Shadowlands Alpha - Oribos Preview

[chorx]

Were these screenshots taken with Raytracing on? The lighting in some of these screenshots really sticks out.

[JosephCraftHD]

This is soooooo boring

This is the main city. This is literally where the least amount of action will take place. I'm genuinely curious about what you were expecting.

[Kynario]

This is the main city. This is literally where the least amount of action will take place. I'm genuinely curious about what you were expecting.

I think people were expecting an actual city. Like Dazar'alor, Boralus and Suramar.

Believable cities, not a generic hub.

[Coconut]

The architecture is very similar to the Halls of Valor, which may be intended, with Odyn having peered into the Shadowlands and using Shadowlands-like magics to create an afterlife for his chosen. Perhaps the explanation is that he was actively trying to replicate Oribos.

The main aesthetic problem I see with the city is that all NPCs that are there so far are soul constructs, so they look very similar. They don't have the variation in equipment and customization features that usually make a city feel... alive (heh). This may change a bit if they add some NPCs from the covenants, although too many of those creates another problem: it undermines the fantasy that the Shadowlands are much larger than what we see and hold numerous other afterlife planes as well. Because if it does, shouldn't their representatives visit Oribos as well?

Some of the standard city hubs such as the profession tables and the bank filled with gold also look out of place. I understand that they are mechanically necessary, but they really break the immersion. This is a place where souls are drawn to be judged and funneled into the ever after, a central cog in the machine of death. Why the fuck are there profession trainers hanging out there? Especially the cooking guy with the only bowl of brown in the entire damn city. The gold is equally out of place - these beings trade in anima and souls, not gold coins and gems. Make the bank look like it belongs in that place, not like it was opened specifically for us.

I also hope that we will be able to mount in this huge place. There actual mounts hanging out inside next to the stable masters, it would be weird if we won't. xD

[Puupi]

I really hope you can mount in there.

[Dunkelzahn]

Looks like a boring rehash of Shattrath. Here's to hoping we get another forced escort quest that takes half an hour of slower-than-running following and stopping to read boring ass quest text in order to open it on every. single. character. that can't be skipped or sped by any means. Blizzard does love trolling their audience like that (and for some reason, the sycophants eat it up).

But man, that said, there hasn't been a single thing about this upcoming expansion that looks fun or even original. I really have no idea why they're so determined to drive their IP into the ground instead of hiring people who are passionate about the game and willing to do the work to make it great. Instead they're keeping some clown in charge who's only claim to fame is that he liked to crunch a lot of numbers on a site that took pride in being full of elitist jackasses. Smart move, that.