by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Nov 10th 2011 at 10:00AM
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Filed under: Around Azeroth
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Love Is In the Air | 2/2 - 2/15 |
| Blackrock Foundry Normal and Heroic open | 2/3 |
| Darkmoon Faire | 2/8 - 2/15 |
| Blackrock Foundry Mythic opens | 2/10 |
| Lunar Festival | 2/16 - 3/2 |
| Blackrock Foundry LFR wing 1 opens | 2/17 |
| Blackrock Foundry LFR wing 2 opens | 2/24 |
| Darkmoon Faire | 3/1 - 3/8 |
| Blackrock Foundry LFR wing 3 opens | 3/10 |
| Blackrock Foundry LFR wing 4 opens | 3/24 |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nina Katarina Nov 10th 2011 10:34AM
I love Vash'jir, I level most of my characters through there, although now I grudgingly drag myself through Hyjal to Aessina's Miracle in order to unlock a day of Molten Front dailies and get the 365 freebies. It's infinitely better now that it's not subject to opening day instant respawn madness, and I have time to drift around and enjoy the setting and the wildlife.
I'd love to see a Plane of Water zone with similar artwork and aesthetics. People have trouble with the 3d aspect, and stuff swooping from overhead, but if you did Plane of Water you might have some handwavy explanation of why you can't get too high off of the sea floor. Hmmm - let's see. I'd probably start with a quest or two stating that Therazane can shield you from the eyes of the Old Gods so long as you remain close to her element, the earth, but the moment you push off too far from the ocean floor the Forgotten Ones will come to try to eat your face and your attempt at a stealthy approach to (whatever raid/dungeon we're going to) will fail. So while in the zone you'll get a buff "earthbound" and not be able to "fly", though your seahorse/other ocean mount will still have swift travel.
Shadowwind Nov 10th 2011 10:55AM
That would probably eliminate most of the issues people were complaining about, but in that case, why HAVE a water zone? I'm among that (apparently) 1% who absolutely loved Vash'jir, precisely *because* it was 3D. Up and down, the fact that you *could* be attacked even while you weren't standing on the ground (and while I love my flying mounts, I feel they made the game more boring. Mount up, flap over here, dismount, repeat. Bleh.), and the graphics...ohhh, the graphics! Beautiful!
jennafizz77 Nov 11th 2011 2:09AM
Interesting Post.......
John Nov 10th 2011 10:40AM
Vashjir & Harrison Jones quests in Uldum = never again.
(I do the Ramkahen quests in Uldum because those guys are cool)
Revrant Nov 10th 2011 10:55AM
Vashj'ir is one of the best zones this expansion, hands down, in my opinion.
The primary issue is that after, you know, seven or so years of making water questing one of the worst, most excruciating experiences in all of MMO-dom, the moment you drop players in water they can think only one thing until they touch dry land.
"HATEWATERHATEWATERHATEWATERHATEWATERHATEWATERHATEWATERHATEWATER"
You leave Vashj'ir and the only thing you remember is hatred! You go back again and things seem different, this is actually kind of neat.
Third time and you break the curse forever! :3
SamLowry Nov 10th 2011 10:18PM
I agree with everything you said in the middle. I absolutely hated it, and yes, it was thoroughly annoying being constantly attacked from all sides, especially from above.
But no, I never developed any love for the zone and I never, ever, want to go back.
...and I hated it so much I gave up right after finding the quartermaster. Never experienced any of the deep-sea stuff. Sorry, much better places to be, so off I go.
Revrant Nov 11th 2011 2:32AM
Alas, the sea takes many, they are Lost Souls~
Philster043 Nov 10th 2011 11:01AM
Yeah, I really wanted to love Vash'jir especially for its uniqueness, but I ended up hating it on my priest. It may be that everything just felt so crowded together and busy. I had the same problem with Deepholm (without my expectations being as high for that one).
It wasn't really until the Abyssal Depths when I could finally stop and appreciate the underwater beauty that Blizzard incorporated so well, but by then I was already ready to get the heck out of there and move on.
Gendou Nov 10th 2011 11:35AM
I hate Vashj'ir, and with the necessity of clearing half of Hyjal to do the Molten Front dailies, my choice of Cataclysm starting zones for my various alts is clear from the outset.
But I like Brannd, so I'll say the picture is cool nonetheless.
Brannd Nov 10th 2011 4:19PM
D'awwwwww, I'm feelin' the love. :)
jimjoredan Nov 10th 2011 11:39AM
It's infinitely better now that it's not subject to opening day instant respawn madness.
Tax relief Irvine, ca I feel they made the game more boring
Welldead Nov 10th 2011 11:43AM
Lovedddddddddd itttttt, my favorite place ever, and the battlemaiden quest line was epiccccccc, i was amazed when i first leveled my death knight (first 85) through there, it was awesome. and the music? Even much better! makes me think like zelda on the water temple in ocarina of time LOL! Loved it and will quest there more often :)
Tirrimas Nov 10th 2011 12:44PM
The artwork down there is literally breathtaking. I have so many screenshots of just scenery in my folder...I should start using 'em as wallpaper.
The Battlemaiden questline was, as pointed out above, EPIC. I loved that part of it.
Mahram Nov 10th 2011 1:06PM
I'm glad to see other people who love Vash as much as I do. It's hands-down my favorite zone in the game, and I was TOTALLY BUMMED to hear that Blizz won't do another zone like it.
I just love the way the whole darn zone is done. You start off on a boat and it just turns to crap immediately - you feel like you're barely hanging on down there against insurmountable odds. I love the breakup of the questing - you have so many different KINDS of quests going on that you never get bored just doing one kind of thing over-and-over. I love the fighting in 3D space, though apparently a lot of folks had an issue with that. I never did myself and if you think about it, take away the water you're basically flying around all the time.
To me, Vash is the PERFECT example of why questing and flying works together, and why I'm exceedingly disappointed that Blizzard feels the need to take flying away AGAIN in another XPack. DESIGN AROUND IT, don't take the cop-out route and take away something that greatly increases enjoyment. Vash shows that you can have GREAT questing with flying mounts in a zone that is designed around the assumption of people having them.
But I love Vash, and that's coming from someone who was completely sick and tired of Naga. The setup, the quests, the layout of the zone, the progression, the setbacks, hanging on by a nail, and in the end you hold at bay a terrible threat.
I wish all zones were as compelling and well designed as Vashj'ir
SamLowry Nov 10th 2011 10:26PM
"You start off on a boat and it just turns to crap immediately..."
Like how so? When I went there the boat stopped in the water and nothing happened. I eventually jumped into the water and swam down to the submerged ship, looking for the ? on my mini-map.
Oh, wait, you mean the Kraken attack? I heard the Horde got to experience that from the get-go, but it wasn't up and running for the Alliance until long after I'd already given up on the zone.
splodesondeath Nov 10th 2011 1:46PM
I'm with Mahram. Blizzard found the perfect way to incorporate flying mounts and questing in Vashj'ir, because they created a sufficiently huge space that you can shoot around everywhere without things feeling tiny, and they used the vertical space well enough that you weren't towering above the zone. It was brilliantly done, and if they don't like the water part, then they should incorporate it in a regular, land zone.
StClair Nov 10th 2011 2:14PM
To me, without the benefit of depth (heh) perception, that shot actually looks like it was taken a split second before the (live) shark finished its lunge-and-chomp ala "Deep Blue Sea".
Bynde Nov 10th 2011 4:49PM
I quested in Vash for just long enough for me to hate it and want to get the hell out of there. Visibility issues as well as mobility issues just plain made it torture for me. I never even made it to get the seahorse and I don't care if I ever do.
None of my alts will ever quest there, the frustration isn't worth it. Thank god I can get Azshara's Veil in tol barad and I could quest in Hyjal instead. If I was forced to only quest in Vash I honestly think I would have quit and after 4 years of playing I can't think of a single thing besides Vash that would ever make me want to quit this game I love. But, Vash just plain pissed me off and I don't need that for $15 a month.
No more water zones, blizz. This is quite enough thank you. And if you must, please give us an alternative to them.
Agony Nov 10th 2011 5:03PM
I loved...Loved...LoVeD...LOVED Vashj'ir.
Seriously, where ELSE can you QUEST as a freakin' NAGA???
The imagery was fantastic (I've always been amazed at what lurks beneath our oceans anyway, and a lot of this is based on reality), and the angler murloc was...well...okay, I didn't love EVERYTHING about this area. (And if I ever see another gilblin, I'm nuking the site from orbit, just to be sure.)
Still, a fun zone once you figure out that things are truly 3D here, definitely a complete departure from running back and forth a million times from the Southern Barrens to the Northern Barrens (remember that, all you Vanilla geeks?) and something I find myself looking forward to with alts!
Dea ex Machina Nov 10th 2011 7:08PM
I have been wishing and wishing that Blizz would put an Earthen Ring daily quest hub in Vasj'ir so that I would have an excuse to go back. Looks like that's never going to happen, and that makes me sad. I miss scuba diving. :-(