With Midnight revamping Quel’thalas and the upcoming Northrend revamp I’d like to give feedback on the Eversong revamp: I like it. But not just cause of the quality of the revamp but that we get to revisit the old world and I wanna talk more about that.
History Matters
The Warcraft franchise has a lot of history over 30 years. And even though WoW was released after the first three games it builds and brings to life a lot of those historical areas either played in-game or mentioned in the manual that felt like they were added with intent. For this reason I think a lot of the more popular places over the course of WoW have been those places. Places like Outland and Northrend. Even places like the Dragon Isles which the only thing known was the name for years it felt like there was purpose there.
This brings me to Khaz Algar. The continent that does not give a strong feeling. Make no mistake I like the Earthen, I like the kobolds, I like the new Arathi story and the Nerubians. But the land itself feels out of place. It was only mentioned in the previous expansion in an obscure book in uldaman. There is no real historical meaning to the player. It was kind of balanced out with Undermine and K’aresh which are both places long ago mentioned that I personally enjoyed a lot but the initial launch I did not feel excited for the land itself.
I think every previous expansion has had some continent that was previously mentioned in the lore. Pandaria, the Broken Isles and Draenor (with some funky time stuff). Khaz Algar just felt like it didn’t belong. Especially since nowhere was it mentioned that it was magically concealed. It was just out in the open and no ones ever been mentioned visiting. Which is a sharp contrast to say the Broken Isles where there are a multitude of races living there and even a gilnean town that settled on them. It felt more part of Azeroth as a whole.
All of this really is just a long-winded version of saying I’d prefer lands that have more historical context in WoW instead of brand new lands popping up. Revamping zones is a great idea to continue to explore Azeroth in new ways. I know there is something going on on the other side of Azeroth in the Veiled Sea but I personally hope it is a bit farther off and gets more foreshadowing before we get there.
Midnight
Eversong Woods as a whole was beautifully done and I felt the art, music and questing were all spot on. I was a bit saddened the Ghostlands were gone since it was a representation of a large event where 90% of the population was decimated. I am glad there is at least Windrunner Spire/Village keeping that vibe and the nod to Deathholme with the Twilight’s Blade harvesting necrotic energies there.
Even Zul’aman, while most of it is new, I love even the original 20-man raid instance was included into the world. I initially did not realize it myself until the npcs mention about being where Malacrass had his temple once.
Future Hopes
I am looking forward to Northrend and hope the revamping does not stop just there. Outland, for example, I think would be amazing to revisit. Bringing back unused concepts like fungal whales or Farahlon which after over a decade I’d like to see the eco-domes progress in Netherstorm. Adding in larger floating islands to Nagrand for more verticality in questing. The potential to bring back the Spires of Arak maybe it was just drifting out in the Twisting Nether and recently has floated nearby. Then there’s the opportunity to have playable ogres & arrakoa, races that feel like they have a lot of history.
Then there are the portals that Ner’zhul had scattered around, I remember 20 years ago Chris Metzen mentioned that we’d use those to travel to new worlds which did not end up happening but they could serve a purpose yet. Maybe something similar to the Legion portals on Argus but visiting Xoroth, Nathreza, etc.
Then there are other places. I have fond memories of Pandaria personally and would love a revamp with playable mogu and fighting Y’shaarj properly (somehow, I don’t care how honestly he looks cool). Then there are Kezan/Lost Isles that could be revamped and combined with other yet explored islands in the world. Southern Kalimdor with Gadgetzan as a large city like in Hearthstone or a lost city in Un’goro update.