Every player of World of Warcraft knows the entrance to Stormwind, even from the Classic times. But Blizzard is deceiving – the city doesn’t look like that at all.
The road of the forest of Elwynn changes to the paved white stones of the city of Stormwind. You see the large statues of the Alliance heroes, while the orchestral music starts playing, reflecting the glory of the humans.
Everyone who has played World of Warcraft in its early days will remember the moment they first entered Stormwind. While WoW was impressive up to that point, exploring the human city was a whole different experience.
The sight has left an imprint on many. The statues of the heroes, the tall walls, the roof of the Cathedral of Light.
But this is fake. Because the roof of the Cathedral that you can see doesn’t actually exist.
The Fake Cathedral of Stormwind
What kind of trick is this? In fact, it is not possible to see the Cathedral from the gates of the city in WoW Classic. Due to the angle, it would simply be impossible, as the Cathedral would be hidden behind all the houses and roofs.
However, the developers wanted to create the impression that the buildings of Stormwind are massive and that the Cathedral of Light, as the center of the human city, is well visible even from the entrance.
Therefore, there are 3 “fake roofs” of the Cathedral that hover over the city and can only be seen from certain angles. One of these roofs is visually located above the Trade District and is displayed when you approach Stormwind and enter the entrance area.
It disappears as soon as you pass through the tunnel into the Trade District. There, a second fake roof is displayed, which disappears again when you switch from the Trade District to the Canals. Only there is the actual roof of the Cathedral visible.
The YouTuber 720 Zone shows this in one of his videos:
Is that still the case in the game? No. These fake roofs no longer exist in the modern version of World of Warcraft – and haven’t since Cataclysm. Back then, the whole world was redesigned so that players can travel anywhere with a flying mount. Therefore, it is now possible to enter Stormwind from all directions and angles. The fake roofs make no sense in such a world.
They were meaningful as long as the developers knew exactly from where players would first enter the city, helping to give Stormwind a strong impression of grandeur and size.
Cortyn says: I find it extremely fascinating what small tricks and techniques World of Warcraft both in the past and today uses to create visual effects. Whether it’s, like in this example, fake roofs or even the invisible rabbits that essentially keep all of World of Warcraft running. Such design tricks generally remain hidden from players because they cannot perceive them in the game – unless they malfunction at some point.
What do you think of such small hidden details? Interesting facts you would like to read more about? Or does such knowledge ruin the magic of the game when you first know how all the particulars work?
But also beyond such planned details, there are many secrets in WoW – such as a human skull hidden in a herb since Vanilla.
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!