Richard A. Knaak Fan Chat

Here is a transcript of the FANCHAT that immediately followed the interview. It was a little less organized.

List of IRC chat talking during the Fans questions to Richard A. Knaak:

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* Richard has joined #wowlands
* TucksMa sets mode: +o Richard
[Richard] Hello
[TucksMa] Welcome Richard
[JimRaZor] thx for the interview richard
[Datajax] Hey
[bd142001] hello
[Dtime35] hi
[HDK-Hadjinim] Hi
[Richard] thank you and you’re welcome.
[Richard] Tag to any from Germany
[Kingpin] hi
[TucksMa] GODZILLA… go ahead.
[JimRaZor] richard i have a question about the other two books of the triology, you have an idea when they will be released?
[Richard] You’ll see THE DEMON SOUL as early as in September or October, I think
[JimRaZor] abend richard (but i’m from austria)
[Richard] As for the third, can’t say
[GODZILLA] How do your books intertwine with Blizzard’s Warcraft games and “mythology?” Do your stories have an actual effect and will they be portrayed in upcoming Blizzard games?
[Richard] Still good Jim
[HDK-Hadjinim] Its (late) evening already here – Guten Abend
[Richard] My books draw from their material extensively
[Richard] and you’ll see my work appear in the gaming material
[Richard] I already know Day of the Dragon is there
[Richard] I also co-created a few of the Aspects
[KoA_Seize] Have you had any direct involvement in the design process for the multi-year storyline World of Warcraft is featuring?
[Richard] and worked on some demigods
[Richard] Who do appear in the trilogy
[GODZILLA] So your stories and the games are set in the same universe, so to speak. Thanks.
[Richard] This should make it work best
[Kingpin] richard Question: How long time does it take to write a book in general if we talk about Warcraft or Diablo universe?
[Richard] Roughly 4 months for the manuscript. The book is gone over very carefully by Chris Metzen and corrections are made in process
[JimRaZor] can you tell us more about the material you got as a help which is intern? i mean is it liek a colelction of storys of ech race or something? btw i love day of the dragon, specially the aspect of the diffrent races and their oppinions of ech other
[bd142001] q: when you say that deathwing is not what we think, is this time before he ‘snapped’, and if so is there an explanation of how he came so evil?
[Richard] They send what is called a ‘bible’ a deep telling
[Kingpin] thats quite fast
[JimRaZor] damn my spellign suckz today sry
[MantisScreamer] lo
[Richard] of the world history and characters.
[Richard] Very thick, very thorough.
[Richard] Changes are made to the game during writing
[Richard] and that is incorporated too.
[Richard] Thanks about Day
[Richard] Deathwing
[HDK-Hadjinim] i got another question, its closely game related…
[Richard] You will see how he becomes what he becomes…
[HDK-Hadjinim] Mr. Knaak, will you play the game itself ? ( looking forward for longtime evenings with a famous storyteller at the fire )
[Richard] I enjoy Warcraft and Diablo and will likely be on WOW once in awhile
[Richard] but
[Richard] If I want to write the books
[Richard] I have to write, not play (darn!)
[Kerry] hehe
[Medievaldragon] hehe
[Richard] I may make myself known if I have time
[Richard] some day
[Kingpin] the solution make the days longer
[Medievaldragon] that is a high price
[GODZILLA] I think the question we all want answered : Is Deathwing alive? You mentioned earlier he will make a cameo.
[Richard] I’ll talk to Nozdormu about that King
[Kingpin] nice
[Richard] Since this is the past, he is very much alive
[Richard] However
[Richard] As to the future…I think we havent’t seen the last of him…
[Richard] next?
[JimRaZor] howare you? ^-^
[Richard] Ich bin gut
[JimRaZor] You have to say: Mir geht es gut.
[Richard] that is all I recall from my mother teaching me
[Richard] Hey, I was a child
[JimRaZor] hey np
[Kingpin] Richard another q: Have you write the story for new gameworld or wish to write one in the future?
[Killer927] *writen
[TucksMa] *written
[Killer927] ;p
[Kingpin]
[Richard] I wouldn’t mind writing one, but until then, I enjoy, as you do, playing in those created well by others
[GODZILLA] Do you ever feel, once a book is published and out in stores, that you could have done better? Or are you always perfectly happy with your final product?
[Richard] Hey, anyone can have typing trouble here
[Kingpin]
[MantisScreamer] :p
[Killer927] A question: Mr.Knaak, did you ever think about going to other branch of arts, instead of literature?
[Richard] No writer thinks a book is perfect, but I’m happy with them.
[Richard] If you mean drawing or such, I can’t do stick fugures
[Richard] or spell them, either
[Killer927] hehe
[TucksMa] HeHe
[Datajax] When you read other books do you not find youself, without knowing it, drawing on aspects from all the different ones for your new books?
[Killer927] Thanks for your awsner.
[Medieva
ldragon] Let’s read the questions, wait for an answer, then make yours
[Medievaldragon] thanks
[Richard] It can happen to anyone, but no story is truly original. You’ll find that in all works. It’s the execution that makes it unique
[Datajax] Yeah, I have that problem but verging on plagerism =P
[Datajax] so… not good
[Richard] I’ve seen that
[Richard] You just need more writing!
[Medievaldragon] Tolkien was an inspiration to many different games, tv shows, movies, comic books and books
[Medievaldragon] same as star wars
[TucksMa] Have you been to https://www.wowlands.com and if so have you checked out some of the stories by our members in the Public Library?
[GODZILLA] Tolkien was also the first time elves were generalized as archers, I believe ;p
[Richard] Tolkien is an influence on nearly all of us fantasy writers
[Richard] I’ve been to wowlands
[Richard] not had time to read stories
[Medievaldragon] ^_^
[JimRaZor] Richard, can you please tell me which kind of music you like? And are you listening to music when you write your books? Does Music even influences your work?
[Richard] I often listen to music
[Richard] I like Danny Elfman for mood
[Richard] Alan Parsons
[Richard] Classical symphonies
[Richard] Overtures
[Richard] Martial music with brass for armies
[Richard] Just to name a few
[Richard] They stir the blood while writing
[Richard] Whatever works for you when you create, eh?
[Medievaldragon] Will the trilogy of War of the Ancients impact the Quests of World of Warcraft MMORPG? No need to go indepth just so George Wang doesnt rise an eyebrow ::smiles::
[Richard] I suspect that it will have some influence. That depends on Blizzard
[Medievaldragon] Fans> George Wang—Public Relations Coordinator of Fan Sites
[Kingpin] Richard: Another Q Have you always been writting, or is this somethings that has come later, what inspired you to begin writting?
[Richard] I would be happy to coordinate any announcements I have
[Richard] about Warcraft projects
[Richard] with the fansites
[Richard] I have always enjoyed making up stories
[Richard] Since I could read.
[Datajax] What sort of herioc fantaasy do you prefer, a couple all powerful heroes, or mass battles with lots of little heroes?
[Richard] I studied other things
[Jamie]
[Richard] but came back to writing
[Datajax] fanatasy^
[Kingpin] ok
[Datajax] oh crap fantasy^^
[TucksMa] fantasy*
[Richard] I prefer heroes who seem real, not all powerful
[Richard] They are the ones who truly sacrifice to achieve
[Richard] their goals.
[Richard] and are more admirable to me
[Datajax] good good
[Richard] Rhonin
[Datajax] same with me
[Richard] Huma
[Richard] even Krasus
[Richard] who has his failings
[Richard] Next?
[JimRaZor] thx for your answer, next question: with which character of the warcraft universe you would identify yourself?
[Jamie] hmm
[Richard] I’d have to combine Rhonin and Krasus into one character.
[Richard] They’re both a part of me
[Richard] I like to think
[Medievaldragon] Hmm thats a cool to know
[Medievaldragon] Will your publisher consider an affiliate program so that Fan Site advertise your books?
[Richard] That would make sense.
[Richard] It would need to be presented formally somehow.
[Medievaldragon] yes the best source of advertising is the fan sites themselves
[Medievaldragon] fans come everyday
[Richard] Contact me on that, MD
[JimRaZor] whats about he other characters like uther or silvana?
[Kingpin] So when reading about Rhonin and Krasus we will think about Richard
[Medievaldragon] whereas on TV fans may miss it because they dont watch certain tv show or dont buy certain newspaper
[Richard] Uther is one I admire.
[MantisScreamer] :p
[Richard] Silvana is interesting
[Medievaldragon] alrite expect a long letter hehe
[Richard] Short
[Medievaldragon] i was kidding
[Medievaldragon] i will
[Richard] i have 1k of ram
[Richard] in my brain
[MantisScreamer] wow
[Richard] constantly overloading
[MantisScreamer] must quote you on that!
[Medievaldragon] well that 1k is very huge to give birth to all this universes ^_^
[Richard] Zip files
[TucksMa] HeHe
[Richard] tiny, tiny zip files
[Kingpin]
[TucksMa] Anyone else?
[HDK-Hadjinim] i got a wish… perhaps you can move the people at blizzard to make more fansite chats this would be great
[Richard] I do keep in contact with the dragonlance fans on their websites
[Richard] That would be a good idea HDK
[TucksMa] You’re welcome to register on WoWLands. We’d even give you your own forum. ;p
[Heza] to which extent will pandaren occur in your books?
[MantisScreamer] lol
[Richard] Interesting, T.
[Heza]
[Richard] pandaren? That escapes me
[Medievaldragon] hmm I remember my first email to you was if you would like to make pocket books an integrated tool for Quests in World of Warcraft MMORPG where developers can recreate scenarios based on your descriptions in the story book and add quests with items, characters and locations mentioned in the pocketbooks
[Killer927] Pandaren = race of pandas that blizz made as a joke during the wc3 time ;p
[MantisScreamer] gamers took it seriously
[Killer927] And that joke got one of their characters into TFT
[Killer927] true
[Richard] Oh yeah! I should use them
[Heza] ok.. what about the children of cenarius?
[MantisScreamer] yay
[Heza] would be great ;p
[MantisScreamer] thats all of the KoTGs
[Richard] Cenarius is involved, but as to his ‘children’, well
[Richard] you can consider Malfurion one, as he is the first Druid
[Richard] other than that, you will see a few demigods other than him and learn a bit about him by the end
[MantisScreamer] Cenarius is Malfurion’s father?
[Richard] No—his shan’do
[Medievaldragon] maybe ancestor
[MantisScreamer] ok
[Medievaldragon] remember they live long years
[Medievaldragon] that before teh dragon gave them eternal life with the world tree
[JimRaZor] in this “bible” you got, are their infos about minor character liek shandirs? does she has a history too?
[Killer927] *like
[JimRaZor] thx
[Richard] Shandris was not in there, but she will be in the trilogy
[JimRaZor] oh thats very nic
e ^.^
[Richard] You will see how she becomes involved
[MantisScreamer] btw, anyone know where shandaris went after the first few maps of War3?
[Medievaldragon] that is good, everything of the story is cover
ed in the trilogy. It is hard to find all the loose ends
[Richard] Chris wanted her in there
[Medievaldragon] with such a rich universe
[Richard] I’m sure I missed something
[Richard] Next
[JimRaZor] i think blizzard started the books to clean up the story misstakes and open ending of characters ^^
[Medievaldragon] well the pandaren is a very new culture they introduced. they dont really have a big lore and story
[Killer927] Medieval: True, only about 3 units is all we know about them
[MantisScreamer] not yet*
[Richard] Blizzard wanted to add to the depth of the world so that you could enjoy it more
[MantisScreamer] actually theres 4
[Killer927] 4?
[MantisScreamer] yeah
[Killer927] oh ya
[Medievaldragon] Im surprised the Tauren are in the trilogy. Many tauren lovers will want to find out more
[Killer927] geomancer, brewmaster, shodo-pan and the pike panda
[MantisScreamer] there were 3 mentioned on the site, and the Brewmaster
[TucksMa] Anymore questions?
[Richard] They will be a part of it toward the end.
[MantisScreamer] i’m sure blizzard will expand on them in the future
[JimRaZor] samwise loves to draw panders, so they got into the game, their are rumors that their is a really large history which hasen’t been pubslihed, but i think this is just a rumor
[MantisScreamer] go post on the wc3 battle.net forums to confirm@
[Medievaldragon] pandas are the analog of the chinese culture
[Medievaldragon] NIght Elves are analog to the Indians
[MantisScreamer] oh really, I didn’t notice that until now
[JimRaZor] is this only a interpretition? (is this english right?)
[Killer927] Med is correct
[MantisScreamer] I always thought the orcs were more indian
[Richard] Tauren are a bit like native Americans
[MantisScreamer] because of their spirit lodge
[MantisScreamer] good question
[HDK-Hadjinim] is it over, or what ?
[JimRaZor] richard i have one more question, do you know anything about plans or somethign to release this bible as an lexicon or something?
[MantisScreamer] we can ask questions
[Richard] They will not do that.
[Richard] The pieces will be incorporated as needed
[Medievaldragon] yea in some sort because they are shamans
[Richard] but additions are made
[Medievaldragon] and have totems
[MantisScreamer] Richard- If blizzard asked you to write a book on starcraft’s history (birth of the protoss and zerg), would you do that?
[Richard] The ancient night elves are very worldly, so says Blizzard
[JimRaZor] hmm thats sad : (
[Kingpin] Richard: Another Q: I know some writters have event where they sign there books, have you signings and if so, are anything planned to happend in europe sometimes?
[Medievaldragon] Guys, we are soon about to wrap up the interview.
[Richard] That brings their downfall
[Richard] I would do Starcraft if they wanted me to do a particular thing
[Medievaldragon] Night Elves are the ecologists
[Richard] Now they are ecologists
[MantisScreamer] cool, it would always be nice to see another starcraft story
[Richard] No signings in europe, although I would like to get back there
[Medievaldragon] well not just another story, a story by Richard A. Knaak ^_^
[Killer927] Mr.Knaak, you really should visit Portugal sometime
[Richard] Must stress, the mess the night elves make in the past is why they are now ecologists
[JimRaZor] can i ask you if you’re married or have childs
[Kingpin] ok
[MantisScreamer] it would be children, not childs JimRaZor
[JimRaZor] ok thx
[Richard] I would like to get to Portugal
[Richard] I am not married, save to my work
[Killer927] Hehe
[Richard] And I have twenty six children
[Richard] all books
[Kingpin]
[JimRaZor] : )
[Kerry] hehe
[MantisScreamer] :p
[Jamie] ok gtg dudes
[Jamie] see ya later
[Richard] They feed me instead of the other way around
[HDK-Hadjinim] ok, thank you for your time, Mr. Knaak, have a nice day !
[Richard] Thanks! Sorry it has to end!
[Kingpin] it always has to
[Richard] Have writing to do!
[MantisScreamer] bye, thank you!
[Medievaldragon] Hadjin is from worldofwarcraft.de
[Medievaldragon] Gamona Network
[JimRaZor] no problem
[Richard] This has been rewardoing for me
[JimRaZor] thank you very much
[Kingpin] but thanks for an interesting interview and that you took time for us in here
[HDK-Hadjinim] yeah, thank you !
[Richard] Good to talk to all of you from all over
[Killer927] Thank you for your time, Mr.Knaak.
[Richard] Remember my mailing list!
[Kingpin] I will
[JimRaZor] i will, i will…
* Killer927 sets mode: -o Killer927
[HDK-Hadjinim] sure !
[MantisScreamer] lol
[Killer927] err ops, auto script triggered
[Medievaldragon] I am sure many fans appreciate your time and kindness sharing this time with us. I encourage fan sites to spread the news and the link to Richard’s website
[MantisScreamer] will do!
[Richard] Good luck to you all! Check out Minotaur Wars, then WELL OF ETERNITY in April
[Kingpin] will do that aswell
[eggy] holy
[MantisScreamer] can’t wait!
[TucksMa] Thanks again!
[eggy] wow
[eggy] lots of peeps in here
[Richard] When the other Warcraft project is ready, I’ll spread the word to the fansites
[JimRaZor] thx for putting so much love into your work
[Richard] I know I can’t please everyone
[Richard] But I try to please as many as I can
[Kingpin]
[MantisScreamer] well you can please all the blizzard fans
[Heza] just remember the pandaren
[Richard] So long, ciao, Schuss and I’ll try to remember the pandaren…
[JimRaZor] ^^
[Medievaldragon] we are glad and your hard work and dedication to fill the need for good quality fantasy is appreciated
[Killer927] Thanks Tucks, going to link it at brokenedge.net
[Medievaldragon] Im sure ther
e are many writer aspirants among the fans that see your work as inspiration
[Richard] And I say you never know what you can do unless you try. Write, write, write…
[Medievaldragon] ^_^
[K
ingpin]
[Richard] I’ll pass on all your best to Blizzard
[MantisScreamer] yay
[Medievaldragon] thanks, and send our regards to Chris Meltzen
[JimRaZor] and samwise if you have the chance
[Kerry] …And thanks again
[Kerry] I have to go now as well, have a great day everyone
[Kerry] And night to the europeeans
* Richard has left #wowlands

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