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Warcraft encyclopedia opened

Blizzard begins information dump for all things Warcraft on WOW site; first edition focuses on elves of Azeroth.

Have you ever wanted to ask what the Twisting Nether was but didn't ask for fear of being pegged as a noob? The answers to potentially embarrassing and reputation-breaking questions like that will soon be easy to find, thanks to Blizzard Entertainment.

Blizzard, publisher of the Warcraft franchise, which includes the ever-popular World of Warcraft, is logging all the lore of the series into the Warcraft Encyclopedia. The online reference guide features definitions of things only hardened Warcraft vets would know, including the various histories between the series' many races, the heroes from the franchise, and the dictionaries featuring definitions of basic Darnassian and Thalassian phrases.

The encyclopedia is a work-in-progress and includes information from all the Warcraft games and novels and from the pen-and-paper role-playing game. Blizzard hopes to update the tome several times each year.

73 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Nov 11, 2006 10:24 pm GMT

    I hope that it will become bigger and better

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Nov 10, 2006 4:26 am GMT

    It doesn't look like an encyclopedia for now. Too small.

  • jimmy-fly

    Posted Nov 8, 2006 5:02 am GMT

    cool, but i always just used Wowwiki

  • Zevy

    Posted Nov 7, 2006 2:05 pm GMT

    sweet

  • gertthegamer

    Posted Nov 7, 2006 4:46 am GMT

    interesting

  • DarkArgonanth

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 5:41 pm GMT

    lol....

  • -Unreal-

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 8:08 am GMT

    Hardly encyclopedic in size as it is.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 6:14 am GMT

    kind of worthless.

  • ShweyGamer

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 6:02 am GMT

    www.wowwiki.com

  • cuitexcutei

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 5:10 am GMT

    Yay now I don't have to be called a noob anymore xD even though I don't play World of Warcraft..

  • Spikeyisard

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 4:33 am GMT

    For those that play the game and haven't played the Previous Warcraft Strategy games which generally take you through the Lore of the game this will be a great insight to the story line and how all has unfolded thus far. Something I will probably have a read through myself at one point.

    Those that slate the game and haven't played it before.... play it before you slate it. You don't have to play every day to enjoy the game, lots of people to meet and talk to, generally friendly wherever you go and with TBC coming out gear wise it will allow people to catch up for End game content.

  • Romanticide

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 2:31 am GMT

    alcoholhamster
    why doesnt someone just start a wiki?
    like, then it would be ok for said encyclopedia to exist, if its fan based.
    but a company making one...

    There actually is one already, fan made and very in depth.

  • Rhubarb9

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 12:16 am GMT

    hope they'll explain how grom hellscream beccame warchief at the age of 14

  • kickflip613

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 10:50 pm GMT

    sounds pretty lame.... i mean it could be useful for people new to the game, since in the 2 years its been out there has been alot of people getting real in depth into the story, when it came out people were just like, damn that statue looks sweet, now people are trying to figure out why it is there. And to all you WoW bashers commenting, i used to be one of you, until i actually gave the game a chance. I used to bash my friends who would spend hours on end playing WoW on their computers. I looked at it, and pretty much didnt understand why this game is so good, i didnt understand all the specifics and terms my friends where saying, so i thought it was stupid. Then a while later everyone was raving about this game still, and then i got grounded for a month, and then i go get the game because i wanted to try it out after all this talk, and i fell in love with it, the community and amount of depth in this game is truly unbelievable, but i didnt not have a life while because i play WoW i still hung out with my friends on the weekends and i still do everything i did, but i do spend a fair amount of time playing WoW and i play it with my friends also. so all you people who say bad things about the game, u need to play it before u say a damn word, i learned my lesson, if u actually play the game and give it a chance u will love it, thats what happens to most who play it....

  • alcoholhamster

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 9:00 pm GMT

    why doesnt someone just start a wiki?
    like, then it would be ok for said encyclopedia to exist, if its fan based.
    but a company making one...

  • Kenithdry

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 5:32 pm GMT

    oh my... the sad part is that it will probably work because people are afraid of being "pegged as a noob". How come I see a websters "WoW Edition", this game is getting too big.

  • Korubi

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 1:18 pm GMT

    Damn...Blizzard doesn't even know what to do with all the money they're making.

  • vaejas

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 11:19 am GMT

    Excellent, now I can be immersed vicariously.
    If it helps people RP better, I endorse it.

  • Romanticide

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 9:52 am GMT

    "lol_waffles
    Hey GameSpot.....what's with all the pointless news reports? First you report on some WoW guild getting banned (who cares?) and now a Warcraft Encyclopedia."

    over 7 million WoW players. That's a possible 7 million people who care.
    Now pipe down.

  • CivicGSR

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 9:35 am GMT

    I'm jealous of you nerds...I wish i had the time to play WOW; maybe when i retire in 30-40 years

  • Dinghy_Dog

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 7:03 am GMT

    awesome. geeks like me can rejoice. thanks for clarifying -HCMF-

  • -HCMF-

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 6:22 am GMT

    Geeks of the world rejoice....

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Nov 5, 2006 1:39 am GMT

    Isn't there a wikipedia article devoted to that already?

  • SmallPower

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 8:30 pm GMT

    one of the most useless compendia of online "knowledge," and that's saying a lot - Blizzard yet again ftw

  • fez_soni

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 7:07 pm GMT

    I agree with QualityJeverage. Hatefulmidget even tho i don't play WoW, it in itself is a good game. I've played the 10 day free trial and was hooked for the full week. And yet i've never heard people say "omg u got bbq pwned" at school or anywere for that matter.

    P.S. If you hate WoW so much then y is your pic of a wow character. God dam hypocrite.

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 7:03 pm GMT

    "Have you ever wanted to ask what the Twisting Nether was but didn't ask for fear of being pegged as a noob? The answers to potentially embarrassing and reputation-breaking questions like that will soon be easy to find..."

    I lawled at that.

  • QualityJeverage

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 6:46 pm GMT

    HATEFULMIDGET:"Pfft...the fact that people pay monthly fees to play WoW in itself is soooo god dam sad. This is just a new low of sadness in my opinion. You quest and grind to 60, then all you do is raid and pvp to get your little man some nice armour and your paying £9 ($15) a month for that. The people who are addicted to that game seriously need to get a life, but i guess at the end of the day it is your decision on whether you want to waste your money, or not, on this commercialised piece of crap game. And also I hate it the way the pathetic community in wow says think like "omg u got bbq pwned" and "rofl noob" and stuff like that. Seriously u bloody nerds speak normally..not like sum 2 year old." END QUOTE

    Why do people (Me included) pay 15$ a month to play WoW? We think it's fun, that's why. We can afford it, so we pay for something we enjoy. Is that such a crime?

    Also, everyone talks about how WoW is so addictive and dangerous, but personally I think it's being blown way out of proportion. Yes, there are people who play the game far too much, but that's a very small percentage. I know a lot of people who play, and who, believe it or not, have lives OUTSIDE of WoW. Yes, contrary to the Stereotype we WoW players get, it IS possible for us to have lives. WoW is just a game that we feel is worth paying for. So please, get off your pedestal and have some respect.

  • Legend_O_Dragon

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 6:40 pm GMT

    sanchezz. I have one kid in my Java class thats talks about WoW all the time. Very annoying. He says stupid thing like "Im a lvl 40!!! HOORAY!" or my favorite "Me and my guild were owning it up last night. We pwned that dungeon!"

  • sancezz

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 5:33 pm GMT

    "Have you ever wanted to ask what the Twisting Nether was but didn't ask for fear of being pegged as a noob? The answers to potentially embarrassing and reputation-breaking questions like that will soon be easy to find"

    ...LOL...embarrassing, yeah, becuase it's so hard to ask someone you don't even know or have to look at online something like that, isn't it?

    Also Axel, That's true, i havn't met anyone in public who has said they play this game either.

  • scarybarry

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 3:17 pm GMT

    Wow, nestea_king...you sure do know a lot about the world and culture of MMO's for someone who professes to hate them so much. How did you gain so much insight into such a so-called pathetic world without spending any time in it yourself? MIght there be (to use your own phrasing), like, 10 billion people out there who don't game who think that you, since you are visiting a gaming site and have even gone so far as to register with that site so that you could post comments, are therefore on equal nerd-footing with all those who play games like WoW? You must be a gamer (why else would you be here?), so where in the heck do you get off judging gamers? Just because they like a game that you don't? To a non-gamer, you are both equally nerdy. I cannot believe the size of the stone you just threw at your own glass house. What a maroon.

    Edit: Oops...it looks like I was actually responding to Hateful Midgets' comments and could not discern them from nestea_kings. Suggestion to Nestea_king: MAKE IT OBVIOUS WHEN YOU'RE QUOTING!

  • nestea_king

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 3:07 pm GMT

    HatefulMidget
    Pfft...the fact that people pay monthly fees to play WoW in itself is soooo god dam sad. This is just a new low of sadness in my opinion. You quest and grind to 60, then all you do is raid and pvp to get your little man some nice armour and your paying £9 ($15) a month for that. The people who are addicted to that game seriously need to get a life, but i guess at the end of the day it is your decision on whether you want to waste your money, or not, on this commercialised piece of crap game. And also I hate it the way the pathetic community in wow says think like "omg u got bbq pwned" and "rofl noob" and stuff like that. Seriously u bloody nerds speak normally..not like sum 2 year old.

    LOL, how is it sad to pay for something you will enjoy to such an extent that it replaces the lives of some? It is not a piece of crap game, it is the greatest MMORPG of all time. You're opinion is one of like 10 billion. Also what does it matter if people go rofl, or LOL? They're just abbreviations for sentences. What would you rather write, laugh out loud, or LOL? Kind of like how you say "u" instead of you, its the exact same thing. "Seriously u bloody nerds speak normally..not like sum 2 year old." You say "u bloody nerds" like you're not one yourself, most of the people on this site are. Its a game site, and you're posting on forums about an encyclopedia of a game.

    Besides all of that, it seems like you like WoW yourself because of your avatar.

  • JunoFallon

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 3:01 pm GMT

    Sweet! Cool idea.

  • Raging-Cashew

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 2:40 pm GMT

    I bet hatefulmidget plays the game and says all that stuff to make him feel better about himself hahahahah

  • Newnab

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 2:40 pm GMT

    While I can appreciate some people like this game and all... Is an ENCYCLOPEDIA necessary? I mean.. Seriously. An encyclopedia for a game is just... Lame. If they want to know lore, let them play past games, or read books/graphic novels (A la: the Halo universe). Making an encyclopedia just seems like a cheap lame thing to do, lumping everything together in one big thing with no real purpose other than to make it even MORE valid for someone to call someone a noob in the game. "You dont know that? Pfff. You're a noob. OH! And you're EVEN MORE A NOOB BECAUSE IT WAS IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA, YOU SHOULD REALLY KNOW IT!"

    Maybe it's just me.

  • Romanticide

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 1:47 pm GMT

    HatefulMidget: Nobody cares about you or what you think. Please stop trolling.

  • lol_waffles

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 1:47 pm GMT

    Hey GameSpot.....what's with all the pointless news reports? First you report on some WoW guild getting banned (who cares?) and now a Warcraft Encyclopedia.

  • webby1

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 12:41 pm GMT

    axel2374 this game is so addicting you probably wont see a lot of them in public anyway

  • NeoGamer741

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 9:15 am GMT

    There is already a well done WoW wiki, hopefully they at least credit them.

  • GoSpeedGo

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 8:55 am GMT

    Hey axel I play WoW. Oh my god I'm such a nerd, I'm admitting it in public! LOLOL.

  • JDO

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 8:35 am GMT

    I used to play WoW, will probably pick it up again when the expansion comes out and this encyclopedia will help all new plays as well as people like me that come back to the game after over a year hiatus.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I'd like to address some of the, I'm so board that I'll read this news and make a stupid comment, comments.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Like this comment: "Is this really news?"
    That from the player that has part of a console game name on the front of their gamespot name. I'll bet if this were news about that game it's be news to you, right?
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Or this comment: "Nerds."
    Now that one takes the stupid cake, this is coming from someone that is reading news on-line from a gaming site on Saturday morning. Ever heard the comment "the pot calling the ketel black"?

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    You ever think some people shouldn't be allowed internet access, or maybe not be allowed to post anything, sort of like read access only?

  • axel2374

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 8:19 am GMT

    To think that many peopel are giving up their "true" lives to play this for hours and hours on end. I have yet to meet someone in public that admits to playing this game, LOL.

  • ffmusicdj

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 7:34 am GMT

    Is this really news?

  • SunnySimantov

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 7:30 am GMT

    Am I a less-worthy WoW player if I don't know any of these phrases? Nevertheless, I'm not a WoW player either, so...

  • Blazer88

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 3:35 am GMT

    Encylopedia Warcraftia And I am afraid that WoW has pretty much made me not like Warcraft anymore because it is all you ever hear about now. Boring. The game was good like when it first came out but now it is just plain old and tired. There a many much better games out there.
    Even more shocking that people actually think the expansion will be good when it clearly the weakest first expansion probably ever to be made for an MMO. Adding just new areas is like so blah, and races aren't that big a deal in the game. What happened to new classes? Subclasses? Yawn-tastic!

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Nov 4, 2006 2:20 am GMT

    Hey. . . a Warcraft Encyclopedia! Neat. . . must be a fulltime job. . what with Blizzard raping the lore and changing it whenever it suits them.

    It's neat and all but, honestly, it's pointless. They will no doubt change more major things in the future that contradict things in past games.

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