Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria 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 3 of 6)
jealouspirate Mar 31st 2011 8:33PM
Personally I like both Outland and Northrend, so I'm happy to see that they're staying put for a while.
Actually, I think I like the Northrend leveling zones a lot more than the 80-85 zones. I can't even bring myself to level a second character from 80-85, but I still love leveling through Northrend. It is a beautiful continent, the war against the Scourge was a powerful storyline, and the new races and factions we met in Northrend were much more interesting than the new Cataclysm factions (to me, anyway).
conundrum Mar 31st 2011 9:48PM
This.
When I was initially faced with leveling another of my 80's to 85 or dragging one of my lower levels through Outland and Northrend, the lower level character won, hands down. The new content was great and engaging the first time through, and wasn't even too bad in most spots the second. But eventually, when all you want to do is run in and grab an Earthern Ring tabard, I really don't want to go through the starting area breadcrumb quests. They're so engaging the first time through, but later on, do you still want to run around talking to AWOL grunts and tripping goblins before you go to Twilight Highlands? Or listening to a 5-minute safety speech about riding the zeppelin?
As engaging as the story in the new quests is, I do miss being able to skip an area I don't like and just progressing to the next quest hub like I can in Outlands and Northrend. It's a trade-off and I'd in no way call the new system inferior, just less fun for me on subsequent go-rounds.
jordan Mar 31st 2011 8:42PM
While I wouldn't mind these zones getting updated, having old instances changed around kind of makes me uneasy. Maybe they could park Bronze Dragonflight members at instance portals who refer to them as Time Rifts.
raposo02790 Mar 31st 2011 8:43PM
"Northrend is still too fresh in my mind"
you took the words right from my mouth, I don't feel its broken, I'm Just tired of it. In 2-3 years when the next expansion comes out, I'll most likely be tired of the cataclysm content, and eagerly await the new content, and the cycle continues, for right now I am just taking it slow...
Kylenne Mar 31st 2011 8:45PM
I would beg to differ about the content being broken, particularly Outlands. It all depends on how you define "broken"--the quests themselves may work from a gameplay standpoint, but story wise what else do you call the completely nonsensical time gaps that exist now, especially if you play a Draenei or a Blood Elf from level 1? Yes, Gameplay/Story Segregation, but it's jarring on a level even the Northrend stuff isn't. Blizzard's refusal to update the Draenei and Blood Elf starting zones *at bare minimum* smacked of apathy and disregard for flow. I understand that overhauling Outland was a task that was probably too big to tackle on top of revamping the old world, but would it really have killed them to at the very least brought those places up to modern times? Telling people to just handwave it is a cop out.
It'll get even worse come 4.1 when Halduron's hanging out with Vol'jin in Ghostlands, meanwhile you still have the same freaking ambassadors being shown around Silvermoon like we're still trying to woo the Horde.
Necromann Mar 31st 2011 8:47PM
I burned through Outland in 3 days on my hunter. It was mostly dungeons. I ended up with Thrallmar and Cenarian at honored. It was fun when I got instant queues as dps. The only heirloom she has is the gun.
Aaron Mar 31st 2011 8:51PM
I recently ran a priest from 1 to 85 and I do enjoy Outlands, but I wasn't looking forward to Hellfire. My gryphon touched down and being the 6th or so time through I knew right where to go, but next thing I knew my quest log was full, I was killing this, collecting that turning in massive amounts of quest and one time. I suddenly had all these choices where I wanted to go next, what I wanted to skip etc etc. It was kind of a breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong I loved the 1 to 60 journey but I felt a bit limited in the linear path I was given at times. Blizz is getting there with they way they lay out quest, but I don't think they are at that happy medium just yet.. they learn all the time from our feedback so I have no doubts they will find it. :D Cata style questing with overlapping hubs would be amazing! I do like that in some zone you can kind of choose this path or that then go back to the other later or just moved to the next zone.
Barak Mar 31st 2011 8:56PM
Matt, from henceforth you shall be called, "Matthew the Miscellaneous"
Jeff Mar 31st 2011 9:07PM
Outland and Northrend are fine. They do feel like they're a few years behind Cataclysm content but that's because, well, they are.
Still, like Naethera said, the levelling experience is LIGHTYEARS ahead of what it used to be.
colepassey Mar 31st 2011 9:34PM
I do agree with this, once my mage hit 60 a couple days ago I thought to my self "great, now I get to do this for the 6th time! :( " BUT! I think I know why it is less entertaining than 1 - 60. 1st when you level a new toon, you learn more about it and get a lot of new spells to mess with and that dies down after 60, so the fun of "learning" a new class as almost over. 2nd most people who hit 60 end up thinking that now the race starts to hit higher levels and they don't take the time to really get involved in the BC or LK content, they worry more about getting to 85. And there are other reasons as well. But sadly those who complain and talk bad on blizzard are really what is the problem. Slow down, enjoy a whole quest line and visit new dungeons, don't just worry about how many quest you have to do to hit the next level. It's all fun, if you let it be fun and get involved in to content.
Tael Mar 31st 2011 9:25PM
I could live with Outland staying the same in terms of zones and questlines, or adding/changing only minor things (like poor Arator still just hanging around in Honor Hold). But I really wish they'd do something about the gear itemization.
Northrend is fine, though.
dannyflorida Mar 31st 2011 9:28PM
My goal is not to blow through these levels. I want to enjoy the story, but it's like someone keeps fast-forwarding the story near the end of each chapter.
Leveling from one to 60 is way too fast. I always out-level a zone before I've completed the whole story there, and forget about running dungeons or battlegrounds. If I run even one dungeon every few levels, it really screws up my leveling, which is unfortunate because I'd like to experience the dungeons and battlegrounds while leveling, too.
I'm trying to enjoy this truly superb leveling experience in Cataclysm. In fact, I'm leveling various alts in both factions to enjoy as much of it as possible. But, I'm frustrated that the breadcrumb quests keep popping up luring me to the next zone way before I've finished the current story arc. Further, by the time I get to the next zone, it's not challenging because, inevitably, I'm a few levels too high for the quests.
I'm savvy enough about the game now to work around these frustrations. For new players, however, I think it's sad that many won't see the end of the remarkable story lines in each zone because they'll see a new yellow exclamation point pop up that will pull them away to the next zone or a dungeon and into another story, interrupting the story arc they were on before finishing it.
BP Apr 1st 2011 8:31AM
One way to deal with that is to pay 10g and have your exp locked . When you start getting way higher than the quests you do, lock exp, finish up, unlock and onto the new zone. It's very annoying having to go do that every so often, so if you can time it with dungeons/battlegrounds, that certainly helps. Not what you'd want I'm sure, maybe what you need though.
Craig Mar 31st 2011 9:37PM
I really don't understand the whining about outland northrend leveling...it can be updated to reflect the current timeline but leveling through those areas is really not that bad. I do enjoy the 1 thru 60 content more but I don't dread outland...I might dread northrend in parts but it is certainly bearable.
Amaxe Mar 31st 2011 9:36PM
So it's "comments on Outland and Northrend leveling" in the sense of "We don't think its a problem."
The problem is it IS tired, even if it is not broken.
Here's the problem. At the end of Wrath, we were sick of pushing through Outlands and Northrend and wanting something new.
Every character at 60 has to get the joy sucked out of WoW doing what we were sick of doing. We don't want "pretend it's in the past." We want Outland and Northrend (and the Draenei/Belf start areas) to reflect the changes.
jfofla Mar 31st 2011 9:42PM
Here is an idea. Don't do it.
Don't ask for major game resources to be spent on something you will soon be "sick" of again.
SamLowry Apr 1st 2011 12:30AM
I'm on alt #4 and already tired of leveling through Cata content.
Please, make it stop--I still have 4 more alts to go! (the other two don't count)
Elrandir Mar 31st 2011 9:45PM
I'd really prefer them spending time on new content than revamping outland and northrend which for me is just fine. Those level ranges won't keep us busy for long anyway, I'd be really touchy on how they change Northrend, I love the place and love coming back to it and hearing that awesome Dalaran music. I feel the Scourge was a much more fearsome foe than the Twilight Cult, and Icecrown has a much more epic feel for me than Twilight Highlands, although Wildhammer Dwarves make up for a lot, they're not an undead army!
Tim Mar 31st 2011 10:01PM
A simple and easy fix for now is change every zone in Outland 60-70 and every zone in Northrend 70-80 that way I can pick and choose which zones instead of having to start in Hellfire EVERY time. Its not as big a deal in Northrend but thats just a quick fox I would gladly take until a total revamp
green_jerm Mar 31st 2011 10:01PM
I think all they need is a bronze dragon in front of the portal with a quest that would imply you're going back in time to help. Lame- maybe, but at least its something, maybe even give a repeatable quest on it that the item drops from any "past" mob, so while you're leveling the two old zones you get a little bit extra something or other while doing it.