at blizzard our primary businessall these years is we make games. we make big videogames for people to come together and get lostin a big fictitious world. every blizzard gamefrom warcraft on has really had roots,a foundation and a story. i think we really see ourselvesas world builders as much as we do as gamedesigners, game developers. and the worlds we builtto substantiate those games, we've always tried to makevery flavorful, very soulful,
very distinct in their details,in their histories, in the cultures thatpopulate these worlds. we all grew up playing thisgame - even if we worked on it. we grew up playing in azerothand playing these worlds. we want to share the experienceof azeroth with our kids. what if we crafted a storythat was younger, a story from a kid’spoint of view? how would they seethe world of azeroth? and so that led us to come upwith the traveler concept.
we're trying to developthis idea just to sing to as many people ascan hear the tune. in particular, we felt thatscholastic was a perfect partner because they reach somany young imaginations. they really brought an incredibleeditorial staff that knows the youth market and really lovethe project just as much as we do. we had talked about creative partners,who could we get to tell this tale, and greg weisman wasa name that came up. how could we possibly get greg,he’s this monstrous talent in tv.
and so we were reallyfortunate to get greg attached. to get his passion attachedand bring his unique story mind and his unique voiceto this project. one of the things that is greatabout world of warcraft in general and one of the things thatattracted me to the project without a doubt is thatthere's so much there. it's so large, the world is so richthat you know there may be some big expansion going onin the game over here but our story starts out muchsmaller than that.
so the protagonist of traveleris a kid named aram and he's the son of one ofthe world's greatest explorers. and through a seriesof unfortunate events he washes up on the shoreat the far end of the world and ultimately with some ofthe lessons that dad taught him and a magic compass, aram’sgotta find his way home. you know what aram really isto himself is an artist. he's got a sketchbook whichwas a gift from his stepfather and he's constantly sketching peopleand places and things in this book.
the people he's sketchingthey see that he's sketching and that changes theirrelationship with him as well. it becomes a majorfactor in the book. the fact that aram’s an artist isn’tincidental, it's significant. over the course of his journey homehe’s gonna make friends. he’s gonna make friendswith the most unlikely, motley assortmentof exotic creatures and in that way ultimately findthat home is where the heart is. these charactersbecome his family,
they become his friendsand as the stories go on and the big mystery around thecompass becomes a little clearer these are his companionsalong the way. you don't have to knowwhat a tauren is because you're gonna learnit with aram. that allows anewcomer, male, female, old, young to alsolearn about this. it reaches both thehardcore fan and the newbie. i want this to be a book thatsomeone who's been playing
world of warcraft for10 years will read and go: “yeah that is the booki've been waiting for!†this is a story setin this world that really gets whatworld of warcraft is. i wanna make surethat we get it right that this is canon, thatthis is in continuity. we're going to make surethat everything is as dead on correctas it can possibly be. i love that warcraft can beall of these things.as dead on correctas it can possibly be.
i love that warcraft can beall of these things. from a feature film to a giant videogame to a series of young-adult novels. but each expression has its ownpurpose, has its own gravity. traveler teaches me things aboutwarcraft i did not see before. it opens me up towarcraft in a way that a single video gamedoesn't just by itself. so i'm very thankfulfor traveler. very thankfulfor getting to do this. for scholastic to agreeing tobuild this series of stories with us.
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