Zone by zone changes: Tirisfal Glades

As promised, I will do zone by zone coverage of the changes that Cataclysm will bring to Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Strting with the Eastern Kingdoms and the Tirisfal Glades

Why here first? Because Undeads rule ofc!

Anyway, back to buisiness...

Old Map (as it is currently in WotLK)

And the new one as it is currently in the Beta

The overall enviromnent, textures and layout have gone unchanged from the Vanilla version, however, there are some significant changes to the zone. For example, several major areas have had a complete remodel, there are more trees (For you to fly into constantly >< ), the questing route has been altered slightly to make it easier to find things and complete. Both Scarlet Monastery and the ruins of Lorderon have been opened up and made flying mount friendly (The Scarlet Monastery instances, however are completely unchanged with the exception of a few new quest givers inside and some updated NPC models)

First of all, the ruins of Lorderon. There doesn't appear to be any NPCs or any real reason to be in there other than to explore. There's lots of little stairwells and nooks and crannies to get into, but other than that, it's purely cosmetic and the graphics are as outdated as the Undercity itself. There is, however, some strange Apothecary/plague machines in there similar to those found in the Horde bases of Howling Fjord and Dragonblight. I have no idea if they're just cosmetic or are due to serve some kind of purpose, for now they're just sitting there looking new and shiny

The Forsaken starting zone, Deathknell, goes unchanged with only a few cosmetic tweaks. There are lots more trees in the area (and in the whole zone) which makes it feel less empty

Once you're done there and head over to the fork in the road, there used to be a random quest giver who asks you to go to the farm down the road and take some pumpkins. But now, players are greeted with this:

The pumpkin farm has also been tweaked a little bit, but remains pretty much the same. There is an extra wall put in behind it where the Scarlet Crusade people are (who are still there)

Now, Brill is one of the most dramatically changed areas in this zone. It's been completely revamped, remodelled, re textured and all I can say is...It looks goooooood. It's taken on the same design style of the buildings in New Agamand and other similar Forsaken areas in Northrend. Seriously, great job on that one Blizzard, it's just a shame you didn't update Undercity slightly :(

They've also applied this style to the Zeppelin towers and given them a major upgrade too. The Zeppelins themselves however, appear to be unchanged

The Field where the Gnolls and 'Maggot Eye' have been noticeably altered. Maggot Eye himself is still in his outdated hut, but the fields it overlooks have been changed. Other quest areas, like the Agamand Mills, Venomweb Vale and the Balnir Farmstead are completely unchanged

The water effects, as is the case with everywhere else, has been updated, also with some added mist effect in some areas.

And finally, the second biggest change to the zone...The Bulwark! It too has taken on the same graphical style as Brill and the Zeppelin towers, It's been fortified and strengthened. There's some decent vendors there now, and Some other bits and pieces


So there you have it fellow Warcrafters, This is the Tirisfal Glades, hope you like the changes.

Until next time,

-Fox

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