My priest reached level 75 this weekend, mostly by questing. In Wrath of the Lich King there are achievements you get when you finish nearly all of the quests in a zone, and I got that achievement for both Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills. Next step will be Zul'Darak. Thus with over 200 WotLK quests done, I can confidently say that Wrath of the Lich King improved and evolved quests beyond what the original WoW and The Burning Crusade offered. In this post I'd like to discuss the evolution of quests, and one major remaining limitation.
I'm enjoying questing in Wrath of the Lich King even more than in previous versions of World of Warcraft. While there are still plenty of "kill 10 foozles" quests, Blizzard made a huge effort to offer lots of other quest types too. It now pays to actually read the quest texts, because not only has the storytelling improved, but also quite often you need to follow more detailed instructions than just going somewhere and killing something. Another improvement to storytelling is that quest series now often can actually be done one quest after another, without a too steep increase in difficulty forcing you to stop and level up before you can do the end. The quests in one quest hub are also better related to each other, both from a point of weaving a coherent atmosphere, and from the practical point of several quests sending you in the same direction. There are still a lot of quests where you need to go back to the quest giver, only to be sent to the same quest location again for the next step, but the quest givers are usually relatively close in those cases.
Quests in WotLK have also evolved into being better integrated into reputation and crafting. Dungeons aren't related to a specific faction any more, so you don't grind reputation by doing a dungeon repeatedly any more. At level 80 you can gain reputation by dungeon runs, but the faction you are working for will be determined by the tabard you wear, not by which dungeon you visit. For factions that don't have a tabard, quests are the *only* way to increase faction. For tradeskills, specifically for cooking and jewelcrafting (not sure about the others), there are now daily quests which award tokens which you can spend on learning new recipes. Great idea! Much better than having to hope for a 1% drop chance from some boss mob in some dungeon.
So quests in WotLK are better than ever before, in variety, usefulness, and storytelling. But there are still serious limitations to the whole quest system, one of which becomes obvious if you follow the discussion about a "torture quest", which has been discussed on several MMORPG blogs. In that quest you are asked to torture someone, to extract vital information. And some people were shocked by the evilness of that. Now I can agree that this wasn't a clever move on Blizzard's part, as this could easily lead to negative publicity. But to me the quest is more an example of the limitations of the quest system than a moral problem: There are no meaningful moral decisions in World of Warcraft.
The thing is that there is only one possible solution for any given quest. I did a series of morally dubious quests killing trolls for their mojo to summon some troll spirit, who at the end was revealed to be a servant of the Lich King, having duped me into helping the enemy. But the only other option for me would have been not doing the quest series, which would have robbed me not only of the quest rewards, but also of the "do all quests in this zone" achievement. In most cases in WoW you don't have to make any ethical decision at all. And if you have to decide (Aldor vs. Scryer, or D.E.H.T.A. vs. Nesingwary), you probably make that decision on the basis of which side offers the better rewards for your class. Or worse, first work for one side until you have all the rewards, and then work for the other side. In the destiny quest series for starting Death Knights you are even *forced* to switch sides, first doing evil deeds before becoming a good guy.
And evil quests aren't anything new. The first day of playing an undead character you probably killed a bunch of pumpkin farmers. And even supposedly "good" Alliance characters spend a lot of time killing various forms of wildlife, or persecute other humanoids for no other reason than them being a different race. If you made a completely pacifist character, who only accepted quests that didn't involve killing, that plus all the exploration xp possible wouldn't net you more than a handful of levels, and leave you totally stuck long before you could reach the level cap. World of Warcraft is a game about killing, and mass murder isn't an inherently good activity.
In my personal point of view, being evil only matters if you actually had a choice. Many single-player games like KOTOR or Fable or Black & White offer you moral choices, and the chance to develop your character to a saint or ultimate corruption. And even there you can't jump to conclusions and say somebody who made his Fable character evil must be an evil person. Games and virtual worlds give us the chance to experiment with morals, something that isn't advisable in the real world. In real life I wouldn't even kill a rabbit or deer, but I have no problem whatsoever with WoW quests asking me to kill lots of virtual animals or even humans. I'd like to see a MMORPG that involves meaningful moral choices (SWTOR?), but the evil deeds of my WoW characters don't cause me sleepless nights. Real evil usually lies in the suffering of the victims, and virtual rabbits don't suffer.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
WotLK Quests: Evolution and Limitation
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Beachhead Zone Overview
Welcome to the war against the Lich King. Upon arrival to the Howling Fjord, whether it’s at the Horde or Alliance starting town, you will immediately see an active battleground. The Scourge and their Vyrkul allies constantly send forces to attack both Valgarde and New Agamand and the first quests you will receive upon arrival will throw you right into the action.
For the Alliance, the first major quest line you will be involved with is “Hell Has Frozen Over,” which immediately pits you against the Vyrkul that are attacking the walls of Valgarde. This is the quest that will nab you the first green items (assuming one doesn’t drop off the Vyrkul you kill) you will see in the expansion. Surprisingly enough, the green items you will first see are not much better than Karazhan epics. In fact, if you are completely Karazhan geared, you most likely won’t be replacing your gear until you hit level 72 or 73. This is a big difference from the transition from WoW Classic to the Burning Crusade, as players with Black Wing Lair gear started replacing their epics as soon as they started doing Hellfire Peninsula with random green item drops. In Wrath, however, your epics will last you quite some time; the same goes for Arena gear for Seasons 3 and up.
Ember Clutch is afflicted by a perpetual forest fire, brought on by the Vyrkul.
In Valgarde, players will be re-introduced to Tirion Fordring, who is now the new incarnation of the Ashbringer and wields the legendary sword. Fordring has come a long way from when you last saw him, and he now leads the Argent Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Hand against Arthas. Unfortunately, the two factions have merged into the Argent Crusade, giving you (you guessed it!) yet another faction to grind up from neutral to exalted with.
On the Horde side, the first place you will see is Vengeance Landing, a site controlled by the Hand of Vengeance, a faction of the Forsaken sent to Northrend by Sylvanas for the specific purpose of overseeing the release of the Forsaken’s “New Plague,” which Horde players have periodically assisted with via quest lines. Some of you know where that plot thread eventually leads, but I won’t spoil it for the rest of you. Just like the Argent Crusade, the Hand of Vengeance is another faction to grind up to exalted, with some decent rewards for doing so.
One of the first quest lines you will take up as a Horde player will begin with a quest called “War is Hell,” which will pit you against a group of Alliance battle ships off the coast of New Agamand, which have been attacking the Forsaken for several days. Upon completion of this quest line, you are immediately introduced to Prince Keleseth, the first boss of Utgarde Keep and see a cut scene that spills a lot of lore.
Again, players who are geared in tier 5-equivelent equipment will not be seeing any big gear upgrades, but the quests completed here do net a sizeable amount of experience and reputation so they are very much worth completing.
There are several quests and encounters in Howling Fjord that serve as previews to things you will see in other zones at higher levels. Everywhere in the Fjord you will see servants of Arthas and discussion of plot points that you won’t see culminate until you reach Icecrown Glacier; Tirion Fordring will eventually move from the Fjord to Icecrown, for example.
An Alliance quest line that starts with “The Explorer’s League Outpost” will eventually take the player to Baelgun’s Excavation site, where the player will encounter Loken, the final boss of Halls of Lightning and a major lore character.
Both factions will visit Whisper Gulch through quests; the Horde will gain a quest called “Brains! Brains! Brains!” and the Alliance will get “Danger! Explosives!” Whisper Gulch is a site where you will find a whole slew of insane dwarves. Adding to the creepy atmosphere, you will receive several whispers from “Unknown Voices,” giving you encouraging remarks such as “you are a pawn of forces unseen,” or “there is no escape. Not in this life, not in the next.” For those of you who have been in the Temple of Ahn’Quiraj, you’ve encountered this sort of thing before, as C’thun will periodically whisper similar menacing messages to you. This ties in with a plot thread you will encounter later on in the Grizzly Hills, and again in Azjol-Nerub relating to an Old God who has awakened and is starting to gather up followers.
Utgarde Keep can be seen in the distance from both Valgarde and New Agamand, a constant reminder of the threat from the Vyrkul and their Scourge masters. Players just starting out in Northrend can immediately go straight into Utgarde Keep, as it is designed for players ranged from level 70 to 72. It has three bosses and is designed to be a short run, possibly taking less than 45 minutes to complete assuming everyone does their job well and there are no wipes.
Both factions have two quests that will lead players into Utgarde. The Alliance quests are “Disarmament” and “Into Utgarde!” which ask players to steal Vrykul axes and kill the final boss of Utgarde Keep, respectfully. The Horde quests are “A Score to Settle” and “Ingvar Must Die!” which have players kill the first and last bosses of the Keep, respectfully. Both quests will net a decent amount of experience and reputation, so even if the rewards aren’t quite upgrades for you, they’re still worth doing.
This was just a quick overview of some of the highlights you will see in the Howling Fjord, but this does not even begin to cover everything you will see and do. Blizzard did a very good job in designing their new starting zones, and this is only the beginning of what promises to be a very fun and exciting expansion.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wotlk:first to level 80
French people just run faster it seems ... Nymh - Drek'thar [FR] was the first character to reach level 80 in the new expansion - Wrath of the Lich King ! Congratulations to him and his guild, Genesis !
In case you're wondering, there isn't too much fancy powerleveling behind that, just a healer out of group.
That screenshot also seems to be from the Grizzly Hills, which is roughly a mid-70s zone. Nymh may have dinged 80, but she still has plenty of content ahead. Hope the trek to 80 was an enjoyable one!
via MMO-Champion
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Finding your Wrath profession trainers
One of the first things on your mind after stepping into Northrend will undoubtedly be the most convenient location of your profession trainers.
You gatherers are going to need the know-how to start hoarding items for fun and profit, and craftspeople will want to see what new items can soon be constructed. Besides, you won't want to be left behind in the server-wide race to the new level cap, 450.
This information might affect which starting zone you choose to explore first, so pass through the break to see what stops you should be making before you venture out to quest and conquer.
If you can find a mage to port you to Dalaran, or a warlock who can summon you, then you should find your trainers there. For most people, especially over the first few days after launch, the easiest way to train will be to simply head to a starting zone.
According to Wowhead, and this may change, almost every profession can be trained by both factions at both starting zones, except as noted below.
Howling Fjord outposts
Alliance: Valgarde
Horde: Vengeance Landing
Horde leatherworkers and engineers will have to visit this outpost to train.
Borean Tundra outposts
Alliance: Valiance Keep
Horde: Warsong Hold
Why I'm Looking Forward to WotLK
Loktar, Baladash, Malnore and howdy World of Warcraft fans. Hell, howdy to all the WoW haters too. Well at the time this article is being concocted it is now t-minus thirty one hours until the release of Wrath of the Lich King. After months of anticipation it’s almost go time. I know I’m not the only one out there that can’t wait for it.
As if the simple release of this expansion wasn’t enough to excite the WoW population, Blizzard has done a great job of chumming the water with their release of the achievement system. Not only did that give players a chance to fill in the blanks of their WoW experience, it gave players an insight into what may be expected in the upcoming expansion. Hopefully we’ll see all of those achievement points put to good use. I’d hate think I explored every single inch of the maps for just a title. Hercule the Explorer doesn’t have the best ring to it. I was not fortunate enough to get into the WOTLK beta, so I’m forced to base most of why I am excited for the expansion on previous press releases and the World of Warcraft home page, but I think that’s enough. So I know I will be stating much of the obvious, and with that being said…
Onto the obvious:
New maximum level cap: Level 80, if you thought distributing those skill points were tough before, worry not. Ten more points. TEN MORE. Now my Moonkin will be able to be a back up healer as well as DPS. I’m sure those points will be benefiting other classes just as much, but for me it’s Druid all the way. Additionally, you can partake in the arms race amongst your friends and guildies to see who will ding 80 first. I’ll be doing my best to get there quickly (courtesy of those sick days at my full time job). Once you are 80 not only do you have a rich future of raiding and PvP ahead of you, you also get to go and pay back all those old dungeons. The achievement points brought level 70s from around the world back to Ragefire Chasm and the Stormwind Stockades. How great is going to be to be able to go back and solo and five man some of the previous hardest forty man dungeons. TAKE THAT ONYXIA AND RAGNAROS, you all know what I mean. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of forty manning them, it could be a tremendous pain in the buttocks (or insert buttocks euphemism here).
New Continent: Northrend. Now when I wear my Blizzcon gear that says “Ride Northrend” it may make sense to some folks. I remember how great it was exploring Outland the first time. There is a certain thrill to exploring, well “thrill” may be a bit strong but its sure can be fun. And let’s not forget those experience points for exploration. After a few months of the same scenery this is going to be an awesome change of pace.
New Character Class: The Death Knight. DEATH KNIGHT it just sounds cool. Say it with me folks, ”Death Night”. It just rolls of the tongue. Not only is it another class, apparently it’s a Hero Class. What does that mean? Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. I do know that I am interested to see where it takes the game. I don’t know if I will love it or hate it, but you can be damned sure I’ll be making one. Let’s face it almost all of you will be making one too. For all you squishes out there, just make one and run into mobs. Enjoy the satisfaction of watching your health bar not move faster than a Jamaican Olympic sprinter. I know folks will be worried about the legions and legions of Death Knights plaguing the game. And who can blame you, but think of this way, that leaves more non plate loot for your other toons.
New crafting: Inscription. Well it’s already been released. Sure it’s cool, but nothing to look forward to there at the moment. Here’s hoping for some epic inscription drops, C’mon Blizzard we’ve earned that.
As with any expansion there will be many new dungeons to explore. The Burning Crusade certainly didn’t disappoint folks on the amount and style of dungeons released. WOTLK looks to be no different, and let’s hope those daily dungeon quests stick around. On top of all the new content I’m looking forward to re-entering Naxxramas. It was one of the coolest looking dungeons that most folks never saw. I made to the first boss; it’s too bad the Burning Crusade made sure most folks never bothered with it. Welcome back Naxx, your dreams were your ticket out, oh wait that’s Kotter.
I know there are many more items to look forward to, since at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/ it stated “And much much more..” Let’s hear it from the rest of the MMORPG readers, what are you looking forward to most about the Wrath of the Lich King?
Let’s hear about why you are dreading it. Get those forums jumping folks. See you all in Northrend in about thirty hours… Let’s make that about 15 now.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wrath Guide: How to get to Northrend and where to go once you get there
How do I get to Northrend?
For Alliance, head to the northernmost dock at Stormwind Harbor to get to Borean Tundra or take the boat out of Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands to be dropped off in Howling Fjord.
For Horde, the zeppelin in Ogrimmar leads to Borean Tundra and the zeppelin out of Undercity will take you to Howling Fjord.
Consider camping out your character at one of these spots the night before launch so you can head right over as soon as you have the expansion loaded on your system.
I'm in Borean Tundra and my buddy is in Howling Fjord. How do I get to him?
It will take you some time grab the many flight points that connect these two zones. In the meantime, there is a series of three Tuskarr villages along the coast line that will offer you rides between them via giant sea turtles. You can take them all the way from BorTun to HF or vice versa. Just head to up the coast until you find a dock with a walrus guy. There is a stopover in Dragonblight. A more extensive explanation with pictures and coordinates will be posted here tomorrow.
Where are the new instances I can play immediately?
In Borean Tundra, the 5-man instance is The Nexus. To get there, head to Amber Ledge. It's a mage tower on a hill overlooking the ocean to the west. To get there head north/north-east from Warsong Hold (H) or north west out of Valiance Keep (A).
Once there, take a dragon flight to Coldarra (the icy island to the west) where you land in a mage-created settlement called the Transitus Shield. Take the road north east out of TS to an icy cave, but beware aggro mobs along once outside the shields. Once inside the cave, head to the bottom to enter The Nexus.
In Howling Fjord, you are looking for Utgarde Keep. This is very simple for Alliance, simply head north out of Valgarde keep to the other side of the Vrykul viking settlement. You will see a large stairwell set into the cliff face. Run up it and into the instance. For Horde, head west out of Vengeance Landing and up the lift. From there, follow the road straight west into the instance.
Where's the new Shattrath?
That would be Dalaran. Both Horde and Alliance can use the amenities this neutral city offers. Like Shattrath, there will be no class trainers or Auction House, but there will be Grand Master profession trainers and one-way portals to all the major cities in Azeroth (including one to Shattrath.) There will be mage portal trainers which will come in handy since you can't get to Dalaran before level 74 unless you use a Mage portal. Without a portal, you'll have to wait until level 74. At that point, you can get a quest that will allow you to use a crystal on the floor of the Crystalsong Forest that will take you to the floating city. Once there, bind immediately.
When can I use my flying mount?
Level 77. It used to be a quest, now it's just trainable in Dalaran. For 1,000g (950g with Dalarn faction.) Look on the bright side, no more turtle boats.
Countdown to Wrath Giveaway: Day 3 - Polar Bear Mount
To enter, leave a comment on this post before Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 12pm ET (noon). One winner will be chosen randomly and will receive a BlizzCon Beta Card that includes a code for an in-game Polar Bear BlizzCon mount. Arthas awaits you. Don't meet him on a pony.
We only got 9,000+ comments on last Thursday's Polar Bear Mount giveaway. Let's see if we can do better this time, people.
Also, be on the look out today for another contest showing up soon giving away a 60-day game card. And the giveaways we have planned for days two, one, and zero will give you more chances to win.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Warth of the Lich King: WotLK Movies
Reclamation
Betrayal
In Service Of The Lich King
Massacre at Light's Point
An End To All Things...
The Light of Dawn aka The Battle For Light's Hope Chapel
Wotlk: Northrend Dungeon Guide
Wrath Of The Lich King features many changes over The Burning Crusade, most of the changes being done with the specific purpose of allowing greater accessibility to more players, so that the new content doesn't fall into the old trap of only being done by a small percentage of the player base.
At release, there will be 12 five man Instances, each with a heroic version of the same instance and then 3 Raids, each raid with a 10 or 25 man versions. More Raids will come out a few months after the expansion is released, similar to how Black Temple, Sunwell, Zul'Aman and Caverns of Time Raids were released after TBC came out.
Dungeon & Raid Changes For WotLK
Feature List:
Raid Class Composition Changes:
The next thing you need to know is that Blizzard has reworked the class system for instances and raids to be "role" based, not specifically "class" based. This means that instead of being required to take a specific Tank Class, you are required to take a "Tank". What is a tank? Any properly geared, talented and played Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight or Druid. You are not pigeon holed into a particular class, though obviously some classes may offer benefits over other classes, but that will change based on the encounter. Blizzards goal is to make all classes "equal" at their specific roles and yes, there will no doubt be plenty of balance patches that tweak this further.
The same also goes for Melee DPS, Healers and Ranged DPS.
Why this change? This change is done so Raid Leaders do not need to worry about the specific class as much, what they need to worry about is the specific Role and that the player coming along is effective. This means (in Theory) that provided the player is good, a healing role can be perfectly filled by a Druid, Priest or Paladin and so on. The benefit here is that if you cant find a Priest but can find a Paladin, then you are good to go (provided both players are of equal skill/gear).
Basically, they don't want people to scrap Raids because specific classes are unavailable, when somebody else can fill their Role. This gives greater latitude for people to group up and raid.
Are things "easier"?
It appears from direct comments that Blizzard Developers have made and from what players doing Naxxramas have said, that things will indeed be somewhat easier, at least in 10 man versions. Blizzards goal is to allow more players to experience the content and obviously, aiming content at "the best" makes it virtually impossible for the average player. Its hard to say exactly how all of this will pan out, but I think it is safe to assume that Blizzard is tired of making tonnes of content that most people never see and that progression will be much greater for people than it ever has been before.
Wrath Of The Lich King Dungeons and Raid Listing
Here is the complete list of WotLK Dungeons and Raids, in order of their target level.
5 Man Dungeon
| Dungeon | Location | Level | Bosses | Quests |
| Utgarde Keep | Howling Fjord | 70-72 | 4 | 6 |
| The Nexus | Coldarra - Borean Tundra | 71-73 | 4 | 3 |
| Azjol-Nerub | Dragonblight | 72-74 | 3 | 3 |
| Ahn'kahet | Dragonblight | 73-75 | 3 | 5 |
| Drak'Tharon Keep | Grizzley Hills | 74-76 | 4 | 4 |
| The Violet Hold | Beneath Dalaran | 75-77 | 6 | 3 |
| Gundrak | Zul'Drak | 76-78 | 4 | 4 |
| Halls of Stone | Storm Peaks | 77-79 | 4 | 2 |
| Utgarde Pinnacle | Howling Fjord | 80 | 4 | 4 |
| The Oculus | Coldarra - Borean Tundra | 80 | 4 | 6 |
| Halls of Lightning | Storm Peaks | 80 | 4 | 4 |
| Stratholme Past | Caverns of Time | 80 | 4 | 4 |
Raids
4 Raids will be included with WotLK at release, one of which is a PVP Based Raid. There are two other raids (Ulduar Raid and Icecrown Citadel) that are confirmed but will not make the November 13 release date. More will be released later on as well
| Raid | Location | LeveL | Bosses | Loot |
| Naxxramas | Floats above Dragonblight | 80 | 15 | Tier 7 (10 Man) and 7.5 Loot (25 man) |
| The Obsidian Sanctum (Chamber of Aspects) | Wyrmrest Temple - Dragonblight | 80 | 3 | 10 Man Loot, 25 Man Loot |
| The Eye of Eternity | Coldarra - Borean Tundra | 80 | 1 | Man Loot, 25 Man Loot |
| Vault of Archavon (PvP) | Wintergrasp's Fortress | 80 | 1 | Unknown |
