Days of Future Past

Near as I can gather, this expansion takes places in an alternate timeline where the orcs didn't do a kegstand with Mannoroth's blood, so there's no corruption by the Burning Legion, no Outlands-style desolation, and presumably the British won the Revolutionary War. Instead of The Horde, Garrosh forms an "Iron Horde", which presumably ends with a kitchen-themed coliseum.


Today's mystery ingredient: Murloc!


Being a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I can cheerfully ignore all manner of plot holes for the sake of entertainment. As such, I'm not going to pick at the plot threads, because I'm sure the entire cosmic sweater is held together by suspension of disbelief. So, ok...our present is being assaulted by an alternate past which we've established didn't happen and we're here because reasons. Still content is content.

The main problem I have with WoW's content is that it gets devoured at a ludicrously speedy rate. The level spread for Warlords of Draenor is 90-100. There's seven zones presumably chock full of things to do. By the time I completely cleared the first zone, Shadowmoon Valley, I was level 94 and had nearly outleveled the first dungeon before I could experience it. Finished Gorgrond at 95.5 and Talador right at 97...in a day.

Bear in mind, this is without doing much of the "optional zone content". Certain parts of the maps contain quests that are accepted by moving into them-- usually of the "kill 20 rats" variety, but they reward a decent chunk of xp and gold, apparently so people can level faster without having to, you know, enjoy the game. Yes, I know there's a large contingent of people who believe the game doesn't start until they get that last "ding", but I'd rather enjoy the ride myself. Things have definitely changed since the early days when each level was a slow, uphill climb. I slowed my rolling ball of questing hurt long enough to take on the first two dungeons, Bloodmaul Slag Mines and Iron Docks. It seems as though they overhauled dungeon looting; there were no need/greed rolls. Each person was allowed to loot only things they could use.

On an unrelated note, I really like that they seem to be rewarding exploration. Several times my searching off the beaten path has led to a hidden treasure that was an improvement over my existing questing gear.

Most of my crafts are no longer locked at level 600; random drops off monsters start short quests that end with a reward of unlocking higher skill levels. From an "in universe" perspective, this is a lot more satisfying. From a "will need to level up my alts later" perspective, this strikes me as a massive pain in the ass. I'm curious to see if this methodology is retained in Legion.