So, you’ve probably seen James Cameron’s Avatar by now, or you’ve played Ubisoft’s Avatar: The Game tie-in. What can I say? The movie is amazing. I’ve actually already watched it twice as I write this. If you haven’t yet seen Avatar in the cinemas, this is not a movie you want to miss. You’ve also probably heard from friends or deduced yourself from the trailers (if you haven’t watched it yet) that Avatar’s story is very much similar to Dances With Wolves, with a dash of Pocahontas and The Last Samurai.
The Prominent Female Nigh...ahh, Na'Vi
But, as I sat through the movie the second time, it struck me like a brick. James Cameron plays World of Warcraft, a Night Elf Hunter to be precise. There is no mistaking it here. And in this week’s Friday Fives, we’re going to list down the top five (though there are plenty more) reasons why this is so. On the other hand, Blizzard should be begging James Cameron to make the WoW movie.
5. World and Setting
Before we dive into specific WoW culture, let’s look at the world and setting itself. Pandora is a planet filled with lush forests, deadly (if aggroed) animals, exotic flora and a rich resource of rare metals to be mined. Its inhabitants are tall, blue-skinned natives who worships a nature deity called Eywa, and lives around a ‘world tree’. Spirits of nature float around the world like glowing ‘wisps’. Ring any bells?
Kelutral = Darnassus
Hometree = Teldrassil
Na’Vi = Night Elves
Eywa = Elune
Hometree in Avatar
4. Character Creation and Questing
Jake Sully plays his Avatar, a Male Hunter first learning the controls: how to walk, run, jump, eat, and sleep. He then ventures into the world to explore. Of course, as a lowbie, he soon enters a zone that’s too high for him, aggro-ing skull level mobs. A high level Female Hunter saves him, and brings him into her guild. They power level and gear him for three months.
LF1M Healer, can summon, gtg
3. Rep and Skill Grinding
As a Hunter, Jake trains his Bow and Dagger skills, goes through the motions of getting a land mount and then a flying mount. He also grinds reputation with the Na’Vi faction till he’s Exalted and receives their Tabard. As his Na’Vi rep increases, his RDA rep is reduced until it becomes Hostile.
Definitely go Surv. Explosive Shot ftw.
2. Battlegrounds and World PvP
After queuing for a while, Jake joins a large-scale vehicle/mounted battleground with the Na’Vi. The Na’Vi is on the defensive side. The RDA is attacking.
DEFEND dammit. Come back to base, DEFEND!
1. Epic Mount
Like all end-game characters, Jake receives his 310% epic flyer and promptly shows it off at the Na’Vi capital city to a gaggle of whispers from people who want to know how he got his mount.
/tell jakesully dude, where does that drop?
BONUS
Nagrand Zone in Pandora.
Floating islands? Hmmm where have I seen that before?
Oh here it is.
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this is an OBVIOUS tribute to world of warcraft, and the value of online community.
there’s nothing subtle about it.
it’s completely and 100% intentional.
zomg just saw this… Late I know, but what can I say, I’ve been occupied in my own alternate universe…
So I step out, put in the DVD, only to discover I’ve stepped back into a strangely familiar world.
Only thing missing is the gold farmer spam, eh ;)
BTW, if NE fought the Na’vi, who’d win? I would wager NE’s cos they have duridz…
Finally got around to seeing Avatar today. It only took me a couple of minutes after the movie to figure out why it was so naggingly familiar, although while I was watching the movie I definitely thought: “Okay, Nagrand has waterfalls pouring out of flowing islands because it’s magic-warped and floating in the Twisting Nether, but where is THAT water coming from?”
I was late to seeing Avatar. What struck me was I didn’t feel it was anything more than a game I’ve been playing for several years. The visuals Floating chunks of land are all over one section of the game. Flying on dragons.. or what ever.. its there too. The beings are like the night elves and they also live in huge trees. Even the theme of taking the worlds resources is similar to World of Warcraft. It just was not the movie experience I had expected .. why, because I play WoW.
it is not important if Cameron stole anything or not. I have yet to see any wow fan upset by the similarities, blizz is not suing, it’s just fun to compare and imagine who influenced who or plays what. Wow creators have certainly used well loved ideas from many sources, most blatantly so and quite on purpose. Read any of the signs in the main cities to get the point. If Cameron did steal anything, true fans of Wow would applaud him and enjoy the complement. This page was so freaking hilarious I couldn’t wait to show my wife who also plays, and whats wrong with a good laugh
Agree with all the analogies made, here’s another interesting piece on the theme: http://gameon.msn.com/articles/4385/Avatar-vs-World-of-Warcraft
BUT let’s remember the borrowed elements in the Warcraft series too.. if any of you ever read the Dune novels by Frank Herbert the film and games would strike a very familiar note.
(speaking of notes, there are some subliminal references to Titanic in the Avatar film too, such as the first couple of notes of Celine Dion’s song being repeated regularly through the film).
What I would now love to see is a remake of Matrix in 3D!
If you like Avatar The Game, check out my website, http://avatarthegamefans.webs.com/
I myself made the exact same comparisons. I haven’t played WOW (more due to finances) but have played all Warcraft RTS games and am a huge fan of the Warcraft Universe so couldn’t really connect the locations of the movie but the Na’vi immediately seemed very very similar to Night Elves. Googled to see if I was alone in coming to this conclusion and BINGO!
Good to know I am not alone. :)
Anyways, even if James Cameron used Warcraft material for inspiration, so what? It is still a very good movie (have seen it twice and planning to see it again) and Warcraft cinematic movies, races and storyline are so good that it is very hard not to get inspired by them. Doubt my words? Just show Rise of the Lich King’s Launch Cinematic to anyone and see if they get impressed or not.
Avatar vs World of Warcraft…
Avatar –> thanks to Friday Fives – James Cameron Plays World of Warcraft……
Col. Miles Quaritch: http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=642
Toruk Macto: an epic, red Nether Drake http://www.wowwiki.com/Nether_drake
It’s like the Starcraft dudes versus the WoW dudes for sure. I wouldn’t be on this page now unless I’d have made the clear connection to WoW. And for those of you who think such a thing is ridiculous… well what are -you- doing here then? Most folks here have found this site from googling the right words. The original poster should post more comparsion screenshots from WoW to really show the world the clear similarities!
I found this site as well by searching for similarities between the movie and the game. I cannot believe this is coincidence, I was watching the movie and I was thinking I’ve already done this in wow, and immediately I thought the navi are night elves. Then the aggro, unintended pull (I hate that,) hunting, leveling, reputation, flying mounts I knew exactly what was going to happen until the final battle where I didnt expect night elves to win against the humans. Of course, I was rooting for the humans, so was very disappointed when they lost.
BTW, this movie should only be watched in 3d, its nothing like I ever seen before, I just hope they make WOW in 3d soon.
Another inspiration for the story I noticed is that the navi are the native americans, and the humans are the European settlers. Cameron rewrites history by uniting all tribes against the white man, as we know this never happened. The three of life, spirits of the forest, that’s exactly like princess mononoke, and also the druid religion. So, nothing new in this movie, the usual leftist propaganda, nature good, progress bad, yawn. Having said that I might watch it again, the visual spectacle is incredible.
Rooting against the night elves? Sounds like horde :).
真够傻逼的
Saw movie today
Tottally amazing..
Duirng the \movie also was thinking about similarities with wow..
Many things are mentioned before, but what about the main fact that human though modern tehnologies connects another character, comunicates with other and gain new expirience so on and so on..
there also was one moment that made me laugh – without eating, dude havent showered for days – doesnt matter – fast connect me to my avatar…
[...] (ex1, ex2) au spus ca filmul e inspirat mult din jocul World of Warcraft 3 (Kelutral = Darnassus; Hometree = [...]
There’s only one problem–Avatar was written long before WoW came about
Is that so? I’ve been looking for info on when the script (and more importantly, the screenplay) was written, but couldn’t find anything (on a trustworthy site).
Can you present any evidence of that?
While it’s true that Cameron wrote the initial script around 15 years ago, that does not mean that there have not been changes made. Specifically references to current events and political allegories were added or adjusted in the movie to make them more relevant. Specifically a term like ‘Shock and Awe” was added into the script very recently.
Plus, visual elements aren’t always specified in the script, which means that he was most likely, (in fact, I would say VERY likely) that he does or did play WoW at one point or another and that influences have crept in. He strikes me as the kind of guy who would play or at least check it out, if only for points of reference. Cameron is a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy, so to think that he not only wasn’t aware of WoW, but wasn’t in any way influenced by it is a bit of a long-shot if you ask me.
It’s an amazing movie, and like other amazing movies, it was influenced by other material which inspired him.
[...] just read an interesting article detailing 5 similarities between James Cameron’s Avatar and the World of [...]
[...] I felt kinda smug how everyone was basically going crazy over a science-fiction/fantasy movie. We’re all geeks now, ahaha. And I couldn’t for the life of me stop thinking of all the World of Warcraft references, despite me not playing for years. I mean, c’mon. You start with an Avatar (your Lv1 Night Elf), visit the capital with the huge Tree, level up by hunting and get your first riding mount. Train some more you get your flying mount at the flying mountains (which isn’t anything new, of course). And then you get your epic flying mount which makes you the talk of the town, only to mount a defense against a raid by the opposing faction. Yes there was a GaX article on this. [...]
There’s more. Like I just said to my friend who made me discover this article, Jake presents all the NoLife’s symptoms : he doesn’t eat anymore, becomes antisocial, goes to night sessions ( bunker), begins becoming crazy in front of his webcam, and last but not least dates a girl INGAME O_O
Sorry for my English, it’s not my native language.
Startcraft Terrans VS World of Warcraft Night Elf ;)
I think Hometree is the World Tree in Mount Hyjal.
It´s like you see Ashenvale, Zangarmarch and Nagrand in real. Damn nice movie.
And And And! There’s the /kiss part too…………………… ha!
just one thing … aren’t Kelutral and the Hometree the same thing??
Whatever, i’m totally agree with this article :D
i have posted this first
http://thottbot.com/v4584401
here is something that you will like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob95jPip3Ko&feature=channel
“Totally with you on this. I made the mount reference right away, then I heard people after the movie comparing zones like Zangermarsh and Nagrand. So I figured James Cameron must play, Googled it, and this came up. I think I may have even heard before that he plays. A lot of other good points here, kichigai. This is my new favorite movie for sure.”
You “figured he must play” from a few similarities? Once again, any similarities are a coincidence. It’s impossible for him to have stolen material from WoW, if you wanna know why, check my other comment.
dude, we feel the same in china,
as a chinese wower,we are crying to tell everybody that this movie is pure wow movie. U can even find Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind and their love…….
Hey numbnuts, James Cameron wrote the script in 1995. So it’s obviously impossible he stole anything from WoW, again, numbnuts. Once more for good luck, numbnuts.
just bc he wrote the script in 1995 doesn’t mean that the visuals were established back then also, back then it could have been a totally different thing from now.
btw warcraft was first introduced in 1994
HAHAHAH this post makes me laugh totally……
I was just wondering if anyone was going to write something like this.
I watching AVATAR in the movie : It was like ……….hey, I have done this myself before…..this is so damn World of Warcraft rofl!!!!
The Na’vi hunter mount catching was like flying our Netherdrakes through Nagrand at 500% epic flying speed or something (which of course we haven’t had a chance to…. its only at 310% max now)
I watched this movie in 3D ….. the whole time i was just itching to return to WoW and flying my mounts over and over nagrand…. xDD~~~~~~~
Now we know who the sebnsile one is here. Great post!
This is what I was thinking when I saw it too, a night elf. Their posture, height, skin color, ears are that of a night elf.
I don’t belive James Cameron’s inspirations are drawn from Wow alone, as all the timeline in the above comments suggested, but it’s entertaining to think now we know what night elves REALLY look like lol
Blizzard did not create the world tree concept. Do some research people.
Nice list, the World Tree similarities are simply too significant lol.
Epic mount 310% flying lol, that’s what crossed our minds after seeing it. Though I have to agree with others that flying mounts aren’t original to WoW.
The scenes that have neon plants and grass that light up when they step on it reminds me of Zangarmarsh for some reason. lol.
I googled “Na’vi Night Elf” with the same idea as OP and this came up. Excellently put in such a funny way. I laughed till I shed tears. I also would like to add that on several scenes the outfit of Na’vis (especially the planty-stuff they decorate Grace’s body with) extremely looks like the NE outfit from WoW artworks (see original WoW cinematic).
Most of the stuff written is probably only coincidences, but the Worldtree-Hometree likeness could possibly not pass without being realized by Cameron.
I totally agree with u kichigai.
there is n doubt on it. I just saw the movie now and I googled “james cameron avatar warcraft”, and I came out directly on your blog.
It is as disgusting as “Matrix” inspired by “Gost in the shell”.
Why didnt he tell us about its inspiration?!!
Bravo for that comparison work anyway ;)
So now we know what took James Cameron so long to release Avatar: he was playing WoW since it came out a long time ago!
As much as i want to deny the similarities between the movie and the wow universe they are just too simillar. However it is in human nature to connect things that have nothing to do with each other. Anyway if he plays wow then we can see this but if he does not then its all in our heads :D
You know what the funny thing is.. WoW came in 2004, James cameron wrote the script after Titanic came out, Which is before 2004. Now yer gonna say. But wait! Warcraft was before Avatar. Yes, but in those games, there was no Zangarmarsh, no Nagrand, No bg, No pvp, no epic mounts or flying mounts, rep or skill grinding, No character creation. Now this is probably going to be removed cause the guy that created this article dont wants his theory to be busted. so…
WoW came in 2004, yet the things they are “OMG ITS SO LIKE WOW!!!” only came with The Burning Crusade that came out in 2007. Damn, he was able to play the WoW and make such a movie in only 2 years… he is fucking 1337.
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Warcraft exist from 1994, Warcraft III from 2002 and Starcraft from 1998. Maybe Cameron wrote the script in 1995, but I really convinced that the movie was inspirated in those games. It’s not the first case, also the Lord of the Rings copied Warcraft themes. I mean the designs, models, and the environment.
Ya, cuz Warcraft was created in the 30s. It doesnt mean every epic war story movies, copies from Warcraft. It is not the creator of the genre.
omfg I seen zombieland the other day! AND OMG OMG! ITS SO LIKE WORLD OF WARCRAFT! It has undead TOO !!! and big tree! and omfg, humans! they look so much like the ones from WoW! it also has tree’s like darnasus and they use guns just like WoW Hunters! OMFG I BET THE DUDE ALSO PLAYS WOW! OMG OMG OMG.
You bloody idiots…
Did you play Warcraft III campaings or Starcraft ? If you will do, you will realize that.
cant believe u guys missed zangarmash, when it’s night lol
And did anyone notice the ‘Faerie Dragons’ from warcraft III?
Teh awesom. This is the blog I wanted to write and now I don’t have to. WoW movie? That WAS the WoW movie. Minus Leeroy.
Well WoW did supposedly have a “cameo” in Zombieland. I bet they actually do play, heh heh.
Heh, definitely spot on…was noticing the similarities to Teldrassil / Night Elf Hunters while watching the film as well. By the time he got his “horse” and flying mount, I was too into how AMAZING-looking “Avatar” is to be thinking about it anymore, but it sure did seem like he’s a WoW player.
I play a Night Elf Hunter myself and so much of the Na’vi’s home was reminiscent of WoW.
Thought the movie was really a blast, but I was disappointed that it was “warrior goes native”, which has been done so many times. Still, visually, it will change movies forever. Even with the 3D being “not quite right” in a few specific places, for the most part, you felt like you were watching real things, not a bunch of CG.
Holy moly, the first thing we said when we walked out was there was a lot that reminded us of WoW, and wondered if Cameron played. Then we came home and googled it and found this HILARIOUS article. Dead on article, I would love to find out if someone has ever asked him.
Totally with you on this. I made the mount reference right away, then I heard people after the movie comparing zones like Zangermarsh and Nagrand. So I figured James Cameron must play, Googled it, and this came up. I think I may have even heard before that he plays. A lot of other good points here, kichigai. This is my new favorite movie for sure.
Made me lol