There certainly is no shortage of opinions concerning World of Warcraft’s latest expansion out there lately. The blogosphere by and large turned its full attention to the MMO event of the month and coughed up all sorts of thoughts on Battle for Azeroth.
We’ve got a lot to get through, so let’s get started with a full survey of these, shall we?
Barely Readable Diary: Starting out in Tiragarde Sound
“So far though, I’m really impressed. The quests are fun (apart from Show Me What You’ve Got, which is terrible, and whoever implemented it should feel bad), the environments look gorgeous, I got this awesome tricorn hat, and Boralus is rapidly becoming one of my favourite cities.”
Gnomecore: Leveling slow and steady
“The key goal today is thorough exploration — I need to shove my nose in every corner. Not only to get the achievements you’ll need for Pathfinder, but also make the alt leveling a lot easier. I’m looking for shortcuts, rares, treasures, side questlines — everything of interest. I’m not in a rush at all. I stop for fishing, for examining the house interiors, talking to NPCs and stuff like that. Come on, we have two years of expansion ahead of us.”
Moonshine Mansion: Little things to love
“I already mentioned Dolly and Dot, and the adorable alpaca song, but there are so many other charming little moments in this expansion. For example, in my screen shot above, you can see Spitzy, the adorable sea slug I’ve adopted and who rides on my head. Who needs a bird when you can have an adorable sea slug friend?”
In An Age: It’s the little (big) things
“In any case, the AH being broke is sapping my will to play the expansion. I am interested in the questing experience and how this story will play out in the future, but I have zero particular drive to hit the endgame scene and run a bunch of dungeons. The fact that I am missing out on the most lucrative time in an expansion is acting as a giant wet blanket over my drive to play at all.”
Party Business: Postcards from Boralus
“I really don’t know how they do it, but I always feel as if the taverns, cities, mountain ranges in World of Warcraft seem to be realistically designed while providing a sense of epicness nonetheless. It’s truly one of the most beautifully crafted MMO worlds out there.”
Ald Shot First: There be pirates
“While running and gunning at random pirates that obviously did something wrong to incur my wrath, I kept stopping to admire the scenery. Despite the zone, or what I’ve seen so far, being very gloomy and brown, I still think it looks pretty amazing. I can’t seem to stop staring at the sky, for one. I also really like the architecture of the city and random building strewn about the countryside.”
“The darkness thing is something that caught me a bit off guard aswell. I don’t think any of the zones get as dark as the ones in Kul Tiras have been getting. I think Blizzard may have amped up the weather or, and that’s more likely, I’m noticing it more now that we are running about in zones that are more open and feel more natural than the Legion ones.”
Endgame Viable: 2.5 hours into Battle for Azeroth
“I love the cut scenes. They look so much like Disney animations that it makes me wonder if they’re trying to get Disney interested in buying Activision Blizzard. That headline down the road would not surprise me in the least.”
“Tiragarde is about the politics of the factions on the island, plus some whimsy with pirates. It’s enjoyable, even if I rolled my eyes hard when Blizzard obsession with poop jokes showed up.”
Azerothian Life: First impressions
“I wanted to ensure I had maximum game time on Tuesday night and I had jokingly said to Moryrt (hubby) I wanted him to have the lights set to red (For the Horde!! of course) and the World of Warcraft theme song playing as I entered the house. I kid you not. He pulled it off.”
The Ancient Gaming Noob: Arriving in Kul Tiras
“At this point I want to stop for a moment and praise the new areas. While I have adopted a flippant tone, I do have to say that walking about Boralus Harbor really impressed me. It is a beautiful, detailed zone that feels like part of Azeroth yet not a place I have been before. It certainly isn’t another trip back to Dalaran.”
The Parent Trope: Battle for Azeroth first impressions
“Boralus has a sea port vibe, and there’s a lot of stairs and levels. Because the minimap doesn’t tell you what level a quest item is on, we kept getting lost. Much of our hour and a half was spent wandering around Boralus like lost puppies trying to find quest-relatded NPCs. Fiancé has a moderately decent sense of direction, If we can’t fly, can we at least have a flat capitol city?”
I Has PC: Slow clap or not so fast?
“Love the new storytelling format, and curious if they keep it up throughout the expansion (yay!). First piece of new Azerite armor is a reskin from a piece you get on Argus (boo).
Difficulty is fine based on where my gear is at (yay!). I am a bit lost, new areas and a bit uncomfortable after so long of knowing everything (yay! new is good!).”
Every day there are tons of terrific, insightful, and unusual articles posted across the MMO gaming blogosphere — and every day, Justin reads as many as he can. Global Chat is a sampling of noteworthy essays, rants, and guides from the past few weeks of MMO discourse.
