Level restrictions on the Dark Portal
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 13th 2007 at 10:35AM
Here's an interesting tidbit that may or may not mean much at all. A player asks on the forums how to report someone under level 58 in Outlands, since there is a level restriction on the Dark Portal that means you have to be level 58 before you pass through it. Of course, other players respond (correctly) that it's not against the ToS to be in Outlands before level 58-- you are free to be summoned there whenever you want.Drysc then shows up in the thread and affirms that Blizzard isn't worried about lower levels being in Outland, and then says the reason for this was to keep lowbies from rushing the new content during the Burning Crusade launch (as happened on many servers during the AQ gate opening. A player then asks the kicker: since the launch is long over, and any lowbies are welcome to explore their curiosity at any time (for the price of a simple summon), when will the level restriction on the Dark Portal be lifted? Drysc, caught speechless (at least, in my imagination he is), says simply, "I'm not sure."
So it's conceivable that Blizzard could, at some point, lift the level 58 restriction on going to Outland. The only problem is: who cares? While there are a few level 58-60 mobs in Hellfire Peninsula, anyone lower than that is going to get mauled everywhere else. I suppose that with an escort, lowbies might want to go out there to work on their profession skills, but for most skills, 300-375 require at least level 50. I'm not sure if First Aid has the same restrictions-- I guess that players might be able to go to Outland, get the First Aid books, and then go into sub-58 battlegrounds with better bandages than others at that level. And setting your hearth to Shat early doesn't hurt-- it gives you access to every big city in the game. Are there any reasons at all lowbies might want to get into Outland early?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tricks, Odds and ends, Blizzard, The Burning Crusade
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ragbar Mar 13th 2007 10:48AM
My main before TBC was my mage, I took my priest to 60 right before TBC's release and level'd him to 70.
Setting your hearth in Shattrath is PRICELESS. I think the thing I missed the most with my priest is that I couldn't teleport, man that was a nightmare! Hearthing in Shattrath at least made that a bit easier :)
Cromweld Mar 13th 2007 10:50AM
Well I don't know if its going to be the new rage or not, but my wife ran a 1st level naked gnome from the starting area to the DP just to see if it was possible...although she was level 2 by the time she got there just from discovery XP.
Wewtasm Mar 13th 2007 10:50AM
Being a level 29 Draenei Shaman that's been in the Outlands once, I have to say it was one of the coolest places I've ever been. There were so many Horde going "WTF!?" and watching me run around with my Mage escort that it made me strike a pose in all of my attention-whoringness. On the flip side, I couldn't kill any mobs, and I constantly got ganked by a female Troll Mage that would evoke the wrath of my escort and get owned, but the loot was phat and the scenery was awesome. The coolest thing about Shatt was the whole circle of Portality. I could just be a lazy SOB and walk through any portal to get there quicker instead of flying over. So, yeah... that and the phat loot was my main inspiration of going.
Jorane Mar 13th 2007 10:51AM
Captial city access would be a big benefit, certainly. The only other reason I can see for wanting to have a lowbie in the Outlands is to have a banker/merchant alt character located in Shat to cater to higher-level characters, so that they don't have to burn a hearthstone to get back to outlands.
Baluki Mar 13th 2007 11:02AM
Yea, the only reason that I can think of for lowbies to get into Outland is Shattrath. Definitely the most useful city in the game, since you can get to any capital city in seconds from it. If I never had to wait for the zeppelin to Undercity again, I'd be very very happy.
Another reason (ok, so I guess I can come up with 2 reasons) is if a player is lvl. 55-57. I can almost always kill anything 2-3 levels above me (4-5 on my warlock), and if that's the case, then they should let those people in. Hopefully they can pick up those quests before 58 too. They could just lower the level cap on the portal to 55, and that would make just about everyone happy.
I don't really want to do the Plaguelands and Winterspring very much, and the quests in Hellfire have much better rewards and are generally more interesting.
Argent Mar 13th 2007 11:04AM
i had a guild warlock summon my (obligatory) dreanei shaman to shatrath shortly after i rolled him and then set my HS to the aldor inn.
why?
access to all 4 capital cities anytime i need them. it's like being a mage, just less squishy.
Todd Mar 13th 2007 11:12AM
I honestly feel that a restriction should be set for Outlands. There is all this extra content still in Azeroth, but what's the point of exploring and doing when you can just skip to Outlands and move on?
I don't understand why Blizzard didn't implement a strategy, such as, forcing players to be imbued with in order to even exist in Outlands... much like how someone needs to be imbued to enter BWL. Blizzard could chalk this up to lore, saying the harsh environment of Outlands requires some extra defense first.
In any case, this would require guilds or solo adventurers to undertake quests still in Azeroth in order to get safe passage to Outlands first.
This has nothing to do refusing low level players from playing in Outlands. I just think this method would force groups and individuals alike to work harder to particpate in Outlands, rather than getting a free ticket just because you got the expansion.
Faisca Mar 13th 2007 11:21AM
"This has nothing to do refusing low level players from playing in Outlands. I just think this method would force groups and individuals alike to work harder to particpate in Outlands, rather than getting a free ticket just because you got the expansion."
Um... Isn't that the point of buying the expansion? It's not a free ticket, it's a $40 ticket. Anyone who buys the expansion deserves to be able to get into Outland, period.
Prauche Mar 13th 2007 11:24AM
My buddy took his Shammy to Shattrath at his first opportunity since he has that damn astral recall. He can basically go between all the major cities 5 times in an hour (AR 15 min cooldown and HS) -- and since he can pick the closest city to where he needs to be it really decreases travel time.
Zuuler Mar 13th 2007 11:25AM
@7
Problem with that idea is how do you explain why Orcs and Draenei need to get attuned to their homeland? Especially since the Draenei left Outland most recently and would therefore already be "conditioned" to the harsh conditions in Outland.
I don't see any reason to not let lowbies into outland. If they want to be uber-ganked by pulling aggro from the entire zone just by entering it, well, that would just be funny, but thats their perogative.
The issue of old content being abandoned has been brought up before. I think bliz will do something with it eventually. Otherwise it could be considered lost revenue, as time and money had to be spent to create that content, content which is no longer attracting a large player base.
And what was mentioned before about profession lvling. Some of us who started new characters would like to lvl our profs as soon as possible to take better advantage of them. This of course could be solved by adding some master lvl trainers in Azeroth, if they don't already exist.
Flit Mar 13th 2007 11:29AM
"I honestly feel that a restriction should be set for Outlands. There is all this extra content still in Azeroth, but what's the point of exploring and doing when you can just skip to Outlands and move on?"
Yes, because before the expansion, I ran all my new chars straight to Easter Plaguelands and leveled entirely in WP and EP.
crsh Mar 13th 2007 11:31AM
Who cares? I've seen plenty of low-level toons in Shat or even in zones (not sure how long a lv33 could survive in Zangarmarsh, thank god for a limit on one's aggro radius). Sure it's cute and fun, grats you got summoned; so what, they can't do get any quests, get rewards, and unless they're being power-leveled by higher toons, they can't kill anything either.
Fur Mar 13th 2007 2:14PM
Think of old content as a product cycle lifetime.
You don't sell the same car for 20 years straight... you make new cars and sell those.
Todd Mar 13th 2007 11:34AM
"Um... Isn't that the point of buying the expansion? It's not a free ticket, it's a $40 ticket. Anyone who buys the expansion deserves to be able to get into Outland, period."
Wow, did you not read the first part of what I said. Maybe you didn't get what I was trying to say. I don't think Blizzard anticipated that everyone would skip all the old school end instances completely, jumping straight into Outlands. Even people who are in their 50's are skipping Scholomance and Stratholme when they can just simply head to Outlands.
Since an effort was made by Blizzard to expand upon the old end game content, for people who have been doing this end game content for so long, then why not make the journey harder for those who have not gotten there yet. I'm surprised Blizzard didn't do this, since we all know how much they like to make the journey take as much time as possible so they can make more money.
It's fine if you don't agree with me. You do not have to be so snide about your response.
clutch Mar 13th 2007 11:41AM
First off... what kind of douche bag would report someone for being in the outlands at a low level? Who cares? If they want to get ganked, let them go for it.
I'd really hope Blizzard doesn't even address lifting the level requirement of the portal because there are many, many more pressing issues that those cock knockers need to deal with.
Todd Mar 13th 2007 11:40AM
@Zuuler
I'd have to check the lore, to be honest. I'm not sure if the Draenei left before or after Outlands was torn asunder.
Not saying this should be put into affect, but requiring some attunement would force players to explore and visit the old end game instances prior to Outlands rather than completely skipping Scholomance and Stratholme (as examples) once hitting 50.
Mir Mar 13th 2007 11:53AM
I've kept my shaman in Shattrath for the last 25 levels, and while I sometimes miss being able to do short-distance HS jumps to save myself some running, being able to jump between continents is extremely useful and saves a lot of time in the long run. Not at all comparable to mage portals, but still kind of handy.
Gitr Mar 13th 2007 11:43AM
I would think that a lowbie (caveat: with a previous level 60+ wanting to level a newly rolled alt) would want to get out there and have a buddy kill everything he tags. The xp would be enormous, as it was for me getting out there as level 58. I ran through 58-59 solo in under 5 hours of play-time. While you wouldn't be eligible for quests yet, the xp bar would be going up in leaps and bounds.
As a GM of my new guild, I will be looking forward to doing this for anyone who wants to skip WP/EP when they get there, because I know they all have raiding 60s on other servers, as I've read all of their blogs, too.
Guernia Mar 13th 2007 11:47AM
I've seen people allude to but never specifically state: NEVER AGAIN having to run Uldaman to get to the enchanting trainer. I mean, I can understand providing an incentive to get people into what is generally regarded as the absolute worst instance in the game, but come on, that's a little extreme.
Open Season on Outlands would make every enchanters dream come true for the price of a half hour naked corpse hopping run to Shattrath. With the added bonus of the Shatt hearthstone, this is too good to not pass up.
(Of course, since a summon works just as well, the issue is moot if ou have friends of guildies who are warlocks. But on new servers this could prove to be an issue...)
Todd Mar 13th 2007 11:57AM
The only reason I can see from a Dev/IT standpoint is to avoid the "Plane of Knowledge" effect.
For people who didn't play Everquest, EQ had a zone that had capital city gates all over it called the "Plane of Knowledge" It had all of the tradeskill vendors, trainers, spell vendors, multiple banks, quest givers, and access to the bazaar (EQ's version of the auction house).
Several problems arose as the population shifted to POK:
Lag
Harrassment (Begging, etc)
Overcrowding (not being able to click on quest mobs/vendors due to hordes of people around them)
To be fair, I think the best solution would be to just
set the innkeepers not to reset anyone's HS point to Shattrath if they are under 20th level or so.