Bastion has me bored to tears

[D3athsting]

Revendreth has a nice story too bad that when you meet Denathrius and you know he is the last boss of castle nathria you realize how the story will go

[gaymer77]

You are def not alone here. I couldn't wait to be done with that place. The only thing I found interesting was about halfway or 3/4 the way through you get hinted that the Kyrian aren't as pure and good as they portray themselves to be and then you find out about the whole wiping their memories part and I'm like UH DANGER WILL ROBINSON

[haiyken]

I loved Bastion when leveling and I'm glad I chose the Kyrians as my Covenant. It was a really difficult decision but it's the faction and the zone that felt right for my character. I like that the zone is peaceful yet really strange. I think the "cult" vibes are on purpose, obviously, and I found it really interesting to experience during leveling. The story is not the most original but it's really compelling. I disagree with some that there is too much escort mission, because there is not much at all. Escort missions are not the same as having a narrative following NPC along the way. TBH, I came to like the characters, even if it was difficult to recognize some of them sometimes. I really love Elysian Hold, because opposite the other Covenant sanctums, it's bright and open. I can see my characters without bumping into walls, that's a plus.

[Kyranna]

I love WoW. I've been playing it since I was 12 back in early TBC.

Now that that's out of the way. Is anyone else finding it a real chore to play through Bastion? It looks alright, but it's also so samey. It has barely any variation in its looks. We've also done this sort of thing before. We've purified ourselves in Pandaria...we've fought similar constructs in Mac'aree (which Bastion reminds me of) I honestly expected more from Blizzard here. I really am struggling to care about doing all these Kryian trials. It's nothing new and I know in the end it won't be important. Bastion just lacks that something special that other zones have had.

Edit: In case you feel inclined to write something like, 'People like different stuff', don't bother, you're really wasting your time. Yes, of course everything is subjective. This is my subjective opinion. It's a discussion, not an attack on your very soul. It's great that you love Bastion. I don't.

Lucky you that were 12 in early TBC, I was 33 already /groan. I like WoW lore, because after all these years it feels familiar reading of the events in Azeroth or tied to it. It's like reading Terry Pratchett books on the Night Watch: after reading a few, you come back to them like visiting old friends, WoW gives me a similar feeling, so I just keep playing it and reading a bit of the story even outside of the game.

Some things I like, some things I don't. The landscape is beautiful, not too difficult to navigate, music is entirely forgettable which is far from Blizzard standards. It's a tad too bright for my taste, but it fits the theme nicely.
The story is simple and well delivered, but not good, it's another version of the same old, same old that is in fantasy_standards_games_01: some dudes got corrupted because they felt oppressed, they did bad things, took a beating, left but not before leaving a lot of "property damage" to say it in the goblin style. The big figures in the zone don't look very powerful, nor wise: the Polymarch is dumb, you need to fix a beacon to call him from... 10 meters above and the Archon says "oh, let's do nothing, just be vigilant" right before being attacked. Meh...

So, let's see: I don't expect amazing storytelling from Blizzard, even if they had a few moments where a combination of cinematics and music truly got to me (Ysera's Death and Elune bringing her spirit away to mention one).
The whole SL plotline wouldn't be worth having as a book in my library (most of WoW at that), but that's ok because even if fantasy narrative has evolved in the years, WoW has to stay a bit closer to the ground, because it's for all ages and for all kind of people, even those that care little to nothing about the story.

I'll be honest, the whole beginning of SL (and Bastion) reminded me of FFXIV Shadowbringers and that story was delivered a lot better in my opinion. I started the 2nd zone Maldraxxus, but I just did the arena at the beginning, for sure it's a nice change of background, haha

[ashblond]

Pro tip: I dim my screen and wear a sunglasses when i play in Bastion, so the brightness won't bring me to tears.

Whoever designed this zone clearly hates human eyes.

[SirCowdog]

I know I"m behind the curve here. Been working like a dog and only just got to spend time on Shadowlands today.

Bastion is literally putting me to sleep. I mean I was LITERALLY nodding off due to how utterly uninteresting it is in the first hour or so. I'm having to really struggle to keep going.

Are the later zones better? Please tell me there's better than this.

[Nyel]

Maldraxxus is story-wise way better than Bastion. Bastion is okay-ish, but it really drags on forever with the all-talk-no-action questlines. For a starting zone it's really slow paced and boring because it really doesn't get you hooked.

[Kayb]

Bastion was a mixed bag for me

Looks fantastic (10/10)
Little owl f***ers? Cute as hell, i want one as a real life pet
Questing? some of the most boring shite i`ve ever had to go through

Yes, this. It’s the only time since vanilla launched that I was truly utterly bored playing a zone. It looks amazing but I found the story and characters mind numbing.

[Huntermyth]

from bastion to maldraxxus felt like i was in heaven and bam ! back to hell. transition was unexpected to say the least

i ADAPT when it comes to wow i guess, if we continue on topic. i am generally content with what i am offered and go on with the general flow. i pvp if it is the best option, i do mythic plus if it is the fotm etc. but this doesn't make me a brain-dead zombie of any sort. i just try to enjoy what i have at hand i guess. i am too much (like more than 15 years) invested in this game and i feel like i can't leave it no matter what.

[whywhatwhowhenhow]

Same boring formula as it was in BFA. Go to the quest hub, get 3 quests, a kill quest, a collect quest and another, usually to find someone. Complete them then kill an elite. Move on to the next hub and repeat....

All my alts will level through dungeons I think. Questing is far too tedious for me.

[Zantera]

While I get the 'it's a mix of things we have seen before', IMO what makes both Bastion and Ardenweald so great to me is that they have recognizable slices from other zones but the mixture is just really satisfying. There's been other zones where it feels like "it just reminds me of X and Y" but in this case it's elevated in a way.

Ardenweald especially to me has what I loved the most from zones like Shadowmoon Valley (WoD), Zangarmarsh, the Nelf zones, but I would say I like it more than any of those.

[dope_danny]

I think visually its wallpaper bait but in practice its a very empty feeling zone comparable to og nagrand but with less quests and the good guys are some strange breatharian style 'gotta deep cleanse my feelings' cult that i didn't feel meshed well with the player characters.

Like every death knight player that did the original death knight starting experience thats all about "remember who you used to be" or the demon hunters with illidans emo but on point "i AM my scars" seeing people want to basically reset their personality and go "nothing that happened before was meaningful to shaping your personality, moral code or sense of ethics. Everyone needs to look the same, act the same and think the same" like a creepy blend of scientology and tumblr.

Then Uther shows up siding with the guys who just want to keep being who they are and you get a percentage bar to fill by killing them.

I get it is meant to be some 'they were manipulated by the maw' deal but were that not involved its had to relate to the 'good guys' that feel like some strange argument for suicide of the self from a drunk on facebook at 2am but as an ethos.

[Kallor]

I don't mind it visually, but the rest...

I find Bastion to be incredibly boring and formulaic. The quests are stuff we've seen a million times before. Seriously, how many minds do we need to cleanse by killing representations of their fear/paranoia/whatever. The characters there all look the same too, it's so hard to differentiate between them. It's a challenge to continue playing, but I want to experience the other zones so I have no choice.

[Neuroticaine]

Thought 3 out of 4 of the zones were home runs, but Maldraxxus is without a doubt the worst zone, both aesthetically and narratively, in the entire game for me.

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All my alts will level through dungeons I think. Questing is far too tedious for me.

To each their own, but man, the very thought of leveling through dungeons sounds like nausea inducing tedium to me.

[Malania]

I love WoW. I've been playing it since I was 12 back in early TBC.

Now that that's out of the way. Is anyone else finding it a real chore to play through Bastion? It looks alright, but it's also so samey. It has barely any variation in its looks. We've also done this sort of thing before. We've purified ourselves in Pandaria...we've fought similar constructs in Mac'aree (which Bastion reminds me of) I honestly expected more from Blizzard here. I really am struggling to care about doing all these Kryian trials. It's nothing new and I know in the end it won't be important. Bastion just lacks that something special that other zones have had.

Edit: In case you feel inclined to write something like, 'People like different stuff', don't bother, you're really wasting your time. Yes, of course everything is subjective. This is my subjective opinion. It's a discussion, not an attack on your very soul. It's great that you love Bastion. I don't.

You know, I went to Blizzcon in 2019 and when they asked for feedback for Shadowlands (the zone we tried was Bastion) my first statement to Blizzard was "This feels really similar to Mac'aree and zones we've done before. It's a brighter version of Suramar"

I just found it amusing that you mentioned Mac'aree as well as an example when I said that to them.

[Zka]

Bastion is one of the most visually stunning zones. I liked the quests as well.

As much as the storytelling is excellent, the questing experience is way too much on rails now, you have almost no choice on what you do, when you do it and which order you do it. It's full of unskippable RP acting and escorts. You're a dummy being dragged around. This will be living hell on alts. I already hated war campagin in BFA, but this is the whole leveling process now. Not sure how much of it is mandatory on alts. Fairly fun and OK at first but there is zero replayability there.

[Olololo2r5]

Thought 3 out of 4 of the zones were home runs, but Maldraxxus is without a doubt the worst zone, both aesthetically and narratively, in the entire zone for me.

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To each their own, but man, the very thought of leveling through dungeons sounds like nausea inducing tedium to me.

Crazy how subjective it is. Maldraxxus blew me away compared to Bastion which made me question why I play this game. Its like a completely different dev team made it. But I love scourge and metal.

[Malania]

Thought 3 out of 4 of the zones were home runs, but Maldraxxus is without a doubt the worst zone, both aesthetically and narratively, in the entire zone for me.

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To each their own, but man, the very thought of leveling through dungeons sounds like nausea inducing tedium to me.

Revendreth is a nightmare to navigate. Aesthetically it's nice for the theme but it's just a chore.

[Frozen Death Knight]

I am kind of torn on Bastion honestly. On one hand, it is absolutely gorgeous and it has some interesting stuff going down at the end of the story quests. On the other hand, you have to run errands for what is basically a cult. When I am starting to agree with the antagonists, it starts feeling weird trying to help the "good guys" all the time. Maybe that was the intention of the zone? Because you were able to "pick a side" during one section of the questline. Hope that gets expanded on once you pick Bastion as a covenant.

Another disappointment for me about Bastion was the severe lack of Uther. You see him a couple of times at most with no interactions with you the player and then you have to move on to the next zone. It felt more like an appetiser to the more interesting stuff rather than the main event.

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I think visually its wallpaper bait but in practice its a very empty feeling zone comparable to og nagrand but with less quests and the good guys are some strange breatharian style 'gotta deep cleanse my feelings' cult that i didn't feel meshed well with the player characters.

Like every death knight player that did the original death knight starting experience thats all about "remember who you used to be" or the demon hunters with illidans emo but on point "i AM my scars" seeing people want to basically reset their personality and go "nothing that happened before was meaningful to shaping your personality, moral code or sense of ethics. Everyone needs to look the same, act the same and think the same" like a creepy blend of scientology and tumblr.

Then Uther shows up siding with the guys who just want to keep being who they are and you get a percentage bar to fill by killing them.

I get it is meant to be some 'they were manipulated by the maw' deal but were that not involved its had to relate to the 'good guys' that feel like some strange argument for suicide of the self from a drunk on facebook at 2am but as an ethos.

Yeah. I felt pretty weirded out by the whole "forgetting your past" and "cleansing yourself" bits overall. Considering that Bastion is supposed to be the place where the more virtuous and good people end up, it is just really unsettling that they must be the ones who forget their own actions, morals, values, and beliefs when it was those very things that made them eligible for Bastion in the first place. Becoming a Kyrian is basically just another step to becoming truly dead, since how can you truly know you lived if you never remembered any of it?

Finished Maldraxxus last night. If I had to choose between the two, I would rather end up in Maldraxxus. It may be an endless war, but at least I would not become an empty husk.

[Dalheim]

To people who are calling the zones and expansion boring, it could be that you have become jaded after playing the game for too long. Maybe it's time to stop playing WoW, or find another expansion.

I found Bastion boring, but I enjoyed the other zones - especially Maldraxxus.

One doesnt have to like every single thing in an expansion.