BrutalGamer Bringing you Brutally Honest feedback from today's entertainment industry.
This is a two part review, first is my take on the game, down below is fellow BG’er Daniel Spiler’s take. Mine is for newcomers and a general opinion, his is bent more toward the veteran players of the game.
I’ve never been a fan of World of Warcraft. The idea always fascinated me, but I soon realized after buying the game and all its expansions last year, that I would never get into it because of the grind to level 90. Well, at least that’s what I thought. On another risky (albeit rewarding) whim, I decided to pre-order Warlords of Draenor for the level boost, and I wasn’t disappointed.
This will be a two person review, between my fellow BG’er Daniel Spiler (who has been playing WoW since base), and me (and this is my first expansion at launch).
Let’s address the most glaring issue first, and I’m sure you’ve heard it. The launch, I felt, was a disaster. Nothing was working, servers crashed every five minutes, and in the few moments I finally did make it on, I swear I have never seen so many players in one place before. Then the game crashed again. I put down the game and waited a couple of days to try my luck again. Lo and behold, I was in queue for twelve, twelve, hours. By the time I got into the game, it was somewhere around two in the morning, and while I can hold out much longer into the night, I decided against it, as the wait had put me in a foul mood. When I finally did make it on the next day (in a not as bad four hour queue), I was disgusted to find out from one of my guild mates, that that had been a fairly tame launch, and there had been worse in the series past; then I was glad I hadn’t been present for the others.
Still, after all that… I’m not subtracting any points for it. Do I wish they had it together a little better? Definitely. But I’m not actually all that mad about it, especially after finding out a majority of the server problems were due to a DDoS hacker.
The story of Warlords of Draenor is good… from what I could get of it through cutscenes and scenarios. Quest Descriptions? What are those? Basically, a portal to the ancient homeworld of the Orcs and Draenei has been opened up by Grommash Hellscream (who I can only assume from reading some random World of Warcraft lore is a really not-so-nice guy). This is in fact a bad thing because he leads what he likes to call the ‘Iron Horde’, who are about as friendly and cuddly as they sound. Your goal as the hero is to lead the Draenei to freedom and kill Grommash and the rest of his cohorts one by one. It’s an entertaining enough story to keep you going from start to finish.
I, of course, use the term ‘finish’ loosely. I’ve never seen a game quite as unfinish-able as World of Warcraft. There is an insane amount of content, most of which I haven’t even unlocked yet. Dungeons, Raids, Quests, PvP, Treasure Hunting, Crafting, running the Auction house (which requires more patience than I possess), and two new additions, the Garrison System and Bonus Objectives
Because I haven’t unlocked Raids, PvP, or Treasure Hunting yet, I will leave those to my good friend Daniel to cover (find his section lower down on the page). But let’s start with the Dungeons. Oh, the Dungeons. They’re all good, though my personal favorite is the Iron Docks. Mostly because I’ve played it so much I have the whole thing down to a formula, and even lead (yes, I am proud of that thank you) some runs through it myself. The Quests, are a little more varied than they used to be, thank goodness, otherwise I may have died (or probably just have quit) of boredom. There still are the ever popular “Kill X of this creature” and “Get X of this item”, but there are quite a few more entertaining quests scattered about. Screw crafting. I don’t understand the purpose, and I don’t suppose I ever will. I certainly don’t find it enjoyable, but plenty of other people there do, so maybe my opinion is just invalid on this one.
The Garrison is honestly one of my favorite things, and I spend a decent amount of time running around and talking to all of my villagers, guardsmen, and sending my “followers” on missions. Doing the Daily Quests that become available once you have purchased the Inn is a nice way to make a boatload of XP and gold. A completed Garrison can have multiple different buildings (for professions and mounts) as well as a fishing lake, a mine for your own personal ore, and a farm.
Bonus Objectives are a great way to make XP and gold as well. Through your quests around Draenor you will run into multiple conflicted areas, each will give a great reward if you do the “Kill X of this creature” “Collect X of this item”, usually these are very fun though, and not too rinse and repeat.
Jake C’s Final Thoughts
Overall my opinion of Warlords of Draenor is this: It’s a beautiful, it’s an absolute blast, and if you remember me saying earlier that I never could get into WoW before….let’s just say my time played rocketed from 1 day to 4 days 22 hours since release (to some that may not be a big deal, but I’m willing to bet some of you just raised your eyebrows a bit). My final score of the game is listed above, but Dan’s score for the more veteran players is down below.
Dan’s Take
As a veteran of WoW (I’ve been playing on and off since Vanilla), it’s always an interesting time when a new expansion comes out. There’s a need for something for all the types of players who inhabit the land of Azeroth, from the long time players looking for something fresh and new to the new players looking for a low barrier to entry in a longstanding franchise.
Warlords of Draenor has delivered in spades for the long time players. Besides the introduction of the Garrison (more on that in a bit), levelling will give you access to lots of storylines and interesting subplots via quests. The journey to level 100 is fun and interesting, but the pacing is really fast, so you’ll hit level 100 long before you’ve exhausted the major storylines.
While raids don’t open until December (and that’s the meatiest content that players salivate over), there’s plenty to do at max level even now.
Garrisons: Maximizing both the efficiency and quality of your garrison is a big part of the new WoD experience. Each building gives you access to something interesting and cool (and valuable), including mounts, profession-specific items (with most available even if you don’t have that profession) titles, and lots and lots of achievements. There’s also the new Follower system, which sees you being able to recruit heroes to join you (something of a private army) who you can send on missions with rewards ranging from gear for you or them, to gold, to experience for you or them, and even treasures. It’s definitely something to check out and dive headfirst into.
Ashran: Even if you’re not a PvP nut, or even if you don’t like it at all, the new PvP zone, Ashran, is somewhere you’ll want to visit at least a few times. While handful of quests in Draenor will send you back to Ashran to get some rewards, the actual island is worth exploring. Similar to Wintergrasp and Tol Barad of old, Ashran has lots of objectives for each side to accomplish, some of which involve beating your enemies to a pulp or exploring and fighting some monsters. There’s lots to do, and it’s a very active place if you’re looking for a large-scale PvP feel in a PvE environment.
Heroic Dungeons: Once you’ve hit level 100, you can’t just jump into Heroics like we’re all used to in previous expansions. Instead, the skill cap of the entire game has been raised (rejoice or rage) via minimum requirements to enter Heroic Dungeons. Players must now beat the Proving Grounds on Silver difficulty in the role of their choice, AND have an ilvl of 610. This ensures that players have the skill to handle Heroics, and the gear to supplement that skill.
If you think you’re clutch in regular dungeons, expect a rude awakening in Heroics. I myself have been struggling, but it’s something you can learn as you go, getting better each time you do them. I will say that the Proving Grounds is not just a great determination of minimum skill, but it can also teach you to play your class better as you find more optimal ways to beat each wave in the Proving Grounds. I can say with confidence that I’m a much better healer, and player, having made my way through. Once you enter Heroics though, things get tougher, and it will test your abilities. These are not the Heroics we’ve known in the past.
10th Anniversary: If you’re able to play between now and the new year, you’ll have a chance to experience the 10th Anniversary content. Besides a free mini pet (the corgi is adorable, and has some pretty awesome skills, including a pokemon reference), players are able to (with an ilvl of 615 at minimum) enter a retuned version of 40man Molten Core. Yes, for a limited time, you can experience some of the glory, insanity, and fun (and possibly frustration) of one of the original raids. Available exclusively through the LFR (Looking for Raid) System, the raid offers no rewards until you defeat Ragnaros (the final boss). You do get a guaranteed ilvl 640 Helmet, styled after the original headpiece from the raid, and a Corehound mount.
The helmet is a nice way to boost your ilvl and get some good gear, and the mount is absolutely amazing (it’s probably my new favourite mount). There’s also the temporary PvP map Tarren Mill vs Southshore. For those who weren’t around in the old days, Tarren Mill and Southshore was an unofficial landmark of world pvp (like Goldshire and Crossroads). While there was no clear winner, it was nevertheless a hell of a time, and it seems Blizzard wants to celebrate that rivalry. The map itself is a lot of fun, and players get a temporary buff that matches the original PvP title ranks, based on the number of kills you get in a match. Winning gets you a limited time title, so make sure you try to get it if you have the chance.
Exploration: While we’ve seen the majority of the landscape of Draenor as Outland, it’s very much a different place in the past. Besides taking in the sights and doing quests, there’s a couple of new additions that are important to point out. Bonus Objectives function much like ‘questing’ does in Guild Wars 2: a set of quest-like tasks in a set area, and you’re given free reign to complete it as you wish, with no need to worry about quest givers. The other big addition to exploration is the addition of TONS of new treasures scattered all over Draenor. Some are drops from some of the many Elites roaming (some are easily solo-able, some require a big group), but all of them are interesting in some way. Most commonly, the treasures either provide lots of gold (always a good thing), some small piece of lore, a cool skin to transmog, a new toy, pet, or mount, or even just some gear you can use as you level/aim for that 610/615 ilvl. Some treasures drop off easily solo-able elites, and others are hidden at the end of obstacle courses or jumping puzzles. Any way you look at it, there’s a lot to simply see and explore.
Achievements: Last, but certainly not least, there’s a buttload (it’s a scientific unit of measurement, trust me) of new achievements. There’s something for every type of player, from the treasure hunters, to the fighters, to the completionists. There’s lots to do, and lots to plan for.
Legendary Questline: Mists of Pandaria gave us a Legendary item we could all use: Wrathion’s gracious gift of a Cloak imbued with the power of one of the spirit animals. The philosophy behind it was to give every role a chance to feel powerful, and to reduce the negative aspects of locking a Legendary behind a particular role (Val’Anyr to healers) or classes (Warglaives of Azzinoth to Warriors, Rogues – Death Knights and Monks weren’t around when it was relevant), and that philosophy has carried over to WoD. This time around, players have access to a questline to get a Legendary Ring. The requirements for the first chapter (all that’s currently available) are less of a grind, and more time-gated (4896 Apexis shards at 800 or 1000 per day, takes about a week of the daily quests).
Dan’s Final Thoughts
It’s evident that there’s a lot to do at max level, and that’s even without raiding available. There’s that much more to do once the first wave of raids unlock in December, and while it’s something I’m anxiously looking forward to, there’s more than enough to keep me occupied for the foreseeable future.
