Comments on: [Cataclysm] Darkshore – How to destroy and rebuild a zone right

By: expostninja

expostninja — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:05:44 +0000

They’ve also kind of violated one of the core tenets of the whole Lovecraftian vibe that they’ve been going for. Up until now, the Old Gods haven’t particularly cared what we’re doing. They haven’t even cared all that much about their servants. If they come back in two years, twenty years, two thousand years – whatever. The passing of time is an eyeblink to each of them (perhaps C’thun more than others), and so they just sit, patient and cancerous, with no malice or remorse as they end lives.

At this point, however, they want to get out Right Farking Now, so that they can twirl their tentacles ominously. Instead of being something uniquely wrong, they’re essentially just villains locked behind a particularly potent prison gate. It feels reductive to me, maybe that’s just my take on things.

To counterbalance some of my negatives, however, I will note that the flow from area to area in Darkshore is very well-handled. You hit pretty much every major area from the pre-Cataclysm days, usually with several quests in the same general region, and as a result the zone’s overall feel is very steady. The little “hidden” quest is nice, as well, albeit more as a cute aside than a detailed hint of future developments.

By: ZombiePirate

ZombiePirate — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:36:32 +0000

My Worgen Hunter hit Lor’danel last night, only done a few quests so far (rescue survivors and then feed them) and I agree about the place seeming out of place, you’ve got bodies floating face down in the swell but we had time to build this pretty awesome looking outpost before going out to check if anyone is alive.

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:05:17 +0000

Great points.

The old god theme is as old as the game itself, but it’s never really been put across well. (In the sense that usually it was only raiders who got the full story/ opportunity to banish the old god.) Here, they let everyone have a pop, but you’re right, the sense of ancient menace isn’t there. It’s just ‘hey here’s this thing these guys are summoning, go kill it.)

But one thing they do is have the NPCs explain more about old gods, which I think is one of the few places in the game this happens.

And also, you’re dead right about the timeline. This isn’t the only place where building seems to have been very fast, I thought the fortified towns in Northrend seemed to have gotten built very quickly too.

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:02:42 +0000

Good point, I stand corrected. (And as any Cthulhu fan should know, Soggoth is based on Shoggoth which also were servants of the Old Gods rather than actually being Old Gods themselves.)

By: Ysharros

Ysharros — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:58:49 +0000

Heh yes, they’re good for the back and forth business, but for the general questy running around… I still found the zone to be a pain. This might have been exacerbated because my noob alt chose mining AND herbalism, and trying to get to the copper nodes at the bottom of cliffs eventually drove me a little insane.

By: expostninja

expostninja — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:43:02 +0000

Oddly, I had more mixed reactions to Duskwood. You hit most of the high points, but there were two points that really bothered the heck out of me.

1) Soggoth basically kills the interesting part of the Old Gods for me. Cataclsym has done this in a lot of places, actually, taking down larger threats and turning them into villains that can be related by the player. (Burning Steppes is a particular offender.) Soggoth, essentially, removes the aura of slow menace and patient carelessness that identified the Old Gods, turning them just into a squirmy bunch of tentacles that want to kill us rather than something uniquely wrong that deforms the world by its presence.

2) The timeline for the story is wonky as heck. Lor’danel isn’t exactly a ramshackle collection of huts – when did the night elves find time to build it? Either they built the thing in about a day (which is pretty insane), or they’re looking for survivors after the month-long building of a settlement.

By: Monkey

Monkey — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:31:24 +0000

Did you find the sentinels on cats? They’re a free transportation gimmick, talk to them and they’ll ride you to the quest hubs or back home.

By: Talarian

Talarian — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:21:51 +0000

Complete nitpick, but technically Soggoth is a minion, not an Old God. Granted, he’s a particularily powerful minions of the Old Gods, but a minion nonetheless.

http://www.wowpedia.org/Soggoth

By: Utakata

Utakata — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:07:58 +0000

Deep Ocean, Vast Sea was a horrible quest to do for those who are new and n00b to the game. But it did bring to me a huge appreciation for Breathing Pots at the time. Since they did ease the strategic way of aquiring the quest items, without the fear of having to drown in the process. But I suspect the quest was made more tortuous then need be due to buggy Murlocs that could materialize in and out of the ship walls where one could easily be swarmed by them.

By: Ysharros

Ysharros — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:53:28 +0000

A bit of a pain to navigate?! The zone redesign is great if you have a mount, fabulous if you have a flying mount, and an insane pain in the arse if you have neither, i.e. if you’re a normal low-level char trying to adventure there.

Mort and I ran a couple of NElf droods through the place a week or two ago and I ended up swearing to myself I would never, EVER do that zone again as part of normal levelling.

So well-revamped, yes. Playable for actual, real levelling characters? Not for me, thanks.