Roleplaying book review: World of Warcraft the Roleplaying Game

World of Warcraft the Roleplaying Game, which was previously the Warcraft Roleplaying Game, is perhaps one of the shining moments of collaboration between two companies that many perceive to be at one another’s throats: Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf.  Using Wizard’s Open Gaming Liscence (OGL) D20 system, White Wolf’s Arthaus imprint was the key developer of the line.  While the World of Warcraft RPG has been all but defunct since Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition arrived, it marked an important moment in RPG history for several reasons.

By the Light

In its essence, WoW RPG is the very close to the same as recent editions of DnD.  The dice rolls are the same, as are the statistics.  The feats and skills used in WoW RPG are compatible with those in DnD 3.5, allowing for some increased flexibility in the game.  While the system does some have some features which some have accused of not working as well as they might, the house rules readily available for DnD 3.5.  One of the key benefits of Arthaus using the D20 system is that they rely on a set of rules that are already tested and translate well to the world they’re developing.

Not everything in WoW RPG is the same as in DnD, though.  One immediately obvious difference is the spread of races in the two games.  While they’re similar on first glance; elves, dwarves, and humans all appear; the inclusion of Orcs and Undead as core manual races is something unique to WoW RPG.  Similarly, many of the feats, such as War Stomp, have direct analogues in the MMORPG rather than being derived from feats present in standard DnD.

For the Horde

An major benefit of playing in the Warcraft universe is that there is a great deal of source material for players and GM’s to draw upon to create stories.  It is possible to play through the events of a dozen novels, three strategy video games, and numerous quests within World of Warcraft and its two expansions.  Despite the wealth of information, though, the world remains open enough to allow innumerable other stories to occur as factions shift allegiance and dangers to the world of Azeroth rise anew.

Perhaps one of the places where WoW RPG is most striking is in its combination of the digital and table top worlds of the Warcraft universe.  While World of Warcraft has certainly paid homage to its fantasy literature and table top roleplaying game roots, the WoW RPG brings the connection full circle, crafting an RPG which pays homage to the digital format game.  Beyond that, WoW RPG shows that rivals often considered to be as bitter as Coke and Pepsi can work together, even if it ends up being temporarily, to create a fun and interesting game.
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For more info: http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main

Upper Deck Entertainment lost WoW TCG publishing rights?

I'm surprised that this didn't come to my attention sooner. I was recently made aware that Blizzard will not be renewing Upper Deck Entertainment's publishing rights for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and Miniatures Game. Various reasons have been plastered all over the internet, but they all seem a tad too extravagant, so I'm sceptical about most of them. The one that really caught my eye was Upper Deck losing a court case to Konami recently, and perhaps this was making Blizzard think twice about Upper Deck.

Blizzard has not yet cancelled these games, meaning that there is still hope for their future. The most likely outcome is that Blizzard will seek a new publisher and grant them publishing rights as soon as possible, so that the games can get back up to running speed.

Upper Deck Entertainment will be publishing their final sets and issuing tournament prizes whilst they still have publishing rights, so with all luck both Wrathgate and Icecrown will be released before Upper Deck's time runs out. However, it does look like Scourgewar will have been the last set to contain Loot cards, meaning that collectors of the TCG will be set back severely.

The tournament crowd is also severely disappointed by these recent announcements. Without Upper Deck it appears that Official Play will be taking a short break until Blizzard either finds a new publisher or publish the games themselves.

The World of Warcraft TCG is very well known for it's extravagant tournaments and prize support which has dragged in a lot of professional players looking to make their mark in this TCG as well.