by Pike Pullen a.k.a. Ithkrul
Since its inception, World of Warcraft has undergone numerous changes. These
changes, or patches, usually address basic technical issues and character skill
retooling while rarely offering refreshing new content to explore and dominate.
Patch 2.4 introduces the island of Quel’danas which is the staging ground for
the combined forces of the Aldor and Scryer offensive against Kael’thas and his
demonic legions.
Graphically, the Quel’danas environment is architecturally similar to that of
Silvermoon and many of the Scryer villages scattered throughout Outlands.
Because of this, at first glance the landscape appears a bit repetitive, however
in being so remains consistent with the lore and history of the Bloodelves. As
you fly to Quel’danas from Ironforge for the Alliance or to Silvermoon for the
Horde, you land immediately on the fringes of a war zone. Here, the forces of
good hold a narrow strip of the shore with nowhere to go except by fighting
their way through the Legions of Kael’thas. With arrows flying around you and
demons flying in from the distance you might feel a bit overwhelmed. Have no
fear! In the distance you see a soldier who can direct you to a person who will
assign you quests that will aid the offensive forces of the new faction, the
“Shattered Sun Offensive,” comprised of the combined efforts of the Aldor and
Scryers.
For the average player, the new content may seem like more of the status quo,
but the designers have come up with a refreshing new concept termed “Dynamic
Daily Quests.” Translation? This means as players complete more of these daily
quests, more content becomes available for play and more equipment available for
purchase. These quests come in the form of the standard, “slaughter x amount of
evildoers,” to “bombing runs” where you fly and bomb helpless demons below you.
In addition to new quests on the Quel’danas, players can find new daily quests
in Shattrath that will take them to almost all the zones in Outlands. There are
new quests in Hellfire Peninsula, Netherstorm, Nagrand and Blade’s Edge Mountain
regions.
What would a new content patch be without new dungeons? Luckily for the caffeine
infused populace of Warcraft, Blizzard was more than happy to oblige. Not only
was a new 25 player raid instance implemented, but also a five player dungeon
that can be run on regular and heroic difficulty. There have only ever been two
other five player instances added to Warcraft since the game went live, Maraudon
and Dire Maul. The newest one, Magister’s Terrace, is by far the most
challenging. On the first run through the regular version of Magister’s Terrace,
the feeling was very un-inspirational; consisting of your standard kill a bunch
of underlings, then kill a few bosses. While this may be challenging for players
just reaching level 70, it should be a very easy hour of dungeon crawling for
seasoned veterans. Even though it may be new and somewhat diverting from the
daily grind, the regular version is not be overly difficult. For the more
experienced players that feel the normal difficulty is too easy, try Magister’s
Terrace on Heroic Difficulty—you will not be disappointed. If your party is
under-geared or inexperienced you will struggle, you will die and you will be
very frustrated. If you are patient and happen to succeed on Heroic Difficulty
you will be amply rewarded with Karazhan quality loot. This is one of the
hardest five player heroic instances, if not the hardest in the game. For those
looking for a challenge, look no further—you can find it once a day in
Magister’s Terrace.
In addition to the 5-man instance, a new 25 player instance was added, named
“Sunwell Plateau.” This raid level instance is designed to be the hardest raid
in the game and offers the highest quality of plunder. Gaining access to this
fresh treasure-chest of swag is easy; in their divine wisdom Blizzard finally
wizened up and eliminated any sort of attunement or key-quest to get inside.
What they did do is make this dungeon dynamic as well. Right away players will
have access to most of the bosses, with the exception of the final three. The
final three bosses, and the treasures they so unwillingly hand over, will be
accessible on timed intervals across all servers. The first three boss
encounters will be on par in difficulty to bosses in Mount Hyjal / Black Temple,
and increase from there.
Patch 2.4 also includes many other minor additions that deserve at least some
mention, mainly to the PvP aspects of the game. The first of the aforementioned
additions is to Alterac Valley. The Horde forces now start further south, closer
to Frostwolf Keep, which fails at increasing the balance level of the map
because the terrain is too littered with obstructions. Furthermore, the need to
capture towers becomes something of an imperative because each one that isn’t
captured adds to the difficulty of your enemy’s commander, encouraging more
conflict between players. Honor can now be gained in two new ways: via a daily
quest that will require a victory in a randomly selected Battle-ground or by
turning in tokens received from these same Battle-grounds. Both of the honor
additions assist in the acquisition of new epic quality PvP equipment which, by
the way, is not easily attainable. These changes definitely make PvP more
challenging, and more challenge is more fun.
Overall I have been very satisfied with Blizzard’s latest update. The new
content rejuvenates the game making me wish that more of Warcraft were of
similar suit and nature of Patch 2.4. The visual quality remains true to the
rest of the World of Warcraft and the music is pleasant and unobtrusive. It’s
good to see the Warcraft developers trying their hand with new types of game
play instead of implementing more of the same. With new Dynamic Server-wide
Progression, incentives to work together for the betterment of your server and
easier access to high level equipment, players will keep coming back for more.
Hopefully the quality of this patch is a sign of more to come from Blizzard, as
their next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is just on the horizon.
Ithkrul's Lowdown: Fun, new, free. There is nothing like something new to
do, when it seems you have done it all. It is especially nice when you don’t
have to pay anything more for this new content than you already have for your
addiction.
Pros: Fun, new game play, detailed content, and it’s a free upgrade. The
new content is visually and technically stable. Added server wide involvement of
a common goal is a new concept on game play. Changes to PvP and honor gain will
encourage more involvement from players as well as higher quality of
competition. Decent solo-play and good group-play.
Cons: Sometimes repetitive until new Daily Quests become unlocked.
Finding a random group good enough to complete Magister’s Terrace on Heroic
Difficulty can be a heroic task in itself. Updating your interface to work with
the new patch is always a pain. Somewhat repetitive solo-play is the only thing
preventing me from giving this a 9 or a 10 for game play.
Game Play - 8
Stability - 9
Interface - 7
Community - 9
Reviewer's Tilt - 8
Overall Rating – 8.2
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