Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBlizzard comments on Outland and Northrend leveling in Cataclysm
by Mathew McCurley 
Mar 31st 2011 at 8:00PM
Naethera -- 1-60 AWESOME leveling but...
Quote:
I have been leveling this warlock past few days and the new quests are more than superb, I have been enjoying leveling like crazy. I started in the human zone and right now Im in Redridge, the story is incredible and fun. This is the first time I level without even noticing which level I am and without even looking to my exp bar.
My point is that, sadly, the fun ends at 60 and a horrible tedious journey starts, especially from 70 - 80, it is a boring nightmare.
Blizzard, is there a way you could make leveling from 60 - 80 as fun as the "new" leveling? Or anyone know if there are plans to do this?
I have heard that 80 - 85 is also very fun, but I dont know because I havent reached there yet.
I have been leveling this warlock past few days and the new quests are more than superb, I have been enjoying leveling like crazy. I started in the human zone and right now Im in Redridge, the story is incredible and fun. This is the first time I level without even noticing which level I am and without even looking to my exp bar.
My point is that, sadly, the fun ends at 60 and a horrible tedious journey starts, especially from 70 - 80, it is a boring nightmare.
Blizzard, is there a way you could make leveling from 60 - 80 as fun as the "new" leveling? Or anyone know if there are plans to do this?
I have heard that 80 - 85 is also very fun, but I dont know because I havent reached there yet.
We know that for many who have gone through Outland and Northrend before, it may not be as fun as the first or second or even third time you've gone through it. We understand but also believe that in general, the quest flow is much better than what was available in original World of Warcraft. Between that and the increased rate of experience gain, you should be able to go through these areas relatively quickly. Would we like to update Outland at some point in time? Sure. It's a possibility. But it's not on our immediate radar. There's still a lot more to be done in World of Warcraft.
Naethera -- 1-60 AWESOME leveling but...
Quote:
MId game is broken. Blizzard know but they happen to care more about doing nothing that actually working on something players are requesting.. sad blizz.. very sad
MId game is broken. Blizzard know but they happen to care more about doing nothing that actually working on something players are requesting.. sad blizz.. very sad
Broken implies that it doesn't work at all. This word is thrown around quite a bit, but just because something doesn't work how you feel it should, does not mean it's broken.
We definitely aren't doing "nothing" since we are currently focused on getting patch 4.1 worked on and moving on from there to more Cataclysm content.
We do appreciate those who have given constructive feedback on their feelings on leveling from 60-80 and as I mentioned earlier, we do have accelerated experience gains for these levels. As someone else mentioned earlier in the thread, getting flight early on also helps with getting around these areas and completing quests in a more efficient way if that's what you're looking for.
To make any other changes to the way the leveling zones and quests work within Outland or Northrend would take a significant amount of additional development time and isn't a simple undertaking as many have seen with Cataclysm and the changes brought about with it. If and when we feel the need is there to revisit the content in Outland and Northrend we will (again as we've exhibited in our willingness to address "old" content with the changes to Azeroth itself), but now is not the time for that.
While I agree that the Outlands and Northrend leveling experiences are less engaging at the moment versus the absolutely amazing Cataclysm content, it is mostly because Outland suffers from second-child syndrome and Northrend is still too fresh in my mind. The content is hardly broken, however. Nethaera is right about development time -- look at how long and hard Blizzard had to work on the original world to get it up to snuff.
I recently completed Outland and Northrend on an alt and did not spend much time, really, in either place. The increased experience gains and relatively easier time due to heirloom items made leveling a breeze and only required completion of three zones in Outland and four in Northrend. Any content is going to seem dated and repetitive if you just ran that content. Maybe this is the double-edged nature of the amazing leveling sword -- such compelling content engages the player so well that they speed through it, and 1-60 doesn't last as long as it should.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 6)
SamLowry Apr 1st 2011 12:28AM
Can't remember how many times people have said "Just stick Chromie in front of the portal to the Outlands and the ship to Northrend, telling you that you're about to go back in time. Problem solved."
Amanda A. Apr 1st 2011 10:29AM
@Avan-- You can start Zangarmarsh at 60. On my last character, I popped into Hellfire and did about a dozen quests for the first upgrades, then bought AH greens to replace my worst remaining gear, then dungeoned and PVPd to 60, then headed to Zangarmarsh.
You can also stay in old world until 60, but then you miss the huge gear upgrade from the first few HFP quests.
Pyromelter Mar 31st 2011 8:12PM
Am I the only one that kind of enjoyed Outland and Northrend? I went through there 6 times, and the last time was with a freshly made tauren paladin, and never had a problem. There were never any of the old quests that took you from ashenvale to sunken temple, or the old horde totem quests. The stories in outland and northrend are interesting, at least the first time through, and color me a fanboy, but seeing Maiev in her prison in SMV brought back some memories. Both Shattrath and Dalaran are still great neutral cities.
I really think this is just the player base getting restless with having done the same content a billion times, not the specific quality of the quests. Yes, 1-60 cata leveling has some awesome moments (Silverpine, hillsbrad, punching deathwing in the face, new starter zones), but there is also a lot of epic lore going on in outland and northrend too.
I also like the gameplay being more of a sandbox as to being on rails.
The only mistake blizzard made, in my humble opinion, was removing the portals from dalaran and shattrath. I know I'm not the only person who is still burned up about that.
Blooderfly Mar 31st 2011 8:19PM
I agree with you, I have more alts than I'd care to admit and every time I level one I actually look forward very much to getting to Outland and Northrend.
To each his own, I guess. :)
Sunaseni Mar 31st 2011 8:22PM
Outland was more of Vanilla 2: Electric Boogaloo, which is understandable being the first expansion and all. Northrend's like that with a few quests, but gets considerably more badass during the last few parts within the Storm Peaks and Icecrown (e.g. the zones every one of those guys skip). The Drakkensyrd is still one of the most badass quests in the entire game.
raposo02790 Mar 31st 2011 8:51PM
"The only mistake blizzard made, in my humble opinion, was removing the portals from dalaran and shattrath. I know I'm not the only person who is still burned up about that."
I wish they would at least put a portal in Shat and dalaran to Stormwind, and oggrimar respectively. Dalaran is a major time sink to get to (and to leave to head back to SW). I remember making it to 80 in dalaran a few weeks ago and having to fly all the way back to the boats. Its a minor annoyance.... but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the game.
Kylenne Mar 31st 2011 8:58PM
In terms of questing I like Outland for the most part with the exception of Hellfire Peninusula. I much prefer the open wide sandbox to the tedious on-rails approach in Cata that has zero replay value. But most people who hate Outland really aren't talking about alt fatigue, at least from what I've seen. Speaking for myself, Outland gets on my nerves because the story sucked for the most part the first time around with a few exceptions (namely Nagrand), and now it's dated and even more nonsensical to add insult to injury. Especially as a diehard WC3 fan, every time I go through OL on another toon post-WotLK it's like rubbing salt in the wound for what could have been. I felt Arthas' story was treated heads and away better in WotLK, and it stings because he wasn't even my favorite character from WC3. I'm still livid about Vashj's silly, ignoble end, and I've nerdraged enough on here about Kael and Illidan.
The last toon I took through OL, I got the fuck out of HFP as soon as I could and I made it a point to try and quest in some of the more neglected areas I haven't leveled in since BC was current content. It meant I was basically "skimming" zones, but it did keep things a bit fresher. Shadowmoon Valley in particular has some amazingly cool questlines that no one ever sees anymore unless they're going for Loremaster. tl;dr: I'm nostalgic for BC in some ways and still mad with it in others, but regardless, the content feels dated now in a way that vanilla didn't seem to before the revamp.
DarkWalker Mar 31st 2011 9:42PM
I actually liked Outlands and Nortrend better than the new Cataclysm zones.
Cataclysm is too linear, everything is on rails. For an altholic like me, that is a very bad thing indeed; everything gets too old, too fast, and there isn't even any option to skip quests we didn't like.
Besides, never before had the leveling experience made me feel so much like a sidekick, instead of a hero. Specially Uldum. I felt more like Harrison Jones' assistant than a hero.
Craig Mar 31st 2011 9:43PM
Completely unrelated to revamping territories...but I would agree and ask how would a portal from shattrath and dalaran to stormwind and ogrimmar hurt gameplay and environment experience. Those cities take you to cata zones and by boat/zep/train/gryphon to other faction cities...I try to do everything I can in outland or northrend without returning to shat/dal/sw...I stay in inns more but I sometimes feel it inhibits my gameplay experience when I avoid training skills simply because id rather maximize my time while leveling not traveling to and fro.
But portals are gone and I probably have a friend whose a mage somewhere.
Nivella Mar 31st 2011 9:59PM
@Craig
You don't though. All profesion trainers are where you expect them (and archeology was added in) and the class trainers are there too where the portals used to be. In shat there are AH's in both banks and in dala the engineering only AH can now be used by all.
Leaving is still a pain, but you have less reason to leave these days.
skyviannes Mar 31st 2011 11:05PM
I couldn't agree more with this. I started playing in BC and loved it. I love every time I get to level through that content again and relive all of the old epicness. I'm sure at some point they'll revamp it to bring it in line with current events but I'll always miss the classic burning crusade. Northrend never had that feeling of awe for me, and while cataclysm is awesome BC is home.
Lemons Mar 31st 2011 11:47PM
@DarkWalker
That's kind of the point of Harrison Jones. You're always the hero, but for once your somebody's sidekick. I don't know why everyone is hating on it so much I thought it was kind of funny.
If anything the rest of the zones/quests give you a mega dose of heroism. In Cataclysm I've rebuilt the world pillar, united the wildhammer clans, helped a super group consisting of Cenarious, Malfurion, and Hammul take down Ragnaros. Oh, and Thrall is calling upon me for help despite my multiple attempts on his life (some of which were successful). So I think cataclysm has built up our characters enough that we can afford one questline where we play second fiddle.
Nato Apr 1st 2011 5:47PM
I find myself hitting the BG's really hard when I get into Outland content. In combination with questing and the occasional dungeon, it seems to go really fast.I still really like northrend, and the dungeons are still as quick as ever. Give your toon a week to build up a bunch of rested experience, and northrend will fly by!
Blooderfly Mar 31st 2011 8:16PM
I remember reading another blue post about this. They mentioned pretty much the same thing, that the questflow really isn't that bad in these places, but that the -timeline- is something Blizz would like to fix. They don't like that you seem to be thrown into the past when you step into Outland and Northrend.
While I agree that updating those places shouldn't be a priority for Blizz ATM, I can't wait to see what the have planned to make them 'present'. :D
Nivella Mar 31st 2011 8:20PM
Until those zones are refreshed, your best bet at a pve experience (assuming you aren't chaining bgs) is questing in conjunction with the dungeon finder. If you are leveling a healer or tank, now is a good time to get some preliminary experience at it in instances you may be more familiar with (especially the WotLK ones) before you hit the harder content in the higher zones.
jfofla Mar 31st 2011 8:26PM
The same players that call Outland broken call ZG and ZA re-hashed content.
Blizzard should ignore this.
No matter what they do WOW players will whine, so don't put effort into redoing a perfectly good zone.
The Hammer Mar 31st 2011 8:51PM
Are you sure about this? How could you possibly know? Because apparently I'm an exception.
N-train Mar 31st 2011 9:07PM
Those are also the same people complaining that they're burnt out 3 months in because there's not enough level 85 content in Cata.
-New endgame (85) content.
-Revamped Outlands/Northrend.
-A reasonable wait between content patches/expansions
Pick two, you can't have all three.
B1ue Mar 31st 2011 10:28PM
@N-Train
Well, I'm certainly one feeling slightly burnt out by the 80-85 experience. For me, it's mostly because of how bloody linear all the new zones are. It's not just the same zones I have to do each time, it's the same exact quests. And I like quests!
So, I mostly focusing more on end-game content that is really my want. I always enjoyed leveling more, and had more 80s than I care to admit, but now I'm spending a lot more time grinding heroics and fleshing out my gear sets, because I cannot bring myself to send another alt through Hyjal. I just can't do it.
Utakata Apr 1st 2011 2:41AM
Yeah...my Warlock just hit Outlands, and wow what amazing zones those are. After going threw revamped stagnant compartmentalized 1 to 60 zones, Outlands seems like a breath of fresh air. Neuter some of the elite named bosses out their, and we got what 1 to 60 should of been. :)