Ion Hazzikostas Acknowledged That WoW’s Narrative Is Weak
WoW developer Ion Hazzikostas acknowledged that WoW’s narrative is weak during a recent WoW Community Council Live Chat.
Key Takeaways
- Game Director Ion Hazzikostas says that WoW’s narrative is a weakness they need to improve.
- New players face challenges when they try to understand the lore, as many story details exist outside the game in secondary sources.
- Hazzikostas emphasizes the need for a more accessible narrative.
- Ongoing discussions between Hazzikostas and Metzen aim to integrate better in-game mechanisms for players to catch up.
Ion Hazzikostas recently participated in an interview with the WoW’s community council. The Game Director acknowledged a longstanding weakness of the game: the fragmented storytelling. Spanning over decades, Warcraft’s lore has expanded significantly. Yet, not all the details can be found in the game.
Many important story beats only exist in books and other secondary sources. And so, for beginners, it may be challenging to grasp the entirety of the game’s plot. New players will have to dedicate a lot of time to navigate the vast information scattered across various sources. It’s hard for newcomers to get a hang of the major characters and their stories. Take Anduin Wrynn, for example:
“What was his journey? Where did that start? What are the twists and turns along the way? What has he lost? Gameplay isn’t fully the right way to get someone caught up there, but in-game journals, the ability to view cinematics, things that don’t require you to go to YouTube and watch compilations there but could instead be experienced within the game client are something that we’re definitely discussing.”
— Ion Hazzikostas
Hazzikostas revealed that he and Chris Metzen had many discussions about the game’s narrative. The Game Director seems willing to consider how World of Warcraft tells its stories in the future:
“I can completely acknowledge that is a weakness that we need to improve. Chris Metzen and I chatted about it a bunch recently about how we could better integrate in-game mechanisms for getting people caught up.”
— Ion Hazzikostas
He also mentioned that gameplay may not always be the best vehicle for newcomers to grasp the extensive lore of Warcraft.
Specific plans are yet to be announced. But Hazzikostas wants to make the game’s stories more accessible so players won’t need to search for extra information from outside sources.
For more information, you may want to check out the full live chat here:
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