It is one really big city with so much to see, so little to interact with, and so many empty cellars. It’s odd to me they put so much time and effort into making it appear as a fully functioning city that takes up a quarter of the zone, but all you can do is look around. No interaction with any of the NPCs, aside from a few hostile areas, everything is just to there for appearances only.
Then I realize this is the same team that did WoD with Karabor Temple, Shattrath City, and Auchindoun; all wonderful and beautifully designed while totally nothing you can do to them. Auchindoun has one dungeon when fully intact, but 3 when in complete ruins. Karabor Temple can only be viewed from the outside, Shattrath City has a harbor and a massive dome, that we can’t enter.
Why do you make these areas so awesome and yet make them into fake paper walls? It’s like North Korea and those areas made to look like they’re functioning towns for tourists to see, but when you get up close it’s all staged. Ever see that one scene on Vice, they go into a room and show, “We have internet” but nobody is typing, no one is moving the mouse, and they’re all staring at a blank google page; yeah, that’s what these cities feel like.
Well, while I’m not exactly saying this is an excuse, but a little-known fact is that Boralus was built up and scrapped like 5 times. The one we saw at Blizzcon was completely removed in the Pre-Alpha for BFA and rebuilt throughout the entirety of Alpha/Beta.
I’m not exactly sure I like the revamp. The old one from the Blizzcon previews gave off this different feeling that felt much more… majestic.
Oh- and since I brought up Boralus, I also want to mention that Vol’dun was also reshaped quite a bit prior to Alpha, with a bunch of the greenery removed.
If you’re interested in exploring a bit more of Boralus (and other awesome areas around the world), go check out the Waist of Time secret if you have not completed it yet.
It’s really cool to explore. I remember finding a big fully-manned boat floating in the harbour that had heaps of decks and stuff on it. I found out later it was for a Horde quest but it was still nice.
Yeah, it’s too bad. I think it could’ve benefitted from at least a second “trade district” type of area, perhaps over in the uptown area with all the ritzy shops.
Yep, I remember seeing Boralus filled with steep cliffs, untextured terrain, etc when I got into the beta, despite far along the beta was at that point (I got my invite pretty late). If I’m not mistaken, by then Dazar’alor had been finished for some quite some time already.
Because making all those awesome areas explorable for players would take time and cut into the important work of making systems that have to be fixed by a new system in the following patch which in turn will need to be fixed by a new system in a patch after that.
You think you want to have fun and explore but you don’t
At some point I think it is a matter more of convenience rather than not being able to find anything. Boralus functions much better as a player hub than Dazar’alor because it doesn’t ask you to fly half-way across a zone to do everything you want to do.
While I can agree with the sentiment . . . atleast we can actually EXPLORE Boralus. Last I checked we can’t do that with those other locations which ya know is complete hogwash.
Compared to Karabor there’s hours of places to explore, enter, and interact with.
The Whale’s Belly - underwater bar where you can buy some fun scrolls that do fun things. (There are a total of 8 underwater bars in BfA.)
Catty Cathy’s - where you can go pet her many cats and get your Pepe diving helmet.
Ruff Waters, which isn’t far from Catty Cathy’s, and is the dog version.
Col. Tenders who resembles Col Sanders and sells chicken items.
A Barber Shop - just between the Ashvane Company Yards & Dampwick Ward.
Plus there’s so many pubs in Boralus they need a rehab facility.
Ravens Flock Tavern
Hops, Line, & Sinker Brewing where Jay the Tavern Bard plays (there are scripts you can run that make him play music.) You can also pick up one of the Forbidden Sea Shanties here.
The Curious Octopus - where you can pick up another one of the Forbidden Sea Shanties.
Snug Harbor Inn
The aforementioned Whale’s Belly
There’s the Goblin and Gnome couple whose apartment you visit during the Mechagon intro questline.
The cool hedge maze.
The secret toy you can get from underneath Stormsong Monastery.
I did, and no regrets! POTATOES FOREVER