We caught up with game director Ion Hazzikostas and creative director Alex Afrasiabi to ask a bunch of (sometimes stupid) questions about the factions and the expansion for the popular massively multiplayer online fantasy game. Battle for Azeroth releases in Summer 2018.
(Don't miss our other interview with executive producer J. Allen Brack and senior game designer Jeremy Feasel, as well as the news story on the new expansion.)
Ion Hazzikostas and Alex Afrasiabi at BlizzCon 2017.
Heather NewmanHeather Newman: Let's jump right in. We have Void Elves as a playable race. The only Void-like elf we’ve seen so far in Legion is Alleria Windrunner. She does some pretty cool things in the dungeon in which we’re introduced to the beginnings of her real power. Are Void Elves going to get to do some of those cool things, rip open portals and break open sides of buildings and suck the life essence out of things and throw it back at them?
Ion Hazzikostas: Yeah! That’s true. That’s a new Void Elf racial, rip open walls. [He laughs.]
Newman: It’ll make getting into the auction house in Stormwind so much easier.
Hazzikostas: No clipping, go through any wall you want, because Void. I mean, obviously, yes, they are an elite group of elves trained to harness the power of the Void. Definitely connected to Alleria. And as we’ve seen, I’m a shaman, Thrall’s a shaman, he’s a better shaman than I am. The great heroes in WoW can often do things that exceed the powers of the player character, but there are a lot of parallels to be drawn there.
Newman: How did you select the classes that the new races could be?
Hazzikostas: We’re viewing these as new races and what makes sense for them to be. Obviously when you look at the Highmountain Tauren, they’re culturally very similar to the [regular] Tauren. [They have] moose horns versus bull horns. But the question of, what does it make sense for them to be, we came up with the same answers as the regular Tauren.
But does it make sense for a Nightborne to be a paladin? Likely not, given their nature. And so it’s more of a case by case examination of what makes sense for a given allied race, what feels cool and fits their culture and their flavor, and trying to err on the side of being permissive, because if you play a certain class and are very excited about a race, we want to make that possible if it can make sense.
Newman: Will all classes have a playable allied race for their faction in the expansion?
Hazzikostas: Not demon hunter or death knight.
Newman: If I’m a druid, which doesn’t often get new races, is there going to be a playable allied race for me to choose on both factions?
A Highmountain Tauren from Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentAlex Afrasiabi: Yeah. We’ve seen Highmountain Tauren of course.
Hazzikostas: Not currently on the Alliance, no. Because for Void Elves, Lightforged Draenei, and Dark Iron Dwarves, none of those, again—asking the question, does it make sense for any of them? Are they in touch with those primal forces and restoration and shapeshifting? The answer’s no.
Newman: Shadow bear!
Afrasiabi: Void bear?
Hazzikostas: Not quite buying it. I don’t think they’d be too welcome in the Moonglade.
Newman: Are there other examples like that, where there are classes that just don’t make any sense at all with the selections available at launch?
Afrasiabi: Paladin for Void Elves, because that’s weird.
Hazzikostas: Exactly. But on the Alliance side, Dark Iron Dwarves can be paladins when those come around. We’re not approaching it from a perspective of, every box needs to be ticked and we’ll shoehorn something in if it doesn’t feel like a natural fit. But of course, in the future, this is a system that opens the door for more expansion and the addition of new races to both factions. That’s something we’ll keep in mind.
[NOTE: This answer edited at Hazzikostas' request: Dark Iron Dwarves can indeed be paladins.]
Newman: It was pretty clear, from looking at the factions you worked with in the new Battle for Azeroth zones, that they were largely based on current character models. Which leads everybody to speculate, we’ll have Vulpera on the Horde! Fox people! Is it fair to say that if we were looking at the spectrum of immediate possibilities for future playable allied races, that might be a good pool to draw from?
Afrasiabi: TBD?
Hazzikostas: Yeah.
Afrasiabi: The nice thing with allied races, especially because they’re not technically sub-races, is we can kind of do anything. Sky’s the limit.
Horde Warchief Sylvannas Windrunner goes looking for allies in Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentNewman: Do you have a feel for how often you want to release new playable allied races?
Hazzikostas: Not yet. We need to learn how the content is experienced, how players are using them, how players are enjoying them, and see what makes sense. Obviously adding new races is exciting, giving players a way to express themselves, to customize the appearance of their character in a new way. Those are all great things. But there almost certainly is a world where there are too many races.
This isn’t real, but if there were 40 different races on the Alliance at some point, just walking around the city you don’t know what’s what anymore. You lose any sense of silhouettes. You lose a sense of identity. It’s important that we don’t get too far down that road.
Newman: Then there’s the whole, how many characters can you squeeze into a server list?
Hazzikostas: We are increasing the character limit for servers to reflect allied race availability. There are six new allied races. If you’ve maxed out all your characters on a server, you unlock the new allied races, and you want to make alts of all of them, we don’t want to make you delete a character. You will in fact be able to just scroll.
The Lightforged Draenei are one of the Battle for Azeroth's new allied races.
Blizzard EntertainmentNewman: For folks who are starting over again, who almost by definition have played through all the content at least once, do you expect any pushback? Allied races start at level 20, but even with the zone scaling that makes monsters and quests 'level up' with the player, they have technically seen it all before.
Hazzikostas: Potentially. The true altaholics out there, maybe. But I think the changes that zone scaling will bring to the experience are very significant. I think that leveling a new character in the post-scaling world will just have a much better pacing to it. There’s going to be a lot of interest, even aside from allied races, in going back and revisiting that experience.
Also, the allied races starting at 20—couple of reasons for that. Part of it is, yes, the existing starting experiences are very closely themed to specific races in a way that wouldn’t make as much sense if you’re an allied race coming in. But we’re also giving that storytelling and background as a part of the experience that unlocks access to the race.
Part of playing a Pandaren from level one to 10 is understanding Pandaren culture. Well you learn to understand Nightborne culture just by playing through Suramar, by adventuring with them, by rebuilding their civilization, and then the final unlock campaign you’ll complete to earn their allegiance.
Alliance Leader Anduin Wrynn drops his sword and starts slinging spells in the Battle for Azeroth trailer.
Blizzard EntertainmentNewman: Talk a bit about the decision from a story perspective, the world perspective. I think everyone was curious as to what happened to Jaina Proudmoore. I’m not sure as many people were curious about what happened to the former Horde Warchief Thrall, especially since he kinda said, aw, my hammer isn’t talking to me anymore, and then wandered off. I think everyone thought that was (former senior vice president) Chris Metzen’s goodbye when he retired.
Afrasiabi: Oh, no, he’s coming back. Metzen’s coming back. Better believe it. That’s why Thrall’s back. [He laughs.]
Newman: Lead me through that thought process for the new expansion.
Afrasiabi: We consider the faction divide foundational to Warcraft since [its real-time strategy] times. As we kind of look at the equity we have in certain fiction, this is the one that’s at the top of the list. We’ve danced around it for so many expansions now that we feel like it’s time to pay it off.
Now, there’s some of the story that you haven’t seen yet, of course. Actually there’s quite a lot of the story you haven’t seen yet. Over the next months, more of that will come to light.
As we’re talking about things like enemies, we’ve fought everything. We’ve fought everything under the sun and then some. We’ve gone to other planets, other universes, you name it.
Newman: Back in time!
A warfront in Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentAfrasiabi: Back in time. It’s interesting. I think about this a lot, because I’m a nerd. Especially in Warcraft, do we become what we kill? And we’ve got these characters in the game, these Alliance and Horde players, who have done it all, and in killing an old god, do we take some of that with us? In killing an elemental lord, do we take some of that with us? A dragon aspect. A titan. I think we do.
And so we’ve set the stage for, when we say, what is the most badass thing out there? I would argue it’s the living god that put an axe in the side of a titan, more so than the titan itself. So when I look at a player character and I say, look, we have a world populated with living gods at this point, that have ideological differences that cannot be righted, what happens in that world? Well, this happens.
I’ve got this group of gods and this group of gods that will never get over their differences between the humans and the Forsaken, the orcs and humans. Never. The Night Elves and the trolls. The Night Elves and the Tauren. I mean, there’s so many different racial divides that have melted away into the background, but they’re still there. For those races, those things are still there.
How much land have the Night Elves taken from the Tauren, from the trolls? These are the things we want to settle, and that’s what I think this expansion is about. Now, of course we’ll see other things come into the foreground as we adventure through this, because certainly there are forces in this universe that want the outcome of this. So we’ll see. That’s the TL;DR version.
Orcs and humans: Why can't we all just get along?
Blizzard EntertainmentNewman: From a practical perspective, it seems like one of the reasons why that conflict has been downplayed -- outside of player versus player, we’ll focus on PvE for the moment – has been for, in some ways, player community reasons. The idea that you have central hubs where people wander around with each other. The idea that as much as possible, players who are on opposing faction sides don’t feel like they’re estranged from friends that might play on the other side.
Hazzikostas: I don’t know about that, actually? Honestly I would almost say that we would like you to be estranged from your friends who play the opposite faction. You should cut those people out of your lives and question their choices in life. [He laughs.]
It’s more that we’ve sacrificed those ideals, frankly, in the name of practicality in some cases. Sometimes it’s storytelling. There’s one big enemy and you have to band together. We’re moving to the Broken Shore and moving [the city of] Dalaran together. It’s a neutral hub.
But there is value in that separation, and it is a little bit weird. I’m glad to see us returning to separate faction hubs in Battle for Azeroth. Yes, in Dalaran the Alliance and Horde have their separate quarters that’ll teleport the other faction out, but you’re using the bank as a human right next to an orc who’s talking to the same teller. And that’s a sacrifice in the name of convenience and playability in some cases, but it’s not the goal.
Newman: I’m assuming that my long-time dream of dungeoning with my friends who play on the opposing faction continues to be a long-time dream.
Hazzikostas: Indeed.
Afrasiabi: Full of disappointments today.
Newman: I was playing through a BFA demo, and I opened up my character sheet, and look at that, I’m at item level 150, and my food gives me a +4 bonus. So I take it we have a stat squish coming.
Hazzikostas: No, your character is just really weak.
Newman: That could explain a lot of things, actually.
Hazzikostas: We’ve learned some things from what we did in [the Warlords of Draenor expansion]. We’re doing the process again, hoping to do things in a way that makes it less likely we’ll need one in the very near future and makes it easier for us to do if and when we need to.
Their armor LOOKS great, but it has substantially lower stats. Squish ahoy!
Blizzard EntertainmentThe only big difference this time around is we’re also compressing item level to properly reflect what we’re doing to the rest of the game. It was odd that we kept item level unchanged in Warlords. Especially with leveling, there’s this weird experience where you might go from one expansion to the next, replace your item level 300 Wrath [of the Lich King] gear with item level 400 Cataclysm gear, and it’s one percent stronger. It has like two more stamina or something, and it’s 100 item levels. Which is very confusing, especially to new players, as they try to understand what item level even means.
Newman: So is that scaling down all the way to folks who are starting as a level 20 in the new races? Am I going to be item level three?
Hazzikostas: No. We’re making progression and item power linear from one to 110. The way it’s always been from one to 60. Right? When you’re level 30 you get item level 30 gear. When you’re level 50 you get item level 50 gear. That’s how things increase. But then over the years, because of those endgame periods, we would introduce dozens of item levels to reflect raid tiers that lost meaning once that expansion was no longer relevant. We’re just compressing that down.
Newman: We had additional legendary gear items in Legion. It seemed like it was fairly engaging from a player point of view. Are we thinking about doing something like that in Battle for Azeroth as well? How do we feel like that experience turned out?
Hazzikostas: We learned a lot of things from that. I think Legion legendaries are called Legion legendaries for a reason. They’re something that will not be carried forward directly into Battle for Azeroth. Those items still exist, but they’ll degrade in power as you get closer to 120.
At the end of the day, a lot of these systems reflect our pursuit of the goal of making items more interesting and more exciting than just 20 more haste or 20 more crit on your gloves. Getting a pair of braces as a fire mage that gives you a reason to hard cast Pyroblast and see some crazy numbers, that’s a cool item to get, because it changes the way you approach the game.
Obviously there were some issues with their frequency, with how they were distributed, large gaps in power between them. We’ve done a lot of work over the course of Legion to correct that. But really, what carries forward the spirit of legendaries, I think, is the Heart of Azeroth [legendary necklace] and the azurite armor system [which adds abilities to players]. In many ways that combines the best of what we learned from artifact weapons and from legendaries.
So you’ll be able to get these pieces of armor, whether it’s a helmet or a chest piece, and customize them and activate interesting powers that suit your play style.
Freehold, one of the new dungeon areas in Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentNewman: Are we going to see, as part of that system, the resurgence of some of the legendary or artifact abilities that people have now grown to think of as baseline? Some seem to be showing up as talents, some as azurite armor choices.
Hazzikostas: There is no one size fits all approach. I think it’s—we removed the artifact. We see what remains afterwards. We look at whether that class or spec feels complete, whether they feel elegant. And in some cases there’s a big hole that was left behind. Every [player class specification] will see different approaches taken.
Newman: One of the things I noticed while playing through the demo was the fact that a few really interesting historical abilities were mixed into the spellbook. Are we bringing buffs back?
Hazzikostas: There’s something flavorful about just Prayer, Fortitude, Mark of the Wild—I have some benefit I can provide to my group. Both from the perspective of you’re stronger in a full group than you are when you’re alone—there’s something weighty about that.
But also just encouraging diversity in a world where the community has decided that class X is the best healer, or class Y is the best ranged DPS. It’s nice having reasons to still want a diverse slate of companions, and to have that be the optimal group because that reflects the player base. Even if the mage who’s the top dog right now likes being the top dog and gets to rock everything, well, the tides of balance shift, and when they’re not, they’ll appreciate having Arcane Intellect, and a reason for a group that doesn’t have a mage to actively look for a mage.
Not Feeling Well Work Notice
There’s something good, when you’re leading a pickup group, to not just say, we need somebody, let’s get the guy with the highest item level. But rather, let’s find a hunter because we could really use a hunter right now. That makes being a hunter feel cooler.
Newman: The folks who were leveling up in the new playable races, are they going to have custom experiences when they hit Legion?
Nightborne (left) are one of the new playable allied races in Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentAfrasiabi: We have talked about doing some things, where—for example, [the] Nightborne [race], does it really make sense that you do the intro to Suramar? Leveling up? Probably not. So where it makes sense, we’ll nip and tuck and prune, or add.
Newman: In terms of the playable experience through the new islands and the new factions, it’s difficult to get a sense of scale. In terms of how it feels, compared to what we experienced with Legion, how are these new continents when you get there?
Afrasiabi: They feel big. They’re sizable. And we have to also remember something. Your experience leveling up is going to be a scant several hours, I suppose. There’s some amount of that. But then once you do hit max level, the entirety of both continents opens up to you. You’ll be doing a whole bunch of different things there, from your standard questing, dungeon stuff, to epic, long chain quests and other various things. So you will have a fairly large world to explore, and it should be pretty awesome.
Newman: Is the selection of new dungeons and world quests and things like that on par with what we saw in Legion?
Hazzikostas: Yeah. 10 dungeons is the same thing we had at the start of Legion. We’re happy with that number. Same with world quests. A lot of places where I feel like we haven’t been talking about things, it’s because they’re just carried forward from Legion.
We’re happy with the foundations of a lot of our endgame structures, with world quests, with the mythic keystone system, with the brawls we have in PvP, with whatever else. We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel where things are fundamentally working. It’s more a matter of, we’re going to build new content in those systems, learn some lessons, refine it, but continue with what’s worked.
Newman: How do you feel about the trade skill system going into Battle for Azeroth?
Hazzikostas: Pretty good. We’re still working on what exactly the tweaks are going to be there. It will be a little bit less fully story-driven. We’re happy with how content tied into professions played out, but you’re probably not going to see a dozen-quest chain to earn a couple of leatherworking recipes, let’s say.
Newman: Clearly we’re seeing the result of a lot of iteration, both in story and in mechanics, for Battle for Azeroth. Legion was a hugely successful expansion, so that’s not too surprising. But in terms of the biggest single thing or experience or feeling that you’re expecting from the new expansion, is there one thing you would hold up and say, this is the new thing, players? If you’re waiting for something super cool, this is the super cool thing you should keep an eye out for.
Afrasiabi: I always kind of put to the side the content side of things, because that’s what I do. I love it anyway. I always geek out over all of our new storylines and arcs and the character stories. I’m freaking out over some of the stuff that you all haven’t seen yet, that’s coming down the pipeline. But I’m going to say all of that. I’m always geeked up about things like allied races. The potential there is huge. Everything, plus allied races, is my answer.
Jaina Proudmoore returns in Battle for Azeroth.
Blizzard EntertainmentHazzikostas: I guess a couple of things. On the story side, I think it actually is that faction focus, front and center. I think in many ways, what classes were to Legion, factions will be to Battle for Azeroth. Instead of the class campaign you’ll have a war campaign. You’ll be having this feeling of working on behalf of your faction to further your efforts in this battle that consumes the whole world. That’s exciting.
Purely feature-wise, I’m gonna say islands. Island expeditions are a culmination of a lot of years of lessons building different types of content, with a focus on capturing the vibe of exploration, with the feeling of discovery, unlike when you’re running a dungeon. As much as mythic keystones changed that up, when you’re going down the hallway you know what’s around the corner once you’ve done it a couple of times.
You arrive at an island, you’re not going to know what you’re going to find until you explore, until you get there, and the fact that you’re being thwarted by the opposing forces as you’re doing it is going to make for an experience that we think is going to be quite different from what anyone in World of Warcraft has seen before. You’ll have to play it to really understand it, but it’s going to be awesome. We can’t wait to get it in players’ hands.
Newman: How deep does that rabbit hole go? One could conceive of, okay, well, there’s these resources that are typically in these areas on the islands. There are settlements in these areas that might be friendly, that might be hostile. Is it that deep, or is it, hey, there were buildings here last time, and now there are buildings on a completely different part of the island. Things are looking more like a purely roguelike experience built from scratch?
Hazzikostas: I would think of it as very heavily modular rather than truly procedural. It’s more like a lot of hand-crafted content being mixed and matched in a wide variety of ways.
Whether it’s things that can aid you, foes, where buildings are, what’s in those buildings, buffs you can get, rewards, lots of different combinations, as well as of course the inherent variability of the opposing forces that are trying to race you to the objectives, and also have different personalities. One time, when you arrive, it might be a group of trolls. Another time it’s a goblin with crazed inventions by his side. But with different feels to them.
Newman: You had mentioned the AI on the enemies you would be working against on islands being on a different level. Can you give me an example?
Hazzikostas: The basic core of being able to behave both strategically and tactically—mobs in World of Warcraft, historically, they walk up to you and they want to punch you. Or if it’s a raid boss it has some very specific scripting, where every 30 seconds it does something.
[This is] a group of three NPCs that want to go take over this mine and clear it out and get the azurite inside. But if they detect that you’re nearby, they see you, one of them might break off to mess with you, because that’s what it wants to do strategically to maximize its chances of success. That’s very different from walking up to you and punching you in the face.
Afrasiabi: You’ll be surprised.
Be nice and kind to everyone around you. Believe it or not, this can be the first step to feeling your own power. If you don't see yourself as worthy or good enough, you might not recognize the effect you can have on others. Truth is, no matter who you are, you have the power to positively (or negatively) impact the world. Your lousy mood can be contagious; however, happiness and positivity are, too. Research shows that doing something kind for someone else increases the 'feel-good' chemical in our brains, known as serotonin. So, even when you're not feeling too great, try to be nice to others - you'll feel better in the process.[1][2]- Take a moment to make eye contact. Ask others how they're doing or offer a sincere compliment. Try to remember names and ask friends or coworkers about their loved ones.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt. You don't know what's happening in their lives. You might be the one and only person to treat them like a human being today. You may not realize how just one kind word or smile - even from a stranger - can lift someone's spirit.
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If you click certain NPCs in World of Warcraft (ex. Guards, Vendors, Quest NPCs, etc.) they will make voice emotes. Here is a (currently uncompleted) list of NPC quotes.
Blood elfEdit
MaleEdit
- 'An'u belore delen'na.'
- 'Anaria Shola.'
- 'Bal'a dash, malanore.'
- 'Glory to the Sin'dorei.'
- 'Our enemies will fall!'
- 'State your business.'
- 'The dark times will pass.'
- 'The Eternal Sun guides us.'
- 'Victory lies ahead!'
- 'We will persevere!'
- 'What business have you?'
- 'Yes?'
- 'Death to all who oppose us!' (dismiss)
- 'Farewell.' (dismiss)
- 'Hold your head high.' (dismiss)
- 'Keep your wits about you.' (dismiss)
- 'Remember the Sunwell.' (dismiss)
- 'Sela'ma ashal'anore!' (dismiss)
- 'Shorel'aran.' (dismiss)
- 'Stay the course' (dismiss)
- 'The reckoning is at hand!' (dismiss)
- 'Time is of the essense.' (dismiss)
- 'We will have justice!' (dismiss)
- 'Ah, you have a death wish. ' (irritated)
- 'What are you babbling about?' (irritated)
- 'I do not suffer fools easily.' (irritated)
- 'I had no idea what you talking about!' (irritated)
- 'I had little patience to begin with!' (irritated)
- 'Haven't you forget something?' (irritated)
- 'Mind yourself.' (irritated)
- 'Not very intelligent, are you?' (irritated)
- 'Run away pest!' (irritated)
- 'You need to stop!' (irritated)
- 'These are dark times indeed.' (irritated)
- 'Why do you linger?' (irritated)
- 'You waste my time.' (irritated)
- 'Choose wisely.' (Vendor)
- 'Do not loiter.' (Vendor)
- 'Everything has a price.' (Vendor)
- 'I have one of a kind items' (Vendor)
- 'What do you seek?' (Vendor)
- 'Your gold is welcome here.' (Vendor)
FemaleEdit
- 'Bal'a dash, malanore.'
- 'Glory to the Sin'dorei.'
- 'State your Business!'
- 'Anu'belore Dela'na.'
- 'The Eternal Sun guides us.'
- 'What Business have you?'
- 'Victory lies ahead.'
- 'Our enemies will fall.'
- 'Anaria'shoala.'
- 'You waste my time.' (irritated)
- 'Is there problem with you!' (irritated)
- 'I had little patience to begin with.' (irritated)
- 'It is a wonder you have lived this long.' (irritated)
- 'Ah, you have a death wish.' (irritated)
- 'The Sunwell not amused!' (irritated)
- 'I sell only the finest goods.' (Female Vendor)
- 'Your gold is welcome here.' (Female Vendor)
- 'Everything has a price.' (Female Vendor)
- 'Do not loiter.' (Female Vendor)
BrokenEdit
Note: There are only male Broken in-game.
- 'Light. Must remember the Light.'
- 'Hello, stranger.'
- 'We survive.'
- 'Must not.. give up.'
- 'What do you need, stranger?'
- 'A'khal hekita.'
- 'Live.. another day'
- 'What?'
- 'What do you want?' (irritated)
- 'Why you do this?' (irritated)
- 'Ehhh..' (irritated)
- 'Yes, yes! What?!' (irritated)
- 'You go now!' (irritated)
- 'You very strange..' (irritated)
- 'You come back sometime.'
- 'Solam!'
- 'See you.'
- 'Luck to you.'
- 'Peace for you.'
- 'Chroma, ekt'kota.'
- 'I can help you?' (Vendor)
- 'Something you like?' (Vendor)
- 'Anything you like?' (Vendor)
- 'Buy? Trade?' (Vendor)
- 'You find many things here!' (Vendor)
- 'Take time if you need.' (Vendor)
- 'Good prices here!' (Vendor)
Death KnightEdit
Note: Death knights do not have 'vendors' that sound different, even if some may sell things. This role is held by their ghouls and geists.
- See also: Thassarian (His quotes are shared by all death knights)
AllEdit
- 'We press on!'
- 'WHAT?!'
- 'Speak your piece.'
- 'We will ravage this land!'
- 'We will have our revenge!'
- 'Hmm?'
- 'You need something?'
- 'Get on with it..'
- 'Suffer well.' (dismiss)
- 'Ashes, to ashes.' (dismiss)
- 'We are done here.' (dismiss)
- 'Another time.' (dismiss)
- 'Tomorrow is another day.' (dismiss)
- 'My torture continues.' (irritated)
- 'There is no escape..' (irritated)
- 'You'll find it hard to speak, without a head.' (irritated)
- 'You lost me at 'Hi'.' (irritated)
DraeneiEdit
MaleEdit
- 'All prices here are reasonable' (Male Vendor)
- 'Archenon poros.' → 'Good fortune.'[1]
- 'Archenon poros!' → 'Good fortune!'[2]
- 'Blessings upon your family.'
- 'Come, speak with me.'
- 'Dioniss aca.' → 'Safe journey.'[3]
- 'Do you require medication?' (irritated)
- 'Each day is a blessing.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'I hope you'll find something usefull!' (Male Vendor)
- 'Krona ki cristorr!' → 'The Legion will fall!'[1]
- 'Long life my friend.'
- 'May the light embrace you.'
- 'May your days be long, and your hardships few.'
- 'Must remember.. patience.' (irritated)
- 'Ora teramos' → 'Nalanora aca.'
- 'Orti'cha traveller.'
- 'Pheta vi acahachi!' → 'Light give me strength!'[3][2]
- 'Safe travels.'
- 'The Legion's end draws near.'
- 'The Naaru have not forgotten us.'
- 'Even the patience of the Draenei has its limits..' (irritated)
- 'You're not even responsible!' (irritated)
- 'The Naaru frown on such behavior..' (irritated)
- 'There is nothing to do with you!' (irritated)
- 'Would you stop that!' (irritated)
- 'Welcome, welcome.' → 'Safe travels.'
- 'You are not normal.' (irritated)
- 'I've had enough with that.' (irritated)
- 'You bring news?'
FemaleEdit
- 'All prices here are reasonable' (Female Vendor)
- 'Archenon poros.' → 'Good fortune.'[1]
- 'Archenon poros!' → 'Good fortune!'[2]
- 'Always glad to help.'
- 'Belaya doros.'
- 'Blessings upon your family.'
- 'Each day is a blessing.'
- 'Favor the road travelled by few.'
- 'Have you any news'
- 'How can I help.?'
- 'I believe I hear someone calling you.' (irritated)
- 'I am listening.'
- 'Is this how you amuse yourself?' (irritated)
- 'I'm getting tired of you.' (irritated)
- 'I'm done with this!' (irritated)
- 'Krona ki cristorr.' → 'The Legion will fall.'[1]
- 'Let us speak.' → 'Nalanora aca'
- 'I'm not amused.' (irritated)
- 'Light's blessing to you.'
- 'May the light embrace you.'
- 'May your days be long, and your hardships few.'
- 'Are you serious?' (irritated)
- 'Please be careful friend.'
- 'Please browse my wares.'
- 'Safe travels.'
- 'The Naaru have not forgotten us.'
- 'The strongest spirits will always triumph.'
- 'We will persevere.'
- 'Welcome friend.'
- 'Who taught you to act like this?' (irritated)
- 'You behave like a child!' (irritated)
- 'You are welcome here.'
DryadEdit
Note: These are from Warcraft III.
- 'Hi!'
- 'Ahh, the great outdoors!'
- 'Is there trouble?'
- 'What is nature's call?'
DwarfEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Ya got my attention.'
- 'How are ya?'
- 'Lo!'
- 'Well met.'
- 'What's on your mind?'
- 'Great t' meet ya.'
- 'Watch yer back!'
- 'Be good!'
- 'What can I do fer ya?'
- 'Keep your feet on the ground.'
- 'Aye?'
- 'Interest ya'n a pint?'
- 'You're not amusing' (irritated)
- 'That's not funny.'(irritated)
- 'You're startin' to bother me.' (irritated)
- 'What can I get for ya today?' (Male Vendor)
- 'I've the finest wares in the land!' (Male Vendor)
FemaleEdit
- 'Ya got my attention.'
- 'How are ya?'
- 'Welcome.'
- 'Hello.'
- 'What can I do for ya?'
- 'Well met.'
- 'Great t' meet ya.'
- 'Watch yer back!'
- 'Be good!'
- 'Safe travels'
- 'Keep your feet on the ground.'
- 'You're not amusing' (irritated)
- 'Think that's funny do ya? (irritated)
- 'That's not funny.' (irritated)
- 'You're startin' to bother me.' (irritated)
- 'What can I get for ya today?' (Female Vendor)
ForsakenEdit
MaleEdit
- 'What would you ask of death?'
- 'I am Forsaken.'
- 'Dark Lady watch over you.'
- 'What now?!'
- 'And you are..?'
- 'Victory for Sylvanas.'
- 'Trust no one.'
- 'Our time will come.'
- 'Beware, our enemies abound!'
- 'Remember, patience.. discipline.'
- 'Hello.'
- 'Speak quickly!'
- 'This had better be good.'
- 'I am not amused.' (irritated)
- 'Are you insane?!' (irritated)
- 'Master yourself!' (irritated)
- 'Do not tempt my wrath!' (irritated)
- 'Be quick about your business.' (Vendor)
- 'What do you require?' (Vendor)
FemaleEdit
- 'What would you ask of death?'
- 'Hello.'
- 'What is it?'
- 'I am Forsaken.'
- 'Dark Lady watch over you.'
- 'What now?!'
- 'I haven't got all day.'
- 'What do you require?'
- 'I'm listening..'
- 'Embrace the shadow.' (Farewell)
- 'Our time will come.' (Farewell)
- 'Beware the Living.' (Farewell)
- 'Remember..patience, disclipline.' (Farewell)
- 'Beware, our enemies abound..' (Farewell)
- 'Is there a problem?' (irritated)
- 'I am not amused.' (irritated)
- 'Master yourself!' (irritated)
- 'Do not tempt my wrath!' (irritated)
- 'I grow weary of this..' (irritated)
GhoulEdit
Note: Ghouls (and geists) serve as the death knights' vendors. Minions also have these voice clips, even if they are not selling anything.
- 'Me buy and trade.'
- 'Give or.. take.'
- 'Me like.. shiny.'
- 'Sale here.'
- 'Yes?'
- 'Graagh!(minion)'
- 'Gyaah! (minion)'
- 'Greh!(minion)'
- 'Grah!(minion)'
GnomeEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Greetings!'
- 'My, you're a tall one!'
- 'Hmmm, interesting.'
- 'Pleased to meet you!'
- 'Hey!'
- 'Salutations!'
- 'Need assistance?'
- 'Can I help you?'
- 'Hi, how are ya?'
- 'Alrighty, then!' (farewell)
- 'You have a great day now!' (farewell)
- 'Very good.' (farewell)
- 'Up and away!' (farewell)
- 'Daylight's burning!' (farewell)
- 'Be seeing you!' (farewell)
- 'Was there something else?' (irritated)
- 'Yes, you're totally annoying!' (irritated)
- 'Bla bla bla bla!' (irritated)
- 'Time to move on!' (irritated)
- 'I'm not listening!' (irritated)
- 'Making a special purchase?' (vendor)
- 'Would you like to purchase something?' (vendor)
FemaleEdit
- 'My, you're a tall one!'
- 'Hmmm, interesting.'
- 'You have a great day now!'
- 'Hi, how are ya?'
- 'Salutations'
- 'Can I help you?'
- 'Hey!'
- 'Pleased to meet you'
- 'Good day to you'
- 'Greetings!' (farewell)
- 'Seeing you' (farewell)
- 'Alright then' (farewell)
- 'Goodbye for now!' (farewell)
- 'You have a great day now!' (farewell)
- 'Great!' (farewell)
- 'Was there something else?' (irritated)
- 'You don't feel strange are you?' (irritated)
- 'Seriously?' (irritated)
- 'Wouldn't you leaving?' (irritated)
- 'Yes, you're totally annoying!' (irritated)
- 'Watch yourself!' (irritated)
- 'I'm getting tired of this!' (irritated)
- 'Sorry, I wasn't listening.' (irritated)
- 'Are you through?' (irritated)
GoblinEdit
Male (Neutral)Edit
- 'Time is money, friend!'
- 'Spit it out!'
- 'I got the best deals, anywhere!'(vendor)
- 'I got what you need!'
- 'Ah, potential customer.'(vendor)
- 'May I show you my wares?'
- 'Welcome, friend!'
- 'Yeah, what do you want?'
- 'Wazzup?'
- 'Be good!' (dismiss)
- 'Be careful out there.' (dismiss)
- 'Hm, interesting.'
- 'Heeey, how you doin'?'
- 'Yeah, very funny..'
- 'Alright, move along now!' (irritated)
- 'I gota long day kid..' (irritated)
- 'Shut it!' (irritated)
- 'You're just embarrassing yourself..' (irritated)
- 'I don't have time for this..' (irritated)
- 'You, knock it off!' (irritated)
- 'Yo'
- 'Heh, heh, Glad I could help!' (dismiss)
- 'Amateur!!' (irritated)
- 'Keep it real!' (dismiss)
- 'GTL friend; gambling, tinkering, laundry.' Note: has been debated, laundering, launderin'. jersey shore ref
- 'Can i lighten that coin purse up for ya?.'(vendor)
- 'Cha-ching!'(vendor)
- 'You break it, you buy it.'(vendor)
- 'I ain't got it, you don't want it.'(vendor)
- 'Can I interest you on a payment plan?' (vendor dismiss)
Female (neutral)Edit
- 'Time is money, friend!'
- 'Well, spit it out!'
- 'I got the best deals, anywhere!'
- 'I got what you need!'
- 'Ah, potential customer.'
- 'May I show you my wares?'
- 'Welcome, friend!'
- 'Yeah, what do you want?'
- 'Hey, how you doin'?'
- 'Wazzup?'
- 'Hm, interesting'
- 'Be good!' (dismiss)
- 'Be careful out there.' (dismiss)
- 'Keep it real!' (dismiss)
- 'Hurry back!' (dismiss)
HumanEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Hey there.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'Light be with you.'
- 'What can I do for you?'
- 'Well met.'
- 'Need help?'
- 'King's honor, friend.'
- 'You need somethin'?'
- 'Farewell.'
- 'Be careful.'
- 'Go with honor, friend.'
- 'Safe travels!'
- 'Light bless you.'
- 'What's your problem?'
- 'Knock it off..'
- 'Can I help you?'
- 'Kinda busy.'
- 'You're getting on my nerves.'
- 'For the Alliance.'
- 'I supply only the finest goods.' (Male Vendor)
FemaleEdit
- 'Light be with you.'
- 'Need help?'
- 'Have a good one.'
- 'Good Day to you.'
- 'Need Something?'
- 'See you later.'
- 'See you around.'
- 'Safe Travels.'
- 'Hey there.'
- 'Hello.'
- 'I'm Kinda busy.'
- 'Knock it off..'
- 'What's your problem?'
Night elfEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Elune be with you.'
- 'Hello.'
- 'Ishnu-alah.'
- 'Ishnu-dal-dieb.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'Can I assist you?'
- 'How may I help?'
- 'I am honored.'
- 'What brings you here?'
- 'Elune light your path.'
- 'I am listening.'
- 'Del-nadres.'
- 'Till next we meet.'
- 'May the stars guide you.'
- 'Have you nothing better to do?' (Irritated)
- 'Enough already.' (Irritated)
- 'Begone!' (Irritated)
- 'Stop this nonsense!' (Irritated)
FemaleEdit
- 'Ishnu-alah.'
- 'Ishnu-dal-dieb.'
- 'Hello.'
- 'I am honored.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'How may I help?'
- 'What brings you here?'
- 'Goddess blesses you.'
- 'Peace be with you'
- 'My goods are the highest quality.' (Vendor)
- 'Weren't you leaving?' (Irritated)
- 'I don't want to hear it!' (irritated)
- 'I've had enough with you!' (irritated)
- 'Have you nothing better to do?' (Irritated)
- 'Begone!' (Irritated)
- 'Stop this nonsense!' (Irritated)
- 'Stop it!' (irritated)
- 'You won't like me when i'm angry.' (Irritated)
- 'What are you looking at?' (irritated)
- 'I'm tired of this!' (irritated)
- 'Enough already!' (Irritated)
WorgenEdit
MaleEdit
- 'What's your story?'
- 'What can I do for you?'
- 'I've got a bad feeling.'
- 'Get gabbing or get going.'
- 'Any friend of Greymane is a friend of mine.'
- 'We've been holed up for far too long.'
- 'Are you trying to make me angry?!' (irritated)
- 'You wouldn't like me when I am angry.' (irritated)
- 'My bite is far worse than my bark.' (irritated)
- 'I will tear you limb from limb.' (irritated)
- 'I can not contain the rage much longer.' (irritated)
- 'Get lost!' (irritated)
- 'I grew tired of you.' (irritated)
- 'You have my undivided attention'
- 'Gilneas will be reborn from the blood of our enemies!'
- Our curse grants us strength!'
- 'No time for dallying'
FemaleEdit
- 'What's your story?'
- 'What can I do for you?'
- 'I've got a bad feeling.'
- 'Get gabbing or get going.'
- 'Any friend of Greymane is a friend of mine.'
- 'Are you trying to make me angry?!' (irritated)
- 'You wouldn't like me when I am angry.' (irritated)
- 'My bite is far worse than my bark.' (irritated)
- 'I can not contain the rage much longer.' (irritated)
- 'I will tear you limb from limb.' (irritated)
- 'You dare challenge me?!' (irritated)
- 'Get lost!' (irritated)
- 'I grew tired of you.' (irritated)
- 'The only honest merchant is a Gilnean merchant'
- 'Well ain't you a chippa lookin one?'
- 'Keep your chin up, ey'
- 'That's enough gabbing for me today.'
OgreEdit
Friendly ogres (Brewfest, Ogri'la, ect.) just makes a series of grunts when clicked on, but it is more than some races.
OrcEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Zug zug!'
- 'Blood and thunder!'
- 'Strength and honor!'
- 'Lok'tar!'
- 'Thrall hall!'
- 'Mok'ra!'
- 'What can I help you with?'
- 'Peace, friend.'
- 'May your blades never dull.'
- 'Strength.'
- 'What do you need?'
- 'Go for the victory.' (dismiss)
- 'For the Horde!' (dismiss)
- 'Go with honor.' (dismiss)
- 'Dabu.' (dismiss)
- 'You dispute my honor?!'(irritated)
- 'Back off, whelp!'(irritated)
- 'Are you challenging me!?'(irritated)
- 'Will you stop touching me?!'(irritated)
FemaleEdit
- 'Dabu.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'Strength and honor.'
- 'Lok'tar.'
- 'Mok'ra.'
- 'Back off, whelp.'
- 'What can I do for you?'
- 'Go with honor' (dismiss)
- 'Strength.' (dismiss)
- 'May your blades never dull' (dismiss)
- 'You dispute my honor?!' (irritated)
- 'I am getting angry!' (irritated)
- 'Are you challenging me?' (irritated)
- 'Back off, whelp.' (irritated)
- 'Will you stop touching me?' (irritated)
TaurenEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Hail.'
- 'Greetings, traveler.'
- 'Greetings.'
- 'Well met!'
- 'The winds guide you.'
- 'Walk with the Earth Mother.'
- 'Aah.I've been expecting you.'
- 'Peace, friend.'
- 'How may I aid you?'
- 'What brings you here?'
- 'May the eternal sun shine upon thee.'
- 'Farewell' (dismiss)
- 'Be careful.' (dismiss)
- 'Go in peace.' (dismiss)
- 'Ancestors watch over you.' (dismiss)
- 'Goodbye.' (dismiss)
- 'We shall meet again.' (dismiss)
- 'Wind be at your back.' (dismiss)
- 'Ahh, I have just the thing for you.' (Male Vendor)
- 'Looking for something special?' (Male Vendor)
- 'Ah, I have just the thing for you.' (Male Vendor)
- 'You are testing my patience.' (irritated)
- 'I have business to attend to.' (irritated)
- 'I have no time for playing.' (irritated)
- 'Have you nothing better to do?' (irritated)
FemaleEdit
- 'Hail.'
- 'Greetings, traveler.'
- 'Well met!'
- 'The winds guide you.'
- 'What bring you here?'
- 'Walk with the Earth Mother.'
- 'Ah, I've been expecting you.'
- 'May the eternal sun shine upon thee.'
- 'You wish to speak?'
- 'Drink my milk!' (Female Vendor)
- 'Looking for something special?' (Female Vendor)
- 'Ah, I have just the thing for you.' (Female Vendor)
- 'Away! Pest.' (Irritated)
- 'You are not amusing.' (Irritated)
- 'By the eternal!' (Irritated)
- 'You are testing my patience' (irritated)
- 'I have business to attend to' (irritated)
TrollEdit
MaleEdit
- 'Ello, mon.'
- 'Don't be shy.'
- 'Greetings, mon.'
- 'Talk to me.'
- 'Who you be?'
- 'How you doin', mon?'
- 'What'cha want?'
- 'You come get da Voodoo.'
- 'Relax.'
- 'Hello, mon!'
- 'What be on your mind?'
- 'Later.' (dismiss)
- 'Spirits be with you, mon.' (dismiss)
- 'Be seeing ya.'(dismiss)
- 'Stay away from the Voodoo.' (dismiss)
- 'What'cha looking for?' (male vendor)
- 'Me got the good stuff, mon.' (male vendor)
- 'Be cool mon!' (irritated)
- 'Making me angry, mon.' (irritated)
- 'The spirit not amused.' (irritated)
- 'Okay dokay'
- 'Taz'dingooo!'
FemaleEdit
- 'Don't be shy.'
- 'How you doin', mon?'
- 'Hey dere!'
- 'How are ya?'
- 'Talk to me.'
- 'Hello, mon!'
- 'You come get the Voodoo.'(female vendor)
- 'Relax.' (female vendor)
- 'What'cha looking for?' (female vendor)
- 'Me got the good stuff, mon.' (female vendor)
- 'Good to meet'cha' (dismiss)
- 'Be good' (dismiss)
- 'Be seeing ya.' (dismiss)
- 'Okay dokay' (dismiss)
- 'Stay away from the Voodoo.' (dismiss)
- 'You be careful, mon' (dismiss)
TuskarrEdit
Note: There are only male Tuskarr in-game.
- 'What troubles you?'
- 'May your nets always be full.'
- 'Yes, shalashka.'
- 'Let us visit for a while.'
- 'Stay warm!'
- 'Who is this that speaks?'
- 'Good hunting!'
- 'Your company is welcome.'
VrykulEdit
Note: Some vrykul, like Warsmith Sigfinna, speak when clicked on.
References Edit
- ^ abcdSean Copeland 2014-04-02. .@Effraeti Hey there! 'Krona ki cristorr!' = 'The Legion will fall!', and 'Archenon poros.' = 'Good fortune.' Hope that helps! :). Twitter.com.
- ^ abcSean Copeland 2014-04-14. @Lagrimasdeargus 'strength', 'Archenon poros.' = 'Good fortune'. Twitter.com.
- ^ abSean Copeland 2014-04-14. .@Lagrimasdeargus 'Krona ki cristorr!' = 'The Legion will fall!', 'Dioniss aca.' = 'Safe journey.', 'Pheta vi acahachi!' = 'Light give me(c). Twitter.com.
HomeGaming12 Best Games Like World of Warcraft You Can Play in 2019
World of Warcraft is one of the best MMORPG games out there. In fact, World of Warcraft played a crucial role in shaping the MMORPG genre. The game is more than a decade old now and a lot of imitators have come and gone in the meantime, but World of Warcraft hasn’t lost its charm. Millions of passionate fans still log in on a daily basis to access the gargantuan open worlds. It’s a testament to Blizzard’s execution, which not many developers have managed to achieve. While it’s is tough to replace WoW, there are several other games which offer almost the same concept. So if you are on the lookout for some alternatives, then we’ve curated a great list of games which you can play instead –
Best Games Like World of Warcraft You Can Play in 2019
1. Blade And Soul
Blade and Soul is a free-to-play MMORPG title which looks and feels exactly like the World of Warcraft, if not better. In fact, the visuals and gameplay style is so similar to World of Warcraft, that it’s popularly known as the Korean version of WoW. The game has two playable factions called Cerulean Order and Crimson Legion, who fight against each other.
From a number of different quests to a massive open-world that’s waiting to be explored, Blade and Soul has it all. If there’s one thing that sets Blade & Soul apart, then it’s got to be the fact that it’s free-to-play as I mentioned earlier. Yes, there are some paid elements in the game, but they won’t affect the overall gameplay. You can tap the link down below to learn more about the game.
Download Blade and Soul (Free)
2. TERA
TERA is yet another free-to-play MMORPG title from Bluehole Studio Inc. Yes, Bluehole is the same studio that’s responsible for making the wildly popular Battle Royale game called PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. I am sure you must have heard of it. Well, TERA is a beautiful game that’s highly inspired by WoW. But I can’t really call it a complete copy because TERA has its own spin on the genre.
TERA has over 80 zones that are meticulously designed with gorgeous visuals. It’s one of those games that’ll truly make you feel like you are in a virtual world. You get to choose between 12 playable classes and 7 races to explore the open world and its dungeons. It also has a PvP mode, which is among the best in the MMO world.
Download TERA (Free)
3. Warframe
Warframe is a third-person shooter that’s unique and special in its own way. While staying true to its genre of MMO, Warframe manages to offer an MMO experience like never-seen-before.
Warframe lets you control warriors of an ancient race who are at war with other factions. It’s co-op focused action gameplay makes it a one of a kind action title in this list. There are a ton of different characters to choose from and each of them has their unique abilities. Yes, Warframe may not sound like a perfect WoW alternative, but it’s a great game to play if you’re willing to take some time off WoW.
Download Warframe (Free)
4. Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls franchise needs no introduction, does it? I mean, it’s a franchise that’s been dominating the RPG genre for years now. Well, the Elder Scrolls Online is no different. It’s a fantasy game that draws inspiration from various different worlds. Elder Scrolls Online takes place on the continent of Tamriel, where you, as a player, will get to choose to be a part of one of the three factions.
You may not find Elder Scrolls Online to be a complete alternative to World of Warcraft, but there’s a lot to be explored in the world of Elder Scrolls Online, and it’s one of the best multiplayer games to try out. The game initially received a lot mixed reviews, but the developers have been doing a great job of keeping the game updated with fresh content.
Download Elder Scrolls Online from Steam ($59.99)
5. Rift
Rift is definitely one of the most interesting MMOs out there and it offers a lot of features and tools that it could be the potential World of Warcraft killer in a couple of years. Nevertheless, it’s still one of the biggest MMOs out there because it has taken all the positive aspects of MMO games and mixed them into one exciting game that captivates anyone who tries it out. The game has two factions that are at constant war against each other and you must help your side in winning the war. It’s similar to all other MMORPGs out here with character building and resource gathering. Apart from that, you must actively look for any Rifts in the world and close them before enemy start pouring out of them.
Download Rift (Free)
6. Path of Exile
Path of Exile exited its open beta phase back in October 2013 and quickly became a popular MMORPG title that everybody wanted to play. It’s set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast, and it’s designed around a strong online item economy, a competitive PvP mode, and more.
You start your journey in Path of Exile in an unknown world and try to explore large areas which include but are not limited to dungeons and monster-infested caves. Your objective is to fight off monsters and other dark forces to collect experience points. You can choose to either team up with other players or go solo on a rogue mission. The game is entirely free to play and you don’t have to use any money to gain an edge over other players.
Download Path of Exile (Free)
7. Age of Conan
If you are looking for a free MMORPG game like WoW, Age of Conan is perfect for you. This game is loosely inspired by the novels of the same name. However, Age of Conan is a direct rival to the World of Warcraft and offers similar gameplay elements. You pick your favorite class with unique traits and abilities, explore the vast world, complete quests, gather resources, and upgrade your character’s skills and equipment. You are free to choose your own destiny in this amazing game. Lead a life of a sorcerer or a stealthy assassin, it all depends on your tastes. Explore the legend of Conan in this amazing game.
Download Age of Conan (Free)
8. Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 is not exactly the same as World of Warcraft, but it’s for those people who are looking for a new experience with some new gameplay elements and a unique storyline. It offers nine unique classes with five different races. Each class bringing its own unique abilities and traits to the table. The customization options for your character are amazing which will let you customize your character completely according to your style. The graphics are beautiful and the game looks stunning on bigger displays. If you want a completely new MMO experience then Guild Wars is definitely a game for you.
Download Guild Wars 2 (Free)
9. Neverwinter
Dungeons & Dragons is a vast fantasy world where different creatures of magic and might live. There are dark forces and good forces clashing at every corner in this world. If you remember the old-school cartoons or the comics then you must know how amazing and immersive the world of Dungeons & Dragons can be. If you’ve been playing the table-top RPG then you are going to love Neverwinter because this game will let you experience that amazing world and explore it on your console or PC. Choose one of the provided races and embark on a magical adventure in the world of Neverwinter. This is the closest to World of Warcraft you would get on a console
Download Neverwinter (Free)
10. Black Desert Online
Following a lot of fanfare after its launch in Korea, Black Desert Online made its way to the global market very soon, and managed to deliver on the hype. It’s one of the games in the list which takes full advantage of MMO genre to offer addictive gameplay that’s also being improved over time.
What makes Black Desert Online stand out from the other games is its snappy action combat and an intuitive property management elements in the game. From making alliances to acquiring your own buildings, Black Desert Online offers everything. Heck, you can even take control of an entire city if you are capable enough. Overall, it’s a really good game, which we think should be on your list.
Download Black Desert Online (€4.99)
11. Skyforge
Skyforge is an awesome game that lets you play as an immortal warrior in a technologically-advanced sci-fi setup. Sounds great, isn’t it? I mean, who wouldn’t want to play an MMORPG game in a sci-fi world? Unlike many other MMORPG titles in which matchmaking is a huge issue, Skyforge allows its players to change the class of their character any time. Not only does it eliminates the matchmaking hitch, but it also allows players to have a different experience each time they log in.
Skyforge also has what it calls a “Prestige system” which determines a player’s power level based on in-game stats. The game has a lot to offer and you truly have to play the game to experience it all.
Download Skyforge (Free)
12. Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition is one of the best games in the series in terms of gameplay and storyline. The world is being run over by demons that are coming through multiple breaches in the universe. Your character possesses the ability to seal these breaches and help fight the demons. Your job is to recruit new friends, forge new alliances, and destroy any and all demons that come in your way. Seal off all the breaches that are causing an unrest in the world’s population and help keep your world safe from evil’s domination. Choose a unique race for your hero with each race sporting unique sets of abilities and characteristics. Best of all, team up with your buddies in the online co-op mode to take on the evil forces together.
Download Dragon Age: Inquisition ($13.65)
SEE ALSO: 15 Best Games like Overwatch You Should Play
Best Games Like World of Warcraft You Can Play
If you are already tired of World of Warcraft, then you should know that there are countless other games out there that will fill the void left by WoW. The above-mentioned games are definitely worth a try if you are looking for a similar playstyle or gameplay elements. There are more MMOs out there that might have gone unnoticed, so feel free to mention your favorite games like World of Warcraft in the comments below.
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We met on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the muddy shores of Lakeshire. There were 40 of us, alternatives in tow, laughing, buffing, flaunting. We exorcised our pre-raid jitters as best we could. North of Lakeshire lay the sinister Burning Steppes, home of Blackrock Mountain and home of our hopes and dreams. Blackwing Lair lingered at the top of the spire, promising extraordinary treasure and server-first accolades. On our leader’s mark, we rode together. It was dangerous to go alone.
Over the last few years there’s been a great deal of communal nostalgia for how Warcraft “used to be.” The game just celebrated its 10 year anniversary last November. That’s a decade of the map shrinking, of bad guys dying, of old friends disappearing into the internet’s ether.
The term they use for the original World of Warcraft is “vanilla Warcraft.” It means Warcraft before the expansions and innovations. For some diehards, this game has been trending downwards since the middle of the last decade. Some of this is real.
World of Warcraft is a different game than it was 10 years ago. In its massive success, its publisher, Blizzard, offered more and more convenience to players. In 2015 you can a press a button, be matched with other players cross-server, get teleported to a dungeon, and have loot automatically dropped into your bag. Journeys, like the ride from Lakeshire to Blackrock Mountain, are now blissfully quaint.
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The gameplay is more streamlined now, but there’s a generation of players who remember hiking through Horde territory, hands on their hilts, hoping to make it to Scarlet Monastery in one piece. Some of that wonder was lost.
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If you’re an old-timer or a newcomer who is curious about how things used to be, you can play the original World of Warcraft on private “vanilla” servers. These servers have existed since the launch of Burning Crusade, the first Warcraft expansion, but they’ve become prevalent as the game has gotten older. These servers are free to play on, and use cached files
to load exactly how things were when Warcraft launched. Their existence is against the game’s terms of service, but Blizzard, the people who make WoW, generally turns a blind eye. We’re talking about old content being played by misty-eyed veterans, it’d be cruel to drop the hammer.
to load exactly how things were when Warcraft launched. Their existence is against the game’s terms of service, but Blizzard, the people who make WoW, generally turns a blind eye. We’re talking about old content being played by misty-eyed veterans, it’d be cruel to drop the hammer.
When you play on a vanilla server, you can’t copy your character or trade gold back to your account on sanctioned Blizzard-run servers. Instead, you start your journey on the private server exactly how you would in 2004: at level one with a hearthstone and a bundle of linen cloth to your name. One of the largest private servers is called Nostalrius, encompassing 5,000 players. It joins names like Kronos and Feenix, and lets you travel back in time to wherever you left your happiness.
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But is it really possible to go back? Vanilla Warcraft is a mythical ideal. It is imaginary. It’s a place that exists in our heads, on a fulcrum of time, emotion, and digital space. You add 10 years and those old lands become spiritual. You might never be able to truly return to them, but you can try.
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“I didn’t have any history as a gamer,” 63-year-old Terry Hutchinson recently told me as he recalled first getting sucked into WoW. “I was 53 years old and worked most of my adult life as a systems analyst. I had gone back to nursing school, and had been reading various periodicals referencing World of Warcraft. It just sounded interesting to me. I installed it in February of 2005, and I just got sucked into it immediately. I think I got close to 320 days played, which is like two percent of my organic life.”
Hutchinson’s fondest memory playing World of Warcraft was a tight skirmish in Warsong Gulch, a game of player vs. player capture the flag. It went for three white-knuckle hours, before his side pulled out a victory.
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“Of course, it wasn’t long after that,” he noted, “that Blizzard put a time-limit on Warsong. Sure, that prevents those long, drawn-out matches. But you’ll never again get to experience a really well-played game like that.”
Another World of Warcraft veteran, Josh, who prefers to keep his last name private, is from Kansas. He found himself in a top five—worldwide—raiding guild called Risen at the age of 18.
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“I remember my buddy had thrown this big party while we were in high school, and I found myself in a bed with my prom date,” said Josh, now 28. “At 3:30am, my cell phone started going nuts, and I thought ‘oh shit, my parents,’ but it was this random number from Los Angeles. I picked it up and it was one of the officers in the guild. He told me I needed to get home, get on my computer, and help kill one of the Emerald Dragons that had just spawned. He said ‘welcome to the team’ and just hung up. That was the expectation. I’m an 18-year-old dude with this girl, and I had to say ‘I’ve gotta go kill this dragon.’ We weren’t hanging out for much longer.”
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Josh would progress with Risen all the way through the Ahn’Qiraj raid and onto C’Thun, one of the most infamous final bosses in World of Warcraft history. For a while he was in one of only three guilds making attempts on him. In modern World of Warcraft raiding, top guilds datamine encounters, learning the exact mechanics of a boss fight before they enter the room. That wasn’t the same with C’Thun.
“Nobody knew what the hell was going on back then,” Josh said. “We were trying to reflect his eye-beams off the gongs and shit like that. The game was just so different then. I love the datamining. You gotta use all the resources available, but it was just cool to try all that stuff. That’s what people miss, and it’s never going to come back.”
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Alexey Chuenko worked at an internet cafe in Latvia. He could stay up all night, and play on distant U.S. servers.
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“At that time my English wasn’t very good, so I couldn’t communicate with other players, but when I tried World of Warcraft it just blew my mind,” he said. “I may have wasted a lot of time in Warcraft,
but it did teach me English. I can assure [you] that that was the biggest improvement in my life.”
but it did teach me English. I can assure [you] that that was the biggest improvement in my life.”
Chuenko is Russian and had a skewed vision of the U.S. before he started playing World of Warcraft. But he found himself in an American guild and nurtured international relationships that was forged in the wipes, jeers, giggles, and brotherhood of a digital land. He lost contact with those friends when he moved his character to a European server, but he returned in 2011 to see if he could pick up the pieces.
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“The guild was still around, so I created a new character and rejoined, I played to about level 30, but the people in the guild had changed and only a few of them remembered me. It just didn’t work for some reason,” he said. “As you get older you try to restore the memories of your youth, but it never seems to work.”
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The tipping point most people point to is Cataclysm, the third World of Warcraft expansion which arrived in 2010. The premise was that Deathwing, a legendary dragon, had emerged from the world’s core, forever twisting its surface. It was all the justification Blizzard needed to revamp the old geography. They warped landscapes, removed and updated quests, making World of Warcraft a much more navigable place. Unfortunately, they also destroyed many of the things that now stoke the nostalgia.
“Sure you had to run around on foot in these massive zones, but that forced you to explore and see all the details,” said Andy Paquette, another player who started in Warcraft’s first era. “One of my best memories was playing on a 13-foot screen at this LAN center and questing in Feralas. All that green and the mountains, it was like nothing I’d seen before.”
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Nostalrius is Terry Hutchinson’s first private server experience. He’s been travelling through his memories since January.
“I became so frustrated with the current expansion, and I realized I couldn’t play it anymore,” he said, “but I still wanted to do battlegrounds and run around the old world. I Googled ‘vanilla private servers’ and Nostalrius happened to come up. I figured it was a good time to cancel my subscription and give it a shot.”
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Nostalrius does the legwork. It’s an ancient version of World of Warcraft, scrubbed clean of any expansionary blemishes. It’s not quite a transporter to the past, not if you’re a veteran WoW player, since you’re still walking into a virgin world with seasoned eyes. If you’re an old-timer, you’ve been there before. You’ll never not know what lies beyond the next border. Tapping into that wonder again is far more spiritual than mechanical.
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“It was great in the way that it allowed you to embody your high school self and go through those early years again,” said Paquette, reflecting on his time in private servers. “I played a rogue like I did during vanilla, and I couldn’t wait to try and raid again. But after I hit 60 (the level cap), I spent three days trying to get a group together for Blackrock Depths, and it was impossible. People are too used to the convenience, and I realized that vanilla just can’t work anymore.”
The physical World of Warcraft does not exist, so it’s odd that it musters this sort of melancholic nostalgia. It’s not something I’d expect anyone who didn’t experience a decade in Azeroth to understand, but you can bury authentic feelings in these stoic, static, internet landmasses. There’s love in Ironforge, laughter in Stranglethorn Vale, brotherhood on the trail from Lakeshire to Blackrock Mountain.
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“To tell you the truth, no, it doesn’t give me the same feeling.” said Tnas, a gamer who has been playing on Nostalrius since the beginning of April. “It’s not even close. I started playing here on the suggestion of a close friend who I played through vanilla with, but vanilla as it happened was the experience. We were part of one of the most influential moments in the history of gaming, and I don’t think anything will recapture that for us.”
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Hutchinson understands this, and instead treats his time in Nostalrius like a pilgrimage.
“It gets close, closer than I expected,” he said. “Yes, it’s not like I’m going into these zones and experiencing them for the first time. But it’s close. One of the first things I did was hike down through the Barrens to the Thousand Needles so I could see the Great Lift. I remember what that was like. Sure, I knew it was there, and I knew what to expect. But I had to see it. I had to ride it.”
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“I don’t play on private servers, because I know what would happen,” Josh said. “I’d just want to log off. Everybody tries to recreate the wonder. I recently played Guild Wars 2 and that has all the mysteriousness you want, but it won’t be the same, because you’re not that age again. It’s not 2004. You can’t just bury yourself in your bedroom and get immersed. I’ve got stuff going on. I’ve got a job, I’ve got a wife, I’m an adult. It’s not a bad thing, it’d be scarier if you hadn’t changed at all. You’re partially nostalgic for the game, but you’re mostly just missing that worry-free lifestyle.”
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Vanilla World of Warcraft is not magical on its own. It’s just a video game. But if it came at the right time it could be profound. For me, it was the conduit for all those sophomore year tremors. My best memories in World of Warcraft aren’t the gear or the journey. They are the circumstances. It could be an insulated chamber, no responsibilities, the time nights felt infinite. For Josh, it was as a high schooler in Wichita, Kansas, for Alexey it was an internet cafe, for Terry it was in his mid-50s, back at school, resetting a career. For all of us, World of Warcraft was a simpler time.
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“It’s all still happening,” Josh said. “If you were that age right now you wouldn’t be feeling nostalgia, because it’d still be new. Five years from now we’re going to be hearing kids talking about how great Warlords of Draenor was. I don’t wish World of Warcraft was new again. I just wish I could renew my situation.”
It’s difficult to come to terms with the fact that video games probably won’t ever thrill you the way they did when you were younger. It’s harder when you’re talking about a game that fused real friendships across the void.
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“I wasn’t at a good place in my real life during vanilla Warcraft, so maybe it was an escape for me,” said Vegard Haugland, 27 from Norway. “I felt closer to many of my in-game friends than the people around me at the time. I have very, very fond memories of messing around in Teamspeak with my guild buddies.”
Callinicus, Albinozod, there were moments where I cared about those guys more than anyone else in the world. Would we still relate? Do the blood pacts we made when our guilds fell apart still persist? Do you still remember the trail from Lakeshire to Blackrock Mountain? When you run into people you went to high school with, there’s not much conversation beyond rehashing old stories, but it’s still nice.
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“The Yeti cave in Winterspring. It’s one of the places that didn’t get touched during Cataclysm,” Josh remembered, “It was the best place to farm leather. I spent so many hours there. I grinded all my characters to 60 there. I’m going to have a dog someday, and my dog is going to be named Yeti. My wife has no clue it’ll be from a video game, and when she finds out she’ll kill me. But if I could experience one place again, it’d be that.”
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“Teldrassil. With the music, sometimes I just launch the soundtrack on YouTube and feel all those memories,” Alexey said. “That’s where it all started for me. You spend enough time in a virtual world, and it changes you.”
“Right now I’m in Hillsbrad, and the whole Tarren Mill area is littered with skeletons from world PvP, just like it used to be,” Terry said. “It will never be a brand new game again, but vanilla Warcraft feels alive to me in a way that I can’t find anymore in the retail product.”
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Most people don’t get to touch their memories. They linger, vague and out of sight, with no visceral landmarks. You cannot stop time. You can never truly go back. But World of Warcraft will always be there. Even as it’s tamed, even as the armies we led fade into history, even as our era ends, I can still listen to the echoes on the path from Lakeshire to Blackrock Mountain. The jitters. The buzzy microphones. The rumble. This was your life, this was all of our lives. It’s over now, it’s not coming back. But for a moment, you’ll feel it.
Luke Winkie is a writer and former pizza maker from San Diego and living in Austin, Texas. He writes about music, video games, professional wrestling, and whatever else interests him. You can find him on Twitter @luke_winkie.