We'll start with the last part: the Grand Commendations, which grant a 100% bonus to all reputation gains with their respective factions, will actually prove far more useful for those of you who have waited to level up your alts.
The majority of quests in Townlong Steppes grant Shado-Pan reputation, and nearly all the quests in Dread Wastes provide Klaxxi Rep, such that if you do everything in both zones, you'll hit 90 at nearly honored with Shado-Pan and quite a way into honored with Klaxxi. Because the Grand Commendations work with all rep gains, and not just dailies, you will arrive with a very big lead on those reputations simply by doing the level-up quests. Sadly for me, I've already done most of these quests on seven different characters, so I will certainly still have to spend much of my time doing dailies on all of them if I wish to take advantage of their rewards. Anyway, if you're deciding between leveling another alt or getting those Commendations first, I definitely recommend the Commendations.
The double rewards are extremely welcome, but I still think they do not solve the overall problem caused by unifying reputation and VP rewards. I've written tons about this subject, so I'll just leave it with a "well, this is certainly better, at the least."
Today I had the opportunity to try out two of the new scenarios - specifically the Alliance ones. Doing a random scenario will net you a Cache like they have always done, but apparently there is a chance for 476 epic rewards, making scenario-running a more attractive option.
I still would have liked to see these new scenarios contain quests that could reward compelling items - perhaps 463 blues. Scenarios are a great idea, but I think the real challenge for Blizzard will be to come up with a reward structure that encourages doing them, but also does not detract from 5-man dungeons. Had heroics been as difficult as Cataclysm heroics, I'm sure I'd find these a whole lot more compelling, but given how easy it is to clear the new dungeons, the relative time investment favors dungeons far better.
Anyway, the specifics:
Lion's Landing:
Your new base is under assault by the Horde (I assume there's a mirror one for Domination Point, but I have not yet done the Horde side of things.) Lion's Landing has many discreet phases, but each goes by very quickly. You simply work your way through the fortress, fending off Horde attacks while you link up with various characters like Admiral Taylor and the Jade Forest survivors (hooray! Amber's still alive!) as well as the Dwarf Marshal from Southern Barrens whose name escapes me. The final portion of the scenario has you hold the line against waves of Horde forces, culminating in the enemy commander (in our case it was a Sunwalker, though there may be different commanders to face.) This part can be tough, but there are a few items that you bring along that will make things easier, such as bombs or rockets, which will deal heavy damage and interrupt whatever they hit.
A Little Patience:
This one's a bit more complex and interesting. Tyrande has pursued a group of Kor'kron who are now holed up in the Temple of the Red Crane. Tyrande wants to attack, but Varian, heeding his son's advice, not to mention Chi-ji's, wants to avoid desecrating the temple with violence.
You therefore get twelve minutes to set up defenses at a Night Elf and a Jinyu position. You find various resources out in the world or on enemies that can be used to speed up the process of building the fortifications. These will stack, so you can get the bases built before the Horde masses for a charge. It's not terribly difficult to do so, and if you have both bases set up before the time is up, the Horde forces will charge in to a total slaughter (seriously, it's a little disturbing how many Orcs we saw explode into meaty bits from Glaive Throwers.) When the charge is over (if the bases are set up, you can pretty much just watch) all that's left to do is take out two groups of three Kor'kron guards and then attack the commander, who's not a pushover but not terribly difficult either.
With the commander dead, Chi-ji reclaims his temple and Tyrande recognizes that Varian's leadership abilities are developing nicely. This may, in fact, be the first of the Trials of the High King, and Varian has come a long way from the belligerent racist we were introduced to in Wrath.
I would have liked to see a quest for these scenarios, or get some follow-up on what's going on with the Alliance. I know that one of the Horde-specific ones involves Vol'jin's arrival on the continent and his betrayal at the hands of Garrosh's men, and thus begins the resistance movement against Garrosh. The Alliance, of course, does not have the same sort of upheaval in store for it, which is fine, but also means that we don't have quite the shocking plot developments we might enjoy.
I do know that there is going to be some stuff revolving around Jaina and Dalaran - specifically that after the Horde's attack on Theramore killed the leader of the Kirin Tor (that's right, Rhonin is dead,) Jaina takes over and attempts to purge the Sunreavers from the city, believing that they were behind the breach in her city's defenses. I don't know quite how dark they're going to take Jaina (is she just kicking them out or killing them all?) but it does signal a bit of ambiguity to the Alliance side (and an actual reason for the Horde to get angry with the Alliance other than just the fact that they continue to exist.) Yet I do not know when we get to see this occur (though it stands to reason it may be a reputation threshold quest chain related to Operation Shieldwall.)
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