WoWcast #3–Alternate worlds

There I am, standing on the Dark Portal, where way back in 1994 the Orcs first poured into Azeroth in Warcraft 1. They won the first war in the original game  but two years later Warcraft 2 The Tides of Darkness came out, and in that game and that expansion the Humans with new Dwarven and Elven Allies defeated the Orcs and drove them back to the Portal.  Afterwards  the humans went through the Portal and defeated the Orcs in Draenor as well.  Six years later in Warcraft 3  we discovered the role of Daemons in the conflict and that the Orcs weren’t the true enemy but the Burning Legion.

Now this probably all sounds like a load of gobbly-guk to  someone who’s not into the backstory of the Warcraft universe.  I bring it up thought to illustrate that World of Warcraft is more than a game, it’s not monopoly, it’s a sort of alternate universe  which is filled with players.  The game has an elaborate history and backstory, which gives the game a lot of character.  As I walked up to the Dark Portal It evoked memories of going through the Portal in the Warcraft 2 expansion in 1996; as I walked through and saw the huge Daemons fighting in front of the portal it reminded me of Warcraft 3’s cinematic climax to the Orc campaign.  A lot of non-gamers probably think of video games like some sort of mindless entertainment for nerds and kids; and while it’s that too there it’s also a tool for creating worlds and stories with the player instead of to the reader/viewer.