Warlords of Draenor (p1)

So, putting aside the issues of time travel and alternate worlds I already addressed, there's still a fair bit to say about Warlords of Draenor.

Mechanically, just about everything is good.

There are a few things I have mixed feelings on. I still miss my wing effect in Protection spec, but that's sentiment over function. I want to be able to fly over this expanse of Draenor, and the removal of flight seems particularly ironic when it was Outland that introduced it. I see the tonal benefits - it really does make the world feel larger and helps guide flow of exploration and questing, but I miss the freedom. And as much as I love the new bank tab for reagents, I'm stunned at how quickly it's been filling up with stuff, including different "sizes" of each type of fish and the ridiculously large stacks of ore that need to go into making items. Also, the use of some almost-jumping-puzzles points out how WoW's physics and movement system does not offer the same control for such things that other games do.

But it all looks and moves well. I greatly prefer the subtle glow added to interactable objects to the old sparklies, and I like how it's been added to quest NPCs. I like the way WoD builds upon the rares and treasures that started in MoP, giving some reason to explore out of the way locales and offering neat little challenges and rewards here and there. Phasing may still have some issues, but I think it's used here as well as it's ever been, and it works pretty cleanly most of the time. Garrison buildings and outposts offer some choices that have some functional/mechanical meaning, which is interesting (and I like staying mounted in combat). I think there's more voice work than previous, though still a lot of quest text. Especially early on, there are a lot of cinematic scenes, and actual cut scenes are used well for the most part.

The garrison offers a nice, interesting addition to the game. Arguably this expansion may be leaning a little too heavily on it, but it's still enjoyable to have some choices in the setup and to collect followers, then send them on missions for rewards and XP. As was pointed out to me, the missions are sort of like the war table in Dragon Age: Inquisition - but it's more detailed and there's more depth to it than most of those missions. It can be a bit time consuming itself, and it has the feel of a mobile game in some ways (between the assignments and work orders and how they take X amount of time), but I greatly enjoy it.

I hear some people dislike that (at least for the Alliance) Yrel seems to take the spotlight in the major scenes more than the PCs. Personally, that doesn't bother me the way Trahearne did in GW2, perhaps simply because WoD wasn't pitched to me as a "personal story." I wish my character could at least make more of an appearance in the background in a couple scenes, but the use of pre-rendered cinematics sort of precludes that. So while that doesn't bug me, there are a few things about the story that do. The previously mentioned timey-wimey stuff for one. Also, it feels a little bit too fan-servicey for my taste, as it seems like everyone and their brother has (for some reason) come to this alternate Draenor to put in an appearance. In fairness, I haven't seen Wrynn and the bigwigs floating around yet, but we have all sorts of secondary characters ranging from an Alliance admiral to a trading caravan from the Plaguelands to the remote image of a mage all make reappearances, often as recruitable followers. It's just a little overdone for my taste, making me question "surely some of these people had plenty to do back in Azeroth?"

Of course, if you like the WoW fan service, that's only a plus. And even as a negative, the game is still solid and enjoyable otherwise. At least so far. ;)