The SECRET Behind Warcraft's Technology | World of Warcraft

[@sapprine4534]

Another 'forgotten'/very advanced race were actually the Nerubians. I know Azjol-nerub as a zone in WotLK was scrapped, but back in Warcraft 3 they had massive stone platforms moving around, tons of automatic traps, lever-powered doors, shifting walls and Anub'arak himself said their race had masterful engineers and architects. Even in the WotLK dungeons, you can see their impressive architecture to a degree and its all intertwined with magic and their webbing. Sure, it's not quite Draenei or Iron Horde levels of advancements, but out of all the races native to Azeroth, Nerubians were among the most advanced.

[@kermitthefragg]

My guy thinks a lever controlled door makes them more advanced than refining oil and flying machines lmfao

[@sapprine4534]

@@kermitthefragg not just a door, but entire walls that shift, they made their versions of non-undead necropolis fly using arcane magic. Sure, it's not a machine, but still a massive flying pyramid

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good point! I wish we got to explore more of Ahn'Kahet and the Nerubian kingdoms... could have made for a super cool "Spider-Moria"! XD

[@Wayclarke]

Jediwarlock, Gavinrad and Taliesin are the trinity that keeps my love for WoW alive.

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, I'm glad to hear that! Gavinrad has been AWOL for a few weeks which is sad D:

[@hopefulAbstractierre]

mine r Widool n the various Insectillaeae

[@Siganaga]

Another good video! Transmuting air into fire is a genius connection to Gnome's steam technology. Also it's Cig-uhh-naw-guh but I appreciate the shoutout.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! I'll remember the pronunciation ;)

[@MichZilla90]

You’ve quickly become one of my favorite channels, these are the little world building things I love to see talked about

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying these. :)

[@cujoedaman]

In WoD, Blackhand used a massive elemental to fuel his forges in Blackrock Foundry. So, it wouldn't be so far-fetched that parts of elements are used to power smaller things all through Azeroth.

[@Jediwarlock]

That is so cool! I only play Classic so I did not know about that, but that totally sounds awesome :D

[@Ren3gaid]

@@Jediwarlock You never played the Addons?

[@H25Invicta]

Already back in Warcraft 2, both Orcs and Humans built oil platforms and refineries to harvest the oil that fueled the ships and machines with which the two factions waged war with eachother.

[@Jediwarlock]

That is interesting! I haven't played as far back as WC2 but that is so neat to know. :)

[@AzraelThanatos]

@@JediwarlockGnomes had their submarines even then and you had a pile of other things mixed into it, Warcraft 3 then added even more

[@ffarkasm]

3:24 "Used in the Hindenburg airship disaster." That hurt my brain. Either "used in the Hindenburg airship" or "that caused the Hindenburg airship disaster." But definitely not intentionally used to make a disaster.

[@Jediwarlock]

You are right, I misspoke there! Tried combining two different sentences

[@narleymarley666]

Your editing is amazing! The video flowed so smoothly and felt like a movie. Greta job Jedi!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! :D

[@basedcommodore]

I like how its a mixture of magic and science. It really is unique

[@MatthewTheUntitled]

hextech

[@basedcommodore]

@@ThomasWarhammer ive played all those and non of them have a Gnomish Hand Glider. Also it not just Gnomes but Goblin tech paths

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree. :) like these other comments say there are other examples in other franchises but hardly any that I've personally played/watched have anything like WoW's blend!

[@AvelineMelena]

I have always been fascinated by that giant thing behind the gnome leader. To think it could be a giant boiler does make sense, it puts a smile of my face, if i had seen this video back when i was a kid i would've been so excited.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the comment! I was super excited when I thought to include it in the vid :D

[@General12th]

Hi Jedi! Elemental fire is a good explanation, but I don't think we should discount common, mundane magic. For every enchanter who's making your weapon shoot fireballs, there's probably ten enchanters who are making planks of wood and bars of steel stronger, lighter, and more resilient. For example, if the Skybreaker was enchanted to be a tenth its normal weight, then oil alone could lift it. No need for even more powerful sources of energy. I'm sure folks in the Warcraft franchise use both approaches.

[@Jediwarlock]

I love that idea! Very good point... enchanting "regular" items to be more useful is probably a very major part of engineering projects. :)

[@parantbellum]

Interesting point, General.. the out-of-the-box thinking I like

[@etou1146]

Interesting to think about, that the Gnomes might harvest the heat energy of the mountain in that black machine behind the high tinker to power Deeprun Tram. Perhaps there even exists a connection to Gnomeregan. The alpha map of WoW has another platform for Depprun Tram, running in the opposite direction.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very interesting!! The black sphere could definitely contribute to the Tram and maybe even Gnomer :)

[@bichela]

They could also be using geothermal as well we all know ironforge is naturally very hot.

[@Prof_Ficus]

As a long time Gnome main I just have to say that the whole "Gnomeregan Incident" made it quite clear that Gnomes have developed some form of nuclear technology (radiation poisoning is mentioned repeatedly), so that would be a sufficient explaination as to how they manage to power smaller devices.

[@Jediwarlock]

I like that idea too! I'm curious to see if more information will come along in the new Gnomeregan raid in SoD in a few weeks :)

[@Secto-R]

@@Jediwarlock Also, that thing behind the Meccatorque that you said is a massive boiler also looks like the core of nuclear reactor or even the "Demon core" part of the nuke.

[@xavier84623]

Now I’m starting to think every single piece of gnomish technology has a tiny elemental imprisoned in it.

[@Jediwarlock]

I mean, it's not exactly wrong to think that XD

[@linoacetyd]

Never had I stop to think about how it all worked, maybe I just assumed it was all oil or electric, but seeing they evolved from the power sources they used to some sort of harnessing magic is really cool. I think you could make a video about titan technology and plague's/undead chemistry/biological experiments.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! Titan and undead chem would be super interesting!! :D

[@sagenod440]

I’m in love with this video concept. I’ve always wanted to see more WC worldbuilding discussion/exploration, something that’s always seemed sorely missed when compared to the myriad other forms of WC media

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm glad you enjoyed this one! :D

[@Garouwerks]

That was really fun to learn. I love these learning Lore videos you've been making. Thanks so much!

[@Jediwarlock]

You are most welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@jalogrono]

You sound like a science teacher. I love it

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, that's what I'm going for! :D

[@KrackahLack]

I can always expect some unique content coming from your channel

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, that's my goal! :D

[@1OnlyOneOnlyOne1]

Love the detail. But Gnomes use A LOT of electricity and even some magic. While Goblins use a lot of oil, some electric and explosives. A lot of explosives.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes, explosives for sure XD Thank you for the comment!

[@BasketChase98]

I miss the dragon turtles with cannons on their backs that the orcs used as submarines in Warcraft 2, I wish they showed up in WoW at some point, but they were kind of retconned into the dragon turtles the naga used as siege weapons in the frozen throne expansion of WC3.

[@Jediwarlock]

That's awesome, I totally forgot about those guys XD

[@austinwilburn1772]

I haven’t finished the video, just started watching but you should check out the technology made by the Titans. There is lore behind some of it and one talks about how some of the robots is actually made with cog work. It goes on to mention how there is millions of cogs in them the size of cells. Which is just a crazy concept. (Talking about the Titan watchers and titans keepers) Also the gnomes have access to nuclear power, which is the radiation that mutated some of the gnomes into leper gnomes. It’s also says the Troggs are attracted to the radiation and makes them bigger and stronger.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good points! I NEED to look into that Cog technology... totally crazy stuff!

[@nakenmil]

Hah, I was genuinely JUST about to comment about phlogiston when seeing this video. I've come across this term, and some other alchemical notions from hopping around in fantasy settings and little bit of nerdy esoteric lore, and I settled on using more or less this as the explanation for technology in my own homebrew fantasy setting. The way I explained it there was that the Dwarves would use runs on their tools and devices in order to create conditions that aren't really physically possible in real life (so metals would be able to take higher heat, more pressure, etc.), and these would make the conditions possible to create/sustain/contain phlogiston as an alchemical rather than conventional chemical substance (ie. it's inherently magic). I think it's pretty decent workaround that suits Warcraft too. Many of the magical contraptions of the Blood Elves, Draenei or Titans are also so slick and fancy that they veer over into science fiction too, of course. The line between them is blurry. There's one little tidbit I noticed: the big sphere behind Mekkatorque KINDA looks like one of the experimental nuclear cores that were build during the Manhattan project. If you google "Light of Trinity", then there should be a pic that sorta gives off a similar vibe. Coincidence? Not sure. Burning elemental fire essence in a boiler is poetically similar to splitting atoms, I guess.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the thoughtful ideas!! Love the Oppenheimer reference with Trinity... that is a good reference! And if we're considering elemental essences as some of the founding building blocks of everything in WoW, then burning/using them up is kinda like nuclear power! :D

[@stevehitman]

Another amazing video! Thanks for making me think of something else, I'm currently sick 🤒

[@Azmina_the_warlock]

Hope you feel better soon

[@Jediwarlock]

Feel better soon!!

[@Hotrichard]

We see a zeppelin explode in the opening cinematic to Cataclysm. I think you are correct about the hydrogen-like gas.

[@Jediwarlock]

That's a great point! :D

[@ArthurTwoshedsJackson]

Your videos are amazing. Thank you for all that you do for all of us.

[@Jediwarlock]

That means a lot, thank you very much! :D

[@Hypnotically_Caucasian]

I have always been fascinated with 19th century technology, especially after seeing the H. L. Hunley submarine in Charleston, SC. WoW borrows from the steampunk genre RIGHT.

[@Jediwarlock]

That is cool! I looked up the submarine and it's awesome! :D

[@noiapara]

your wow videos are coziest, i subscribed as soon as i discovered you :D

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you so much! Welcome to the Jedi Order :D

[@Bekaxee]

Always loved this side of Azeroth, great video!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :D

[@BrawlUniversity]

Cool vid man!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks NDS dude!!

[@janlee6188]

Awesome video!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! :D

[@abeard1]

Very nice video!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much! :D

[@bichela]

Only thing I never saw yet is a fueling station for vehicles or a gas stove. Or an electric outlet.

[@bichela]

Maybe you can explain if Silvermoon has electricity? I think the do have it as does the Draeni. My power comes from ley lines of azaroth itself. Apparently 3 phase power as some of the quests of the west sanctum imply

[@Jediwarlock]

Interesting! I'll have to look into that. :) Draenei use a combination of arcane/electricity I think that you can see with their mana power cells and whatnot. I am not sure about Silvermoon but it could be the case!

[@tictcha612]

Nice video !

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! :)

[@matejkopa97]

What about the radiation in Gnomeregan? Seems like Gnomes are using nuclear power, it could explain the steam engines, they may not be burning coal, but using nuclear power to turn water into steeam.

[@Jediwarlock]

I like that idea! :D

[@goshlike76]

Boy oh boy, I am getting the nachos ready to watch, knowing alread that this is going to be awesome

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, thank you! I hope the nachos were good :D

[@donaldpetersen2382]

Maybe it was taintable by the Infernal legion chaos, unlike Elemental fire which was supposed to purified by the Elemental Lord of fire Ragnaros.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good point! I like that. :)

[@archebaldmurlok449]

goblin shamans make contracts with the elements they summon

[@Jediwarlock]

Ooh good point! Another link to the elemental theory ;)

[@Donnirononon]

Your notion about hydrogen got me thinking about like "fantasy physics": Where does WoW "draw the line", if there are like gases and hydrogen, is there radioactivity and fission? Can healers heal rad damage? I mean i could think of examples in WoW where they dont use steam but "magic" fuel.

[@Jediwarlock]

Great questions!! Gnomeregan having "radiation" poison in the dungeon is an interesting concept... where is that line indeed? :o

[@z3r0.p0int]

no real plot holes. WoW was suppose to be a 40k mmo and when that fell through they stole the IP and made WoW. In 40k orcs are psychic, so if enough of them think a thing works it will, so in this case we get this goblin style (snotlings in 40k) tech that's shown in WoW.

[@Jediwarlock]

Oh, interesting! I hadn't thought about that :)

[@Derjeniche1510]

Oh wow, sorry but this is wrong. Blizzard made the prototype for Starcraft in the 40k setting but Games Workshop refused to sell the license. That's why the races and technology in Starcraft resemble the 40k races. Terran = Space Marines Protos = Aeldari (and Necrons to a degree) Zerg = Terminids That's BTW the reason Games Workshop sold their license to everybody in 2005-2020 after seeing Starcraft success and biting themselves in their butt. Also Orks are not psychic in the same regard as a librarian. While it is true that every Ork is capable of weird shenanigans I. E. Ork weapons and technology only work when wielded by an Ork. Every other race just see a pile of junk that doesn't work or shoot. Orks with traditional psychic powers are called Weirdbois. And if a Ork thinks something is weird and out of the ordinary it is reaaaaaally weird and out of the ordinary. Sorry for the correction, I'm such a nerd 😂

[@LordProteus]

Warcraft cannot be considered a Fantasy setting. The following technologies exist somewhere on Azeroth. - Indoor plumbing - Electricity - Radio, Television, and Computers - Conventional Ballistic weapons - Energy Weapons (Including Lightsabers) - Tanks, Aircraft, and Submarines - Trains/Mag Rails - Nuclear Power, including nuclear power plants, generators and ballistic missiles - Jet Packs - Robots, Cyborgs and Mechs - Fully Realized Artificial Intelligence - Advanced Medical Science and Technology - Advanced Genetic Engineering and Cloning - Spaceships - Teleporters And yet they don't have ballpoint pens.

[@Jediwarlock]

XD Very true!!

[@Blobby90]

Early science is so fascinating. The people who proposed these false thearies were those who dared to question anything and everything and in proving some, or most, of these theories wrong we only furthered our understanding of science

[@Jediwarlock]

Such a good point! :)

[@parantbellum]

I'm late to the party, but catching up. I am pretty far from being a lore guru, however I was thinking to an analogy, maybe a silly one; Theramore at some point was destroyed by a mana bomb, meaning a device with a whole lot of energy stored in it. So, if the fissile material in a nuclear bomb -at a much lower concentration- can be used for civilian purposes like the production of energy, maybe the same concept can be applied to whatever (at a later stage of refining) goes into a mana bomb. Just thinking out loud, and no evidence on my part since, as said, lore noob here 😬

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good point! The mana bombs are definitely analogous for nuclear weapons which could definitely translate into nuclear power in some of those sources I talked about in the vid... and hey, Gnomeregan literally has radiation and poison caused by a misuse of that power! It all fits together pretty well. :)

[@Loreweavver]

You say the problem is that all the gnomes stuff is steampunk but there's clearly black smoke coming from some of the exhaust pipes. Seems like the gnomes are scamming folk. They probably have recycling programs that don't even recycle.

[@Jediwarlock]

XD You're probably right! Oil/coal definitely plays a part of either faction's tech. :)

[@bichela]

The little Jeeps and motorcycles must run on diesel or gasoline.

[@ProjectPlugTTV]

good video

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :D

[@philippmuller5129]

You are a Genius

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks! :D

[@FreedomAtRisk]

For the Horde!

[@Jediwarlock]

:D Lok'Tar Ogar!

[@MountainHobbler]

Alliance tech > horde

[@Jediwarlock]

Lol trueee

[@bichela]

Goblins stole much gnome ideas and tech.

[@Necromanticfantasy]

I’d like to call some of the technology as “magitech”.

[@Jediwarlock]

I like that! XD

[@Tillit_01]

Enter the Draenei who have Starcraft tech :(

[@Jediwarlock]

Flying crystals: engage!!! XD

[@skkofculture4232]

2 Words. Gnomes and Goblins

[@Jediwarlock]

Yep XD

[@AcidTripOk]

Grat video. However, as a Spanish speaker I have to point out the poor quality of the recording. Not that there's anything wrong with the narrator, but the actual audio had a ton of static and sometimes the recordings cut off the last few bits of a sentence. The recording had some minor interruptions here and there. Other than that, good work!

[@Jediwarlock]

Oh, very strange! Are you talking about a Spanish voiceover for the video? I am not in control of alternate language recordings but I am sorry to hear they are not the best.

[@mitkoshredder]

Now this is a great video. A person that did his research and used his actual voice. Not like the recent shit ass AI voice chanel that pop out. That person just copy and paste a text from a wiki and then uses AI voice to read for 20 minutes.

[@seloslav]

Plot twist. He trained his own voice on AI.

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, yeah I'm not about that fake AI stuff lol

[@myself2noone]

I mean Nuclear power is clearly being used too.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes! That would explain the radiation and Troggs in Gnomeragon too ;)

[@blastermaster5039]

[Murloc Engineering] when WoW?

[@Jediwarlock]

XD

[@electricmayhem8147]

thats just goblin samophlange

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, good point! :)

[@6enduro331]

of course master

[@Jediwarlock]

Of course

[@JulianaBlewett]

Phlogiston sounds like phlegm and congestion.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes. XD

[@lazarus8453]

I always hated ultra scientific stuff in Wow. Why we fighting with swords and shields while we have machine guns and rockets?

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree, I think it should definitely have a limit!

[@Itisoverthere-rw]

How is crashing and burning "going strong"?

[@Jediwarlock]

Retail... perhaps XD Classic Hardcore is really doing well though! :)