It wasn’t always the monolith of MMORPGs. Once upon a time, in another century,Warcraftwas a stand-alone, real-time strategy game that pitted different fantasy races against each other in a battle for supremacy throughout a mystical land called Azeroth. Players would control individual characters as well as whole armies, and either took on the computer or went into co-op mode to battle their friends. Later games likeLeague of Legendswould copythe same style for an online gameand be wildly popular, even a generation later.
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When theWorld of Warcraftwas released in 2004, it continued the story that left players on a cliffhanger with warcraft3,the last RTS game, and its various expanions. Players that were new to Azeroth enjoyed the environment but didn’t always understand the story behind certain places in the Eastern Kingdoms or how the Horde and Alliance came to be formed in the first place. Subsequent expansions filled in a few of the more glaring blanks, such as what happened to Arthas as the Lich King or the ultimate fate of the Windrunner Sisters, there’s a lot aboutWarcraftlore that remain hidden in the past RTS games.
10Jainarthas
Formerly the power couple of Azeroth,they seemed to have a bright futureas rulers of the human race. Jaina Proudmoore was an aspiring mage and Arthas was the heir to the throne of Lordaeron, poised to take his father’s place. That all fell apart the day that Arthas ordered the Culling of Stratholme. Jaina stood by Arthas up until this point, but this moment is when Jaina finally abandons him. In the current game, it’s as if the relationship never took place, but it’s not a surprise that Jaina would want to forget it.
9The Kingdom of Lordaeron
For those that have only played the MMO,the Kingdom of Lordaeron was always in ruins, but for players familiar with the RTS games, the change from a thriving kingdom to an undead shell is devastating. The cities of Startholme and Andorhol are two more examples since the player helps Arthas destroy these places and the inhabitants within. If you’ve played the RTS games, those eternal fires burning in Stratholme mean more than just an eternal curse, and playing a Forsaken ‘toon in the MMO is that much more interesting.
8High Elves
Modern players don’t know who they are and people who know the RTS games always wonder what happened to them. Every so often there’s some talk of making them a playable race in the present MMO, but the argument against this idea is that there aren’t enough of them left for that to be realistic.
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InClassic WoW, High Elves functioned as Archers, Healers, and Magic-Users. They were allied with the Humans against both the Horde and the Scourge forces. Other than a few obscure NPCs, their tragic fate remained uncertain until theBurning Crusadeexpansion.
7The Sentinels
Warsong Gulch aficionados will know this name of this faction, a division of the Sentinels, but they probably won’t know the story behind it if they haven’t played the RTS games. There’s a lot of interesting lore in theTerror of the Tidesexpansion about the Sentinels and other classes that wereexclusive to the Night Elf race. Once theLegionexpansion came out, the Demon Hunter class became available, to the surprise of nobody who knew the lore of Night Elf fighting society from the vintage games.
6The Opposing Factions
It was calledWarcraft: Orcs and Humansbecause there weren’t really any other races involved. As the series progressed, other factions, races, and classes appeared to join either side. Part of the main storyline inWarcraft 3focuses on Thrall and his exploits in Durotar, eventually resulting in the creation of the Horde, which was composed of Tauren, Orcs, and Trolls at the time.Players of the RTS gameswill have a better understanding of where the different factions came from, including the Forsaken, which is a twist if you fought against them when they were still part of the Scourge.
5The Windrunner Sisters
InClassic WoW, Sylvanas is designed with a night Ef skin, making this bit of lore even more obscure. In the first two expansions, players learn more about Sylvanas’ past, including her connection to Arthas, but there was only scant information about her sisters. This saga was revealed as more information about the Dark Portal was revealed.
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Up until these expansions, only those that played the RTS games knew that Sylvanas was originally a High Elf. Nor did many know that she even had sisters, never mind that they had stories of their own, and all somehow connected to the rise and fall of human kingdoms.
4Arthas and Frostmourne
3Thrall Was Raised As a Slave…
Players just see it as a name, and not many people even understand the deliberate double meaning orthe history behind it. Thrall wasn’t born into slavery but his parents were assassinated when he was still an infant. He was then adopted to be a gladiator and slave by Aedelas Blackmoore, a character who’s important in the lore but doesn’t show up in the games very often. The story of how Thrall rose to prominence among the Orcs, eventually becoming the leader of the Horde, is a prominent plotline in the old games but the MMO doesn’t get into his backstory until later expansions.
2…In a Prison Camp
Yeah, this happened, and it wasn’t that far back in Azerothian history. It’s actually a tragic story that makes the Orcs more sympathetic than most Alliance players are comfortable with. The introduction of the Caverns of Time instance in the MMO actually had a detailed scenario of this time period in history and it’s set at the same time as the RTS games.
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Durnholde Keep was where Thrall and most of his fellow slaves were being held captive, and a human who had befriended Thrall actually sacrificed her life to free him. This is partly why Thrall leaves Jaina in peace at the conclusion ofWarcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
1Stonewind
It’s one ofthe more obscure parts of Azerothian lore, and many think of it as a simple spelling mistake, but it makes sense given the city’s history. Although the most prominent human city is currently known as Stormwind, it was named Stonewind in the first two RTS games. The detailed backstory of the Alliance starter dungeon, Deadmines, involves a dispute over payment of the work the Stonemasons did to rebuild the city after the First War.
This disagreement almost ended in a civil war, and the result was the exile of the Stonemason’s Guild and their leader Edwin Van Cleef. It’s never explicitly stated, but those who played the RTS game might assume that this resulted in changing the name of the city to obscure the memory of the incident. Those who never played the older games would never make the connection.
