Unfortunately, you have to buy the magazine today to get the entire interview. They have only released a snippet of it online to send us into a frenzy of anticipation. What we learn from this sneak peek is that the Northrend PvP zone, Lake Wintergrasp, will be about the size of Westfall and will be all PvP. No PvE objectives in it at all. It will also be a static zone, not instanced. He also mentions that it will have destructible buildings and siege weapons, which we knew from his Leipzig interviews. Not much new there other than the size comparison to Westfall.
Kaplan also talked about learning from the Hellfire Peninsula experience. This entry point into the first expansion wasn't epic enough. The design team wants to raise the bar for Northrend. We know from earlier interviews that entry into the expansion will be split. The Alliance will grab their sword and the Horde will get their own damn battlecry and both head into either Howling Fjord or Borean Tundra. How Blizzard is going to raise the bar is still a mystery.
Argh! More infoz, please! If anyone gets their hands on the magazine, send us a tip with details. We'll happily give you credit.
EDIT: Clarified entry points for both factions.
[via World of Raids]
Subscribe
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-03-2008 @ 3:36PM
Matthew said...
What, the entrance through the Dark Portal wasn't epic enough? Seemed to me to be perfectly suitable - huge enemies right in front of you as soon as you passed through.
I guess it's great that they're trying to one-up themselves, though.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 3:52PM
Psychosis said...
I agree, the feeling of walking through THE dark Portal was awesome for the first time, and then seeing the epic battle being waged right infront of you was, well... epic however the quests got boring after the bombing quests
1-03-2008 @ 4:06PM
Adorable1 said...
Ummm... Dan. The Horde don't grab their sword - the Alliance does. Don't take their only battle cry away from them. : )
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:20PM
AnthonyP2003 said...
Has anyone actually read the aforementioned article? Is it worth getting the magazine over?
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:23PM
Gessilea said...
I appreciate the idea of having two entry points. Hopefully it will cut down on the lag we got when BC first came out. I didn't even bother to play until 5 days after release, and I remember Hellfire being a mess then.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:41PM
Odok said...
Hrm. I thought the Howling Fjord and the Borean Tundra were going to be both Horde and Alliance hubs. Two Hellfire Peninsulas instead of one for Horde and one for Alliance. I could swear that new Forsaken town is in the Howling Fjord.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:44PM
Naix said...
On WoTLK release I will be in the deathknight starting zone ganking all the new DKs.
So if you see a undead rogue wave at you and then vanish you will be making a few corpse runs.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 6:42PM
Finnicks said...
Well, if you are there, Naix, you'll be alone. Players will have to reach level 80 and then complete a difficult (read: Similar difficulty as Warlock Epic Mount quest, IE WTFHARD, at least it used to be) quest to get the right to make a Death Knight.
So don't expect many DK's in their starting area at release.
1-03-2008 @ 8:45PM
Keylogger said...
No Finnicks, they have said time and time again that you will NOT have to reach 80 to get a DK, and that the quest will be done USING the DK. GG.
/facepalm
1-04-2008 @ 12:52PM
Tom said...
Yeah, have to agree with Keylogger here...
Blizz has been a bit vague on the exact level (from what I've been reading here) that you have to have a toon before the DK is unlocked. At one point they said 80, plus a quest chain (http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/08/03/death-knight-details/). Then later they said anyone with a toon over 55 9http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/08/29/death-night-tidbits-from-neth/).
Most likely, by the end of all this, you'll just have to hunt down the Crazy Cat Lady and beat her to death with her own pets to unlock it.
1-03-2008 @ 4:49PM
Dipstick said...
I'd like to know what kind of safeguards are in place at Lake Wintergrasp preventing one side gaining an irreversible upper hand via numbers alone. For example, on my own realm, Horde outnumber the Alliance by around 2:1 (I'm aware that the opposite is usually the case), which means that they'll generally always have more players in the PvP zone, and thus the alliance will always be on the back foot.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:54PM
original2k said...
Naix is my new hero
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 4:55PM
kenney said...
I think splitting the starting areas is a good idea, especially if there is a server architecture to back it up. WoW releases (vanilla and BC) are usually accompanied by really spotty server performance for a week or two on my server.
Maybe I am just a hopeless wow fanboi, but I really enjoyed BC, levels 60-70 (although nagrand got old- asking a prot warrior and then a paladin to kill 40 of anything is just cruel and unusual). Going through the portal itself was about as epic as I can imagine, and the way the initial quest lines pulled you into the fight was gripping.
I guess I can understand though, that people might get miffed about killing the pigs....
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 5:24PM
Hank said...
PIGS? Screw them, I want to pick through more Bantha crap!
1-03-2008 @ 5:51PM
Vort said...
I'm afraid Lake Wintergrasp will just become a play ground for rouges, and no one but rogues will want to go after the first 2 months of play.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 8:21PM
theRaptor said...
Yeah just like on PVP servers. Oh wait.
It is called "learning to PVP" and "fighting as a group".
1-03-2008 @ 6:49PM
fLUx said...
OK, will this zone be PvP automatic?
I rolled on a PvE server (kinda regret it but nvm), but would hate for this area to be a boring waste because you have to manually turn PvP on.
Reply
1-03-2008 @ 6:55PM
Eternalpayn said...
Yes, Blizz has said it will be contested on PvE realms too.
1-04-2008 @ 11:20AM
Dunwich said...
Apparently, Wintergrasp will automatically tag you regardless of server-type. Much like running into an enemy city.
How they'll prevent people accidentally wandering in is beyond me.
1-04-2008 @ 1:48AM
David Beaulieu said...
I can't take a new zone seriously when it looks like a tasty pastry like a crescent.
Reply