Idea to make Gilneas an actual Alliance zone. (Long)

[Alexeht]

I would be cool with that if Kezan isle - home of goblins - will be accessible similar way

[Deleted]

It will never happen, as Blizzard doesn't want Silverpine to become a contested zone.

Players that are on the starter edition can only go up to lvl 20, and Silverpine is lvl 10-20. So you would have people that potentially buy the game get ganked by a bunch of Worgen players. That surely turns them away and Blizzard loses potential customers.

[deadfish]

i asked my dark lady about it and she says No

[Gamevizier]

It will never happen, as Blizzard doesn't want Silverpine to become a contested zone.

Players that are on the starter edition can only go up to lvl 20, and Silverpine is lvl 10-20. So you would have people that potentially buy the game get ganked by a bunch of Worgen players. That surely turns them away and Blizzard loses potential customers.

traditionally no 10-20 zones or lower have ever been turned to contested zones, and besides I never said that Silverpine should become a 10-20 "contested zone" thats why Gilneas Headlands is added in the first place. (to be the Worgen 10-20 zone.) Silverpine will either stay the same as a 10-20 horde zone OR it can turn into a 20-30 contested zone. but in case of latter the forsaken will need to get a new zone (Northeron perhaps?)

but this is a suggestion about Gilneas and not Silverpine.

[Lord Pebbleton]

i asked my dark lady about it and she says No

I asked Varian and Genn; they both said yes.
Looks like we're winning 2 : 1!

[championknight]

It will never happen, as Blizzard doesn't want Silverpine to become a contested zone.

Players that are on the starter edition can only go up to lvl 20, and Silverpine is lvl 10-20. So you would have people that potentially buy the game get ganked by a bunch of Worgen players. That surely turns them away and Blizzard loses potential customers.

Redridge Mountains would like to have a word with you...god forbid low level Alliance getting ganked whilst finding a ring for a little girl, those fiends!

Should also make Wandering Isle and Kezan visitable instead of being a starter zone

[Northem]

Before analyzing in depth the idea that this thread is about (which seems perfect in every way) I will discuss something very interesting and disturbing at the same time.

I am referring to the size of the Gilneas Peninsula, since in this case the size matters. Indeed, one could even say that Blizzard "castrated" the elongated peninsula.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, look at this comparative animation, in which we see the Gilneas Peninsula as has been always represented (since more of 17 years) compared with what we have currently in the game:

Do you see the difference? Why the Gilneas Peninsula is shaped now like a circle?

Exactly, the Peninsula of Gilneas we have currently in the game is half of what it should be, in fact has lost even its characteristic elongated shape.
The Gilneas Peninsula has always been long and pretty huge, but it seems that Blizzard hates to add areas for the Alliance, so, instead of making the entire peninsula, they have done it only by half...

In fact...

What if Gilneas is devided into two zones? south Gilneas and Gilneas highlands? if you look at pre-cata maps of Gilneas it is actually bigger, and gives you the feeling that the zone is actually bigger than what is currently in game.

Southern Gilneas 1-12 becomes the starting zone, with "the headlands" "northern headlands" "northern woods" becoming the Gilneas Highlands. the highlands will be a new zone. bigger than what it currently is, and the gilneas battleground will become an Island northwest of Gilneas and southeast of Silverpine. the highlands will be a 12-18/20 zone and in the end players will be able to go to southshore/silverpine which is a contested zone.

--in order to make the other alliance races reach the new leveling zone safely and faster there can be a ship route between Darnassus-->Gilneas and SW-->Gilneas this way Gilneas will become a more easier city to travel to. which encourages people to go there often.

Exactly, the original Gilneas Peninsula had capacity to accommodate at least two areas of considerable size. But of course, it is illogical that Blizzard created two zones to keep them empty and unused...

But if ...

If Gilneas had a self-contained pair of questing zones, 1-10 and 10-20 respectively that were not contested territory it wouldn't cause any problems at all; add Alliance quests in hillsbrad, a contested zone or send them across the water to Menethil Harbour for wetlands questing (20+) or to SW/Darnassus to do Duskwood or Ashenvale quests via docks, respectively. Making Silverpine contested would be problematic.

That's it!

Gilneas should being an elongated peninsula divided into two zones, each similar in size to the "peninsula" we have now. These two areas should be the two starting areas for the Worgen, and their imposing capital, the City of Greymane, would be erected in the midst of both, surrounded by canals that carry the water from the mountains to the ocean ...

A rough land, of a hazy and rainy weather, surrounded by a raging sea that hits steep cliffs on all its borders (with the exception of the northern border where stands the Greymane Wall), small towns, fishing villages and farms are scattered throughout the territory and horse drawn carriages travel the roads that connect all areas, vast fields of roses, wheat and barley (in fact the symbol of the royal house Greymane is a sickle), flocks of sheep grazing on their pastures, cold rivers that flow crossing its orography, wild mountain horses native of the region that trot free from their lands, dark and dense forests where inhabit the foxes and other wildlife of the region besides odd beings and ancient legends, green hills covered by the wet grass, frequent lightning storms that illuminate the darkness of the land, and all under a gloomy atmosphere and the omnipresent light of the full moon ...


To give you an idea, I made a sketch on a montage of pieces of the peninsula of Gilneas (I know that is a botched job):

The red lines demarcate the physical boundaries that enclose the kingdom of Gilneas, including the peninsula itself (with its proper shape and scale) and the Zul'Dare island to the east.

The yellow lines denote virtual borders that separate the peninsula into two parts by half, the capital in the middle of both parts and the limits of the Gilneas Bay to the west so the capital can access the ocean through it.

[Gamevizier]

using my rusty photoshop skills I increased the size of northern Gilneas to be able to contain more content. this is what I have in mind for the two zones.

tbh Worgen players don't really do much in the north anyways so I guess the yellow zones that I suggested for 1-12 Gilneas Mainland zone will suffice to level the Worgen up from 1 to 12-13 and then they can go to the blue zone which is Gilneas Highlands and level from 12-19/20 .

[Northem]

using my rusty photoshop skills I increased the size of northern Gilneas to be able to contain more content. this is what I have in mind for the two zones.

tbh Worgen players don't really do much in the north anyways so I guess the yellow zones that I suggested for 1-12 Gilneas Mainland zone will suffice to level the Worgen up from 1 to 12-13 and then they can go to the blue zone which is Gilneas Highlands and level from 12-19/20 .

What you propose is a solution no doubt, but what I propose is something more radical. The Peninsula of Gilneas always has been elongate and has always been bigger than what we have in the game. Blizzard should fix it.

Once the kingdom of Gilneas is formed by the "Upper Gilneas" and the "Lower Gilneas", the worgen would have two starting areas to level up comfortably (from 1-10 and 10-20 respectively). Then they can follow their path to Hillsbrad Foothills (converted back in a contested zone) although they can also take a boat from the docks of Greymane City towards Ashenvale or Duskwood if they prefer.

- - - Updated - - -

In fact, with this approach of having two zones on the peninsula of Gilneas, the northern half could even stay as a contested zone, thus justifying the "Battle for Gilneas" battleground, leaving a political map like this:

[bufferunderrun]

can you pls explain this political map some zone have a completely wrong color



this is the current political map of azeroth

[Prossy]

http://wowpedia.org/Quest:No_Escape

Agatha says: This way, <name>. We will take them by surprise.
Caretaker Smithers, Phin Odelic, Henry Maleb, Sophia Zowski, Bartolo Ginsetti and Loremaster Dibbs are in a meeting with Lord Darius Crowley and Ivar Bloodfang.
Lord Darius Crowley says: The Forsaken have broken through your defenses, magistrate.
Lord Darius Crowley says: You are out of time.
Lord Darius Crowley says: A decision must be made.
Lord Darius Crowley says: Die in battle and be raised as a servant of the Forsaken or...
Lord Darius Crowley says: Drink my blood and be reborn as worgen, immune to the depravity of the Forsaken.
Lord Darius Crowley says: Help us destroy the Forsaken and retake Lordaeron for the Alliance!
Magistrate Henry Maleb says: We would rather die than be turned into worgen, but seeing as how even death provides no relief from the atrocities of this war...
Magistrate Henry Maleb says: We choose vengeance!
Maleb and the other members of the leadership grabs a vial of worgen blood and promptly drinks it, turning them into worgen.
Agatha says: Run...!
Agatha says: RUN!
Agatha grabs you and flies you out of the keep while worgen attempts to kill Agatha.


More Worgen related lore only the Horde can learn.

And this is why worgen Deathknights should be removed from game

[Deleted]

And this is why worgen Deathknights should be removed from game

Nope, they shouldn't. Worgen DKs were ressurected by Lich King, who was much stronger than Val'kyrs are.

[delus]

can you pls explain this political map some zone have a completely wrong color



this is the current political map of azeroth

WPL would be leaning horde now. Hillsbrad is solid horde. Alterac is leaning horde. The alliance presence in southern Kalimdor has also been diminished.That map is somewhat incorrect now.

[Paula Deen]

You just cant have 2 major cities next to each other

The forsaken will never allow a huge alliance base and port near its territory of silverpine forests.

It will get attacked and the alliance will have to keep supplying it with reinforcements

The only way you will get gilneas back is if you utterly obliterate the forsaken from the face of azeroth

The Vale, Borean Tundra, and Howling Fjord say hi

[Gamevizier]

can you pls explain this political map some zone have a completely wrong color



this is the current political map of azeroth

With Theramore destroyed Alliance has lost it's quest hub in Dustwallow Marsh and lore-wise I think the invading Alliance army will retreat from Barrens and Stonetalon. So in a way balance will be restored in Kalimdor and it will return to how it was pre-cata.

Southshore is destroyed by the forsaken and it is a horde zone now, western plaguelands questline also ends up being totally horde. arathi quest ends up with stromgarde's last heir turned into forsaken.

I don't see how Swamp of Sorrows is leaning towards Alliance, both sides have quests leading to a stalemate. Stonard is defended by Orc forces and Alliance ends up stealing their supplies to force them to surrender, the outcome is never shown.

Nethergarde keep gets attacked by Horde and Alliance forces defend the keep. and Surwich has you deal with a corrupted Worgen Druid.

Alterac is now merged with Hillsbrad, which is a full horde zone.

Please have in mind that I do not wish for alliance to become the dominating force in the game. This is not a suggestion about alliance taking the entire lordaeron and defeating the forsaken. it is merely a suggestion to :

1) let the worgen fans see the rest of their storyline, instead of an abrupt end at Darnassus. (As a player who leveled 2 Worgen I can only say that i really feel like an alien, a drag, while questing in night elf lands. Worgen have no home, even Gnomes are shown to retake Gnomeregan but we don't even have NPCs at Gilneas, it's just an empty piece of land with no purpose.

2) allow alliance players to return to some popular contested zones like hillsbrad and arathi.

[Deleted]

I am indeed quite impressed by your work. You have worked out an interesting storyline, but based on the events happening prior there as their leveling zone atm.

However I don’t think Blizzard will revamp a low level quest zone for 1 race just so shortly after it got introduced.
In addition you might lose your story of how you become a Worgen. How you are being cursed, and how you get control over it step by step is lost in your version.

However I would love to see some attention to Gilneas soon. Gilneas could be the staging point for the next exp – when it actually is a sea expansion in any form or shape. So the pre expansion event thing could be your zone concept for level 89-90 where the Alliance retakes Gilneas, fortifies it and builds a fully functional harbor up there. Boats would connect: Gilneas City with Stormwind and Northrend and in addition maybe wherever the ex boat from Menethil Harbor to Theramore nowadays leads to. We would shift the functions of broken Menethil Harbor to Gilneas City, making it easier to access and leading to Gilneas being more useful.

The Horde equivalent would be about the zone Azshara and some Naga? invasion there which the new warchief solves Gallywix turning up and making the Gob Harbor a fully functional capital as well for the sake of faction balance.

[Northem]

can you pls explain this political map some zone have a completely wrong color

Yes of course. Firstly it should be mentioned that the color of each zone is determined by its political situation AFTER the events associated with that area are developed, so for example Western Plaguelands would begin as a contested territory but end up as a territory at the hands of the Horde.

The red color denotes territories of the Horde The blue color denotes territories of the Alliance The yellow color denotes territories controlled by neutral forces The orange color denotes contested territories The brown color indicates special territories (PVP areas, Sanctuaries, microsites, etc ...) - - - Updated - - - Finally I will discuss some licenses I have taken: I have divided the Amani territories into two zones that will be under command of the Blood Elves to the east of Eversong Woods and Ghostlands. Greenwood, as the last bastion of the High Elves of the Alliance (though it would start being a disputed territory with attacks of the Forsaken and the Sin'dorei). The current unused area west of Tirisfal Glades becomes a separate area whose use is uncertain: The Tirisfal Grove. Alterac Mountains and Hillsbrad have been enlarged and become two separate areas again (the first under the control of the Horde and the second being disputed). The Gilneas Peninsula now has the correct size and shape, also divided into two zones, the north being disputed and the south (where is Greymane City) is under control of the Alliance. Arathi Highlands and Hinterlands have been enlarged slightly. I added back the Forbidden Moorlands (area previously removed) between Badlands and Redridge Mountains and to the east of Burning Steppes. This area will be under control of the Ogres of the Horde. The Swamp of Sorrows finally passed into the hands of the Horde (since it is a historical territory of the Horde). Finally all the islands have been placed with the correct size and position, these being specifically: Tol Barad, Zul'dare, Crestfall, Kul Tiras, Balor, Island of Doctor Lapidis and Gillijim's Isle.

[Gamevizier]

...

I don't think it's fair to count Zul'Aman as horde zones here as players don't quest in them. also remove Kul'tiras from the map because Kul'tiras will not be part of the Eastern Kingdoms in the future. (I think, because if the next expansion is maelstorm they'll move it closer to there and thus it will not be part of EK, perhaps part of the new continent.)

also if we want to make hillsbrad contested we should do the same with wetlands. (dragonmaw orcs can be horde questgivers.)

northern lordaeron should also be contested.

I don't know about blackmoore, there used to be a zone between redridge and burning steppes but now it's gone and replaced by water. however if the next horde race are Ogres i'll fully support an Ogre territory. (may even roll one myself.)

[Deleted]

can you pls explain this political map some zone have a completely wrong color



this is the current political map of azeroth

Its actually outdated. Theramore is no longer fully alliance, since it dosent exist, and the alliance army in the Barrens was wiped out in a book.

[Sarthan]

Nope, the zone was destroyed by the horde because we are superior.