Blizzard has new Lords of War episodes out, and Hearthstone will find its way into the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion.
The Lords of War animated series is Blizzard’s way of getting players to know more about Warcraft lore and better connect with the Iron Hordes’ warlords that they will face in Warlords of Draenor.
“Most World of Warcraft players have never met these guys, done quests with them,” said Chris Metzen, Blizzard senior vice president of story and franchise development at the Warlords of Draenor launch event.
“This series, in its heart, really takes you inside these characters and why you should care ... [and] why you should bring them to justice,” Metzen added.
The first episode was shown at the launch event, and it featured Kargath Bladefist, warlord of the Shattered Hand.
Since then, another two episodes have been released.
Part Two details the story of Grommash Hellscream, warchief of the Warsong clan.
Fans who played Warcraft 3 will recall that Grommash was killed in a valiant battle against the pitlord Mannoroth, but in Warlords of Draenor Grommash is still alive because of his son Garrosh Hellscream and bronze dragon Kairozdormu’s manipulations with time.
The most recent Lords of War episode tells the story of Durotan, leader of the Frostwolf clan, who rejected the Iron Horde’s call for unity to thrive on their own in the cold of Frostfire Ridge.
In other news, Hearthstone will be finding its way into Warlords of Draenor via an NPC and toys.
One of Hearthstone’s designers, Benjamin Brode, will appear as an in-game NPC.
Players can search him out at Lunarfall or Frostwall, and will be able to purchase the Hearthstone Board, a Pack of Hearthstone Cards, and a Winning Hand from him.
This doesn’t mean that players can play Hearthstone in WoW though, but the toys have nifty emotes and animations to make them worth possessing.
Warlords of Draenor will be released on November 13, and will be the fifth WoW expansion in the franchise.
The first expansion was The Burning Crusade (2007), followed by the Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), and most recently, Mists of Pandaria (2012).
Warlords of Draenor is in closed beta now.
According to Blizzard:
“This phase of the beta test focuses on the Tanaan Jungle starting experience and allows players to continue on into Shadowmoon Valley (Alliance) and Frostfire Ridge (Horde). High-level content will become available for testing in future updates. Level-90 character templates are available if you'd like to try a new character, or you can copy over your own high-level characters.”
