New Zone Concept: The Amani Woodlands (20-25)

[galdroth]

I, like many others hope that Blizzard will update the Blood Elf and Draenei starting-zones in Mists of Pandaria, and that they finally merge these zones with the rest of the world to remove the loading screen, and to support flying.

So, I thought, "wouldn't it be great if they also added a new contested low-level zone?"

And that's basically the basis for this idea. Hope you like it

The Amani Woodlands

(20-25)

Aid the newly formed Anasterian Order in retaking the last remaining enemy-occupied areas of Quel'Thalas. This new alliance between Blood Elves and High Elves - led by the two Ranger Generals, Halduron Brightwing and Vereesa Windrunner - seek help within both the Horde and the Alliance.

On the eastern shore - Vol'jin has landed with his Darkspear Elite - the Siame-Quashi, ready to aid the Anasterian Order in any way he can, and to destroy the Amani Tribe once and for all.

But death itself is marching in from the south. Crazed witch-doctors of the Amani Tribe has gotten their hands on necromantic knowledge from the fallen necropolis of Kolraxxar. With this knowledge they have reanimated their fallen, and raised an army of undead trolls, set to consume the Elven Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, and the lands beyond. To make matters even worse, these undead seem to be free from the will of the new Lich King. What foul voodoo-magics are these witch-doctors using?

The inhabitants of Kolraxxar - Nerubian Crypt Fiends sent here by the Lich King years ago - has joined up with this undead army, confident to finally complete their mission. These Nerubians are led by Crypt Lord Anub'xxar, and High-Vizier Amon'ra the Whisperer.

When hearing about this new undead infestation, the Argent Crusaders of Light's Hope Chapel has started marching in from the south, over the Plagued Mountains. This new undead army is just as much a treat to them as it is to the elves. They have come so far in healing the Plaguelands...they cannot afford to fail now.

Locked in between the undead troll army, the Amani Tribe, and the Argent Crusade, stand the Scarlet Crusaders of Dathrohan's Light. These last remnants of the Scarlet Crusade - survivors from the Scarlet Enclave, and the best soldiers the Crusade has to offer - will do whatever they can to destroy all remaining undead... and all the living who dares to stand against them.

(the "objective" of this zone is to build the characters of Halduron Brightwing (Ranger General of Silvermoon), Vereesa Windrunner (sister of Lady Sylvanas, and leader of the Silver Covenant), and Vol'jin (leader of the Darkspear Tribe). And to continue the story of the " Return of Quel'Delar" quest-chain (WotLK) explaining the new peace between Blood Elves and High Elves. The zone will also build up to the Zul'Aman dungeon added in patch 4.1 " Rise of the Zandalari")



New Towns:

The Silver Landing

(neutral)

Base of operations for the Anasterian Order in the Amani Woodlands. Located in Maisara Hills. Here, elite rangers of both the Farstriders of Silvermoon and the Silver Covenant find themselves locked in battle with the forest trolls of Tor'Watha. The operations here is led by Ranger General Vereesa Windrunner .

The town was just recently built as a symbol of lasting peace between the Blood Elves and High Elves. In the middle of the town-square stand a statue of High King Anasterian Sunstrider, the last High Elven king of Quel'Thalas, and a man revered by both the Quel'dorei and Sin'dorei.

(This town is the starting-point for Horde and Alliance heroes in this zone.)

Quashi'jin

(horde)

Base of operations for the Siame-Quashi, the elite forces of the Darkspear Tribe. Here - Vol'jin, with members of the Anasterian Order by his side - plan to assure a coordinated attack against the Amani Tribe. He's even welcomed heroes of the Alliance, and trusted them with some of his tasks.

(When troll players reach level 20, Vol'jin calls out to them (auto-quest), and ask them to come to him on the Echo Isles. Once there, Vol'jin asks them to join the Siame-Quashi, and to be teleported to the Amani Woodlands to aid the Anasterian Order in their struggle against the Amani Tribe. If the troll player accepts he is teleported to Quashi'jin where he is told to report to Vereesa Windrunner in Silver Landing.)

Anasterian Keep

(neutral)

A large ranger outpost in the middle of the dense Amani Forests. Fighting both the Amani Tribe to the north and the undead to the south, they are struggling to plan their assault on Zul'Aman. The operations here is led by Ranger General Halduron Brightwing.

(an addition to these towns, there are also several small camps scattered around the zone. Both Darkspear, Anasterian Order, Argent Crusade, Horde, Alliance, etc.)



New Quel'Thalas silhouette:


For the full map, visit the following link:
http://i.imgur.com/Fqhvy.png


New Neutral Faction:


Zone Concept-Map:


For the complete High-Res map of Quel'Thalas, visit the following link:
http://i.imgur.com/V7AXX.jpg

Zone Enviornments:

The Amani Woodlands is "devided" in to three very different environments, marked on the concept-map with different colors.

(these screenshots are taken from several different locations in-game (Eversong Woods, Ghostlands, Howling Fjord, Zul'Aman, Grizzly Hills, The Hinterlands, Zul'Drak, etc.) but they give a great impression of how I want this zone to look like. Some screenshots (like the top-right one) is edited.)


Other useful information:

• This is a neutral zone, with an almost equal amount of quests for both the Horde and the Alliance (the horde has a few more quests due to the presence of the Darkspear Tribe, but some of these quests can also be completed by the alliance! As we all know, Vol'jin doesn't care much about the Horde/Alliance war).

• The theme of this zone "favors" Blood Elf and Troll players. (much like, for example the theme in Hinterlands "favor" Dwarf and Troll players).

• The color used by the Anasterian Order is blue, therefore the elven buildings in this zone are blue (not red). But that has nothing to do with the alliance.

• When players complete this zone (at level 25) they are asked to travel to Northern Stranglethorn, and continue the fight against the Gurubashi Tribe.

• Alliance players will get here by going to members of the Anasterian Order in the Alliance Capitals, they will accept a quest and be teleported to Silver Landing where they report to Vereesa Windrunner.

Thank you if you actually read it all

Please tell me what you think. Criticism, suggestions and ideas are welcomed.

______________________________________________________________________________

If you'r interested, here's a link to one of my other suggestion threads:

The Heirloom Journal

[Triggered Fridgekin]

I actually thought this was an official release with how much effort went in to it.

I would love to see a zone such as this implemented which blends Trolls, Elves, and Crypt Fiends in a zone which can accomodate these elements due to the previous presense of all three.

Mind you, I think the Alliance will go on their typical warpath with no Alliance-only town, so, you might have to throw in a zone which favors the Alliance. lol

[Lulswut]

This is quite a nice work you've done here, i just can't see why you would make it 20-25, instead of like... A new zone in an expansion. That's how good it is. It should be a new zone in a new expansion. Yes, you are that good! :3

[Zaelsino]

That... is actually really good. Very well crafted. I always thought King Anasterian was a pretty badass character, so it's nice to see him get his due in more than just the blood elf charge emotes.

My only gripe is in the namesake; the major nations of the Alliance (Varian particularly) would hate Anasterian for abandoning the Alliance of Lordaeron, aside from the few high elves left. Genn was despised even after he got his act together, and the last thing Anasterian ever did with the humans was disregard their sacrifices, bash their leadership, and then leave them to rot. He's pretty revered among the blood/high elves, but it might be a little odd to see anyone else fighting under his banner.

All in all though, it's a very nice concept.

[Deleted]

Mind you, I think the Alliance will go on their typical warpath with no Alliance-only town, so, you might have to throw in a zone which favors the Alliance. lol

I think the biggest problem for Alliance would be the fact that it's such a low level zone and deep within the horde territory. You'd have to have some form of instant travel to get to there or nobody would bother for 5 levels.

Might be better to have a strict Alliance and Horde zones (Maybe something with Dark Trolls around Ashenvale? Keeping the troll theme.), or make them high levels zones.

You've done good work though, really like it.

[galdroth]

Mind you, I think the Alliance will go on their typical warpath with no Alliance-only town, so, you might have to throw in a zone which favors the Alliance. lol

it's perfectly possible to trow an alliance town in there somewhere, but I honestly didn't think it was necessary.

As we all know, Vol'jin doesn't really sopport the war against the alliance, so he has actually welcomed Alliance players in to Quashi'jin, and trusted them with most of the quests.

So you could actually see Quashi'jin as a neutral town

This is quite a nice work you've done here, i just can't see why you would make it 20-25, instead of like... A new zone in an expansion. That's how good it is. It should be a new zone in a new expansion. Yes, you are that good! :3

thanks

---------- Post added 2011-11-06 at 04:18 PM ----------

I think the biggest problem for Alliance would be the fact that it's such a low level zone and deep within the horde territory. You'd have to have some form of instant travel to get to there or nobody would bother for 5 levels.

Might be better to have a strict Alliance and Horde zones (Maybe something with Dark Trolls around Ashenvale? Keeping the troll theme.), or make them high levels zones.

You've done good work though, really like it.

The plan is to have some members of the Anaserian Order - in for example - Stormwind, that can teleport you to Silver Landing.

[Deleted]

Honestly this looks great and youve obviously put a lot of work into it but the real problem is its a lot of work for a low level zone that spans 5 levels and with current leveling you can grind that killing mobs in under 2 hours with heirlooms and even without them you wouldnt spend a lot of time there. With blizzard wanting to reduce the time you spend leveling and actually wanting people to get to the level cap faster (time taken to level has been reduced nearly every expansion or with patches) this might be better implimented at a higher level so players can actually spend some time there instead of the other older zones that you just want to power through

[Deleted]

This is one of the best and most complete new zone concept I've seen. And it fits in the leveling curve and storyline.

[The Madgod]

I'm already thinking of ideas of what the plotline would be for this zone, very nicely made sir!

Honestly this looks great and youve obviously put a lot of work into it but the real problem is its a lot of work for a low level zone that spans 5 levels and with current leveling you can grind that killing mobs in under 2 hours with heirlooms and even without them you wouldnt spend a lot of time there. With blizzard wanting to reduce the time you spend leveling and actually wanting people to get to the level cap faster (time taken to level has been reduced nearly every expansion or with patches) this might be better implimented at a higher level so players can actually spend some time there instead of the other older zones that you just want to power through

Another option would be for it to be like the Molten Front daily hub, where there's storyline progression as well as it being an exotic area for gold farming and whatnot. This is a bit less convincing, since the place is supposed to ramp up to a final confrontation at Zul'Aman, and this place would presumably be level 90 content if it was a daily hub, but I think it might be possible.

[McNeil]

I think that zone could be twice as big, and when u make it bigger don't forget to add the Shrine of Ula-Thek

Look at this map, this shows ur zone twice as big:

http://www.wowpedia.org/images/2/25/...alasDetail.JPG

[Deleted]

Wow, you put alot of work into this, looks great! Blizz needs to see this! hahah.

[galdroth]

I think that zone could be twice as big, and when u make it bigger don't forget to add the Shrine of Ula-Thek

Look at this map, this shows ur zone twice as big:

http://www.wowpedia.org/images/2/25/...alasDetail.JPG

to add the Shrine of Ula-Tek is actually a really nice idea I didn't think of that.

wowwiki: http://www.wowwiki.com/Shrine_of_Ula-Tek

it could be a massive ziggurat in the middle of the Amani Forest... or in the Tainted Southlands, overrun by undead trolls

[lothaer]

and how are the level 20-25 Alliance supposed to get there? id like to assume a boat but there dosnt seem to be any docks to bring the Alliance to the zone, they cant very well just walk through EPL.

[Deleted]

to add the Shrine of Ula-Tek is actually a really nice idea I didn't think of that.

it could be a massive ziggurat in the middle of the Amani Forest... or in the Tainted Southlands, overrun by undead trolls

It could be made into an instance, low level to tie into the quests? However it seems like an important place, so a heroic would also be cool.

[Pud'n]

I think that zone could be twice as big, and when u make it bigger don't forget to add the Shrine of Ula-Thek

Look at this map, this shows ur zone twice as big:

http://www.wowpedia.org/images/2/25/...alasDetail.JPG

Sadly the Shrine of Ula-Thek is considered non-cannon now that the rpg books have been ruled non-cannon .

[galdroth]

and how are the level 20-25 Alliance supposed to get there? id like to assume a boat but there dosnt seem to be any docks to bring the Alliance to the zone, they cant very well just walk through EPL.

Added a new point unter "Other useful information":

Alliance players will get here by going to members of the Anasterian Order in the Alliance Capitals, they will accept a quest and be teleported to Silver Landing where they report to Vereesa Windrunner.

---------- Post added 2011-11-06 at 05:00 PM ----------

Sadly the Shrine of Ula-Thek is considered non-cannon now that the rpg books have been ruled non-cannon .

actually, it's marked on the map in the Official World of Warcraft Manual (that followed the game)



that map is also where I got the name "Maisara Hills" from

[Anthraxxxis]

You might want to post this in the Blizzard Forums.

[AllteCCC]

POST THIS ON BLIZZ FORUMS I WANTZ really good job man i really hope they merge the draenei islands and quelthalas with the rest of the sundered world so that you can fly there, and they should make something like this like they did for zulgurub in stranglethorn it is HUGE when you fly over it and zul aman now is just what, a gate ?

[Lon-ami]

Oh my god this is awesome.

I'm with you on "Amani lands should become their own zone" so much, only that I made them the starting zone for the arakkoa (read more here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...rald-Nightmare ).

Reading through it, feedback later. I want to taste it slowly because it looks to be pretty awesome.

[Aethilus]

This is by far the most well-presented argument for a new zone I've ever seen. It is an area of the world that has not yet been accessed, but I have one concern:

You said it would be for levels 20 - 25, Blizzard is moving in the direction of powering through early game levels, and with all of the BoA gear you can get through those 5 levels in 20 quests or so (4-5 quests a level that early is not uncommon when you have all the BoAs, especially if you have access to the kalu'ak fishing derby ring.)