Lich King <70 content?

[caldepen]

I am a bit worried. BC had the two new races and starting areas but Outland didn't blow me away. Will Lich King have enough or any content for people less than 70?

Trying to get opinions, not verbatum quotes from Blizzard.

[Aerath]

Frankly, I wouldn't bet on it.

Nor do I see the need. The 1-60 content has been thoroughly covered in vanilla WoW.
61-70 is covered by TBC.

You might see a few changes and additions, but to be honest, it's not exactly needed.

[det]

Maybe some starting quests that can be done at lv 68..and lv 68 mobs...just like Outland had lv 58 mobs....

[Lothaer]

Will Lich King have enough or any content for people less than 70?

um..... obviously you have just started playing..

Azeroth (Original) for levels 1-60 tonnes of content lots of zones quests plenty to do.

Outland (TBC) 60-70 designed to give people who had already done everything in the original version a reason to continue playing or a reason to come back to the game

Northrend (WotLK) 70-80 again designed to give people who have already done everything else in Outlands (i know hard to believe some people are at this stage already),

personally just forget all previous content and grind to lvl 70/80 and enjoy the new stuff.

[caldepen]

um..... obviously you have just started playing..

uhhmmmmmmmm, no i haven't, and I think that is and odd an slightly patronizing conclusion... despite what you may think not everyone raids in a guild at level 70 and it would be nice if Blizzard would throw them a bone too. I prefer Azeroth to Outland and thought it would be nice to add content to that and am worried that Northrend will disappoint me as well. Recently I have stopped playing my main because he was in Outland and I didn't like the storyline or quests as much as Azeroth.

There are plenty of areas on the two continents that made me think I would like to go there some day and to ignore Azeroth completely I think is a bit of a mistake...

[Aerath]

It might disappoint you, but its purpose is not to let those who haven't even experienced TBC yet get some more playtime.

Azeroth is rather full already (though I'll readily admit it has a few dull pieces, part of which the next patch will address by adding some more stuff to do in Dustwallow). Afterall, its main purpose was to provide people with multiple options of getting to 60. Wherever you start, wherever you play and no matter at what part of the game you're at - there's always at least 2-3 zones you could be in. It's impossible to do all quests on a single character unless you want to spend your time doing nothing but grey quests.

I will say that instances appear to be a bit scarce and I'd appreciate a few more, just for fun. But they're not the most vital bit of that part of the game - which is to get you to (previously) 60 and (now) to 70. Similarly, WotLK will be aiming squarely at getting people to level 80, secure in the knowledge that 1-60 and 60-70 have been taken care of before.

[caldepen]

WotLK will be aiming squarely at getting people to level 80

From a business perspective (and Blizzard is pretty savvy i would guess) I would think just tailoring it for level 70+ would limit your prospective buyers. Although I know they will be relying on hype and people just assuming they need it in order to sell a lot of copies. Or they could go to the old standby of having gear so much better in the new area that in order to compete you need the expansion which is a pretty cheap gimmick imo...

[Aerath]

From a business perspective (and Blizzard is pretty savvy i would guess) I would think just tailoring it for level 70+ would limit your prospective buyers. Although I know they will be relying on hype and people just assuming they need it in order to sell a lot of copies. Or they could go to the old standby of having gear so much better in the new area that in order to compete you need the expansion which is a pretty cheap gimmick imo...

Yet it's exactly what they did in TBC. Greenies that outdid old epics. Health more than doubling. Etc etc.

[Ash Housewares]

I think all we know about is the new profession

most everything beyond that is speculation

[Polaba]

I think all we know about is the new profession

most everything beyond that is speculation

...and a new class + continent, yeah. I think the extent as to below 70 content will just be 68+, as TBC was 58+ (though I was comfortably grinding in Hellfire at level 55). Other than that, we don't know.

[Ash Housewares]

...and a new class + continent, yeah.

for 70+ yea...

thread title

[WatcherZero]

The two starting areas will be 68-70, does that count as pre-70 content?

[Polaba]

The two starting areas will be 68-70, does that count as pre-70 content?

Yes. (ten characters)

[Pin]

I'm currently levelling another alt, and while I don't think it's particularly important it would be nice if Blizzard went back and fixed the broken areas. Not new content, just fixing them.

Some of the areas really feel 1/2 finished, Azshara being one of the worst. I was riding around, and would be quite happy to do quests, etc there, but the problem is there are so few and so many "awkward" mobs. Perhaps it would have been better if they had done it in this patch, along with Dustwallow (but then we'd be waiting even longer :P )

[moopy]

Well, even pre-TBC, blizz were aware that most players played at the level cap, and that this was the main place to focus. Meanwhile, they've added FPs and quest hubs to lowbie areas, and are flattening off the levelling curve a lot for WoTLK. The clear implication and design of the game is about initially taking you by the hand, getting you on your way, and then letting you loose. New skills and game dynamics are intorduced all the way to 70, and if you haven't played for some time at that level, you're missing out. "Classic WoW" rose-tinted militancy aside (which makes no sense, as you still get the benefit of hugely improved mechanics in the old areas), blizzard will always get slicker at making content, and the levels of detail and richness will increase over time, as the target specs for an average system creeps up. Even now, the new dungeons and races are more polished with more detailed textures and higher poly counts than the old ones.

While this won't please the zero attention-span alt-o-holics, the bulk of newer content will be for 70+, as there's an awful lot of pre-70 content, far more than you'll ever be able to play if you're not 70 when Wrath comes out. To demand more is pretty daft, it makes no business sense, as blizz expect most players to hit the level cap just through attrition, and will aim the shiny content at them, and spend the bulk of their time polishing that. Meanwhile, they have plans in the pipeline to make levelling faster and easier- so upping the level cap doesn't make it an even longer slog to get to the good stuff.

Pin,

You're right, a lot of the old areas are a bit sketchy- though I always found Azshara to be one of my favorite areas, guess I am a sucker for Autumn :) However, mention Desolace, and you're talking..

They do, however, revisit old areas, as you said. Actually, one of the nicest minor tweaks is the extra FP in southern Felwood. That place is such a pain from a travel PoV for levelling. Some day, if they have the luxury of time and resource, they'd lke to rebuild Azeroth to allow flying mounts there- but don't hold your breath. Meanwhile, the content that the bulk of the player base are hungry for is high-level stuff, shiny content.

[mesonm]

I am a bit worried. BC had the two new races and starting areas but Outland didn't blow me away. Will Lich King have enough or any content for people less than 70?

Trying to get opinions, not verbatum quotes from Blizzard.

There aren't nearly as many people leveling new characters as there was even a few months ago....I suspect that blizz knows this and will strive more to keep the 70+ players, than to alternatively work on the lower levels.

[xDarkDrifterx]

for 70+ yea...

thread title

That has not been comfirmed yet. The last thing I read made mention of them allowing a DK if you have at least a 55.

[Polaba]

That has not been comfirmed yet. The last thing I read made mention of them allowing a DK if you have at least a 55.

I would think so...If Blizzard wants to have a big fan base on this, allowing only those who are 70 (or 68 for that matter) would achieve the opposite, as most people might want to be a Death Knight on their alts, or mains if they haven't "gone all the way" :)

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

From a business perspective (and Blizzard is pretty savvy i would guess) I would think just tailoring it for level 70+ would limit your prospective buyers. Although I know they will be relying on hype and people just assuming they need it in order to sell a lot of copies. Or they could go to the old standby of having gear so much better in the new area that in order to compete you need the expansion which is a pretty cheap gimmick imo...

While I'm firmly in the "I don't raid, don't PvP (battleground or arena or etc.), and rarely play in 5-main instances" category, and spend a lot of my time in WoW leveling up my low-level alts as I find playing my level 70's to be rather dull, I'm going to have ti disagree with you about this.

The thing is, Blizzard is making some changes to the level 1 - 60 content, much with 2.3 and other patches going forward -- things like reducing the amount of XP needed to get from one level to the next, improving the rep gains, and even adding in new content/quests/etc in Dustwallow Marsh to help with the level 40's hurdle. Honestly, not much else is truly needed with the pre-TBC content, it's serving its purpose -- to get a character through the levels at a "decent" rate (which is being adjusted now to make it a lot less of a grind from the looks of things).

From a business perspective, you have to look at where the business is -- most players have characters level 61+ right now. The saying "hot air rises" fits with WoW's leveling scheme -- characters don't go down in levels, only up. The logical content to add in an expansion would be to open the upper end more, since it would be available for the largest percentage of the customer base (and I'm not talking a margin of 51%, more likely a margin of 80 - 85% or so of the customer base, if I had to hazard a guess). More customers would be into higher-level content, and as such, more boxes would be sold due to this higher percentage. For the rest, there is the wonders and effects of what is called "peer pressure" -- people using things from WotLK are then walking around in the game, and this can produce a pressure, a "need" in those who don't have it, to get the box.

If Blizzard focused on the level 1 - 60 content in the expansion, it would be a mostly wasted effort, Sure, there are those who enjoy the level 1 - 60 content and would love more with it... but the majority of the player base most likely does not share that desire. The majority of the player base would like to develop their "main" characters more, with new abilities, new levels, new content for those characters to be played with. How many players would want to take a level 70 character and go through a bunch of new content for level 30 - 40? Bear in mind that the average number of characters per account is most likely 1. More people don't want to play a second character than those who do play second, third, etc. characters.

[mesonm]

(and I'm not talking a margin of 51%, more likely a margin of 80 - 85% or so of the customer base, if I had to hazard a guess)

I'll go out on a limb and say even the 85% is low, by 8% or so...

I'd guess that most characters below 61 are alts of 70's, or will [likely] never see WOW again.

[cyradis2003]

Almost everyone I know has at least 2 alts and most of them are in the 30+ range. Half of my guild has 4 or more alts many of which are lvl 70. We are on an old server though so that may have something to do with it.

Personally I have about a dozen -30 toons, a handful of 30+, 2 at 50+ a 64 and a 70. I am currently only playing 2 alts (43 and 17) and my 70 though so I would say your bet on most alts never seeing wow again is probably accurate.

I thought they were adding quests to most hubs in addition to the dustwallow hub and I thought they mentioned fixing the chains that went no where?

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Almost everyone I know has at least 2 alts and most of them are in the 30+ range. Half of my guild has 4 or more alts many of which are lvl 70. We are on an old server though so that may have something to do with it.

Personally I have about a dozen -30 toons, a handful of 30+, 2 at 50+ a 64 and a 70. I am currently only playing 2 alts (43 and 17) and my 70 though so I would say your bet on most alts never seeing wow again is probably accurate.

I thought they were adding quests to most hubs in addition to the dustwallow hub and I thought they mentioned fixing the chains that went no where?

Yes, but that's not in Wrath of the Lich King specifically, but rather in the patches from 2.3 forward, which I'd say probably does include WotLK, but it isn't exclusive.

[Polaba]

I thought they were adding quests to most hubs in addition to the dustwallow hub and I thought they mentioned fixing the chains that went no where?

Yep, they're adding a "goblin based town" in Dustwallow that will have 50+ new quests, a flight path, bank and auction house. (BB, Everlook, Gadget etc...)

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Yep, they're adding a "goblin based town" in Dustwallow that will have 50+ new quests, a flight path, bank and auction house. (BB, Everlook, Gadget etc...)

That is in 2.3. But there is more to be added in successive patches, to do the rest.

[clevins]

Here's a look at the WoW population culled from 4m+ armory profiles:

http://okoloth.blogspot.com/

This is NOT my blog, nor do I know the guy. Some highlights:

Characters 4,563,202
Alliance 2,645,417 (57.97%)
Horde 1,917,785 (42.03%)
Level 70's 1,797,960 (39.4%)
Arena Teams 139,678
Guilds 58,465
Realms 436
Battlegroups 34

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

I really like that page, thanks for the link clevins.

[MammaMu]

I only have one simple request: That Blizzard puts in enough quests lvl 20-60 so I don't have to grind a single exp while leveling. "Kill 50 bears", "Collect 75 wolf tushies", I don't really care, I just want something to do while leveling in Azeroth. It wouldn't even have to be any real work for Blizz, just add one questgiver per zone with a bagfull'o'killquests.

Shure, fleshing out the underdeveloped zones would be neat, and adding more pre-60 instances - together with some motivation do run them - would be dandy, but I really don't see that coming. The plans for Dustwallow are nice, but I only see it as questing bandaid for a level or two.

Like some other posters I don't raid, and these days my two seventies - mage and rogue - are relegated to sporadic farming duty and some odd leisury pvp. I spend most of my time on alts (lots of them between 20-55), and at the moment I focus on a 48 warrior that I level with the sole purpose of pvp:ing in 51-60 AV.

I will definitelly buy WotLK and am shure I will get my moneys worth of fun exploring the 70-80 content with my mage and rogue, and I will create and be awed by my Death Knight, but then I will be back to alts...

...or W.A.R...and no, you can't have my stuff ;-)

[moopy]

I only have one simple request: That Blizzard puts in enough quests lvl 20-60 so I don't have to grind a single exp while leveling. "Kill 50 bears", "Collect 75 wolf tushies", I don't really care, I just want something to do while leveling in Azeroth. It wouldn't even have to be any real work for Blizz, just add one questgiver per zone with a bagfull'o'killquests.

Well, it does sound like they're doing just this- new quest hubs, and finishing off some quest lines, as well as flattening the XP earning load off below 60- maybe your prayers are answered :) There are some nasty flat spots in levelling.

Personally, I always hoped they'd finish off that quest line where you hand in the chained essence of Erikanus in SoS, as that is quite an interesting one (and the trinket is lots of fun), but it just sort of stops..

[frimley]

I only have one simple request: That Blizzard puts in enough quests lvl 20-60 so I don't have to grind a single exp while leveling.

But you don't have to now - there are enough quests to level from 1 to 60, without having to grind xp at all. Sure, if you're levelling multiple alts you might get bored at some of the quests you have to repeat but it is more than possible to do.

[piscene]

But you don't have to now - there are enough quests to level from 1 to 60, without having to grind xp at all. Sure, if you're levelling multiple alts you might get bored at some of the quests you have to repeat but it is more than possible to do.

The 40s have some definite flat spots as far as questing, and just about everyone ends up grinding through parts of their 40s. I don't mind repeating them on alts, I mind when I've done all my current level quests in an area, and the others are too high level for me, so I end up grinding until I can handle the next batch.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

The 40s have some definite flat spots as far as questing, and just about everyone ends up grinding through parts of their 40s. I don't mind repeating them on alts, I mind when I've done all my current level quests in an area, and the others are too high level for me, so I end up grinding until I can handle the next batch.

Considering that is the section Blizzard is working on in 2.3, I'm going to hold out any preconceptions. The 40's do suck. But there is a decrease in the amount of XP needed to make a level, and there is an increase in how much XP you get from quest turn ins (20 - 60 for the former, 30 - 60 for the latter). This will help bridge that gap. The Goblin town in Dustwallow will, from the looks of things, help fill the gap of the 40's with more quests, making it far easier to get through that stage of character progress.

[MammaMu]

piscene, yeah, thats what I'm talking about.

Nowadays when I level post-30 I usually only do the fast killquests etc in each zone. Most multizone quests etc I don't bother with, I earn more exp/h grinding. Questchains which involve instances I don't bother with either, since it's nigh-impossible to get groups together for Azeroth instances.

What I want is the same kind of non-stop pure-leveling-by-straightforward-questing as you get in Outlands and the draenei/be starter zones (where instances and timeconsuming multizone questing are options with proportionally high exp/gear rewards, but not a must).

As I wrote, imho the easiest way to achieve this is to simply add questgivers with loads of straightforward killquests in each post-20 zone. It may not be FUN quests per se, but for us non-raiders borderlining on wow burnout it may keep us leveling a few more alts and pour moolah in Blizzards pockets for a few more months.

I know the above won't happen, so no need to get aggrivated about consequenses for new players etc, but one can always wish, right.

As it is, with my 48 warrior I will get around 2 levels worth of questing exp until 58, the rest I will grind out in the plaguelands as usual. I will do it without much complaining as 60 pvp is fun, even though I'm not really looking forward to the grindfest necessary to get there.

[frimley]

Nowadays when I level post-30 I usually only do the fast killquests etc in each zone. Most multizone quests etc I don't bother with, I earn more exp/h grinding.
...
As I wrote, imho the easiest way to achieve this is to simply add questgivers with loads of straightforward killquests in each post-20 zone. It may not be FUN quests per se, but for us non-raiders borderlining on wow burnout it may keep us leveling a few more alts and pour moolah in Blizzards pockets for a few more months.

So, you want quests that just send you on a mind-numbing grind-fest but you don't want to grind otherwise? :ponder:

[rgirty]

I always detested the quests that sent you to collect rat ears, or donkey tails.

I never did many quests at all, I still hate quests.

[Polaba]

I always detested the quests that sent you to collect rat ears, or donkey tails.

I never did many quests at all, I still hate quests.

Best way to go, AoE Grinding FTW.

[piscene]

So, you want quests that just send you on a mind-numbing grind-fest but you don't want to grind otherwise? :ponder:

If you have grind-quests, you have a goal in mind all the time besides just your exp. You also get a quest reward...more exp, items, money, etc. You don't get that from straight grinding. I would much rather do grind-quests than straight grinding.

[MammaMu]

piscene, once again you are straight on. Pure grinding = boring, grindquests = boring but with a goal and questrewards.

Long, elaborate questchains is great fun the first times through, but when you are leveling your umphteenth alt you just want to breeze through the levels asap.

I try once again to express myself a bit clearer:
- Leveling by questing Outlands-style is optimal - fast, fun and varied quests that you actually can enjoy going through again with a bunch of alts - and not a single exp of grinding necessary.
- 2.3 pre-60 exp changes, Dustwallow quest hub etc are Good Things, but...
- pre-60 leveling and questing will never be as fast, fun and seamless as in Outlands, Blizz will never put in that kind of work, so...
- I think that endless killquests for pre-60 leveling is a second best, quick-and-dirty solution

You may even make the killquest NPC:s unlockable by leveling one toon to 70 on your account, so you don't take away the fun from new players.

[frimley]

Long, elaborate questchains is great fun the first times through, but when you are leveling your umphteenth alt you just want to breeze through the levels asap.

I see what you are saying; I am not a huge alt-oholic so am still finding quests I haven't done before 20-60, by travelling around quite a bit, not the fastest way to level but then I still think the journey in WoW is as much fun as the destination if you think of that as raiding. But then again I am only on my 4th serious alt (and have levelled on both horde and alliance), and spend 95% of my time on my raiding main.

Still, give me a dozen Cortello's Riddles over Tiger Masteries anyday.

[Scorch_Hellfire]

uhhmmmmmmmm, no i haven't, and I think that is and odd an slightly patronizing conclusion... despite what you may think not everyone raids in a guild at level 70 and it would be nice if Blizzard would throw them a bone too. I prefer Azeroth to Outland and thought it would be nice to add content to that and am worried that Northrend will disappoint me as well. Recently I have stopped playing my main because he was in Outland and I didn't like the storyline or quests as much as Azeroth.

There are plenty of areas on the two continents that made me think I would like to go there some day and to ignore Azeroth completely I think is a bit of a mistake...

blizz has stated that northrend will be going back to the more azerothian style and feel so there you go... i personally feel the same way and cant wait for wrath so i can get out of outland...

now the funny thing is... what about the expansion after wrath? if its the emerald dream (which it probably is) and they do the emerald dream as the lore describes it (as in a paradisiacal version of azeroth unaffected by the mortal races) then does that mean it will as big as azeroth with just alternate emerald dream versions of the current areas? cuz if so... holy crap thats gunna be a big expansion... but its really the only way to make it make sense... for now i guess... blizz has taken up using retcon a lot with wow...

[caldepen]

blizz has stated that northrend will be going back to the more azerothian style and feel so there you go... i personally feel the same way and cant wait for wrath so i can get out of outland...

Thats good to hear. The other possibility I guess is whether they will ever introduce new high level content back in Azeroth in a location previously unmapped? Can't think of any names offhand but aren't there unmapped spaces on the maps? South of the badlands and a few other places?

[cloista]

Present day Hyjal is still locked away, but built. Uldum is closed. Gilneas was forgotten about and can be added, as can Kul Tiras.

Then there's the Maelstrom, Undermine, the Pandaren homeland, and I'm sure tons of others that haven't even got a lore written about them yet.

[caldepen]

Just seems a shame that they don't finish it... kinda like going on vacation to a remote place and you don't have time to do everything so you figure you will get to it when you get back there some day but never do...