Talk:Warcraft universe physics

Physics Concerning Dragons
I'm not aware to how well-explained the physics of Warcraft are interpreted by Blizzard, but concerning dragons (or other large-yet-light creatures) and their ability to fly, some fan-speculation and theories can be made. Many "possible" reasons may exist, such as a hollow bone structure, a second pair of lung-like organs holding hydrogen (or helium or other lighter-than-air elements), or other rationales that ellude me at the moment. I'm not sure if this merits any addition to the article or not, just thought I'd try a hand at contributing.

--Snaiperskaya, 11:10AM EST

Regarding "Dimensions"
I would note that there is no actual proof that Azeroth is, in fact, a round world.

All we know of Azeroth is that it used to have one continent; now it has three, which are the outer edges of the previous one. Whether or not there is in fact more world beyond this is unknown - and indeed what DOES lie beyond this is equally so. But I've yet to see any indication whatsoever that Azeroth is round.--Damos Taranth 12:28, 11 February 2007 (EST)


 * The fact that both continents experience day and night at the same time isn't really helping the "round world" argument. Most other celestial entities are round. --Voidvector 14:15, 12 February 2007 (EST)


 * There are globes here and there of the world.-- 20:28, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Time and Causality
I have no clue what the Time section says. If someone can reword it in the context of temporal causality, it would be great. Obviously it doesn't follow the strict sense of causality since history is not changed when players go back in time, but it seems causality exists since infinite dragons can "potentially" alter history. --Voidvector 11:34, 12 February 2007 (EST)


 * I'll try to reword it later when I have a minute, but the basic premise is that when you travel back in time, you're actually traveling to completely different timeline. You might call it the Parallel Timeline theory. It's like going a completely different town that has the same setup and the same people as your own, but if you do something in that town, it won't affect your home town. This eliminates the Grandfather Paradox, where you can't go back in time and kill your own grandfather. According to Parallel Timeslines, if you did this, you're killing your grandfather in another timeline, so your own is not affected. ~


 * Warcraft seems to subscribe to this notion of Parallel Timelines, yet it still uses the Grandfather Paradox as a plot point. Many, many, many ficitonal uses of time travel do this, and even though it's a logical break, it's something that will happen anyway. 12:36, 12 February 2007 (EST)

Interpretation
I think this article is a very interesting look at Warcraft, but I want to caution further development of this article. We need to establish how far we're going to take this. At some point on a lot of these points, we're going to run into the limitations of the game itself (see spoof: The Physics of WoW). Remember that the game is describing a world, it isn't the world itself. It's the same relationship The Sims has to the real world: it's an interpretation, not a literal depiction. So, I want to caution using too much game-centric evidence to support claims about the physical and meta-physical nature of the Warcraft universe. ~

We run into this problem with the RPG books as well that describe cities housing thousands of inhabitants where we can see with our eyes in WoW that they're really no bigger than small towns. In World of Warcraft, the distance between Undercity and Brill is so small that if it existed in real life, people wouldn't even make a distinction between the two. So before developing concepts or trying to fit them into a working system, we need to consider the game as an interpretation of an underlying "real world" Warcraft that we don't have access to. This article should attempt to describe that world and not the one we are presented with in the game, in my opinion. 18:45, 12 February 2007 (EST)


 * Fully agree, though not about the RPG books. The example you gave is supposed to be how it is in Warcraft, not a mechanic limited portrayal. Though what most people miss is that the RPG books that had such info are rather outdated and doesn't keep up with Warcraft as quickly, so while we know what it used to be, and the up-to-date portrayal that exists in WoW, we still don't know the details for current day. -- Zeal  talk   contr  web 19:39, 12 February 2007 (EST)


 * Exactly. Bad example (because the RPGs are games in themselves and are subject to limitations), but you understand the idea. 20:49, 12 February 2007 (EST)

POV removal
The POV removal is in fact not discussed here. The discussion above is regarding the inclusion/exclusion of shortcomings caused by game mechanics. Regarding fluid, there are a number of cases where adventurers are required to drop from extreme height into water in order to survive. Two examples: 1) The quest where Haleh kicks you across the world; 2) Inner Maraudon. Quest events are closer to lore than any game mechanics.

I have removed sentences in Soul section exclusive to WoW gameplay. There are no point in the lore as i recall where a soul's appearance is mentioned. --Voidvector 03:43, 13 February 2007 (EST)


 * Exclusions of the game mechanics. that is what was removed. Soul appearance is not a factor of game mechanics as far as we know, and not something limited to players. You're being rather biased against that with no basis. I have no idea what you are talking about with fluid however, water is water, the fact we do no receive fall damage in water deep enough is a game mechanic unless you can prove otherwise. -- Zeal  talk   contr  web 05:30, 13 February 2007 (EST)


 * "Soul appearance is not a factor of game mechanics as far as we know, and not something limited to players." Please demonstrate this using lore quotes. If you cannot, it is simply an observation of game mechanics. Soul does not make any visible form in any of the other Warcraft games. Also I am talking about falling into water, not dying of high pressure. --Voidvector 06:24, 13 February 2007 (EST)


 * No.. it is the other way around. It is lore unless you can prove it is a game mechanic. Night Elves changing to wisps is not a game mechanic, it was a choice in design for that race, and therefor is lore. And i know what you are talking about with the water, i still don't see your point. Last thing i want is an edit war Voidvector, but it is clearly lore and not a game mechanic, and until you can prove otherwise, i don;t expect to see the page reverted again for the same reasons. -- Zeal  talk   contr  web 06:30, 13 February 2007 (EST)