this Warcraft Story forum focuses on the efforts of the Publishing division.
What does Creative Development's Publishing division have to do with Warcraft's stories and lore?
The Publishing division within Creative Development is the driving force behind every published story you've seen outside of the game: short stories, novels, comics, and manga.
Who comprises the Publishing division of Creative Development?
Publishing is made of two groups:
-Story Development: this group focuses on story idea creation, story outlining, and story development for licensed fiction, as well as for internally-written stories
-Historians: this group is the repository for all Blizzard lore, providing counsel for the game development teams and the CDev Story Development group
What is the Publishing division's usual process for developing a story?
- Idea Generation & Outline Creation: Working with Chris Metzen and the designers on the respective game's development team, the Story Development team generates an idea and an outline for a story. The writer on the project is typically invited to our offices at this point in the project, so that they can be in on the ground floor of the story's creation.
- Story Development & Lore Checking: Over the course of the project, the Story Development team talks constantly with the writer, as well as with Chris Metzen and the game developers, in order to help hone the story into a Blizzard-quality tale. At the same time, our Historian team combs through the iterations of the story in order ensure that the story adheres to the universe's established canon.
*Please note that the CDev Publishing division has only been fully staffed since early 2009, allowing for more resources and manpower to dedicate to each published product.
What does the Publishing division hope to accomplish with this Warcraft Story forum?
We'd like to give the community a chance to influence the development of our upcoming stories, so we're trying something new; this forum will serve as a direct line to our story developers. Please note that we're not looking for fully-formed stories - save those for the Global Writing Contest (which we operate and judge) - but rather we're looking for specific examples of what people like, don't like, and what they would like to see (story-wise) from us in the future.
This idea of the community actually influencing the future storyline of WoW is certainly interesting! I'm not sure how well that would work out, but I'm know that some lore enthusiasts know the story as well as any writer at Blizzard. Take a look at the new forum
here, it's already filling up with posts.
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