{"id":126,"date":"2021-02-19T05:01:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T05:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/?p=126"},"modified":"2021-02-19T05:01:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T05:01:49","slug":"savior-of-false-shepherd-world-of-warcraft-battle-for-azeroth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/19\/savior-of-false-shepherd-world-of-warcraft-battle-for-azeroth\/","title":{"rendered":"Savior of False Shepherd: World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in September of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One faithful day, I was sitting at my desk writing about how EA is taking advantage of their players when there was a knock at the door.\u00a0 I got up to find my ex, World of Warcraft<\/em>, at the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi Craig,\u201d she smiled, \u201cI just came to tell you about my new expansion Battle for Azeroth<\/em>.\u00a0 Sounds exciting right?\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you pre-order it, renew your subscription and play with me.\u00a0 You can work to unlock the Highmountain Taurens and Nightborne with me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUmmm\u2026\u201d I stumbled, \u201cI am kinda busy right now.\u00a0 Playing some small indie games.\u00a0 Maybe if you come back after the expansion is out, I might have more free time to play with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOk,\u201d she said sounding disappointed, \u201cI\u2019ll just sit right here and remind you about it with ads all over the internet!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A little desperate, I thought, as I closed the door.\u00a0 My history with World of Warcraft <\/em>is checkered at best.\u00a0 I met her in high school and she came with me to college.\u00a0 I probably spent too much time with her in college.\u00a0 Constantly teased with thoughts of dethroning the famed Lich King, World of Warcraft,<\/em> always kept me at the end of her rope.\u00a0 Constantly tempting me as long as I kept up the grind.\u00a0 She just loved to see me grind out quests, dungeons, reputation, and professions.\u00a0 It was a bit of her fetish.\u00a0 I\u2019d get home from class and she is there tempting me.\u00a0 Just one more dungeon.\u00a0 Just one more set of daily quests.\u00a0 Even when I had important exams, she would just sit there with a sad look on her face as I tried to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She soon came to me with a new expansion, Cataclysm<\/em>, boasting a massive evil dragon to slay.\u00a0 She even thought it would be funny to have that dragon randomly kill me while I was out questing.\u00a0 Cute, I thought.\u00a0 I soon entered what I called \u201cthe MMO down spiral.\u201d\u00a0 She convinced me to join a raiding guild (phase one of the MMO down spiral).\u00a0 Soon, I was spending less time playing with friends and more time preparing for raids.\u00a0 Then, one day I had an epiphany: despite being one of the best healers in my raid guild, I wasn\u2019t having fun anymore (phase two of the MMO down spiral).\u00a0 I joined a friends and family guild and tried to hold together a raid group (phase three).\u00a0 I tried with all my might to make it work.\u00a0 We went back and did raids I had already completed in an attempt to catch everyone up, but it never worked out.\u00a0 While everyone gave a solid effort, it was too relaxed to make the progress I was hoping for.\u00a0 I was burning out and fast.\u00a0 As I sat on my bed trying to figure out what to do, World of Warcraft<\/em> only could offer one piece of advice: leave and join a raiding guild.\u00a0 She wanted me to repeat the cycle.\u00a0 She wanted the grind to continue.\u00a0 She was intoxicated by it.\u00a0 Like an alcoholic discovering his disease, I knew I had to quit cold turkey.\u00a0 I left World of Warcraft <\/em>and never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years later, I started talking to World of Warcraft\u2019s <\/em>mother, Warcraft 3<\/em>.\u00a0 She reminded me of all the things I loved about World of Warcraft<\/em>: the world-building, characters, the lore, and the story.\u00a0 I soon realized I didn\u2019t appreciate World of Warcraft <\/em>for all of those things.\u00a0 With my only goal of being the best healer on the server, I didn\u2019t realize I was missing all the small details.\u00a0 I soon began to miss her.\u00a0 I decide to pick up her novels like World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King<\/em> and World of Warcraft: War Crimes<\/em>.\u00a0 I was arrested by the stories, the characters, and the worlds.\u00a0 I became obsessed with Warcraft lore.\u00a0 Then one day, like any other bad ex, she came crawling back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I opened my door to see World of Warcraft <\/em>standing there with a playful grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey you,\u201d she smiled, \u201cI heard you have been reading my books.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have,\u201d I said trying to determine what she wanted, \u201cam I not allowed to do some casual reading?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can read whatever you want.\u201d she said cheekily, \u201cI heard you have become a big fan of Illidan Stormrage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t think he got the story he deserved.\u00a0 He only wanted to save his people and by making a difficult choice, he was painted as the villain.\u00a0 Tragic isn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI quite agree,\u201d she stated, \u201cLet me make it up to you.\u00a0 Let me amend Illidan\u2019s story.\u00a0 The Legion can return and Illidan can be their only hope of defeating them.\u00a0 He needs followers\u2026 I could let you play as one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offer was so tempting.\u00a0 I gathered up some friends together in an attempt to get the band back together.\u00a0 We soon began to aid Illidan and the Horde in the fight against the Legion.\u00a0 My friends and I were given someone iconic weapons ranging from Doomhammer to Ashbringer and the Twinblade of the Deceiver.\u00a0 Weapons that have so much history behind them, given to us because we are the heroes of the story.\u00a0 Along with that, we could customize the weapons based on achievements we had met.\u00a0 World of Warcraft <\/em>even created what was called mythic dungeons, designed to be almost as challenging as the raids, but only need five people.\u00a0 An awesome way to provide content to groups lacking numbers, which the band certainly was.\u00a0 While my relationship with World of Warcraft<\/em> felt fresher than it had even been, the romance wasn\u2019t destined to last.\u00a0 She soon turned back to her old grinding fetishes.\u00a0 Continually asked me to grind for artifact power to amplify the power of our weapons.\u00a0 The magic faded and I walked away from the relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now she continually knocks on my door, giving me small bits of the story trying to excite me.\u00a0 One day, she knocked door exciting yelling Sylvanas burned down Teldrassil, home to the Night Elves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds like your making Sylvanas into a second Garrosh,\u201d I said with a disappointed tone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSHE\u2019S NOT LIKE GARROSH,\u201d she snapped back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGarrosh attacked Theramore,\u201d I said with an air of smugness, \u201cSylvanas is attacking Teldrassil.\u00a0 Sounds pretty similar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWell looks like your going to have to play Battle for Azeroth <\/em>to find out,\u201d she teased.\u00a0 She had me.\u00a0 She knew that I couldn\u2019t pass a good story, and Sylvanas attacking Teldrassil was the most interesting the story had been in a while.\u00a0 Despite my hatred for expansions built around the Horde and the Alliance fighting, I had to give it a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOk World of Warcraft<\/em>, what do you got for me,\u201d I said with genuine excitement.\u00a0 She tasked me with defending the Undercity from an invading Alliance force.\u00a0 With aid from a magical flying ship piloted by Jaina Proudmoore, we are overrun until Sylvanas begins to raise the dead soldiers.\u00a0 Before I was able to come up with my personal theory of Sylvanas being controlled by some form of the Lich King, we escape the Undercity with poisonous gas engulfing the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExciting, what\u2019s next?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am going to need your artifact weapons back,\u201d she said softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWHAT?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, not this second, but you\u2019re not going to be powering up your weapons.\u00a0 You would be powering up this neckpiece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She presented a rather plain-looking neckpiece.\u00a0 Make a big song and dance over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t we just power up our weapons instead?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d she asked, \u201cyou don\u2019t like the new neckpiece?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is nice,\u201d I stumbled to say, \u201cbut carrying around the TWINBLADES OF THE DECEIVER is much cooler than this \u2018Heart of Azeroth\u2019.\u00a0 These weapons are iconic surely they would never be matched by any other weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBut Craig,\u201d she cried, \u201cI wanted to smooth out the power curve.\u00a0 Also, I made a whole bunch of new axes and fist weapons for you to use.\u00a0 It would be a waste if you ran around with old expansion gear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am sure none of these weapons will match,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood,\u201d she replied, \u201cNow off to Zandalari.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a daring rescue of a Zandalari princess and prophet, we were shipped off to the legendary city to help battle the old God, G\u2019huun attempting to take over the city.\u00a0 At first, I found Zandalari a bit unsettling.\u00a0 It had Aztec structures, trolls with Jamaican accents, and a culture reassembling Marvel\u2019s Wakanda.\u00a0 It seemed to artificially stitch together.\u00a0 I shortly put it all the side as I jumped off the top of the highest pyramid and glided down to the first set of quests.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t before long before I was racing through the story missions.\u00a0 Being a demon hunter I was a bit of a border collie, dashing around, gathering up enemies only for me to AOE them down with Eye Beams, Death Sweeps, and Blade Dances.\u00a0 It was exhilarating.\u00a0 While I did enjoy learning how bad the old God corruption was, breaking up with missions to set up bases to help the war which continued to loom in the background, didn\u2019t let the quests in Zandalari get old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After helping the Zandalari king regain control over his empire, I was praised as the hero of the Horde, and told the war effort must continue.\u00a0 We made way to Kul\u2019tiras, the island that the Alliance had made a base at in order to convince their people of joining the Alliance.\u00a0 We take out a Kul\u2019tiras captain in order to gain more information on the Alliance, but just before we bring her to life as an undead Forsaken, the leader of the war efforts Nathanos Brigthcaller stops me.\u00a0 Says I, the Champion of the Horde, the demon hunter who gained the trust of the Zandalari, are not trustworthy enough to see what happens next.\u00a0 I turn to World of Warcraft <\/em>to see the twisted smile on her face.\u00a0 This only means one thing: time to grind World quests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annoyed, I set out to quickly gain the reputation I needed to press forward with the story.\u00a0 So goes the adventure of the world\u2019s most efficient sheepdog, I thought.\u00a0 I quickly gather up three minions only for them to grind me into paste real fast.\u00a0 I turn to World of Warcraft<\/em> to see her giggling up a storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat did you think you can wipe through these world quests as fast as the leveling quest,\u201d she asked?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYea,\u201d I said patience growing thin, \u201cI was having fun herding these monsters around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d she said sly, \u201cif you blitz through all the content you won\u2019t have things to do months down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a stunned look on my face, I slowly painfully fought each individual enemy one at a time.\u00a0 A few minutes later, I completed the quest only to get a drop of experience when I required an ocean of experience.\u00a0 The steep grind hit me like I just ran into a wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned to World of Warcraft <\/em>and yelled, \u201cYOU’RE LOCKING STORY MISSIONS BEHIND THE GRIND!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d she said with lust in her eyes, \u201chow else will I keep you on the treadmill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that moment, the rage left me as I realized that maybe World of Warcraft <\/em>and I was just not meant to be.\u00a0 Like many relationships, they are just not meant to last all your lifetime.\u00a0 At that moment, World of Warcraft <\/em>transformed from the beautiful girl she was to the box of the newest expansion, and I was at peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0While I have small fanboy nitpicks over Battle for Azeroth<\/em>, it is genuinely very similar to Legion <\/em>expansion, and that is perfectly fine.\u00a0 The questing, the dungeons, and the raiding, it is still all as good as it has ever been, and if that is what you are looking for you could certainly do a lot worse.\u00a0 For me, I am not looking for something to chew up my time.\u00a0 The more I play Battle for Azeroth<\/em>, the more I realize I play games that marriage of gameplay and story.\u00a0 While Battle for Azeroth<\/em> does do that, I don\u2019t want it to drip-fed over months, I want it over a couple of days to a week.\u00a0 I have loved watching characters like Bwonsamdi scheme in the background and Jaina finally has the weight of her guilt lifted off her, but in all honesty, it is not you, World of Warcraft,<\/em> it is me.\u00a0 I will always appreciate the time we had together and continue reading your novels, but it is time to go our separate ways.\u00a0 I do hope that girl does find someone who loves her for who she is.\u00a0 I sure she will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article originally ran under a different banner\/website in September of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy. One faithful day, I was sitting at my desk writing about how EA is taking advantage of their players when there was a knock at the door.\u00a0 I got… Continue reading Savior of False Shepherd: World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gatecitygaming.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}