So how do we classify WoW at this point? Fantasy? SciFi? Hybrid?

[guisadop]

space fantasy

[Nerovar]

Warcraft started off as traditional fantasy with some light steampunk influences in gnomes, goblins, and dwarves. Demons were fairly generic otherworldly monsters even up through Warcraft 3. Then WoW turned everything into an extreme science fantasy shit show, namely starting in BC. It has gone off the rails since then with their hybrid science-magic. Why the Alliance isnt nuking their enemies from space in their magic ships is beyond me. Why the Horde didn't continue to industrialize after Garrosh to increase their own technology and then combine it with goblin ingenuity and elven magic is also beyond me.

Nothing in the game makes any actual sense anymore. It's "whatever is convenient for the plot" fantasy.

This guy got it right. The writers stopped caring about the direction of the setting after Classic and it completely derailed with WoD/Legion.

The worst part is looking back at Warcraft 3/Classic cinematics and comparing it to the shit we see nowadays knowing that less than 30 years passed within the lore.

[BigZik]

Pretty much al of the "science" fiction elemtents in wow are based of magic instead of actual science, so I doubt it qualifies as science fiction. It's just fantasy with magic powered technology.

[Lahis]

What do you call Legion space ships? Steampunk?

Magitek.

They're literally powered by magic.

[Zyrinx]

I think the Legion expansion got away from them by quite a lot.

It's really really stupid to have combat spaceships and bows and arrows in the same game space (Imo... I guess).

BfA for all it's faults, at least reigned that nonsense in.

[Rickarus]

Pretty much al of the "science" fiction elemtents in wow are based of magic instead of actual science, so I doubt it qualifies as science fiction. It's just fantasy with magic powered technology.

I mean, all of the goblin and gnome (and now even more so mechagnome) technology, most of which is far beyond what we in the real world could accomplish, is entirely non-magical. The only magic-based "sci-fi" element is the draenei/legion ships, really. Hell, most of the Titan-related stuff is closer to "technology indistinguishable from magic" territory than pure magic.

But honestly, much like Star Wars is primarily a fantasy story told in a Sci-fi setting, WoW is primarily a fantasy story, but often takes place in heavily sci-fi and steampunk colored settings. Overall it's not really any one thing, and really shouldn't be limited to one classification. Different expansions and even different zones, classes, and races have varying levels of both fantasy and sci-fi (among other genres).

If you need a way to describe it to someone, especially someone coming in blind, it's probably best to say fantasy, or fantasy with some sci-fi and steampunk elements thrown in, and let them discover the rest for themselves. It'll end up feeling different for everyone based on where they go, who they play as, what they do, etc.

[Eurhetemec]

Kitchen sink fantasy?

Not really an established genre, yet a clearly correct description, so there is that. But yeah re: the OP's question I think that's a really good response - it's a fantasy setting that reels in virtually everything that's typically associated with fantasy, including all the wacky subgenres.

[Toppy]

Sci fi elements are very common in high fantasy. Its just straight up high fantasy and always has been since WC3

[Rickarus]

I think the Legion expansion got away from them by quite a lot.

It's really really stupid to have combat spaceships and bows and arrows in the same game space (Imo... I guess).

BfA for all it's faults, at least reigned that nonsense in.

I dunno, the Star Ocean games were always able to fit both in the same game and it worked fine. A lot of sci-fi includes "medieval style" weapons (albeit often with a more "sci-fi" look and/or some sort of extra tech added on them).

[taheen74]

wow is not remotely scifi, scifi implies some kind of science tech. at best it's fantasy with steam punk influences

Orcs are from another planet. Draenai are from another planet and came with a space ship. Demons in literal spaceships. We've been to other planets various ways.
Gnomes and goblins both like to use science.

But, nope, there's no sci-fi in this game.

[Azerate]

I don't see how technology rules it out as being fantasy.

Too many people seem to think that "fantasy = medieval times", no, that's not the case. Fantasy setting is not equivalent to any real life period of time. It can have soldiers on horses and computers at the same time and it can still be fantasy.

[Rickarus]

I don't see how technology rules it out as being fantasy.

Too many people seem to think that "fantasy = medieval times", no, that's not the case. Fantasy setting is not equivalent to any real life period of time. It can have soldiers on horses and computers at the same time and it can still be fantasy.

By that same logic, though, having traditionally "fantasy" settings or circumstances does not rule it out as being Sci-Fi.

As I mentioned in another post, Star Ocean often has many fantasy hallmarks in many settings and circumstances, including weaponry, the use of magic, more fantasy-styled races, etc. but it is decidedly a Sci-Fi focused series. There are aliens, robots, travel to other planets, ancient technology that is highly advanced. Same with even the most "Sci-Fi" of Final Fantasy games. And the same is true for WoW. Sci-Fi and Fantasy are not mutually exclusive, and many good stories are a bit of both, including WoW.

[Pony Soldier]

I just consider it a fantasy game. When I think of the fantasy genre I think of many different types of fantasies whether it be sci-fi or medieval. WoW is like an amalgamation of sci-fi and medieval fantasy. It also borrows inspiration from real life cultures like Native Americans, Europeans, and Asians. So it's a mix of a lot of things but if you were to classify it under one category I would say it's just fantasy.

[shadowmatrix]

IMO The genre of a story lies in which power makes up the main focus of the world's power structure. As long as WOW's main focus is magic then it is fantasy.

[Dacia Ultan]

Fantasy does not equal "medieval stasis" or "Tolkienian." WoW just has some steampunk and magitek aspects.

[Lazuli]

Exactly. Elder Scrolls has ancient Dwemer robot technology, but I wouldn't call elder scrolls "Science fantasy". It's just a small element but it doesn't define the genre of the whole game since everything else besides that is based on regular medieval culture, dragons, magic, etc.

Dwemer are steam punkish, like WoW dwarves/gnomes . Both I would say is high fantasy with elements from everything. WoW space ships are kinda just out there.. they definitely don't fit as well as portals and such, and Blizz clearly don't want to emphasize on them. You can basically just forget they exist, cuz they sure did.

[Darkynhalvos]

Simply: fantasy with elements of science fiction.

[Dhrizzle]

It's Epic Fantasy or High Fantasy, if we're talking fantasy subgenre.

Having steampunk or magitech elements doesn't make it not fantasy, and it doesn't have nearly enough science to be science-fantasy, and it also consistently chooses to turn away from embracing science-fantasy elements.

The original question is "how would you describe it to someone who hasn't played", and it's quite clear the answer is "fantasy", or, if they know a fair bit about fantasy subgenres (most people do not) - high fantasy or epic fantasy.

Shadowlands looks like it's going to be a particularly epic-fantasy-esque expansion, and I'm not seeing any science-y elements at all. One might argue, that as an expansion, Legion was basically science-fantasy, but it's an aberration, and no other expansion has leaned that way.

Worth noting for the OP that Warhammer 40K is science-fantasy, not sci-fi, and it always has been (though it was a grimier, less extreme kind back in the Rogue Trader days).

40k is a lot of things, or rather it is a setting that lends itself to a lot of genres. On the sci-fi side it ranges from military science-fiction to dystopic space opera (with a hint of cosmic horror.) On the fantasy side it ranges from space fantasy, heroic fantasy and epic/high fantasy (with a hint of cosmic horror.) Dan Abnett in writes stories that are pretty close to straight sci-fi with the fantasy elements of Chaos and "magic" being viewed with a scientificish lens.

[pepine]

A bad game is what I class it as.

[Orby]

WoW moved away from classical fantasy in Warcraft 3. By the time of TBC we were way gone. lol

I would say WoW is a mix of Weird Fantasy and Science Fantasy. If you know your fantasy there are like so many sub genres of fantasy but those two are for sure. :P