This was certainly a zone. One I feel has gone down a bit since Vanilla, but I haven’t revisited it in Classic so I may just be remembering the wow factor from standing on top of that really cool dam. Which I hope to God they rebuild because that was way more interesting than the now decade old ruins.
The zone threatens to become interesting a few times. The Gnolls are trying to forge an alliance with the Murlocs and Kobolds. Boom - there’s your 3rd faction if they ever want to make one. You ruin this as adventurers are wont to do but the ideas interesting. All the unaffiliated minor races like quilboar, gnolls, centaur etc. teaming up to become a five star threat would be neat.
There’s also a Farstrider Lodge. Which is an organization I’m confused about as stuff like this and their, ya know, name would imply they stride far but apparently they’re just border patrol. At any rate there’s approximately one Quel’Dorei there who’s only quest is getting you to kill a big bear so you can use it’s head to spook an annoying human hunter.
Beyond that you help a gnome create a flying mechanostrider. This involves a cave full of feral robo chickens and ostriches as well as a depressed teenager. So naturally it’s the most interesting. Seriously it’s very weird to me you take the fight to the Twilight Hammer not on the orders of the military but rather a sulking gnomish zoomer.
He’s all bent out of shape because nobody’s doing anything about the doomsday cult causing catastrophic environmental damage. So you launch a one man assault and break an ominous artifact in half. So eat ish Gimli my Dwarf’s axe worked just fine at busting up ancient evil. Then you go beat the crap out of some ogres, and the now inspired young teen promises to fight for justice and flies you back to the main hub on the mechanostrider with a jet engine.
Which was a relief really I thought it was going to end with yet another bombing run. Because those have been fun approximately once in the BC Skyguard storyline as you did it on your own mount and had to dodge anti air. Anywhere else they’re just filler.
All in all I can certainly say it was a zone. The WoW equivalent of a vanilla waffer cookie. Not upset to see it or disappointed I ate it but really nothing much to write home about. So I wrote ya’ll instead.
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Loch modan has a special place in my heart because it was the first zone I ever moved to from out of a starting zone. I would get destroyed by the troggs in the valley for hours on end back in vanilla
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Like many a Forsaken noob my first experience was wandering into the Western Plaguelands and getting BTFO’d by a zombie bear with a skull for a level.
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Ah, sweet memories. “Huh, spiders. Well, I’m a ghost wolf. I can outrun those.”
SPOILERS: I could not outrun those.
I think Cata left this zone about the same and also infinitely worse. There wasn’t anything remarkable about its map, quests, or plot to be ruined, but it had the ‘peaceful grassland’ charm which pretty much got revoked from all Alliance territory which once had it. I think that was a bad trade, on the whole; Arathi’s the only place that really evokes that still. I haven’t leveled through EK/Kalimdor since before the warfronts. Your posts kinda make me want to see what they look like now, from a leveling perspective.
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The ‘Mongrel Horde’ was one of several unused ideas that eventually became WoD if I recall correctly.
Loch Modan is certainly a zone. Out of all the zones in World of Warcraft, Loch Modan is definitely among them.
…it’s better in Classic. The ‘laid-back, explore new areas, solve local problems, enjoy the scenery’ feel is strong in that version.
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I was going to mention this. Such an awesome idea. I hope something like it comes up someday.
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Loch Modan suffered heavily in the Cataclysm revamp. I didn’t realize how badly until I went back and played Classic again to give me a refresher.
The nice thing about OG Loch Modan is what Skarm mentioned. It’s a peaceful, smooth ride where you explore and assist where you can but there’s nothing world-ending or catastrophic about the goings on there. It gives a glimpse into the simple, slow life of the average Dwarf who isn’t traveling the world punching dragons in the face but rather mountaineers keeping their borders safe from orcs, troggs and general Dark Iron tomfoolery. It’s a shame they had to change what was a simple and satisfying leveling experience to give it more ‘pizazz’, because it was a huge downgrade in my opinion.
While I generally appreciated the revamp in Cataclysm for the overall leveling experience, the older versions of some zones have a simplicity to them that I feel like keeps us grounded as the would-be heroes starting off on our grand adventures. There’s something to be said about doing mundane tasks as a lowbie to work your way up to the dragon-punching, because it makes us feel like we worked our way up to that from humble beginnings.
When you look at the timeline, it seems odd that a fledgling young Dwarf or Gnome is now single-handedly responsible for thwarting one of Azeroth’s greatest cult threats while simultaneously taking down the beginnings of a new vermin crime syndicate. I feel like some Cata zones took the ‘hero saves the day/zone’ to the extreme and I often miss the days where I panicked at the prospect of pulling too many kobolds in a cave because I am trying to acquire boxes of stolen mining equipment.
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It’s a shame Classic’s gameplay is so unfun. I really do want to go back and re-experience those original zones but every time I try I barely get past the teens. It’s just not enjoyable to play.
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I personally don’t mind the slower gameplay style that Classic had to offer, it’s so different from the fast-paced retail experience that sometimes I crave the slow-paced grind. I think that’s just a matter of personal opinion though, because there are definitely things I love about retail that I wouldn’t change either.
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I’ve mentioned before my overall love for Cata Silverpine. Because it’s the only storyline in game that feels like a proper war story. Battle lines shift, ground is taken, lost, retaken and lost again. There’s a tangible sense of chaos and uncertainty. It’s also great characterization for Garrosh as it becomes very clear very quickly that he is A Okay with the Forsaken being eradicated by this fool’s errand.
But the part of it I absolutely despise is how Sylvanas is fist bumping your character and calling them a cool dude at like level 15. Even gives you a personal exposition dump undead pony ride where she explains what the Forsaken are. Which would be an awkward way to do it in any circumstance. But it’s just redundant and bizarre in this context as most players are coming in from Tirisfal having just had the Forsaken’s whole shtick exhaustively detailed.
Compare that to Classic. Where you only meet the Dark Lady at about level 50 or so. You’ve worked your way through local sherifs to mayors to regional governors and even worked for Varimathras to squash the Scarlets. And now, after countless triumphs and adventures, you’ve proven yourself such a reliable champion of the Horde that the Banshee Queen has called for you by name. You’ve come a long way from smashing spiders in Nightweb Hollow. You are a certified BAMF now, to the point where you are known to Azeroth’s halls of power as a man who can get ish done.
When everything is momentous and epic, nothing is.
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That bit in Cata Silverpine was jarring, just seeing Sylvanas kicking it with lowbie Undeads was… out of character? Especially since we know from previous depictions of her that she mostly tolerates the Forsaken because they share common ground and venerate her as their savior. Why would the Banshee Queen be speaking with ME, literal hours after I crawled out of the dirt of my grave?
I remember fondly exploring Undercity as a janky little Undead Priest and stumbling on the Dark Lady for the first time (when she was a weird Night Elf model no less) and just being enthralled by her click-quotes and overall coolness. It really prompted me to start exploring Forsaken lore and WoW lore in general because she was just so… AWESOME. To actually have a reason to go speak with her eventually to get some of those sweet quest-text breadcrumbs was a massive highlight. I sometimes miss the days where those small things would get me giddy about the game.
Hit the nail on the head with that. Current WoW suffers greatly from over-inflated heroism syndrome. Even visiting the AFTERLIFE has been underwhelming which is depressing to say the least.
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I think Southern Barrens captures the war pretty well too. It and Silverpine really are the only times though.
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I might have to take another look at it. I blasted through it on this toon when I was trying to get exalted with the Horde factions for the Argent Tournament.
Side bar screw whoever made Tranquillen it’s own subfaction. Far as I can tell they only did that to make getting Silvermoon rep more frustrating.
Like Silverpine S.Barrens kinda got ruined by multimedia. It’s seriously bizarre to me Camp Taurjo was apparently justified to the point where even Baine isn’t mad about it. Seriously having a bunch of white men tagged as pillagers and looters running around a burning an American Indian styled village is some pretty damn loaded imagery to use, especially for a largely American audience. It’s up there with red armbands in terms of cultural shorthand for “bad people are doing some bad things here”.
So setting all that up and having the Tauren lose their saint like patience only to back out of it offscreen is just absurd. Who looks at the ruins of Camp Taurjo being razed and robbed by humans and goes;
“Oh those little rascals. I’m sure Stormwind is responsible for no wrondoing here. Just picked a whole bouquet of oopsie daisies is all”
I know the nature of a game this large means there’s going to be stories written on different days by different people in different parts of the country. But there’s clearly 0 broader coordination.
Silverpine has a similar problem but at least there’s nothing that screwed up in it. And I think the Horde storyline is outright non canon now with the Sylvanas novel. And it’s really funny to me how Gilneas’s status changed once again. It’s like one of those weird dark matter particles that changes everytime it’s observed.
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Southern Barrens shines most when you do it on both sides. I think it’s the best example in the game of leveraging the faction mechanic to tell two perspectives. In fact I’d argue it’s the only time the game has ever done that well.
I always like how on the Horde quests when you blow up the dwarf fortress you can see the airplane the Alliance player is riding in when they see the fort blow up.
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Camp Taurajo was infuriatingly stupid. For a plethora of reasons.
I recall playing through it on my Horde characters, being actually surprised that Blizzard had opted to paint the Alliance as heinous for once only to have them backpedal furiously to try to justify it somehow. Even when you play through those quests at an Alliance PoV, they severely downplay it by saying they are looters run amok but… why the hell would random thugs be in the middle of an enemy infested plainsland just to dig through the bodies of the decimated native populace? Felt like a handwave to poorly shift blame.
It’s bad enough we had to be horrified by that quest of sending the deceased back to the Earthmother without them quietly justifying it offscreen for some demented reason.
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Seriously. Also the Tauren aren’t exactly known for their material wealth. Really no one but the Belves and Zandalari would have personal property of interest to your average pilferer. Considering the Tauren are 7 foot tall, 400lbs of pure muscle that seems pretty high risk for what like a Centaur skin rug and some tapestries?
Them doing it because they don’t respect the Tauren as people would make sense. In E. Plaguelands we see the Scarlets scoff at them, seeing them as nothing but beasts to the open contempt of the Argents.
But that’d make Stormwind have a flaw. And we can’t have that unless it’s caused by dark magic or dragon manipulation.
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This is my biggest contention with Alliance writing as a whole. The story on the Blue side, particularly these days, is rife with opportunity to create internal conflict. From the response of Stormwind regarding Teldrassil, the current state (or lack thereof) of Gilneas, the fact that the Dwarf council ALONE is just them all cautiously side-eyeing each other and even all the way to two races that are literally infused with opposing cosmic forces… but we are forced to believe that they are all singing kumbaya with each other in a filthy city district with far too many bread salesmen.
Meanwhile, the Horde is being forced into petty squabbles about which Warchief gets to go rogue and/or die a stupid death for the sake of forced internal conflict that barely existed prior to Blizzard formulating some Evil Entity™ to make the Alliance need to tut-tut them back into their place. Exhausting.
Anyway, I realize I derailed the living snot out of this thread so in conclusion:
OG Loch Modan slaps, New Loch Modan craps. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
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My favorite is Voss saying “Ah you know the rest of the Horde is side eyeing the Forsaken because of Sylvanas”.
And;
A. We’re doing this plot point for a third time now?
&
B. Sylvanas had loyalists of every race particularly amongst the Goblins and Sin’Dorei in addition to the entireity of the Mag’Har because Geya’rah wanted to be gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss besties with the Dark Lady.
So not only is it a plotline so thoroughly treaded it’s now a beaten path, but this time it doesn’t even make sense. She vanished all the outspoken Forsaken critics and protestors post Gathering. What’s everybody elses excuse?
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It’s explained that they were Stockades conscripts, so it was criminals taking an opportunity to do what they’re good at. I don’t expect random criminals from Stormwind to know much about Tauren, so they probably wouldn’t know if they had many items of value to take. That group seems to be a bunch of thieving kleptomaniacs to me.
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After the while Dam was destroyed. Loch Modan kind of lack something. I would have loved it if the Dwarves tried to bring the Water back to the Lake by repairing the Dam, While at the same time we finally have High Elves or Void Elves in the Lodge that is Thalassian Builded instead the Night Elven Building.
Basically anything that would be nice to see interesting than what we got back in Cataclysm for the Alliance.
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