Q and A with Christie Golden: Metzen, Golden collaborated as 'Thrall's parents'

This is Part Two in a two part series of questions and answers with author Christie Golden from the Shadow Council community! You can read her introduction here, and the first part of the Q and A here. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Q. As an amateur writer myself, I understand it's quite easy to get the basic emotion down, but when I read the scene where Thrall saw Taretha's severed head, I felt like I was there, feeling his emotions course through me. How hard was it for you to portray those emotions that the future Orc Chieftan felt? --Callaghan

A. That's a tough one! All writers have strengths and weaknesses, I think--my strengths are dialogue and characterizations, especially when it comes to conveying emotions and being really "in" the character. My weakness is description, I had to work hard on that and it still is a challenge. I knew that part was coming, and I knew it would be really juicy to get into and I had to do it "right." I wanted to link up with the "tears" speech Taretha had said to Thrall earlier, that this was what first made this powerful, tough individual weep. Blackthorne saw it as a weakness, but really, the ability to love, to care about someone or something so deeply--that's a strength. Thrall took his pain and turned it into a weapon against his enemies, rather than being crippled by it. So knowing all that I did about Thrall, I really tried to dive into the character and feel it myself. I believe it was Robert Frost who said, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader," and when I write something that gives me a lump in my throat, I know I've done my job well.

Q. When writing the story, did you have full creative control? Or was Blizzard (Or Chris Metzen) constantly in-touch, checking in on the story and making sure it was going as planned? Or in other words, were YOU able to create Thrall's past, or was it set in stone and Blizzard just needed a writer to bring it to words? --Callaghan

A. It's important to understand how tie-in fiction generally works, so that you all appreciate how remarkable my experience with Blizzard is. As I said earlier, it usually goes one way--from the product to the novelist. The way it works is generally an author submits an idea, it's approved, an outline is fleshed out, that's approved by both the publisher and the license holder, and then the author writes the book. Pretty much by herself, with no ability to contact anyone to get questions answered or so on. We do our best, and if there are problems (hopefully not) they get hashed out in the first draft. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but it can be frustrating if you have a question and have to put it in the book without knowing if it's what's wanted or not. From the very beginning, Chris Metzen made himself available to me. "LORD OF THE CLANS" had a very solid outline to start with, as it was a game that never got developed but that Chris had always wanted to see "live" in some form. So there were a lot of things that were indeed set in stone. However, we had discussions about the color of orc eyes and skin tones and blood hues.

Sometimes I'd have a big idea that most companies wouldn't want to implement...say, Thrall having a human adopted sister. :D Blizzard was more than happy to hear my input with an open mind. Chris is an author himself, so he understands that what makes a great game doesn't necessarily make for a great read, and vice verse, so he was willing to hear what I had to say. Too, I understand the needs of tie-in fiction, and I know that it's very different from writing one's one original storylines. It's much more collaborative, and because it's their property, they always (and should!) have the final say.

Chris and I jokingly refer to ourselves as "Thrall's parents." True story--the first time I saw the trailer for Warcraft III and saw the scene where Thrall bolts upright, blinking those blue eyes, I got tears in my eyes and exclaimed, "That's my boy!" And believe me, when I first ran Old Hillsbrad, I was pretty damn giddy. :)

Q. About the time of the release of Lord of the Clans, Shadow Council suddenly went from a medium capacity realm to a full and locked realm. A lot of people blamed this on the release of your novel, as you openly admitted to playing on Shadow Council. What do you have to say to this? --Thienna

A. Ah, indeed, I remember that quite well. All kinds of things led to the queues, the least of which was likely my dedicating the book to some RPers and thanking Shadow Council. Let's remember all that was going on at that point!

Naturally Pocket Books and Blizzard wanted a novel that would get people excited about the expansion to be published shortly before the expansion itself. Media tie-in books are a sort of advertising, and with Burning Crusade due out in January, a book out in December that was all about Draenor would fan the flame for sure. That was planned a long time ago--books take a while to get from contract to bookshelf. So, out comes "RISE OF THE HORDE" in December 2006 (I was in Australia at the time, I'm not sure of the exact pub date, but it was December for sure).

December is also Christmas time, and if I recall correctly, there was a special deal in which you could purchase World of Warcraft for $19.95 and get a free month....again, trying to get people into the game in time for Burning Crusade. And playing time cards for WoW make GREAT gifts--I've given out several in my day. So I'm sure a lot of people got those and renewed their membership because of it.

Finally, remember all those people who said "Bye for now, I'll be back for the expansion?" December was probably when they came back as well, to check on their characters and get them ready for the road to 70.

I have an ego like everyone else. It'd be awesome to think my book was so wildly popular that literally thousands of people had to come join Shadow Council just because of me and my mention of the server. I'd be writing this from my estate in Italy or something. But the numbers just don't support that. I remember the first time I had a queue--my husband jokingly said "It's all your fault!" and we laughed at the absurdity of such an idea. Remember, there are nine million people playing this game, and book sales, even WoW books, only number in the thousands. The percentage of people who then actually read a dedication is a tiny fragment of that. The percentage of people who read that dedication and took it to the point of rolling a character on Shadow Council because of it probably number in the...twenties. Seriously. And that's a generous estimate. For what it's worth, I've yet to get an email or hear from anyone who actually rolled on this server around that time solely because of that dedication.

So unfortunately, I think I ended up being a bit of a scapegoat because I had a name and face. People (including me, I sat in a queue along with everyone else) got frustrated at the lengthy queue times. Someone assumed the queues were because of the book and started a thread to vent their frustration, and others hopped on the bandwagon because a single person is easier to blame than something as nebulous as Christmas + expansion in a month + inexpensive original game. And I have to admit, I'm human--it stung a bit, particularly as the whole point of the dedication was to do something to thank the server. Ah, bitter irony! :) What was lovely about this situation was that there were people who realized early on that there were other factors involved in the queues and who came to my defense who didn't even know me personally. (Mahley, if you're reading this, no, it wasn't me who thanked you in game. But I'm thanking you and the others now!) And a bit later, a second thread came on the forums, and most of those who posted on it said that yes, looking back, it probably WAS Christmas and the Burning Crusade rather than my dedication, and yes, other servers were affected just as severely, some even worse.

However, I don't think I'll be mentioning specific servers in dedications again any time soon. *laughs*

Q. Reading both your novels about Thrall and his parents have given me a huge insight on Orcish mannerisms, the history of Outland before the Burning Legion, and of some stories I barely knew. Where did you find this information and what sort of resources did you use? They'd be handy for helping my Orcish guildmates! --Theinna

A. I'm glad you enjoyed that! The bad news is there's no real resources out there...because most of that I had the honor of being able to create myself. The good news is, it's all right there in "RISE OF THE HORDE." It's canon and you're free to use whatever appeals to you. I'm a big fan of myths and legends and I love learning about other cultures and history. I got to bring that to creating the orcs before they were corrupted and their culture so badly damaged. It was a lot of fun--the courtship hunt, the pool of the ancestors--all very enjoyable to ponder over and try to shape.

Q. What do you think of the Caverns of Time: Durnholde instance? If you were able to change anything about it, what would you do? (And did you notice the stack of books in Thrall's cell? Nifty!) --Theinna

A. Truly, I wouldn't change a single thing about the escape. I loved it! The actual escape in the book was not a very big scene although it was important, so it was fun to see the developers take a simple thing like using fire as a distraction and make something really major out of it. I have a shot of my character standing next to Thrall and Taretha. Hee hee! And yes...I saw the books. That made me smile. Another great example of Blizzard's attention to detail.

Q. Do you intend to write more about Thrall? There's so much up in the air about his and Jaina's relationship between the end of WC3 and the release of WoW that I know I'd love to see actually set down in writing. --Thienna

I'm very, very fond of Thrall. The cool thing about him is he's not just a good orc leader, or a good Horde leader--he's a good leader, plain and simple. He's reasoned and thougthful but he won't be pushed around. He has an understanding of other races than his own and knows when to compromise and when to stand firm. Nothing is definite yet, but I wouldn't rule out future explorations of such an interesting character.

Q. What first attracted you to role play in WoW?

A. Nice people RPing with me! I had started the game to play with some friends in February of 2005. This was the first video computer game I'd EVER played. ZOMG u nub, hehehe. We'd started on another server and never even attempted RP there; it never occurred to me to do so. I had a simple backstory for my character, but mostly, it was just playing the game. Though it was an RP server I never saw much RP there. When my friends and I decided to try the other faction, we took it to another server--Shadow Council. One evening, someone started RPing with me, and I RPed back, somewhat nervously (it's like being in improv theater!). It was so much fun that I embraced it whole heartedly. I met a wonderful circle of friends and we've all leveled together. That I enjoy RP, as an author, is not unexpected. What is a surprise to me is just how much I enjoy the game as a game. It's a lot of fun to play.


Find out more about Christie Golden's books at http://www.christiegolden.com.

Q and A with Christie Golden: 'Ink barely dry' on new Warcraft contract

This is Part One in a two part series of questions and answers with author Christie Golden from the Shadow Council community! Thank you to everyone who participated! You can read her introduction here. Stay tuned this week for the rest of the Q and A!

Q. What is your favorite in-game silly? --Zothique

A. Haha! I like the female gnome silly, "I apologize for any inconvenience my murderous rampage may have caused." And I like the female human flirt, "I need a hero." But then again, the Tauren female "laughed so hard I milked all over the floor" is pretty hilarious too...obviously, I play a lot of races. And classes. There's just a lot out there to experience.

Q. Will you be writing any more WoW books? --Kinu, Moonguard

A. A resounding yes. The ink is barely dry on a contract I've signed for a Warcraft trilogy! I'll be working on that over the next year and a half.We haven't nailed down specifics yet, but from initial conversations with Chris, I can tell you I'm very, VERY excited about this. I truly do love the game, and Blizzard has been very supportive of me and my work. I'm a very lucky writer!

Q. How much of The Burning Crusade did you get to have input on? Were you given access to beta builds in order to build your story, or was it more that Outland was built around your story? --Hectara

A. I was brought in before all of it was nailed down, but when a lot of it was also already in place. So we really worked together a great deal on certain aspects. I was given some concept art and the ability to query about specific things, and encouraged to go all out when creating ritual, customs, creatures and so on. When the first draft was done, Chris Metzen told me he had had it printed out and given to the developers. They particularly liked the idea of the Ata'mal crystals and some of the creatures I created.

I was invited to play in Alpha and Beta and I remember well the quest in which a draenei says "By the Seven Ata'amal Crystals!" Even more fun was when I got to Outland and saw clefthooves and olemba trees. And when I saw someone riding a talbuk, you could have knocked me over with a feather I was so surprised. They never let on they'd done that! They like to surprise me with things. I think the talbuks look really cool! I have one of my own now! And no, Blizzard didn't just give it to me, I did a lot of ogre-killing just like everyone else. :)

While Blizzard had created the idea of Oshu'gun, I got to flesh it out more, and then in turn continued to develop it based on the directions I'd gone in the game. So while they definitely made most of it, I felt very welcome in "interweaving," and it was a huge kick to see things I'd specifically created envisioned by the designers. It was a real collaboration in certain areas. What I'd like to stress is how rare such things are. Usually things go in one direction in media tie-ins--from the product (a game, a movie, a TV show) to the authors doing novels. What we do is hardly ever considered "canon." I thought I had been lucky and honored when I learned that Taretha's necklace was part of a quest chain...you can imagine how pleased I was to see talbuks, clefthooves, and Old Hillsbrad.

Q. I read on your website that you got started by shopping around a manuscript of your own, and while it didn't sell, you made excellent contacts. Was that the first piece you wrote publicly? Or did you submit stories to fanfic magazines, or perhaps do other non-profit work first? --Vulpecula, Ysera

A. You know, most authors have a manuscript lying around that they cut their teeth on but that never got published. It's so common a thing that there's a term for it--"Trunk novel." Because you lock it away in a trunk and hope your descendants never decide to publish it. That was the first piece of fiction I wrote, yes. Interestingly enough, while that book was never published, I did sell two novels set in that world, "INSTRUMENT OF FATE" and "KING'S MAN AND THIEF." I had twelve books planned in that series--I was ambitious! Who knows, maybe I'll revisit that world someday. Prior to that, however, I'd had a lot of experience selling non-fiction because I'd worked for USA Today as well as two other magazines as an editor and contributor. I never did do any fanfic, unless you count the Star Trek scripts I covertly wrote in my math classes in junior high school.

Q. Do you have any advice for new writers just starting out? --Vulpecula

A. Write. It sounds flip, but it isn't. Set aside a time and place to write and do it regularly. Investigate the benefits of outlining (and by that, I don't mean the A) 1, a) b) stuff, I mean summarizing your storyline.) It's not for everyone, but it can save you so much time and headaches if you can adapt yourself to it. Nothing worse then getting halfway through a novel and petering out because you took a wrong plot turn around page 50. Tony Hillerman just goes--my mind boggles, I need an outline. Give this the importance it deserves. Make a little ritual of it... maybe you play certain music, or light certain candles (scent is a BIG part of memory). Your brain will start to recognize these signals and drop into "writing mode" more quickly and easily. Read a wonderful book called "Bird By Bird," by Anne Lamott. Realize that you will get rejection letters, and some of them will be nasty. Attend science fiction conventions and writer's conferences. But in the end...just keep writing.

Coming Soon: Community Q & A with author Christie Golden

World of Warcraft Author Christie Golden has contacted The Strider and offered to answer questions from the Shadow Council community!

Author Christie Golden has published two major World of Warcraft novels: "Lord of the Clans," about Thrall's childhood, and "Rise of the Horde," about Thrall's father Durotan and the orcs' early dealings with demons. Many of her world creations for "Rise of the Horde" were built in-game for "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade."

Her book "Firstborn" is the first in the Starcraft trilogy "Dark Templar Saga" and was released last May. The second book in that series, "Shadow Hunters," will come out in late November. Her newest book, "Under Sea's Shadow," is the third book in an original series published this month.

Golden herself has been playing World of Warcraft for more than two years on several different servers, though she says it is on Shadow Council that she learned to role-play.

If you would like to submit a question to Christie Golden, email The Strider at shc.strider@gmail.com or post a comment here.

Thank you for your participation!

Q and A with Aaron Rosenberg

The Strider teamed up with Shadow Council community members to ask Warcraft author Aaron Rosenberg about his books and games. You can read his introduction here, and read his answers to your questions below!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Q. Do you play World of Warcraft?

A. I do, yes, though sadly not as often as I'd like. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything. :)

Q. Who is your favorite main character in Tides of Darkness?

A. That's a tough call. I really like both Lothar and Turalyon, but I had a great time writing Orgrim because I got to show what was going on inside his head. I have to admit, I also have a fondness for Thoras Trollbane, though--he doesn't get much screen time but he was a blast to write when he was around.

Q. As far as story settings go, what do you find easier to write, Warcraft or Starcraft? Or to be a bit more precise, do you prefer a more science fiction based story or the classic fantasy? --Leiander

A. WarCraft is definitely easier, as is fantasy in general. You simply don't have to explain as much, both in terms of how the setting works and in terms of the races. Everyone understands what an orc is right away, but explaining the protoss and the zerg is a lot harder.

Q. How difficult did you find it to reconcile Warcraft II's black and white depiction of the Horde and Alliance with the more recent gray areas expanded upon in later-published games and lore which pose the Horde as being actually a somewhat good force? --Hectara

A. It wasn't that hard to do, actually. The games, as with any visual medium, are more surface-oriented, so you don't know what the characters are thinking and feeling, what motivated them and drove them to those actions. Books let you examine those elements and understand their perspective. No one ever considers him- or herself to be evil--everyone feels he or she is doing the right thing somehow, and in a novel you can portray that.

Q. How would you describe your experience in working for Blizzard? --Deveran

A. They're great! They've been so friendly throughout the process of each book, and so helpful as far as feedback and support. I'm really glad I've gotten to work with them on so many books already, and I'm definitely hoping to continue the relationship.

Q. Since you write, create video games, and play role-playing games, how much do you find the different storytelling mediums influencing each other? Are the stories in your video games like those in your books, etc? --Malorn

A. Actually, I don't write video games--I write tabletop roleplaying games (though I would love to write video games as well). But yes, the stories and styles and elements certainly influence each other. Creating a game involves a lot of worldbuilding, and as a result when I write novels I want a very detailed world and a full understanding of how it works. I like to think that gives my settings more solidity than they'd have otherwise. I don't tell many stories in my roleplaying games--just short adventures and short fiction snippets to give people ideas of where they can go with their own stories--but certainly every game I've created has given me ideas for novels set in those worlds.

Q. In what systems do you play tabletop RPGs?

A. I play almost anything, actually. I've done a lot of World of Darkness (old and new) over the years, a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, a lot of d20 and OGL, plus I've played things like Ars Magica, Marvel Super-heroes, Amber, Immortal, etc. And of course I've played each game I've written. :)

Q. What do you find more challenging: writing, RPGs, or video games? What is most rewarding? --Malorn

A. They each have their own challenges. Writing an RPG is all about building a world and creating the rules so others can tell stories there. Writing a novel is all about telling a particular story. I suppose the RPG is harder because it requires creating everything from scratch, whereas a novel set in a good existing world (like WarCraft or StarCraft) already has elements in place.

Q. Have you ever turned a book into a game? --Malorn

A. Yes, when I wrote the Deryni Roleplaying Game. That was fun because I had a whole world already and just had to make sense of it and show how others could tell their own stories there as well. I've also turned one of my own stories into a game, though it wasn't a novel--I wrote a short story called "Spookshow" and liked the idea so much I created a game by the same name. Sometimes a story's setting just cries out, "There are more stories here! Share them!"

Q. How does writing compare to roleplaying? Do you ever miss the character control in roleplaying? --Darsha

A. Writing is more all-inclusive than roleplaying--even if you've only got one central character you're writing the secondary characters and creating the plot and describing the setting all by yourself. When you're roleplaying, someone else (the GM) is handling the plot, the setting, and the secondary characters, and others (the other players) are handling all the other principal characters, so it's a lot more collaborative. That also means I've got a lot more control over my one character when roleplaying, but when writing I get to control (or at least narrate) all of them at once.

Q. Do you have an original series in the works?

A. Not right now, no. I have ideas for several, of course, and I'm talking to various editors about those and other projects, but nothing definite right now.

Q. Do you have other non-Warcraft related projects coming up, that we can look forward to? --Deveran

A. The third book of my Warhammer trilogy, Hour of the Daemon, should be out in November. I have another book coming out next year that I can't talk about yet. After that we'll see.

Photo courtesy Aaron Rosenberg/Oct. 2007

Coming Soon: Q and A with author Aaron Rosenberg

Shadow Council players are invited to submit their questions

World of Warcraft author Aaron Rosenberg has contacted The Strider and agreed to answer questions from the Shadow Council community!

Last month Rosenberg's book "Tides of Darkness" was released. It follows Orgrim Doomhammer, Anduin Lothar, and other heroes during the events of the second war in the strategy game "Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness."

Rosenberg also wrote "Queen of Blades," which was published in May 2006 and set in Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft world. He has previously written for Star Trek, White Wolf, Warhammer, and Wizards of the Coast.

When he is not writing books or short stories, he is managing his own video game company Clockworks, role-playing, blogging, editing, or taking care of his two children. He lives in New York with his wife and family.

If you would like to submit a question to Aaron Rosenberg, email The Strider at shc.strider@gmail.com or post a comment here by 10 p.m. Mountain time Wednesday, Sept. 26.

Thank you for your participation!

As chemo continues, health improving some for 11-year-old with brain cancer, says father

The health of Ezra Chatterton, the fifth-grade World of Warcraft player diagnosed with brain cancer, is improving “in a lot of ways,” according to his father Micah Chatterton.

After regularly taking severe, prescribed painkillers, Ezra is no longer taking any prescription pain medication, something his father said the doctors had little expectation he could do.

A reduction in prescribed pain killers culminated Saturday, when Ezra stopped taking morphine altogether. His father, who works as a caregiver for an elderly woman while taking care of his son during the week, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the morphine withdrawals could last five to seven days.

“Which is a good sign that the treatments have had a positive effect on the tumors,” said Micah.

“Right now I'm just very happy that he's where he's at now, and that the cancer's not growing.”

The fifth-grader has finished radiation treatments, but has five chemotherapy treatments left. He takes one chemo treatment every six weeks. His father said that when Ezra takes chemotherapy, he is sick for about a week. He then has five weeks to recover before beginning the cycle again.

Four months ago, when Ezra made his trip to Blizzard studios in Irvine, he was having double vision. His father said swelling in his brain put pressure on a nerve to his eye, which caused his eye to lose mobility. He wore an eye patch to help. But now the swelling is down, and the eye patch is “mostly cosmetic,” Micah said. “He wears it and his fedora when he goes out.”

Ezra tires quickly. He cannot walk more than 100 feet at a time, and does not have a lot of stamina to play WoW, Micah said, though he does strategize with his father about what his character needs in the game.

“He's still very involved with the mythology and strategy of the game—he's just not playing it very much. It's very much a part of his fantasy world that he imagines while he's lying in bed.”

Micah is looking forward to starting physical therapy, which will help rebuild Ezra's strength, and allow his activity level to increase.

Ezra's character “Ephoenix” has been sometimes fighting in the “Battlegrounds,” a place where players can fight with each other, because he can earn new armor and weapons there.

“His set (of armor) has gone a little out of date in the last couple patches,” Micah said.

Shadow Council player “Adriano” was glad to hear Ezra was able to stop taking morphine. “That's good news,” the player said in an in-game interview. “Certainly I wish him the best.”

Players can post well-wishes and find information about his benefit fund at the Web site, ezrachatterton.org.

--L. Waymire

Real-life friendships made, celebrated at meet and greet

The second annual Meet and Greet for World of Warcraft players on the Shadow Council server is coming Sept. 22 at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville, Md.

Renaissance Faire admission is $18 at the door. Costumes are optional.

Organizer Amy Bullach of Herdon, Va. (better known as “Sheva”), said she has made real-life friends while playing World of Warcraft—friends who can relate to each other outside of the virtual world.

After chatting online with other players, and discovering common interests, Bullach learned some of them lived nearby, and decided to try to meet with them last fall.

“When a number of people expressed an interest in visiting it kind of naturally morphed into an official meet and greet,” she said in an online interview.

“I've gotten to know a lot of fellow Shadow Council folk on a more real, personal basis, and consider myself very lucky in that regard,” she said. “…I consider many close and trusting friends and often can share hard times with them as well as celebrations and am met with a lot of love, support and friendship.”

Christina Cericola of Collingswood, N.J. went last year, and plans to come again this year.

“I think people who play/role-play on WoW are a creative bunch, like me,” Cericola said. “The kind of people I would hang out with in real life.”

In fact, Cericola has been playing her character “Engl” ever since her husband took her to a Meet and Greet in June of 2005.

“All I knew about WoW was it was a game (my husband) played for hours while I went shopping,” Cericola said in an in-game interview. “Then he says, ‘hey, let’s go meet some people.’ I said sure, not really paying attention.”

That meet and greet was hosted by “Ruzska,” a player who was a minor server celebrity for her numerous in-game events. There, Cericola met people who were “so cool” they convinced her to try the game.

Organizer Bullach said she will arrive early at the festival to stake out a table at the main tavern, which participants can then use as a “home base” between shows. The faire opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m.

According to the organizer, 14 people came to last year’s event. Though she expects a smaller number this year, she said she is looking forward to meeting some new players.

“Agoriss” will be one of those new faces. He hopes the Renaissance Festival will provide a good social icebreaker “for meeting those strange people who geek out on WoW, role-playing all day long.”

“I also look forward to maybe making friends that I can see away from WoW,” Agoriss wrote in an email, “ ‘cause let’s face it... we can't spend our whole lives in the darkness of our computer room playing WoW all day!”

The organizer said she tries to keep things flexible. The group may tour Washington, D.C. the day after the Renaissance Festival if there is interest.

Sept. 22 starts “Adventure Weekend” at the Renaissance Festival, which is a sailor- and explorer-themed weekend. Costumes are optional. Performers will include the Medieval Times, a jousting group.

--L. Waymire

'Sword of the Tides' project aims to include all players

A server-wide role playing project, open to anyone's participation no matter what level or faction, began Monday on the Shadow Council forums. The organizer, who plays a gnome with mysterious motivations called “Pennydrop,” says she has written what she hopes is an adventure/mystery storyline that can be played by anyone.

The storyline began with a puzzle that was distributed on the forums for players to solve. The puzzle offered a reward for the first person to solve it, and from there, more quests and events will slowly reveal the plot behind “Sword of the Tides.”

“Basically it's your standard archetypical adventure story -- there's trouble with the seas, this mysterious Pennydrop person needs adventurers to investigate, and rewards will be offered,” the organizer said in an in-game interview.

Pennydrop says the real goal behind her project is to include everyone who wants to participate.

“Having been on ShC for a long while now, and having been involved in a lot of role-playing, feeling ‘shut out’ or excluded is one of those complaints that comes up a lot,” Pennydrop said. “And it's not always something that people do intentionally. There (are) a number of factors that can cause new and old role-players alike to feel like they're on the outside looking in…so I kind of wanted to do an event that was advertised as both ‘big’ and ‘open’ from the very beginning, and try to plan things in such a way that anyone could get involved.”

In order to involve players on a large scale, Pennydrop says, she has planned several different ways for people to interact with the story. She has assistants in both the Horde and Alliance factions. Events will take place in-world which anyone can attend. If a player’s schedule means they can’t attend an event, there are puzzles and riddles to ponder. Players may also collect virtual items in-game for Pennydrop—something that can be done alone or in a group, at the player’s leisure.

Prizes include three rare turtle mounts, which will be given away during the course of the story.

Three players have already individually solved the first clue, a coded message. The first player to solve the cipher was “Heulwen,” who could not be reached at press time. She will be given a prize. The second player was “Juliard,” who says he spent four hours on and off working to solve the cipher.

“…I've always loved codes so I gave it a shot, and once I started working on it, I couldn't stop,” Juliard said in an in-game interview. “Got more intrigued once I read the further Tides details and saw the web site.”

Juliard, who has been role-playing for about 15 years, said this type of open storyline is his favorite way to play in the world. He enjoys reacting to events and seeing how others respond in kind.

And now that the first puzzle is solved, Pennydrop says an in-game event is on its way. An announcement will be made on the forums and on the Sword of Tides web site.

“It's always good to see someone start up some open RP that people are excited about!” Juliard's player said. “And, I can't wait for the next contest, so I can win!”

Who is Pennydrop?

“Pennydrop” made her first appearance last December when she mysteriously sent out a single gold coin to many characters of both factions during “Winter Veil,” the game’s gift-giving holiday in December. Why did she do it?

According to a poll taken last winter, the majority of players don't want to know about Pennydrop's in-character motivations—they enjoyed the mystery of her identity.

“My main concern at the time was whether people would actually like to associate a face and a backstory with the Pennydrop character, or whether they preferred the mystery,” Pennydrop said in an in-game interview. “And by far, everyone liked the mystery better, so I'm really going to play that up in the Sword of the Tides story.”

Players interested in participating should send their puzzle solutions to Pennydrop, either via an in-game message, an email to pennydrop@swordoftides.com, or via a private message to Pennydrop on Roleplayer's Haven. Players can also contact her assistants, Silvia on the Alliance side or Goldstein on the Horde side.

Pennydrop thanks the server of Shadow Council. “It's because of the experiences I've had here that I'm motivated to do this; we have a wonderful RP community on both the Alliance and Horde sides of the fence,” she said.

--L. Waymire

Cross-faction fiction site hits 100 registered users

World of Warcraft Fiction, a forum-based collection of art and stories by players from multiple role-playing servers, welcomed its 100th registered user at the end of last month.

According to owner Jean-Philippe Laliberté of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, WoW Fiction is a writer’s community with sections for art, Alliance stories, Horde stories, world lore, cross-faction stories, and character biographies. Since its creation last spring, it has expanded from a story archive to a writer’s community.

Cindy Davison of Peoria, Illinois—better known as Anicka of the Sentinels server—said in a chat interview that she started the first version of WoW Fiction last March or April as a way to archive character writing for her server.

“I started an ‘archive’ forum, because so much was being lost,” she said. “I love all the writing and hate to see anything gone and forgotten, or not able to be experienced.”

Following a proposal by Laliberté, the site moved from its old address to wowfiction.net last April, and opened to include writing and art from all servers.

Laliberté is known on Sentinels as Grimgash and Raehvin, and on Shadow Council as Deveran. He bought the domain name wowfiction.net and created the layout and banner by modifying some art owned by Blizzard Entertainment--the company that created World of Warcraft.

“I wanted to offer everyone a chance to have their stories read. To share their hobby with others around the gaming world that is Warcraft,” he said in a chat interview. “It is a community of great writers and role-players alike, and who does not like to share their passion with others?”

“Rabbly” of Shadow Council is one of the community’s active members. Rabbly’s alternate character “Saphrona” was the 100th user to register.

“The fact that it is multiple servers is nice, as I can read stories that I wouldn’t otherwise see on the Shadow Council forums,” Rabbly said in a letter to the Strider.

Rabbly likes the way WoW Fiction is organized, and the fact that there is a place for artwork. “Graphics have been a big part of my stories,” the player said.

WoW Fiction user Fiona Zimmer, who plays “Gerd” on Sentinels, said in an email that she watched WoW Fiction grow from being an archive site to a writer’s site.

“We needed a place where we could keep the stories we liked - especially Sentinels, which somehow got a reputation as this incredible haven for authors. Sentinels forums started with some incredible storytelling right from the birth of the server, and it drew in so many more of us, like moths to a candle.

“WoWfiction was a natural outgrowth of that need to preserve the best of our collective writings,” she said. “I honestly wish we’d had it earlier – we’ve lost so much good work already.”

Zimmer has written a one-act play, “The Tale of Jaina and Thrall,” which can be found in the Silvermoon Scrolls section of WoW Fiction, along with many other pieces of writing based in the Warcraft world.

“Tundrarunner” of Shadow Council is another one of 104 users.

“Wowfiction is a great resource to share role-play stories across different realms,” Tundrarunner wrote in an email. “Unlike rp-haven, which is a Shadow Council only forum, it’s nice to be able to reach out to other roleplayers who may not otherwise know about this little corner of the WoW universe.”

Tundrarunner says there isn’t as much feedback on the site as one would like, “although I’m just as guilty about not giving feedback as anyone else.”

“I support roleplay whenever I can,” Tundrarunner continued, “so I try to do my small part to help keep good WoW RP sites going whenever I can. It’s great to hear they’re being successful.”

Creator Cindy Davison has been writing for her characters since she and her husband played in EverQuest together. She says she is currently writing down a storyline that her character Anicka is experiencing.

“I’m really eager to read all the new stories and installments that people are posting,” she said.

Owner Jean-Philippe Laliberté enjoys writing, drawing, and creating mods for his favorite games. “I’ve always loved creating, digging into my imagination,” he said. “From modding, drawing to writing, it’s digging into my mind for something fun and original that really stimulates me.”

He hopes the site may someday expand to include blogs, a role-playing Wiki, and downloadable fiction. Suggestions for the site should be made on the suggestion forum.

“It’s important to mention that it’s really thanks to all members who contribute beautiful storylines and artwork daily that wowfiction.net is becoming what it is today,” he said.
--Lacey Waymire

Blizzard: 9 million subscribers play World of Warcraft

Today Blizzard announced the number of World of Warcraft active subscriptions has reached 9 million.

According to the press release, this subscription number includes active accounts, prepaid card accounts, and accounts that are still within their first month of play but have not necessarily subscribed. It does not include expired subscriptions or promotional accounts.

Just last January, subscribers totaled 8 million—2 million on North America realms—and the Burning Crusade expansion pack sold more than 2.4 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release.

While Blizzard has not released its game sale numbers, both World of Warcraft and Burning Crusade are at the top of most PC game sale charts, according to the Gamasutra’s Saling the World column.

“Since it is a subscription based game, the number of active subscribers is the more relevant statistic,” commented Bob Colayco, associate public relations manager for Blizzard, via email. “I can tell you though that both World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade have been almost permanent fixtures in the weekly PC Games top sales charts in the US and elsewhere in the world.”

--L. Waymire

Warcraft player with brain cancer has birthday, last treatment Friday

Editor's note: The story below is an updated version. To view this story in its original form, click here.

Friday Ezrah Chatterton, the fifth-grade World of Warcraft player with brain cancer from Riverside, Calif., turns 11 years old and faces his last radiation treatment.

Last May Blizzard and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America teamed up to give him a tour of Blizzard’s studio in Irvine, Calif., where Chatterton was able to design a new weapon and quest giver with his own quest. The quest involves finding and feeding Chatterton's dog, Kyle (pictured below). The new content was added to the game in June. His character, “ePhoenix” of the Norgannon server, was artificially leveled from 63 to 70, and given new armor and gold during his visit to Blizzard headquarters.

Prior to his cancer diagnosis, Chatterton and his father used World of Warcraft as a way to bond. In an interview with the Orange County Register, Chatterton’s father Micah said, “We would talk about what kind of character do we want to create. This costume as opposed to that costume. We would make decisions together. Neither of us would feel comfortable about making a big decision without consulting the other.”

In a phone interview Sept. 11 with The Strider, Micah said, “He and I have always been very close… I don't want to say ‘best friends,’ because you always have to be a parent. We rely on each other.”

Members from Chatterton’s guild, the Thirty Second Fleet, say they have seen an outpouring of support from the gamer’s community for the boy.

“(We’re) getting used to the ‘level 1 quick question round,’” said his guildmate Delvanius in a chat interview. Players from other servers would create new characters on the Norgannon server just to ask how ePhoenix’s player was doing, and to send him well wishes.

“He is an awesome young man, always respectable and helpful,” commented Olathedyami, the guild’s Horde-side leader, in a chat interview. “Our guild wishes nothing but the best for him and his family.”

When he can get online to play, he likes showing off his gear and mount, she said. “He enjoys doing that and people enjoy seeing it. He tires easily, so his time online is limited a lot.” She asked that well-wishers let him play while he is online, and invited them to post letters to him in-game or on his guild’s web site.

“I feel for the family for sure,” Olathedyami said. “We didn’t realize he was so ill. We recall him talking about his headaches. Then he pretty much was offline for a bit.”

His guild, the Thirty Second Fleet, tries to make Chatterton’s time online enjoyable.

“We pride ourselves on being a family guild,” Olathedyami said of the Thirty Second Fleet. She plays in the guild with her husband and four grown children.

The guild has been active for seven years. It began as the “32nd Fleet” in the game Starfleet Command, and from there, it migrated through a series of games before landing in the World of Warcraft, where it now has branches on both the Horde and Alliance sides of the server Norgannon.

Because of its origin as a fleet in Starfleet Command, its ranks are built with a military structure. Ephoenix’s rank is “CNSLR,” which stands for “Counselor.”

Fleet Admiral Olathedyami said the guild hopes to take Chatterton in the next few weeks to see Karazhan, a new 10-man raiding challenge in Deadwind Pass on the Eastern Kingdoms.

“Even though he (was) one of the first to see Black Temple… Karazhan will look pale in comparison,” she said.

The Thirty-Second Fleet wishes their counselor a happy birthday.

“And may he have many more,” guildmate Shadowcry added.

--L. Waymire

Warcraft player with brain cancer has birthday, last treatment today

Editor's note: An updated version of this story has been posted here. A follow-up story is posted here.

Today Ezra Chatterton, the fifth-grade World of Warcraft player with brain cancer from Riverside, Calif., turns 11 years old and faces his last radiation treatment.

Last May Blizzard and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America teamed up to give him a tour of Blizzard’s studio in Irvine, Calif., where Chatterton was able to design a new weapon and quest giver with his own quest. The quest involves finding and feeding Chatterton's dog, Kyle (pictured below). The new content was added to the game in June. His character, “ePhoenix” of the Norgannon server, was artificially leveled from 63 to 70, and given new armor and gold during his visit to Blizzard headquarters.

Prior to his cancer diagnosis, Chatterton and his father used World of Warcraft as a way to bond. In an interview with the Orange County Register, Chatterton’s father Micah said, “We would talk about what kind of character do we want to create. This costume as opposed to that costume. We would make decisions together. Neither of us would feel comfortable about making a big decision without consulting the other.”

Members from Chatterton’s guild, the Thirty Second Fleet, say they have seen an outpouring of support from the gamer’s community for the boy.

“(We’re) getting used to the ‘level 1 quick question round,’” said his guildmate Delvanius in a chat interview. Players from other servers would create new characters on the Norgannon server just to ask how ePhoenix’s player was doing, and to send him well wishes.

“He is an awesome young man, always respectable and helpful,” commented Olathedyami, the guild’s Horde-side leader, in a chat interview. “Our guild wishes nothing but the best for him and his family.”

When he can get online to play, he likes showing off his gear and mount, she said. “He enjoys doing that and people enjoy seeing it. He tires easily, so his time online is limited a lot.” She asked that well-wishers let him play while he is online, and invited them to post letters to him in-game or on his guild’s web site.

“I feel for the family for sure,” Olathedyami said. “We didn’t realize he was so ill. We recall him talking about his headaches. Then he pretty much was offline for a bit.”

His guild, the Thirty Second Fleet, tries to make Chatterton’s time online enjoyable.

“We pride ourselves on being a family guild,” Olathedyami said of the Thirty Second Fleet. She plays in the guild with her husband and four grown children.

In addition to being family-friendly, the guild has members in the United States as well as New Zealand and Australia. “Delvanius,” whose player lives in Wellington, New Zealand, has been with the guild since before Warcraft was even released.

“We’re a bit odd by WoW standards, we actually pre-date the coming of WoW by a few years,” Delvanius said in a chat interview.

The guild has been active for seven years. It began as the “32nd Fleet” in the game Starfleet Command, and from there, it migrated through a series of games before landing in the World of Warcraft, where it now has branches on both the Horde and Alliance sides of the server Norgannon.

Its ranks are built with a military structure. Ephoenix’s rank is “CNSLR,” which stands for “Counselor.”

Fleet Admiral Olathedyami said the guild hopes to take Chatterton in the next few weeks to see Karazhan, a new 10-man raiding challenge in Deadwind Pass on the Eastern Kingdoms. “Even though he (was) one of the first to see Black Temple… Karazhan will look pale in comparison,” she said.

The Thirty-Second Fleet wishes their counselor a happy birthday.

“And may he have many more,” guildmate Shadowcry added.

--L. Waymire

Events this week: Diamond unveiling

This week some unique role-playing events are open to Shadow Council players. The Strider talked to each of the organizers to see what they’re all about.

Unveiling of the “Blue Badger” (Updated)
When: 8 p.m. server time Thursday, July 19 (Updated)
Where: Ironforge Explorer’s League Museum
Organizer: Nicholai of the Meddlers

Thanks to this totally not fake newspaper article, Alliance characters know the valuable “Blue Badger” diamond will be unveiled at the museum in Ironforge Thursday evening.

Anyone is invited to attend and play into what Nicholai’s player calls “an evening of intrigue and tongue-in-cheek humor.”

From the organizer: “Who can steal the gem? Let's be honest - any self-respecting thief that read The Jeweler's Times and thought the Blue Badger was a real and priceless jewel without any sort of defense to speak of probably needs to hang up their lock picking tools. It's a fairly obvious trap.”

Carces Magister, the character organizing the event, is a scoundrel and jewelcrafter who dislikes being stolen from. After a very large crate of jewels was stolen from the Meddler’s shop, he decided to get even with the thief. “Not everyone gets even with a dagger in their hand, however,” Nicholai said.

The organizer said thieves are welcome to try to steal the gem, but he warns, “I very much doubt, however, that the thief in question will be entirely pleased with their prize...”

Opalissa DeLadrier’s Birthday Bash
When: 7 p.m. server time, Friday, July 13
Where: Stormwind Keep gardens
Organizer: Opalissa of the Meddlers

Dress is formal at this Alliance dance. No gifts are necessary, and anyone is invited.

“I decided that Opalissa's birthday and age would coincide with my own,” her player said about the event. Opalissa and her player both turn 26 this week.

Opalissa hosts parties in the World of Warcraft every few months, and used to host in-game parties every month. “It’s easier to do (parties) online than in real life, because there's no setup or anything for it,” her player said. “We just show up, do what we have to do, and that's it.”

Opalissa still needs volunteers to act as door announcers and guards. You can sign up to help out here, or contact Opalissa with an in-game letter. Volunteers will be paid.

The Laughing Zevrah (Recurring weekly)
When: 7 p.m. server time, Thursday, July 12
Where: The Laughing Zevrah Tavern, Ratchet
Organizer: Khabiba

The Laughing Zevrah is a player-run tavern, designed to be a roleplaying hot spot. According to the organizer, “It is open for anyone, including the occasional Alliance.”

Khabiba began running the tavern when Tundrarunner stopped. It has been a Horde-side roleplaying hot spot for Shadow Council players for nearly two years.
--L. Waymire

Shadow Council boasts finalist in music video contest

A Shadow Council player’s music video made it into the top-10 list of finalists in the World of Warcraft music video contest, and may have been in fourth place when voting closed.

“Selserene,” a 28-year-old housewife from eastern Pennsylvania who plays a level 70 night elf druid on Shadow Council, made “To the Fairest,” a music video to the song “Not Capable of Love” by Ataris.

On Monday, Blizzard announced the winners of its music video contest. While “To the Fairest” did not place in the top three, all signs at the close of voting indicated it was in fourth place, according to Selserene.

“The only types of videos I'd done before were boss kill videos,” Selserene said in a chat interview. “Combining my WoW addiction with something creative and engaging is a great way to expand the hobby, in my opinion.”

She wanted her music video to be a classic story with a WoW twist. “And what is a more WoW moment than having Alliance versus Horde?” Selserene said.

In “To the Fairest,” the lead Blood Elf male follows a Draenei female into her bedroom to kill her (or, as the director put it, “to gank the Alliance”). His girlfriend sees the two together and misinterprets his intentions.

“That moment, even when the truth comes out, isn't enough for her to forgive and the relationship ends,” Selserene said. “The title itself plays on the Apple of Discord, from Greek mythology, where the goddess Eris began the Trojan war simply by making three other goddesses vie for a golden apple inscribed ‘To the Fairest.’

“It's the idea that something so small can become something so huge it gets away from that simple beginning,” she said.

The apple is a symbol that features prominently in her music video.

“I used the apple as a central part of the theme based on a number of reasons… The apple has so much mythos, that the flashes were both meant to be the ‘Kallisti’ apple, as well as a symbol of innocence and loss of innocence,” Selserene explained. “There was something in it that I think most people, regardless of background, would be able to really understand on a metaphoric level.”

Movies made from game footage are known as “machinima,” or “machine cinema.”
One of the challenges in making any “machinima,” Selserene said, is that the director is limited by what objects, costumes, and animations exist in-game already.

Selserene said she chose the blood elves and draenei as her lead actors because their animations were more expressive than the animations of other races.

“The blood elf female has some great facial expressions... although the male kind of seemed zoned out most of the time,” she joked in chat. “Kind of ‘This is my shocked face =O This is my happy face =O This is my 'crap it isn't what you think honey!' face =O .”

It took about three and a half weeks to finish, and she was scrambling to learn a program she had never used before.

“To the Fairest” was filmed partly in-world, partly using two programs known as Map Viewer and Model Viewer. It was edited with Adobe Premier Elements and captured with Fraps.

Her guildmate, a level 70 human mage called "Elythe" of Team Whiskers, said in a chat interview that he was not surprised to see her video made it into the top 10.

“She's always been pretty good at Photoshop and she was showing some real improvement in making videos for the guild,” Elythe said. “She might not have thought she'd make it, but everyone else knew she would.”

Though she is new to machinima, Selserene is already working on her next film, titled “My Favorite Things,” which she says will be a horror.

“It's about a little girl and her imaginary friend... and how that's a dangerous thing in the world of Azeroth,” Selserene said.

“I had a few people that kept me sane during the filming (of "To the Fairest")... Elythe, Rinaeya, Sarisa, Melindha. They kept me going even when I'd have problems I couldn't figure out how to fix and stuff.”

Guest appearances included Marrika, Perle, Sophaea, Glimdar, Skarlotte, Elythe, Rinaeya, and Elzabetha.

--L. Waymire, movie stills courtesy of Selserene