World of Warcraft has been in the running for quite some time. The game has seen multiple improvements along the way, but most of these improvements created some disimprovement as well. The biggest letdown to this point was the conclusion of the main story. World of Warcraft has been building its story by releasing its 10 expansions to the game, these expansions all came with a story to tell but due to these different stories intervening with the main story, veteran players aren’t seeing an end to the main campaign. There have been too many loose ends and Blizzard wants to tackle the problem head-on before the player base turns their backs to WOW. Also, for a new player, the big chunk of story to get through without seeing all of the chapters ending, due to the fact that some of these story’s conclusions are behind a raid event, doesn’t really motivate to start at all. War Within is the first chapter of the WORLDSOUL- a saga that will straighten the path of this popular MMORPG.
If you’re a gamer, I shouldn’t have to explain the mechanics of an MMORPG. I’ll be jumping to the main features this expansion has to offer. Let’s talk about the region & story first… War Within starts where Dragonflight has ended. We are able to explore the underground of Khaz Algar, which is a large cave compartment where a mysterious magical crystal is surrounded by 3 zones: The Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall en Azj- Kahet. Just like any zone in World of Warcraft, all have their own atmosphere, landscape, fauna and flora, and natives, … Each zone has its own problems and it’s up to you to make the areas flourish again. What makes the new place stand out, is the fact that the whole cave compartment is built in 3D. In other words, to reach some of these regions you’ll have to travel vertically as well, instead of moving solely horizontally. This gives you the feeling of the cave’s scope. In the beginning, it was something to get used to but in the end, it just supplements the feeling of being in that large compartment under the ground. It definitely is a nice touch. The biggest issue is probably the difficulty to orientate certain objects in the area. You’ll quickly find the spot where the object is hidden, but you’ll have to think a lot more about how to get there.
“This battle between the Void and the Light has always been a drive…”
At the beginning of the story, you’ll be introduced to Khaz Algar at the coast of Kalimdor. There have been findings of an old civilization that only recently reached the surface. You will be tasked to go ahead and explore the environment. To get the story a little bit better, you’ll have to know some history. To say it short and brief: Due to a collision between Void and Light, Azeroth, as well as other regions, came into existence under the protection of the Titans. Azeroth in particular has received the highest protection due to the fact that the region holds a WorldSoul. This WorldSoul could bring a new Titan into existence that could play an important role in the cosmic balance within the WOW universe. The Void wants nothing more than to corrupt the region and shape it to its own will. This battle between the Void and the Light has always been a drive throughout the different expansions and this time around, Xal’atath, the Harbinger of the Void will play the main villain in this expansion in her quest to conquer Azeroth. Xal’atath will use her manipulation to use the power of the Nerubians, spider-like creatures, to do her bidding.
This expansion is only the first chapter in the WorldSoul Saga, which eventually has 3 chapters in total. You can expect a cosmic battle between the Void and the Light at the end of this saga, hopefully also answering the questions about these Titans and their use of the WorldSoul. This chapter will focus on the Earthen and the Old World as well as on the Nerubians and the influence of Xal’atath.
“You can expect lots of quests, cinematics, dialogues, … to help you through the main campaign.”
Because this story has been divided into 3 chapters, I can already tell you that not all of your questions will be answered after you completed the current main campaign. This chapter is all bout setting the foundations before anything cataclysmic will happen. The story is being told at a much slower pace and leaving some questions unanswered. The story feels mysterious and that’s one of the reasons I like the campaign better than the previous one. It’s good to see a story take its time to evolve into something bigger. It definitely helps to see a more streamlined story. Even though, it’s at a slower pace, doesn’t mean the story doesn’t have any impactful moments. Without spoiling too much, the game will quickly throw you into the battle and the chaos that is involved around it. You can expect lots of quests, cinematics, dialogues, … to help you through the main campaign.
Next to the story, the game will also feature a couple of new things to keep things fresh. Your character can level up to level 80. By doing the main quests primarily and some side quests along the way, you’ll definitely be able to get around 6-7 levels before the ending. The main story not only offers tons of XP but it also helps you to unlock all regions. When you’re done with the story, you’ll be able to do Delves, World Quests, and Events to level up your character further. You’ll be playing the end game in no time. World of Warcraft is also about the end game and gearing up alts (alternate characters) and the game offers you a way to level up these alts without too much hassle. Each alt, you progress throughout the expansion will get a bonus percentage of experience to level them much faster with a maximum of 25 percent. You will also be able to unlock any zone in the order that you personally want. By buying the expansion, you’ll also receive a level 70- boost for a character. This will also give your newly created character decent gear to survive in the new zones.
“Some Quality of Life options have been added as well.”
The game will also feature new equipment, weapons, dungeons, raids, … and a new playable race namely The Earthen. This race was forged long ago by the Titans and can be seen as living rocks. After completing the achievement Allied Races: Earthen Race, you’ll be able to use this race in the Alliance or the Horde. You can also explore Delves, which is a new instanced mini-dungeon for your own character to explore, and completing these Delves will reward you with awesome goodies. You can even set the difficulty setting. The higher the difficulty, the better the rewards.
Some Quality of Life options have been added as well. Let’s start off with the option to help the people with Arachnophobia. Blizzard has implemented an option that will transform all spiders into crabs. Dragonriding (which was introduced in Dragonflight) has been transformed into Skyriding. This allows the player to fly his mounts more realistically and dynamically. While flying, you will have to keep an eye on your VIGOR ( energy meter) to perform certain flight actions. If this new mechanic isn’t something that you like, you can always go back to the older flying mechanic which is named Steady Flight.
Blizzard wants to stimulate the players to try out different classes by making alts. With the new expansion, you’ll be able to build up RENOWN by completing quests and events. This mechanic allows the player to progress the reputation meter simultaneously with your other characters. In other words, the reputation meter for these different tribes is now shared with your alts which makes the grind for equipment and mounts a lot easier.
“Another great feature allows the player to do dungeons and raids with NPC’s.”
Warbands is also a cool feature that allows the player to form a Warband with different alt characters. This Warband will give you some benefits like an XP- boost. If you have a level 80 character in the Warband, an XP- boost of 5 percent will be applied. This stacks up with every level 80 you have in the Warband but with a maximum of 25 percent. These alts will also be able to trade directly with other alts in the Warband.
Another great feature allows the player to do dungeons and raids with NPC’s. Perfect for people with a family or very busy jobs. It does take away the “social” aspect of the game, but let’s be honest here… WOW still suffers from a toxic community sometimes and this doesn’t stimulate people to play the game.
Each character will also gain an extra talent tree, the moment they hit level 71. You will be able to choose between 2 extra specializations that will give you new active and passive abilities. This is great for people who live for the build because all of these heroes with these new extra talent trees, allow for 39 variations of the current classes and specializations. Even though you don’t like to build your talent tree, you’ll be able to select pre-selected builds. This will soften the process.
Conclusion:
It’s great to see that the developers are listening to the feedback of the community and they try to re-invent things to lease the veterans and the new players. It’s a difficult balance to make but standing still isn’t really an option. Time will tell what features will stay and what features will be improved or leave the stage.
“There is also so much to do in World of Warcraft, that it can be quite overwhelming.”
The saga marks a new beginning for World of Warcraft with lots of improvements and future promises. First of all, the story is slow but decent enough to keep you motivated as a player. It’s also obvious to play the game at a slower pace because of the fact that Blizzard wants to straighten the pat hand and fix all of these loose ends. It truly feels like they want to make a quality story to tell. The different new features are a welcoming sight, especially for players who don’t have the time to play the game constantly. Sharing reputation and items, are things that made the game too grindy to enjoy. The fact that most of the things can be shared makes you feel like you’re making progress. Also being able to dungeons with NPCs, is a great feeling as well because you can enjoy the game without the toxicity. It might take you a bit longer, but sometimes you just don’t have the right amount of time to do a dungeon this long.
There is also so much to do in World of Warcraft, that it can be quite overwhelming. The best tip I can give is to take things slow and enjoy the little things you do in-game. Even though the end game plays a big part in the WOW- universe, there isn’t really a rush to get to the finish. Explore, Quest, Experiment, Craft, … do whatever you want and just enjoy the game. For a new player, the game is definitely worth trying.
Veterans will also be pleased to see that the game stimulates you to play different characters with different builds. Also, the different dungeons and raids are of a decent difficulty legend, and some of the mechanics are well thought out. Even Veteran players will feel that spark again of playing WOW for the first time. There is so much to do and so many challenges to overcome.
Hopefully, the story will continue to flourish and Blizzard will keep up to its promises because they delivered a great launch of their new expansion. I’m interested to see what the game will involve.
