Places to be

A trend I’ve noticed on my shaman as I’ve been leveling him up through the old world is that many of the old-world instances felt like places to be. It’s hit or miss, but it seems to be a largely “vanilla WoW” tendency that’s gone away over the years. Some examples:

Blackrock Depths. This is one of my favorite instances to run, ever. It’s a bit convoluted in places, and sometimes even an old hand at it like me has problems getting around, but BRD is the perfect example of feeling like a real place. A trip into Blackrock Depths really feels like you’re a visitor to a city full of hostiles, and are basically in there to bust some heads. It’s got barracks, it’s got bars (well, one anyway), it’s got forges and anvils and other dwarven trappings, and it’s got a king and his pregnant, maybe-she’s-kidnapped-maybe-she’s-not wife. It’s got love stories, it’s got an arena, and periodically it has a very angry dwarf who really just wants to enter the brewing competition, dagnabbit. And it’s got an entrance into the Dark Iron Dwarves’ biggest mistake: the home of the unleashed Ragnaros.

That’s not saying BRD doesn’t have its problems. It’s got a lot of the amateur mistakes you see in old instances; namely, quest lines that require multiple trips in and out just to complete something. It also is really confusing to get around in, and has tons and tons of trash. Tons of it. Tons. But BRD is hands down just about my #1 winner in terms of feeling like a real living, breathing place inside an instance portal. Stratholme (the level 60 version) is also on this list, for many of the same reasons.

Troll instances. The old-world troll instances are very good at creating this kind of place-ness feeling – Zul’farrak and Zul’gurub feel like actual places that trolls would hang out and do their thing, like summoning old gods into the world. (Sunken Temple is notoriously not on this list.) Some of the trolls are just chilling in their tents, joking with other trolls; some of the more important ones, like Bloodlord Mando’kir, are accepting important visitors when you show up. In Zul’farrak, the sheer number of trolls milling around is kind of outrageously high, but the city itself does a good job of giving that “trolls live here” feel – scattered tents and huts everywhere, little sanctums for some of the bosses, a party that got there before you and got caged after a wipe, and so on. There’s a few shortcomings (for example, I have no idea where the Sandfury were stashing that many slaves), but ZF and ZG are definitely on my list.

Karazhan. For a long stretch of instances in TBC, you lose the “place” feel – until you get to the raiding level, and set foot into Karazhan. From the moment you start going through Karazhan, you realize this is a place designed for people to inhabit, and it shows. Of course, it makes sense – Magus Medivh did live here, for quite a while, as did a few others – but it’s got a certain aura around it that other raids and instances in TBC definitely don’t have. It really feels like if you cleared out all the crap, and figured out exactly why the top of your tower is sticking into the Twisting Nether, you could move your guild in and call Karazhan your extremely spacious home.

Naxxramas. Now, I know, Naxxramas is probably an odd addition to this list, but Naxxramas really fits its purpose. The place is supposed to be a floating war fortress, where the forces of the Scourge are assembled and ready to attack. Granted, most of what they seem to be doing is milling around, but the place that I think exemplifies this the most is Instructor Razuvious. Since abdicating his position as head instructor aboard Acherus due to a hostile takeover, he’s actively tutoring a new generation of Death Knights, just like he always did. There are, however, a few bosses that throw off this image – Heigan, anyone? Or Loatheb? But Naxx actively feels like a fortress preparing for war, as soon as Arthas delivers the word.

Places to die

The number of instances that fall into this category are many and varied, and the vanilla instances aren’t exempt from this at all – Wailing Caverns, I’m looking at you. Instances that don’t have a sense of “place-ness” generally give the feeling of a straight line between the goal and the finish, in between which there are enemies roaming around whose only purpose in “life” is to roam around and wait to be killed. They’re linear, they’re generally short on story, and they make up most of the instances between 60 and 80.

Hellfire Ramparts. This is the worst offender, and the first one that jumps to mind when I try to come up with examples of linear instances. This is pretty much because other than a few negligible turns, Hellfire Ramparts is almost literally a straight line from start to finish, with trash and bosses scattered along the line. Oh, sure, there’s a little bit of choice at the end – do we kill Omor first, or the other guy? – but it still gives none of the feeling of a place to exist that the others do. Maybe it’s just a place for them to patrol? Well, sure, but where do they go from there? No one’s hanging out in Shattered Halls or Blood Furnace, that’s for sure. Ramparts always gives me the impression of fel orcs milling around, waiting on you to wander by and kill them.

Wailing Caverns. Can we buy the Fanglords a chair? What’re they eating, snakes? Why hasn’t Mutanus already wandered out and killed Naralex? How did Verdan the Everliving even get into that room? All these mysteries and more, in the linear craphole that is Wailing Caverns. Of course, WC also has the side benefit of also being fairly confusing to get around your first time in.

The Nexus. Parts of this have a certain veracity to them – namely, the wandering wildlife in the crystallized section, and the blue dragons fighting an ongoing fight against malevolent magical oddities. (Although, in that case, why haven’t they formed a raid and gone to fight Anomalus themselves? I guess no one wanted to heal.) But other areas… especially the parts all around Grand Magus Telestra. Why are the humans all just hanging out in the Nexus? Yeah, I know they’ve sided with Malygos against the world, but why are they hanging out in the Nexus of all places? It’s a cold, unfeeling shell of a place, apparently built to service the scale and needs of dragonkin (and serve as a prison for Malygos’ mind-controlled mate), and yet these humans are all just standing around. Maybe they’re waiting on a delivery from Ikea, or for the mage who went for takeout to get back. Even Telestra herself is kind of oddly placed: she has a giant featureless glass bubble. Talk about sparse accommodations.

What difference does it make?

I won’t lie to you – I’m whitewashing the old-world instances a little. They tend to be immense, have poorly thought-out questlines in terms of travel time (why does everyone in Feralas want something from the Hinterlands?!), and have way too much trash. But the linear instances, well, they get pretty boring after a run or two. In Cataclysm, how about some instances with some thought and attention put into it? Maybe the Lost City of Tol’vir really will feel like a City – the place-ness feel of older instances and raids, but with the design lessons of the new (less trash, more interesting fight mechanics, questlines that all can be gathered and then end in the 5-man).

Thanks for reading this post from: The Stoppable Force.

Places to be, versus places to die

The Hall of Thanes is a massive, natural cavern complex. It is located in Ironforge’s lowest depths. The area is a true marvel of organic stone formation: no dwarf has touched this area with pick or chisel. Ironforge’s kings are buried in the Hall of Thanes, and the old throne is here as well. Also within this cavernous area is the ancient, weathered Iron Forge — perhaps the greatest titan artifact ever unearthed. The dwarves do not use this holy anvil, but keep it near their honored dead and the seat of their power. Brann Bronzebeard believes that as dwarves uncover more truths about their ancestry, they will find greater uses for the Iron Forge. He believes the titans must have given it to them for a reason.

It does exist in modern-day WoW, behind an inaccessible door in Magni’s room – there’s a few ways to get into it, and in the 3.1 PTR it was in fact an openable door (though still blocked by an invisible wall).

However, I’ve never been one to let silly things like walls or door stop me.

Not a lot to look at right now – a long hallway running from the High Seat down to a vast flat stone area (that’s screenshots 1 and 2), then a little winding path that goes under the first area and deadends at two doors that don’t go anywhere. (Oh, and lava. Lots of lava.)

If you liked this little exploration of closed areas, you might want to check out my look at the Farm at the End of the World, and perhaps in a few days I’ll post another good look at the Ironforge Airport. After all, who knows if it’ll still be up there, come Cataclysm?

Thanks for reading this post from: The Stoppable Force.

Touring Old Ironforge

No, instead, I’m going to focus on something interesting in Wrath: just how damn touching some things are, both in a good and a bad way. I’ll put it behind a cut for my Icecrown-impaired viewers; part of this is a minor spoiler.

Good touch: Crusader Bridenbrad

I’m man enough to admit it – this was one quest chain that made me tear up a little. A valiant soldier of the Light, now afflicted with undeath. He wishes only to be left alone so that he can die in peace – and away from where he can spread the plague – but Tirion Fordring isn’t willing to let it end at that, and you (as his current workhorse) aren’t either. A series of trips sends you into the Emerald Dream to request help from Keeper Remulos, to the Dragonblight to beseech Alexstrasza, and finally to speak to the purest incarnation of the light known to Azeroth or Outland: A’dal, in Shattrath City.

And in the end… all that can be done, is that A’dal saves Bridenbrad’s spirit, and gives him “paradise.” Everything went a bit shimmery for me for a second there – is this all there is? All I can give this faithful crusader is a peaceful respite? I wanted him to live, to fight! Clearly so did the others! I can only assume A’dal knew from the moment he arrived that there was nothing more for Bridenbrad, but this still made me actually feel the frustration I think a real person in this situation might have felt. (Or, who knows, maybe they’re all battle-hardened veterans and I’m just a wuss.)

Bad touch: Meathook, Patchwerk, and other abominations

“New toys!” “Playtime!” “Why you stop moving?” “This not fun…” Are these the cries of a ruthless killing machine? Apparently, according to Blizzard. I have a little confession to make: I hate killing abominations. At least named ones. At least named ones who aren’t Ramstein the Gorger. The worst thing Blizzard ever did for my motivation was give Patchwerk and Meathook the attitudes and quotes of oversized, extremely stupid children.

I guess I have a soft spot for extremely stupid children?

Regardless, I always feel a little twinge of regret when Meathook announces “This not… fun…” as he falls lifeless, and we move on to our next destination in search of a dragon. Maybe it’s that the abominations just seem like they don’t always know what they’re doing – they just do what they’re told, in search of “play” and “new toys.”

Thanks for reading this post from: The Stoppable Force.

Touching is good, but not for abominations