Welcome back to the game, Mongo. After being out so many years, it must indeed seem like a brand new game in many ways.
This is one of the top complaints about Cataclysm, yes. All the zones are now like this. On the one hand, the scripting allows for a very tight storyline progression, and each and every zone in the game now has such a story-based quest linearity - some zones are pretty epic in scope even if they're low-level. Zones you don't want to miss include Stonetalon Mountains (especially as Horde), Redridge Mountains (Alliance), and the Blasted Lands - just imo. On the other hand, you have basically no freedom to deviate from the scripted order, quest-wise. To unlock the later quests in the zone, you have to do everything in a set order.
What you'll also find is that you will quickly outlevel zones, leaving you with a choice: do I keep playing this zone to complete the storyline of quests, even if the quests have gone grey to me and grant hardly any exp, or do I ditch this zone and move on?
You'll find little nods to old quests here and there, even if the old quest was removed. Little joke snippets to those who were there before, so to speak. For example, an NPC will start saying a line from an old quest and stop himself midway. It's cute.
This is the new norm, now. You can solo everything up to level 85. They've even gone back to the old quests in Outland / Northrend and tuned them down for solo play. The reasoning is simple - having quests that require a group is pointless if you can never find a group to do them. It's not Vanilla WoW anymore; people just want to get to max level immediately because they've seen it all before. It's a consequence of the game's age.
By the way, it's not just the starting areas that have been redone. Every single zone has been revamped in full, with much more fleshed out and coherent storylines (but very linear). Zones that were previously Alliance are now Horde, zones that were previously Horde are now Alliance, and neutral ones have also shifted back and forth. The whole game will seem familiar - and yet brand new, which was their aim. You'll keep getting surprised all the way up to Outland (level 60). Outland and Northrend weren't redone, but I don't think you've seen Northrend anyway.
Oh, last of all,
Terenas for <Lurkers> Horde, Stormrage for <Lurkers> Alliance. Both aren't PvP servers, though - not sure how important that is for you.
(02-07-2012, 10:19 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: 1. At least in the two Night Elf starting zones, it seemed like the quest lines were more scripted than before.
This is one of the top complaints about Cataclysm, yes. All the zones are now like this. On the one hand, the scripting allows for a very tight storyline progression, and each and every zone in the game now has such a story-based quest linearity - some zones are pretty epic in scope even if they're low-level. Zones you don't want to miss include Stonetalon Mountains (especially as Horde), Redridge Mountains (Alliance), and the Blasted Lands - just imo. On the other hand, you have basically no freedom to deviate from the scripted order, quest-wise. To unlock the later quests in the zone, you have to do everything in a set order.
What you'll also find is that you will quickly outlevel zones, leaving you with a choice: do I keep playing this zone to complete the storyline of quests, even if the quests have gone grey to me and grant hardly any exp, or do I ditch this zone and move on?
You'll find little nods to old quests here and there, even if the old quest was removed. Little joke snippets to those who were there before, so to speak. For example, an NPC will start saying a line from an old quest and stop himself midway. It's cute.
(02-07-2012, 10:19 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: 1. I went from level 1 to 20 and completed every quest without ever once fighting an elite mob. No quests needed any partying up of any kind to complete.
This is the new norm, now. You can solo everything up to level 85. They've even gone back to the old quests in Outland / Northrend and tuned them down for solo play. The reasoning is simple - having quests that require a group is pointless if you can never find a group to do them. It's not Vanilla WoW anymore; people just want to get to max level immediately because they've seen it all before. It's a consequence of the game's age.
By the way, it's not just the starting areas that have been redone. Every single zone has been revamped in full, with much more fleshed out and coherent storylines (but very linear). Zones that were previously Alliance are now Horde, zones that were previously Horde are now Alliance, and neutral ones have also shifted back and forth. The whole game will seem familiar - and yet brand new, which was their aim. You'll keep getting surprised all the way up to Outland (level 60). Outland and Northrend weren't redone, but I don't think you've seen Northrend anyway.
Oh, last of all,
(02-07-2012, 10:19 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: But first, before we jump into it, what server are most Lurkers on nowdays?
Terenas for <Lurkers> Horde, Stormrage for <Lurkers> Alliance. Both aren't PvP servers, though - not sure how important that is for you.
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.