Really? I was under the impression a good deal of technology was steam powered. I'm fairly certain in Redridge I got "not enough steam" messages. Thus boiler systems are involved. Boilers were at least initially (if not entirely) heated by coal, not oil.
Coal is a simpler fuel source, because (to my knowledge) it doesn't need significant refining from raw product to usable fuel. Oil needs a refining process, not that it would be of any great difficulty to the alchemists (or liquor distillers) out there.
I would hazard that oil is the new fuel source that Azeroth may be moving towards. They're likely in a hybrid fuel economy transitioning from coal to oil. The age of steampunk may be ending on Azeroth, or we may just be moving to oil-heated boilers.
Oil based technology can not be that new, we were gathering oil back in Warcraft 2 after all, and that took place a number of years before present in game time. There were also oil refineries in Warcraft 2, so the technology is there. It may just be a lot less common.
Going by what we saw in Warcraft 2, only the ships used it. So we may just be seeing an increase in it's presence as both sides are now building up their forces.
Going by what we saw in Warcraft 2, only the ships used it. So we may just be seeing an increase in it's presence as both sides are now building up their forces.
And this is an interesting thing to see.
You find little tidbits here and there that suggest or even show that things change in Azeroth. Technologies explode on the scene and take over.
And that's a significant phenomenon in the world of Fantasy. Fantasy is, at heart, a conservative litterature. The Good world is static. The old must be preserved - or restored. The True king is missing and must be restored to the throne. The kingdom is overthrown and must be saved. The heroes, ultimately, fight against change; when they strive to change things, you'll find that they are trying to undo much older changes.
That goes all back of course to the root of modern fantasy - with Tolkien depicting the change of industrializing england as the scourging of the Shire and all the associate metaphors. So, it's refreshing to see that World of Warcraft isn't that fully anchored in the unchanging, golden-age wishful lounging habits of Fantasy.
Yes, it was a bit hasty for me to make that kind of comment about oil's requirement, I still somewhat feel it must have some kind of requirement though, would the jets be fine with steam?
Sylvanas really is the success story of the expansion so far, the forsaken are the only faction that as far as I can tell have an unblemished record in this expansion in so much as all of Sylvanas' attacks on alliance (or neutral in the case of gilneas at the time) have resulted in ground being gained, the forsaken have consistenly been on the front foot in all military matters, I think the forsaken have expanded considerabley and am not aware of any sacrifices (in terms of territiory) that had to be made, whereas most other races have had some losses and some gains.
Forsaken forces are defeated in Hinterlands, by the way. Forsaken invaders attack Highvale; it's up the player, a continent of Draenei who are conveniently training there and the High Elves to repel the Forsaken. -- Though, there are no Val'kyrs.
Also, for what it's worth, the Dwarves/Gnomes have gained land, have not lost any battle I know of and have not lost land. Additionally, it's my understanding the Forsaken were forced to retreat from Gilneas. And while the Gilneas didn't "win" niether did the Forsaken.
On topic of Zeppelins, don't forget Alliance do have control of at least one Zeppelin, and there are bound to be other neutral Zeppelins about (I can think of at least 2-3 crashed Zeppelins in game). And, Alliance are more known for their flying machines. (One Thorium Brotherhood quest has the player using a flying machine with a canon to take out a continent of Dark Iron Dwarves).
So it's not like the Alliance don't have air support. They clearly do; and have the Ironforge Airfield and the Gnomeregan Surface.
Originally Posted by arison
Everyone should start from the same place and rise based on their abilities, desires, and schedule. No one plays MMOs to *be* powerful, they play MMOs to *become* powerful. It's the journey, stupid. The rarer loot is, the more cherished it is when you get it, but only so long as there is a reasonable expectation to get it. The rarer loot is, the better it feels when you kill a boss or when $AWESOME_TRINKET drops.
Night Elves are clearly loosing in Ashenvale, Horde now have Aszhara, and even moved to Darkshore.
To be fair, the Night Elves make some fairly vicious counterattacks against the Horde in both Ashenvale and Darkshore. While the Ashenvale actions seemed to serve mostly to stop the attacks on the remaining Night Elf settlements, the Horde forces in northern Darkshore get crushed pretty hard (Shatterspear Village is pretty much razed to the ground).
As for Swamp of Sorrows, remember that the lake around Sunken Temple is now connected to the sea, and the Alliance base lies directly at the water. Getting in supplies shouldn't be too hard, Alliance is good at moving stuff with boats.
There's actually a very amusing Alliance quest to read Horde plans at the Dark Portal. 10 second channel to read and you have to do it without being caught by 2 patrolling sentries, so the quest giver has deniability. While the post-Cataclysm Dark Portal shouldn't be much worry (the other end should be safely Illidan/KT/Legion free), the idea of constant bickering in the face of larger threats remains a constant.
Then on the reverse, as an Alliance "hero", I helped defend New Kargath. Rhea's quests in Badlands lead you through killing Black Dragonflight leaders while they assault/conquer New Kargath. Horde troops are actively in combat with black dragonflight minions - you ignore the Horde (well, they're valid targets, you could kill them if you truly desired) and kill the dragonflight targets for the quest, including two lieutenants who have taken over key Kargath structures. You then return to the quest giver and no Alliance quest giver mobilizes to roll over the weakened Horde position.
Overall military strategy is as strong as Blizzard makes it (not very). Individual military tactics are far worse, because zones or groups of zones were apparently given to different people to develop (based on some of the interviews - this is perfectly logical from a workload perspective), so each individual or group prosecuted the war at their own initiative. Some zones it involves phasing and taking enemy positions, some it means sniping enemies or their supplies (Alliance in SoS) while gaining no ground, and in some it means ignoring clear advantages without mitigating "we lack the resources to prosecute because of X." Nature of the development beast.
The Neutral goblin town in SoS point blank tells you they'll sell war supplies or anything directly to both factions simultaneously. Shipping some troops through (for a fee) would be nothing but profit to non-Bilgewater goblins.
The portal quest is one of those mirror quests. Horde has the exact same one. I was quite anxious when I did it since an Alliance vendor stands right next to it. I really didn't want to get flagged there. But apparently he is blind or something and I waltzed right past him.
I didn't know the Alliance did the same Rhea quests. I have to say that it is pretty silly. But I guess you can argue the point that the local Allaince commander doesn't really know what's going on. The Rhea quests have a fairly hurried feel to them. So in fact, by helping clearing out the dragons, the Horde position in New Kargath is strengthened and an attack would fail against the obviously powerful defenses. The Hero (You), doesn't have time to run to the commander and tell them "hey the Orcs are in trouble in New Kargath, it's time to attack." Instead the Hero considers the immediate important things, that of what Rhea has said.
But it remains fairly silly that the player would not do something to help the Alliance in the long run. The Position of the dragons is just not very good.
The Steamwheedle port in SoS is there to capitalise on beachparties (seems like a Spring Break sort of place) and exotic cuisine. It makes sense really since SoS was 100% untapped until then. A swamp, or a jungle for that matter, has an immense amount of resources lying around fairly readily, if you know how to spot them. Since it is 'free', of course the Steamwheedle would move in eventually. And even more so now that a major battle is taking place and at least one side would gladly pay to get supplied and reinforcements through their port. One of the questguys there sums it pretty nicely, there is a profit to be made.
I don't like to mention it, but the Steamwheedle playes the part of real life warzone contractors, obviously a bit more innocently (it's a game for fun after all).
When I ran SoS as Horde, it wasn't clear what happened after the asasult on Stonard. Obviously it was eventually beaten back. But since there were no more quests it was hard to guage how much damage the Horde position had taken. Everything was fine when I left it for Blasted Lands (awesome place by the way), so did both sides sort of expend themselves and it was back to square one? Seemed like it, but mostly because nothing had changed.
It is clear however that Stonard is the weaker of the two positions. Maybe it is the defenses of the camp that makes the difference in the end, with the Alliance suffering just enough extra casualties every time that they can't take it completely. And while Stonard isn't a fort like New Kargath, or the other improved places, it is actually one of the stronger 'old' camps with Burrows/Bunkers protecting the entrances, something I believe is and was unique among Horde fortifications.
The Alliance commander there explicitly states she's going to take the high ground and not slaughter the orcs like the orcs slaughtered the humans. You're told only to attack orcs who take up arms, and leave unarmed orcs alone.
It seems, this Alliance commander really isn't too interested in killing orcs, she just wants them to know the Alliance is there.
This is it, <name>. We've made our final push into Stonard itself.
I shouldn't have to remind anyone, but I'll say it anyway: We're not orcs, and we're not going to become them out of revenge or spite. Stonard will not be burned to the ground for us to dance on the ashes.
No, I want this done right. I want this surgical. Hold your head high and strike down any orc that picks up a weapon.
Everyone should start from the same place and rise based on their abilities, desires, and schedule. No one plays MMOs to *be* powerful, they play MMOs to *become* powerful. It's the journey, stupid. The rarer loot is, the more cherished it is when you get it, but only so long as there is a reasonable expectation to get it. The rarer loot is, the better it feels when you kill a boss or when $AWESOME_TRINKET drops.
Hm, unarmed Orcs could be taken prisoner then? Obviously as Horde only the vendors are 'unarmed' and a whole lot of guards and grunts are swarming the place. I wonder which event is canon, as it seems from the Alliance perspective Stonard is removed as a military threat (presumably all armed Horde has been killed) and from the Horde perspective the Alliance assault failed in the end.
On to other matters. Anyone read the contest winner story about Garrosh? I'm not sure how canon it is supposed to be, but it is one of the major things on the new site, and it is being presented as the first in a line of leader stories. It seems pretty much Blizzard endorsed by that.
So on to the critique.
It is nice to see a little backstory to the brown bugger. He explicitly thinks of he duel with Thrall as a loss in the making, so that one is settled once and for good. He is very impressionable, and that meshes well with my own views on him. He still has a lot of 'father' issues not yet dealt with. Also good. He is horribly arrogant and not really understanding of the plight of those around him, as seen with his clash with Krenna and Gorgonna (how he and Krenna becomes 'friends' I have no idea, there is very little to connect them). His overall behaviour is pretty well done.
But the story fails when it comes to the actual events in Northrend. Garrosh thinks about the blunder of positioning Warsong Hold on the Nerubian hive (he thinks is a transitpoint of sorts), but he doesn't actually understand that it is his fault, to the point that he doesn't even think about it as such for anyone. I guess it is understandable from his point of view, but the entire thing is basically just passed over and not treated as a blunder.
Saurfang isn't there, he appears to be in Orgrimmar. Which goes against all the experiences we have in Warsong Hold, and Northrend for that matter. Varok's position is that of, basically a tutor to Garrosh for the duration. Yet here it seems he is little more than an errandboy. Further, Varok was the one actually doing stuff at Warsong Hold, yet that is nicely ignored with Garrosh suddenly acting like a leader. And no mention of the wasteful tactics of throwing away Horde heroes that comes to help. In essence all Garrosh did in Warsong Hold that we witnessed was never mentioned.
Overall I found it to be a good representation of Garrosh as a person, and a really poor representation of his actions and abilities. It seems Blizzard, by endorsing this story, tried to gloss over the worst parts of Garrosh's performance. Without them, he would indeed be fitting with his current actions, like those in Stonetalon and towards Sylvanas. An arrogant leader, that has not only the balls but also the results to back it up.
I suppose Warsong Hold didn't happen in lore now? Without it, everything just fits extremely well together.
I suppose Warsong Hold didn't happen in lore now? Without it, everything just fits extremely well together.
What do you mean by that exactly? I think maybe you're confused a bit about the time line (I had to read it twice because the transition between flashback and present was hard to miss at one point, so I think that's what got you.) All during the story you switch between the present at Warsong Hold and Garrosh reminiscing about his first visit to Orgrimmar. Varok was in Warsong Hold, and he just had a small role because the story wasn't about him.
The story starts with Thrall and Garrosh having recently passed through Agmar's Hammer after meeting in Dalaran at the start of patch 3.1. Presumably this means that the players have already passed through Borean Tundra and everything they've done is old news (the Nerubians were never defeated in the quests, destroying the sinkholes would just give a little breathing room until they dug new ones).
We're basically at the very start of Garrosh's journey in learning how to be a good leader.
Also I doubt he and Krenna ever became friends, but if she showed aptitude for being a warrior and leader I don't doubt that he would put her in a command position. I like that the story gave some motivation to Krenna's obsession with resource acquisition you see in Grizzly Hills.
Positioning Warsong Hold over a Narubian tunnel isn't really anyone's fault. No one would have known it was there until they started to pop out of the quarry. You can't really count something out of his control as a mark against him. The Alliance assault on the Barrens was thwarted by the Cataclysm, but it's not the Alliance's fault that they picked that time to invade. No one really knew it was going to happen. It's still a fiasco.
He means the events at Warsong Hold whereupon Garrosh was a blithering idiot, such as neglecting everything but "the warrior spirit of the Horde" for the assault on Icecrown Citadel and sending us--alone--to take care of a threat that required Saurfang's intervention for us to survive--in other words, it makes sense if the "screaming meathead" portrayal is all but removed, save for the meeting in Dalaran.
I'm not sure I would say it "didn't happen," but it seems likely that they regret giving the impression that he was completely irrational. They've been saying in lore material that he is a good commander and tactician for a while now. Sure, any of us can point to lots of instances in-game that portray him as little more than an angry sack of meat with a pair of axes, but that doesn't really mean he is.
WotLK was far from the best story telling through in-game events and quests that they've done. Arthas was a stooge for most of the expansion, Varian and Garrosh (who are supposed to be great commanders) were nothing but frothing idiots that appeared more interested in spitting at each other than getting anything done, Tirion held a tournament on Arthas' front door which included jousting to prove ourselves worthy, where he let people die for no other reason than "you must be strong to assault Icecrown Citadel!", built on top of the Nerubian Empire. All the while allowing Warlocks to summon demons and the Alliance and Horde to squabble and saying nothing more after the fact than "WHAT A PITY YOU HAD TO KILL EACH OTHER!" and "FOR SHAME YOU SILLY WARLOCK, THAT'S WHAT YOU GET."
Everyone was stupid. People just hold it against Garrosh and Wrynn more for some reason.
Of course they do. The characters are weak. This is a good attempt at making Garrosh better, and to an extent it does. But it does so by introducing events that we were never told about. I mean pillaging Razor Hill by Tiragarde. That's a huge event, Razor Hill isn't some little hamlet, it is a pretty big town for the Orc nation, yet we are never told about it. But apparently it happened all the way back at the Zombie Invasion times.
It is extremely easy to just insert patches of "well you weren't there, but these unknown big events did stuff we just didn't tell you about until AFTER presenting this idiot." The Shattering is in the same mould. They create events we can't know unless we read it, yet they assume it makes sense to people that don't. The game(s) is the center, the stories to add or expand the ingame stories, not create what is effectively excuses and turnarounds. The only tactical or strategic moves we have seen from Garrosh in the game have been poor, his selection of commanders has been poor (something that continues mind you). Yet, we hear he is a good tactician... Let me spill it out simply, what the fuck?! And they continue with the crap, look at the 'move' to Twilight Highlands, Garrosh yet again leaves what he has for a brain at home (I would assume it is Spiced Bread), and acts exactly like he did at Warsong Hold. But he is a brilliant tactician right? So it doesn't matter. They can fill Cataclysm up with him pulling iditic moves, as long as the lore tells us he is a brilliant tactician. It doesn't ring a bit hollow?
It is a poor execution of getting what they want. They could have achieved as much, if not better, by simply having Garrosh confess to Thrall silently that he learned a great deal from Varok, including battlefield ethics, but that the old Orc is worn down and no longer ruthless enough. It would be the truth, Varok isn't capable of command of actual war any longer, his emotions are shredded, they were even before the Wrathgate. And it would show that Garrosh is capable of learning, of having some sense (at times at least) and respecting those who have done stuff.
If they embraced the faults they had put into the characters, then I at least would like them. Instead they try to ignore what they dislike by creating bypasses.
By doing it like this, by clamping their hands over their ears while they go "lalalalala", to the critique Garrosh has recieved, they take a piss on those people that are actually slightly literally inclined. I know we are possibly not that many in WoW, but it still counts. That makes me dislike Garrosh as he is one great set of contradictions, only his personality is actually well done by now (they have at least come that far).
Telling stories (as this really is) is like many other fields of art. If you make a flaw, or mistake, you don't try to make a convoluted escape out of it, you continue with it as if it was intended. The greatest pianoplayers (and I assume this applies to all musicians) are greater than the really good players, not because they make less mistakes, but because they play on and work with them, while the really good ones stutter slightly. This is audible enough to make a difference, most of us can't pin it down to that of course.
The work on Garrosh has been one stutter after another, and it makes him a dispicable character. I don't like characters I'm told to like or accept, not like this.
The worst part, they have still not explained his incredible doublestandards. Garrosh at Warsong Hold "But surely you cannot think that those children were born into innocence? They would have grown up and taken arms against us!" But when one of his appointed commanders acts in a fashion befitting the quote, he is insulted. Now it is clear from the story that somewhere along the lines, he took to heart what Saurfang said, but look at it from a player's perspective, we are never told that he changed his policy, making it equally correct to assume he never announced a change of his position. That he needs to inform Krom'gar that he learned not to kill innocents, he confirms that not only did he previously support such action, but that he never actually told people he no longer does (I mean a general doesn't know his commanding officer's position on killing innocents?). No wonder Krom'gar is surprised and confused, much like I was.
And his treatment of heroes. Heroes that have killed everything the Horde has thrown at them, including Illidan, banished Kil'jaeden, slain an Old God, kicked Ragnaros' nuts. They are not good enough for him so he insults them (by either claiming they smell of fear and won't last long, or by telling them to run away), despite his endless tirades about strength and honor and being good warriors and strong for the Horde. What has the hero not done? No, the fact is that he doesn't actually trust it, his words are hollow and he uses them only when they fit his agenda. When the hero has finally helped him, he is finally accepting. He should be bloody happy such illustrious heroes deign him a second glance (personally I didn't after my first visit to Borean Tundra, but that was because it being a much poorer place to level) and help him out in what is clearly a problematic situation, at that time he has done nothing at all worth mentioning.
So be what he says everyone should be like, and he still treats you like trash, follow up on his only known beliefs, and he murders you. And I could even have accepted that too, had they built it into him (to like a character I don't need them to be good or evil, a dumbass can be likeable as a character too), but with the recent story that isn't how he is presented. So we have two different Garroshes, the story Garrosh that is perhaps arrogant and prideful, but a great commander and will fight for the sake of his people and their right to exist. On the other hand we have the game Garrosh that is an idiot in military terms, says one thing and does another thing and treats even heroes like manure.
It is that disconnect that is so damning for his character.
I lurk in this thread and post on an intermittent basis. I like to think I'm at least reasonably familiar with lore and the background of WoW. As such, I'm finding one portion of the Cataclysm quests (the old world leveling already available ones) severely lacking. There is an enormous number of things which simply are not explained or mentioned in-game. Blizzard is more and more assuming that everyone reads and is familiar with extensive tracts of out-of-game information.
What happened to Stormwind (this is rhetorical, please don't answer)? I know from the trailer that Deathwing flew over, was mean, and left clawmarks on the front. But in-game there is absolutely no reference to the park being destroyed, other than a huge crater (oddly labeled the Old Barracks, when it was clearly a park for the last 6 years). The Keep has been rebuilt/redesigned and even has a nifty ornamental waterfall/fountain (but Varian doesn't have resources to help Westfall or Redridge...).
What the hell happened to Southshore and Hillsbrad (again rhetorical)? I've done every single quest I could find on the Eastern Continents and the closest I've seen a reference was some quest ender (don't remember which) saying that I must have been sent from the ruins of Southshore (I got the quest nowhere near that zone, since Hillsbrad has no Alliance quests (only the neutral Brazzie ones)).
We have remnants of a war between the Alliance and Horde, such as new fortifications across the Barrens. There are quests and references to needing to beef up and resupply these efforts. I expect Kalmidor quests may explain some of the attack, how it occurred, failures, etc - recall I've only done EKingdoms.
There's a lot of areas and NPCs just hanging out all over both continents with a "What, I've always been here. Nothing to see here." attitude. Many in brand new locations that didn't exist pre-cataclysm.
In short the post-cataclysmic Azeroth does not seem tied to the pre-cataclysmic Azeroth at all. Before, <discontinuity>, after. What happened between? Very few zones/NPCs reference it. Only a very few of the new zone designers tackled an explanatory task. Current quests all deal with the how things are. There is little to no reference to changes which occurred.
Example: If I started entirely new to Warcraft today I'd have absolutely no idea that Hearthglen hasn't always been controlled by the Argent Crusade.
I'm all for external sources supporting and building more lore for the game, that's fine. But when it's the exclusive source for this lore you have a flawed game. It cannot stand on its own. This has disappointed me to date, which is a real shame because a lot of the quests themselves are leaps and bounds better than vanilla.
Rock: "We're sub-standard DPS. Nerf Paper, Scissors are fine."
Paper: "OMG, WTF, Scissors!"
Scissors: "Rock is OP and Paper are QQers. We need PvP buffs."
Many of the quests do mention things pre-cata, though. Some even use it as a punch line (Cursed Orb in Wetlands is a prime example). Un'Goro mentions that they had to ditch their old camp, Gagdetzan has you rescue people at the docks, STV works off the assumption that all the badguys of ZG were defeated by players (and they throw in the ultimate "HAHA!" to the playerbase of all time when -you- get farmed for a raptor mount). Etc, etc.
I think there is a throw away line of Tirion taking over Hearthglen, but to be honest that whole area was off the beaten path in it's original form and alot of people didn't even know it was there.
What more are you really expecting here? If you are expecting WoW to innovate in terms of dynamic, time-progression-oriented questing in an MMO universe, able to tell 25 zones worth of storyline through quests while in any way maintaining a playable game world -- well you might be in the wrong place. In the same way that very few single-player games can match the experience of a real D&D campaign's storytelling, few MMOs can match the plot or development of a single-player game. Technical limitations in the MMO genre mean that it is simply challenging from an engineering standpoint to move everything beyond Collect Magic Bear Asses, Volume IV. Given the structural limitations WoW has done a fairly good job with at least parts of their storytelling over the years, including lots of single-player questlines and variety of shared events like the Sunwell story events or the various Wrath cinematics. Some of it has been bad or disjointed or jarring or whatever, but Blizzard hasn't ever really been a company to PUSH the envelope. If you're looking for a game to revolutionize MMO storytelling in the way that Half Life revolutionized FPS storytelling, WoW is not the place to find it.
'War' is too small a word for what I'm fighting. Like a candle in front of the whole burning Sun. Now, I am not going to die today. I have other projects, and other options.
I've done Duskwood -> Northern STV -> Southern Barrens -> Western Plaguelands -> Eastern Plaguelands -> Badlands on the Alliance side and congratulations are in order. The quest flow is very smooth and fast (at times, too fast, but that's my fault, for doing so many dailies and still picking on the habit of reading the whole quest text), the lore is very good - it really makes you feel important. All in all, the leveling experience is near perfect.
Only downside...the video in which Deathwing vaporizes Rhea, in the final Badlands chain, is lackluster. No voice whatsoever, and that alone would make the cutscene a disappointment, but then there's Deathwing's using the typical "Dragon Breath" animation, swinging his head from side to side when he just needed to aim forward. It's a pity because this is the most important moment (lorewise) I've experienced, until now (level 50ish). And I suspect it will remain so until 80.
Still, this doesn't tarnish anything: right now, even with my eagerness to reach 80, WoW is one of the most entertaining games I've ever played, in single-player .
"Do you see what you get, Carla? Do you see what you get when you mess with the Warrior?"
Turk
In the same way that very few single-player games can match the experience of a real D&D campaign's storytelling, few MMOs can match the plot or development of a single-player game. Technical limitations in the MMO genre mean that it is simply challenging from an engineering standpoint to move everything beyond Collect Magic Bear Asses, Volume IV. Given the structural limitations WoW has done a fairly good job with at least parts of their storytelling over the years.
Blizzard is incredibly good at overall storytelling. From the start of a (new) quest to the end you get a very good, coherent story. The revamped old content is simply a phenomenal leap and bound beyond the original vanilla quest content and structure.
My issue is entirely with the link between past and present. Westfall has plenty of "there sure are a lot of indigents here", with no reference to why or when they appeared. While they are most likely a consequence of the Cataclysm itself they could just as easily have moved in when the Defias were defeated and VC beheaded. A simple "Poor sods are fleeing Stormwind to make a new life, and they're denied even that" would be sufficient. Bogpaddle has a "What, we've always been here" impression to it. Heck, Sorrowmurk has been established, stocked, and then raided. Was that since Cataclysm? Again a simple "We've been here a week and immediately were raided" would link things. They're present, gilgoblins raided them, most of the (non-gil) goblins are dead. Because of the Cataclysm? Not related to it? In spite of it? Who knows - and that's my point.
It's like if in BC the Draenei areas had no reference to the Exodar crash, or the Blood Elves had no reference to their addition to magic and issues due to deprivation. Or Wrath and Death Knights did not have their starting zone quests to explain their story.
In short we just need the "collect magic bear asses" to be followed with "because the Cataclysm scared all the normally edible animals away" equivalents. The Dwarf starting quests actually do this, while a lot of zones shrug it off. Again, at the whim of the zone designers.
Since I haven't done Kalimdor I'm simply trusting that the Alliance military in the Barrens actually explain their failed (due to the Shatterning) assault as part of their quest text. I'll be very disappointed when I get back around to that in a few months and find "collect magic bear asses for musket warmers" and the impression they've been camped in the Barrens since time immemorial.
My newest beef is the Thrall-at-the-maelstrom cutscene. I, like many folks I know, play with WoW sounds disabled (they can become very annoying and repetitive in a raid, especially during any vent usage). This is the first cutscene where there was no subtitling. As far as I knew it was just a visual circling Thrall, until my girlfriend did the quest with sound and I heard all the speech. Sound can be disabled - it's a feature you're giving your customer. Assuming it is not disabled is just making asses of everyone. I'm now paranoically wondering if there's other important voice-only information that may be involved in questing or dungeons that I could miss or have already missed.
Rock: "We're sub-standard DPS. Nerf Paper, Scissors are fine."
Paper: "OMG, WTF, Scissors!"
Scissors: "Rock is OP and Paper are QQers. We need PvP buffs."
One of the Westfall quests, or perhaps NPC's random gossip (sorry >_<) mentioned something along the lines of, once the war in Northrend was over, people who didn't have a job in the army were finding themselves out of luck, and out of the job. I can't remember if they said much else, such as why, but I'm sure it's atleast mentioned offhand.
I thought the appearence of all the drifters and homeless in Westfall was pretty well explained, the war in northrend was too expensive and these citizens are paying the price. It's referenced a number of times by pretty much anyone you speak to in the zone.
As for Hillsbrad, there is an explanation for what happened there, unfortunately it is in the forsaken quests. One of the consequences of losing all your quest hubs in a zone is that it leaves you blind to what is going on there as the quests are still #1 for lore progression.
Also nothing that has happened since the cataclysm is covered in 'external sources' The Shattering ends just before the cataclysm happens and as far as I know there is no other lore source than the quests (both alliance and horde) to explain how individual zones have reached their current state. I don't think there is a comic explaining what is going on.
My newest beef is the Thrall-at-the-maelstrom cutscene. I, like many folks I know, play with WoW sounds disabled (they can become very annoying and repetitive in a raid, especially during any vent usage). This is the first cutscene where there was no subtitling. As far as I knew it was just a visual circling Thrall, until my girlfriend did the quest with sound and I heard all the speech. Sound can be disabled - it's a feature you're giving your customer. Assuming it is not disabled is just making asses of everyone. I'm now paranoically wondering if there's other important voice-only information that may be involved in questing or dungeons that I could miss or have already missed.
I have only done Vashj'ri so far, but that place is chocked full with voice acting. The Naga alone are very chatty, as the zone has such a huge focus on them.
Speaking of that zone, I absolutely love all the Naga information we got there. Nice to finally get the view of some other Naga about Lady Vashj. Looks like she wasn't too popular with some of the other Matrons.
I have only done Vashj'ri so far, but that place is chocked full with voice acting. The Naga alone are very chatty, as the zone has such a huge focus on them.
Speaking of that zone, I absolutely love all the Naga information we got there. Nice to finally get the view of some other Naga about Lady Vashj. Looks like she wasn't too popular with some of the other Matrons.
I've done some light questing in Vashj'ir as well as Blackrock Caverns, Throne of the Tides, and Vortex Pinnacle. There was definitely voice acting (of good caliber) from my girlfriend's speakers, but every case was matching in-game text from the speaker, which salves my major worries. This matches previous standards (BC had this, don't recall it happening in Vanilla), which makes that Thrall cutscene more stand out for its lack of subtitles. Anyone who has already done it who has an 80 alt should experiment with clicking the far seeing water with sound disabled - it becomes eerily devoid of meaning. The voice acting really carries the context of Thrall barely holding things together at the seams - without it you could interpret Thrall's stance and the lightning into the Maelstrom as anywhere from benign to malevolent. I continue to hope it's the only text-less oversight.
Rock: "We're sub-standard DPS. Nerf Paper, Scissors are fine."
Paper: "OMG, WTF, Scissors!"
Scissors: "Rock is OP and Paper are QQers. We need PvP buffs."
I, like many folks I know, play with WoW sounds disabled (they can become very annoying and repetitive in a raid, especially during any vent usage)
I understand, to some extent, disabling sounds in a raid or even heroic 5man environment, but disabling them while questing is simply turning off half of the game to me. Ok, maybe not half, but in terms of importance, it ranges somewhere close to quest texts.
Tender Puregrove:It's those little victores that keep me going. We'll save this forest one squirrel at a time.
Sequel to The Shattering. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects
I can't recall seeing it mentioned here before. Either way, I like the title, even if it's labeled a work in progress, gives me the impression that the Aspects are going to be in their direst hour. Not sure I like Thrall being the possible answer, but, anything to do with the Aspects is worth it to me.
Well, the first one ("The Shattering") dealt with a void in lore - no one knew what had happened between Icecrown and Cataclysm - but I'm guessing this one covers the "playable" Cataclysm. So, I'm going to rush in and say that one shouldn't be expecting big developments like someone being slain in a duel or a throne being fought for by three factions. More likely, Christie Golden will be giving us an insight on the known story like she did in the Rise of the Horde books.
We already know dragons are going through some hard times. One of them is down, another is putting the planet in danger - and, let's face it, about to be put down as well - the two most active ones are hard pressed (actually, Alextrasza has been pressed hard into the ground) and Nozdormu is his old self. And everyone's flights are being slaughtered.
A while ago it was suggested Thrall might be covering in for Deathwing, but now we know a new Black Dragon is coming - without a female, which is strange...
Overall, though, the future doesn't seem that bleak. While the Reds might become more reclusive and aggressive - again - greens are taking a greater part in the world's issues and Blues will have many amends to make soon enough. With Blacks being restored - in the long run - and as long as Bronzes remain on the good side, we've seen worse.
"Do you see what you get, Carla? Do you see what you get when you mess with the Warrior?"
Turk
12/03/10, 12:55 PM
