The timeline of Azeroth can be confusing, especially when you factor in the events of Outland, Northrend, and the Cataclysm and when you look at them from your character’s point of view.  What does the world look like to a level 1 character?  How will the world look different to a level 1 character post-Cataclysm?  In my mind, these answers are pretty easily solved by following one rule:  use your imagination.

The world is not as it seems

I think its pretty common knowledge that the world in which the story of Warcraft takes place is not exactly as it appears in any of the games, including how your character sees it in World of Warcraft.  Each game, including WOW, is just a representation of the Warcraft story and its people.  From the first quest you do, all the way to the killing of Deathwing, what you actually do in-game is not really exactly what happens in the land of Warcraft.  The world is actually much bigger and more complex than you see in-game, with many more cities, many more people, and much larger land masses.  You can especially see how this is true if you read any of the Warcraft novels.  When you play, you have to take what’s happening with some suspended disbelief and use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

For example:

Garrick Padfoot is not actually standing idly in front of a shed close to Northshire Abbey while his lackeys wander aimlessly through a vineyard, waiting for someone to cut off his head.  In reality, the area around Northshire Abbey is much larger, there are multiple vineyards being raided regularly by groups of Defias with their own hideouts, and your character probably goes through a great deal of trouble and espionage finding and getting to Garrick, their leader, and ending his life.  The story of Garrick Padfoot, his exploits around Northshire Abbey, and his ultimate demise is probably an exciting story in itself.  But in World of Warcraft it is represented by a single simple level 5 quest.

For another example, the raid of Naxxramas in Dragonblight was not actually performed by exactly 25 (or 10) people who wandered in, killed each major lore figure one at a time (often while the others stood by and watched), then walked out.  In reality, it was a major, lengthy war effort coordinated probably by both the people of Wingergarde Keep and Agmar’s Hammer that resulted in the establishment of numerous small bases and outposts within Naxxramas that were subjected to constant attacks and counter-attacks by the Scourge until they were finally able to push in far enough to defeat Kel’Thuzad and bring Naxxramas down.

Your character is not who he seems

In the same way that the game-world is just a representation of the actual world of Warcraft, in my opinion, your character is also just a representation of the people of the world of Warcraft.  Its not likely that one person (you) was actually involved in every single major event happening in the entire world of warcraft, including the solving of every major town’s problems in the world and the slaying of every major villian in existence today.  In reality, your character represents the actions performed by various people all over the world in their attempts to rid the world of evil.  The eyes of your character gives you a window that allows you to experience the history of warcraft first-hand, but that doesn’t mean that one person actually performed all of those achievements on his own all over the world, while still being just one of 25 other equally incredible people.

So what about Worgen?

The problem with Worgen is that Worgen from Gilneas don’t spread into the world until after the events of the Cataclysm, which don’t occur until after both Arthas and Illidan are dead.  Why then would a level 60-80 Worgen ever go into Black Temple or Icecrown or even Outland at all to defeat these enemies who are already dead?  This problem is not likely to be answered by Blizzard.  The same concundrum happens even now in Wrath with death knights.  My solution:  use your imagination.

There are two possible exclaimations in my mind.  One is that although your character travels to Outland as a Worgen (or death knight), no Worgen actually traveled to Outland in reality.  Your character is simply an avatar used to experience the history of Outland, it isn’t a representation of actual lore.  In other words, in a way, you are traveling back in time when you head to Outland.  I also don’t believe that Blizzard will remove all of the old world content to update it to the Cataclysm timeline, they’re not going to revamp every zone and dungeon, killing every boss and replacing them with new ones with a new story.  Even while traveling in an updated Azeroth, your post-Cataclysm character will more than likely be experiencing the past in many cases.

The second possible explanation is that each character experiences an actual different timeline depending on when the character was created.  For a brand new post-Cataclysm character, it may be possible that the Cataclysm happens before Arthas and Illidan are killed, even though this is against the official timeline.  Maybe the Cataclysm occurs but Deathwing is not as obvious an immediate threat as Illidan is in Outland, so you are sent to Outland to deal with the threat there, and then on to kill Arthas, before finally being directed to destroy the source of the Cataclysm.

Many people like to claim that Arthas and Illidan ARE actually defeated, but you are sent to Outland to hold the line against the remaining forces there.  That isn’t a good explanation in my opinion.  A number of quests you do still highlight the importance of Illidan’s precense and in fact, you can meet Illidan in some of those quests and even go into the Black Temple itself to defeat him.  I wouldn’t want to rob your character of that experience or say it didn’t actually happen, if you’re one who wants to follow the second theory.  Instead, I’d rather follow the alternate timeline theory.

It’s just a game?

In general, it is just a game and ultimately it has to have unrealistic limitations even to exist.   I like to follow the theory that the game world, and even your character, is just a representation of what is actually happening in the world of Warcraft, just a window to be able to experience the history first-hand.  There are numerous possible explanations for what actually happens in the lore, despite what appears to happen in-game.  All you have to do to find them is use your imagination.  Or wait for Blizzard to release their official interpretation.

What do you think?  How do you imagine things as you play?  Do you think someone actually exists in official lore who has performed all the feats your character has?  Or do you see your character and the world more as simpler representations of the actual world?  I’m curious to see how each of you deal with the timeline issues in WoW.  Let me know in the comments below!