Post by Olmandis on May 5, 2008 3:15:13 GMT -5
Responding to a 'howd ya like the quests' post by Dev, which Del had answered as one of the first posts, I thought I might post what I said and see how other folks felt. Lady V and I were the only folks I found to feel the same way, so I'm curious how other folks felt...cheers.
*post to the official discussions forum*
I didn't feel this was near a strong as showing as any of the other updates, to put it bluntly. I seem to disagree with the majority of folks in saying the brunt of the quests were something that really captivated me. I agree, the immersion of the place with is vast ice expanses and looming ruin and the neat glaciers and ice bridges looked nice, but the majority of the quests, no matter how well written the text was, were nothing but a wild-life grind. That's all fine and good, and I know many have been concerned about the lack of solo quests at that level, but combining the vast expanse with nothing but grinders, I totally knew I was playing a game, and that really hadn't happen to me before. Even when I first started, I recall grabbing my sheild and mace as a veteran wow player, wondering "how long before tanking becomes work and not play", being somewhat jaded by the previous title's endgame content. But after hiking out of thorin's gate and heading down the path, and off into the mountains I realized, as I looked around..."Holy ****...Im dang near lost, and I do not have enough breadcrumbs to get back home." It felt great, and I haven't looked back.
When evenim came out, the wild west feel was great, with all sorts of things, from riddles, to bounties to undead to toy with. The new stuff in trollshaws, while short, was great, I had another grand time just getting lost in the wilderness. When angmar got a revamp, the Fem quests were great, and added alot of purpose, and defending the dwarven zone from an attack was a highlight for my dwarf guardian. But now, having 10001 quests, while great for exp, has really kinda made the ambience suffer, I think. How many chains of 'kill the beast" are there? And when couples with being able to look over the entire tree-vacant scene and see all the targets linning up, I felt like Cheney hunting quail....ie, so bored by the grind, i kinda felt like shooting the parties hunter, who's main job was to stand in a feild, hitting rain of thorns and other aoe's while I sopped up the 54 beasts we needed with challenge.
However, there were some nice highlights...the retaking of territory from the gaurandain was cool, and I think Angmar could reeeeally benefit from that idea, as every time we, as the freeps, make headway, it should be constantly under assault. Th ice reave mines were neat as well, and the addition of nodes in the area there an around the hotspring really helped with the immersion, it seemed the dwarves had actually forged for themselves a place in the frozen north. Coupled with the npcs and even monsters fitting into the scene, like the lossoth using sleds to ger around, and the polar bears gathering around mammoths remains to feed made it seem vey real, rather than everything just plopping down and chilling.
However, in comparison to the areas I mentioned above, it seems to lack purpose and focus. Evendim is about making a name in a rough and tumble area, great for mid lvl, the trollshaws new area is about tracking a huuuug plot element, and having a fun time doing it, and the first part of angmar is about learning of the indigenous people and activly earning their trust as we see how they survive, live, even thrive in the blighted land. This new area seems like a very prolonged grinder with a few interesting areas and quests dotted in a mess of "you asked for more quests, so hunt everything" landscape that really never gives me a reason for being there.
I apologize if any o that seems a wee bit harsh, and I admit I haven't played through most of it, but the fact I really don't have a desire to hunt the kilpa-kilta for the 5th time speaks for itself. It was like being 10th lvl again, where I was simply put out of the way to do some menial task cause there was no logical reason for me to be here, doing anything for these folks. Meh, I'm sure I will be thankful for a mass of quests the next time I level a toon, but as for story, I just see the majority of the area lacking purpose, like I'm only completing this stuff out of obligation. Oh well, just my thoughts. Guess I'll have to see what the rest of the lands bring. Thanks for yet another round of free content, ya spoil us, truth be told.
*post to the official discussions forum*
I didn't feel this was near a strong as showing as any of the other updates, to put it bluntly. I seem to disagree with the majority of folks in saying the brunt of the quests were something that really captivated me. I agree, the immersion of the place with is vast ice expanses and looming ruin and the neat glaciers and ice bridges looked nice, but the majority of the quests, no matter how well written the text was, were nothing but a wild-life grind. That's all fine and good, and I know many have been concerned about the lack of solo quests at that level, but combining the vast expanse with nothing but grinders, I totally knew I was playing a game, and that really hadn't happen to me before. Even when I first started, I recall grabbing my sheild and mace as a veteran wow player, wondering "how long before tanking becomes work and not play", being somewhat jaded by the previous title's endgame content. But after hiking out of thorin's gate and heading down the path, and off into the mountains I realized, as I looked around..."Holy ****...Im dang near lost, and I do not have enough breadcrumbs to get back home." It felt great, and I haven't looked back.
When evenim came out, the wild west feel was great, with all sorts of things, from riddles, to bounties to undead to toy with. The new stuff in trollshaws, while short, was great, I had another grand time just getting lost in the wilderness. When angmar got a revamp, the Fem quests were great, and added alot of purpose, and defending the dwarven zone from an attack was a highlight for my dwarf guardian. But now, having 10001 quests, while great for exp, has really kinda made the ambience suffer, I think. How many chains of 'kill the beast" are there? And when couples with being able to look over the entire tree-vacant scene and see all the targets linning up, I felt like Cheney hunting quail....ie, so bored by the grind, i kinda felt like shooting the parties hunter, who's main job was to stand in a feild, hitting rain of thorns and other aoe's while I sopped up the 54 beasts we needed with challenge.
However, there were some nice highlights...the retaking of territory from the gaurandain was cool, and I think Angmar could reeeeally benefit from that idea, as every time we, as the freeps, make headway, it should be constantly under assault. Th ice reave mines were neat as well, and the addition of nodes in the area there an around the hotspring really helped with the immersion, it seemed the dwarves had actually forged for themselves a place in the frozen north. Coupled with the npcs and even monsters fitting into the scene, like the lossoth using sleds to ger around, and the polar bears gathering around mammoths remains to feed made it seem vey real, rather than everything just plopping down and chilling.
However, in comparison to the areas I mentioned above, it seems to lack purpose and focus. Evendim is about making a name in a rough and tumble area, great for mid lvl, the trollshaws new area is about tracking a huuuug plot element, and having a fun time doing it, and the first part of angmar is about learning of the indigenous people and activly earning their trust as we see how they survive, live, even thrive in the blighted land. This new area seems like a very prolonged grinder with a few interesting areas and quests dotted in a mess of "you asked for more quests, so hunt everything" landscape that really never gives me a reason for being there.
I apologize if any o that seems a wee bit harsh, and I admit I haven't played through most of it, but the fact I really don't have a desire to hunt the kilpa-kilta for the 5th time speaks for itself. It was like being 10th lvl again, where I was simply put out of the way to do some menial task cause there was no logical reason for me to be here, doing anything for these folks. Meh, I'm sure I will be thankful for a mass of quests the next time I level a toon, but as for story, I just see the majority of the area lacking purpose, like I'm only completing this stuff out of obligation. Oh well, just my thoughts. Guess I'll have to see what the rest of the lands bring. Thanks for yet another round of free content, ya spoil us, truth be told.
