Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
atlasobscura.com
Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
1–10 of 183 posts
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#2A nice reminder, perhaps. Not much data - more of a screenshot gallery.
Unfortunately no real documentation of things like realm population (or comparisons across multiple realms), changes over time (day of week / weekend, holidays, etc.).
Yes, "the game designers declined to comment" but I was hoping for something with a little more detail. However, that doesn't appear to be in line with the rest of the content on the site.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#3I recently reactivated my old WoW account and purchased Warlords of Draenor out of curiosity, and ended up getting my Orc Death Knight to the new level cap of 100. This article only scratches the surface on why the old worlds are abandoned.
As with most modern MMOs, the endgame begins at max level. In order to help players level faster, Blizzard added a heirlooms mechanic in the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich King) to allow low levels to have above-curve gear while leveling, with a 30% EXP boost. The third expansion (Cataclysm) revamped Azeroth, making new questing much easier and straightforward, and therefore less time is spent in the old world. The fifth expansion adds Dungeon Finder, which is a faster way to level than normal questing. So there is not much incentive to explore until you hit 90 and can go to Draenor. And then once you hit Draenor, you have access to Garrisons, which is a FarmVille-like mechanic which has the easiest financial ROI in the game, making even less of a reason to just explore period. I did not renew my subscription.
Guild Wars 2 had a great solution to this; all zones have content, which the player downscales to. Unfortunately, Tyria (the world of Guild Wars 2) is not as robust as Azeroth.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#4I got into WoW for a couple months just before the launch of the newest expansion, though I fell out of it in favor of a few other games before the expansion came out. Even if you're not into the endgame grind of the modern MMO (turns out, I really wasn't, as much as I tried to be), there's just a ton of fantastic content to explore as you level up a character. It's definitely worth picking up on sale and just maxing out a character to explore the world. I plan on getting the new expansion and leveling through Draenor next time I've got a lull in my games backlog.
There's also some great articles about unfinished content in WoW, like this one about a half-implemented zone with lots of lore around it, giving it a particular mystique: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/05/wow-archivist-the-karazha...
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#5"You landlubbers are tougher than I thought. I'll have to improvise!"
Mr Smite - Deadmines
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#6I played WoW a lot when I was in University. I find it really incredible how much nostalgia I'm feeling looking at these screenshots. I reactivate my account once a year or so just to fly around for a couple hours.
I'm glad I can still do this, but it concerns me that this generation of online-only games won't be relivable decades later like the games of my earlier childhood will always be.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#7I recently reactivated my old WoW account and purchased Warlords of Draenor out of curiosity, and ended up getting my Orc Death Knight to the new level cap of 100. This article only scratches the surface on why the old worlds are abandoned. As with most modern MMOs, the endgame begins at max level. In order to help players level faster, Blizzard added a heirlooms mechanic in the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich Ki…
Tyria is not as robust as Azeroth.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#8On a related note, WoW has plenty of private shards where you can relive old WoW content. Everquest has one too, Project1999, dedicated to the first two expansions only.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#9My WoW experience started with Vanilla. Long hours were spent but I had so much fun. Looking back, I had so much free time and no concept of getting older. MC raids were a blast and getting ganked in STV was a daily occurrence.
Today, I'm nearing my thirties and can't seem to get into the game for more than an hour at a time. I'm a very happy homeowner, married and kids are in the plans in the next few years. I have other interests now that take up my time and grinding for drops for hours on end isn't in the cards anymore.
I logged in recently and found it so different. Cataclysm was my last true experience with WoW. I played MoP, but only for a few weeks. The magic was lost for me with flying mounts and easier grinds. It's heartbreaking to a degree because I loved this game and really want to get back to it. I suppose those years are long gone, but it's fun to think about.
Re: Forgotten Corners of World of Warcraft
#10I recently reactivated my old WoW account and purchased Warlords of Draenor out of curiosity, and ended up getting my Orc Death Knight to the new level cap of 100. This article only scratches the surface on why the old worlds are abandoned. As with most modern MMOs, the endgame begins at max level. In order to help players level faster, Blizzard added a heirlooms mechanic in the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich Ki…
Apparently there is a class-specific (monk) 50% EXP boost¹ too. Also you can pay $60 for a character boost² to lvl 90.
I wind up playing for a few months each time a new expansion is released, sometimes jumping in for a month if something interesting happens. (For example, WoW will be aping Guild Wars auto-scaling in the next patch, experimenting with 'Timewalking' weekends.)
¹ http://www.wowhead.com/spell=130283/enlightenment#comments
² https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/world-of-warcraft-serv...