Kitchen Chatter: Lore LOL

I've long pondered posting my thoughts on the game somewhere, but I don't think I could post frequently enough to make a regular thing of it. So I plan on chattering about it here occasionally, when the mood strikes me. If you're not a fan of talk about the game itself, feel free to skip this post - there's no recipe contained within.

That being said, today I'd like to talk a bit about people's complaints about the lore of the game. Now, I'm a lore and RP junkie, and I've had some harsh thoughts for Chris Metzen in the past. However, I've done some thinking, and I believe that maybe people have been a little too harsh on the guy.

For those of you who are not aware, one of the main reasons Metzen's gotten flak is because of the Draenei. Now, the Draenei are Eredar who have decided against siding with Sargeras and his demons, choosing instead to follow the Light and be down with the Naaru. The problem with this is that prior to BC's announcement, it was said that Sargeras had been good until the pure evil of the Eredar had driven him mad and turned him into the corrupted demon we know today.

Bit of retconning, yes? Well, imagine you're in Metzen's shoes. They're planning for Burning Crusade, and they've decided they want to add two more races. Blood Elves are the logical first choice for a new race, but who can they add to the Alliance side? They need a race that has a unique look that is not a neutral faction. And let's face it - Pandaren and Goblins are both very neutral races. So sometimes, the lore behind the game needs to change a bit to accommodate the game itself.

We can't really know exactly what went on behind the scenes at Blizzard HQ. Perhaps marketing was pushing for more races to be added to the game, and so put pressure on Metzen to come up with something. And for those of you who say that he shouldn't have changed the story just for being pressured by his bosses, let me ask you a question: Do you like money? Would you like having a job coming up with story for a video game? Would you do something to put said job and lots of money in jeopardy?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Metzen at his heart is a fantasy nerd like the rest of us - it shows in his interviews and the influences he draws on in the WoW story. Of course he wouldn't want to lose his job over something like that - because if they fired him there are thousands of nerds like us who'd line up to try to take his place. I think he knows this and is trying the best he can to keep the company happy while keeping the fans happy. I'm not super happy with the change in story either, but I'm not going to hate on Metzen for it anymore - he's just doing his job.

What many people seem to forget about WoW is that it's a game first and a story second. They're not selling a book, they're selling a game. And when the game needs some changes or additions critical to keeping the game healthy, sometimes the story suffers. I believe that the Draenei Shaman and Blood Elf Paladin were essential to balancing out the game. Before BC, any changes to Paladin or Shaman were seen as favoring one faction over the other when they were just trying to balance out gameplay. The story may have been altered badly, but the game itself was changed for the better. Even though I'm a pretty hardcore RPer and I hate to see changes in the story, I think this is for the best. I'd rather have a game that is well-designed with a weaker story than a game that isn't any fun to play with a great story - because in the end, we're here to play the game.