At this point, besided playing for a bit during the beginning of each season, I have checked out of modern WoW almost completely and I am back to my full blown monke classic Andy phase (once again), so my opinion is definitely skewed, but it is absolutely astonishing how unapologetically brutal early wow is compared to now. It doesn’t matter which race or faction you pick, in all starting zones you absolutely massacre anything that dares poke its neck too much.
Kobolds daring to poke around the Elwynn mines? They poked around and found out what HUMAN POTENTIAL means.
Ice trolls disrupting the Dun Morogh peace? The Whitebeard brothers send murderhobos who absolutely murder them and their leader, warriors massacre their champion on their way out and the ice trolls are left in a state where they can only wait for the regular army to come in and genocide them.
Furbolgs getting corrupted by fell moss and the situation gets out of hand? Not in my World Tree chief, you dared threaten to murder my sleeping pals so you gave me little choice but to murder each and every one of you despite the fact that we were probably drinking beers and smoking peacebloom together a couple of weeks ago.
Quilboars dare existing in the land they owned since time immemorial? That land is ours now and you are in the way, could you kindly get ZUG ZUGGED FOR DA HORDE.
The still living farmers who try to do their best to survive while the world around them has gone to crap are in the way? Mmmmm, brains, now it’s experimentation time.
Meanwhile, most of these enemies will maim, kill, skin your body and make tents out of it, eat the rest, and make carpets of it.
Behind the cartoony graphics you are introduced to a brutal, unapologetic, grey world and that is nothing compared to what you encounter as you level up and leave the narrative safety of the starting areas.
In retail we are talking about how Tel’Abim will become a tourist hotspot, how everyone is just “misunderstood” and about the friends we made along the way as we delve underground to fight a supermodel villain catering to foot fetishists. There is no grit anymore, no darkness, no brutality. The tone is vastly different.
And look, no shade to Xalatath, she is far more interesting than a lot of recent antagonists and they have written her decently (for wow) while the world soul saga is a step up from what came before it, but the tone of the setting is way, way off. I am sure there are people who like the current state of things and I am happy for them, it is just not for me, I suppose.