My Idea for a new expansion feature: the burning frontier

[Deleted]

So here is an idea of mine for the next expansion, which would hopefully revitalise the old world and simultaneously provide a lot of high level content. The idea assumes that we'll be getting a legion expansion next. So essentially the idea is a zone called the Burning Front, the centre of our operations against the Burning Legion within the twisting nether. Imagine the Isle of Quel'danis turned up to eleven combined with the Ahn Qiraj war effort event. Players would complete quests in the zone to build it up into an enormous military base, with the Frontier's story being continued in each patch offering new quest lines and scenarios. This wouldn't be phased but like Quel'danis would appear for everyone, giving a sense of progression for each realm. It would also be available to people of almost all levels. At level 10 upwards you can do a questline introducing you to the Burning Front, and from then on could contribute to it whenever you wanted. The questlines would take place around Azeroth, so say if the base needed lumber, you'd head over to Eastvale Logging camp and have to fend off a bandit attack to collect the logging shipment. Or say you needed some mana crystals. Well just head over to Silvermoon and do some backalley deals for those crystals etc. etc. phasing would ensure the mobs were the appropriate level.

So that's it really. A massive symbol of the realm's progress as a community, taking players into the old world and provide a cohesive, meaningful story.

[Belize]

So here is an idea of mine for the next expansion, which would hopefully revitalise the old world and simultaneously provide a lot of high level content. The idea assumes that we'll be getting a legion expansion next. So essentially the idea is a zone called the Burning Front, the centre of our operations against the Burning Legion within the twisting nether. Imagine the Isle of Quel'danis turned up to eleven combined with the Ahn Qiraj war effort event. Players would complete quests in the zone to build it up into an enormous military base, with the Frontier's story being continued in each patch offering new quest lines and scenarios. This wouldn't be phased but like Quel'danis would appear for everyone, giving a sense of progression for each realm. It would also be available to people of almost all levels. At level 10 upwards you can do a questline introducing you to the Burning Front, and from then on could contribute to it whenever you wanted. The questlines would take place around Azeroth, so say if the base needed lumber, you'd head over to Eastvale Logging camp and have to fend off a bandit attack to collect the logging shipment. Or say you needed some mana crystals. Well just head over to Silvermoon and do some backalley deals for those crystals etc. etc. phasing would ensure the mobs were the appropriate level.

So that's it really. A massive symbol of the realm's progress as a community, taking players into the old world and provide a cohesive, meaningful story.

It's a good idea but... what happens when all the resource needed to build said bases, are collected? I mean Pre-AQ event and Quel'Danis were accomplished in a relatively short amount of time. I doubt you could make it last an entire expansion without people finishing everything there is to do.

[Daetur]

That is an incredibly cool idea, but one that would cripple low-population servers. There were servers that were so unpopulated that GMs had to unlock AQ and Sunwell for them because there simply weren't enough people around to do the event. That's the inherent problem with a feature like that.

I don't much like having to rely on anonymous people on the internet for much of anything, personally, so I'd prefer a different approach.

[Golden Yak]

Loved the Isle of Quel'Danas, and I would definitely like to see more zones like it. The Molten Front in Cata just didn't hit the same notes. I remember starting WoW back when the war effort had just kicked off - I thought it was pretty fun. Wouldn't mind seeing something like that again - they can put little camps all over the place for festivals and holidays, I don't see why they couldn't add some in for actual lore-related in-game events.

The Sunwell progression was also gated at the time, with all the gates eventually unlocking. Low-pop servers could eventually be given the phases after a set time in order to prevent people from being stuck. High-pop servers would simply get it earlier (and maybe some bonuses too for unlocking it on their own).

[Deleted]

It's a good idea but... what happens when all the resource needed to build said bases, are collected? I mean Pre-AQ event and Quel'Danis were accomplished in a relatively short amount of time. I doubt you could make it last an entire expansion without people finishing everything there is to do.

As I said in my post, every patch in the expansion would add a further stage of progression for the base, so you wouldn't have certain realms just blasting through it all. Each individual stage would be about as long as the Isle of Quel'danis progression. As for the problem with low population realms that others mentioned, it would be possible to scale the quests perhaps, or as Golden Yak said, they could simply have it unlocked automatically at a later date and with less bonuses.

[KernWillia]

There were servers that were so unpopulated that GMs had to unlock AQ and Sunwell for them because there simply weren't enough people around to do the event.

[Deleted]

There were servers that were so unpopulated that GMs had to unlock AQ and Sunwell for them because there simply weren't enough people around to do the event.

Which somebody already mentioned and I already provided an explanation for, just above your post. Scaling could work wonders. Or, to solve multiple problems at once, they could maybe start merging realms that had low populations? They're already starting it with CRZ's.

---------- Post added 2012-11-14 at 07:13 PM ----------

I also thought that perhaps player housing could be integrated into this somehow, as a phased version of the frontier. Rather than just having a house in SW or Orgrimmar to decorate, it'd be good if player housing was meaningful to the plot and character progression. They could also build on the farming stuff in MOP, so you could also open mines or digsites etc. etc.