New zones in old Azeroth
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 16th 2007 at 7:30PM
Dreadly of Nerz'hul asks a question that I'd like to know the answer to, also-- will we ever see new zones in Old Azeroth? I can't say I'm as concerned about this as I was a week or so ago-- the revelation that we'll finally see some new content in Dustwallow Marsh has me content (so to speak) about midlevel content for a while. But it would be interesting to know if Blizzard has any other plans to add on to old Azeroth (either by creating new zones like the Draenei and Blood Elf starting zones, or by developing existing zones like Mount Hyjal and Gilneas).
Bornakk, always the spoilsport, says what you would expect: while it would be cool, there are no plans right now. He also says, however, that Blizzard is "more excited" about working on new continents, like Outland or Northrend, at the moment. As usual, it comes down to the player base-- because Blizzard sees so many characters at 70, they're "more excited" about expanding the endgame than the midgame.
Bad? Good? We do know this: Blizzard has a history of paying attention to what their players do, not necessarily what they ask for. When Molten Core was packed with guilds every weekend, they made more 40 man raids. When Karazhan got super popular, they made Zul'Aman. And hopefully, when Dustwallow Marsh is overrun by players running alts through the middle of the game, Blizzard will finally see how badly players are scrambling for new content in the "old" game.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Syung Oct 16th 2007 7:40PM
Why don't they make another place like Tanaris? Midgame content all around the map, with a big endgame dungeon in the middle.
Urthona Oct 16th 2007 7:44PM
AAARGH
I don't WANT new "zones". There are already almost 2 dozen zones to use. Just put in a new questline or two. Some "progressive content". A daily quest. Some rare spawns. A mini-game. SOMETHING.
Give us something substantial to do in Azshara, Stonetalon, Hinterlands, Feralas, etc.
Dave Oct 16th 2007 7:55PM
I too would be happier if they'd just fix the old and busted zones rather than add new stuff. Dustwallow was one of those kinda zones that just plain didn't do much. It was okay as Horde, but pretty pointless as Alliance.
If they could just revamp a zone every patch, I think we'd have good stuff going on.
ninjasuperspy Oct 16th 2007 8:13PM
I'll have to throw my hat in with the "new zones" crowd. As much as I'd like to do something with Azshara except looking at the trees and buying my Deepdive Helmet schematic, the sooner they smooth out the blank spots in the map the sooner I can buzz Stormwind in my Gnomish Autogyro.
Not to say they couldn't just add zones in expansions and add Thorium Point/Mudsprocket type things each patch. But small steps, right?
Adam Oct 16th 2007 9:09PM
I don't mind the revamping current zones thing but as a lore buff I'd really like a lot of zones that should be there put into the game (like thge article said gilneas and mt hyjal but also places like grim batol and uldum).
Baluki Oct 16th 2007 8:43PM
I'll hop on the "refine existing content" bus. I'm pretty sure that they'll be adding a few new "old world" zones in the inevitable Maelstrom expansion, like Gilneas, Kul Tiras, the Isle of Kezan, and so on. But they should be end-game content, not mid-game.
Flambeau Oct 16th 2007 9:04PM
new zones, or letting players fly in old zones, that's the constant debate. sure either is relatively pointless, but what you have to realise is, the next expansion is gonna be the end all of the game. the only lore left to slaughter will be kil'jaeden and azshara. afetr that it's all made up junk, so sure they could add Grim Batol, and Mt Hyjal and Gilneas, but there really isn't that much they can do with it. Either make it level 80-90, or make it "mid level" there really isn't any point.
another point is what haoppens when they put a level 90 zone next to a level 26 zone. will that level 90 aggro the level 26 from enough of a distance to cause an aggro gank? or will there be a GY that is close enough that just dying and respawning will cause a level 26 to have no chance of ever ressing? then comes teh fun of having no graveyard where one is needed because of this issue (kinda like how 2.2.2 added so many) and the other thing is: deathknights start at 45-50, which means that future "hero classes" may indeed be even higher as a starting zone thus making low level zones only useful for about 10 levels. again if WoW lasts that long.
Now it is currently a stopping block in the current reason flying mounts can't be in azeroth - simply because of all the deadzones they would have to remake. so the thing is even though you want the new zones, they'll have to code the areas to be ready for flying mounts if that ever comes to be, as well as have to force them to NOT be instanced like ghostlands/Azuremyst island, otherwise there will be no way to fly over them.
again what you are asking for isn't something as simple as just creating the zones, sure thats a challenge, but the real challenge is integrating it in so that it is both flyable and accessible.
robodex Oct 16th 2007 9:56PM
Oh my god, just open hyjal already. The map is already there. Just add mobs, NPCs and questlines. Geographically, the zone is done.
dutchy Oct 16th 2007 10:50PM
adding to #7, please do something about Uldum. Right now you finish Uldaman (a feat in itself given the vast difference in levels from the start to the boss), get the discs, travel to southern tanaris, and then it all just ends fairly abruptly.
Zooey Oct 21st 2007 12:43AM
There's a major flaw in your logic... Zul'Aman was announced as a 10 man way, way, way before the launch of Burning Crusade, so it is not possible that it was a reaction to the popularity of Karazhan. The earliest lists for instances for Burning Crusade almost always included Zul'Aman (the one they *didn't* include, oddly enough, was Auchindoun). Then, when BC came out, two of the instances were missing, Black Temple and Zul'Aman, and blues told us they would come later in the year, first BT and then ZA... and that's exactly what happened.
Now, if one of the instances announced *after* BC (ie, the two in the Sunwell) were 10 mans, you'd have a point, but... they're a 5 man and a 25 man raid.
As for new stuff for Azeroth... I think that the changes to the maps in WotLK do suggest that there will be additions to Azeroth (at some point). If they ever do a Great Sea expansion, that seems the most likely time, since a lot of the missing zones (Gilneas, Kul Tiras and all the islands) seem to fit in nicely with a naval theme. Also, given their proximity to level 10-30 zones, both seem to be likely places for more new races... when we get them.
Of course, disqualifying them from WotLK presumes that we're *not* getting new races in that expansion, but it's always possible that we're being hoodwinked in that regard, and maybe new races will be revealed as a surprise at the last minute. You never know with Blizzard.
Jason Oct 16th 2007 11:06PM
There are many areas in Azeroth now that are unfinished, the airport, azshara battleground, grim batol, timbermaw hold, gilneas, the list goes on and on.
They really need to finish the old world before they start making new ones.
ladyshiva May 13th 2009 9:30PM
I'd buy an "Azeroth Expanded" game. Fix up some empty zones, actually add end game 5 mans and raids back to Azeroth other than Kara (Still dying to run Uldum here!), and patch up the landscape so we can use our flying mounts. Shesh =/ You'd think they would have fixed the world they created first, before jumping to make new ones.
Lassirra Oct 17th 2007 2:16AM
Of course Blizzard sees a lot of players checking out the end-game action! The game's been out for about 3 years now, and much of the player base has been playing for a substantial amount of time. The game's lifespan (so far) alone works in favor of there being more activity in the later-level content. In addition, the mid-levels are transient. Even the most casual player will eventually leave that content behind as they progress through the game--whether they really want to or not. That doesn't mean that mid-level content should be neglected. I do think something should be added to spice up what has truly become OLD Azeroth. While the changes to leveling speed in the upcoming 2.3 patch are nice, it doesn't fix the problem. It just makes it easier to get past it. As someone who prefers exploring and grinding over questing, I would definitely be in favor of new zones. But I do realize I'm a minority in my love for grinding and general distaste for questing, so simply adding more quests to old zones would likely please more people overall.
Bludlust Oct 17th 2007 2:08PM
Like Dave said in post #3 just do a zone every patch, could you imagine how much better Azeroth would be if the started that say after the 1st year of the game. 2 years later and midlevel content would be pretty much done and people who just started out playing the game wouldnt be quitting thinking this game sucks :)
Enaress Oct 17th 2007 3:12AM
I'm still waiting to see if they will add things like Uldum, Grim Batol, that area south of Shadowfang Keep behind the gate, etc. Stuff they forgot.
Metaphyzxx Oct 17th 2007 8:10AM
Well, on the "more people at 70" note, the main reason you see so many 70's is because that's where all the content goes. Realize, we're excited about the prospect of being able to BLOW THROUGH Vanilla WoW, beacuse all of the good content is in outland. Remember, most people don't touch Azeroth after going to Outland, save for Necessity or for Kara. Yet, look at how many people are excited about new content in Dustwallow...
I say fill in some of the more spartan zones with more quests or quest lines... Desolace, Azshara, Searing Gorge, Blasted Lands. Maybe give us a new zone with mixed level content... I'd love to see what's in Grim Batol or Gilneas.
Metaphyzxx Oct 17th 2007 8:14AM
#6. You must play a horde character, because what you're describing is the gap between Redridge Mountains (lvl 15-26) and Burning Steppes (55-60). Allies deal with that pretty darn early.
Caribbean Oct 17th 2007 9:03AM
Gilneas would be sweet. Add quests and maybe an instance in there, put it for 40-50 level characters.
ThorinII Oct 17th 2007 9:06AM
I agree. They need to finish the areas they started before creating new ones. I don't have a problem with the old zones, just the lack of original content. I wouldn't even mind the messenger quests so much if they fixed the existing zones and let us fly our own mounts to get where we need to go. Even if we had to continue taking boats between continent because of sea storms or something. Being able to fly direct routes from zone to zone would help a LOT. Heck, it might even help if they made the public flight routes more direct. Why can't those things fly in straight lines anyway???
FireStar Oct 17th 2007 9:33AM
ill do my part an immediately start levelling my low levels once 2.3. Lets flood the old content!!! Maybe i'll actually be able to get a low level group again! :)