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 succesful. Originally, Warcraft was an RTS series akin to StarCraft, though has since embraced an MMORPG format.

Relationship to StarCraft
Warcraft: Orcs & 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. This concept was adopted for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos although now with four sides.

During 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.

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

Gaming

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


 * Night elf wisps in Warcraft III transforms into structures and is lost like drones.


 * Undead structures in Warcraft III can only be built on blight, similar to the zerg and creep.


 * Undead in Warcraft III summon their structures like the protoss.


 * Many night elf buildings in Warcraft III are mobile like terran buildings; they must suspend their regular functions while in mobile mode.


 * The stalker possesses the "Blink" ability, identical to the one used by the night elf warden in Warcraft III.


 * s, orc firebats, s, and s appear in Warcraft III as Easter eggs. They are accessible in the game's level editor.


 * The tauren marine, based on the Warcraft's tauren, is a gag unit found in the StarCraft II map editor.


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


 * 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.


 * The merc compound in StarCraft II has a holographic woman doing the night elf dance. Each gender of each race has a unique dance in World of Warcraft.


 * Warcraft III has a similar campaign structure to StarCraft. The initial release game starts with the "humans", followed by the "evil" side, with "ancients" wrapping the game up positively. The expansion starts with the "ancients", followed by the "humans", and ending with the "evil" side and a negative note.


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


 * Pandaren are a panda-like race in Warcraft. A pandaren visor appears as an easter egg in StarCraft II.


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


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


 * A mini-thor pet exists for World of Warcraft.

Lore

 * Warcraft's Alliance opposes the Horde. StarCraft's Alliance opposes the zerg.
 * The homeworld of Warcraft's draenei is Argus. Argus is used for 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.
 * Warcraft's felhunters resembled zerglings.
 * Both universes have an advanced culture working in the background interested in ordering the universe, the titans in Warcraft and the xel'naga in StarCraft.
 * A picture of Sarah Kerrigan can be seen in the cockpit goblin shredders in World of Warcraft.
 * in StarCraft: Ghost there are dropships with callsigns Doomhammer and Lightbringer, a reference to Warcraft's Orgrim Doomhammer and Uther the Lightbringer respectively.
 * The "ancient" culture of both Warcraft and StarCraft, the night elves and protoss, spawned an exiled offshoot, the high elves and Dark Templar.
 * 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.
 * The "evil" faction in both games tried to summon an incredibly powerful character in a sacred place. The zerg swarm in Starcraft summoned the Overmind at the first xel'naga temple at Aiur, while the undead scourge in Warcraft III summoned the demon lord Archimonde at the mage city of Dalaran


 * A character bearing similarity to Alexei Stukov, Alexi Barov, can be found in World of Warcraft. Barov died and arose as a Forsaken, increasing the similarity.
 * Lord Marshal Raynor is a character in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. He is a reference to Mar Saran marshal Jim Raynor.
 * The psyblades used by ghosts bear great structural similarity to the warblades used by demon hunters.
 * In Warcraft and StarCraft, a character from the "human" faction is betrayed by a former ally and becomes the leader of an "evil" faction (Sarah Kerrigan and Sylvanas Windrunner).
 * The nation of Lordaeron exists in the Warcraft. A Cineplex 5000 film is named after it.
 * Dark Templar are also known as Nerazim in StarCraft lore. The Nathrezim, or dreadlords, found in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, have a very similar name. Both of them are considered "dark".

Quotations
Most of these are "gag quotes" which can be heard after clicking a unit too many times.


 * 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)


 * Artanis: "This is not Warcraft in space!" (a reference to the phrase used to coin the StarCraft alpha, which bore great resemblance to Warcraft II)


 * Artanis: "What do I look like, an orc?"


 * Dwarven Mortar Team: "Tassadar has failed us. You must not." (A gag quote in Warcraft III and a repeat of Aldaris in the first mission briefing of Episode III)


 * The protoss observer repeats the Warcraft I grunt gag line "stop poking me!"


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