tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post287758636115867215..comments2024-03-21T23:18:45.644+00:00Comments on Priest with a Cause - A World of Warcraft (Classic) blog: A goblin in Azshara and AshenvaleShintarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-34662412527217380232011-10-31T18:06:02.349+00:002011-10-31T18:06:02.349+00:00Agreed, the tone of finality in the questlines doe...Agreed, the tone of finality in the questlines doesn't mesh with what actually happens. Seems like something that really should have been a simple fix in the writing.Teshhttp://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-43193123225700939832011-10-31T12:34:14.181+00:002011-10-31T12:34:14.181+00:00Old Azshara... what a pain in the ass was. Not bec...Old Azshara... what a pain in the ass was. Not because it was almost empty, had few quests, etc... it was that damn crevasse in the middle, where nagas dwelt. If you had to cross the place from side to side (remember, no flying in the old days), it took you a big amount of time to go down there then find the way up, or go around the place and then swim to the destination spot. Places like Duke Hydraxxis isle, or the hidden gnome base were a real pain to reach.Kurnakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474173104387646680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-89354410297882604792011-10-28T22:15:57.089+01:002011-10-28T22:15:57.089+01:00@Shintar: There was another reason for that screen...@Shintar: There was another reason for that screenshot: it was the only interesting one I had from "old" Azshara. I'm not much of a screenshot collector, I ended up with less than 500 screenshots in 6 years of WoW.<br /><br />Of course, the reason why I made this screenshot in the first place was that I indeed found it an interesting sight. :)floschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05784402621836933199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-836512154672849032011-10-28T21:27:17.403+01:002011-10-28T21:27:17.403+01:00@Rades: I don't mind ongoing conflict, but as ...@Rades: I don't mind ongoing conflict, but as I said in reply to Tesh's comment above, it's weird because the quests made me feel like my side had won.<br /><br />And I can't really take the credit for identifying Jarrodenus ^^, he just seemed vaguely familiar so I looked him up on Wowhead, and commenter DrCheis there confirmed my suspicions with a link to the NPC's old version.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-33167536410498683642011-10-28T21:14:18.534+01:002011-10-28T21:14:18.534+01:00I wonder if we are supposed to feel like the confl...I wonder if we are supposed to feel like the conflict in Ashenvale is ongoing? With the only definite "victory" happening before you were there? Of all the contested zones, that's basically always been THE Horde vs. Alliance struggle in a nutshell.<br /><br />Also, thank you for telling me that Commander Jarrodenus was a former Flight Master. I had no idea! And now he's a perfect candidate for a Letter. :DRadeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07258438792268722044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-3093317249254638432011-10-28T19:15:43.855+01:002011-10-28T19:15:43.855+01:00@Flosch: Like I said in my own post about old Azsh...@Flosch: Like I said in my own post about old Azshara that I linked above, I can definitely appreciate an area largely devoid of quests as well. I just don't think that any specific zone has to play that role forever, as long as there is some "quiet space" <i>somewhere</i> in the game, and WoW still has some. Emptiness is easy to recreate.<br /><br />I also liked that double Azuregos screenshot you included in your own post; I have one of those as well. I think he was one of those sights that you simply couldn't help but be impressed by. :)<br /><br />@Redbeard: I think it's hard to say how much knowledge of the pre-Cata world affects one's reception of the updated quests. I can't imagine the quests about Auberdine having nearly as much of an impact if you've never been there before the Shattering, but in most other cases I think references to the past are just a nice bonus and I reckon that new players can still enjoy the story for what it's worth.<br /><br />@Tesh: It mostly confused me because they absolutely can and do give you quests about being at war but not making a major difference in other zones. It's really as simple as saying something like: "Thanks for helping us thin out the enemy lines <i>for now</i>." But the Ashenvale quests all have a pretty definitive "well done, we won" feel about them, which just doesn't make sense when it's coming from both sides at once.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-54282960564795273872011-10-28T18:29:41.159+01:002011-10-28T18:29:41.159+01:00Regarding Astranaar, I just thought of it as the H...Regarding Astranaar, I just thought of it as the Horde annoying the NElves, not so much trying to actually raze the town. If they really wanted to destroy or claim the place, they would hit it in force and banish the Spirit Healers.<br /><br />...but yeah, games like this really don't work to show war, because in war, things *change*, sometimes very quickly. The most we'll ever get is a shadow play. (Seriously, you can't win a war when everyone is effectively immortal anyway. At best you can just occupy space for a time.)Teshhttp://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-53767353120015285242011-10-28T13:28:17.761+01:002011-10-28T13:28:17.761+01:00I sometimes wonder whether Blizz expects people to...I sometimes wonder whether Blizz expects people to only play one faction these days, because of things like you just mentioned. There was a similar disconnect that I had when going through the zone on both sides, and it felt like they tried to make you feel good no matter what faction you were on.<br /><br />Big mistake, if you ask me.<br /><br />If you're at war, it's not a given that your side is going to win. You will have setbacks, and you might just lose. If you don't have the connection to what came before in the pre-Cata world, you're just not going to understand some of the references that are supposed to make you feel bad about how things are.<br /><br />The emotional impact of the questlines in the Old World rely heavily on the knowledge of what things were like pre-Cata. If you came to WoW post-Cata, you're going to understand that you're missing out on part of the story in spots, but you don't know what it is. That isn't necessarily bad by itself, but when you rely too much on the previous questlines to provide the impact, you concede that you primarily wrote the game for the current players, not any new ones. <br /><br />Now, there are zones where they did a great job and didn't rely upon previous in zone questlines to create strong emotional impact (Badlands, to name one) but the application was done unevenly throughout the Old World. In a way, we got the post-Cata Old World with a lot of the same issues as the pre-Cata Old World, but just in different locations.Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-91907543947167822882011-10-28T13:05:12.804+01:002011-10-28T13:05:12.804+01:00It might've been me, I did complain about Azsh...It might've been me, I did <a href="http://randomwaypoint.fajs.de/2011/08/azshara-or-the-primacy-of-economics/" rel="nofollow">complain about Azshara in particular</a>, and <a href="http://priestwithacause.blogspot.com/2011/08/tales-from-southern-kalimdor.html" rel="nofollow">your post about Old Tanaris</a> was the trigger for that.<br /><br />Of course, Blizzard didn't leave Azshara the way it was for years by design. They certainly had plans that never came to fruition. You're also right that from a development time perspective, it's a waste to leave a zone as empty as Azshara.<br /><br />On the other hand, if we're talking about worlds, then mostly empty places are an important part. Worlds have deserts and unexplored regions. They might even have places that were abandoned centuries ago (think Roman towns, or abandoned cities due to desertification). From a game perspective, an empty zone is a waste. From a virtual world perspective, it makes a lot of sense in my opinion, and adds to the overall experience.<br /><br />It obviously doesn't help that of all races, the goblins invaded Azshara. ;) For the same reasons as you and Nils, I disliked the goblin starter area. I never even finished it.<br /><br />It's good to know though that Alterac might fill that place these days. Maybe I'll go and check it out before my subscription runs out. :)floschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05784402621836933199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-31102338877040939692011-10-28T11:21:13.024+01:002011-10-28T11:21:13.024+01:00I tested goblins recently. I made it to level 7 wi...I tested goblins recently. I made it to level 7 within three days. It's not exactly bad. It's just not for me.<br /><br />Losing breadcrumbs while you know that you are not expected to lose them is not good. Expectation management is important. I can absolutely love an empty zone that is beautifully done, like old Azshara. All that is necesasary is that I feel like it is supposed to be this way and not a phasing bug.Nilshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06468755466492675831noreply@blogger.com