maps...hmm

Apologies about the last post but it just tickled me and thought it'd be amusing to post it. I'm tempted to turn it into an 'amusing bugs I find' post...but anyway moving on

Fox here again (Duh!)

I Was debating on making this entry just about the new maps but I've decided to do a zone by zone series to show you the differences between what you see in WotLK now, and what the cataclysm will do to the zones. This post, however, will be maps of the new zones (bear in mind I haven't actually had the chance to explore all these new zones yet and so I will update this entry with all the maps of the new zones as I discover them)

So the first zone I went to was Mount Hyjal. I hopped on my hubby's mage and ported to Orgrimmar (omg I'll have to go over that change later on its so different!), flew around confused for 20 minutes, followed by alot of 'ohhhh myyyy goddddd!' and the stumbled into azshara before flying into Hyjal.

The zone appears to be around 80-82ish, having not done any of the quests there, I couldn't see many mobs around. I can only assume its because I was phased or something, but the mobs I did find were around level 80. The environment is pretty scorched and burnt, with a big tree in the middle surrounded by a load of owls. Lots of Night Elven ruins, and Twilight camps scattered around. I also found lots of elementals around too.

There are herb and mining nodes about, Obsidian Chunk ( Mining 425) and Cinderbloom (Herbalism 425)

Its fairly large, and you'll be best off with a flying mount as there's lots of things on hills/cliffs. I'm not sure who's faction bases are where (If any at all) and I don't know who (if anyone) is the dominating faction in this zone either. As I said, I've only briefly scouted the zone, I'll post a whole entry about it once I get more details

The map for the zone looks like this (Thanks to MMO Champion)



Next up is Gilneas, since I managed to complete that zone with my Worgen. I'm sure you've seen pictures or videos of it so I don't need to be too descriptive. It's got the feel of old Gothic England, lots of Victorian looking buildings, horse and carriages, top hats, etc. It's dark and dusky, lots of dead trees and greyish looking floors. It's basically designed to look like a horror movie, its like a permanent Halloween :P There are herb and mining nodes around, though at the moment there aren't any trainers to help you gather them :(. It's just your usual beginner nodes (Peacebloom, silverleaf and Copper ore)

There are 3 separate maps for this zone as they all change with phasing. The first map is due to the fact that it reflects Gilneas before the cataclysm, the second is afterwards and the third is what every other race will see (and Worgens after they've completed the zone)



Gilneas city itself is very impressive, however, it is not a functional city (As in you can't use it like you can Stormwind or Orgrimmar) It still keeps the 'Gothic England' style, a little more in ruins after the attack by the Forsaken. It's fairly large too. It doesn't serve as a main city due to the fact that it will be used as a battleground called 'the battle for Gilneas City' Which plays on the Worgen Vs Undead storyline


Now, I unfortunately haven't managed to explore The Lost isles yet as my poor little gobbo is stuck at level 4 (I really hope they fix that quest soon) So all I can show of the Goblin areas is Kezan. It's basically described as a 'City in a box', lots of twisty roads, houses stacked on top of each other, troll slaves working in mines. They even have a swimming pool! It's a busy Goblin city in the sun. It's fun, bright and reminds me of Grand Theft Auto (you get a car to drive around and run people over with, it's hilarious) I never stopped laughing the whole time I was there, it's well designed, fun and VERY easy to get into. The only downside is that you have to leave eventually, and when you do, you can't go back :(



Unfortunately, that's all the information I have at the moment. My Hubby's been playing and keeps forgetting to take screenshots for me -.- As soon as I get the chance, I'll hop on and start going round each zone, taking screenshots and information on what's changed to share with you

Until then

-Fox

Worgen & Gilneas

OK guys so after waiting all of yesterday for the servers to come back up, we decided to go to bed in hope that we will see some Cata action in the morning.

Lucky for us, they're back up and running with new content and updates :D

So, firstly, I was going to try the Goblins. Being a Horde player, I wanted to check out our newest addition but unfortunately, an important quest of theirs is bugged and nobody can get past level 4 at the moment :( But on first impressions, I absolutely love them and I will definitely roll a Goblin when Cataclysm goes live!

Instead, I decided to try out the Worgen race. I have taken tons of screenies and have some info on some other important gameplay changes.

On first impression, Blizzard have done an amazing job on the graphics, atmosphere, scenery and general look of the new content. The water effects are alot better than before, the lighting and environment detail are really good. It pulls you into the game and gets you interested in it alot more than the current live content does. There's just so much more to the game in Cataclysm, than in previous expansions.

There were a few things that I didn't like. For one, the awful British voices (Now I Know how the Scots feel about the Dwarven voices lol) It was like being in a Dick Van Dyke film :O It's petty I Know, and I can turn the voices off, but it just gets on my tits.

There were a few bugs here and there, but as they say, beta is beta and nothing is final.


The Human form skins appear to be bugged as some people were running around with worgen mouths and worgen arms (that skin on the human model) and in my case, as you can see above, I had orc arms/neck O_o I hope they fix that soon

Anyway, what I did like about them was...well, everything else !

The Worgen form model is really nice and detailed, the animations are smooth (However, the walking was a little clunky in worgen form for my liking. I can't complain, it's a worgen for god's sake, not a ballet performing gorilla!) The quests were easy to follow and complete, with an interesting and solid storyline. In comparison to the current live content and the starting zones there, this is ALOT better. It's on par with the DK starting zone and they have improved the use of phasing. It's still a little buggy but they've used it more and made it work better than they did in the DK zone.

I am a little disappointed that the female model isn't available yet, but I'm sure when they are finally ready for testing, they will be just as good as the male models.

Right, my experience with the Worgen levelling zone, Gilneas. Overall it's very smooth and easy to follow. The storyline is very in depth and well written. The design, layout and appearance of the zone also helps players to immerse themselves into the game. Blizzard have come a long way since the old vanilla days and their crappy starting zones :P

I did see a few of these block things around, I can only assume they are placeholders for other stuff yet to be implemented.


Vehicle quests make a return (Huzzah!) The interface when on a vehicle is the same as those currently in WotLK. So the usual clean, simple and easy to use UI. There seems to be more use of these kinds of quests as well so it keeps things interesting. I'm not sure about the whole semi-naked guy cuddling up behind another (not naked) guy on a horse though, that's pretty creepy...


There are also alot of vehicle bombing quests. You know, the 'Here's some explosives/poison/deadly crap of doom, get on this bat/plane/horse/boat/etc and kill some stuff.' Much fun as always :D



And don't forget the 'Get on this gun/harpoon/cannon and blow stuff up' quests, they're here too :P
As mentioned earlier, the environment detail is a huge upgrade from vanilla. It's about the same as - if not better, than the quality you see in WotLK. Blizzard really have gone to town with the details. Every little thing has been made to fit where it's been designed to be. My screenshots really don't do it justice at all




The water effects are ALOT better than before. It looks more realistic and nicer to look at after you've been fishing for hours on end


Now, as far as the storyline goes, I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't experienced it for themselves. You start as a human, and the first series of quests takes you through the back story of Gilneas and how their people became Worgens. After that, it moves on to you being a worgen and helping in the fight against the Forsaken, ending in an epic battle against a well-known figure in Warcraft lore. Before moving on to the alliance with the Night Elves and moving on to Darkshore (and oh my god you won't recognise it!)

Now, as stated earlier, the models are still a bit buggy, there's a huge limit to the customisation you can currently do with both human and worgen models, and the females aren't released yet. However, this is what the male worgen model currently looks like in game


The storyline about the fight against the Forsaken is (In my opinion) very in depth, well designed/written, and interesting . It really gives you a feel of the pressure the Gilneans have to keep hold of their homelands


But some of the quests are alot of fun. Like this one for example:



I did like the clever use of phasing later on to include the cataclysm. Because this stage of the Worgen storyline takes place at the time of the cataclysm. Although I felt the earthquake was rather weak in comparison to the damage it dealt. You walked into a building, spoke to some woman, there's a little shudder, you walk outside and half the lands underwater! But nonetheless, I thought it was clever how they did that.



There HAS to be a giant elite of some kind in every zone these days hasn't there? First the Fel Reaver in Hellfire Penninsula, then the (Pretty disappointing) Storm Giant in Howling Fjord, now there's Koroth the Hillbreaker! Don't worry, he'll get his comeuppance later


So I hope this blog entry has given you a little look into Cataclysm, helped you see what is to come and maybe you're a little more excited about it than you were before you read it :P Please bear in mind these are all my own opinions, and you may feel completely different about the content once you get to experience it.

Oh and one more thing, you wanted top hats?

Let's just say that if you're looking forward to rolling a Worgen, you won't be disappointed!

***

In the next entry, I will be covering some new options, the new talent interface, UI changes, maps and other gameplay changes

Until then,

-Fox


Ahh my life is complete, Foxes in WoW <3