In late October I wrote a column that was an attempt at humor. In it I listed the top 10 reasons to look forward to the Warlords of Draenor expansion for World of Warcraft. Now that Warlords has been out for over a month I want to go back and take a look at how much of my humorous list actually holds up under the stress of use.
10) Improved Item Management: It’s better but I’m still struggling to make room for items I find. It’s like money. The more you make the more you spend. The more storage space you get the more junk you keep. It’s a vicious cycle.
9) Clash of Clans invaded Draenor: (AKA Garrisons) I really enjoy my garrison. Sending followers out on missions gives me motivation to log in each day. That and to mine my plot and pick my shrubs. Garrisons have also given me a reason to care about pet battles. I have to get that menagerie open so I’m stuck leveling and hunting pets to get it done and fighting trainers all throughout the old world content. It’s fun and engaging and something I wouldn’t have otherwise done. I’m a few years too old to have been part of the Pokemon generation so I missed out because I can see the allure. I’m also fishing again to try and get to 700 so I can get my old buddy Nat Paggle to come hang out in my garrison with me.
8) The Stat Squash: I’m still not excited that I have about 300k hit points but at the same time I understand if they squished it too much more that the early game would be way out of whack. This is a nice middle ground. Thank you Blizzard for at least taking a swing at the stat creep.
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7) You can turn off the character model upgrades: Why would you? The future is now man.
6) Wow orcs now look better than LoTRO orcs: I still think Shadow of Mordor’s Uruk are the winners, but then again Shadow of Mordor is my personal game of the year.
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5) The MMO Item Reset Button: It’s fun to finally be on an even level with other players after having taken a hiatus from playing wow for the past 3 years. Seeing other people in groups that I was actually higher than in iLevel was an interesting twist.
4) The New Horde Mount: It didn’t just stop there though. 6 new mounts alone from having the stables and some of them are really cool too. Some are reskins but the new ones are unique enough to make it worth your time and effort.
3) Updated group finder: I am continued to be pleased by the updated group finder. It really comes in handy when putting a group together to get your Apexis shards daily completed.
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2) A return to classic lore: Warlords of Draenor has not disappointed. From the opening moments of crossing through the dark portal and into the jungle of Tanaan. These iconic characters are what have been missing from the past two expansions. It is also the reason I’m still holding out hope that Blizzard will make a Warcraft 4 to give us a new slew of characters introduced in the RTS to covet again in the MMORPG.
1) Mists of what???
At the time I wrote this list I wasn’t aware of the fact that we would not be able to fly in Draenor. I know this is a controversial decision but it is one that I’m glad they made. Being able to fly trivializes so much of the content. Fly into the point of interest, collect objective, fly back out and avoid packs of monsters. That’s not fun. That’s not challenging. You also never really see your neighbors in the world. Sticking us back on a 2d plane helps make the world feel more populated as well. I’m not saying I’m right, I’m just saying I support he decision. Maybe after few months and everyone has covered every square inch of Draenor a million times over if they add flying back in I won’t be to upset. But there are some interesting puzzles in zones that if they did allow you to fly again would be pointless. Well that’s all for 2014. See you next year. Let me know what you think of WoD I the comments below.
Read more MMORPG.com coverage:
- Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall Review
- Gauntlet: It’s Time to Throw Down
- Destiny: Review
