Going through Quake Champions' Lore Codices

Quake Champions Key Art Ranger. Taken from ArtStation.

I don't think I need to tell you how awesome Quake is. There're a lot of maps in Arcade Dimensions waiting for my return, but for now I want to talk about the latest game in the series. To be specifically, about its "hidden" stories about its characters. A lot of people want to see Ranger's return, especially after Blazkowicz and Doomguy got a couple of new games in last few years.

After seeing one of those amazing Imgur albums dedicated to Ranger, I wondered what else could be hidden in Quake Champions. Even though I'm not a fan of these "lore speculations", I think looking at various Lore Codices from the game and try to assemble a full picture that could offer us a glimpse of what will happen in potential new Quake game. I don't think I would be able to make as much justice as those who made those pictures, but I'll give it a try.

Waking up from Classic Dream

Me at the sealed entrance into Hyjal.

Do you ever had a dream? People can dream of many things... Some want new computer that would be much better than their current low budget laptop. Others hope for their financial struggles to disappear. Perhaps you just want to find your inner peace and have a live full of happiness and tranquility. World of Warcraft: Classic was a dream for many people, including me. The one that came true despite all odds.

Of course, it wasn't perfect and I acknowledge that. There're many issues that Blizzard could've avoided and solve much better than they did. I'm aware that many players struggled and didn't had a good time, but that's not what I'm going to focus on. I want to look back at my personal Classic experience and share my thoughts on what made it so wonderful.

Shadowlands: Empty Manipulations with no Soul

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Bolvar Key Art.

You know, I really do hate myself. I have certain issues with self-respect, motivation and all that, so dedicating my time and exposing myself to things I don't enjoy is certainly not healthy. Observing current state of Warcraft franchise is a exhausting experience that makes me miserable. I'm definitely not alone here, but I believe this perspective doesn't get as much attention as it deserves.

What baffles me is how submissive some people are when it comes to current story and lore of this franchise and view it as "Well, you just have to deal with it and be open minded" or "Just turn your brain off and have fun", which I think is just wrong. Is it just me or when you have to force yourself to enjoy this kind of thing, maybe that's a bad idea?

Warcraft always struggled with its lore. There were moments when Blizzard was close to it, like RPG series and another point I'll address in more detail. I'm not denying that. I don't want to ruin the fun for someone else. If you somehow enjoy this: I'm happy for you. I don't, and there're reasons for it that I'll go over in this post.

Happy Thoughts about BlizzConline 2021

BlizzConline 2021 Cover Art.

BlizzConline went by and that was something. Opening Ceremony was quite cringe and it definitely could've been shorter. The absense of Chris Metzen was always noticable and this year its obvious more than ever. They really should find someone to replace him for these events in order to have this vague ghost of old Blizzard.

A Tale of Warcraft Remasters that Almost Happened

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Reimagened Cover Art from Blizzard.

It seems that I just can't stop talking about Warcraft. Sometimes you wonder about what could've been, especially in cases such as Warcraft 3: Reforged. At first, I wanted to talk about it in my previous post, but then quickly realized that this topic deserves its own spotlight. If I remember corrently, there were some "speculations" in the past that Blizzard Entertainment wanted to remaster all three RTS games before Starcraft and I want to talk about it.

True Tragedy of Warcraft 3: Reforged

Warcraft 3: Reforged logo.

Let's talk about Warcraft 3: Reforged. That's not the first time I go on about this 'remaster' released at the end of January 2020. It really showed (yet again) that there's nothing left of Blizzard Entertainment, besides the name... and Heroes of the Storm team. There's only Activision Blizzard now and many people blame them for everything that happened. However, if anything, they actually help of helped Warcraft 3... That's complicated.

It's not to say that they're not to blame: Activision's desire for profit is well-known and it's quite obvious that Classic Games team was damaged by their "cut costs" philosophy. Not to mention the lack of updates and terrible advertisement of Reforged. But, unlike many other people, I want to dive deeper into this situation and give everyone credits where its due: not just publisher, but developers, community and others. 

There's more to this story than simple "it's just higher-ups" and I want to tell all of it in full detail. I did it before, but this time shall be the final one.

Blast from Blizzard's Past

30th Anniversary Blizzard Legends Portrait Set for Starcraft Remastered and Starcraft 2.

Back in November 2020, I was researching more Warcraft 3 stuff and discovered that various old "games" sites from Blizzard were gone since somewhere around September 15-22 of that year. Eventually that led me to another curious discovery I thought someone would catch on soon enough... It didn't happen and I decided to "fix that" personally as it's one of the few actually interesting things to talk about at the moment when it comes to Blizzard Entertainment.

Humble Beginning

Old "Banner" Placeholder Screenshot.

Hello there.

You know, I guess any blog should start off with a brief description of its author. Too bad I don't know what to write about myself. It's not just I don't consider myself to be an interesting person, I always had problems with this type of thing as I don't like to talk about personal stuff. Let's just keep it short then: you can call me Ilko (or Kvaygonn) and this is my Hall.