Saturday, July 12, 2014

Further SMV and FFR Beta Impressions

I have now completed, I believe, every pre-100 quest in Shadowmoon Valley (actually, there might be a group quest, now that I think about it.) It's quite interesting to see the strategy that Blizzard is implementing to make questing something a little simpler and smoother.

The central quest chain for SMV focuses on the threat of Ner'zhul and the Iron Horde's attempt to take Karabor, which is obviously one of the most important Draenei strongholds on the planet. But the refreshing thing about this chain is that, while it does take you through a lot of the zone, it's not the entire zone. There are other quest chains that lead off to different parts of the zone, such as Elodor in the northeast, or the Draakorium in the southeast. There's significant stuff in these chains (particularly Elodor,) but if you want to get the biggest events of the zone, you can just follow the quests that involve Velen, Yrel and Maraad.

I have covered less of Frostfire Ridge. There is a point in the central quest chain where it branches off, and I am not sure which of these chains is the "real" central chain, but it becomes clear fairly early on that the Ogres are only the initial threat, and that the Thunderlord Clan (whose ruins served as a major Horde quest hub in Blade's Edge Mountains) are the main threat, as they have joined the Iron Horde to get an edge over their Frostwolf rivals.

One of the interesting things that has been implemented is the seamless solo scenario. Many quests, usually involving big lore moments, like your first true confrontation with Ner'zhul, are actually sneakily scenarios. It's a bit like phasing, but even if someone else is on the same part of the quest chain, you won't have to compete for kills. I would assume that players who are in your group will be able to enter the same scenario, as otherwise this could really break up the flow if you're questing with a friend.

Right now, the level cap is 92 and no further zones have been opened yet. Hitting 92 actually happens pretty quickly. Blizzard has said that they want to allow players to get leveled up quickly, and thus I think it's very unlikely that anyone will be able to complete even half the quests in these zones unless they want to stay behind rather than moving on just yet.

Overall, I think that's for the best. Particularly for an altoholic, it really looks like you'll have the option to do different quests when you take a new character through the zone.

I love leveling up a new toon, don't get me wrong, but I also think it's best when the process is quick enough that you don't get overwhelmed. One of the issues that arose in Cataclysm, and to an extent Mists, was that you had basically one option for progress and leveling, which also made it a little frustrating when you out leveled a zone, as you'd typically have to drop in the middle of a story if you wanted to get more level-appropriate gear.

By dividing the zone into discreet quest chains, but each of which having a reasonably interesting plot and progression, it lets you feel like you at least got to figure out, for example, who the culprit in that murder-mystery quest was before you get sent to the next zone.

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