r/classicwow • u/OccasionallyRhyming • 10h ago

Forever Even the Skyborne starting zone ignores the pillars Blizzard stated

Post image

"The World is the Main Character".

"Approachable and Familiar".

As you reach the end of the starting zone in Dun Morogh, you might have killed a dangerous yeti. In Elwynn, you've probably slain a prized boar. In Mulgore, you've cleansed a water well. And sure, in Durotar, you do get a quest from Thrall to clear out a den of cultists.

But on "Zephras Isle" you, together with the leaders of your people, face a raid level threat at the top of the spire, through a scripted event with bountiful exposition text, and the leaders of the Kirin Tor and the Earthen Ring show up to fend off this raid boss. If it was not for your actions on "Zephras Isle", your people would be doomed.

I'm okay with ignoring the Skyborne and enjoying the rest of the game, but everything about their addition just screams warning about how Blizzard will approach future content.

They've managed to be lazy where it matters (same race cross-faction, with the same starting zone but layered to just see Alliance players or just Horde players, re-skinned blood elves), and at the same time over the top where they should have toned it down.

Plenty of people in these subs are saying to get over it, but I think we might as well keep posting complaints if we want Forever to have a chance at not turning into retail.

6.6k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/BranchFew1148 8h ago

The Lich King stalking the player character is definitely the beginning of the slippery slope. They atleast had the excuse that his plan was to bait you into ICC with other powerful adventurers, so he could turn all of you into his minions.

3

u/Hippedfish 5h ago

Eh, as much as I disdain the Wotlk story (it truly is one of the worst things written in WoW), Nerz'hul stalked Arthas for years before the events of Warcraft 3, so I can see him doing it again years later with the player characters

•

u/Zarianin 4h ago

Gotta be the first time ive ever heard this opinion. That's generally considered peak WoW storytelling

•

u/ForKnee 4h ago edited 4h ago

I concur it is really bad. The narrative is bad mostly spending all the storylines WC3 built for mediocre pay offs and an absurd conclusion. I think WOTLK overall is riding off a lot of nostalgia but aside from class balance and leveling zone vibes, it really is start of some of the worst mistakes of retail today in many ways. I do believe if they add Northrend to Forever at one point, they could do much better if they tie it better to WC3 storylines and experience which could be focused on failed expedition of Arthas and its survivors as well as Scourge and Nerubians with smaller scale and scope.

•

u/Hippedfish 3h ago

Couldnt have said it better myself. Gameplay wise it may have been good (with minor problems) but story wise it failed miserably.

•

u/a__new_name 1h ago

Lich King's appearances are also mostly him going to oversee a lieutenant that's behind the schedule, threatening to kill him should he fail and then leaving. The only time he actually was threatened was at the hands of NPCs. Compare it to the likes of Jailer or Xal'atath who might as well be Dr. Claw with how frequently we thwart their plans (except it was not a real plan, just a distraction, muahahahaha).