The Most Epic Questline in WoW

*Update: Click here for the movie playlist*

I finally got around to wrapping up a project I've been working on ever since the end of Wrath. It is about the "Scepter of the Shifting Sands" questline that was removed from the game when Cataclysm came out.

It is viewed as one of the longest and most epic questlines ever put on WoW and it was the culmination of a server wide gathering quest to open the gates of Ahn Qiraj. This was needed to get access to the AQ raids.  A one person quest, the backing of a well geared entire 40 man raid team and still you might not make it before someone else on your server did. When the gates where opened a 10 hour war would ensue, places all over Kalimdor would be invaded by Qiraji elites and raid bosses. At the end the person who rang the gong to open the gates, and anyone within these 10 hours that also did, would receive the legendary quality mount, the Black Qiraji Battle Tank, and the title of "Scarab Lord...".

I found out at the end of Wrath of the Lich King that this questline still existed in the game and as a lore nerd, and having heard the stories about it, I felt that I needed to complete it and see what all the fuzz was about. This took quite a while and at the end I almost didnt' make it in time (cursed GM's), but that is another story. While I was completing it I randomly filmed some bits here and there, things I thought where cool. And slowly I realized that noone would be able to see any of these things after they removed the questline. So I decided to try and put something together as an attempt to preserve it.

Click that "read more" for more

After hammering a bit on the first movie part I realized that I had two choices. Either I would make this in to a "bits and pieces" video showing of some things about the questline, or I could make a whole movie that showed of both the story and content of the adventure. Not knowing any better I chose the latter.
I quickly saw that I was in deep trouble. With large parts of the world being reshaped with the release of Cataclysm, some areas would never look the same and some NPCs would disappear completely. The time I had left to structure a movie and record the pieces vital to the movie, before they where forever lost, was severely limited. In the end I failed to film all I needed. I had to make due with what I had and try to blue screen in bits that I just could not do in any other way.

I chose to make the movie as a story about a character completing this questline in the era of Wrath, both because that is what was actually going on but also to create a sort of reflection and farewell. By having the story take place in the end of Wrath I could have my character doing this quest as sort of a tribute to the old ways. As though he was looking back at things that where, in anticipation of what was to come (in form of The Shattering). I really liked this concept and incorporated flashbacks to "the old days" into the movie to show this aspect off. I also tried to keep the film looking like it was shot before flying was available in the old world, in the end I think there are only three scenes where flight was used to camera shots. Keeping the scenes simple was another of my goals, no complex effects like view distance blur or such things. I wanted a more traditional look and feel.

In the end I think I managed as best I could considering the material I had (differing resolutions, UI covering most of the screen etc). There are a few inaccuracies in the movie that I am aware of. Like the fact that the mount shown in the flashbacks was not available at that time, and that the character in the flashbacks was wearing tank gear and using a dps weapon but I excuse these with "artistic freedom" ;) What I do regret is the fact that I missed an optional quest in the questline, the one with the little mermaid. I didn't even know it was in the game until I had already completed the questline past that point.

In the end I'm just happy to finally be able to share my creation with the internet. It took me too long, but at least it got done. Now the essence of a long lost questline is finally available for others to enjoy, either to relive old memories or to see for the first time.