Your Island Home?

Needing to kick my brain out of a funk and with Island Expeditions being the way I’m leveling my alts these days, as much to do with me being absolutely done with leveling Horde-side because I’ve done it twice and little of the Alliance quests get my interest, I thought of something.

We’ve access to ships now. Big ships, and all around the world, Alliance, Horde and neutral ports are hard at work churning out vessels for either their leaders, or anyone who can pay the (exorbitant) prices for a properly sea-worthy vessel. It’d probably even be a worthy adventure to seek out pirate or hostile groups to steal their vessels and use them for yourself rather than pay and wait for months for a vessel to be built, but then again there’s always the fun of having a vessel built to your exact specifications, with all the little modern comforts for your particular species’ needs.

And with Azeroth now being revealed to be a world of ‘a thousand isles’ courtesy of the Sundering, then the Cataclysm and whatever we’re calling Sargeras stabbing Gorribal into Silithus, odds are there’s a lot more than a mere ‘thousand’ islands out there.

So … assuming you had total command of a suitable vessel, a loyal crew from whatever faction or group your character is aligned with and suitable resources to establish a simple base to establish a working foothold on the island … what do you build. And what for? Whom do you invite to the island, and whom do you reject, and why?

Pick your island from one of the pre-existing types (for folks who might be confused, this WOWhead link gives a good idea of the various Islands currently in-game https://www.wowhead.com/guides/island-expeditions-strategies-for-all-island-maps#havenswoodinfo-map-and-important-locations) and go nuts with what you’d build, why, and who would be occupying your new territory.

Do you stay with your faction, warts and all?

Do you defect, either out of disgust for the direction it is going or anger that your people are still being neglected?

Do you open your port to all comers as a neutral port, and risk aggression from both sides due to your defection and your previous affiliation?

Or do you hide from the world and hope your little island of calm weathers the storm to come, and the potential destruction of the World Soul itself?

For Gen, it would be him and his allies, along with whomever amongst the Horde who would follow discreetly who had come to feel lost amongst the current regime’s direction and feared not a repeat of Garrosh’s madness, but a surpassing of it.

Faction: Horde Defectors/Rebels.

Island Type: Molten Cay:

Resources:

  • Wood, Stone, Wild Animals, Fishing, Farms.

Native Threats:

  • Rogue Elementals, Wild Animals, Raiders, Weather.

External Threats:

  • Horde Loyalists, Alliance Factions, Pirates, Naga, Island Expedition Invasion Factions.

Starting Members:

  • Any Horde Races, but predominantly those who follow a Shamanistic belief system.

Starting Resources:

  • One stolen pirate ship, several cannons, a cargo-hold full of basic supplies like rope, cloth, farming and building tools and dried rations.

Overall Goal:

  • Long-term survival of expedition members, the upholding of a more noble take on the Horde’s ideals, pursuing a lifestyle more ‘in-tune’ with the ways of the spiritual beliefs of the Kalimdor Horde, eventually becoming a Neutral Trading Post/Earthen Ring Outpost should the expedition survive long enough and be able to completely dominate the island to the point of becoming completely independent of external politics.
3 Likes

Im calling it the stabbening

Given that the planet’s leaking blood everywhere from the strike, maybe ‘The Wounding’ or ‘The Fel Strike’ would be some more appropriate terms for it?

I do love that Blizzard has had the NPCs react with such despair and confusion to the act, a act of destruction so immense and so powerful that people in-game have trouble actually comprehending what happened, that it is difficult for a mortal mind to even conceive a act of destruction so simple, yet with such vast and devastating repercussions.

…Hnng, I really wish I could contribute. But I avoid doing islands like the plague now that I’ve gotten my honorbound reptuations. And none of the rewards dropped for me despite the two buffs to its loot drops.

If i i had to pick one of the islands to live on probably dread chain.

It’s desolate enough that i’d be liable to be left alone for the most part.

But then again i run so many islands i’m basically robinson cruesoe now.

See, for me, Islands from the Island Expeditions would make a perfect setting for WoW’s ‘housing’ issue.

Garrisons sucked because they tied into the current content of an expansion that a lot of folks were leery of, and the Horde version absolutely sucked thematically.

But with an Island … there’s several places to build an outpost, we’ve got a wealth of Racial Structures that Blizzard could ‘sell’ to the player, either buyable after reaching Exalted with a factional race or purchasable in the Shop for cash, and then we get into the permutations of Allied Races, Sub-Races and the like.

Rather than tie the new ‘Player Housing’ to Battle for Azeroth, the Island could become a separate micro-game within WoW, or even a private hub if a player is willing to put enough hours and sweat in to turn an outpost into a small thriving town.

After all, how many times have we saved the world?

How many times have we proven we get shizzle done?

How many times have we gone above and beyond for our peoples, and how many of them love us for it?

Tier 1 of the Island Outpost could simply be a basic Human or Orcish building surrounded by tents and a series of log palisades protecting those.

Tier 2 … and you get to start picking and choosing which Race, and Micro-Faction, you’re truly championing. Upgrade the basic building into something more reminiscent of the Shal’dorei or the Dark Iron, or double down on the Orc/Human vibe. The tents start to get replaced with smaller buildings, and you can start to give them some racial flavour too.

Tier 3 starts to turn the Outpost into a Village, complete with farmers producing crops and herbs … from whatever expansion you desire. Literally, turn in the crop or herb, pay a small gold cost and bang, the farms are producing enough food to feed the Village and you’re getting a small pile of the required herbs for whatever you require … but it’s always a tier below the current expansion. The ability to turn your villagers into a Militia courtesy of your main structure and maybe a nearby Smithy could help keep the Island safe while you’re away too …

Tier 4 opens up Mines, Lumber Mills and Fishing Vessels, the farms start upgrading with animal husbandry that allows your militia to ride war-mounts and provide a bonus to the Village’s food-stores, and your Village starts to finally evolve into a Town. Buildings can be upgraded again to provide more housing for more followers and better equipment for them too boot, and you’re able to pick more specialized and appealing buildings, again with racial ‘variants’ that might provide just a cosmetic upgrade or maybe something unique to the Town’s defences.

Tier 5 adds a second and third micro-settlement at one of the other Outpost Locations on the Island, one of which can be turned into a Stronghold where upgraded troops can be developed and tailored by yourself to defend the Island, or a Trading Center where NPCs from across the world will come to offer fun mini-quests, monthly events or just rare spawns of transmog gear and battle pets to acquire, and if only one of the other two options is chosen, the second micro-settlement can be turned into a private residence for the player where trophies based upon achievements can be displayed or placed, and again, both micro-settlements should be able to be cosmetically altered to what the player desires in appearance, racially speaking.

Finally, Tier 6 grants you a portal network in your primary Settlement where you can attune one of four Portals to any Capital City, as well as allowing you to fly on your Island on any flying mount you possess. Troops, if you added a stronghold, can also deploy on flying mounts to speed up their arrival and if you chose a Trading Port, a small fleet of equally small ships can be deployed to defend your Island against Invaders.

Did I forget to mention that?

Despite everything else that’s going on in the world, your new Home is still prime territory for anyone with beef against you, your faction or just a burning desire to pillage and plunder. Pirates, NPCs of the Enemy Faction, Naga and more could randomly spawn at your Island if you’re pounded that faction enough in the actual game, and this might not just be the current enemy factions.

Hated with the Syndicate? Does the Cenarion Circle detest your sending lumps of Coal to every Night Elf and Worgen you know of? Told the Hydraxian Waterlords to go take a hike through the Elemental Plane of Fire?

Well guess what, they might show up as a little mini-event that you can either handle yourself for a greater chance at something fun to drop at the end, or you can trust to your own NPC defenders to handle the situation and let them give you anything shiny they find … if they survive the offensive.

It’s something that could be built onto and expanded upon as expansion after expansion rolls on and since it’s instanced, it’s not a huge drain on the server like trying to crush forty folks into a single area loaded down with all their personal touches to the region fighting for attention from the server’s overworked hamsters.

2 Likes

We already have an island.

We do? Or are you referring to Kul’tiramisu and/or Z’a’n’d’a’l’a’r ?

I am Kaeska, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? ‘No,’ says the man in Stormwind, ‘it belongs to the poor.’ ‘No,’ says the goat in the Exodar, ‘it belongs to the Light.’ ‘No,’ says the orc in Orgrimmar, ‘it belongs to the Horde.’ I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.

I’m sorry, Gentarn, I saw the opportunity to meme and had to take it.

3 Likes

I guess I’ll be the only one playing along then…
Faction: Neutral/Intelectuals
Island Type: Verdant Wilds
Resources:
Wood, Arcane font of power, natural fruit trees, farms.
Native Threats: Wild Animals, Highborne Ghosts, Feral Druids, Lashers
External Threats: The Nightborne, Naga, Alliance and Horde, Kirin Tor, Pirates.
Starting Members: An Ocean’s 11 cliche’ lineup of intellectuals and free minded persons
Starting Resources: One top class sailing vessel, extensive supplies, Gnomish construction bots, and books. Money has it’s privileges after all.
Overall Goal: To create a Haven for those done being chess pieces of radical political factions and hypocritical gods. Where one learn and live in piece away from the world.

Man I love islands. Hunt rares, hope for a slick invasion, rush to portals like you’re mad. Solo levelling, just trying to kill this damn rare elite dragon for good luck before your 2 moron PUG members finish via crystals OH MY GOD I DID IT AND I GOT A BLUE.

Sef — snow island perhaps. A collection of small fortresses, the main one being hidden deep in a crag. Some Belf and Nightborne architecture. Hozen philosophers and such. Good balance for the elves, all of them including a few Nelves and that one weird Void Elf who washed ashore in a block of purple ice.

About that dragon problem, we have it under control… mostly. Just be sure to close any portals that pop up. We’re trying to be exclusive.

Don’t apologise, those games were awesome.

And Sef, Ralpheous, thank you.

Anyone else have an island home they’d like to describe to the rest of us?

I have an island I designed in a map maker program as a fallback in case I need to have my characers nope out of Silvermoon because the Horde narrative is that bad. It’s a crescent island with a mountain range.

Its main port is a Thalassian elven city, round, walled, with several areas, such as trade/crafting district, academic/magic/technical district, residential district, military district, and a temple. Outside the main walls is farm land, rivers, fields, and trees, with thicker forests and mountains including a tall, snowy, doormant volcano, the rest of the range is likely also volcanic. Temperate, probably heavily warded and altered to be an eternal fall like Eversong.

Wildlife is mostly birds, lizards, and the occasional turtle on the beach on the inner side of the crescent. Industries include fishing, farming, mining, trade. Crafting is pretty typical, there’s magitech and lot of invention going on.

Livestock is common as there are no large predators on the island outside of when semi-domestic Thalassian lynxes get loose. Most of the livestock is from miss Ria’s property, some werr stolen from vanquished bad guys’ compounds before the compounds were destroyed, including the flock of Thalassian peafowl with their four different color variations and lack of dysmorphism (both male and females have fabulous trains) who free roam the island and roost in the trees. They’re highly social and have corvid level intelligence. They make good guard animals. Anyone arriving unwelcomed is met with peafowl screams that sound like a cross between a distressed lady yelling for help and a cat yelling “meow meow.” :peacock:

Unsuspecting visitors have fled from the noises of disturbed peafowl when arriving at night on the outskirts of the island, leading to tall tales of a haunted crescent island full of screaming spirits calling for help, or perhaps an island of sirens. Few who aren’t invited come to the island due to the haunting tales, usual port traffic is trade ships and occasional guests. Sometimes distressed ships come into the bay by chance.

Visitors, especially uninvited ones in Horde/Alliance military ships that come to port are met by militia, a show of force, that the island won’t be conquered without resistance. Once the new visitors are told the rules and given a tour they are welcome.

Island government is a council, made up of folks from the board that managed the Pyreanor businesses and household along with heads of other households or groups.

There may or may not be a fortified underground vault full of evaluated relics from one of several Reliquary vaults. I plead the fifth. The keepers of the vault had a prime directive to keep the artifacts safe and out of the wrong hands at any cost. So they decided to defect and move the artifacts where they can’t be used as weapons of mass destruction by warmongering warchiefs.

The primary laws of the land are the three tenets of the light. People regularly vote on issues so the council can get opinions of the people on issues of importance. Capitalist economy with some regulation, but socialist when it comes to basic needs—this is the tenet of compassion in action. Someone who shows up with nothing but the clothes on their back will not have to worry about things like food and shelter. Career counseling, vocational training, apprenticeships, and helping folks find work are also provided—extreme poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness don’t really exist here, nor does the crime and health issues that come with those problems.

Almost anyone is welcome so long as they agree to abide by the laws of the land, regardless of what faction their race is from. Living impaired (defected Dark Rangers, Death Knights), people who are part demons (Demon Hunters, Felblood Elves), and other oddities (Various mutant elves like Void Elves, Worgen/people with therianthropic afflictions, Arakkoa, gnolls, demons who are non legion aligned a’la Matron Mother Malevolence) are fine too. Its conceptually similar to Shattrath City in this regard but with better refugee support. It’s a place where seeing something odd walking down the street like a normal person doing normal person things doesn’t even get a double take from most residents.

The light is the official religion of the island, but practice is not mandatory outside of the three tenets being part of the very fabric of the society. People will not be punished for dabbling in unholy magics or whatnot so long as they aren’t doing it on holy ground and aren’t harming others. (You ask, what about Death Knights? Military service, hunting expeditions, using flesh and blood manipulation to heal wounds that other magics can’t, etc.)

No name, this is mostly so there’s a fallback for myself, my RP partner, and other friends if we feel like our characers need to flee other areas due to the Bliz narrative or whatever becoming too hard to ignore or too disruptive.

1 Like

Alright, let’s try this for fun.

A true base for Warlocks should focus on what a Warlock’s identity relies on: demons, raw power, and absolute style. A floating rock in space may be enough for a Class Hall, but not for me! I’m gonna build myself a damn castle, and nobody will stop me!

Faction: Warlocks.
I’m making a huge castle with tons of demons and nasty rituals. If you want a hangar to use for Demon Robots, i’ll make it so. We’re a gang of gnarly goths looking for a good time, and blight is for suckers who can’t summon Very Large Monsters.

Island Type: Dread Chain.
Snow? In my Warlock place? It’s fresh and funky. I like snow, and a mix of the dark castle i’m gonna build with all the demons in and around the place will make for a fun time. It’s also named the -Dread- Chain. Absolutely Superb.

Resources:

  • Demons, mogu flesh(stone), whoever tries to stop us(souls are always welcome), and -of course- many, many demons.

Native Threats:
This place houses mogu, ice trolls and some big humans. All of those are managable. What are the Drakkari gonna do, eat their gods -more-? Get outta here with that weak sauce. Real juice is demon juice. Zug zug.

External Threats:

  • Demons we “accidentally” let loose, probably the Demon Hunters and Paladins, certainly the Alliance, they are very mean. That doesn’t mean i won’t let alliance races that are warlocks out of my castle. Some humans can truly “zug it up” with demons and the like. I respect that.

Starting Members:

  • Me, myself and I. Come join me: i’m making a sweet spa.

Starting Resources:

  • Demons, probably a boat. Whatever ressources we need, we can summon, baby.

Overall Goal:
I want a sweet castle. Snow gives it that much better aesthetic, and the defeat of the Burning Legion gives us Warlocks plenty of opportunities to bind stronger demons to our will, because they’re more disorganised. Hell, they may even join willingly, considering we’re giving them a purpose!
Battle for Azeroth has an awful lack of Demons. I want more demons, i will make more demons. A castle full of demons and warlocks. That’s the sauce, baby. Warlocks need their own place, and i’m givin’ it.

So, to resume: a big demon castle in the middle of nowhere for Warlocks and Demons to hang out and chill. Maybe consider conquering the world? Not before we deal with the Old God problem. The Legion was made for “cleansing” the world of Void badbad, so this is a dramatic, good looking base of operation for that.

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So this looked like a lot of fun and I decided to take my stab at it here. This is something I’d very much imagine quite a few of my characters retiring to given time if it were to truly exist in game.

Faction: Nature Conversations, Hunters, Druids, etc.
Imagine if members of the Cenarion Circle and Unseen Path decided they wanted to carve out an island to themselves. A place where nature was respected, used in all the right ways and filled with the best things for those who visited? Getting a good idea? Well now you’re along for this ride.

Island Type: Verdant Wilds.
Forests, beautiful mountains, a large lake and flowing rivers? Check. Greenery all year long with snow in the winter? Double check. Oh, did we mention this island is super old so there might be the ruins of an old tribe or two around? Yup.

Resources:

  • Wild animals (Bear, Wild Cat, Deer, etc), Fishing, Timber, Stone/Ore (mountains).

Native Threats:
This island is home to some of the most dangerous wildlife around. Animals here are well respected and some are said to have been blessed by the spirits of nature. It is also said that a rogue group of wild Dryad roams the forest looking for those who attack the lands. Weather can also be a factor as well. And there might be a Yeti or two up in the mountains. Well that one survivor from that one group swore it was a yeti anyways. Guy was probably crazy…

External Threats:

  • Outsiders visiting the island, Pirates,

Starting Members:

  • Any who respect nature and wish to see such a place flourish.

Starting Resources:

  • A hunting lodge, hunting gear, full camping supplies, and rations for those who visit.

Overall Goal:

  • The long term growth of the island and it’s natural inhabitants, survival of the expeditions members, and a chance to explore the more ‘in-tune’ views of those such as druids, conservative hunters, or Tauren who follow the Old-Way. Eventually this place would be known as a place for all to come and visit, learning about nature and enjoying it, while hosting a neutral trading post free of the war and politics.
1 Like

No thanks, I don’t want garrisons again

^lmao, I was just thinking about how I’d LOVE a (better than) “garrison” system but with islands.

I love the responses here though, and although I didn’t post much myself I have THOUGHT about Sef’s island quite a bit since posting.

Now, from a design standpoint, I feel Garrisons were too “turnkey”, just preset. I’d want actual landscape editing. Even if the island itself was proc gen, to be able to choose architecture and piece them together as modular components, for example. Hire goblins to clear a pass through a mountain with explosives. Level your mage to 120 to set up a portal room etc.

To earn the right to recruit races of any faction via intense grinds and/or long quest chains. Yes, I’ll be one of the few who harvests 300,000 bananas to unlock Hozen for my island. Yes, that glowing statue of Tirion Fordring required 250k gold worth of Thorium bars to build. And, yes, we do ERP.

A place you actually build, and generated quests that lead you to visiting – or invading – other players’ island retreats.

DM/Storytelling tools to earn that allow you, the island leader, to create quests. Find the sole Jinyu on my island to start a quest chain that may or not include stealing a painting from Goldshire’s inn…

And, of course, NO MISSION TABLE.