[0:00] Heat. Heat.
[0:20] [Music]
[0:28] is warning that some are becoming
[0:30] addicted to online gaming and it's
[0:32] affecting their studies and their
[0:33] health. The warning comes as the latest
[0:35] version of the hit fantasy game World of
[0:38] Warcraft has been last night. Thousands
[0:41] queued on Oxford Street in London to buy
[0:43] the first copies of technology
[0:44] correspond. year is 2008 and World of
[0:48] Warcraft is riding high off of its first
[0:50] expansion, The Burning Crusade. As you'd
[0:52] know if you saw episode 4 of the series,
[0:54] it was an expansion that soared to New
[0:56] Horizons, and it showed the player base
[0:58] the possibilities of what an expansion
[1:01] pack could be. 10 more levels, new
[1:03] zones, dungeons, raids, redefined class
[1:06] balance, two races, flying mounts, and
[1:09] the thrill of arena PvP to name just a
[1:12] few. It just built on the foundation of
[1:15] a game that had already taken the world
[1:16] by storm. And it would break
[1:18] subscription numbers month after month.
[1:21] And it is at this point that many
[1:22] consider the game to be firmly in its
[1:24] golden era. But eventually, every
[1:27] chapter closes to open another one. And
[1:30] Blizzard Entertainment showed that there
[1:32] was far more story to tell and
[1:34] challenges to conquer by unveiling their
[1:37] second expansion, The Wrath of the Lich
[1:39] King. Following the events of the
[1:41] Burning Crusade, a darker threat loomed.
[1:43] Arthus Manithal, once a prince, now a
[1:46] deathless tyrant, stirring in the frozen
[1:48] wastess of North End. His scourge army
[1:51] swelled, unleashing plagues and undead
[1:54] horrors across Azeroth. From the howling
[1:56] fjords to the icy peaks of Ice Crown,
[1:59] North Rend beckoned, a harsh and haunted
[2:02] continent of Viking inspired tribes,
[2:05] ancient Titan relics, and the looming
[2:07] shadow of Ice Crown Citadel. This was no
[2:10] mere skirmish. The Alliance and the
[2:13] Horde would unite, however uneasily, to
[2:15] face this world ending evil, with the
[2:18] floating city of Doran serving as their
[2:20] neutral bastion. And unlike the Burning
[2:22] Crusade, at this point, the player base
[2:25] had an idea of what to expect from an
[2:27] expansion. The Doomsayers were silenced,
[2:29] and there's now this set standard and
[2:32] expectation for what their $50 got them
[2:36] after soaring into the heavens in the
[2:37] Burning Crusade. There's just one
[2:39] question. Could The Wrath of the Lich
[2:41] King even match, let alone surpass the
[2:43] quality of the adventure into the
[2:45] Outland?
[2:49] [Music]
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[4:16] I'm very pleased to tell you that the
[4:18] dev team's been hard at work on the
[4:20] second expansion for World of Warcraft,
[4:22] Rical Expansion.
[4:29] On August 3rd, 2007 at Blizzcon, the
[4:33] announcement was made. The next
[4:34] expansion was The Wrath of the Lich
[4:36] King. Of course, at this point in time,
[4:39] Warcraft 3 and its expansion, the Frozen
[4:41] Throne, hit store shelves and quickly
[4:43] became one of the fastests selling PC
[4:45] games of all time, even breaking their
[4:47] own record set by Diablo II. In the
[4:50] events of the frozen throne, players
[4:52] learned of the story of Prince Arthus
[4:53] Menithol, where driven by a quest for
[4:56] vengeance takes up the cursed blade
[4:58] Frost, eventually leading him down the
[5:00] path to becoming the new Lich King, who
[5:03] is the ruler of all undead in Azeroth.
[5:06] After gathering his forces from the
[5:08] lands of Northrand, he begins invading
[5:10] the Eastern Kingdoms and Calumdor and
[5:13] spreading his influence across the land.
[5:15] and it's up to you, the player, to stop
[5:18] him at his home turf in Northrand
[5:20] itself, which was now conveniently
[5:22] mapped out by Azeroth's ctographers.
[5:25] Wrath would continue the trends started
[5:26] by the Burning Crusade, and it held what
[5:30] many now consider to be gold standards
[5:31] of an expansion, more levels of
[5:33] character progression, new spells,
[5:35] talents, updated class balance, as well
[5:38] as new zones, dungeons, and raids to
[5:41] conquer. Perhaps one of its biggest
[5:42] selling points, however, was the death
[5:45] knight. Funny enough, a remnant of
[5:47] vanilla World of Warcraft back from
[5:49] 2004. Well, sort of. There were actually
[5:52] three vanilla classes that didn't make
[5:54] it. The first being the demon hunter,
[5:56] but more importantly, the rune master,
[5:59] which was a casting class that used
[6:00] runes as a resource as opposed to mana,
[6:03] and also necromancers, who raised the
[6:06] dead and casted plagues. Eventually, the
[6:08] latter two classes would merge and
[6:11] become its own class called the Death
[6:13] Knight. Lorewise, they were created by
[6:15] the Orc Warlock Guldan during the Second
[6:18] War. Seeking to bolster the Horde's
[6:20] forces, he used the dark magic to bind
[6:23] the souls of fallen orc warriors into
[6:25] reanimated human corpses, which created
[6:28] powerful undead warriors loyal to the
[6:30] Horde. These early death knights, such
[6:33] as Terrant Giend, were necroantic
[6:36] entities wielding shadow magic, and they
[6:38] were quite distinct from later
[6:39] iterations. In Wrath, however, they were
[6:42] reimagined as a playable class tied to
[6:45] the Lich King's rise. After the events
[6:47] of Warcraft 3, the Lich King, which was
[6:50] Nerzul, and later Arthus, refined the
[6:52] process, raising powerful heroes and
[6:54] champions who died in his service or
[6:57] were forcibly converted. They were then
[6:59] imbued with necroantic powers, wielding
[7:02] rune blades and commanding the powers of
[7:04] unholy, frost, and blood magic. They
[7:07] were then bound to the Lich King's will,
[7:10] and they served as elite enforcers of
[7:12] the scourge. As for the expansion
[7:14] itself, it introduced death knights as
[7:18] former heroes of the Alliance or Horde
[7:20] that were freed from the Lich King's
[7:22] control after the events at Light Hope
[7:24] Chapel, where the Argent Dawn weakened
[7:26] his grip.
[7:29] That day is not today.
[7:31] Ferion
[7:36] [Applause]
[7:46] led by Darien Mgrain. These death
[7:48] knights formed the Knights of the Eban
[7:50] Blade, which sought redemption and
[7:53] vengeance. Players started as death
[7:55] knights in a unique starting zone called
[7:58] Atrisis the eb and hold and experienced
[8:00] their break from the Lich King and
[8:02] joined either faction to fight against
[8:04] him in Northrand. They had the then
[8:07] wholly unique property of starting at a
[8:09] high level 55 which at the time was just
[8:13] 25 away from the new cap 80. Because of
[8:16] this, there may have been plans at some
[8:18] point that in order to create one, a
[8:21] player would actually have to sacrifice
[8:23] another character with a minimum level
[8:25] of 55, but this was either a rumor or it
[8:29] just ended up being scrapped, and the
[8:31] only restriction ended up being that you
[8:33] could only make one per server.
[8:35] Regardless, this would end up being one
[8:37] of the expansion's major selling points,
[8:39] as it was the first new class that
[8:41] players saw in 4 years, and many
[8:44] questions circulated around them, such
[8:46] as what races can play them, what roles
[8:48] do they fit, and just how powerful would
[8:51] they be? Another big feature was the
[8:53] achievement system, which would be a
[8:56] completionist's dream. Of course, just
[8:58] with any MMO, there are many things to
[9:00] do. There are dungeons to run, raids to
[9:03] complete, professions to level, gold to
[9:05] earn, players to kill. But with all of
[9:08] them, what you would have to show for it
[9:10] usually were just some memories and some
[9:13] loot. In Wrath, however, this changed as
[9:16] it was when Blizzard added this new form
[9:18] of character progression where the game
[9:19] would now track and publicly record what
[9:22] were called achievements. They varied
[9:25] quite wildly in every stretch of the
[9:27] game, such as dungeons, raids, PvP,
[9:30] economy, reputations,
[9:32] pretty much everything, even silly
[9:34] random side activities that no one would
[9:37] do aside for the sake of the achievement
[9:39] itself. As a reward for each
[9:41] achievement, the player would receive a
[9:43] certain amount of points, and in some
[9:45] cases even rare cosmetic rewards such as
[9:47] pets, mounts, and even titles. Some
[9:50] people find it surprising today that
[9:52] siege vehicles were a highly touted
[9:55] feature. Siege weapons
[10:02] and buildings that can be destroyed with
[10:03] those siege weapons.
[10:07] These would be vehicles that players
[10:08] would control to wreak havoc, giving
[10:11] them powerful abilities. and they
[10:13] primarily appeared in various quests
[10:15] throughout North Rend, but also in some
[10:17] more pivotal activities such as the
[10:20] second raid tier, Old War and also the
[10:22] new PvP zone, Winter Grasp. As useful as
[10:26] flying was in the Burning Crusade, one
[10:28] of its undeniable downsides was that it
[10:30] hurt world PvP, they tried to dampen
[10:33] this by adding some side PvP objectives
[10:35] in many of the zones. Hala and Arand
[10:38] probably being the most major that
[10:40] people remember. But when players can
[10:43] simply zoom away at a 300% speed flying
[10:46] mount, it's much harder to get a natural
[10:48] and organic war started like the classic
[10:51] Tanel versus Southshore battles from
[10:53] vanilla WoW. So Winter Grasp was an
[10:56] attempt to rectify this. It was
[10:58] essentially this whole dedicated zone
[11:00] where everyone is flagged for PvP.
[11:03] Flying is disabled and throughout the
[11:06] day, the battlefield would become active
[11:08] and the two sides would fight for
[11:09] control of the winter grass keep which
[11:12] gave access to vendors, items, and even
[11:15] an entire raid. The winner of the battle
[11:17] would be the defender on the next stage
[11:19] and the loser the attacker. and they
[11:22] would have to use siege vehicles to
[11:23] attack and defend the keep within a
[11:25] certain amount of time in this attempt
[11:27] to reinvigorate world PVP back into the
[11:30] game. These siege vehicles would also
[11:32] see use in two completely new
[11:34] battlegrounds, the Strand of the
[11:36] Ancients and the Aisle of Conquest,
[11:39] where with the former, similarly, the
[11:41] two factions would take turns attacking
[11:42] and defending a keep through their use
[11:44] of catapults and turrets and good
[11:46] oldfashioned ground combat. whichever
[11:49] 15-man side that captured it in the
[11:51] fastest amount of time was the winner.
[11:54] And as for the aisle, this was a larger
[11:56] 40 vers40 battleground that similarly
[11:58] had a focus on siege vehicles and
[12:00] breaking through gates to Russia keep.
[12:03] Although in this one, both teams would
[12:04] be both attacking and defending at the
[12:06] same time. Just as how the Burning
[12:09] Crusade released the new jewel crafting
[12:11] profession, Wrath had inscription which
[12:14] could make stat boosting scrolls,
[12:17] vellums for enchanters to turn into
[12:19] consumable enchants, and most
[12:22] importantly, they could also make
[12:23] glyphs, which were another new feature.
[12:25] This was something that was akin to the
[12:28] talent tree system where players could
[12:30] add another layer of customization by
[12:32] placing both minor and major glyphs on
[12:35] their character that altered their
[12:36] abilities in various ways. For example,
[12:39] hunters could get one that reduced the
[12:41] cooldown of their aimed shot or
[12:44] increased the duration of their serpent
[12:46] sting as major glyphs or mend pet
[12:48] increases pet happiness as a minor
[12:51] quality of life glyph in this attempt to
[12:53] add more agency in build customization.
[12:56] And last, but certainly not least, raids
[13:00] actually underwent a significant
[13:02] evolution with the introduction of
[13:04] another raid size 10men. Initially,
[13:08] World of Warcraft, of course, launched
[13:10] with the quite ambitious 40man size,
[13:13] which certainly delivered an epic
[13:14] experience as players teamed up with 39
[13:17] others worldwide to tackle colossal
[13:19] bosses. But, as you would know if you
[13:22] saw the Burning Crusade episode, this
[13:24] size posed challenges, including, but
[13:26] not limited to complex raid compositions
[13:29] and design constraints. Creating
[13:32] environments large enough for 40 players
[13:35] and a boss proved quite difficult and
[13:37] sometimes even leading to entire raid
[13:40] cancellations. Consequently, The Burning
[13:42] Crusade reduced the standard raid size
[13:44] to 25. This 15 player reduction was
[13:48] wellreceived for its convenience, which
[13:51] prompted Blizzard to offer an even
[13:53] smaller 10-man option in Wrath. This
[13:55] flexibility was certainly welcomed, but
[13:58] there was one string attached, and
[14:00] that's the fact that they yielded scaled
[14:02] down loot as Blizzard aimed to keep
[14:04] 25man raids as the primary focus of the
[14:07] raiding scene. So, there was still some
[14:10] reluctance clearly in rewarding the best
[14:12] loot for such a downsized activity.
[14:16] [Music]
[14:27] And so the stage for another expansion
[14:30] was set. Most of this news came during
[14:32] the Burning Crusade, of course. So
[14:35] players not only had their hands full,
[14:37] but they also had a plethora of new and
[14:39] exciting content to look forward to.
[14:42] They blasted through the fallen black
[14:44] temple and battled in the dangerous
[14:46] halls leading to the Sunwell with very
[14:49] few actually finishing the expansion
[14:51] before the date arrived.
[14:55] [Music]
[15:02] November 13th, 2008, the release of
[15:05] World of Warcraft second expansion, The
[15:08] Wrath of the Lich King. This was still
[15:10] the era of physical media, which I
[15:12] always like to mention. Today with
[15:14] digital downloads, it's as simple as
[15:16] sitting at your computer and clicking a
[15:19] button. But back then, if you wanted to
[15:21] be one of the first to explore the new
[15:23] zones, you had to wait in line at Best
[15:25] Buy or whatever retailer that you
[15:28] preferred and sit with a bunch of
[15:30] unbathed nerds in eager anticipation of
[15:33] this worldwide cultural phenomenon. It
[15:36] really hearkens back to the old days of
[15:37] Blizzard with this huge sense of
[15:40] community and really just this
[15:43] celebration of this combined love and
[15:45] addiction. So you'd pick up a copy, your
[15:48] social energy completely spent for the
[15:51] day, rush home and install it. But
[15:54] today, computers aren't even typically
[15:56] sold with disc drives anymore. Just
[15:59] another relic of a bygone era. And so
[16:02] the boats and zeppelins leading to
[16:04] Northrand officially launched and the
[16:06] player began their campaign into the
[16:09] Lich King's doorstep. Something unique
[16:11] with the expansion that was noticed
[16:13] immediately was that for the first time
[16:16] players could choose between two
[16:17] starting zones. Whereas the Burning
[16:19] Crusade followed this more linear style
[16:21] of progression with the Hellfire
[16:23] Peninsula and then Zanger Marsh Terraar
[16:26] and so on. Both of these starting zones,
[16:28] the Boran Tundra and the Hauling Fjord,
[16:31] led to their own follow-up zones, which
[16:34] had several advantages. The first being
[16:36] simply splitting the massive player base
[16:39] up. As exciting expansion launches are,
[16:42] an annoyance, especially back in the
[16:44] day, is that there's maximum competition
[16:46] for quest NPCs, and players often find
[16:50] themselves sitting around racing to take
[16:52] critical spawns in time. While this
[16:54] still definitely happened in Wrath, it
[16:57] was dampened a bit by the player base
[16:59] essentially being split in half between
[17:01] these two starter zones. It also had the
[17:03] advantage of adding replay-ability. By
[17:05] this time in the game's life, many
[17:07] people had alternate characters that
[17:09] they would play on the side. So where
[17:12] they first maybe went through the borian
[17:13] tundra on their alt they could do the
[17:15] hauling fjord instead which led into the
[17:18] grizzly hills offering a completely
[17:20] unique experience between its unique
[17:23] quests and dungeons. If you did manage
[17:26] to see the Burning Crusade episode, you
[17:28] may remember that I mentioned that Wrath
[17:30] is when they really started to focus on
[17:33] the story element of the MMO RPG genre.
[17:36] While I'd say that this started to ramp
[17:38] up in the Burning Crusade with its large
[17:41] focus on major lore characters like
[17:44] Illan Storm Rage and Keelth Sunstrider,
[17:46] this is really when they kicked it into
[17:48] maximum overdrive with its focus on the
[17:51] new Lich King, Arthus Menithol. He was
[17:53] made the primary focus from the
[17:55] beginning to the end. And he was
[17:58] referenced in quests. He made
[18:00] appearances at the end of major quest
[18:02] chains or dungeons. And although I won't
[18:05] go over his full story, I'll leave that
[18:07] to the professionals like Noble, I did
[18:09] want to briefly cover Arthus' arc
[18:11] because it is so important to the
[18:14] identity of the expansion. So this
[18:16] episode will have a little bit of extra
[18:18] lore here. So, Arthus Menithol, born the
[18:22] heir to the throne of Lordon, grew up in
[18:24] a golden age of peace under his father,
[18:27] King Tyrannis Menithol. Trained as a
[18:29] warrior and paladin of the Silverhand
[18:32] under the legendary Uther the
[18:34] Lightbringer, Arthus embodied courage
[18:36] and devotion with his heart set on
[18:39] protecting his people. His charm and
[18:41] resolve won the affection of Jana
[18:43] Proudmore, a gifted mage. And as a young
[18:46] man, Arthus carried the weight of his
[18:48] kingdom's future, and his life was
[18:50] steeped heavily in duty and promise. But
[18:53] as always, darkness loomed over Lord
[18:56] Ron. A mysterious plague began to
[18:58] spread, turning villagers into mindless
[19:00] undead, and Arthus, tasked with
[19:03] defending his homeland, discovered the
[19:05] plague's origin. It was orchestrated by
[19:07] the Scourge, the undead army controlled
[19:10] by the Lich King, who at the time was
[19:12] Nirzul. Investigating the outbreak,
[19:15] Arthus confronted the necromancer
[19:17] Kelazad, slaying him. But in the
[19:20] process, he learned of a dreadlord named
[19:22] Malganis, who was the one that
[19:24] orchestrated the scourge's advance. His
[19:27] pursuit of justice led him to the city
[19:29] of Stratholm, where the infected
[19:31] populace was on the verge of turning. In
[19:34] a fateful decision, Arthus ordered the
[19:36] city to be purged, slaughtering its
[19:38] citizens to halt the plague spread.
[19:40] What? How can you even consider that?
[19:44] There's got to be some other way. Jana
[19:46] and Uther, horrified by the act,
[19:48] abandoned him, leaving Arthus isolated
[19:51] and his moral compass beginning to
[19:53] falter. Driven by pure vengeance. Now
[19:56] Arthus chased Malganis to the frozen
[19:58] wastess of Northrand, and it was there
[20:00] he encountered the cursed blade
[20:02] Frostorn. Its icy whispers promising the
[20:05] power to defeat his enemy. Ignoring the
[20:08] warnings of its soulstealing curse,
[20:11] Arthus claimed the blade and its dark
[20:13] power consumed him. He ended up
[20:15] vanquishing Melanis, but at a terrible
[20:18] cost. Frostorn had bound his soul to the
[20:21] Lich King, and he returned to Lord Ron
[20:24] as a death knight, murdering his father
[20:26] and plunging his kingdom into chaos. He
[20:29] then resurrected Kelazad as a lich and
[20:33] he led the scourge in a rampage,
[20:35] destroying the elven kingdom of Qualas
[20:37] and corrupting the Sunwell they were
[20:39] protecting. As the Lich King's champion,
[20:42] he waged war against the living. But the
[20:45] Lich King's power waned when Illan Storm
[20:47] Rage attacked the Frozen Throne in
[20:49] Northend. Arthus then journeyed to
[20:51] defend his master, defeating Illan in a
[20:54] fierce duel outside of Ice Crown
[20:56] Citadel. And then at the frozen throne,
[20:58] he dawned the helm of domination, which
[21:01] merged him with the spirit of Nurzul,
[21:03] the original Lich King. Their
[21:05] consciousness now fused with Arthus'
[21:08] world dominating. He became the new Lich
[21:10] King, a tyrant enthroned in ice, and
[21:13] commanding the scourge from Ice Crown
[21:16] Citadel. Which brings us to the events
[21:18] of the wrath of the Lich King, where he
[21:20] finally unleashed the scourge upon
[21:22] Azeroth. He attacked cities directly,
[21:25] raised monstrous lieutenants like the
[21:27] dragon Synindraosa, and forged new death
[21:30] knights to serve his will. Yet, a
[21:32] flicker of his humanity remained,
[21:34] restraining the scourge's full
[21:36] devastation. Today, in the current
[21:39] expansions, the story is such a huge
[21:41] focus of the game. All of the plot lines
[21:44] are intertwined with some form of main
[21:46] quest. There exists external lore books
[21:49] as well as a plethora of in-game
[21:51] cutscenes. The first of which was
[21:53] encountered in none other than wrath
[21:55] with the wrath gate where Bolvar for
[21:58] dragon and some orc doucher who cares
[22:00] about his name have a brief encounter
[22:02] with the lich king himself. Bulvar take
[22:06] the light for the order for the
[22:08] alliance.
[22:12] [Music]
[22:13] [Applause]
[22:18] Back you mindless wretch.
[22:27] Fight on brothers.
[22:38] Rise up, sons of the horde. Blood and
[22:41] glory await us.
[22:46] [Music]
[22:48] Tar
[22:50] for the
[22:53] I was wondering if you'd show up. I
[22:56] couldn't let the Alliance have all the
[22:58] fun today.
[23:02] [Music]
[23:10] Arus,
[23:11] the blood of your father, of your
[23:15] people, demands justice.
[23:19] Come forth, coward, and answer for your
[23:23] crimes.
[23:38] You speak of justice, of cowardice.
[23:42] I will show you the justice of the grave
[23:46] and the true meaning of fear. Enough
[23:51] talk. Let it be finished.
[24:07] You will pay for all the lives you've
[24:10] stolen, traitor. Boldly stated, but
[24:15] there is nothing you can do.
[24:20] What
[24:23] did you think? We had forgotten.
[24:28] Did you think we had forgiven?
[24:32] Behold now the terrible vengeance of the
[24:36] forsaken.
[24:38] Sylvanas.
[24:41] Death to the scourge and death to the
[24:45] living.
[24:55] [Music]
[25:05] This
[25:07] isn't
[25:09] over.
[25:14] Now
[25:16] all can see. This is the hour of the
[25:22] forsaken.
[25:25] [Music]
[25:27] We're finished.
[25:29] No escape
[25:31] for any of us.
[25:44] [Music]
[25:51] [Music]
[26:08] [Music]
[26:12] This was a really historic moment. in
[26:14] its history and it marked this sort of
[26:16] evolution into the modern era. It wasn't
[26:19] a full-on cinematic like with the
[26:21] official trailers. It was more of the
[26:24] then very popular machinima style where
[26:26] it used in-game models and animations
[26:29] for the most part. At this point in
[26:31] 2008, YouTube had started to really gain
[26:34] a lot of popularity. And out of all of
[26:37] the World of Warcraft related content on
[26:39] the website, some of the most popular
[26:41] were called machinimas, which were
[26:43] fan-made animations and stories and
[26:46] adventures within the World of Azeroth.
[26:48] Illegal Danish will be ours. It's
[26:51] unmistakable that Blizzard drew much
[26:53] inspiration from them in the making of
[26:56] the Wrath Gate cutscene. This focus on
[26:58] the story would also be quite heavily
[27:01] influenced by the entire quest campaign
[27:04] as well as key dungeons such as for
[27:06] instance the calling of Stratholme where
[27:08] you witnessed firsthand that fateful day
[27:10] where Arthus made the decision to kill
[27:13] the entire civilian population and face
[27:15] off against Malganis. But as for the
[27:18] more flashy things like the features,
[27:20] starting with the death knight from the
[27:23] beginning, although they were
[27:24] technically labeled a hero class, the
[27:26] developers made it clear that they
[27:28] wouldn't be more powerful than the rest
[27:29] of the classes in the game. One of the
[27:31] goals with the death knight was epic but
[27:33] equal. So epic in how you obtain it,
[27:35] epic in how it feels, but not any more
[27:38] powerful than any other classes. Spoiler
[27:40] alert, they were incrediblying
[27:43] overpowered. Like seriously, it was
[27:46] ridiculous. Even to this day, people
[27:49] disregard an entire arena season because
[27:52] they were just so absolutely
[27:54] overpowered. They're essentially all
[27:56] three roles mixed into one. Tank, DPS,
[27:59] and healer if you count self-heals and
[28:02] all guarded by heavy plate armor. Their
[28:04] blood specialization focused primarily
[28:07] on survivability and self-healing. Their
[28:10] frost was more magic based, buffing
[28:12] frost related attacks, and undead was
[28:15] more necromancy, increasing the potency
[28:17] of plagues and diseases, as well as
[28:21] undead minions. All three were used for
[28:23] their own purposes, but no matter what,
[28:26] they were incredibly powerful in both
[28:28] PvE and PvP. As for their actual
[28:31] gameplay, they were kind of a hybrid of
[28:33] the warriors rage and the rogu's energy
[28:36] systems mixed into one with runes and
[28:39] runic power. Some abilities cost runes
[28:42] which regenerated over time much like
[28:44] energy and generated runic power much
[28:47] like the warrior's rage and others
[28:49] typically more powerful abilities
[28:51] consumed that runic power once again
[28:54] much like the warrior. And although all
[28:56] three specializations were unique from
[28:58] each other, they were all designed for
[28:59] both tanking and DPS with a surprising
[29:03] amount of self-healing. So despite
[29:05] whatever the developers claimed, they
[29:07] were the god class and they were heavily
[29:10] overpop populated as a result. Some
[29:12] people even speculated that it was done
[29:15] intentionally in order to sell more
[29:17] expansions. As mentioned, another huge
[29:20] feature were the changes tied to the
[29:22] raids as they mark a really huge change
[29:25] in the endgame design of the game. I
[29:27] mentioned this in the Burning Crusade
[29:29] episode, but in regards to its raid
[29:31] difficulty, if you couldn't clear it,
[29:34] you simply couldn't clear it. And the
[29:36] only two options were to either play
[29:38] better or wait for a nerf. At that
[29:40] point, there was no easy difficulty mode
[29:43] to retreat to to see the content in its
[29:46] entirety. But this all changed with the
[29:49] Wrath of the Lich King expansion. At
[29:51] first, with the new 10-man mode, they
[29:53] weren't just easier logistically in
[29:56] gathering players. They were just plain
[29:58] easier, which is reflected in the lower
[30:00] quality loot. And even then, compared to
[30:03] the extreme difficulty of the Burning
[30:05] Crusade raiding scene, 25man mode was
[30:08] also made to be more accessible. The
[30:10] expansion actually started off with a
[30:12] re-release, Nex Ramis, which was the
[30:15] final raid tier 4 vanilla World of
[30:17] Warcraft. The reasoning for this was
[30:19] that since so few players ended up
[30:21] seeing it in vanilla, it was pretty much
[30:23] a new raid for 99% of the player base.
[30:26] The only difference being bosses were of
[30:28] course upscaled to level 80, and some
[30:30] mechanics changed and were added here
[30:33] and there. The raid itself was mostly
[30:35] the same as its original release, except
[30:38] for one thing. its difficulty, which was
[30:41] far easier. It was clear between the
[30:44] difficulty level and logistics. Blizzard
[30:47] wanted rating to be more accessible, but
[30:49] at the same time, they also didn't want
[30:51] to forget the more hardcore players. And
[30:54] they sought to rectify this by adding
[30:56] the first version of hard modes to the
[30:58] game with the second raid tier, Aldoir,
[31:00] where many of the fights had these
[31:02] optional challenges to complete that
[31:04] intensified both their difficulty and
[31:07] the quality of loot. again trying to
[31:09] serve both hardcore and casual players
[31:12] and providing a viable option for both.
[31:15] Although this was quite wellreceived,
[31:17] they would eventually settle on what
[31:19] would become standard for the game for
[31:21] the next decade, and that's heroic mode
[31:23] with their next raid tier, the trial of
[31:25] the crusader, where for both sizes,
[31:28] players could set the difficulty to the
[31:30] much more intense heroic mode, where
[31:33] bosses have more health, they deal more
[31:35] damage, and sometimes even have added
[31:38] mechanics to deal with. The challenge
[31:39] was back full force back to the Burning
[31:42] Crusade levels, I would say, but it was
[31:44] now a toggled option instead of the only
[31:47] option. They would, of course,
[31:48] eventually take this even further with
[31:51] the LFR mode later introduced in the
[31:53] next expansion, the Cataclysm. But it
[31:56] was indeed Wrath is where they started
[31:58] pursuing this philosophy of making
[32:00] raiding much more accessible for the
[32:02] more casual players. As for the
[32:04] dungeons, they were as well-designed as
[32:06] ever. From the Viking halls of the
[32:08] Otgard Pinnacle to the Lost Titan vaults
[32:11] of the Halls of Stone or the
[32:13] timetraveling culling of Stratholme,
[32:15] there was as much variety as ever. As
[32:17] for their actual difficulty, similar to
[32:19] raiding, they were more accessible in a
[32:22] few different ways. Heroics in general
[32:23] were much easier compared to their
[32:25] Burning Crusade counterparts, and they
[32:28] no longer required reputation farming to
[32:30] even enter them, although the
[32:31] reputations tied to them were still
[32:33] crucial for the various enchants.
[32:36] Speaking of this, reputation hubs, which
[32:38] were just introduced in the previous
[32:40] expansion, were being expanded upon at
[32:42] this point. Many of the factions had
[32:44] these hubs where players would return to
[32:47] daily to farm reputation. And as you may
[32:50] know, if you watched other episodes,
[32:52] these daily activities would eventually
[32:54] take over the game in many ways. But in
[32:57] Wrath, most would say that they were
[32:59] still quite tame. But the dungeons
[33:01] themselves are also quite important to
[33:03] talk about because they are tied to
[33:05] another major design shift with the
[33:08] introduction of the dungeon finder which
[33:10] was added post-release in patch 3.3.
[33:13] Discounting battlegrounds. This was the
[33:15] first cued instance finder for the game
[33:18] where with a click of a button you would
[33:20] be paired up with other players for any
[33:22] Northrand dungeon of your choosing. In
[33:24] its initial release, you are locked to
[33:26] players on your server and your server
[33:28] only. But they would eventually make it
[33:31] cross server. And as wellreceived as it
[33:34] was at the time, it would later become
[33:35] quite controversial and named as one of
[33:38] the main reasons why the game eventually
[33:40] lost its social atmosphere. By skipping
[33:43] the group forming process and talking to
[33:45] people, traveling to the dungeon,
[33:48] helping each other find the actual
[33:49] location. a lot of the interaction was
[33:51] removed and the experience became less
[33:54] social because eventually you were just
[33:57] teleported immediately to the dungeon
[33:59] with people on another server that
[34:02] you'll probably never interact with
[34:04] again. So there was very little reason
[34:07] to engage with each other. All of this
[34:09] kind of dampened the social experience
[34:12] and that's something that many today
[34:14] claim to be one of its most appealing
[34:16] traits being an MMO RPG. Additionally,
[34:19] another major design shift were
[34:21] achievements. And these two were very
[34:24] wellreceived at the time. It gave people
[34:26] goals, things to chase, and it was a
[34:29] very time-consuming form of character
[34:31] progression aimed towards
[34:33] completionists. The tasks were extremely
[34:36] varied. Some were trivial, some were
[34:39] very challenging, and even today they're
[34:42] respected as a form of vetery and
[34:44] commitment as they were later removed as
[34:46] the new expansions came out. But what it
[34:49] also did was it made the game more goal
[34:52] oriented and it fostered a culture where
[34:55] players increasingly sought tangible
[34:58] rewards for every action which in a way
[35:01] unintentionally diminished the intrinsic
[35:04] joy of just playing it for its own sake.
[35:06] Activities like exploring the world,
[35:09] role- playinging, or engaging in
[35:12] spontaneous group content became less
[35:14] common as players now started to focus
[35:16] on optimizing their time to unlock
[35:18] achievements. This pursuit of points and
[35:21] rewards creates a checklist mentality
[35:24] where actions without an associated
[35:27] achievement or reward felt less
[35:29] worthwhile. And none of this is really
[35:32] to say that this is an objective
[35:34] negative. Many in fact prefer this
[35:36] philosophy. What it was undeniably is
[35:38] that it was a major shift in its design
[35:41] philosophy and it made the game feel
[35:43] less wholesome for some as the sense of
[35:45] wonder and communitydriven experiences
[35:48] gave way to a more transactional and
[35:50] goal-driven mindset. prioritizing
[35:53] efficiency and rewards over immersion
[35:56] and organic fun, which only did more to
[35:58] diminish the social structure, which
[36:01] combined with the dungeon finder had
[36:03] taken a sizable hit in this expansion.
[36:05] As for the classes, they were refined
[36:07] even further than their Burning Crusade
[36:09] versions. And there's now virtually no
[36:12] spec that was completely useless in
[36:14] every corner of the game. Whether it was
[36:16] PvE or PvP or maybe solo farming, they
[36:20] had their usefulness in some way and
[36:22] each spec began to feel more unique from
[36:24] each other and they really started to
[36:26] carve out their own identity. Toolkits
[36:28] and talent trees had really began to
[36:30] balloon at this point. So much so that
[36:33] Blizzard felt like they had to address
[36:35] it in the next expansion. But it's a
[36:37] popular opinion today that people
[36:39] consider the overall class balance and
[36:41] design to be in a pretty good spot for
[36:43] both PvE and PvP. And again, another
[36:46] huge change in this aspect was the
[36:49] addition of dual spec, where players
[36:50] could pay a thousand gold at any class
[36:52] trainer to unlock the ability to switch
[36:54] between two different specializations.
[36:57] This was an absolutely huge quality of
[37:00] life feature that had been requested for
[37:02] many years, ever since vanilla. Up until
[37:05] this point, if a player ever wanted to
[37:07] switch, they would have to return to
[37:09] town, pay a respec fee, and then
[37:11] manually reorganize their action bars.
[37:14] and in many cases gear accordingly which
[37:16] was both expensive and cumbersome. And
[37:19] while this does have its own benefits
[37:21] such as serving as a constant gold sink
[37:24] to keep the economy in check at this
[37:26] point many deemed it to be archaic and
[37:28] clunky. So this was received
[37:30] extraordinarily well especially now that
[37:32] the specs really started to stand out
[37:34] from one another and offer more unique
[37:37] experiences. It also had the advantage
[37:39] to promote experimentation and support
[37:42] cross-pollination as PvEers began to PvP
[37:45] more and PvPers would PvE more. Speaking
[37:49] of PvP, as for Winter Grasp, it did see
[37:52] mixed reactions. Many would praise the
[37:54] attempt to bring back world PvP and the
[37:57] new siege vehicle system was pretty
[37:59] exciting and fresh and the stakes were
[38:01] quite high even for PvPers as the winner
[38:04] would gain access to the Vault of
[38:05] Archavan raid which held highle loot for
[38:07] both PvE and PvP. It did have some
[38:10] issues since the stakes were so high.
[38:12] There had to be some enforcement of
[38:14] balance so that one side wouldn't just
[38:16] heavily outnumber the other, meaning
[38:18] that in order to even enter the zone
[38:20] while a battle was active, you would
[38:22] have to enter a queue. So, this combined
[38:24] with the fact that it was also objective
[38:27] based. To many, it felt like world PvP
[38:30] in name only as it lacked that complete
[38:33] unadulterated freedom that was core to
[38:35] the activity. Essentially, it was a
[38:38] battleground out in the world. Also,
[38:40] even with forced balancing, some servers
[38:43] were still so imbalanced that it was
[38:45] virtually impossible for one faction to
[38:47] win, which meant that they would be
[38:49] locked out of raid content, which
[38:51] definitely didn't sit well, especially
[38:53] considering that this was also the era
[38:55] of the cash shop where you could buy a
[38:57] number of services, including a paid
[38:59] faction change. Funny enough, although
[39:02] the game was at the height of its
[39:04] popularity, it did come with some
[39:05] troubling news, as this was when
[39:07] Activision had acquired Blizzard's
[39:10] parent company, Vivventi. Activision at
[39:12] this point had already gained a
[39:14] reputation of acquiring and subsequently
[39:17] shutting down game studios, and the ones
[39:20] that weren't shut down had intrusive
[39:22] cash shop elements forced into them to
[39:24] increase their profitability at the
[39:26] expense of gameplay. So when they
[39:28] started to sink their claws into one of
[39:30] the most beloved developers in the
[39:32] industry at the time, many thought that
[39:34] it was only a matter of time before it
[39:36] would see a similar fate. Appropriately,
[39:39] the expansion ended with a final
[39:41] encounter with the Lich King at top the
[39:44] Ice Crown Citadel in one of Blizzard's
[39:46] most complex and impressive fights to
[39:49] date. Tyrion and the adventurers ended
[39:51] up victorious with Arthus having a
[39:53] moment of clarity in his final moments.
[39:56] and one of the most iconic cutscenes in
[39:58] the game's history.
[40:00] [Music]
[40:11] Father,
[40:13] is it over?
[40:17] At long last,
[40:20] no king rules forever, my son.
[40:24] I see
[40:26] only darkness
[40:29] before me.
[40:38] [Music]
[40:48] Without its master's command, the
[40:51] restless scourge will become an even
[40:53] greater threat to this world.
[40:57] Control must be maintained.
[41:01] There must always be
[41:04] unleash kings.
[41:10] [Music]
[41:25] [Music]
[41:32] The weight of such a burden.
[41:36] It must be mine. For there is no other
[41:39] Tyrion.
[41:41] You hold the crim destiny in your hands,
[41:44] brother, but it is not your own. Bulva,
[41:49] [Music]
[41:51] by all that is holy. The dragon's flame.
[41:56] Seal my fate.
[41:58] The world of the living can no longer
[42:01] comfort me.
[42:07] Place the crown upon my head, Tyrion.
[42:10] Forever more, I will be the jailer of
[42:14] the damned. No, old friend. I cannot do
[42:18] it, Tyrion.
[42:20] You and these brave heroes have your own
[42:22] destinies to fulfill.
[42:24] This last act of service
[42:28] is mine.
[42:30] [Music]
[42:41] You will not be forgotten, brother. I
[42:43] must be forgotten, Tyrion. If the world
[42:46] is to live free from the tyranny of
[42:48] fear, they must never know what was done
[42:51] here today.
[42:53] [Music]
[43:14] Tell me that the Lich King is dead and
[43:18] our dragon died with him.
[43:25] Now go, leave this place and never
[43:30] return.
[43:34] And so a new Lich King is born. The
[43:37] threat halted for now as the adventurers
[43:39] turn to a new threat looming back home
[43:41] in the Eastern Kingdoms and Calumdor. In
[43:44] the end, Wrath was a great expansion,
[43:46] and for many, its shortcomings were
[43:49] vastly overshadowed by its many
[43:51] strengths, and this is reflected by its
[43:53] subscription numbers. is where the game
[43:55] hit its peak player count at 12 million.
[43:58] There's a reason why it's so often
[44:00] regarded as one of the most beloved
[44:02] expansions in the game's history, and
[44:04] it's largely due to its compelling
[44:06] narrative, refined gameplay, and it's
[44:09] broad appeal to both casual and hardcore
[44:12] players. The story of Arthus Menithol,
[44:15] whose tragic arc from the fallen prince
[44:17] to a malevolent overlord, resonated
[44:20] deeply with fans of the Warcraft lore.
[44:22] The Northrand continent with its
[44:24] hauntingly beautiful zones provided a
[44:27] visually stunning and immersive backdrop
[44:29] that enhanced that storytelling and it
[44:32] was all supported by a soundtrack that
[44:33] was appropriate and memorable. The
[44:36] rating experience, its flexible
[44:38] difficulty and size and memorable
[44:40] environments like Nixramisoir
[44:43] and Ice Crown Citadel go down today as
[44:46] particularly well done. Old War
[44:47] especially is often cited as the
[44:50] pinnacle of raid design due to its
[44:52] creative mechanics and immersive lore.
[44:54] The introduction of death knights,
[44:56] despite being completely overpowered,
[44:58] added a fresh and edgy play style, and
[45:01] it appealed to players eager for
[45:02] something new. And lastly, its
[45:04] additional features like the achievement
[45:06] system kept players engaged outside of
[45:08] raids, while its quality of life
[45:10] improvements such as dual spec or the
[45:13] dungeon finder made it more accessible
[45:15] as a whole. From its launch to its
[45:18] conclusion, Wrath was a story of finding
[45:20] the right balance between accessibility
[45:22] and challenge and appealing to a wide
[45:25] audience during its peak popularity. And
[45:27] it's quite easy to recognize why many
[45:30] thought that World of Warcraft's second
[45:31] expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King,
[45:34] was great.
[45:36] [Music]
[45:44] Farewell for now, mortalists. We hope
[45:47] you enjoyed today's video. See you again
[45:50] soon.