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Forbes Interview with Lydia Bottegoni and Terran Gregory on BFA's Story and Cinematics

posted 2018/11/26 at 12:56 PM by perculia

Click here to read the full interview!

Anduin and Saurfang may have teamed up in "Lost Honor" but Sylvanas will be a worthy adversary:

Somebody commenting on the Lost Honor cinematic said, “You know. It feels a little unfair that you’ve got these two very powerful men that are gonna go after Sylvanas.” My response was, “Oh, clearly you don’t understand Sylvanas, because I would not use the word ‘unfair…’ but it’s gonna be fun.”

Blizzard is experimenting more with quiet moments in cinematics--it's not all flashy. Think cinematics like "Old Soldier."

The Warbringers cinematic series featured three women--Jaina, Azshara, and Sylvanas. This happened organically, as they're all famous characters in Warcraft's history and it was their time to shine after expansions that focused on Orcs (Warlords) and Legion.

The Warbringers was definitely an example of once we had explored those stories, we looked back on it, going, “Wow. Look. They’re all women.” But it was hindsight. Like, “Whoa. Look at that. Look what happened.” It was definitely not a goal from the beginning at all. It’s just that the storylines of Sylvanas, and Jaina, and Azshara were all intersecting through this storyline. It was joyous… “Whoa. That’s cool.” But it was definitely not checking a box.

I think on a grander scheme, in terms of the play space and the game itself, a lot of the early stories of Warcraft that began in ’94 were heavily orc versus human. It’s these male centric human armies versus these male centric orc armies. But over the years, those storylines have played out for the most part. Warlords of Draenor, for instance. That was paying off stories that had been established 15 years earlier.

Now, in Battle for Azeroth, we’re in a much freer space to start bringing in newer characters. That opportunity to bring new characters into the story is definitely helping fuel what we’re seeing now.

Most of the visual expressions seen in the BFA high-resolution cinematics, like the faces of Saurfang, Sylvanas, and Anduin, are a result of a hand keyed process, drawn by animation artists. There is some motion capture design, but mostly referential.

Blizzard experimented with adding more real-time cutscenes, that drive the narrative forward but also include your character in the action. They're pleased with how these have enhanced the narrative and will look to include more of them in the future.

Blizzard is careful to balance hyper-realistic technology with the in-game painterly visuals we're all used to seeing. On certain occasions, they've held back to maintain consistency.

The Warcraft movie was of course discussed. When asked if there was potential for more storytelling beyond the strict game universe, Blizzard replied "The Warcraft movie, Legendary Pictures licensed that property for that movie and they still have an involvement in the licensing of the property. There’s a partnership there and there has to be work in tandem with Legendary. We are talking to them about it. There’s a lot of complexity." Perhaps Blizzard is looking to incorporate stories from the abandoned movie sequel into other mediums?

Virtual Reality would be cool, allowing players to walk around Azeroth "IRL" with a headset, but still a ways off!

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Comment by BigBadDadSomebody commenting on the Lost Honor cinematic said, “You know. It feels a little unfair that you’ve got these two very powerful men that are gonna go after Sylvanas.” My response was, “Oh, clearly you don’t understand Sylvanas, because I would not use the word ‘unfair…’ but it’s gonna be fun.”Comment by GrimmHookeI personally love the cutscenes where my characters are actually a part of them, and I'm stoked to hear they're doing more of that!Comment by YraylThat last sentence, I cried. Like, Ready Player One VR in AZEROTH *tears*Comment by DrorithInteresting Article! :DComment by NetheriusSomebody commenting on the Lost Honor cinematic said, “You know. It feels a little unfair that you’ve got these two very powerful men that are gonna go after Sylvanas.” My response was, “Oh, clearly you don’t understand Sylvanas, because I would not use the word ‘unfair…’ but it’s gonna be fun.”Comment by KarigalRemoved. I like characters for how interesting their story is, not their gender. Does WoW need the addition of characters defined by their skin color, or their sexuality? No, it doesn't.Comment by NetherdiverI don't see a problem with having mostly female characters. I'd prefer it to be more equal and to have an emphasis on quality rather than gender, but games have had mostly male characters for decades. What's wrong with flipping it over?Comment by SeleriMore than one female character in the spotlight is clearly a radical feminist agenda.Comment by NinturaDid you not finish reading the rest of the article?

Did you all miss this entire section?

"The Warbringers was definitely an example of once we had explored those stories, we looked back on it, going, “Wow. Look. They’re all women.” But it was hindsight. Like, “Whoa. Look at that. Look what happened.” It was definitely not a goal from the beginning at all. It’s just that the storylines of Sylvanas, and Jaina, and Azshara were all intersecting through this storyline. It was joyous… “Whoa. That’s cool.” But it was definitely not checking a box.

I think on a grander scheme, in terms of the play space and the game itself, a lot of the early stories of Warcraft that began in ’94 were heavily orc versus human. It’s these male centric human armies versus these male centric orc armies. But over the years, those storylines have played out for the most part. Warlords of Draenor, for instance. That was paying off stories that had been established 15 years earlier.

Now, in Battle for Azeroth, we’re in a much freer space to start bringing in newer characters. That opportunity to bring new characters into the story is definitely helping fuel what we’re seeing now."Comment by ArradawnSomebody commenting on the Lost Honor cinematic said, “You know. It feels a little unfair that you’ve got these two very powerful men that are gonna go after Sylvanas.” My response was, “Oh, clearly you don’t understand Sylvanas, because I would not use the word ‘unfair…’ but it’s gonna be fun.”Comment by Jakerling777I don't think there is a feminist agenda, it would have been really easy for Blizz to answer that question differently and say that they have all these female leads to try and balance things out and bring in equality and diversity. They straight up said it was a happy accident :). I hate Jaina because she is Alliance, not because she has boobs. Same goes for the people that hate Sylvanas, I think its less to do with her gender and more (correct me if I'm wrong) to do with this tree incident I keep hearing about and something about blight? I'm not sure, its not very clear..... :). I do hope they stay away from all that though. Make characters with quality that fit, not for some quota, and I think they will.Comment by LostelfThis stuff’s getting way too political.

Maybe focus on telling a good story instead of what the characters have dangling between their legs. God knows the story isn’t great. Doesn’t matter what gender the cast is.Comment by ArrayaMen, Women... who cares. As long as its organic and happens in a really consistent way instead of just bringing in all this shizzle that keeps going around irl just because they feel the need to check a box.

Like someone mentioned, just focus on making a great story and everything else will come naturally.

WoW is diverse. You have humanoid cows, pandas, wolves, blue spacegoats, green aliens, and a plethora of other races. There is really no application of what happens in the real world here.Comment by MadcocogirlReally interesting how most guys are okay with having 99% male dominated stories, but suddenly there's a slight mention of a pleasant surprise at a coincidence of finally having a female dominated front line of the current WoW story by the story tellers, it's now all "WE DONT CARE ABOUT IF UR A GIRL OR NOT!"

It's really easy for you guys to rarely experience a lack of relatability to a character cause it's almost a given male characters always dominate most games and are always the front in stories, with maybe 1-2 female leads in the mix. It's now finally the girls' turn so let us enjoy it for a bit before we go back to predominantly male again, okay, thanks...Comment by MatrixwolfI personally have no problem with female characters in the lead, didn't even notice it. wouldn't have a problem if the 998 other genders were main characters either.Comment by ScolioResetWarbringers is certainly a little happy accident but most people don't even know what Jaina, Sylvanas and Azshara are truly capable of. One is searching her place back to this world yet filled by vengeance, the other is toying with death and doesn't care about anybody and the last is INDEED a slave/queen waiting for an opportunity to strike. The worst thing would be poorly characters that don't evolve or grow up with the action going forward... or change personality because THERE are people with agenda. We just need to truly see these writer's actions and how they'll eventually respond to criticism. It happens in all forms of media.

I think we're too early into the storyline to truly discuss the implications of the Warbringers which means that this interview is completely irrelevant. The same kind of interview could have been done during Warlords about Yrel... and look where this expansion ended. So let's just wait and we'll bring it back once 8.2 or 8.3 officially drops.Comment by IgnisVenomThe interviewer blew the female cast thing way out of proportion. It was obvious that the writers didn't actually really care about the female cast thing, they just looked back to it and thought "huh, cool, didn't notice that" which I think is fine, they said they focus on telling a good story and not the gender of characters, absolutely great, I support that, I don't care about the characters' gender as long as it isn't shoved down my throat.

But the interviewer made it seem like this was a new age for World of Warcraft and how this was revolutionary, the time of men is up, it's so great, it means A LOT when in reality, in the very interview we can see that it doesn't really mean anything and the writers don't care too much. And they kept on asking the same question about the female cast over and over again and got the same answer. Like... what was the point, exactly?

It's dumb, the interview was wasted on pushing forth a point that's invalidated by the very same interview and then they made the title related to it, they made the entire intro related to it, etc. etc. I wouldn't be so salty about this if they just didn't make that big of a deal out of it, it's so obvious that the writer of the interview is trying so hard to appeal to the readers by shoving in the point about female empowerment when in the context of this interview it's completely out of place.Comment by djinnrikuThis entire article is just one big female circlejerk. It's kind of sickening.

I like characters for how interesting their story is, not their gender. Does WoW need the addition of characters defined by their skin color, or their sexuality? No, it doesn't.Comment by Automag"Virtual Reality would be cool, allowing players to walk around Azeroth "IRL" with a headset"

No, it wouldn't. Especially since VR doesn't exist.Comment by LontThis is not the kind of thing I lose my mind over but as a night elf I felt I did need to point out one thing. Tyrande wasn't mentioned. There are some women on that list who have never been seen before BfA, and most likely won't be around after it's done. There is at least one who might well become very important in the future, but hasn't done all that much yet. I doubt anyone in the forums doesn't know Tyrande's CV. Not only has she been around since before WoW, she is a racial leader and one of the most powerful characters on Azeroth.Considering the events that kicked off this expansion and the role she is going to play going forward it is somewhat mind blowing that she wasn't on the list. Once again: not a big deal. I just thought it was interesting.

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Forbes Interview with Lydia Bottegoni and Terran Gregory on BFA's Story and Cinematics

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