Comments on: How Wrath Succeeds Where BC Failed http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/ Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:04:53 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Pike http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-693 Pike Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:49:43 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-693 Gotta admit I also see WotLK as a big improvement over BC. Now I really enjoyed BC too, but the main difference for me was that in BC every zone was "Well it's pretty cool... but not as cool as Zangarmarsh". In WotLK every single zone is "ZOMG THIS IS THE BESTEST ZONE EVAR OH WAIT NO I CHANGED MY MIND THIS IS THE BEST ZONE EVER O WAIT-" if ya get my drift =P <abbr><em>Pike’s last blog post..<a href="http://www.aspectofthehare.net/2008/12/whos-on-first.html" rel="nofollow">Who’s On First</a></abbr></em> Gotta admit I also see WotLK as a big improvement over BC. Now I really enjoyed BC too, but the main difference for me was that in BC every zone was “Well it’s pretty cool… but not as cool as Zangarmarsh”. In WotLK every single zone is “ZOMG THIS IS THE BESTEST ZONE EVAR OH WAIT NO I CHANGED MY MIND THIS IS THE BEST ZONE EVER O WAIT-”

if ya get my drift =P

Pike’s last blog post..Who?s On First

]]> By: Yggdrasil http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-692 Yggdrasil Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:52:05 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-692 I got where you were coming from, PTD. The environment of Northrend just so much more detailed than that of the Oulands, the zones more developed, though, to be honest, I much prefer Howling Fjord to Borean Tundra in terms of appearance overall, but there is a sheer epic feel of Northrend regardless. As far as that epic feel goes, you can't beat watching the burning corpses of dragons falling from the sky as they battle overhead in Dragonblight. The new quest types are definitely interesting, but I've found the bulk of them to be very frustrating, things are still pretty buggy. I love that Arthas pops in seemingly everywhere, that a lot of the bosses have lead in storyline quests that explain a) why you want to kill him and b) why he wants to kill you. My only complaint may be that Arthas is a little overused, but by comparison in how many early questlines did you encounter bosses that you'd see in later instances in TBC? Only Panthaleon the Calculator comes to mind, and Teron Gorefiend much later. Thus far, I've encountered 3 in Wrath, and I'm probably less than halfway through the content. I have to agree with Karthas. In Outlands, the sky is very cool, it definitely left an impression of being otherworldly in a way that the quests and instances couldn't really capture. Also, the Fel Reavers were positively terrifying. I remember first seeing one. I never raided in Vanilla WoW, I came too late, so I was positively stunned at how MASSIVE that thing was. I was shocked when I ran into people actually suggesting that we try to kill 1. The thought was so audacious. While I did like the design for TBC instances overall better, in that they were much shorter and compact in both length and level range, I do have to say that there was a level of epic proportion that lacked for most TBC instances when compared to Vanilla, and I think at least a measure of it has returned with Wrath. I got where you were coming from, PTD. The environment of Northrend just so much more detailed than that of the Oulands, the zones more developed, though, to be honest, I much prefer Howling Fjord to Borean Tundra in terms of appearance overall, but there is a sheer epic feel of Northrend regardless. As far as that epic feel goes, you can’t beat watching the burning corpses of dragons falling from the sky as they battle overhead in Dragonblight.

The new quest types are definitely interesting, but I’ve found the bulk of them to be very frustrating, things are still pretty buggy. I love that Arthas pops in seemingly everywhere, that a lot of the bosses have lead in storyline quests that explain a) why you want to kill him and b) why he wants to kill you. My only complaint may be that Arthas is a little overused, but by comparison in how many early questlines did you encounter bosses that you’d see in later instances in TBC? Only Panthaleon the Calculator comes to mind, and Teron Gorefiend much later. Thus far, I’ve encountered 3 in Wrath, and I’m probably less than halfway through the content.

I have to agree with Karthas. In Outlands, the sky is very cool, it definitely left an impression of being otherworldly in a way that the quests and instances couldn’t really capture. Also, the Fel Reavers were positively terrifying. I remember first seeing one. I never raided in Vanilla WoW, I came too late, so I was positively stunned at how MASSIVE that thing was. I was shocked when I ran into people actually suggesting that we try to kill 1. The thought was so audacious.

While I did like the design for TBC instances overall better, in that they were much shorter and compact in both length and level range, I do have to say that there was a level of epic proportion that lacked for most TBC instances when compared to Vanilla, and I think at least a measure of it has returned with Wrath.

]]> By: Matticus http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-690 Matticus Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:50:57 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-690 And what do you think is the biggest cause? The biggest difference maker? BC shattered records at the time but without it, we'd never have Wrath the way we have it now. A bigger budget can bring lots of benefits =D! And what do you think is the biggest cause? The biggest difference maker?

BC shattered records at the time but without it, we’d never have Wrath the way we have it now. A bigger budget can bring lots of benefits =D!

]]> By: Karthis http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-689 Karthis Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:38:06 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-689 "<i>As I thought about this post, I tried to think about something memorable to say about the first zone in BC. Well, I couldn’t really think of anything. </i>" The sky. It blew me away and it still does. The sky is amazing in most of the TBC zones, but Hellfire Peninsula in particular is gorgeous.... and came as so unexpected. The second thing would be a Fel Reaver. You have to remember the first time you were out killing hell boars and had your entire screen shake. You probably panned around your camera, saw a huge foot of the nearby reaver, and almost passed out..... those things were intimidating! And then later on, when you were higher level, you got a quest to kill one! The vindication! TBC had lots of moments too..... by they were fewer and farther between than Wrath's - I'll definitely give you that. <abbr><em>Karthis’s last blog post..<a href="http://teethandclaws.blogspot.com/2008/12/morning-nibbles.html" rel="nofollow">Morning Nibbles</a></abbr></em> “As I thought about this post, I tried to think about something memorable to say about the first zone in BC. Well, I couldn?t really think of anything. ”

The sky. It blew me away and it still does. The sky is amazing in most of the TBC zones, but Hellfire Peninsula in particular is gorgeous…. and came as so unexpected.

The second thing would be a Fel Reaver. You have to remember the first time you were out killing hell boars and had your entire screen shake. You probably panned around your camera, saw a huge foot of the nearby reaver, and almost passed out….. those things were intimidating! And then later on, when you were higher level, you got a quest to kill one! The vindication!

TBC had lots of moments too….. by they were fewer and farther between than Wrath’s – I’ll definitely give you that.

Karthis’s last blog post..Morning Nibbles

]]> By: Maerdred http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-688 Maerdred Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:49:51 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-688 I was thinking about what you said about memorable questlines and things like that. What hits me is that they want all that cool content to get out to as many people as possible. I know at least for myself, the three characters I leveled up in BC, I never finished SMV or Netherstorm quests. Perhaps many people were the same way, leveling in instances ,and outleveling the game, so they missed some of the great higher level questlines. In Wrath the cool quests are right in the beginning so everyone can see them. At least, in my opinion. <abbr><em>Maerdred’s last blog post..<a href="http://treebound.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/love-is-in-the-air/" rel="nofollow">Love is in the air</a></abbr></em> I was thinking about what you said about memorable questlines and things like that. What hits me is that they want all that cool content to get out to as many people as possible. I know at least for myself, the three characters I leveled up in BC, I never finished SMV or Netherstorm quests. Perhaps many people were the same way, leveling in instances ,and outleveling the game, so they missed some of the great higher level questlines. In Wrath the cool quests are right in the beginning so everyone can see them. At least, in my opinion.

Maerdred’s last blog post..Love is in the air

]]> By: PTD http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-687 PTD Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:16:36 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-687 Thanks for the comment, as always John. Perhaps I didn't make it clear enough that I did indeed have a good time in BC. I've played WoW from the early phases of Beta, and BC was a big upgrade over what there was in Classic WoW. There was just plain too much in BC that I found myself trudging through. Too many of the zones were bland, too many of the quest lines forgettable, and far too many lame rep grinds. Much of what I found myself doing in BC was in order to get to the level cap, so I could enjoy the REAL game. The "end game" of BC was very good. I loved running SSC, MH and BT. But the fact is that I didn't really enjoy the ride to 70 as much as I'm enjoying the leveling game in Wrath. I'll try to be nicer to BC in the future. :) In some ways this post is meant as a shock of cold water. Thanks for the comment, as always John.

Perhaps I didn’t make it clear enough that I did indeed have a good time in BC. I’ve played WoW from the early phases of Beta, and BC was a big upgrade over what there was in Classic WoW. There was just plain too much in BC that I found myself trudging through. Too many of the zones were bland, too many of the quest lines forgettable, and far too many lame rep grinds. Much of what I found myself doing in BC was in order to get to the level cap, so I could enjoy the REAL game. The “end game” of BC was very good. I loved running SSC, MH and BT. But the fact is that I didn’t really enjoy the ride to 70 as much as I’m enjoying the leveling game in Wrath.

I’ll try to be nicer to BC in the future. :) In some ways this post is meant as a shock of cold water.

]]> By: John http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/comment-page-1/#comment-686 John Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:46:53 +0000 http://parttimedruid.com/2008/12/12/how-wrath-succeeds-where-bc-failed/#comment-686 You make it sound like you had an entirely miserable time trudging through TBC the way you write, and that the whole game sucked until wrath came out. At least thats what comes across in the way you write. The truth most ppl agree on is that tbc was a massive upgrade from vanilla. Yes, i remember the first time I went through the portal; I was blown away. The first time in shattrath? omg!!! Wondering into zangamarsh and checking out those mushrooms & that haunting music.... fantastic loot dropping everywhere, cool new profession items to make, the promise of flying at lvl 68... the epic flight form quest and finially completeing it.... picking up my earthwarden at 230am one morning.... beautiful new istances and heroics.... Unbelievably gorgeous raid instances.... buying the ultimate dps weapon with heroic badges & getting it enchanted... The list goes on and on, as it would have to, considering how much of my life I devoted to playing. If you look at what the cutting edge was in the past from a point in the future, you're gonna be tempted to rewrite history. TBC was so awesome because there was no wrath back then, and they couldnt have created wrath without going through TBC - thats the nature of creativity and development. I'm not entirely disagreeing with wat you write becacuse I understand where you're coming from - just think you could frame the context with more generosity & insight. You make it sound like you had an entirely miserable time trudging through TBC the way you write, and that the whole game sucked until wrath came out. At least thats what comes across in the way you write. The truth most ppl agree on is that tbc was a massive upgrade from vanilla. Yes, i remember the first time I went through the portal; I was blown away. The first time in shattrath? omg!!! Wondering into zangamarsh and checking out those mushrooms & that haunting music…. fantastic loot dropping everywhere, cool new profession items to make, the promise of flying at lvl 68… the epic flight form quest and finially completeing it…. picking up my earthwarden at 230am one morning…. beautiful new istances and heroics…. Unbelievably gorgeous raid instances…. buying the ultimate dps weapon with heroic badges & getting it enchanted… The list goes on and on, as it would have to, considering how much of my life I devoted to playing. If you look at what the cutting edge was in the past from a point in the future, you’re gonna be tempted to rewrite history. TBC was so awesome because there was no wrath back then, and they couldnt have created wrath without going through TBC – thats the nature of creativity and development. I’m not entirely disagreeing with wat you write becacuse I understand where you’re coming from – just think you could frame the context with more generosity & insight.

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