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The latest patch 5.4 newsDoes Cataclysm have too much potential content?
by Matthew Rossi 
Jun 4th 2011 at 6:00PM
We know that Ahn'Qiraj was a lost titan city and that the Tol'vir were assigned to it, that entities like Ossirian were once watchers like Setesh. (Setesh's model is nearly identical to the Anubisath that patrol AQ today.) It just feels like, with C'thun obviously driving Cho'gall around even after his "death," that there's room for a whole raid just dealing with the lost connections between AQ and Uldum. The lost passages of the titan research facility that the Qiraji took over? (We know from Uldaman and Ulduar that titan constructions tend to go on for miles and miles.)
And that's hardly even the top of the list of raid instances we could see. A lot of us hoped for and expected an Abyssal Maw raid of some kind. There's a lot of talk about another Caverns of Time instance or raid with Nozdorumu's return. And I can't be the only one who keeps thinking that Grim Batol has entire layers we haven't seen yet. Heck, there are whole terraces in Deepholm we visit once and never go back to, and that whole zone is massive and cries out for more.
In addition, it feels like the world around those zones has lots of stuff going on that could become instances and raids. With the upheaval in Stonetalon and the discovery of new night elf ruins just over the mountain from Nijel's Point, you could easily imagine the ghosts of the Highborne and the remains of the magical experiments needing to be dealt with. With Desolace undergoing a kind of renewal, what does that mean for the deeper titan vaults underneath what is today Maraudon? Have they been awakened as well? Since Cho'gall held a conference at Dire Maul, does that mean the Maul itself could become an active home for ogres and gronn? Cho'gall's attempt to subjugate his people's hostile overlords could end up with angry gronn lords (long time enemies of the Black Dragonflight) seizing control.
It feels like there's almost too much here to do in one expansion. Does an Azshara raid fit in Cataclysm, or should she be saved for her own? Do we want to hold off on an invasion of Gronn from Outland for a possible future where we turn our gaze back to the greater Warcraft cosmos?
Cataclysm sets the stage for the new status quo, after all. Every time I find myself nerding out over a War of the Ancients raid or a Kezan raid to deal with whatever servants of the Old Gods are under that place, I have to remind myself that it's okay to focus on the content we have. However, Cataclysm seems absolutely packed with stuff that could be brought in. I would love to see more of Kul Tiras, and frankly, the fact that we haven't had a daily quest hub put into the Ruins of Gilneas where Horde and Alliance can do quests and engage in world PVP just amazes me. I mean, we even know who we'd be fighting for and why.
Make it happen, guys.
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: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Travieso Jun 4th 2011 6:26PM
I feel like Wrath suffered the same problem. We could have easily had a troll raid in Zul'drak, a Nerubian raid under Dragonblight, or a Vrykul raid in Howling Fjord. Instead, we got ToC.
DonNochay Jun 4th 2011 7:47PM
Screw trolls and nerubians, gimme the vrykul raid anyday, though.
Marbles Jun 5th 2011 1:14AM
I always felt that could put something into one of those stone Castles in the north of Icecrown - near the Scarlet Crusade island.
I also thought that the Utgarde Pinnacle instance was intended to be up there (it is full of undead Vrykul and abominations, neither of which really that common in Howling Fjord. Utgarde Keep itself has none.
Knightsword Jun 5th 2011 10:13AM
True enough, though ToC was planned from the start, originally in Crystalsong, but they had to move it to Ice Crown due to Dalaran hogging to much of the resources for the zone.
cloudhopper013 Jun 4th 2011 6:29PM
Don't forget the fact that they hinted at taking down Zul this expansion and maybe returning to Kezan. If they go by a 1-raid basis, they better pump them out fast or there'll just be a load of "lost raid ideas" like an Ahn'Qiraj raid and a Zul'Drak raid were with wrath.
cloudhopper013 Jun 4th 2011 11:08PM
Bah, whatever that nerubian place was.* Stupid memory...
llcjay2003 Jun 5th 2011 3:07AM
Heh, Old Kingdom is what I think you are referring to. Damn that place had potential. Really a shame that it was not implemented. Hey, we got Ruby Sanctum though, right? Everyone loved that place >.>
MusedMoose Jun 4th 2011 6:31PM
Is there really such a thing as too much potential? I think it's a testament to the quality of the game that, no matter how much Blizzard does, tons of people are always looking forward to what's next. Also, I think it's a sign of good world-building that it always seems like there's questions that haven't been answered, places that haven't been explored, and so on. My one real problem with this is that there's really no chance of getting everything answered, of every interesting tidbit getting equal attention. But better to have a world full of mysteries than one where all the questions are answered so there's nothing left to seek.
Also: I agree with Tharama's above statement about recurring villains. I know it's a classic part of fantasy fiction, but WoW really could use some new blood.
Iirdan Jun 4th 2011 7:08PM
The only problem with "new blood" is that, with the exception of singular rent-a-minions, new enemies take time to build up their character and level of malice. It's really difficult to do that in a single content patch, so new enemies on a grand scale are typically reserved for expansions.
Avan Jun 4th 2011 9:27PM
@Iirdan:
I felt that Blizzard did a good job with 4.1 and the lead-in quests for ZG. We got to see what the Zandalari were up to and were given a reason to go in and kick their butts. The enemies were set-up, their methods known, and their motives... well their motives aren't really made clear, aside from the 4.1 launch trailer. There's definitely room for improvement, though.
Iirdan Jun 6th 2011 4:25PM
That's true, but keep in mind that the Zandalari had been established beforehand. They were strong enough to give us the support to defeat Hakkar and the Gurubashi before; now that they were working with the remaining Gurubashi and the Amani, they were a clear threat, and one that had always been present.
If they were to introduce some new Ogre faction in an instance just south of Orgrimmar, that would be harder to sell convincingly.
Jack Mynock Jun 4th 2011 6:41PM
Yes, there's a lot of potential content in Cataclysm, and a lot of it could have been covered with the proposed design of each new tier of raiding containing a pair of small, 6(ish) boss raids. Instead we've seen the new tier not only delayed but apparently halved.
We also get these troll dungeons which, while some of the best 5-mans we've seen (imo), kind of came out of left field storywise. 4.1 would've been a perfect palce for those Abyssal Maw 5-mans that got scrapped bc they "diluted 4.2's fire theme."
AugrumnMG Jun 4th 2011 6:41PM
I'm thinking it's possible that they're actually going to stretch this expansion out- a lot more than previous expansions. That, or they're setting up storylines that they can conclude in the fourth expansion, so that they don't run out of new content for us. Especially since I get the feeling they're going to do more with Vashj'ir. Who knows, it's possible that the Abyssal Maw dungeon that we were expecting turns into an 85-90 zone in the next expansion. I don't know about you, but I would be excited by that. And then there's the possibility of Ruined Kezan as a zone, and the fleshing out of the Ruins of Gilneas. And the updates needed for Outland and Northrend.
If the next expansion was a simple continuation of this expansion, I think it'd be a very wise idea. Otherwise, we'd be having some wierd issues with Outland and Northrend - say, jumping /forward/ in time with Outland and Northrend, then /back in time/ to Vashj'ir and the Highlands and such, then /forward/ again to whatever new content there is.
brgetann Jun 5th 2011 6:26AM
I disagree - I think they will do the opposite of stretching it out, but rather shorten it. They do love their Xpacs, becuase the generate tons of money AND give them publicity and new players in a way that regular content patches does not. I'm sure we'll see another expansion in the stores in 2012.
Throm Jun 4th 2011 6:45PM
I just noticed that about Gilneas.
Why ISN'T there a daily quest hub there? It seems like a much better place then Tol Barad.
durandal Jun 4th 2011 6:46PM
I agree, there's a whole bunch of loose ends. Possible raid bosses: Milhouse Manastorm, Magatha Grimtotem, Tyrus Blackhorn, Commander Schnottz (too evil to die only once). Perhaps Neptulon and Therazane, since we have to re-assemble Thrall from the elemental planes. And of course, we're not at all done with the Zandalari and their new prophet Zul. Thinking about it, I'm not sure if we're really going to kill Deathwing in this expansion...
Nadia Jun 4th 2011 7:03PM
Magatha went somewhere to the south of Thousand Needles with a lot of Twilight Hammer power...
Maybe she'll have something to do with any raiding or dungeons that connect or come out of Silithus/Uldum.
Ice Jun 4th 2011 8:09PM
Deahtwing raid! Battle deathwing and hes most powerful minions and officers!
Millhouse - Most evil GNOME in whole azeroth! Can your raid face the gnome of doooooom?
Magatha - Evil cow with lot of power, keeping it real yo!
Snchotzz - The most evil goblin commander - this time: time is nine nine nine nine more times the money!
With you you have crazy gnome with shrink ray, orc with motorcycle (vehicle combat) and one angry dwarf.
Yeah.. not sure will we see those as raid bosses. 5-man sure (pre-deathwing raid 5mans like ICC 5mans?)
squig_masta Jun 5th 2011 12:37AM
Schnottz dug around in a giant sandbox looking for cats to evolve his pet turkey. Gallywix sold his own people into slavery (as they fled from their homes being covered in lava, no less). On a scale from one to evil Schnottz is like a 3.school yard bully.
Arrohon Jun 4th 2011 6:49PM
I don't see why we would need a raid for Nozdormu's return. He's right there in Hyjal come 4.2. He was even mentioned as the leader of the Spoiler Flight during the last WoW Insider Show (Shut up Noz! I want to see it for myself! Have some popcorn).