(WoW) Legion Release
So far, so smooth? I got in about an hour of play before work today. There were no login queues, and only a moderate amount of PC-bunching at quest givers. A fair bit of that latter parts is because the first real quest chain urges players toward picking up their artifact weapons and establishing their order hall, which divides players out by spec/class for the first 30-60 minutes of the expansion, including a solo scenario for part of that time. That feels bizarrely ingenius. And with a choice of four zones to start in on the main continental questing, players should remain not-totally-concentrated. Previous expansions usually funneled players into one of two zones to start. With level-scaling technology, a lot more doors are opened.
I'm not exactly thrilled that my artifact weapon as a protection paladin is a Titan Watcher's sword-and-shield combo, but there weren't any real legendary shields in the lore, so... what can ya do? It's not bad or anything. The scenario to pick it up started with a fight harder than expected until it clicked that it was a mechanics-based fight instead of a normal one.
Then there's heading to the order hall to be declared Highlord. Of the Order of the Silver Hand. ... I knew, of course, this process would involve becoming a leader among your class. Somehow, I missed that this, for paladins, would mean the reestablishment of the Silver Hand, the archtypical paladinly order that came apart pretty much back with the fall of Arthas and Stratholme. That made it a bit more touching to me than I expected. It feels a weightier mantle than "Commander" of the Draenor invasion force in the last expansion, though I don't know if that holds true for other classes.
All that's pretty good thus far, but... It also leaves me with this feeling that's been lingering since Legion was announced.
When Warlords was announced, I was not immediately sold. It sounded like a way to revisit a lot of existing lore in a way that PCs could interact with it without screwing up any timeline or anything. And... it was that, I guess? There were a lot of enjoyable small-scale stories - generally told while leveling up. I especially liked working with Reshad to help the arakkoa and helping Yrel become a paladin and leader. But as far as a larger, expasion-spanning story, it was seriously lacking. The threat of the Iron Horde felt toothless, their main assault force trounced by Azeroth's vanguard before their collective asses were kicked up and down the continent. The impact on Azeroth itself was virtually nil. The only lasting effect is a re-introduction of Gul'dan, whose story thread felt extremely awkward throughout.
On the other hand, the announcement of Legion sounded to me like the company offering up much of what players had asked for. So much. Perhaps too much. The refocusing on class fantasy has been a major talking point and theme, and I've seen a good bit of that in the first hour of play. The enemy is the Burning Legion, which is a genuine threat Azeroth hasn't seriously seen since... hmm... the end of Warcraft 3? I feel this sense of climax to the expansion, as if Legion is a finale for the game. I think Blizzard has probably indicated otherwise, that they have plans for whatever the next expansion might be, but the feel of things to me... Where can you go for enemies after getting back to the Legion? So maybe this expansion isn't a send-off for one of the greatest games of all time. It just sort of feels like it.
I'm not exactly thrilled that my artifact weapon as a protection paladin is a Titan Watcher's sword-and-shield combo, but there weren't any real legendary shields in the lore, so... what can ya do? It's not bad or anything. The scenario to pick it up started with a fight harder than expected until it clicked that it was a mechanics-based fight instead of a normal one.
Then there's heading to the order hall to be declared Highlord. Of the Order of the Silver Hand. ... I knew, of course, this process would involve becoming a leader among your class. Somehow, I missed that this, for paladins, would mean the reestablishment of the Silver Hand, the archtypical paladinly order that came apart pretty much back with the fall of Arthas and Stratholme. That made it a bit more touching to me than I expected. It feels a weightier mantle than "Commander" of the Draenor invasion force in the last expansion, though I don't know if that holds true for other classes.
All that's pretty good thus far, but... It also leaves me with this feeling that's been lingering since Legion was announced.
When Warlords was announced, I was not immediately sold. It sounded like a way to revisit a lot of existing lore in a way that PCs could interact with it without screwing up any timeline or anything. And... it was that, I guess? There were a lot of enjoyable small-scale stories - generally told while leveling up. I especially liked working with Reshad to help the arakkoa and helping Yrel become a paladin and leader. But as far as a larger, expasion-spanning story, it was seriously lacking. The threat of the Iron Horde felt toothless, their main assault force trounced by Azeroth's vanguard before their collective asses were kicked up and down the continent. The impact on Azeroth itself was virtually nil. The only lasting effect is a re-introduction of Gul'dan, whose story thread felt extremely awkward throughout.
On the other hand, the announcement of Legion sounded to me like the company offering up much of what players had asked for. So much. Perhaps too much. The refocusing on class fantasy has been a major talking point and theme, and I've seen a good bit of that in the first hour of play. The enemy is the Burning Legion, which is a genuine threat Azeroth hasn't seriously seen since... hmm... the end of Warcraft 3? I feel this sense of climax to the expansion, as if Legion is a finale for the game. I think Blizzard has probably indicated otherwise, that they have plans for whatever the next expansion might be, but the feel of things to me... Where can you go for enemies after getting back to the Legion? So maybe this expansion isn't a send-off for one of the greatest games of all time. It just sort of feels like it.
Comments
Post a Comment