The Instance: World of Warcraft Podcast
The Instance: The War Within - First Impressions and Level 80!
Tue, 27 Aug 2024
Just a quick little extra for you from your hosts. Early expansion impressions and thoughts! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Howdy y'all. This is Scott. Uh, we're going to do something a little extra today. You may have noticed that the instance, you know, we said this on the last episode, the plan moving forward is monthly. That's the cadence. However,
What we've learned very quickly in the shadow of a brand new expansion for retail is that there's a lot on our minds and there's a lot we want to say and it's kind of hard waiting. So we also promised on our first episode back that we do lots of little extras here and there.
So we'd put things in your feed that maybe you weren't expecting or whether it be quick impressions or thoughts on something that's going on in the immediate moment or whatever. And so we're doing that. And today's is a first impressions kind of discussion. Now, here's the weird bit about this.
Bobby's not here with me physically, but you will hear from him today because while on his Alaskan cruise, which was planned way before this return to the instances plan.
so he's not actually here to do it but he's got some first impressions now i've not listened to his files at all because i want to be surprised right along with you for all i know he you know it'd be really unfortunate if it was just like a i don't know nothing about wow like what if this was just him talking about the toilets on the ship or something i don't know but we're going to find out together that's the kind of risks i'm willing to take in this life um
But I think that probably means he's had some internet somewhere where he could play. On the ship, my experience on the Alaskan cruise, which I did a couple of years ago, was that I had zero good connections when I was on the boat. But when we were off in areas off the boat, we could get decent connections, certainly 5G. And so I think that's probably what he did. I don't know.
I know he had a computer with him. So I think he was probably just willing to hop on whenever he could get the connection. Anyway, this is a long way of saying that we're going to talk about our first impressions of the game. And funny, it's kind of my whole impression because I beat the MSQ of the main campaign and then did a bunch of side stuff. Still doing side stuff.
I'll get to that in a second. But I hit level 80 on Saturday and I haven't played that much in a long time. I played a lot on Saturday. Like...
effectively i played the whole day i didn't play solid i breaks here and there but i haven't had a day that's that was that wide open where i could just play play play and kim's like hey it's new new expansion weekend you of course you can you know of course you should play go play i've got other stuff to do you know because normally saturday is kind of our day right not this one anyway
All I can say about it is I'm impressed. It does definitely have the feeling, as they have warned us and Chris talked about in the one-on-one Q&A that he and I did, or not Q&A, interview, that the stories, that this was going to feel like the first of more, right? Like we're not just doing a one-and-done campaign anymore.
And even in the past, you know, like the Dragonflight expansion and those before it, you have sort of your main story. It ends in a place where you're like, all right, now I'm just waiting for patches. And those patches will include additional story content as other stuff releases in the game. Various seasons hit, new raid hits, therefore new story quests, new this, new that, whatever.
And that's where we're at with this one. But what's different here is it left me with the impression that this was just the first act of three, which is literally what's going on here. We were told this on stage last BlizzCon that World of Warcraft, The War Within was just the beginning of the World Soul Saga and that we would have three of these episodes.
So it makes perfect sense to me that we would get a chunk and it wouldn't be complete or it wouldn't have the same sensibility as a previous expansion where the entirety of the story is mostly contained in that MSQ. But in this case, it definitely left me wanting more, but I was also very satisfied with what we got. And in some cases, some of the best storyline stuff and beats I'd ever seen.
in the main campaign. And so far, some of the best side quests. Now, I'm not just going to be all glowy here. I think that there is a risk. The game runs the risk of feeling a little unfinished because it does sort of cliff hang.
in a way that that maybe we're not used to um and for some gamers that i mean that may test their patience i don't know but for me it was a nice change it just feels like i've got room to breathe here a little bit like all right just take this as it comes it's all good you know uh But here's some quick overalls, and then I'll throw it to Bobby and let him have a bit of a say as well.
And again, I don't know what he talked about, so apologies if any of this, anything weird comes out of Bobby today. I'm sure it won't. So, overall, like tonally and sort of like the setting, I absolutely adore it. I admit, though, I got a little bias in this department. If you tell me that your video game of any kind or story, book, movie, whatever.
is told about big subterranean concepts like we went down a mine and it opened up into this civilization we didn't know existed, or even horror movies like The Descent. I love, as claustrophobic as that can be, I love stories about what's underneath. You spend all this time on top of the world, but what's down there? And it turns out a ton is down there.
I don't want to give anything away for those that haven't played yet, but there's something called the core way, which is not just listening to core on Thursdays. It's a... Literally a tunnel, a path, a thing that the Earthen have done where they've created a way down. And what's interesting is you get to go down more than you've ever gone before and go places that they've never even seen.
It's pretty wild. And having just seen, like, I'll give you a cinematic example. I just saw Godzilla X Kong, and they spend a lot of time. I mean, the whole concept of where Kong came from in the first place is like that weird middle, not middle earth, whatever they called it, the in-between thing, which is like mountains on top and bottom, weird gravity in the middle, that kind of thing.
Anyway, at the core of the earth, there's this thing. Well, they even go deeper in that movie, and I love that stuff. Like when they go down there, they got all the weird crystals and the funky caverns and just vast amounts of cavernous space. That's a motif I can spend big time in. I love that. Don't know why. I don't know what's up with that. I just love it.
And so that already speaks to me immediately. So your mileage may vary on that. As a concept, it's enough to carry all of it for me. Like I'm just, oh, it's going to be great. It's going to be interesting down there. There's going to be cool stuff. And it was. It was really something. One of the zones... Okay, all the zones are great. But one of the zones in this game...
is easily, by far, the most impressive environmental design I've ever seen them do. And that's for Hallow Fall, which is roughly level 75 to 77 or 78 or something is kind of where you're running in there. Second to last zone, really, at least in the campaign content. And holy shite, I can't even describe it.
We'll talk way more on a proper show, but let's just say when I walked in there, I just went, geez, this game. How are they doing this 20 years later? Like, just from a pure awe standpoint, I was absolutely freaking boggled by this zone. It just blew my mind. So I don't want to say too much more about it because you just really ought to go there and experience it.
But we also get to meet some interesting characters there that are hinted at in the cinematic. And so finally a chance to kind of hang out in there and do some fun stuff. Beautiful, beautiful place. Oh my gosh, I could spend all day there. And some of the most powerful story hits happen in there. And, um, I don't want to give any of that away again.
We'll talk about that on a show where it's appropriate to maybe get into the, not spoilers, but you know, deeper, deeper stuff about, you know, Anduin's hanging out with you mostly down there and you, there's a bunch of stuff that happens with him. We get some real progress in his, uh, in his life of difficulties. Uh, Okay, all that said, so I really like the MSQ.
Again, I'm just giving you overalls here. This is nothing. We're not going to get into the nitty gritty so much. But side questing so far has been distinctly better, in my opinion, than the previous expansion side questing or secondary stories. I think they made a real effort to do that here. And there's some real bangers in there.
There's one that basically deals... I don't want to give anything away here. How do I say this? There's one that deals with a real-life issue. Let's say, you know, like if you have some aging grandparents or parents that they may have to deal with. Let's just say that. I'll say that. They handled it with such grace and authenticity, but still kept it in the World of Warcraft world.
It was really something. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. And if you have anyone dealing with that sort of thing in their real life, it may even move you. It did me. It was really something. But yeah, that stuff's up their game. And I'm going for all of it because I really want to clear these zones out. And the reason I want to do that of content is because I want to...
I want to unlock everything. They hide so much stuff under just common quests now. And I don't mean hide, but like if you want an amazing secondary armor set that just comes from quests, a lot of that is side stuff. Some of the transmogs that I want the most are side quest drops. Yeah. I like that they've done this in the game. I have a lot to say about my first couple of delves.
I think those were pretty neat. I think they're a little obscure. But again, we'll dig deeper into that later. Ran a couple of dungeons. Those were great. Just on the overall, I think it was real strong. And now it's out in the world. As of yesterday, it's officially in everybody's hands. Or maybe it's today. Or midnight last night. Whatever it was.
So early access period is over, and now everyone gets to get in, and we'll see how things go. But having a great time. I'm going to turn it over to Bobby now and let him describe his experience in the world of Warcraft, the war within. And we'll see you guys on our next chunk of content, whether that be a full show or something else. We'll see you then.
Hello everyone, Bobby here. If you listened to the first episode, you probably know that I am on a cruise right now and I happen to be able to play, I don't know, about an hour, hour and a half of the new expansion before we left while I was at the hotel before we got on the cruise ship.
And I thought, man, I got so excited about some of this lore that I thought, why don't I do a little hot take because I keep thinking about it. I keep thinking about all the different things.
um that happened and all of that and so i thought why don't i just throw out a little bit of a a little bit of a recording of some hot takes of what my thoughts were and everything and maybe i'll do this periodically throughout while i'm leveling up and through all the story and everything so well so first um
First thing I should say, I guess, is that if you're listening to this, I guess there will be spoilers for the first hour to hour and a half of the game. So if you haven't started playing it yet, you should go and do that. And I play it up until you get to the new... the main town with all the earth in the, what is it? Dornegal.
And, um, I got the quest where I, you know, I just got there, flew in, landed and got the quest where I am being told to go around and introduce myself to different people. So like the vendors and stuff like that. So if you get to that, that point, that's how far I am. And, um, but let's start at the beginning. So the,
Already, at the very beginning, Dalaran, as soon as you get stuff, was... First of all, that opening quest sequence was intense. The story... They've started this whole story with serious stakes and have... Managed to say, hey, Zalatath is an absolutely scary villain. And has some serious things that you should be worrying about.
And the way they did that was by... I can't believe they destroyed Dalaran. And they killed... Killed Khadgar. And that is... that just tells you that blizzard like it's sort of like your game of thrones moment right like you you're you're thinking now who else is on the chopping block who there's nobody is safe
Um, so I like that there are lots of stakes there and, and right from the beginning, they're going to tell you, tell you that you, you don't know what's going to happen. And, and, and it's great. Um, my, one of the things I thought was Zalatath is clearly there trying to, I mean, I think she says as much, tries to absorb magical energy from the magical city of Dalaran.
What she's using is that, uh, that, um, That artifact that she has, the little round thing called the Dark Heart, and some of the prequests leading up to the expansion talked about the Dark Heart. The Dark Heart is sort of a prototype.
If you remember the Dragon Soul, which was the little artifact that Neltharion used a long, long time ago, or Deathwing, I think, even at that point, used a long, long time ago to trick the dragon aspects
back in the early before all world of warcraft stuff tricked the dragon aspects into giving him part of their power so that um so that he could uh do some really terrible things but the dragon soul was was this thing that was able to absorb uh magical energies or different energies from the world and from the dragon aspects and absorb it and turn it into something else, something powerful.
The Dark Heart is a similar prototype version of that and that's what Xalatath is using. And so she was there at Dalaran, I think, absorbing energy from that magical city. And she even employs you to help her, right? So you get, without knowing it, because you thought she was one of the council members who's masquerading as one. But the question I have is what...
What is she using that energy for, right? Is she going to try to inject that into Azeroth? Because then, ultimately, after the city explodes and then you end up going back, you see that the Nerubians, who she has recruited, remember in the cinematic, one of the videos before it launched, the expansion, saw that she has recruited those Nerubians there. And she...
Has attacked Dornagal, which they have been protecting that... What is that shaft called? I can't remember exactly what it is, but it's like a tunnel that goes directly into the heart of Azeroth, right? The Earthen have been tasked with protecting that, and so she's attacking that and trying to make it so that they can't get in there. Is she maybe... Oh, hold on. Good morning, please.
Okay, I had to stop for just a minute because they were... I'm in like a makeshift sound booth I made here in the room on the cruise ship. And they were making an announcement because we just arrived at a port. Anyway, let me continue. So my thought is, since Zalatath has...
attacked the place that has sort of a shaft down into the heart of Azeroth is she going to take all that energy that she's trying to absorb from Dalaran into the dark heart and she may be trying to because I think what it does is it converts all sorts of magical energies into void energies and maybe she's trying to inject that into Azeroth because you know one of my predictions it seems to be pointing to the fact that
She is preparing Azeroth to be maybe like a void entity, maybe a void lord, and to transform it into that because there's a lot of indications in the lore that this is speculation, but that Azeroth, even though we've been told for a long time, is... Is it a Titan soul is being born into a Titan that maybe it's not actually what a world soul is.
Maybe a world soul actually is some sort of almost blank slate that can be transformed based on the type of energies that get get put into it.
um so that'll be really interesting to see the earthen at this at this uh at dornigal are fantastic i cannot wait to learn more about them they're just so interesting you've got the oath sworn um they talk a bunch about like directives that they've been given uh and and part of their directives are to to protect struck titan structures and maintain titan machines and
Now, what I want to know is why. I mean, I think it might be obvious why the Titans would set something up to make it so that there's a way for Titan energies or order magic to be sent directly into the heart of Azeroth, the world soul. And why not create these earthen as people who are there to maintain the machines that do it, but also to protect it and all that kind of stuff.
And you've got the Stormrider people. Balegrim was really, really interesting. Oh, and Magni being a Thragar. That's pretty cool. I wonder what that's going to – like this diamond creature. I wonder what a Thragar is and if we're going to learn more about – Magni's relationship with Azeroth as we go on and everything.
Oh, and the decision to not give these earthen Scottish accents like all the other dwarves was a really interesting choice. But it makes sense, right? They have been separated for thousands and thousands of years. Why would they all sound the same? But it's those little details that I really like about the world building and about how the world is just...
Just this environmental storytelling that they're different people, you know. And you've got the machine speakers. Oh, that one machine speaker that you talk to who tells you all about the memory gems and how they do all that. Those are cool. They're like almost little like walking computers. Talk very like I am a machine speaker. I don't know. It's cool.
And one thing, I don't know if you guys noticed this, go into Dornigal and look around some of the profession areas, like the herbalism area. There are these, they're called Fae Sworn Arborists. And you don't have to talk to them, but if you see one, talk to them and ask them about what they do. And it seems really interesting because they're very... Weird.
So they talk – all the earthen talk about their edicts that they've been given, the directives that they've been given to maintain and protect everything around there. The face-worn arborists – They – the way that they talk about it is that they've got a different directive, right?
And that their directive comes from someone else that they can't say and they say if any of the oaths sworn hear them talking about it, they'd be in trouble, right? Yeah. So that's really interesting to me. Why is that? Who is it that they're getting their directives from? They say if you meet one out in the wilds or something like that, that they can talk about it. I'm interested to see that.
Seems to me like it's probably Freya, because they're Frey-sworn, right? But Freya being... One of the early... Was she a titan or a keeper? I think she was a titan, but connected to earth magics, right? Nature magics. So it has to be Freya, right? And the reason I bet that that is some sort of secret and they're not supposed to talk about it is because, if you remember... is it Agamemnon?
One of the, I don't know, some names are sometimes hard for me, but one of the leader of all the Titans got into a conflict with Freya early on because Freya had spread all these roots and world trees, planted a world tree into the surface of Azeroth to spread its roots around and sort of like protect with nature magic.
And then he was mad about it because like, probably because nature magic was being pushed into the world soul and that's not what he wanted right he's they're looking for order magic to be put into the to the world soul to to make it into a titan all this kind of stuff it's it's a whole nother thing but maybe the fray that's why the fray sworn arbor is the fray sworn following freya would be a
So that's all my sort of hot takes. I have three main predictions, if I can remember all three of them. I've been thinking about them. Three main predictions about where this story is going. And we might not see it in this particular The War Within. We might see it unfold, these predictions, over the course of all three of these expansions. But one of them is that I think...
I predict that the Titans are not who we think they are and that they're maybe sort of like claiming that they're benevolent and maybe they think that they are, but that they're just like everybody else, right? They have their own thing and they're forcing their order magic onto the world soul of Azeroth. And another prediction is, I think, Xalatath.
While I'm sure she'll maintain her status as an enemy, I have a feeling we're going to end up in one of those situations where... we both have a common enemy. Once we realized that maybe all these people who are talking about how terrible the Titans are, maybe they were right. And the Titans aren't great. And we need to like fight back against the Titans.
Um, and my final prediction has to do with Scott. Can't say this. I don't know what he knows. Um, based on that interview he had with, uh, Chris Metzen, but everybody's talking about the sword, like the sword being an Azeroth. And then he said, Oh, maybe you're not prepared for what's going to happen next. later in all of this stuff, in all three of these expansions.
And everybody's like, oh, Illidan's coming back. I don't think Illidan is the one who's going to take that sword out. I think what's going to happen is Sargeras is going to come back and take that sword out himself because, again, Sargeras was going against the Titans.
And so I think all these entities that were against the Titans who we thought were bad guys, we're going to realize maybe they weren't all great, but maybe they had something...
going on there and that the titans really aren't all that great and the reason that has to do with you are not prepared is because obviously illidan last time we saw illidan he was devoting himself to making sure that sargeras stayed imprisoned so maybe he's gonna have to come back we're gonna see illidan again in order to see sargeras and sargeras couldn't come back
yank that sword out and maybe have a big titan battle i don't know um thanks everybody for being patrons and uh that's those are my hot takes my bobby's hot lore hot takes who knows maybe that's what i'll call this all right bye everyone this show is part of the frog pants network yes get more at frogpants.com