WOW - Insider Interview: Beyond the Sunwell : World of Warcraft General Discussions

The Insider recently sat down with World of Warcraft lead producer J. Allen Brack and art director Chris Robinson to discuss some of the ideas that influenced the development of Fury of the Sunwell, the most recent content update for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. While we were at it, we also picked their brains about the lessons learned from The Burning Crusade and how they're influencing the design approach for Wrath of the Lich King....

Insider: In terms of lore, the Sunwell is one of the most important sites in Azerothian history. Revisiting this place in the Sunwell Plateau raid and the Magisters' Terrace dungeon doesn't just mark the high point of The Burning Crusade's PvE progression; it also doubles as the final act of the first expansion's story arc. How did this sense of a “grand finale” inspire the artistic direction of these settings?

Chris Robinson: The central theme we wanted to realize with the Sunwell's design was a clear revelation of blood elf culture in its highest form. With Sunwell Plateau and Magisters' Terrace, we also had an opportunity to take the gear that players first experienced in the blood elf starting areas and develop those items to their most evolved form. One way this concept was implemented was in the fully realized blood elf visual style of the Sunwell gear players can obtain from these new dungeons. Since the Sunwell represents the culmination of the blood elf storyline that started with The Burning Crusade, it made sense to take design cues from the blood elf starting gear and translate those into some really epic-looking, clearly blood elven armor and weapons.

J. Allen Brack: This is the first time that Alliance players have had access to the full range of blood elven items and equipment, and for blood elf players, they have the added treat of finally having the epic versions of their newbie gear. Another thing we felt was important in the development of this patch was that this is also the first opportunity for many Alliance players to experience the true blood elven culture, so we really wanted to show off their art and architecture as it would have been at the peak of the elves' power.

Insider: Let's talk about some high-level design concepts for the Sunwell. We already mentioned that the Sunwell dungeon and raid will conclude the blood elf and draenei storylines, at least for the time being. Can you elaborate on that a little more?

J. Allen Brack: Without spoiling too much, it's true that some of the major story arcs of The Burning Crusade reach their conclusion in Fury of the Sunwell. There are big revelations for both the blood elves and the draenei, and players will also learn the fate of the remaining member of the bad guy triumvirate of Illidan, Vashj, and Kael'thas. In addition to Kael'thas, there's a new “ultimate villain” to defeat. Essentially, we're providing players with epic resolutions to The Burning Crusade's most visible story arcs.

Naxxramas comes to mind as an example of what we're aiming for with the Sunwell. Despite being the pinnacle of PvE raiding before The Burning Crusade, Naxxramas didn't actually complete that many of the story arcs presented in the original game. While Naxxramas remains one of the best designed high-end dungeons in World of Warcraft, it still felt like there was untapped potential for what high-end PvE storytelling could be. That's what we set out to do with Sunwell Plateau and Magisters' Terrace: create a dungeon experience that features spectacular gameplay and an awesome conclusion to the expansion's story arc.

Insider: Do you see a lot of parallels between Naxxramas and Sunwell Plateau?

J. Allen Brack: I see Sunwell Plateau more as an evolution of what we did with Naxxramas. Like I said, Sunwell Plateau serves a dual purpose of concluding The Burning Crusade's story as well as representing the ultimate challenge for PvE content. In that regard, you could say it's the Naxxramas of The Burning Crusade. But there are also some noticeable differences reflecting what the team learned from developing Naxxramas: Sunwell Plateau definitely has a more focused layout than the massive expanse of Naxxramas. Naxx's immense size was one of its defining characteristics, and that was not a bad thing in itself. It allowed us to populate the necropolis with some of the game's most memorable raid bosses, but at the same time I think its size made it difficult for some players to fully experience the dungeon. Sunwell Plateau's smaller scale will let more players access the raid and give them a reasonable chance of clearing it before the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.

In addition, we consider Magisters' Terrace to be an integral part of the complete Sunwell package -- a small group experience that, along with the slew of new daily quests, new badge rewards, and new crafted items, shows our continued commitment to providing meaningful, rewarding solo and small group content.

Insider: Speaking of Wrath of the Lich King -- How is Northrend progressing? What are your feelings about going from the world style of Outland to the very different Northrend setting?

Chris Robinson: Coming up with the high concept look of The Burning Crusade was a great experience, and as a team we really enjoyed working in this style. For a designer, it's always a breath of fresh air to have some new elements to play with. So naturally it's great to now have this opportunity to go back to the more traditional elements of fantasy that comprise the look and feel of Wrath of the Lich King, even though this poses new challenges in and of itself. Northrend has a very Nordic, gothic fantasy feel that's a departure from the wild visuals of Outland.

One way we're attempting to reflect these new visual themes is by making sure all the item rewards of Northrend faithfully embody the new style. From the get-go, players will earn trophies of war that are very “Northrendy” -- for example, say, a two-handed axe that's made of a dragon jaw, covered with spikes, leather, and other traditional materials. We want players to see the new gear and think, “Yeah, that guy's been to Northrend.”

Insider: What sort of challenges are there in this artistic transition from The Burning Crusade to Wrath of the Lich King?

Chris Robinson: There have been several areas where we've run into issues that are new and unique to Wrath of the Lich King. Take Lake Wintergrasp for example, which is an outdoor PvP zone with all-new gameplay features. This is the first time we've had to deal with destructible buildings, which is uncharted territory from a graphical and gameplay perspective. We usually try to give environments an aesthetic look that's almost like a painting or an illustration; but how do we create that with an environment that can change radically? Along those lines, how do we keep making things look increasingly better within the technical boundaries of our intended system requirements? It's a constant challenge that we need to always be aware of.

J. Allen Brack: Another challenge was how to balance Northrend's cold northern climate with the need for diverse environments. We can't just cover everything in snow and ice, because players would get bored of that quickly. But if we approach the snow and the ice as environmental clues for the player, we can actually use it as a powerful storytelling tool. There's a story arc that ties all the zones of the expansion together, and the snow becomes a visual component of this common theme. The relatively green and “temperate” starting areas will be fairly densely populated, but as the story progresses we expect players to get more spread out. By slowly adding more and more snow, we can enhance that growing sense of isolation and dread. It's very much what Arthas must have experienced when he wandered the wastes of Northrend after destroying Mal'Ganis.

Chris Robinson: Then there's the fact that the Warcraft universe is not just
gritty and dark. One of Warcraft's trademarks has always been the addition of little funny, whimsical details that round out the universe's atmosphere. So while there are death knights, zombies, demons, wars, and all sorts of terribly dark elements in this universe, there are also light moments that balance things out. The tuskarr are a good example of this. Although players will see that the tuskarr are much more than just comic relief, we did try to give them some characteristics that would definitely fall into the “whimsical” category. For example, their “dragonstomp” animation is actually a “cannonball.”

J. Allen Brack: That reminds me of another example: the turtle boat. If you look at Northrend, the continent is shaped a little bit like a crescent, with the two starting zones, Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra, at the ends. There's a port located in the middle of the coast between these zones, and we wanted to have an easy method for traveling between the zones. The method of transportation we settled on is a giant turtle with a deck mounted on top of its shell, very much like the turtles from Warcraft II. It's simple, effective, grounded in Warcraft lore, but it's also one of those light moments that are so important to create the iconic Warcraft feel.

Insider: Let's go back to Fury of the Sunwell for a moment. Looking back at The Burning Crusade from day one to the conclusion of the main story arcs in Fury of the Sunwell, what are the lessons you've learned, and how are they affecting Wrath of the Lich King?

Giants of Northrend
The Northrend giant is another example of the marriage between the epic and lighthearted themes that influence the look and feel of Wrath of the Lich King.

These terrifying creatures are the largest to date in World of Warcraft. As
a frame of reference, the fel reavers stomping around Hellfire Peninsula would only come up to a Northrend giant's chest. They have learned to adapt to the threat of constant attack by creatures much, much smaller than themselves by doing what any sensible giant would do -- cover their shins and feet liberally with salvaged items such as castle doors strapped to their feet or dozens of shields covering their ankles. Look closely, and you might see the skeleton of an unfortunate gnome who didn't get out of the giant's path fast enough.

However, if you're close enough to see it, that might be a bad thing.... J. Allen Brack: We now feel that the main villains of The Burning Crusade could have been a little more visible from the moment you entered Outland. For example, players could go all the way to level 70 without catching a glimpse of their nemeses. In Wrath of the Lich King, we're going to engage players in the conflict with the primary antagonist from the beginning. By giving them Arthas as a clearly visible arch-enemy to focus on, we also create a stronger sense of purpose and a narrative pull that will continue to increase as the player progresses. Starting from your first step off the boat in Northrend, you will be constantly reminded about why you're there, who you're up
against, and who's running the show.

Aside from storytelling, another practical difference is that this time players will have the choice of two completely different starting areas, as I mentioned earlier: Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord. This straightforward but important choice will set the tone for their gameplay and affect how they progress through the story. As an added benefit, this also increases the replayability of the whole experience of setting foot in Northrend: if you feel like it, after leveling up with one character, you can go back with an alt and see what the other starting area is like.

Chris Robinson: An important lesson for the artists was that it's okay to take chances. The art style of The Burning Crusade was very colorful and high concept - a significant departure from the familiar geography of Azeroth - but the response we got was overwhelmingly positive. We took a chance, but ultimately it paid off. If we go far out there, people will respond. Hopefully, we'll see another positive reaction to the quite dramatic departure in visual style that Northrend represents. While we're making sure that Northrend looks and feels like a part of Azeroth, there are still going to be some surprises for players who played Warcraft III. For example, we are doing some seriously cool stuff with the nerubian zones right now... but I don't want to spoil too much here. Make sure to check it out when you get to Northrend!

Insider: Thank you very much for your time!