More rumblings of new Dustwallow Marsh content
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 22nd 2007 at 7:30PM
Here's a topic I almost feel like I've been talking about too much lately, but there is some good news to report. Neth confirms, once again, that Blizzard is planning on streamlining the experience from 1-58, and then adds something else: there are changes, big changes in terms of "detailed quests," being added to Dustwallow Marsh. And while we heard mention of Dustwallow Marsh before, this is the first time I've ever heard it mentioned in conjunction with 1-58 specifically. It seems like Blizzard is actually planning to bring about new content for people who haven't yet hit 60.And that is pretty exciting. So what might be going down in Dustwallow? Jaina Proudmoore is there in Theramore, and of course she's got some old ties to Arthas, so something might be happening in that vein. Onyxia has taken residence in Dustwallow (when she's not masquerading in Stormwind), and we've also heard rumblings in Outland that Deathwing may be making an appearance in either Azeroth (or Northrend) soon. And Dustwallow is also very near to Alcaz Island, which used to be where a certain missing King was previously seen ingame. Or it could be something completely new, of course, that we haven't even heard of yet.
At any rate, it's cool to hear that midlevel content is coming, even if it's in a pretty unexpected place (still no Heroic Deadmines plans?). Get ready to go back to Dustwallow Marsh.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Quests, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mainstay Aug 22nd 2007 7:36PM
Maybe they'll actually finish the missing diplomat quest thread, :o
Mats Aug 22nd 2007 7:45PM
Good going on your alliance centric view on new content.
Ken Lydell Aug 22nd 2007 7:52PM
End gamers very often have alts they are leveling through mid game. I am leveling 8 Alliance alts and am overjoyed at the promise of new mid game content. Ashzara, in particular, could use a makeover.
DrCheckmate Aug 22nd 2007 7:54PM
I'm Sorry, I've got to rant a bit.
I just got done reading the universe of whiners saying "1-58 is no fun." and the fact they want level nerfing.
Please. If anything Blizzard has made leveling TOO EASY! You go into a new area, you get 250 exp. You complete a FedEx quest, you get 2,000 exp. It took me about 12 months to level my first character on Diablo2 to 99. With WoW, it should be HARDER because there are guildies and allies helping you. Yes, quest chains need fixing, I understand that. But I dont want to see lvl 50s completing full exp quests in Arathi Highlands because all of a sudden, your quest to kill trolls suddenly nets you 15K exp, (or worse, they nerf the exp number requirements). The more experience you have, the better you should be able to play the game. Level 70 should mean something, not just "Oh boy, I bought a level guide, look what I can do!"
Anyway, I know I'm going to be taken to task for this so -- let me have it.
DrC
RogueJedi86 Aug 22nd 2007 8:01PM
I heard Alliance goes to Howling Fjord, Northrend from Theramore Isle. So maybe this Dustwallow Marsh makeover has more to do with creating pre-quests the lead to Northrend, or something similar.
Urthona Aug 22nd 2007 8:10PM
@5 Yep. Makes sense.
So then, where do Horde launch to get to the Borean Tundra?
Dave Aug 22nd 2007 8:17PM
I think the comparison to ease in leveling is between BC leveling and Azeroth leveling.
In BC, you never had to leave a single zone for quite a while, 2-3 levels sometimes. If you did, it wasn't that far, and it definitely never came to the pain in the ass kind of things that are programmed into Azeroth specifically to waste your time. Having to grab something in Booty Bay and shuttle it off to Stonetalon takes a good half an hour worth of travel. There are tons and tons of absolute time-wasting quests.
Zones aren't balanced to scale up in levels either, you're expected to either grind it out (bad) or spend a single level in as many as 5 zones to be at the appropriate level for a quest. You finish all the quests at a particular skill level in most zones, then a whole new set of quests are available... but they're all red and you have to come back later. The next zone is rarely the zone next to where you're at, since it's 10 levels higher on average, and you're lucky to get a single level out of any one zone's set of quests.
It drags out things to the point of frustration after having gone through outland that I think most people leveling alts now are just realizing. I know that I thought things were okay before, but in the attempts to get my new mage through the content I'm really really frustrated by the large amounts of back and forth between the continents I have to do.
Realistically, all the zones should be re-balanced to give a full level's worth or two of quests, and all the followup quests should follow BC-like progression and be able to be completed while you're still in the zone. The zones should logically follow each other based on proximity, so you're not spending the majority of your game time on a boat or in a flight path.
I felt so much more connected to the BC story and environment, because I spent most of my time actually adventuring in the content. Half the time in the old game, I'm sitting around waiting and wondering why it's really important for me to send something all the way across the planet for 3300xp and some leather boots I can't even use. (oh, and the other major point is that %99 of the quest reward loot in Azeroth is absolutely useless but that's another story...)
Coherent Aug 22nd 2007 8:25PM
This is probably minor retcon content to introduce plot points relevant to the upcoming movie. I'll bet Chris Metzen is in brainstorm mode and he's going to be giving Jaina some new content.
Possibly even cross-faction content involving Jaina. If she comes out as a romantic lead or even as a major supporting character, Chris will want her well-positioned in player's minds for a role closer to the spotlight. Let's face it: Jaina is seriously hot, she's good, she's powerful, and she needs to get busy with Thrall :) But for now she's available.
She's perfect to use as a female lead. So it's way past time to put some new water into Dustwallow Marsh!
RogueJedi86 Aug 22nd 2007 8:38PM
Except the Warcraft movie is a prequel to WoW. Maybe a bit of content related to the WoW Comic though?
And not sure on where Horde leaves to enter Borean Tundra. I get the impression that there will 2 ways to access Northrend from the start, 2 for each faction, one to Borean, the other to Howling Fjord. The Alliance will have the Theramore-Valgarde boat, and the Horde will have a Tirisfal-New Agamond Zeppelin(I think it goes to New Agamond, from the unused Tirisfal platform). I have a hunch that the Gnome quest hub in Borean, that has an Airstrip, may finally utilize the Ironforge Airport, since the 2 would sync up so well. But on the Horde access to Borean? I have no idea. Maybe a port at Shadowprey Village in Desolace? Or add a harbor to Grom'Grol Outpost in STV? Or a dock on the eastern coast of Durotar? Hard to guess, since most of the coastal areas of Azeroth are controlled by Alliance.
Dan Aug 22nd 2007 9:56PM
@2 - um, what?
Dustwallow has lots of content for both factions. And in the next-to-nothing Blizzard has told us about this new content, they certainly haven't indicated that it would be more for one side than the other.
I know, I know, you're trolling. And I bit.
White Rabbit Aug 22nd 2007 10:28PM
Well if your ideas are right... what about us Horde?
Are we gonna suddenly be allowed in Theramore? lol
ThorinII Aug 23rd 2007 9:49AM
@4 I don't think they need to make lvling "easier" for 1-59, just more interesting and less time wasting. Make it less complicated from a standpoint of not having to run all over the world doing those stupid "FedEx" quests and doing a few lvls in this part of the world now spend 30 minutes going somewhere else for the next few lvls in another part of the world like post #7 said. Instead of wasting my $14/mo running, flying, boating, etc... I'd like to spend it fighting, killing, collecting, exploring, etc... (this is true for me 1-70 for that matter)
Now that they have more for 59+ to do/see, ppl would like to someday get do/see it before they burn out on the game because they spend more time traveling than they do playing.
Queuetip Aug 23rd 2007 11:11AM
I think the purpose of those "Time wasting" quests were to get people exploring the other zones. If each zone netted you 6+ levels, you would get to 60 before exploring half of the world.
While you may find them boring now on your n'th alt, you have to admit it was pretty exciting when you got there for the first time. It gave people options of where to level and do quests. You could go across the world and discover a zone with another handful, then spend some time over there. It spread the population out, whereas in Outlands it was HP from 58-62, Zangarmarsh 62-64 etc.
I like the idea of finishing up some incomplete quest lines, and filling out zones with new quests. But complaining on midlevel content being boring and tedious is selfish. The new players I'm sure are more than happy with the 1-58 content. You can easily get to 58 exclusively on quests. They may be spread out in many zones, but they are there. If you don't want to do that, go run an instance. If you don't want to do that, spend money on one of those leveling sites, and get a job during that time to pay it off.
Todd Aug 23rd 2007 1:39PM
I still would like to see Blizzard finally finish some of these hanging, unfinished quests lying about (The Eranikus quest chain, for one).