I'm questing in Drustvar for the very first time and I am VERY impressed so far

[Nyel]

To be honest, I never understood the fascination for this zone. It was okay, that's about it. After I played Horde and quested through Zandalar I just realized how underwhelming Kul'Tiras is in comparison. Every Horde zone is just way better done than the poorly developed KT zones.

[Aurabolt]

To be honest, I never understood the fascination for this zone. It was okay, that's about it. After I played Horde and quested through Zandalar I just realized how underwhelming Kul'Tiras is in comparison. Every Horde zone is just way better done than the poorly developed KT zones.

So far, I'm seeing KT's primary storylines lean hard into betrayal from within that threatens to destroy the nation. I think Lady Waycrest probably would have made a play for Boralus even without Drust Magic. That only accelerated things. Same with Ashvane if we didn't show up when we did.

As an aside. N'Zoth making his appearance was teased very early in the expansion all things considered. I do agree with those who said Blizz kinda worked themselves into a corner lorewise with the build though. Ny'alotha and Mechagon could have been second tier with Dazal'alor being the endgame raid which it felt like. Could've then had everything wrap up from there.

[Doffen]

Drustvar is one of my favorite zones in the game. The theme is great, the main questline is great, the general vibe is great, the side quests are nice and Waycrest Manor should have been a raid so we could have gotten more of the spooky theme :-)

[Magistrate]

And BfA was a mixed bag for me. The leveling was largely solid; most zones were fairly strong (the only part I really dislike is the inland pirates in Stormsong). Initial systems (Azerite) were a dumpsterfire as was the massive power loss from end of Legion. Warfronts and Islands had amazing potential but they barely iterated on them (though by 8.2 Islands worked decently as a place to gather collectibles). Essences imo are the best max level system they have added. Corruptions were problematic for the period of time in which they were completely random but were a fun end of expansion system. Most of the raids were solid (really the only one that disappointed was Eternal Palace for me) as were most of the dungeons (though hate Tol Dagor). Class balance and gameplay were fine, they have been better and have been vastly worse.
Overall BfA was at least an ambitious expansion with a decent content release schedule. There was clearly effort behind it, they made so many things for it. They just didn't do a great job at them. Compare it to Shadowlands with the content draught and the far less ambitious systems and I'd take BfA over it. Still the third worst expansion for me (after WoD and Shadowlands).

This sums up how I felt almost perfectly, thank you. I'd throw in from my personal opinion that the sylvanas thing almost could have worked (I'd still have my problems with it) with what we saw in BFA--it wasn't really until all the random nonsensical stuff in SL happened that it really made it definitively...I want to say something between silly and bad but don't have the word.

BFA had excellent zones. I played Horde side and my thing is that Zuldazar felt less like a city than the Alliance one. Some of the character motives started to unravel by the end and it was weird how little screentime some characters and events got compared to others.

By biggest gripe was Nazjatar by far. I honestly had fun with the pvp and some of the visual stuff they did was incredible, but it's been described as the capital of the naga forever and aside from the raid it just feels like caves or a coral forest. I'd been looking forward to it specifically since I started in Cata and it was a real let down for me.

But tbh warfronts were a good start they just needed to refine them. I loved islands and did them with friends regularly esp with the cosmetic unlocks and such--they were beautiful maps and just zany enough to be refreshing.

I liked corruption as a weird end of expansion thing--i think it had some promise had it been executed differently and not layered on like 2-3 other competing gearing gimmicks.

Drustvar in particular was really on point because they new exactly what it was supposed to be aesthetically and functionally and really delivered.

[Steelangel]

Moreover, it's also never really clear why the rest of the zone decided to throw their lot in with Gorak Tul. Lady Waycrest did it to preserve her sick husband, but the rest of Drustvar's women aren't really ever given any clear motivation for why, apparently, a large majority of them chose to become hideous murdering hag monsters.

I like to think of it as more of a "salem witch trial" kind of mass madness + cult + mind control. The closer you get to the manor, the weirder and more evil the place becomes.

- - - Updated - - -

To be honest, I never understood the fascination for this zone. It was okay, that's about it. After I played Horde and quested through Zandalar I just realized how underwhelming Kul'Tiras is in comparison. Every Horde zone is just way better done than the poorly developed KT zones.

That's an interesting opinion. I played through both sides and the Horde side does have a lot more titan lore---the alliance never really understands or appreciates the huge pyramids and what they are there FOR---but I think Drustvar is way better than Nazmir and Vol'dun put together. Tiragarde is well done, but kind of generic, and if you can ignore the blatant tone shift in the middle of Stormsong where they shoved the reminder that "Horde is EVUL" in for no good reason at the last minute, it's actually well done too.

Drustvar really does it for me though. It is absolutely banging.

For what it's worth though, the ruins in Nazmir and Vol'dun are absolutely -killer- set design. You can really see how those lands were put together back in the golden age. It's almost like they made the original maps and then destroyed them, rather than just placing random ruins in places without rhyme or reason.

[dope_danny]

I'll shit on most of BFA like anyone else but Kul Tiras was the most enjoyable zones Blizzard have put out since throne of thunder. They actually felt like part of the same world as eastern kingdoms and just imagine if we got a Drust focussed shadowlands instead of the 3d printed robot power tier titan horseshit instead. What might have been eh?

[Steelangel]

instead of the 3d printed robot power tier titan horseshit instead. What might have been eh?

I'm keeping this.

[shadowmatrix]

The only gripe I have about Drustvar is that the timeline is really muddled... you meet up with daughter Waycrest and she seems unaware that her parents and frankly, most of the entire zone have either become witches or have succumb to a horrifying, mutating curse, such so that entire towns have been irrevocably taken over and countless people either turned or slain... and yet the rest of the townsfolk know of witches and even accuse her of being one, and she seems completely oblivious as to any of this happening. And that's a pretty major crux of the story.

I always assumed she had left home to get away from her mother and was recently returning.

[Redwyrm]

You guys are making me regret only playing through the Horde side of BFA. I started on my main Alliance character but didn't get far past the intro quests.

[Aurabolt]

You guys are making me regret only playing through the Horde side of BFA. I started on my main Alliance character but didn't get far past the intro quests.

It's not too late. You also kinda have to do the Alliance side if you want to unlock Dark Iron Dwarves and Kul Tiran Humans as playable regardless. After I take care of those + Mechagnomes, THEN I'll do Horde side on my Horde main.

The funny thing is both my Alliance and Horde mains are Ret Pallies. LOL.

[Nyel]

So far, I'm seeing KT's primary storylines lean hard into betrayal from within that threatens to destroy the nation. I think Lady Waycrest probably would have made a play for Boralus even without Drust Magic. That only accelerated things. Same with Ashvane if we didn't show up when we did.

As an aside. N'Zoth making his appearance was teased very early in the expansion all things considered. I do agree with those who said Blizz kinda worked themselves into a corner lorewise with the build though. Ny'alotha and Mechagon could have been second tier with Dazal'alor being the endgame raid which it felt like. Could've then had everything wrap up from there.

That's an interesting opinion. I played through both sides and the Horde side does have a lot more titan lore---the alliance never really understands or appreciates the huge pyramids and what they are there FOR---but I think Drustvar is way better than Nazmir and Vol'dun put together. Tiragarde is well done, but kind of generic, and if you can ignore the blatant tone shift in the middle of Stormsong where they shoved the reminder that "Horde is EVUL" in for no good reason at the last minute, it's actually well done too.

Drustvar really does it for me though. It is absolutely banging.

For what it's worth though, the ruins in Nazmir and Vol'dun are absolutely -killer- set design. You can really see how those lands were put together back in the golden age. It's almost like they made the original maps and then destroyed them, rather than just placing random ruins in places without rhyme or reason.

I just found the KT zones to be one-note and boring. Sure, Drustvar was a bit special with its dark magic vibe to it, but it was just another Tiragarde / Stormsong with... dark magic.

Zandalar was way more interesting and developed and Zuldazar -> Nazmir was a perfect continuation. Voldun was a bit random, but still completely different to the other two zones. KT zones blended one into another way too much and the stories each zone had were very uninteresting imho (although I love the Jaina stuff and Boralus is an amazing city).

[Aurabolt]

I just found the KT zones to be one-note and boring. Sure, Drustvar was a bit special with its dark magic vibe to it, but it was just another Tiragarde / Stormsong with... dark magic.

Zandalar was way more interesting and developed and Zuldazar -> Nazmir was a perfect continuation. Voldun was a bit random, but still completely different to the other two zones. KT zones blended one into another way too much and the stories each zone had were very uninteresting imho (although I love the Jaina stuff and Boralus is an amazing city).

I accidently triggered the breadcrumb quest to go to Nazjatar last night after I wrapped up the Ready for War Achievement and unlocked Dark Iron Dwarves. Whew...the whole zone SCREAMS "daily grind hell LOL" but I progressed until I got the quest to go to Mechagon. After I finish unlocking Mechagnones, I'll go back to Stormsong Valley to finish up so I can get Kul Tiran Humans. I DID get the Explore KT/Zandalar Achievement and immediately bought the map after I got it so all current and future chars can get those FPs =P

I feel like I've sampled enough of BFA to know what content I'll be doing on alts after my first full clear of story content on an Alliance and Horde character, the first being get friendly with with the KT/Zandalar factions. I think doing the Ready For War, going to Nazjatar/Mechagon and Warfronts requires being level 50+ if I remember right so I'll probably complete the main story quests for the zones + footholds before I quest elsewhere until level 50+ (I mean on alts as a reminder).

[Deferionus]

I totally agree with you on Azerite gear, but island expeditions were just so empty of story or any sort of immersive reasoning. Warfronts just felt so contrived and boring, and I agree that BFA was a big step down from Legion. BfA, like even the worst expansions (WoD), always have a few good points though, which we would hope that Blizzard would not throw out with the bath water. The problem is, that ideas, like people, can be guilty by association and banished from consideration.

I think you have to kind of accept island expeditions for what they were. They weren't lore filled or anything super high end. They were something to do when your friends were offline that you normally do M+, raids, or PvP with. The problem was people spamming them to try and min/max their ap grind.

- - - Updated - - -

Slap the better azerite traits as choice nodes on the +% health points the necklace UI had. Launch with Essences, the best of the three systems. Develop Island Expeditions as an exploration mode instead of an inherently time limited mode. If possible squeeze in Southern Barrens Warfront, Dwarves vs Tauren, Baine actually doing something that makes him a Horde character. End with Siege of Stormwind. Have a proper Old God expansion after with corruption as its max level system.

Proper old god expansion yes. Corruptions as a system? No. These systems need to cease existing in any type of end game content. Isolating them to something like visions of N'Zoth or WQs is fine, but dungeons, raiding, and PvP should be off limits for them.

[Celement]

I didn't mind them but if I'm being honest I think the biggest problem with the drust are they feel like discount scourge.

They share a lot of themes with the cult of the damned just a more rustic setting over gothic.

[Aurabolt]

I didn't mind them but if I'm being honest I think the biggest problem with the drust are they feel like discount scourge.

They share a lot of themes with the cult of the damned just a more rustic setting over gothic.

You sure you don't mean the Heartsbane Coven? Because the Coven under Lady Waycrest and the Thornspeakers under Ulfar were two different factions. Gorak Tul was bad news and though he's gone, Thros is still a thing. Localized but given it penetrated Ardenweald in SL, a threat that can't be ignored.

[Swnem]

Too bad questing and zone exploration is 0.0001% of the game. If you go by it tourist mode, then you get a little enjoyable trip. Stick around and the monster reveals itself.

[SynDethroc]

Drustvar ranks as one of my favorite zones in the entire game; can't go wrong with dark forests and witchcraft!

[DeltrusDisc]

Drustvar is probably the best questing zone in the game in my opinion. It has such a creepy story and atmosphere which is pretty unique compared to other zones. There were a few loose ends that were left too unexplained but maybe that is for the best. A lot of the time resolved mysteries end up losing their mystique.

Darkshire would like a word with you.

[Melorandor]

Battle for Azeroth as an expansion was just really mediocre. Kul Tiras is really cool as is Zanadalar; Kul Tiras, there is no zone I dislike. I really adore Stormsong Valley though.

[Aurabolt]

Too bad questing and zone exploration is 0.0001% of the game. If you go by it tourist mode, then you get a little enjoyable trip. Stick around and the monster reveals itself.

You speak for yourself.

I'm an altoholic. I don't really care about endgame progression in comparison.