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Back in 2008, Blizzard Entertainment issued a voice over casting call for a new Jim Raynor. Blizzplanet spear-headed a petition online to rally fans in order to ask Blizzard Entertainment to reprise Robert Clotworthy once more into the role of Jim Raynor. Fans were passionate about this, and Robert was called to service the community. We thank Chris Metzen, Micky Neilson and everyone involved in Voice casting for listening.

It is 2014, and a new cause is worthy of your calling to voice your opinion, wants and needs. It is been a long time since we saw activity on new novels, comics and mangas. So far we have had War Crimes (May 2014) and Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde (July 2013) and Dawn of the Aspects (November 2013). So far for Warlords of Draenor on the print media all we have is War Crimes as an intro, but nothing can be seen in the horizon for whatever we will face in in-game storylines.

We need novels, comics, mangas based on the game itself (in addition to the tie-in intro). The novels shouldn’t be exclusively a mechanic to sell the game. These should also be to expand the lore and to flesh out what we experience within the game itself as a medium.

You enjoyed reading about the bombing of Theramore in Tides of War (Aug 2012) and then living the experience in-game in the scenario. The game and the novel were masterfully part of each other. We need more of that with Warlords of Draenor, and future expansions.

Tie-in novels are good to introduce how and why the expansion is happening before it happens, but we also need a follow up, and to learn more in-depth some of the storylines and situations happening within the game. The game gives you some general details in the quest text, but a novel, a manga, or a graphic novel can do much more to expand that in-game story.

Instead of seeing one or two novels per expansion, we should be seeing 4-6 novels. Why is this medium not expanded to its potential? Why only one exclusive-writer? I love Christie Golden. I want more novels from her. Let’s have Richard A. Knaak, Nate Kenyon, and other authors pumping novels, comics, short stories, mangas.

If something isn’t selling, let’s change the dynamics and marketing rather than stopping the printers. I do know that Blizzard Creative has something in the oven, but it doesn’t seem to be enough or fast enough. No info has come in a long time. No panels at New York Comic Con since 2012. San Diego Comic Con was devoid of any novels or comics based on any of the three franchises. Signs that there is something wrong. We don’t know what that is, but we won’t let unknowns dictate our wants and needs.

Participate in the petition to Blizzard Entertainment … M04r Cowbell, M04r Novels, M04r Comics! (<-- follow the link)

PETITION

Petition to Blizzard Entertainment … M04r Cowbell, M04r Novels, M04r Comics!

As fans of Blizzard Entertainment, we have enjoyed reading novels and comics books based on Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo for many years.

We describe it as “crave” when we anxiously wait for any sign of an upcoming new novel or comics after visiting Amazon or other outlets .

Once targeted with our minds, we wait every single month, and every single day for that product to arrive at our doorstep or at the closest library to sate our hunger for lore.

NOVELS

Recently, the latest novels haven’t made it into the New York Times Best Selling list, and that’s unfortunate; but we are still a horde of lore fans wanting m04r and willing to trade our gold for it.

Blizzard and their partners Simon & Schuster, Inc.’s Pocket Star/Gallery Books used to have novels of all franchises lined up for us. Nowadays, we see San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con with barely any presence of novel line-ups.

It is all coming out as digital short stories on the website, or animated shorts like Shao-Hao or Lords of War. Or the Blackhand comics. Those are welcome — make no mistake. However, these should be complementary to our reading experience, not a replacement. Doesn’t mean it has been on purpose.

Another quasi-complaint about novels is — why publish a novel as a tie-in only when there is a new expansion coming? We, the readers, welcome any sort of lore material based on past games, or other periods of time of interest that could be fleshed out. Even recent events in-game could be fleshed out to give more depth. One example was Curse of Worgen, which showed you word by word some of what you experienced in-game, and you could also see what happened behind-the-scenes while you were executing those missions.

COMICS

Those of us who ventured into the World of Warcraft Comics loved the crave feeling. I would check my mailbox every month for the next issue, or go to Comixology to buy my digital version.

Out of the blue, Wildstorm was dissolved, and the World of Warcraft Comics was published under the DC Comics logo. Shortly after DC addressed all non-DC products as Graphic Novels — and our Horde series and Alliance series was no more. Instead, they published Dark Riders and Bloodsworn. The stories were ok, but only one arc and it wasn’t ongoing. Graphic Novels are welcome, but these can never replace the monthly experience. They are a complement. An in-between treat.

With all the DC administrative and marketing changes, some essence was lost. Chris Metzen & Flint Dille have had a great ride at IDW Publishing with the Transformers. I think IDW could be the new home for Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo on a monthly basis, and with Graphic Novels.

Don’t just write “agreed” or “signed”. Pour your feelings in. Answer these questions with as many words as possible.

PETITION

As a community, we have the strength to make things happen. All it takes is to share your voice. We want more novels. We want more ongoing Comics series. We want more Graphic Novels. We want to check Amazon every month and see lots of products on queue. We want the excitement of waiting for those. We need a bigger Creative Team to handle those. Share this petition with your family, with your friends, with your forum communities, with your Reddit communities, your Facebook followers, your Twitter followers. Spread the word. Share the word. Share your thoughts with Blizzard.

1. What have previous novels and comics done for you and what do you thought about them?

2. Why do you want the Blizzard Creative Team to write more novels and comics?

3. What would you love to see from Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo on novels, comics, and manga?