Warcraft IV

To be announced at BlizzCon?

edited 12th Oct '10 6:35:52 AM by JAF1970

Honestly, I don't see it happening. Besides, supposedly their unannounced project(s?) was a new franchise and/or a new MMO.

Well, at this point there's nothing to say except that I really hope it's true.

Would a Warcraft IV incorporate the World Of Warcraft continuity or render it Canon Discontinuity? (Or potentially Alternate Continuity?)

The question would be, which continuity? Or more properly, how far along? If you do WC4 in the middle of WoW's run, you have to decide at what point to pull the story from. Infamous retcons aside, Blizzard's been very strongly focused on maintaining the overall continuity of the Warcraft series, so splitting off a new product that doesn't run parallel to the MMO would seem to be a very risky move.

...

Please, please be true...

^^That's my question. Is it an alternate universe? Does it branch off from World Of Warcraft at a certain point. Does that make whatever happens in World Of Warcraft afterwards, or even this game, non-canon? Also, why the fuck are they releasing this on consoles when Blizzard specializes in PC games?

I'm declaring this a hoax, unless Blizzcon says otherwise.

edited 12th Oct '10 12:20:45 PM by Neo_Crimson

Hmm... a console Warcraft IV makes a certain amount of sense, because they can simply rip it from existing continuity without creating a new branch. "In this mission, you get to retake Icecrown Citadel from Arthas." "In this mission, you get to defend the Ruby Dragonshrine from the Scourge." Etc.

Anyway, whether or not Blizzard has its roots in PC gaming is more or less irrelevant; the fact is that there's lots of dough to be had in consoles and they'd be foolish to pass it up if they are able to create viable content for that medium. My only concern would be that it's really hard to handle RTS controls well on a console.

edited 12th Oct '10 12:42:04 PM by Fighteer

Post-Cataclysm, probably.

^That's precisely why I'm skeptical about a console release (remember that N64 port if Starcraft?), I don't see how they could effectively map all the commands and hotkeys of a Warcraft RTS on to a controller.

Even in something like Dragon Age, I felt very limited on an X-box controller.

It's been too fucking long.

Warcraft III came out in 2002.

The Frozen Throne in 2003.

It doesn't need to take Diablo-III-level long for it to be "too long".

Hmm... a console Warcraft IV makes a certain amount of sense, because they can simply rip it from existing continuity without creating a new branch. "In this mission, you get to retake Icecrown Citadel from Arthas." "In this mission, you get to defend the Ruby Dragonshrine from the Scourge." Etc.

A while ago, I gave the idea an RTS adaptation of World of Warcraft some thought, and basically concluded that it just wouldn't work very well unless you took as much artistic license with the source material as World of Warcraft itself did with the earlier games in the series.

It would be especially ironic considering that World Of Warcraft is itself an MMORPG adaptation of an RTS, and bears many elements of that in its gameplay.

I, personally, hope that they undo much of what happened in World Of Warcraft with a well-placed Wizard Did It or three. World Of Warcraft players might now agree with this, however

Er, no. Well, yes, in that World Of Warcraft players would disagree. Continuity marches on; you can't reset it just because you don't like it (well, unless you're a Marvel or DC writer).

Like it or not, World Of Warcraft shows no signs of dying any time soon, so the idea of another game coming out that splits the continuity (rather than paralleling it) seems highly unlikely.

RTS' on consoles are generally terrible, so my hopes aren't high in any case.

The only console I could see working with an RTS well is the Wii, and that's because it's a hell of a lot easier to point with.

And Warcraft is a Captain Ersatz of Warhammer.

^ And Warhammer is a Captain Ersatz of Lord Of The Rings, what's your point?

If they were to go ahead with this, it wouldn't need to make WoW discontinuity. TBC was fairly disastrous as the plot goes but WLK has been much better. Main issue I see with WoW's plot is Blizzard leaving loose ends and generally missing good opportunities.

edited 12th Oct '10 3:52:57 PM by Rotpar

Back in Blizzcon'08, when they first announced Starcraft 2 was gonna be a trilogy, one of the developer slipped that SC 2 is being developed episodically "like Warcraft4" so WC 4 is probably at least in the planning stage, but this year blizzcon announcement? Seem to soon to me, especially when blizz still have their hand full with D3 and the new IP next-gen MMO.

^Source? I don't remember anything like that being said.

Er, no.

Warcraft exists because Blizzard failed to get the rights to Warhammer. Warhammer has little to actually do with Lord of the Rings.

^Source? I don't remember anything like that being said.

Oh, shit, I do.

http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/10/10/warcraft-iv-confirmed-starcraft-ii-split-into-a-trilogy/

edited 13th Oct '10 8:19:02 AM by JAF1970