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

[Zig Zug]

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).

I appreciate this point.

[Maljinwo]

Warhammer Lite

[Kurve1776]

How would I classify wow?

...Yes

[Razion]

What do you call Legion space ships? Steampunk?

Legion ships appear to warp in to locations with portal magic. And they're powered by souls, right? So, they're magic. Demonic-tech as a kind of offshoot of the mage-tech we sometimes saw Gnomes employ, but it's still magic-focused for the energy and the power. So can we really call the ships significant tech if essentially all they are are fancy husks with lots of holes in them?

[Eurhetemec]

Legion ships appear to warp in to locations with portal magic. And they're powered by souls, right? So, they're magic. Demonic-tech as a kind of offshoot of the mage-tech we sometimes saw Gnomes employ, but it's still magic-focused for the energy and the power. So can we really call the ships significant tech if essentially all they are are fancy husks with lots of holes in them?

Yeah this is a really good point.

They don't have wiring.

They don't have life support.

They don't have airlocks.

They don't seem to have fuel tanks or anything, and the "reactors" seem to be magical focuses.

They don't even seem to be made of metal - when they break up, they crumble and break like stone, they don't twist or melt like metal.

So they're basically giant flying stone magic-focuses. Almost like a giant wizard-staff or something.

[metzger84]

It's high fantasy, as in you have to be high on paint thinner fumes to come up with this shit.

[Count Zero]

It's still pretty dark fantasy. Only exception was maybe MoP.

MoP had some of the darkest imagery in the entire game. Battlefield: Barrens and SoO depicted horrific acts that echo real life situations (wars, genocide) much more closely than anything else it ever has.

[Stardrift]

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

Ah yes, Legion dropships and lazer beam cannons. The best kind of steampunk.

Don't forget the Ethereals and their otherworldly tech. That must be very steampunkish too.

Or the Mechagnomes, and their cyborganisms fueled not by steam, but by actual technology, electricity, circuitry. Very steampunk.

[Biglog]

My first inclination would be to say it's 100% fantasy. But when you look at the definition of science fiction - "Fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.", I gotta say that the science fiction folks have a point. There are facets of wow that certainly check a lot of the boxes for science fiction.

So I guess I'd say it's probably a hybrid now, based on things like the Dranei, wod, etc. It's still more fantasy than science fiction for sure though overall when you take a step back and look at the game as a whole. It's primarily a fantasy game with some specific science fiction-y aspects here and there. If a person who never played the game sat down and rolled a level 1, to that person it would still very much feel like humans vs. orcs with swords and spells fantasy.

[Tarba]

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.

Amen to that.
It's shite.

[Dystemper]

There can be an argument made that Warcraft was never in-fact classic fantasy, given the complex machines from WC2-3, but overall, the themes and tropes still aligned with the classic style of fantasy.

WoW maintained the fantasy style of play for a while. BC introduced us to space travel, MoP/WoD industrialized warfare and Legion, well Legion we were launching from our intergalactic space ship to land planet side to take on demons.

How would you describe the thematic / genre style of WoW to someone who hasn't played?

A shit show

[Mirishka]

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

I'd say that the Draenei and mechagnomes (whose tech is clearly more advanced than standard gnomes) absolutely qualify as science. King Mechagon developed a WMD that was going to nuke the flesh from all life on Azeroth (see the alternate Mechagon quests for the results of that) and Draenei are literally aliens flying crystal powered spaceships.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't classify it. Not since people needed to debate if it still counts as an MMORPG. It is whatever it is and all I care about is whether it appeals to me or not.

Well said.

[Zig Zug]

It is whatever it is and all I care about is whether it appeals to me or not.

Very important point.

[ClassicPeon]

They're a science-fantasy element within a high fantasy or epic fantasy game. A huge amount of just general fantasy has flying ships of some kind in it. Legion was the most science-fantasy expansion we've had.



I think that's not quite right because steampunk isn't the main focus. It's just in the mix. The main focus is straight-up high fantasy or epic fantasy, with steampunk or magitech stuff pretty often getting into the mix, but usually in a small role.

Agree re: them not changing though - what they have clearly works.

True ofcourse. Steampunk is a subgenre.

[Kyphael]

It'd say sci-fi fantasy. There is plenty of science-fiction in Warcraft, even if you apply Arthur C. Clarke's argument that 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic', and I believe that absolutely applies to Draenei and Legion technology. However, on Azeroth itself, Gnomes have developed technology even more advanced than real world tech. They have flying machines, teleport devices, and shrinking or enlarging tech to name a few. That's some high level sci-fi to go along with all the fantasy elements already present like dragons, arcane and fel.

[Wramp]

I'd say DumpsterFire

[SirBeef]

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

Lasers, shrink rays, teleporters, remote controlled toys say otherwise. I'm sure I'm missing some others too.

[EntertainmentNihilist]

Who cares? These are just categories. What does it matter if WoW doesn't fit into the same category as it used to?

[Netherspark]

Kitchen sink fantasy?

[Kyphael]

I'd say DumpsterFire

This made me laugh harder than it should have.