Hot Take: The update to Quel'Thalas is disappointing

Community General Discussion
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Not sure if I am the only one who feels this way but I am quite disappointed with the update to Quel’Thalas now that more info about Midnight is out.

Given the new footage and now that the working map is out, it seems like it’s largely the same size as before (maybe 5% bigger) just with a fresh coat of paint. What happened to 'giving our world builders some free rein to expand’ ?

The entirety of the kingdom is one single zone and biome now, with a small corner maintaining some of the Ghostlands aesthetics. In comparison, Kul Tiras, one of the smaller human kingdoms, is made up of 3 different zones and biomes with specific storylines, several towns and smaller villages. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Kul Tiras did not deserve it, quite contrary I think that’s one of the best things areas they’ve done in the game. But that should be the standard to what all future areas are created.

Quel’Thalas should’ve been at least 2 different separate zones. Eversong woods greatly enlarged to reflect bigger distances between points of interest while still keeping the old layout and familiarity of the zone and Ghostlands also enlarged and revamped into something else, perhaps a mix of the former Ghostlands aesthetics, the new lightbloom whatever and some void stuff. And most importantly, other proper Sin’Dorei settlements besides SMC. They literally just added 1-2 buildings to Fairbreeze and Tranquillien. These are not towns/villages, they are merely outposts. Tranquillien should’ve been at least the size of Merendar.

So much wasted opportunity at the cost of what? Harandar which could’ve been a patch zone and especially Voidstorm which feels so incredibly redundant right after the K’aresh patch. This could’ve easily been just the raid environment for the main raid. Not to mention how disjointed the whole thing feels, with 2 of the zones next to eachother, one in outer space and Harandar which is also God knows where.

Also, while the new high rez assets are beautifully done, the architecture seems rather think and bulky. It lost some of the elegance of the original Blood Elf assests. Not to mention everything looks a bit too large and disproportionate to the Bloood Elf character model? It works for important buildings and landmarks but when everything is that large it just looks odd and unlike something those people would build to live in. It’s strange because Suramar did not suffer from this. It was grandiose, but also felt like a proper space. Makes me wonder if that’s because everything is designed with dynamic flying in mind. It worked for Dragonflight because the dragonkin are quite large, but not for Silvermoon.

I was so excited for this revamp but the more we see of it kinda makes me think that it missed the mark big time.

2 Likes
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Of course, they showed in the QA that the real focus of the expansion is actually the trolls. Blood elves and everything about the race will be completely gutted in favor of a villain race.

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I think it’s good the Amani trolls get their share in the spotlight as well. Zul’aman was long overdue for a proper zone and from the looks of it it’s going to be neat. I just wish Quel’Thalas would’ve been represented better.

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Justice for Tor’Watha!

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People don’t want the zones to change drastically. They want the same zones they’ve always known, just updated.

If they made it bigger and changed it drastically more people would’ve hated it in the end.

I’m also glad they did it this way. In the case they do the same with Night Elf zones in the future, I don’t want them to be unrecognizable.

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I would like to ask for the name of your dealer because clearly he sells some strong stuff

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Yes, because updating their entire city is completely gutted.

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Can’t say I agree. I liked what I saw.

The only zone I’m not excited for is Voidstorm. I already don’t want to be there.

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I disagree.

I love what they’ve done to Silvermoon and Quel’Thalas as a whole

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My pet peeve is the removal of any mentions of the past, the old Sheppards gate had statues of Kael’thas in it, I miss the segmentation Silvermoon once had, surrounded by it’s large walls, giving you quarters. Walk of the Elders is one of the best examples, you know when you are in the zone because if you walk either way, you get like a “gate” again towards the other zone, there is always some part of it that is segmented. I found it to have it’s charm.

As by standards the new assets look beatiful, they do seem a bit bulky at moments. Taking away that feeling of enchanted elegance.

It is in the end also nostalgia talking. I am exited to re-explorer the whole of Quel’thalas and the Silverglade Refuge.

https://bsky.app/profile/darthdecisive.bsky.social/post/3m25lpx35p22q
https://bsky.app/profile/ramavataramaart.bsky.social/post/3m267cux53226

I don’t feel anything for Zul’aman or any of the other zones quite frankly. Yet at least. Perhaps they can change my perception on it as we go along.

But I know what you mean. But let’s see what it feels like when we play it.

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Blood elves and high elves making amends with the amani will water down both the elves and the trolls. They shouldn’t be allies in my eyes, at most it should be a Azj’Kahet situation.

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Even though I play a Void Elven Warlock which like and play a lot this season I have to agree with you. It’s hard to imagine it as a zone you would like to be in and call your home. Pretty much the previous tiny starter zone or Karesh sans Tazavesh. I hope they put some extra effort into into it.

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I disagree, going by the map size, they filled in quite a lot of dead space in the ruins, between the ruins and the city, as well as having added a proper dock to the north.

Personally, I do not want it to be another Undermine where its a zone onto itself. This makes it more like Suramar, which was a city in a zone tailored to fit that city.

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I think there can be a sweet spot of keeping a zone’s familiarity and old charm while also brining it up to modern standards.

In fact, they did this with Silvermoon City itself. It is considerably larger, with an adjusted layout, added verticality, but still feels like the same place. (I have my issues with the new assets that I talked about in my initial post but that’s besides the point here). The problem is that the rest of the kingdom did not receive the same attention. The rest of the zone is for the most part just a fresh coat of paint.

I am not advocating for re-imagining the zone/s completely. The same layout, routes, point of interests and general relief should be kept so that it maintains its original feel. But I fail to see how a slightly longer distance between the city gates and the West Sanctum, or from the city to Fairbreeze village, and adding more buildings to the other towns to make it reflect that they’re proper towns would make it unrecognisable to players.