How did they explain Northrend suddenly appearing?

Publication par ExDementia

Publication par Gnub

I've read quite a bit about the lore of wow and as far as I can tell, Northrend has been there since the maelstrom blew everything apart, and has had a pretty substantial role in the story line ever since. But in TBC and vanilla the map showed nothing but water where Northrend should be. Was there ever any explanation of why all of the sudden they started putting Northrend on the maps? And why you could only just now travel there?
It was always there, it just didn't appear on hour maps as we didn't need it. Same as Azuremyst Isles pre-BC - they were always there, we just didn't knew/care about it then.

Arthas went to Northrend pre TBC right? Chasing Malganis all around?
He did indeed. If you havn't played Warcraft 3 (and especially the expansion "The Frozen Throne"), I'd highly recommend doing that.

Also, why was Arthas frozen on his throne? (thinking back to WoTLK cinematics) What made him come about then and not earlier?
He needed time to plot and think - and probably merge properly with Ner'zhul. He was never really "frozen" in his throne. This is all well-explained in the "Arthas"-book. In the pre-WotLK event he launched a major attack on the rest of Azeroth, forcing us to make the move of traveling to Northrend and begin the siege.

Publication par Adamsm

Publication par Shoto

Maybe some of the islands haven't been discovered yet, and therefore they are not on the maps.
But still, Northrend should have been there :P

Publication par ExDementia

But in TBC and vanilla the map showed nothing but water where Northrend should be.That's called Game mechanics. There are quite a few islands that are not shown on the maps, as we can't access them in game.

I realize that... I was wondering if they offered any explanation for not putting it on the maps before. Thats why i asked in the lore forum :).

I think im going to pick up warcraft 1-3 now, im surprised at how great the writing is in these games.

Publication par Adamsm

It was just game mechanics though; why put it on the maps for Vanilla and BC when your not traveling there? Had they put it on early, people would have realized back in Vanilla that Northrend was going to end up being an expansion. Also; look at your map now: Kezan is not there, Kul Tiras isn't there, and the zones opening up in Cata are currently just blanks, with no names or terrain showing. Again, Game Mechanics.

In Lore, they were there, but seeing as after the Third War, as far as everyone knew, Northrend belonged solely to the Scourge, and there were no other living races up there. So having them on the map doesn't add anything.

Publication par ExDementia

I understand that perfectly. 100%. Got it. I was seeing if they offered any explanation in game to your character as to why it wasn't on any maps before. By in game, I mean as if WoW was the real world, and you weren't just controlling an animated character in a fictional, digital world. :)

Publication par Adamsm

Because in Lore it was on the maps...... and as far as everyone knew, it was a dead waste land, so there would be no point in worrying about it, until Wrath when the Lich King started attacking again. Also:

In Lore, they were there, but seeing as after the Third War, as far as everyone knew, Northrend belonged solely to the Scourge, and there were no other living races up there. So having them on the map doesn't add anything.

Publication par Tenjen

America wasnt on the map for a good number of years.

Infact, i often ask why dont ships travel from the west of kalimdor and east if eastern kingdoms? shorter space right?

NOPE. thats just the map. The lore states that there are lands beyond the veil of those sea's and everyone's who's gone there has not come back.

as to why ulduar projections of azeroth only show the continents on our map?

game mechanics.

Publication par ExDementia

Ok so they never explained it. Thats what I wanted to know. Thanks

Publication par Patty

Ok so they never explained it. Thats what I wanted to know. Thanks

Because they don't need to. Just because we can't access Mount Hyjal currently, doesn't mean that the place vanished. It means that Blizzard have plans for it in the future, like Northrend did and like Hyjal does in Cataclysm.

Publication par 286545

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Publication par Rankkor

Ok so they never explained it. Thats what I wanted to know. Thanks

this is known as "gameplay vs story segregation" when a gameplay mechanic and the lore collide.

Lorewise if u were a cartographer in azeroth u'd have kezan, kul'tiras, and northrend on your maps, but as a wow player you don't because these zones aren't in the game yet.

is just one of those minor nitpicks that must be handwaved for the sake of gameplay.

if they had added northrend to the maps from scratch, people would be confused as to why can't they go there.....

for example look at the gilneas peninsula in today's map, is HUGE, but the gilneas peninsula implemented in cataclysm is much smaller, about half of what it has on size today.

now this doesn't mean that Cartographers lore-wise screwed up the scale of the land, it simply means that the devs didn't really had a proper scale of gilneas when they added it to the maps back on vainilla.

just disregard the map you have in-game as canon, because that ingame map is in a constant state of change, as more zones get added and/or changed. Best example: Ungoro, in vainilla is ok, then in WOTLK out of nowhere that titan building shows up, does it mean it wasn't there before? nope it has allways been there, just not discovered, and in cataclysm another one shows up.

just don't consider the ingame map as canon and voila.

Publication par ExDementia

Lol you guys are hilarious. I understand the game mechanics of it all and i understand why they didn't put it on the maps. I was just wondering if they ever offered an in game explaination for why they didn't. For example, in game: "Hey there young adventurer, we decided to put Northrend on our maps! We didnt before because no one went there! But now everyone does, teehee. For the Horde!"

Thank you!

Publication par 64330

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Publication par Adamsm

We've answered you several times.... I think this is just trolling now.....

Publication par ExDementia

No, I said that i understood that they didn't provide an explanation, but I kept getting lectured on game mechanics, something that doesn't exist in the lore...

Thanks guys, you answered my question.

How did they explain Northrend suddenly appearing?

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