Val the Moofia Boss
Scholar
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2022
- Messages
- 1,241
World of Warcraft: The War Within
I have been playing for 2.5 hours. I finished the Isle of Dorn questline and was at the part where you go underground, but I decided to turn back and go complete the sidequests up above on the surface.
My current chief complaint is that the expansion is braindead easy. Be it fighting overworld mobs or delves or doing the first dungeon. I don't think my HP has ever gone below 90%, not even when I was mass pulling everything in sight as a DPS spec. For the story delve, you are FORCED to pick the tier 1 difficulty. And then for the dungeon, you are FORCED to go through the dungeon with NPC followers, and again I could pull everything in sight and just not care, and the bosses died so fast I didn't even get to see all of their mechanics or RP. Even FF14 Dawntrail was more challenging than this, when mass pulling FATE mobs while levelling up my other jobs, or the threatening and engaging dungeon bosses where you have to be paying attention and can't be absent mindedly playing. That being said, the moment to moment gameplay of TWW is a little more engaging than Dawntrail was, as Dawntrail was hours and hours of a visual novel with a very boring, low tension story occasionally punctuated by an exciting dungeon or boss fight, vs WoW The War Within where you are constantly running around clicking on objects in the game world and constantly killing stuff.
The story had me engaged early on with the tension of the sudden devestating attack on Dalaran with people dying in the streets, people being kidnapped and carried away by evil spiders, buildings collapsing, etc. And then you and the survivors fighting for your lives on a beach, and then when Baelgrimm arrives it seemed he was going to arrest us and throw us in prison and we were going to have to break out. But after that it turns out that the Earthen are chill with us, and the tension dissipates and the story becomes kinda boring as you run around doing whatever.
The destruction of the Cinderbrew Meadery was underwhelming. I was expecting a huge, devestating explosion that would leave nothing but a smoking crater left, but then in the cutscene the stonework and even the wooden barrels that supposedly exploded are still intact. EDIT: upon rewatching the scene, apparently Baelgrimm actually kills the Nerubain lieutenant with just his leap, and there weren't any other living Nerubians around, so why did we blow up all of this mead again?
I finished the prologue AND the first zone storyline in only 2.5 hours? We only have three more zones to go and then the raid? How short is this expansion's campaign?
It is disappointing that we haven't heard word about what is going on the rest of the world at this moment. Dalaran - one of the most advanced cities/nations of the world and the world's center of magical learning, and a pillar of the world's infrastructure - was just wiped out in 20 minutes. There should be world wide panic and every nation going on red alert and mobilizing their flying cavalry, airships, mage portals, etc, and sending an immediete punitive expedition. Not just the nations, but also military orders such as the Ebon Blade, the Silver Hand, the Tyr's Guard, etc.
There is a moment in the storyline when a character says "Storm" three times in a row. "The stormborn" and "the stormriders" and "the storm something".
Aggravating feminist writing where the strong man who does his job and protects everybody gets shat on in favor of the woman girlboss who deserted her post. Also, women with beards. Won't waste more words on that.
I like how verdant the new city of Dornogal is, and I like the celtic knot designs in the trim. I do not like how overall blocky/square the architecture is, though. So Valdrakken and Oribos was preferrable in that regard. There was some neat stuff such as gardeners spraying water magic to water the plants instead of using a watering can or a hose.
It's cool how the Earthen do the Utawarerumono thing and have use crystals for lighting, embedding it into their walls or having it in place of candles on top of stables or on lampstands, but the glow/lighting effect is not very strong/good.
I find it unbecoming that Madam Goya has set up shop in a small room in a dilapidated alleyway filled with litter and rats and common ruffians. The same Madam Goya who ran the Black Market Auction house out of a nice house on a mountaintop next to a hot springs resort in Pandaria, and was using a palatial stone alcove house in Valdrakken. She has been exchanging highly coveted magical weapons and dragons that sell for millions of gold each for 10 years. She can afford some place nicer. It's like a bank. Going to an auction house is like going to a bank; it needs to look nice and prestigious so when you feel confident about handing over lots of your hard earned money. This is bad form.
Music: haven't heard anything that would make it onto my favorite's playlist so far. I noticed that they are using a hammered dulcimer which is nice, but it isn't Timothy Seaman tier music. There was a playful sounding part around the Cindebrew Meadery, will have to look that up later. The inn music is okayish.
I have been mining and picking herbs and thus far haven't found any cool fantastical stuff like in Dragonflight like the air herbs that blew you back or the frost herbs that froze you.
I have been playing for 2.5 hours. I finished the Isle of Dorn questline and was at the part where you go underground, but I decided to turn back and go complete the sidequests up above on the surface.
My current chief complaint is that the expansion is braindead easy. Be it fighting overworld mobs or delves or doing the first dungeon. I don't think my HP has ever gone below 90%, not even when I was mass pulling everything in sight as a DPS spec. For the story delve, you are FORCED to pick the tier 1 difficulty. And then for the dungeon, you are FORCED to go through the dungeon with NPC followers, and again I could pull everything in sight and just not care, and the bosses died so fast I didn't even get to see all of their mechanics or RP. Even FF14 Dawntrail was more challenging than this, when mass pulling FATE mobs while levelling up my other jobs, or the threatening and engaging dungeon bosses where you have to be paying attention and can't be absent mindedly playing. That being said, the moment to moment gameplay of TWW is a little more engaging than Dawntrail was, as Dawntrail was hours and hours of a visual novel with a very boring, low tension story occasionally punctuated by an exciting dungeon or boss fight, vs WoW The War Within where you are constantly running around clicking on objects in the game world and constantly killing stuff.
The story had me engaged early on with the tension of the sudden devestating attack on Dalaran with people dying in the streets, people being kidnapped and carried away by evil spiders, buildings collapsing, etc. And then you and the survivors fighting for your lives on a beach, and then when Baelgrimm arrives it seemed he was going to arrest us and throw us in prison and we were going to have to break out. But after that it turns out that the Earthen are chill with us, and the tension dissipates and the story becomes kinda boring as you run around doing whatever.
The destruction of the Cinderbrew Meadery was underwhelming. I was expecting a huge, devestating explosion that would leave nothing but a smoking crater left, but then in the cutscene the stonework and even the wooden barrels that supposedly exploded are still intact. EDIT: upon rewatching the scene, apparently Baelgrimm actually kills the Nerubain lieutenant with just his leap, and there weren't any other living Nerubians around, so why did we blow up all of this mead again?
I finished the prologue AND the first zone storyline in only 2.5 hours? We only have three more zones to go and then the raid? How short is this expansion's campaign?
It is disappointing that we haven't heard word about what is going on the rest of the world at this moment. Dalaran - one of the most advanced cities/nations of the world and the world's center of magical learning, and a pillar of the world's infrastructure - was just wiped out in 20 minutes. There should be world wide panic and every nation going on red alert and mobilizing their flying cavalry, airships, mage portals, etc, and sending an immediete punitive expedition. Not just the nations, but also military orders such as the Ebon Blade, the Silver Hand, the Tyr's Guard, etc.
There is a moment in the storyline when a character says "Storm" three times in a row. "The stormborn" and "the stormriders" and "the storm something".
Aggravating feminist writing where the strong man who does his job and protects everybody gets shat on in favor of the woman girlboss who deserted her post. Also, women with beards. Won't waste more words on that.
I like how verdant the new city of Dornogal is, and I like the celtic knot designs in the trim. I do not like how overall blocky/square the architecture is, though. So Valdrakken and Oribos was preferrable in that regard. There was some neat stuff such as gardeners spraying water magic to water the plants instead of using a watering can or a hose.
It's cool how the Earthen do the Utawarerumono thing and have use crystals for lighting, embedding it into their walls or having it in place of candles on top of stables or on lampstands, but the glow/lighting effect is not very strong/good.
I find it unbecoming that Madam Goya has set up shop in a small room in a dilapidated alleyway filled with litter and rats and common ruffians. The same Madam Goya who ran the Black Market Auction house out of a nice house on a mountaintop next to a hot springs resort in Pandaria, and was using a palatial stone alcove house in Valdrakken. She has been exchanging highly coveted magical weapons and dragons that sell for millions of gold each for 10 years. She can afford some place nicer. It's like a bank. Going to an auction house is like going to a bank; it needs to look nice and prestigious so when you feel confident about handing over lots of your hard earned money. This is bad form.
Music: haven't heard anything that would make it onto my favorite's playlist so far. I noticed that they are using a hammered dulcimer which is nice, but it isn't Timothy Seaman tier music. There was a playful sounding part around the Cindebrew Meadery, will have to look that up later. The inn music is okayish.
I have been mining and picking herbs and thus far haven't found any cool fantastical stuff like in Dragonflight like the air herbs that blew you back or the frost herbs that froze you.
.
