Shadowlands doesn't feel like Warcraft

[Venziir]

Previous expansions all added new places and creatures, but they brought existing elements there as well. You would find the classic races of Azeroth building settlements there, you'd see murlocs, goblin towns, human castles and so on.
Shadowlands doesn't have any of that. It's all completely different to the point where it feels like I'm playing some chinese knockoff of wow.
Even the loading screen looks more like something out of Narnia and that movie sucked.
Also, the fact that they added a bunch of existing characters that just sit in a corner in Oribos doesn't help.

This is my main gripe with the expansion and wanted to ask if anyone feels the same way.

I agree, that's my main gripe with the expansion too. The lack of familarity, and known faces and characters aside from the few key characters we are dragging out of the Maw.

Though the whole "chinese knock-off, Narnia" thing is something I do *not* agree with.

[Kolvarg]

I meant like when they skirt copyright laws. We don't have dwarfs digging for gold, instead we have grudges digging for anima or something similar. And I expected dwarfs from wow and the expansion to be set in a way as to accommodate the iconic things.

That's how copyright laws are avoided in the rest of the world. Chinese knockoffs don't have to do that, they just blatantly copy.

I don't know, you could say that about so many things. What exactly is the "Warcraft feeling"? I could argue any race that didn't exist "as is" in W3 goes against it, including playable Draenei, so it goes back as far as TBC. Definitely not Worgen, nearly all of the allied races.

Warcraft has always had a pretty wide spectrum of stuff in it. Even in an expansion which you and some others feel like is too different, everything is still fairly derivative.

I get the feeling, to some extent, I get it from the simple fact that we now have so many playable races and not just the iconic first few. But ultimately it's not something exclusive to Shadowlands, it's a direction WoW has been slowly heading towards since its inception, and arguably a necessary one. If we always just get more of the same it gets pretty boring. The difference in Shadowlands is that it is so fantastical (even for WoW standards) because it's set in the afterlife, that they can be a bit more original than usual. Personally, I'd prefer if they went even more ham.

[Raven]

Good, its a place where no living have been before, it shouldnt be like any other place.

[Wuusah]

I'm so glad Shadowlands isn't the same old

Horde versus Alliance

Oh noooo, spooky undead attack

Horde versus Alliance

Oh noooo, demons attack

Horde versus Alliance

Oh nooo, Old Gods attack

Horde versus Alliance


I'm glad that "Shadowlands doesn't feel like Warcraft" because Warcraft has been milking the same old stories over and over again. I want something different for once.

[belicus]

I think worgen were in classic, though, weren't they? I'm pretty sure there were some in Duskwood.
And Draenei were in W3 in their broken form and in their current form (Archimonde).

[Gaidax]

Previous expansions all added new places and creatures, but they brought existing elements there as well. You would find the classic races of Azeroth building settlements there, you'd see murlocs, goblin towns, human castles and so on.
Shadowlands doesn't have any of that. It's all completely different to the point where it feels like I'm playing some chinese knockoff of wow.
Even the loading screen looks more like something out of Narnia and that movie sucked.
Also, the fact that they added a bunch of existing characters that just sit in a corner in Oribos doesn't help.

This is my main gripe with the expansion and wanted to ask if anyone feels the same way.

You have whole Maldraxxus which is basically Scourge stuff cranked up. Then you have the progenitors of Valkyr.

That is already plenty.

[Venziir]

I think worgen were in classic, though, weren't they? I'm pretty sure there were some in Duskwood.
And Draenei were in W3 in their broken form and in their current form (Archimonde).

Worgen were indeed in Classic, in both Duskwood and Silverpine. And yes, the draenei were introduced in Warcraft 3 and were mentioned already in Warcraft 2.

[czarek]

Not really. I got wotlk feeling lore wise in some way and legion because of zones structure. Im lovin it. Most ppl blame MoP for chinese connections. And tbh that was huge discrepancy from main warcraft. For me MoP was very good but it was more like spinnoff as a story.

[bagina]

I think it's because previous expansions have always had an anchor of some kind. Every zone would have something already familiar to us that would serve as our reference point and would help us feel at "home", as in in WoW. They always stemmed organically from existing world and lore, new zones felt intertwined with the old world, they always had a piece of old content in them.

Shadowlands is a completely separate entity that introduces new worlds, creatures and things, beings that have completely different system of beliefs and morality, completely different hierarchy, different priorities and so on... The rest of the WoW universe is completely irrelevant in Shadowlands. It feels like SL should be its own separate fantasy universe. And they have never been even mentioned previously so no wonder some people find them foreign.


EDIT: I just read previous posts and you guys said pretty much the same thing. Looks like we agree.

[LemonDemonGirl]

At least De Other Side has a very trollish theme, so we have our 'Troll dungeon' that's in (almost) every expac lol

[Kiwijello]

Nah, pretty sure it's just you buddy.

No, it really isn't. This expansion feels weird. Your experience doesn't devalue anyone else's.

[Nerovar]

Previous expansions all added new places and creatures, but they brought existing elements there as well. You would find the classic races of Azeroth building settlements there, you'd see murlocs, goblin towns, human castles and so on.
Shadowlands doesn't have any of that. It's all completely different to the point where it feels like I'm playing some chinese knockoff of wow.
Even the loading screen looks more like something out of Narnia and that movie sucked.
Also, the fact that they added a bunch of existing characters that just sit in a corner in Oribos doesn't help.

This is my main gripe with the expansion and wanted to ask if anyone feels the same way.

Yeah, I feel the same way about Shadowlands. It's one of the main reasons why I didn't buy the game.

[belicus]

I think it's because previous expansions have always had an anchor of some kind. Every zone would have something already familiar to us that would serve as our reference point and would help us feel at "home", as in in WoW. They always stemmed organically from existing world and lore, new zones felt intertwined with the old world, they always had a piece of old content in them.

Shadowlands is a completely separate entity that introduces new worlds, creatures and things, beings that have completely different system of beliefs and morality, completely different hierarchy, different priorities and so on... The rest of the WoW universe is completely irrelevant in Shadowlands. It feels like SL should be its own separate fantasy universe. And they have never been even mentioned previously so no wonder some people find them foreign.

I completely agree and I think you have a good point about anchors. Ardenweald isn't basically Ashenvale HD, because the general feel of Ashenvale wasn't just that it's a dark blue & purple forest. It had elven towns and orc logging camps and corruption poisoning the land from Warcraft 3 and we already cared about elves and orcs and all that, because we had been following their stories throughout Warcraft.

[Eazy]

It doesn't feel like Warcraft, but the gameplay is good.

[belicus]

At least De Other Side has a very trollish theme, so we have our 'Troll dungeon' that's in (almost) every expac lol

Yeah, De Other Side was about the only thing that felt like Warcraft to me in the expansion. That and Exile's Reach, actually.

- - - Updated - - -

It doesn't feel like Warcraft, but the gameplay is good.

Yes, that's the point. The gameplay can be good, the new setting doesn't even need to be bad, but some people like myself wanted a Warcraft feeling out of this expansion that isn't there and it's not really talked about.

- - - Updated - - -

What exactly is the "Warcraft feeling"?

I think the new starter area is a very good example.

[Kumorii]

I don't know why everyone acts so unaware in this thread. I absolutely agree with the OP.

I like the setting, but both the world design and especially the NPCs don't even look like Warcraft anymore. It feels like they belong in another game, especially the Kyrians and Venthyr. Maldraxxus is the only zone that 100% fits the universe, but everything else has an entirely different design philosophy from before. It just doesn't feel like Warcraft anymore. At all.

If you honestly don't see how different this expansion is from the rest, purely from an art direction point of view, I don't know what to tell you. It's objectively different. Just put any NPC from Shadowlands besides any NPC from the other expansions. This isn't the Warcraft universe we've been to until BFA anymore. Which is fitting since we're in the afterlife, but I kind of feel like they went overboard with the weirdness.

How does Kyrians not fit? They seem to be fitting very well... Venthyr are the ones that furthest out but even that still fits. WoW might have problems but I certainly don't think it has to do with disconnecting aesthetics. Hell, they even managed to make Pandaland look like it belong art wise.

[melkesjokolade]

Narnia was awesome. Other than that I agree with your post. It feels weird

[Leiandri]

You're not alone and, as evident by some replies in this thread so far, it's not an isolated minority either. I have a lot of friends who play Shadowlands and feel the same way. I personally didn't buy the game because for the first time in 15 years I couldn't find anything that would excite me enough to hook myself onto. I don't like the setting, I don't like the theme, I don't like the story and visual style.

I know it's meme how players keep complaining about the game getting stale and then they complain again when the devs try to change something, but I feel they went way too far this time to a point when it doesn't resemble Warcraft anymore. I think what the OP meant about "cheap chinese knockoff" was nothing to do with the business model or gameplay. It looks like a very generic chinese/korean/japanese MMO to me and that is the greatest offence to a game like World of Warcraft which despite copying and borrowing things from many other games over the years still managed to retain its unique look and feel.

I'm sure the gameplay feels much better than BFA but I don't want to play a game that looks and feels soulless and empty to me. I'm going to take a break until the next expansion and see if it gets any better than this.

[Relapses]

No, it really isn't. This expansion feels weird. Your experience doesn't devalue anyone else's.

Sorry dude, I have a hard time believing this many people are legitimately surprised an expansion set in the fictional version of the afterlife... feels like an expansion set in the fictional version of the afterlife. Some real don't dead open inside in this thread.

[Santas]

It doesn't need to at this point.