Big stakes and the end of an expansion

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-28-2011 @ 2:10PM

Eric said...

I pretty much have to disagree with the article. Generally comes down to 2 things:

1: Deathwing never acted like a villain. He didn't seem to have much of an overall plan, instead just flying around burning things. There was never a sense that he had a strategy we needed to oppose, it was more just "we need to kill this guy before he blows up the world". The fact that the first three bosses are Old God forces really shoves it in our face that we spent the whole expansion taking out a Minion, albeit a rather high ranking one.

2: The biggest problem with the Spine and Madness fights is that they're just too freaking big. You can never get a sense of scale with it all.

Take Black Temple. The second boss in there is the largest monster model Blizzard had used up to that point. May still be the biggest. But the fighting arena is large enough so that you can really get a good view of just how big the guy is. You don't get that against DW. You have to rely upon being told information to know that.

Hell, Marrowgar felt bigger than Madness.

12-28-2011 @ 8:21PM

Paul said...

Regarding #1, I couldn't agree more. I know there were some bad moments involving the Lich King in Wrath, namely his appearances in Borean Tundra and Zul'Drak, but the events in Icecrown Glacier, CoT:Stratholme and Halls of Reflection really pushed him as a antagonist without forcing us to consume lore from alternative sources (novels and the RTS series).

Regarding #2, I personally think the issue is down to where our attention is. The fight isn't awful, but it is distracting from the actual 'cool' moments.

Also, the Spine? Would've been a not more interesting if there were a couple of moments during that encounter where we land somewhere else for a brief moment, could've been a random location from a selection of locations, such as Kazan and other "DW waz 'ere" zones just to remind us (or introduce those that don't alt) of the destruction he caused.

Purpose is awfully gratifying when done right. Let's hope the Old Gods and the lore leading up to them is better than the unfortunate mistakes that have occurred in Cata (which is still mostly better than almost everything pre-Wrath).

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