I know I shouldn't do this, because... well, you know. But I just read so much arguing, I felt that someone had to do it. So here, for anyone who cares, is the be-all and end-all list of all the things that are or are not WoW related. (That I can spot)

I'll tackle the characters first because they're the core of the strip's resemblance to WoW, but still have taken some obvious departures from that source.

Cale
Things that -are- from WoW
He's a prancing, effeminate pretty-boy from a race of elves who are mostly evil. That just *screams* of blood elves. When he isn't firing his bow, he's dual-wielding swords, and he has a pet panther. All trademarks of the hunter class. blood elf hunter is an allowable race/class combination.

Things that could go either way
He's a selfless, kind-hearted person. Totally out of character for a blood elf. Yet, even in Azeroth, there are still some who call themselves high elves. They refused to follow when their kin declared their new name and goals, and they still remain good.

Richard
Things that -are- from WoW
He identifies himself as an undead warlock. That's a playable race/class combination. He favors fire magic, which is available to warlocks. His outfit, especially the mask, looks like it could easily fit in the game. He used to have an imp minion bonded to him.

Things -not- from WoW
On page four, Richard transforms a dwarven guard into a frog. In WoW, polymorph is only available to mages, and turns enemies into sheep. Only certain NPCs can transform characters into frogs. WoW warlocks can't strip people to their skeletons and then control said skeletons. Warlocks also have no access to ice magics, only mages do. The undead in WoW are not able to take more physical punishment than living races. Daggers and/or gaping holes in his chest would probably be of greater concern to him than they seem to be in the world of this comic. Warlocks' minds can't make arrows.

Benny
Things that -are- from WoW
The big argument here has been "orc or troll?". Okay, the skin color and tusks could go either way. Orcs are always green, or at least green-ish, and trolls are usually blue, but can be green as well. Both races have protruding lower canines in the females. The hairstyle and color however, matches almost perfectly (in the game, it would just be a bit longer in back, below the ponytail thing) with a style and color available to trolls during character creation. She has a slim build, two fingers per hand, and troll priest is a playable combination while orc priest is not. So all in all, she resembles a WoW troll very heavily. (Oh, and someone mentioned she may have had fingers cut off? Look closely at her hands. Her fingers are broad enough that just two of them span the width of her palm. There's no place for other fingers to go, not to mention no scarring.) Her outfit and staff definitely look like they could've come from the game. She casts resurrection, healing, and shielding spells, all of which are available to priests.

Things that could go either way
People have complained about the lack of an accent. If she was raised by Krunch though, there were likely no other trolls in her young life from whom she would pick up an accent.

Krunch
Things that -are- from WoW
He's a bovine humanoid with two fingers per hand, hooved feet, a hunched posture... basically right on model for a tauren male. On page 18 he uses a charging ability that strongly reminds me of intercept, a warrior ability. Tauren warrior is a playable combination.

Things -not- from WoW
While striking the ground heavily with a blunt object may be similar in theory to a warrior's thunderclap ability, splitting the ground open is not within their power.


Now, I'll move on to elements of the general setting.

General Setting
Things that could go either way
There's a gnome city inside a mountain called Mechastone where they refer to their leader as Chief Engineer. The gnomes of WoW call their king High Tinker, but the theory is the same. Gnome society based heavily upon mechanical devices. Of course, gnomes being fascinated with devices could easily come from many other sources as well. It's a common trait for their race in most fantasy.

Things -not- from WoW
Nestorep and Mechastone are not places on Azeroth. Neutral cities (where Horde and Alliance races mingle) are not guarded by dwarves. There are no white dragons in Azeroth that I know of, and dragons haven't been used as mounts since the orcs lost control of that red queen they had captured. (Someone else can fill in more details on that, I'm a bit rusty on that particular bit of lore.)


And then there's the Sword of Truth. As has been pointed out, that's just a blatant rip-off from Terry Goodkind's novels.


So, I come to my final conclusion. The main characters were based *almost* entirely on the races and classes from World of Warcraft. They are showing some deviations from what is allowed in that game, but their origin is still clear. The setting, on the other hand, seems to have little or no connection with Azeroth, the world where Warcraft games take place.

At this point I will politely ask that no one start a flame war in this thread, though chances are good someone will do it anyway. If you have anything valuable to contribute, please do. Fill in the missing bit of lore on the red dragons of Azeroth if you wish. Maybe add something I've missed if it's an obvious allusion to some other source. If you have an intelligent counterpoint to something I've said here, please feel free to bring it up. I only ask that you back up your words with some solidly researched knowledge.

hmmm....looks like you took a lot of time to research and prepare this topic, shame its gonna be derailed in a few posts, that'll learn ya for being smart

WHO WANTS PANCAKES!!!!

Ooooh, WAFFLES sound good.

Well,you certainly had absolutly no effect on my mindset and wether or not the comic is WoW based, and you managed to begin a pointless thread that could have just been put in one of the other LFG=WoW threads, congrats and welcome to the forums.

Oh, and i am not really a mean person, i just feel like being an ass and showing you how souless most of us can be at times. But seriousy welcome. Now all thats left foryou to do is decide which side are you one, pie or cake.

Well, thanks for the welcome I3lind. Don't worry, I already know how message boards are. But one or two times per year, I find myself unable to resist the siren call of the things. And so, on those rare occasions when the planets and stars are cosmically aligned, I am compelled to post something. And I believe if you're going to do anything, you should do it right.

(And the answer is cake.)

I knew I wasn't going to like you. Heathen.

Because we really needed another one of these?

IT DOESN'T MATTER!

This isn't aimed at you, specifically, gentle wood ape. Rather, at all the people who feel the need to argue this topic.

It's LFG. Don't expect anything except funny, because the Bossessessess...es will decide what's what and what's not what. If this topic isn't derailed completely before an argument breaks out, I will be very disappointed in you all.


Also, for the Cake God!

And i have finnaly decide that brownies are a cake, so Cake for the Cake god!

Welcome to the ranks of the righteous.

Can we claim jelly filled donuts as our spies then, because they are cake like but have the pie like filling.

jelly donuts are the unholy spawn of a noble pie being tainted by a cake harlot, you delum, have made a very powerful enemy, powerful, but pretty inept and lazy, but just remember, the pies will rise up and cast off the shackles of cakedom and claim their throne as king of pastries

No, because many cakes also have fillings. Doughnoughts (I refuse to spell them the new way, it's just silly) are more cakelike than pielike. They are probably an evolutionary offshoot.

To get this thread back on track...
I'm not much into all the fantasy roll-playing stuff so I don't know and don't really care much about all the technical points about what the comic is based on, but I would like to say that your comments on the subject are among the best organized and most researched that I've seen so far. Good job Many hooah's for public education

Sounds like somebody is bucking for a mod job...

His response on the subject is honestly one of the best I've seen and doesn't really contain any bias towards the comic being based on either wow or any other fantasy ideas. I like seeing unbiased research done on controversial(sp) topics; I'm just weird that way.

As for "bucking" for a mod job... *shrugs* yeah, but the quickest and most obvious way to acomplish that would be ass-kissing the mods, and since he isn't a mod(as for as I know/can tell) then my compliments on his thread are just me being *gasp* nice. It doesn't happen much on the horde side, especially by me, but on the occasions that it does happen, I can understand a persons intentions being called into question.

Wait. Just wait. Wait wait wait wait... wait...... wait....

....

Wait....




....





Wait....


Ok. Yeah. My mind is totally blown away.

Nope, no bucking here, ... still nothing. Now go back to playing nice and on track.


Thanks.

They're also somewhat blind to several key points and don't consider a number of hypotheses and different interpretations.

I won't correct them because I hate this debate.


Or, you know, you could just behave in a way that the mods would be pleased with without ever being so crass as to directly suck up.

You know, if you thought about it some.


No tucking, either. I'm a little concerned about the lack.

hmm...bucking for modship eh, must be the latest trend

ZOMFG G IS T3H 1337 H4X0RS M0D HE IS TEH BEST MOD EV4H!!

eww...I feel sick after that...

I do to, as i still am notfluent in retard speak, like what the bloody hell does "1337 H4X0RS" mean?

i dont know, it just was one of the phrases I parroted back

*throws up in mouth a lil bit*

hrgk

Gawd, I had the same reaction as you and subscribed on the forum for the same kind of reason as you.
You are a BLATANT rip-off! XD
lol, just kiddin'. But anyway,

Good observations. Too bad nobody wants to listen, or almost nobody. But really nice research and all, you talked about both side, backed your claims with facts... It's *normal* to do that, but sadly lots of people overlook that part when they argue.
You did it, and you did it right. ^^

Btw, Brownies totally own any other kind of dessert. XD

*hands you brownies*

Welcome to the forum!

*shoots brownies out of demul's hands*

not today you damned brownies!

*shoots demul for liking cake*

You made a grave mistake on this day waring with the brownies, you now have awoken our normally pasifistic fallowers and we shall rain down on you blocking out the sun with our chocolatey goodness.

So yes, some of the various aspect in the comic apear that they can happen within the WoW world,but it is deffinately not limited within it.

*gets a brownie proof umbrella*

Oh yea! What now bitches!

*walks up and throws a cupcake with little red and blue sprinkles at the heart of thegrubz....and dose the whole slow motion thing as its flying in the air..*

THERE! be thankful good sir. i threw that cupcake with sprinkles to cleanse you of the evil taint that the pie overlord has set upon you, as he has done to many many a man.

*explodes in a gory cloud of goryness*
*demon emerges*

FOOLS! You have summoned the Pie Overlord!

*demon-grubz begins to rampage all about the land torching, pillaging, and occasionally raping his way to the Cake Capital*

OH NOSE!!!

WHAT HATH I DONE!!!
i unleashed the almost certain doom of cake capital, especially since the great cake king hasnt awakened from his slumber in 20 years!

Hey, Verbose, i think that was your signal.

*demon-grubz bitchslaps the king awake*

Glad to help! God noes what verbose woulda done, even if he is the cake king

haha wow......that was fun

Oh! How you love derailing topics...

I dub thee Locked!

G!