Breakfast Topic: Will you miss the Old World?
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Aug 27th 2009 at 8:00AM
So when I first heard about the Cataclysm, I actually sort of figured Blizzard would use a sort of phasing system on the old world: You'd start in the current old world, and at some point, you'd do a quest series that would phase you into the new, Deathwinged Azeroth similar to the way one progresses into Icecrown in Northrend. However, the word has come down: When Azeroth burns, it'll be changed for good. There's no going back. Even those who don't buy the expansion will still find themselves in Deathwing's new world.While we're told some zones will remain relatively unscathed, almost every zone will be touched in some way, whether it be simple storyline changes or more massive shakeups from rivers of lava or shrunken coastlines or war, or even more greenery thanks to shifting water sources.
So here's my simple question: Will you miss it? Will you be nostalgic for a desolate Desolace or the massive Barrens? Will you mourn for fallen Astranaar and Auberdine? I'm sure some things will be missed more than others, but then again, change can be good. Being able to move on to new challenges and new excitements has me pretty psyched all told. But then again, what if they get rid of Lakeshire Bridge? I have been waiting a long time to see that done. When the Cataclysm comes, what will you miss? What will you be glad to be rid of?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Lore, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
MooNinja Aug 27th 2009 8:03AM
As an Altoholic, I've gone through the old world numerous times. I think I'd miss the old world to some degree, but not nearly as much as I'd enjoy a new and revamped one. The old zones have been in desperate need of some love for a while now. I hope they don't change them into the same bland boring zones that we were subjected too in LK however.
Narshe Aug 27th 2009 8:12AM
Time to take some SS of favorite spots methinks!
http://joekey.deviantart.com/gallery/
bob Aug 27th 2009 8:47AM
I loved the old world the first few times and will have fond memories of it but not even a full set of heirlooms could get me to level another alt through it at this point. I think they should have done changes like this from the beginning; change Azeroth a bit with each expansion. Outland is going to feel like even more of a road bump now though, which sucks because it would have made a cool place to do a final expansion where we utterly destroy the legion and blow up what is left of it in the process. Oh well.
Gerik Aug 27th 2009 9:18AM
Northrend has had the best outdoor zones yet. How could you call them boring?
johnthediver Aug 27th 2009 11:31AM
Bland and boring zones in Lich King? Really? I thought they were beautiful and fun (except ice crown, I hate that place). There was nothing better than landing in the Fjord, ans seeing the green lush zone with giant cliffs and the quests were well done, with story, challange and they moved you through the zone nicely as you leveled. I admin the Borean Tundra was a little "bland"...but it is TUNDRA! Again here though the quests were paced nicely and fun with lots of new things. Moving on th dragonblight, Grizzly Hills (Although this place looks a little like "Disney's California Adventures" to me) Sholzar Basin...all great and pretty zones.
Skraps
http://www.sham-wows.blogspot.com
Sehvekah Aug 27th 2009 4:07PM
Though not an altoholic, I can still agree wholehartedly with this. I mean, I loved the old world the first couple times through(especially Un'goro Crater. Quite possibly my all time faveorite zone ever), there's only so many times one can do those quests(especially the ones that send you back and forth between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, or the ones that send you on a 12 miniute flight path on one continent).
Being able to bring back that sense of wonder while exploring the old world will make it worth bringing a couple more alts through that journey, as well as making it that much more satasfying when my main helps take down Deathwing in the 4.3 raid.
Something though, that I will NEVER miss: "This mount can only be summoned in Outland or Northrend." As soon as Cataclysim hits, my Turbo-Charged Flying Machine will likely be the only mount I ever use.
Mr. Tastix Aug 27th 2009 4:37PM
/agree
And now I can fly and gank people in level 1-10 zones! MUAHAHAHA! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR WRATH NEWBIE PLAYERS AND/OR ALTOHOLICS. YOU END HAS COME.
Oh wait... I'm a PVE realm. GODDAMIT.
riverhuerta Sep 2nd 2009 9:54PM
i will miss the old world but it depends on the new changes. Will these changes have different monsters in differrent places? Will there be different quests to go along with th these new climates?
WoWie Zowie Aug 27th 2009 8:03AM
i will not miss it
i suspect blizz took a good look at all the zones and collectively said "noone thinks these are fun, lets change them"
and the only way to magically change everything about a zone is to make up some huge occurrence that fixes all the problems.
jrb Aug 27th 2009 8:52AM
i'll add my own ultra-high res panorama gallery. e.g. dalaran, which no longer exists. Click the download button if you want the full res shots. - http://picasaweb.google.com/jethrobrewin/WorldOfWarcraftPanoramas#
but back on topic, i think i'll miss the opportunity to potentially do some of the cooler quests that may get removed out of the game. Or visit and quest in some of the zones that people usually gloss over when they're power levelling.
What are the impacts on olde worlde quest-based achievements also, will it be advisable to get these done before the expansion?
Dracula Jones Aug 27th 2009 9:51AM
jrb, those are some really cool shots. How did you get panorama screens... composites?
Todd Aug 27th 2009 10:07AM
Westfall needs to burn. Seriously, that zone is quite depressing. Since Deadmines will become a heroic instance, I suspect some foul mischief will occur in the zone. Burn Westfall... burn.
Tebla Aug 27th 2009 1:07PM
I rushed to 80 on, what is now, my main. I missed a bunch of the old world stuff and I am taking the time to do Loremaster now, while the quest lines are still the same. Now, they probably won't remove the Loremaster achievement, but will they remove things like http://www.wowwiki.com/The_Scepter_of_the_Shifting_Sands_quest_chain? Surely, that whole quest line will be changed. And I want my Recipe: Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops.
I am wondering how things like Hydraxion Waterlords and Brood of Nozdormu rep will be changed.
I think it is a good idea to get as much in as I can. I can see how people that played the game before any expansions and spent a lot of time raiding or raising alts would be bored of it. I started late, fell in love with the game quick and feel like I missed out on a part of the game. I did. I want to make sure I can experience as much as I can before it is changed forever.
so @ jrb, maybe take the time now, is all I am saying :)
jrb Aug 27th 2009 8:46PM
@dracula jones - a lot of these were made back in 2005/2006 with old non-free non-automatic panorama stitching tools. Very time consuming. Thankfully, there's some great free / open source ones out there now that can do as good or better jobs. For ease of use, i suggest (if you're using windows) microsoft ICE (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ice.html)- simply drag the images in, it does the rest! Although if you've configured wow to dump TGA screenshots you'll have to convert first. Here's a panoram created from 73 screenshots of UK. stitched 100% automatically using ICE. http://picasaweb.google.com/jethrobrewin/WorldOfWarcraftPanoramas#5374808618729179778
@tebla - yeah, i think you're right i'll have a crack at going for loremaster after i've hit 80. If only because on my current alt (currently lvl71 after 2.5 weeks), the highest lvl horde char i've had, i used refer a friend, and missed most zones out, and thusly a lot of horde-centric content that i've never seen.
Eamara Aug 27th 2009 8:06AM
I won't miss it. It gets pretty painful levelling through the old world for the 5th or 6th time, and I've been wanting some new alts at max level. Hopefully with these changes I'll get those alts!
Rhabella Aug 27th 2009 9:47AM
I have to agree with you. With multiple alts, I find it frustrating to make a dwarf then get over to Azuremyst right away because the leveling dynamic is so much better in the TBC starting zones than vanilla wow’s.
The other thing is after your second or 3rd alt, you find a rhythm to leveling and know where you need to be and what quest you should be working on almost down to the bar of a level. Rarely do I even see the old world outside of the very specific areas I go to quest because it’s so choppy and broken that the story doesn’t make up for the grind of leveling.
I will miss the idea of the old world because it will be different than when I first installed wow, but cleaning up the content will very much be appreciated.
Itanius Aug 27th 2009 8:06AM
I will miss it, but I welcome the changes with open arms. Change is good.
Aedilhild Aug 27th 2009 9:09AM
Agreed. Nostalgia is for silent indulgence, not MMO design policies.
Assuming that the soundtrack will be newly arranged (if not newly composed) for Cataclysm, I only ask for a retail collection of Old World zone themes. Quite a few memories are wrapped up in that music.
veil Aug 27th 2009 9:33AM
i'll get nostalgic for teldrassil, ashenvale, auberdine, and the like, since that was my absolute first experience on launch day. other than that tho, the idea of half-recognizing locales after they've changed is an equally cool prospective. in a way like the first time you walked into a hunter's hall and went "oh dur...i built these in wc3."
there is however, only one wish i wanted to make for cataclysm. you're sent to the archdruid fandral for that quest that sends you out into the world and...oh noes, a giant mountain crashed down onto the exact spot he was standing, leaving only a quivering pile of bloody jello. that would be swell.
Jorges Aug 27th 2009 10:42AM
Agree.
I have to admit that when I saw Auberdine in ruins and parts of Ashenvale destroyed, I went "omg..." with a nostalgic/sad mix of feelings... but when I saw the new areas and the "why" to all of this, I felt exited about the idea.
Being in the new Azeroth and telling stories to my newbie friends about how this or that place used to be, will be fun!