The cultures of Azeroth

Happy Vault Day readers,

Hope the RNG gods treat you well.

In this week’s issue, we have:

• Undermine preview

• Lore spotlight

• 5th cartel?

• And more….

News

• New details on player housing in hidden LUA file (Icy-veins)

• PTR update to D.R.I.V.E system (Gamerant)

• Secret 5th cartel? (Gamerant)

Guides

• Official Undermine Preview (Icy-veins)

• New PTR build new mount (Icy-veins)

Spotlight

If you are interested in lore, this channel is worth keeping an eye on…

Real-world inspirations in Wow

With Plunderstorm in full bloom and pirates everywhere, we could look at real-world cultures and our favourites represented in Wow.

Most of our playable races, some NPC races and other factions draw on inspiration from real-world cultures from around the world.

Some pull heavily on these influences while others are more subtle.

I’m not going to cover every influence here but I will highlight some of my favourites.

First of all, let’s start with one of the first races introduced to the franchise: the Orcs.

The Orcs of Wow seem to draw upon inspiration from several areas one of them being the Mongol empire.

The Orc’s disparate tribes that are united under the banner of a united “Horde” that go on to essentially conquer a whole planet is a direct parody of Genghis Khan’s Mongol empire.

The Mongol Empire was formed by individual tribes uniting to form a strong military presence that went on to conquer most of Asia.

The Mongol Empire’s overwhelming military force, use of tactics and mounted soldiers can all be seen represented in Wow’s orcs.

Even the legendary figure of Genghis Khan can be seen repressed in-game by Grommash Hellscream.

There are several differences still including the Mongol’s use of “arrow storm” tactics, use of spies and use of propaganda.

Also, the Orc’s bloodthirsty and warmongering behaviour is an exaggeration of Mongol culture rather than a direct representation.

But the Mongol Empire is a fantastic inspiration to draw upon for a universe built upon war and conflict. especially as an advisory for the more Western-inspired Human nations.

Next are the Dwarves who draw inspiration from various Celtic nations in particular the Scots. Which can be heard most notably in their various voice lines.

The Dwarves of Wow are very reminiscent of Dwarves across the fantasy genre, stout, stubborn, underground preferences, and they like drinking and axes.

While this inspiration is not uncommon in any fantasy setting, World of Warcraft’s more comedic tounge and cheek setting allows the Dwarves to have more heart and depth than many other settings that mainly use the dwarves for a purpose and don’t delve into their culture more than they like drinking and fighting.

The various Dwarven tribes from Wildhammer, Bronzebeard and Dark Iron allow more depth to their culture and look at the natural conflict and animosity which has historically occurred among the Celtic nations.

The Dwarves also cement their position in the alliance by providing smiths, industry and invention. This again draws inspiration from Scotland in particular who have always provided industry and craftsmanship to the wider commonwealth.

Changing pace we have the Tauren, who draw inspiration from several Native American tribes.

Native American themes can be seen across all aspects of the Tauren culture, from their architecture, beliefs, ceremonies and leadership to name a few.

The slower pace of life and connection to nature that the Tauren follow is directly inspired by Native American tribes.

The Tauren’s extensive use of tanning and hunting are also themes seen across North America, this is also seen in their architecture.

I can’t think of many fantasy races or cultures that draw upon this real-world example. Therefore it is a welcome addition to the World of Warcraft and makes the Tauren one of the more unique races.

Making a whole culture for one of many fantasy races for a large game such as World of Warcraft can be a monumental task, so using real-world culture to draw from means that races can feel fleshed out and interesting easily. For me the Tauren encompass this more than most other races. There are so many beliefs, stories and ceremonies that the Tauren can be seen using in game that makes spending time in Thunder Bluff feel like you are witnessing a real-world culture.

Sometimes cultural influences can seem so natural based on the races it is attributed to. The Worgen are an alliance race based on the supernatural mythology of werewolves.

While many cultures around the world have their own interpretation of werewolves one of the most prevalent comes from the Gothic movement of the late 18th century.

This artistic and literary movement sought to focus on the darker aspects of life. Following many wars, disease and industrialisation gothic literature combined supernatural themes with dark, gloomy and tragic ideas. This is where we get one of our more common ideas of the werewolf myth.

Enter the Worgen of World of Warcraft. Their culture is based on 18th-19th century England and the Gothic movement. Where you noble, honest, proud English (or in this case Gilnean) give in and fall pray to their more basic animal instincts to become a Worgen.

The Idea of werewolves or Woregen has always been one of my favourite stories because it shows the humanity of people and how even the most sophisticated of us can fall prey to our base animal instincts. The Worgen go even further by mastering this animal instinct and allowing it to bring out the strength of the Gilean people who are able to control the Worgen form and it makes them stronger and is a benefit as well as part of their culture in game.

Finally, I will mention one culture that is not well represented in game that I wish was attributed to a race and built upon, and that is Egyptian.

While the Tol’vir and Anubisath do represent ancient Egyptian culture (or at least the fantasy stereotype of ancient Egyptian culture) they are very much a Cataclysm throwaway race built for one zone. If layers don’t end up leveling through Uldum they will probably never experience this race and in-game culture, which feels like a waste.

There are so many stories, myths, unique architecture, beliefs etc. that are attributed to this empire that a whole in-game race could easily feel so rich if they draw upon ancient Egyptian culture.

With some recently data-mined Etherial models leading to speculation that they could be easily used as player models, I can’t help but dream that space mummies using the Egyptian culture could be really story-rich and interesting.

But what are your thoughts?

Are there any races that I didn’t mention that you think have great real-world inspirations?

Are there any cultures that you would want to see in the game?

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