Which do you think is hypothetically stronger, magic or technology?

[OwenBurton]

In a hypothetical scenario - for example, if the World of Warcraft and Azeroth's universe did somehow exist somewhere "out there", and someday, they built another Dark Portal, but this time leading into our planet and our universe, or into the Starcraft universe for example, would they be able to easily conquer us or the Starcraft characters? Or would they be the ones to be destroyed?

Or in another twist scenario, the U.S. military and the other nations of Earth found a way into Azeroth's world and began actively invading and conquering their planet with all the technology at their command, would the Alliance and the Horde, and the other defenders of Azeroth, stand any chance against them?

[FuxieDK]

Magic can create stuff out of thin air.

[dragon171]

Magic is near limitless and is dependent on the user. Technology advancement is dependent on materials

[Strange One]

Tech can improve magic, ergo tech.

[Mysterymask]

Really depends on context

Sometimes magic has rules or limits based on the user. Tech has rules and limits based on science. It's easier to get someone to drive a tank than cast a fireball. But in a world where both can exist the notion that they won't be used simeltanioisly is foolish

[Nathreim]

Tech is limited by physics magic is only limited by power which can be augmented by adding more casters/magical items of power.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

they built another Dark Portal

With this setup, neither side is really going to be able to beat the other, so that changes the motivations and objectives for both sides. I'd suspect the war would be relatively short and limited in nature.

Most fantasy settings have pre-modern populations. Countries might have millions of people at most. Meanwhile the US has 320 million people. Drafting 10% of the US' male population would result in an army that could outnumber the total population of the Horde and the Alliance combined, and that's not even touching industry or agriculture. Yes, Azeroth has magic, but this feels like a WW2 style Japan vs USA situation, where the underdogs would need to have a consistently amazing killrate just to have a chance at winning, which will statistically not happen. Azeroth has zero hope of being actually able to conquer and hold the USA, and carving out even small chunks of the USA would be impractical.

What Azeroth can do is cripple the USA's ability to threaten or pressure them. Their superpowered warriors and wizards could go around sinking naval fleets, raiding nuclear silos, taking out key enemy personnel, etc. As the USA's military assets are being ripped apart, the USA's real enemies like Russia and China are going to start moving in on the wounded animal, at which point the USA's leadership will have to wake up and realize that they will lose more than they will win if they continue trying to fight Azeroth. So a truce is signed as the USA prepares to defend itself from the other superpowers, and Azeroth moves to a policy of deterrence, having shown to the world how they can screw you up if you mess with them, so no one tries to make a move on them in the first place.

As for the USA... the magic, herbs, wildlife, and technology (mainly Draenei, Titan, and Legion tech) of Azeroth will interest the USA military enough to try to acquire it for themselves. Numbers wise, they have enough soldiers that there is a decent chance that they will eventually be able to capture a sorcerer or an anime swordsman, and then interrogate or vivisect him trying to learn the magic. The megacorporate state will try to exploit the newly found world of Azeroth, hence the initial invasion. Probably turns into Vietnam but 100x worse. As the USA's military gets screwed up and the military realizes they have bigger fish to fry, the war will come to an end. Trade agreements might happen later.

Or in another twist scenario, the U.S. military and the other nations of Earth found a way into Azeroth's world

If the forces of Earth invade through a Dark Portal, then no they cannot win. If Earth develops spaceships and actually travels to Azeroth, then it's game over for Azeroth because the Earth forces can just bombard Azeroth from orbit and there is no way the Azerothians can intercept thousands of incoming objects at such high velocities. Maybe the Draenei can create lasers that shoot down incoming missiles and cover the whole world, but a simple solution like bundles of telephone poles will simply have too much mass to be stopped (whether or not the Draenei lasers can vaporize them in time is another debate). Only the Scourge might have a chance against the forces of Earth, if only because they are not dependent on being alive (if all the farms are burned and everyone else dies of radiation poisoning, the Scourge will still be around), and because of their ability to quickly replace their numbers.

would they be able to easily conquer us or the Starcraft characters?

The Zerg effortlessly wipe out and take over Azeroth. The Zerg took over the Confederacy capital world of Tarsonis in a matter of hours or days. The only reason they didn't take over the entire Starcraft universe was because the Zerg were controlled by a hive mind that was deliberately holding them back.

[deenman]

if we compare wow's magic with out tech i dont rly see much of a competition,i dont think they have ways to protect themselves against sniper fire or air missels,or nukes...or biological weapons

wow also has technology but besides the big robots,everything else seems pretty inferior

[PC2]

Magic if you buy into the supernatural, otherwise technology. Both concepts are just an extension of an individual's or society's knowledge. In a magical world the smartest people are the strongest, like Voldemort and Dumbledore in Harry Potter. In the real world scientists/engineers create the most powerful stuff so I'd have to choose technology.

[Egomaniac]

Let my boy Vader answer this question:

[luxuryplaya]

Tech is limited by physics magic is only limited by power which can be augmented by adding more casters/magical items of power. https://seriale.best/

It is true I agree but. Isn't it that magic can improve technology? Difficult in its simplicity.

[Egomaniac]

It is true I agree but. Isn't it that magic can improve technology?

It can improve technology if that's what the creator of the magic system wishes.

[Dellis0991]

In a hypothetical scenario - for example, if the World of Warcraft and Azeroth's universe did somehow exist somewhere "out there", and someday, they built another Dark Portal, but this time leading into our planet and our universe, or into the Starcraft universe for example, would they be able to easily conquer us or the Starcraft characters? Or would they be the ones to be destroyed?

Or in another twist scenario, the U.S. military and the other nations of Earth found a way into Azeroth's world and began actively invading and conquering their planet with all the technology at their command, would the Alliance and the Horde, and the other defenders of Azeroth, stand any chance against them?

We would send nukes through portal and turn Azeroth into Fallout.

[OwenBurton]

With this setup, neither side is really going to be able to beat the other, so that changes the motivations and objectives for both sides. I'd suspect the war would be relatively short and limited in nature.

Most fantasy settings have pre-modern populations. Countries might have millions of people at most. Meanwhile the US has 320 million people. Drafting 10% of the US' male population would result in an army that could outnumber the total population of the Horde and the Alliance combined, and that's not even touching industry or agriculture. Yes, Azeroth has magic, but this feels like a WW2 style Japan vs USA situation, where the underdogs would need to have a consistently amazing killrate just to have a chance at winning, which will statistically not happen. Azeroth has zero hope of being actually able to conquer and hold the USA, and carving out even small chunks of the USA would be impractical.

What Azeroth can do is cripple the USA's ability to threaten or pressure them. Their superpowered warriors and wizards could go around sinking naval fleets, raiding nuclear silos, taking out key enemy personnel, etc. As the USA's military assets are being ripped apart, the USA's real enemies like Russia and China are going to start moving in on the wounded animal, at which point the USA's leadership will have to wake up and realize that they will lose more than they will win if they continue trying to fight Azeroth. So a truce is signed as the USA prepares to defend itself from the other superpowers, and Azeroth moves to a policy of deterrence, having shown to the world how they can screw you up if you mess with them, so no one tries to make a move on them in the first place.

As for the USA... the magic, herbs, wildlife, and technology (mainly Draenei, Titan, and Legion tech) of Azeroth will interest the USA military enough to try to acquire it for themselves. Numbers wise, they have enough soldiers that there is a decent chance that they will eventually be able to capture a sorcerer or an anime swordsman, and then interrogate or vivisect him trying to learn the magic. The megacorporate state will try to exploit the newly found world of Azeroth, hence the initial invasion. Probably turns into Vietnam but 100x worse. As the USA's military gets screwed up and the military realizes they have bigger fish to fry, the war will come to an end. Trade agreements might happen later.



If the forces of Earth invade through a Dark Portal, then no they cannot win. If Earth develops spaceships and actually travels to Azeroth, then it's game over for Azeroth because the Earth forces can just bombard Azeroth from orbit and there is no way the Azerothians can intercept thousands of incoming objects at such high velocities. Maybe the Draenei can create lasers that shoot down incoming missiles and cover the whole world, but a simple solution like bundles of telephone poles will simply have too much mass to be stopped (whether or not the Draenei lasers can vaporize them in time is another debate). Only the Scourge might have a chance against the forces of Earth, if only because they are not dependent on being alive (if all the farms are burned and everyone else dies of radiation poisoning, the Scourge will still be around), and because of their ability to quickly replace their numbers.



The Zerg effortlessly wipe out and take over Azeroth. The Zerg took over the Confederacy capital world of Tarsonis in a matter of hours or days. The only reason they didn't take over the entire Starcraft universe was because the Zerg were controlled by a hive mind that was deliberately holding them back.

Can't the bronze and emerald dragonflights do anything against them though? One being masters of temproral magic manipulation, the other being connected to the ethereal Emerald Dream? And the draenei also have the Exodar and Vindicaar, and Dalaran has pretty decent protective shields also.

[Cracked]

This is a bad question, because "magic" just alters the physical constraints of the universe. If you have a universe where magic works, then technology in that universe builds on top of magic.

[Shadowferal]

Ain't no wheelchairs in magic worlds.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Can't the bronze and emerald dragonflights do anything against them though? One being masters of temproral magic manipulation, the other being connected to the ethereal Emerald Dream? And the draenei also have the Exodar and Vindicaar, and Dalaran has pretty decent protective shields also.

If you start factoring in time travel, then yes that helps tremendously... if the Azerothians are somehow able to prevent the invasion of their world before it happens. That probably means not only travelling backwards in time, but also travelling to Earth. The Azerothians would first need to know the location of Earth. If in the present timeline in which the invasion is taking place, they manage to send agents through the Dark Portal and then look up at the sky to determine where Earth is in the galaxy, then it could work. However, if the humans arrive to Azeroth by spaceships, then the Azerothians would need to blow up a spaceship and hope that the computer they salvage from it is intact to trace their journey to find Earth. Otherwise, the Vindicaar is going to have to spend perhaps tens of thousands of years wandering across the universe trying to find Earth.

As for the Azerothian agents who would be sent to Earth: they would need to be able to blend in as humans. So Khadgar, Jaina, Medivh, etc can go. High elves could also get a free pass too if they did what the Vulcans in Star Trek Enterprise did and just put on a hat that disguised the strange tips of their ears, so that means mages such as Aethas and Rommath could come too. The dragons can shapeshift into any form they want so they could come as well. The dwarves and gnomes could also get a free pass as deformed humans or short people, so that could make up the contingent's engineering corps. If any other races came along, they would have to stay out of sight of the humans if they don't wish to cause a massive disruption.

[loras]

Seriously?
Magic, the power to do whatever you can possibly conceive of, versus technology, the clever use of the restrictions imposed on us by reality?

This is not even close to a contest, as retarded as the guns versus wands thing in Harry Potter; it's trivial to counter anything technology could come up with, because you can also do it with magic but better. Magic is literally technology+++.

You would literally have to be blinded with progressivism to not see this.

[OwenBurton]

Seriously?
Magic, the power to do whatever you can possibly conceive of, versus technology, the clever use of the restrictions imposed on us by reality?

This is not even close to a contest, as retarded as the guns versus wands thing in Harry Potter; it's trivial to counter anything technology could come up with, because you can also do it with magic but better. Magic is literally technology+++.

You would literally have to be blinded with progressivism to not see this.

Remember Dudley punching Harry in the fifth Harry Potter novel, and disarming him of his wand? I think wizards are not superhumans - they do not have enhanced reflexes or durability; for example, as graphic as it might sound, if someone went into Harry, Ron and Hermione's tent during the last novel and opened fire on them...well, I don't think it would be a pretty picture. I doubt a mere Shield Charm would be able to withstand the full force of a nuclear bomb, for example, if the USA decided to nuke Hogwarts or something. Although of course, magic does seem to somewhat interfere with technology, but to what extent, we are not sure.

If you start factoring in time travel, then yes that helps tremendously... if the Azerothians are somehow able to prevent the invasion of their world before it happens. That probably means not only travelling backwards in time, but also travelling to Earth. The Azerothians would first need to know the location of Earth. If in the present timeline in which the invasion is taking place, they manage to send agents through the Dark Portal and then look up at the sky to determine where Earth is in the galaxy, then it could work. However, if the humans arrive to Azeroth by spaceships, then the Azerothians would need to blow up a spaceship and hope that the computer they salvage from it is intact to trace their journey to find Earth. Otherwise, the Vindicaar is going to have to spend perhaps tens of thousands of years wandering across the universe trying to find Earth.

As for the Azerothian agents who would be sent to Earth: they would need to be able to blend in as humans. So Khadgar, Jaina, Medivh, etc can go. High elves could also get a free pass too if they did what the Vulcans in Star Trek Enterprise did and just put on a hat that disguised the strange tips of their ears, so that means mages such as Aethas and Rommath could come too. The dragons can shapeshift into any form they want so they could come as well. The dwarves and gnomes could also get a free pass as deformed humans or short people, so that could make up the contingent's engineering corps. If any other races came along, they would have to stay out of sight of the humans if they don't wish to cause a massive disruption.

Well, I meant more like, the Zerg and Starcraft invasion, I thought Nozdormu and Ysera's dragonflights were mercurial and very unpredictable to technology-based opponents and might be able to resist or counter their psionic control or something. Ysera's green dragons could perhaps shift into the Emerald Dream to escape or disrupt their psychic domination, and Nozdormu's bronze dragons might be able to stop or reverse local time or something to hold them off. Perhaps even the gnomes might be able to counter or sabotage their technology or something, not to mention the Lich King and the Scourge, being able to fight again and again, and adding their enemies to their ranks.

[loras]

Remember Dudley punching Harry in the fifth Harry Potter novel, and disarming him of his wand? I think wizards are not superhumans - they do not have enhanced reflexes or durability; for example, as graphic as it might sound, if someone went into Harry, Ron and Hermione's tent during the last novel and opened fire on them...well, I don't think it would be a pretty picture. I doubt a mere Shield Charm would be able to withstand the full force of a nuclear bomb, for example, if the USA decided to nuke Hogwarts or something. Although of course, magic does seem to somewhat interfere with technology, but to what extent, we are not sure.



Well, I meant more like, the Zerg and Starcraft invasion, I thought Nozdormu and Ysera's dragonflights were mercurial and very unpredictable to technology-based opponents and might be able to resist or counter their psionic control or something. Ysera's green dragons could perhaps shift into the Emerald Dream to escape or disrupt their psychic domination, and Nozdormu's bronze dragons might be able to stop or reverse local time or something to hold them off. Perhaps even the gnomes might be able to counter or sabotage their technology or something, not to mention the Lich King and the Scourge, being able to fight again and again, and adding their enemies to their ranks.

With all due respect, but that's the element of surprise. Unsurprisingly it trumps both magic and technology.
If i were to get a jump on, say, a wizard and a soldier i would be able to take them out fairly easily as well by whatever means i deigned to use, be that magical or mundane. It lies in the "getting the jump on", not in the tools used to do so.

For the rest it's pretty self-evident that when you can trivially mitigate any physical effects (like i.e. witch burnings just turning ineffective mockery when an actual witch was caught), that anything derived thereof is perhaps, with some understatement, at a disadvantage.