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Cataclysm Post-Mortem: Vashj'ir
Alex Ziebart and Mathew McCurley (that's me) decided to give each Cataclysm zone the once-over now that we're many months out from the release of the expansion. In this post-mortem series, we'll examine (in our own opinions and words) what worked and what didn't work in terms of story, quests, and overall feel for the zones and the cool moments that dotted the landscape. Join us for a discussion about Cataclysm's new level 80 to 85 content and what made the cut as the most compelling experiences. The Sunken City of Vashj'ir lies off the coast of Stormwind, with pieces of the forgotten land rising up from the waves after the devastation of the cataclysm and Deathwing's sundering of Azeroth. The Alliance scrambles to secure this territory so close to their shores to prevent any malicious entities from causing more havoc on their shores. The Horde, seeing a golden opportunity for a land grab so close to the human capital, has sent its navy in full force to take the now surfaced islands of Vashj'ir. Little does either faction know that a war rages in the very heart of the sunken city between the Lady Naz'jar and her army of naga aided by the Old Gods and the kvaldir. Lady Naz'jar's ultimate goal -- enter the Abyssal Maw, home of the water elemental lord Neptulon, and seize his power for her naga army. Vashj'ir's story Mathew: Before we begin, I have a confession to make. I finally finished Vashj'ir, from start to finish, only recently for this article. Zones that are built in such a way, as to emphasize the 3D space of the water, etc, are one of those things that occasionally bugs me. It's not that I didn't want to participate in Vashj'ir -- quite the contrary. I just had no reason to go here since Hyjal was so straightforward and had my flying mount ready to go from the get-go. Also, Vashj'ir was notably bottle-necked in beta, as many players streamed in and getting out of that initial sunken ship was a rough ride. Now that I had the zone to myself, it was a much better experience.
New hints of Old Gods in Vashj'ir
Note: This post contains spoilers. If you read this post, you may be mildly spoiled. The Old Gods are legendary parts of WoW. You've got C'Thun hanging out in southern Azeroth, whose unblinking eye stares balefully across the world. Those of us who were part of the Northrend expedition certainly encountered Yogg-Saron. Heck, many of us got so familiar with Yogg-Saron that we made armor out of his blood and danced around Icecrown Citadel in our favorite made-from-death-god prom outfits. The Old Gods are a defining part of the World of Warcraft experience. They are unmistakeably influenced by the Lovecraft mythos, wherein ancient gods from the stars balefully disregard the lives of humans. (Remind you of a certain heavenly-bodied heroic boss fight?) An equally important part of the mythos, however, is the unknowable, abyssal fathoms of the ocean's deeps. This is a world where humans can not tread, where light does not shine, and where we can not know what exists.
