When they announced Northrend I was hoping it wouldn't just be ice and snow. Outlands is an amazing conglomeration of completely separate locals that I fully enjoy. If Northrend ends up being less than that I will be disappointed.

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I'm fine with Northrend having a variety of zones that aren't all ice and snow. It sounds like iceland to me; glacier, hot springs, volcanos, temperate pastures and urban areas.

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There are a lot of possibilities besides Winterspring lookalikes: alpine tundra, subalpine gnarled shrubs, thick pine forests (either with or without snow), windblown rock. Think about mountain or arctic regions in all seasons of the year, and you have a lot of choices.

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I'm very disappointed that most zones won't be snowy. We only have 2 snowy zones in WoW(Dun Morogh and Winterspring), and they're very beautiful. We have 8 desert zones(Badlands, Barrens, Blasted Lands, Desolace, Durotar, Silithus, Tanaris and Thousand Needles), but only 2 snowy zones. Surely Blizzard could do pure snow for at least 5 zones in Northrend to shore up the imbalance. I mean after all, BLIZZARD is their name, surely they'd have a preference for snow.

And they could still look nice and unique. I remember that "Wandering Dreamscape" video a while back, that had a snowy version of Stonetalon Mountains, and it looked like a whole new zone, very beautiful. If a fan with some free time on his hands can make a beautiful snowscape out of an existing non-snowy zone, why can't Blizzard work up some nice snow?

And plus, we know at least 2 zones in Northrend couldn't have snow, for those who hate it. Azjol-Nerub will be underground, and Scholozar Basin is the Un'Goro Crater of Northrend(lush jungle).

Then again, I'm a bit biased, with a Dwarf being my main character in WoW. :)

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Agreed...there are a huge variety of options open to Blizz, and looking at the screenshots they've released, it looks like they're taking them. The zones in Northrend are supposed to run the gamut from tundra to taiga to crystal forests to glaciers to a tropical rainforest...so Blizz can do a lot of things with the zones if they're up to it.

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I think there are lots options for creating beautiful icy landscapes. Her are some I thought of:

1. Thawing swampy tundra
2. Beautiful blue ice caverns and chasms: http://www.dicander.com/pix/files/ice.jpg
3. Lush greens valleys surrounded by sheer icy mountains
4. A must have in more than a few zones…Aurora Borealis: http://www.greenlandholiday.com/Portals/0/Photos/Northern%20Lights%20over%20the%20fjords.jpg
5. Irregular and fantastic ice formations, breaking up light and distributing colors in the sunlight
6. I simple frozen, barren forest with dramatic sky effects and sunsets:
7. Some alien looking ice crystals: http://files.meetup.com/395287/Giant%20Gypsum%20Crystals.jpg

That is my $0.02. Enjoy!

-Regards
Buuty

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I'm tired of this constant Winterspring bashing. What does everyone have against Winterspring? It's a beautiful zone combining the beauty of a snow-peaked mountain with the inherent magical nature of the night elves. If anything, aside from grinding timbermaw/winterspring, there isn't enough to KEEP me in Winterspring!

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I wanted a winter zone. It's the only thing that had me looking forward to yet another expansion. I love winter and I love snow. QQ

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Looking at the Northrend map makes me wish there were boat mounts!

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Well I take it its like Iceland, perhaps a bit like Northen Alaska, there isn't snow up there all the time, even though it's up north.

it would make sense taht some part of the country side would be higher up - and thus covered in snow, and other places would be low in valleys shielded by the mountains, and thus having another set of enviroment.

Here's some pictures from countries that are up north. it aint all snow'n more snow...

Alaska
www.oars.com/images/alaska/main_alaska.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/1/K/3/alaska_mendenhall_glacier.jpg
http://www.ecoenquirer.com/Frosty-Cove-Alaska-1986.jpg


//Tallens'out

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And for some reason I can only add 3 links ... :-/

Iceland
http://www.cruiseatlantic.com/visuals/iceland.jpg
http://www.scandinaviantravel.com/images/iceland16.jpg

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And the Last one...

Greenland
http://www.anthonares.net/melting_greenland_dowdeswell.gif
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/images/0611/greenland-kayak.jpg
http://p.vtourist.com/2775922-Travel_Picture-Greenland.jpg

They show exactly that there are alot more to the north than just snow.

//Tallens'out

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I envision a winter wonderland akin to how the Fortress of Solitude was portrayed in the first two Superman films. I wouldn't mind having an area of cracked snow covered ground that, if you don't leap from one section to the other well enough, you'll fall to your doom into the cracks.

Heh, how about a mini-game where you ski down a slope? It could be a PvP of sorts, in that you have to contest against Alliance/Horde. Hah hah.

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Uhhhhh... Since when has zone location made any difference when deciding it's make up?

Ironforge is fairly close to the equator and surrounded by ice.

Darnasus is about as far north as you can go now and it's a tropical paradise.

Booty Bay is as far south as you can go and it's a tropical paradise.

You see where i'm going here. Lunacy!

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Whatever happened to the weather effects? It was one of the nicest additions to Azeroth... So on top of all the potential awesome scenery already described, why not have snow storms, hail and sleet? That would surely contribute to the chill of Northrend.

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Come on people itsa game. Who cares if your grinding quests in a desert or in snow? You will still have to kill XYZ number of boars.

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In my mind i'm thinking primarily Iceland (in summer) combined with other unrepresented arctic environments. The whole continent shouldn't be just covered in 10 feet of snow. Harsher, sure, but not only white.

I want a densely forested zone filled with marsh (think swamp of sorrows but colder, with pine trees and patches of snow here and there).

I want a tundra zone, ringed to the south with ice capped mountains, to the north by sea ice, while blanketed in small plants, waving grasses, flowers as far as the eye can see.

Similiar to Iceland you could have a very volcanic zone. Hot springs with steam rising everwhere. A mixture of rough volcanic rock terrain, and patches of life clinging to the new rock.

Throw in a Winterspringy snow open forest zone and a glacier zone and you're already up to half the zones...and i'm not really trying here.

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@17


http://www.kidcrosswords.com/kidoutdoors/where%20to%20go/tundra_image.jpg

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It only lets us post 3 links :(

Lush swiss valley: http://graphics.stanford.edu/~lucasp/pictures/switzerland/countryside/valley_cows.jpg

Geysers and hotsprings:
http://www.railtravelcenter.com/images/Yellowstone-Winter-Geyser.jpg


There is so much potential here

-Buuty

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Would be nice to have the 4 seasons available in all zones of WoW .. but that we will never see.

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