BlizzCon 2007 - Expanded Universe Panel

Expanded Universe Panel

Panelists:
Chris Metzen - VP of Creative Development at Blizzard
Chrstie Golden - World of Warcraft book author
Richard Knaak - World of Warcraft book and manga author

The purpose of Warcraft and World of Warcraft literature is to take pre-existing content, storylines and lore and translate them into different media. So the term "expanded universe" means that they take the world of World of Warcraft and expand it into a manga or novel or illustration.

Christie Golden and Richard Knaak are two authors who do just that. They are licensed by Blizzard to take content and creatively turn it into their own novels. The three panelists agreed that Blizzard takes this process very seriously and like to work very closely with the authors to ensure that storylines are accurate. Some lore has been altered since Blizzard began contracting writers, but the discrepencies are not due to oversight or a lack of dedication. Rather, any lore that has been changed is to enhance the games. Christie Golden sees this as a stark contrast to other productions she has worked on. She says that Blizzard keeps the authors updated, and likes to keep itself updated on what content is created. They take lore continuity very seriously.

This is not to say that the writers are not given creative freedom. In fact, many aspects of Warcraft lore and game content are taken from the novels and manga. Blizzard has used many storylines from the novels in quests and current World of Warcraft lore. Christie's contributions have included Taretha (of Taretha's necklace) when she was writing about Thrall. Christie also says she invented Talbuks and Clefthoofs, and she described being struck with awe upon seeing her first in-game talbuk. She says she was roleplaying in Stormwind when someone rode up on a Talbuk mount, and had a "whoa, I created that" moment.

Chris Metzen asked the panelists what their favorite in-game moments were, and Christie answered that she loves the new Draenei areas and this year's orphan quests. She likes orcs a lot (a little too much), and her favorite character is Thrall. She thinks his eyes are pretty. Richard, who is perhaps a little more humble than Christie, did not mention anything specific.

Christie added that her main has a "played" of 73 days; she has 14 alts. Richard did not share whether or not he engages in World of Warcraft or just writes about it, but Chris Metzen offered that his main is still only level 68!

Richard is working on a sequel to Day of the Dragon, called Night of the Dragon, and a manga series that will take place in Outland. Christie's current project is a StarCraft trilogy. The first of the three is entitled First Born, the second Shadow Hunters. Christie would also like everyone to know that her first novel was published when she was 12.

My own feelings on the panel? I'm going to be completely honest: I walked into this panel thinking it was going to be about World of Warcraft art (which is what the schedule said), and I was disappointed. I have never read, nor do I have any interest in reading World of Warcraft books or manga. I was not the only person who was bored in there: a bunch of people left in the first ten minutes. Chris Metzen was the only reason I stayed as long as I did. He was pretty funny, he had questions to ask Christie and Richard, such as "What are some of your favorite moments?" to which Christie replied, "In-game, or... just in general?" and Chris said, "whatever, we have an hour." Haha.