I want to learn the Lore.

[dmbrandon]

Can somebody point me at a good place to start? (Don't say WC. I don't enjoy RTS)

[Sarlac]

Well all the warcraft games have been RTS up until WoW.

So by your somewhat vague post, I have to assume you just want to read about the lore. While there are numerous books out there, I would have to recommend starting with wowwiki.com or wowpedia.com (is that the new one?).

[Kathandira]

wowwiki.com or you can start with War of the Ancients the Knaak books. they were pretty infomative of the beginning of the story

[GennGreymane]

i would just read all of wowwiki

some 1 says somthing u didnt know? wowwiki it. thats how i became such a lore nerd.

[zlygork]

i would just read all of wowwiki

some 1 says somthing u didnt know? wowwiki it. thats how i became such a lore nerd.

this + rts...tough I got it, you don't like RTS so you won't play the rts

[Deleted]

Another joins the boat!

The RTS is quite fun, guy. I bought it without thinking as a late christmas present (the battlechest is $20, to my knowledge). The best understanding of lore comes from first-hand experience (dialogues and the like), for a more detailed and fun view, otherwise it's going to be like history class (you'd much prefer see the events then read about them). Wc1 and Wc2 are harder to get. You can find the campaigns and cinematics on Youtube aswell.

But since you don't want it, www.wowpedia.org is all you need. just search whatever comes to mind.

also, the books and comics. here's a list I saved from the official forums. credits to (insert name of awesome person whose name escapes me, here).

*cracks his knuckles*



I actually love responding to these posts as a lore geek. If I may?



Here's your Christmas shopping list, noted as books, comics, mangas or Battle Chests.



Rise of the Horde (book) - Covers approx. a 10 year period prior to WC I.



The Last Guardian (book) - Touches on the closing days of the First War with bookends set prior to WC III.



Tides of Darkness (book) - Covers WC II in continuity.



Beyond the Dark Portal (book) - Covers WC II expansion in continuity.



Day of the Dragon (book) - Wraps up some dangling threads from WC II with Deathwing and the Red Dragonflight.



Lord of the Clans (book) - Covers a wide swath from just before WC II all the way to prior to WC III. Should be subtitled All You Wanted to Know About Thrall But Were Too Much of An Alliance Lover to Ask. J/k.



Of Blood and Honor (book) - Set just prior to WC III.



Warcraft III Battle Chest (game) - Reign of Chaos covers the origin of the Scourge and the return of the Burning Legion. The Frozen Throne covers the exile of Illidun, the rise of the Forsaken and the crowning of a new Lich King. Founding of Durotar covers the most recent conflict between Horde and humans prior to WoW.



Arthas: Rise of the Lich King (book) - Recaps material from Tides of Darkness all the way up until the end of Frozen Throne with bookends just before the WotLK cinematic.



Ashbringer (comic) - Covers the fallout from Arthas dissolving the Order of the Silver Hand and the rise of Argent Dawn and Crimson Crusade.



Cycle of Hatred (book) - Picks up after Founding of Durotar and begins to set the stage for WoW Vanilla.



Well of Eternity (book) - Try and follow: characters from current Azeroth are sent back to the War of the Ancients 10,000 years before by the Bronze Dragonflight to make sure what was supposed to happen happens.



Demon Soul (book) - See above.



The Sundering (book) - See above.



Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy (manga) - This is just before WoW vanilla since some Horde holdings (Tauren Mill) are still Alliance held. Sets up Kalygos and his motivations mostly.



Warcraft Legends Vol. 1-5 (manga) - These are all over the place, but primarily just before WoW Vanilla with some flashback stuff.



The Dragons of Outland (manga) - Trilogy set between Vanilla and TBC. Running a bit late, second volume should be out next year.



World of Warcraft Books 1-4 (comics) - Set between TBC and WotLK, covers a lot of plot spillover. Ever why the Missing Diplomat questchain ends so quickly in Thereamore? The answer is here.



Death Knight (manga) - Set before and during WotLK. Sets up Thassarian.



Mage (manga) - Set before WotLK. Sets up why Dalaran is a floating city over Northrend.



Night of the Dragon (book) - Set before WotLK, deals with some stuff spilling out of TBC, especially dealing with Kalygos and the two new dragonflights in Outland.



Stormrage (book) Set after WotLK. Sets up Malfurian Stormrage and Tyrande and the status of the Emerald Dream corruption.



Shaman (manga) - Set between WotLK and Cata.



The Shattering (book) - Covers all the details between WotLK and Cata that were going on while we were doing the pre-launch events.



Yes, I've read everything but Stormrage and Shaman and I own everything listed, so if you have any questions, hit me up

EDIT: forgot to add, joining an Roleplaying server might be nice too! even if you don't Roleplay yourself, watching others RP the existing lore is a plus, and discussing lore with others.

[sleekit]

wowpedia

not wowwiki

all the major contributors abandoned wowiwki and moved to wowpedia

as a result wowwiki is out of date now

go there instead

[Deleted]

i would just read all of wowwiki

some 1 says somthing u didnt know? wowwiki it. thats how i became such a lore nerd.

amg other lore nerds that aren't me like gilneans too.

[GennGreymane]

amg other lore nerds that aren't me like gilneans too.

i take your new

sup.

[MrDeadcruel]

wowpedia>wowiki (all of the people that made wowiki and updated it reguraly transfered to wowpedia)

[Deleted]

i take your new

sup.

new to these forums (was a lurker since last year), not the game, or lore (2.5 years and going strong). though, contrary to my avatar, I prefer Night Elves.

sup

[Orodoth]

mind you, if and when you read the Knaak books, I hope you like lots and LOTS of Rhonin. I found them to be a good and solid read, but I've read multiple threads bashing Knaak for his raptor armies and such :P

[Rampant Rabbit]

Can somebody point me at a good place to start? (Don't say WC. I don't enjoy RTS)

http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main

Just search for any term you find interesting and go through linked names and you end up pretty deep into the lore.

[Elftastic]

I learned most of the lore from just article jumping on WoWwiki. Really insightful stuff.

[ShetiPhian]

I basically asked the same question a while ago on different forums.

I'm only part way through but

Here is the book order I was given;

Rise of the Horde
The Last Gurdian
Tides of Darkness
Beyond the Dark Portal
Day of the Dragon
Lord of the Clans
Of Blood and Honor

--- War of the Ancients Trilogy
- The Well of Eternity
- The Demon Soul
- The Sundering

--- The Sunwell Trilogy
- Dragon Hunt
- Shadows of Ice
- Ghostlands

Cycle of Hatred
Night of the Dragon
Arthas Rise of the Lich King
Stormrage

--- The Cataclysm Trilogy
- The Shattering
-
-

Notes I was given:
1- War of the Ancients Trilogy takes place before everything else but the main characters time traveled, that is why it is where it is.
2- The Sunwell Trilogy is a manga and sometimes hard to find, it is skip-able. (most is explained by playing through the sunwell)
3- The Cataclysm Trilogy's last two books are not out, don't bother trying to find them.

[Deleted]

Most my lore comes from WoWwiki (though now wowpedia.org), and 5 of the books: Day of The Dragon, Lord of The Clans, The Last Guardian, The Shattering, and Arthas: Rise of The Lich King.

[Crush]

Wow pedia and Nozdormu's masterpiece

[SobeBauxite]

If you really can't stand RTS games, you should still be able to find a let's play of the warcraft games floating around. I'd point you to somethingawful, since that's the source of them, but you may not have an account. If you can't find one, you should still be able to find summaries of all of the story taking place in the games (even if just the wowwiki articles on the specific games). Once you've covered the material in those games, start reading wowwiki articles cross-referencing things you saw in those games and want to know more about. Just pointing you at wowwiki and telling you to read it is kind of like telling someone who wants to learn english to go read a dictionary. It's too much to take in, and most of it won't make any sense. The novels are a fine place, too, but just remember that Rhonin isn't actually THAT powerful.

[Poodles]

wowpedia>wowiki (all of the people that made wowiki and updated it reguraly transfered to wowpedia)

THIS^^

wowwiki is dead, don't support wikia with the hits.

[Deleted]

I basically asked the same question a while ago on different forums.

I'm only part way through but

Here is the book order I was given;


Notes I was given:
1- War of the Ancients Trilogy takes place before everything else but the main characters time traveled, that is why it is where it is.
2- The Sunwell Trilogy is a manga and sometimes hard to find, it is skip-able. (most is explained by playing through the sunwell)
3- The Cataclysm Trilogy's last two books are not out, don't bother trying to find them.

did you ask the question in the WoW official forums (story forum) by any chance?