Warcraft

Warcraft is a game series created by Blizzard Entertainment. It is Blizzard's oldest mainstream game series, most expansive in terms of lore and, in light of the financial success and spread of the MMORPG World of Warcraft, arguably its most successful. Originally, Warcraft was an RTS series akin to StarCraft, though it has since embraced an MMORPG format.

Relationship to StarCraft
Warcraft: Orcs &amp; Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness were Blizzard's first RTS games in the series. In these games the two sides had units and buildings with identical statistics, save for the spells for casters. Thus, both sides played more or less the same way.

StarCraft represented a departure from the first Warcraft games. While there were now three sides, the major difference was each had units and buildings with unique statistics. This meant each played differently. In addition, one has to play all of the races to get the whole story. This concept was adopted for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos although now with four sides.

During early development, StarCraft used the Warcraft II engine. The initial cold reception, demonstrated by the phrase "Orcs in Space", led to shifts in design and gameplay.

Both StarCraft and Warcraft games make use of Blizzard's Battle.net online gaming service, with the exceptions of Warcraft I and the DOS version of Warcraft II. Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition was released to support Battle.net, run under Windows, and include many features introduced in StarCraft.

Cross-Influence
StarCraft and Warcraft products have included similar gameplay concepts and references to each other as Easter eggs and in-jokes.

Gaming, Culture and Assets

 * Assets from Warcraft III have been released for use in the Galaxy Map Editor.


 * The Warcraft III map Worm War is named similarly to the StarCraft II map Worm Wars.


 * The StarCraft II multiplayer map Defense of the Ancients is named after the popular fan-made Warcraft III multiplayer maps with the same names.


 * The stalker possesses the "Blink" ability, identical to the one used by the night elf warden hero in Warcraft III. Also, the StarCraft II 's blink-then-strike ability can be found in the Warcraft III Editor World Editor, and has been used for some Warcraft III mod-games.

In-Game References and Easter Eggs

 * The development model of the StarCraft II merc compound had a holographic woman doing the night elf dance. The model was later used as a neutral structure in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.


 * In the level The Infinite Cycle of Legacy of the Void, the symbol of the Burning Legion can be seen engraved on one of the stone planets.


 * A bottle in the Hyperion cantina is named Moonwell Tequila, and features the image of a moonwell.


 * In "Harvest of Screams," a model of Arthas Menethil frozen in ice can be seen on the western side of the map.


 * The Co-op Missions mutator during the week of the launch of World of Warcraft: Legion was named "Burning Legion," named after the antagonists of the expansion, the Burning Legion.


 * In StarCraft: Ghost, there are dropships with callsigns Doomhammer and Lightbringer, a reference to Warcraft's Orgrim Doomhammer and Uther the Lightbringer, respectively.


 * The nation of Lordaeron exists in Warcraft. A Cineplex 5000 film is named after it.


 * Grunty is a murloc in marine armor, and appears during the missions "Piercing the Shroud" the roach evolution mission in Heart of the Swarm.

Rewards

 * Pandaren are a panda-like race in Warcraft. The Panda Marine unit portrait exists as a Medal of Valor achievement reward in StarCraft II.


 * Portraits of the tauren marine and night elf banshee and decals of the Alliance and Horde symbols are available for StarCraft II players who bought the Collector's Edition of Wings of Liberty.


 * A portrait of Grunty the murloc marine, as well as a murloc skull (Murlocalypse Now) and seashell (Tide Hunter) decal are available for those who bought a physical or digital ticket to BlizzCon 2010.


 * A portrait of a PanTerran marine (A reference to the Panderan from Warcraft), as well as a Panda face (Pan-Terran) and a Pandaren paw (Fist of Furry) decal are available for those who bought a physical or digital ticket to BlizzCon 2011.


 * Portraits of the Goblin Marine and Worgen Marine and decals of the Worgen Pathfinders and Goblin Quartermasters are available for those who bought the Collector's Edition of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm


 * Portraits of the Infested Orc and Night Elf Templar and decals of the "Leaf it to Panda" and "Way of the Crane" are available for those who bought the collector's or digital deluxe edition of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.


 * A portrait of Stitches in marine armor and a Stiches Hook decal are available for those who bought a physical or digital ticket to BlizzCon 2013.


 * A Portrait of an Infested PanTerran is available for StarCraft II players who bought the Collector's Edition of Heart of the Swarm.


 * Portraits of Blackhand and Grommash are available for those who bought the collector's or digital deluxe edition of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.


 * Portraits of the Gul'dan and Illidan are available for those who bought the collector's or digital deluxe edition of World of Warcraft: Legion.

Achievements

 * The achievement "Hurry Up, It's Raid Night!" is a reference to the World of Warcraft concept of raiding, and doing so on specific nights of the week. A variation of the quote is also said by the terran battlecruiser.


 * A achievement for the mission Dark Whispers is named "World of Warpcraft," a reference to the series World of Warcraft.


 * A achievement for the mission Brothers in Arms is named "For the Alliance," which is the motto of the Alliance in Warcraft.

Quotations

 * In StarCraft: Brood War, Artanis has a poke quote of "This is not Warcraft in space!" (a reference to a derogatory phrase for the StarCraft alpha, which bore great resemblance to Warcraft II). In adition, Artanis also has the quote "What do I look like, an orc?"


 * Artanis and the protoss observer repeat the Warcraft I grunt gag line "Stop poking me!"


 * The stalker in StarCraft II shares many of the same unit responses as the shade and satyr in Warcraft III.


 * Gabriel Tosh has two click-on quotes, "What'chu want?" and "Stay away from the Voodoo", which are from Trolls in World of Warcraft and the Warcraft universe in general.


 * Maar, upon being defeated, will sometimes say "Merely a temporary setback!" This is a reference to a quote made by Kael'thas in the dungeon Magisters' Terrace.


 * The battlecruiser in StarCraft II has a quote of "Let's hurry up and finish this attack, it's raid night," a reference to organized raids in World of Warcraft and in MMORPGs in general.

Gaming, Culture and Assets

 * Zerging is a World of Warcraft term describing attacking one group with an even larger group. The term is inspired by the zergling rush.


 * The Warcraft III map Lost Temple shares its name with a StarCraft map.


 * The Warcraft III map Worm War is named similarly to the StarCraft II map Worm Wars.


 * StarCraft units like the hydralisk, dark templar, marine, and medic make appearances in some famous Warcraft III mod-games like Defense of the Ancients and "DDay: Judgment".


 * s, orc firebats, s, and s appear in Warcraft III as Easter eggs. They are accessible in the Warcraft III World Editor. The hydralisk appears as a controllable hidden unit in the campaign's fourth episode.


 * The Warcraft III map Bomber Command uses many StarCraft units.

In-Game References and Easter Eggs

 * Zhar'doom, Greatstaff of the Devourer is an item in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. The staff looks like a zergling and may also be a reference to Devouring Ones.


 * In Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, infested terrans are referenced through the card Infested Tauren. The card's flavor text makes reference to the Overmind.


 * The homeworld of Warcraft's draenei and eredar is Argus. Argus is a name used for a variety of StarCraft artifacts.


 * The capital of the Warcraft nation of Kul Tiras is Boralus. The capital of the StarCraft planet of Braxis is Boralis.


 * World of Warcraft's felhunters resemble zerglings. The zergling model in Warcraft III is also a reskin of the felhunter.


 * Bob's Guns and Tracey's Armory establishments can be found as Easter Eggs in Warcraft III.


 * Nova's tomb has been spotted in a World of Warcraft location (a strange stone in the Netherstorm). Drysc, a Blizzard World of Warcraft Community Manager later stated that "Some say that under certain conditions you can see her ghost... Pun not intended." A cloaked blood elven figure resembling Nova can also be found near the tomb.


 * A character bearing similarity to Alexei Stukov, Alexi Barov, can be found in World of Warcraft. Barov died and arose as a Forsaken, similar to how Stukov died and arose as an advanced infested terran.


 * Lord Marshal Raynor is a character in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. He is a reference to former Mar Saran marshal Jim Raynor, the main terran hero in the StarCraft series.


 * A character named Ling of the Six Pools appears in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, a reference to the StarCraft "6 pool" strategy of building a spawning pool off of six supply, and rushing the opponent with zerglings (or "lings").


 * Samir is a dark skinned shopkeeper who appears in a variety of zones, and a possible reference to Samir Duran.


 * Kim Won Gi is an NPC with the title "The Fruit Dealer," and is likely a reference to former StarCraft II professional player Kim Won Ki, known as FruitDealer.


 * World of Warcraft has a panther mob named King Bangalash, a possible reference to the panther-like bengalaas.


 * The portrait of Kerrigan appears in the control panel of Goblin Shredders. In the cockpit of the Sky Golem mount, the picture is changed to that of Primal Kerrigan.


 * The boss Primordius in the Throne of Thunder raid has several abilities referencing zerg abilities and upgrades from StarCraft, including Ventral Sacs, Pathogen Glands, and Metabolic Boost.


 * The Worgen have a book named Purity of Essense, a possible reference to the xel'naga concept.


 * A cook named Joeyray appears in World of Warcraft, a possible reference the various characters named Joeyray.


 * The transporters in the zone Suramar use a retextured model of the protoss pylon from StarCraft II.


 * The boss Nythendra in the Emerald Nightmare uses an ability named "Heart of the Swarm," likely a reference to the StarCraft expansion of the same name.


 * In Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft's Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion, the card text of White Eyes reads "My life for Aya!" a play on the protoss saying "My life for Aiur.


 * In Mardum, a skeleton of a zerg creature resembling a hydralisk can be seen, with the skeleton of a Warcraft marine with a blunderbuss sitting next to it.

Battle Pets

 * Zerglings are non-combat pets in the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition.


 * Grunty the murloc marine is available as a pet in World of Warcraft to attendees of BlizzCon 2009, purchasers of the DirecTV pay-per-view of the event, and purchasers of the Internet streamed video of the event. Grunty is a skin for the murloc hero Murky in Heroes of the Storm.


 * A mini-thor pet exists in World of Warcraft for owners of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Collector's Edition.


 * A baneling pet is available World of Warcraft for those who purchased the digital deluxe or collectors edition of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.


 * An archon pet and Legacy of the Void cardback is available for World of Warcraft and Hearthstone players who purchased collector's or digital deluxe edition of Legacy of the Void.

Quests

 * There is a quest in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor named "You Must Construct Additional Pylons", a reference to the quote of the protoss advisor.


 * There is a quest in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm named "In The Rear With the Gear", a reference to a quote by the terran SCV.


 * The Lion's Landing quest chain in Mists of Pandaria has several references to StarCraft culture and common sayings, including We Require More Minerals, Good Luck, Have Fun, Hard Counter, and Worker Harassment.

Achievements

 * The Mists of Pandaria achievement "Heart of the Mantid Swarm" is likely a reference to StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.


 * The Mists of Pandaria achievement "For the Swarm" is likely a reference to a common battlecry of the Zerg Swarm.


 * The Warlords of Daenor Hellfire Citadel raid achievement "Pro Toss" is likely a reference to the protoss race.

Quotations

 * Acolyte: "My life for Aiur...er I mean Ner'zhul!" (a quote of the zealot taking precedence over an Acolyte's worship of the Lich King)


 * Dwarven Mortar Team has the quote "Clearly Tassadar has failed us. You must not." This is a reference to Aldaris in the first mission briefing of StarCraft Episode III)


 * "Power Overwhelming" appears as a Warlock card in Hearthstone, and is the reference to the unit response of the protoss archon. Power Ovewhelming can be heard from a variety of other characters in the series, including the Voidwalker and Dreadlord.


 * In the town of Toshley's Station, the sharpshooters will occasionally say "Somebody call for an exterminator," a reference to a quote of the terran ghost.


 * Sunreaver Constructs in the Isle of Thunder zone will occasionally say the line "CARRIER HAS ARRIVED," a reference to the quote by the protoss carrier.

Other

 * A mythical rock band that plays in-person at BlizzCon occasionally and in-game in World of Warcraft has a Warcraft-themed name. In 2008, the incarnation of the band called 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftains played a song called Terran Up the Night with an exclusively StarCraft-oriented set of lyrics.
 * In StarCraft II, a TV advertisement viewable in the Hyperion's cantina shows that they will rename themselves "Level 800 Elite Tauren Chieftain", and will actively tour the galaxy.