From subtle inspiration to straight copying.

[sethman75]

Uldum is the worst questing area in the game.

It is a total rip off of Indiana Jones which is such a shame because they could have put anything in there but they took the lazy road and we ended up with that mess.

Im sure i read somehwere that the devs use that as a reference point on what not to do for quest design.

I hope that is the case

[Time Sage]

Uldem DID have that Katamari referance quest which was a blast. Pity it wasn't a daily, that's one I'd pay to do again and again.

[Brubear]

Uldum didn't bother me as much because it was 1 zone and the other zones offered a break in variety from it.

You've hit the nail on the head with the only major grip I have about MoP. The entire expansion with the exception of Dread Wastes and the Isle of the Giants felt the same from an aesthetic stand-point. Unlike prior expansions where they blended in the obvious cultural influences but also gave you a significant break from it this one just felt heavy-handed in its cultural inspiration.

Yes, Northrend was heavily influenced by Nordic elements, but Dragonblight felt like an undead invasion with dragons, Sholozar was Un'Goro 2.0, Grizzly Hills felt like early 1700s trappers in the Pacific Northwest, Icecrown felt like Mordor on Ice. You could see where the Nordic Mythology influenced the areas but it wasn't the dominate artist focus.

Where as with MoP, it just felt like I was touring WoWs take on the East-Asian landmass. Where had your arctic peaks with their shirpa guides, you had your savanna-roaming nomads, your lush forrest region, your expansive farmlands with the rustic farmers, your mountainous steppes and hilly lowlands and the verdant coastal jungle. It literally felt like I was just touring the various environments of China. Especially because the entire story and artistic style seemed to be based on there as well.

The overall artistic inspiration was just too heavy-handed for me this expansion.