World of Whorecraft: Battle for Asseroth

[J1M]

So Blizzard threw a WoD beta my way (I guess they're desperate to attract more sales after giving me free MoP) and I decided to play around for about an hour. At first I thought the whole Garrison thing was optional but what's the third quest after you finish the mandatory introductory scenario? You guessed it: build your garrison! They've turned this game into Farmville.

Are you also one of those people that wants "housing" in addition to hating the idea of building your own base?

Why does it matter if you get quest experience from a random NPC in the world or a garrison NPC?

 

[Angthoron]

Because garrisons are phased.

 

[Metro]

Are you also one of those people that wants "housing" in addition to hating the idea of building your own base?

No. Housing is pointless. As are garrisons. They just appeal to the Facebook game crowd.

Why does it matter if you get quest experience from a random NPC in the world or a garrison NPC?

Because it's annoyingly railroaded. I played another hour on the beta up to level 92. It's just a linear storyline with few diversions. Everything is piss easy. Fights with monsters you can two shot and they throw in npcs to help you if you're handicapped. Not that leveling has been challenging in years but holy shit this is utterly mind numbing. It's like playing a single player game except with random people thrown in to steal your mobs and delay your progress. That's all that other players serve to do in this game now -- they act as impediments since (outside of dungeons and raids) they aren't needed for anything else. And the questing areas are so channeled/small that on a medium population server it'll be extremely tedious.

And the phasing thing is a good point, too. Forgetting storyline/quest progression for a second (where one player might not be able to see another if two friends want to play together); at least if you're idling in Stormwind/Orgrimmar you see other people, trade on the AH whatever. Now people will just idle in their garrisons alone.

 

[Revenant]

You can always level in dungeons. And WoD will have its share of nostalgic revamped dungeons, such as the Upper Blackrock Spire.

 

[Israfael]

The really alariming thing is that blizzard, apparently, radically shifts the game's focus on the current 'core gamers' crowd - they already turned Fury (warrior DPS spec) from a very deep and fun to play spec that required thought, an ability to think ahead and some pre-planning into button mashing ... abomination that seem to be pleasing only LFR 'heroes' and people who never played Fury seriously, and horrifies all the prominent players and theorycrafter (Collision, Jalopy, etc). Same thing happened to balance druid, it seems (i never tried laser chicken so i cant say for sure).

 

[Angthoron]

WoD will have its share of nostalgic revamped dungeons, such as the Upper Blackrock Spire.

Because their previous revamps went so well.

 

[Metro]

Played a few more hours to level 93... they've basically made this into a single player game with a dungeon queue. I head into the next zone (Gorgrond) to see if it's any different/more open... phasing right off the bat. First quest hub has you make a choice of what building to create that will, you guessed it, influence your garrison! More garrison lulz, my character is a miner and I was able to build a garrison mine. Upon creation there were around a dozen nodes I could mine for ore... yes, my own phased ore nodes. I didn't have to bother looking around for them or competing with other players they were just there. Not sure how often they respawn, haven't after about six hours so I assume it's probably daily. But still... lol. You can also make an herb garden.

Also also they really hit you over the head with the 'YOU'RE THE HERO OF KVATCH!' schtick. All of the npcs in every zone fawn over you.

 

[Caim]

Also also they really hit you over the head with the 'YOU'RE THE HERO OF KVATCH!' schtick. All of the npcs in every zone fawn over you.

Though to be fair, if you defeated Ragnaros, kicked Illidan's ass, poked C'thun in the eye, shoved Frostmourne up Arthas' ass and fashioned a bikini out of Deathwing's scales I can imagine the NPCs commenting on this.

Or does this only apply to whatever you do in the current expansion?

 

[J1M]

Played a few more hours to level 93... they've basically made this into a single player game with a dungeon queue. I head into the next zone (Gorgrond) to see if it's any different/more open... phasing right off the bat. First quest hub has you make a choice of what building to create that will, you guessed it, influence your garrison! More garrison lulz, my character is a miner and I was able to build a garrison mine. Upon creation there were around a dozen nodes I could mine for ore... yes, my own phased ore nodes. I didn't have to bother looking around for them or competing with other players they were just there. Not sure how often they respawn, haven't after about six hours so I assume it's probably daily. But still... lol. You can also make an herb garden.

Also also they really hit you over the head with the 'YOU'RE THE HERO OF KVATCH!' schtick. All of the npcs in every zone fawn over you.

You don't need to be a miner to access that ore in the garrison mine.

 

[Xor]

I don't know why any of you are surprised. WoW has been going downhill since WotLK. I wouldn't be surprised if next expansion they just up and removed classes and gave everybody a common pool of 15 or so abilities.

 

[J1M]

I don't know why any of you are surprised. WoW has been going downhill since WotLK. I wouldn't be surprised if next expansion they just up and removed classes and gave everybody a common pool of 15 or so abilities.

That has basically happened already. Only healers use mana. Almost every dot operates as moonfire used to. Everyone has a dash and a shield wall ability, etc.

 

[Metro]

You don't need to be a miner to access that ore in the garrison mine.

Even more hilarious.

Or does this only apply to whatever you do in the current expansion?

It's focused on this expansion. You are the 'COMMANDER' in charge of most of the expedition's strategy (at least that's how they paint it). Even characters like Thrall and Khadgar show a bit of deference to you, it's quite silly. The lesser known npcs practically give you oral.

N-E-wayz, up to level 95 now (is the curve in beta altered?) -- only seems to take about 2-3 hours per level. I've done nearly all of Frostfall (Horde starter zone), maybe a third of Gorgrond, and maybe a third of Telrador. Same heavy scripting/phasing/channeling. It seems like nearly half the quests give you an npc to help you out which is hardly necessary since I'm destroying things in my crappy Timeless Isle welfare epics. I've never even come close to dying and can solo all of the 'group' mobs with ease. And if you're truly incompetent you can upgrade your barracks and have one of your followers fight with you for an hour or so (not in instances, though). The sad thing is the garrison and sending npcs out on missions is probably the funnest part of it.

I will say it looks pretty. Obviously they still go with the stylized/cartoonish graphics (and yes they've gone with FXAA) but the update makes everything feel more fluid.

 

[Israfael]

Even more hilarious.


It's focused on this expansion. You are the 'COMMANDER' in charge of most of the expedition's strategy (at least that's how they paint it). Even characters like Thrall and Khadgar show a bit of deference to you, it's quite silly. The lesser known npcs practically give you oral.

N-E-wayz, up to level 95 now (is the curve in beta altered?) -- only seems to take about 2-3 hours per level. I've done nearly all of Frostfall (Horde starter zone), maybe a third of Gorgrond, and maybe a third of Telrador. Same heavy scripting/phasing/channeling. It seems like nearly half the quests give you an npc to help you out which is hardly necessary since I'm destroying things in my crappy Timeless Isle welfare epics. I've never even come close to dying and can solo all of the 'group' mobs with ease. And if you're truly incompetent you can upgrade your barracks and have one of your followers fight with you for an hour or so (not in instances, though). The sad thing is the garrison and sending npcs out on missions is probably the funnest part of it.

I will say it looks pretty. Obviously they still go with the stylized/cartoonish graphics (and yes they've gone with FXAA) but the update makes everything feel more fluid.

Well, to be honest, it's no different from last 3 xpacs. And i really liked spires of arak quest chain, though i really loathe to level via questing and usually try to avoid it via dung spam on tank/healer capable chars

 

[Metro]

Progressed some more and ran into something that really irked me. In order to acquire the blueprints to unlock garrison building upgrades you HAVE to do certain quests in the various zones. So if you're like me who was advancing only doing maybe 60% or so then you have to back and find out what quests unlock stuff... which would be impossible without a third party site like wowhead.

 

[Israfael]

Progressed some more and ran into something that really irked me. In order to acquire the blueprints to unlock garrison building upgrades you HAVE to do certain quests in the various zones. So if you're like me who was advancing only doing maybe 60% or so then you have to back and find out what quests unlock stuff... which would be impossible without a third party site like wowhead.

Afaik you can buy them on ashran without actually finishing those zone quests

 

[Metro]

Progressed some more and ran into something that really irked me. In order to acquire the blueprints to unlock garrison building upgrades you HAVE to do certain quests in the various zones. So if you're like me who was advancing only doing maybe 60% or so then you have to back and find out what quests unlock stuff... which would be impossible without a third party site like wowhead.

Afaik you can buy them on ashran without actually finishing those zone quests

You can only buy them with specific token items you get for completing specific questlines. I'm talking about upgrading individual buildings from level 1 to 2, etc., not upgrading the garrison/town hall.

 

[J1M]

Progressed some more and ran into something that really irked me. In order to acquire the blueprints to unlock garrison building upgrades you HAVE to do certain quests in the various zones. So if you're like me who was advancing only doing maybe 60% or so then you have to back and find out what quests unlock stuff... which would be impossible without a third party site like wowhead.

Afaik you can buy them on ashran without actually finishing those zone quests

You can only buy them with specific token items you get for completing specific questlines. I'm talking about upgrading individual buildings from level 1 to 2, etc., not upgrading the garrison/town hall.

I think you are jumping to conclusions based on limited information. Tier 3 buildings require an associated achievement, which is usually related to using the building. That and blizzard saying they will be available for gold...

 

[tet666]

Started playing on a wotlk pserver after trying the beta it's just shit and it get's worse with every expansion since Acti merged with Bliz.
Wotlk was the last good and fun xpack and i missed the days with it, the pserver i started playing on works surprisingly well and bugfree it's a progression server so they release the wotlk raids one after another, they just released Ulduar, pop is ok around 500 per faction which is pretty good for 1x bliz like server without any p2w item crap like other pservers.
So far It's fun but could just be my nostalgia kicking in.

 

[you know what time it is]

Jay Wilson credited as a designer in WoD.

 

[Metro]

So I think I've explored most of how they'll be set up for the next six to eight months (assuming they get another content patch out then). At level 100 there are various outdoor areas filled with both elite and non elite mobs they intend for you to grind for apexis shards. You do have a daily that gets you 800-1000 but the rest have to come from mob drops. Just taking pants slot armor as an example it takes 5,000 shards for an ilevel 630 one, another 11,500 plus the pants for ilevel 645 upgrade, then that upgrade plus another 20,000 for ilevel 655. Oh by the way you can buy ilevel 630 gear with honor points and this time around there's really no difference between PvP and PvE gear except set bonuses. Resilience and such has been removed. You can also buy ilevel 660 epic gear (this is normal raid level) for only about 2,000 conquest points each. Why anyone would opt for the PvE grind over PvP is beyond me.

There's some goblin rep you can grind out in Nagrand. Frostwolf rep (for Horde), some other rep that comes with a garrison building but all of these only offer cosmetic awards like mounts, pets, and tabards. The new PvP zone Ashran is like a combination between old Alterac Vaelley where the npcs were meaningful and Timeless Isle where you have a series of events going on and if your faction 'wins' these events you get around 150 conquest points. They seem to happen every 15-30 minutes around Ashran. Here's the kicker... it doesn't seem like you're actually awarded conquest points for the main battle... at least not that I've seen. So you're better off just ignoring it and doing the events instead.

More of the same, some of it even more simplified/dumbed down than before. Massive grinds for rep, gated crafting via the garrison, and various mini-games thrown in for the lulz. Only entertaining thing, imo, is the ability to have followers and send them on missions according to their level and skills. However, it's so basic they could just as well have made it a mobile game.

 

[Caim]

Alright, but after you get the ilevel 655 gear for a hefty 292k shards (not counting any possible rings, trinkets, neck or back items), it's time to get PVPing in the limited amount of raids and dungeons in the game? Or is it just raiding?

 

[you know what time it is]

The only good thing about WoD so far is lack of flying. I'm planning to gank my heart out in a first month and never touch it again after that.

 

[Caim]

For the people in the beta: how is the global stat squish? Is it more managable or does it make stuff feel more trivial?

 

[Metro]

It's fine. That's the least of the issues. Healing got nerfed too hard. PvP balance is still out of whack. Numerous bugs with quests. Numerous bugs with garrisons. Gated crafting system that's going to blindside most of the playerbase. Constant immediate disconnects when fighting certain mobs both in dungeons and outdoors. I could go on for a bit.

 

[Metro]

Well, to more specifically comment on the stat squish I found it to be a welcome change. Keep in mind that I only played on a couple of weekly trials during Cata and one month in MoP but, to me, the numbers were out of control. This stuff brings it back down to more reasonable levels although I have heard that people were having trouble solo'ing Wrath/Cata instances that they used to do with ease and the developers don't seem too keen on rushing to fix it... since there's obviously a shitload of other issues.

That said, what will screw people the most is that C&C has come to WoW... sort of. It's definitely there in terms of what 'outposts' you decide to build in the leveling zones although that only effects certain zone-wide buffs and what followers you can unlock. The garrison buildings can be torn down but unless you're smart about it you'll be left with barely any resources once you hit max level. They're only rewarded from limited quests (which you'll exhaust), killing rares (and you can only get their loot once), follower mission (but keep in mind it usually costs 5-10 resources to send them out on missions), and the lumber mill or trade house. The lumber mill doesn't really have any great benefits aside from resource gathering while the trade house can get you up to 120 additional resources a day on top of other perks. What will happen with a lot of people is they won't consider that and rush to upgrade shit like mines, garden, fishing hut, pet house, etc. and be left with shit for resources and have to wait it out another month or so to let their supply restock. It'll be the source of much butthurt.