World of Warcraftwill finally be breaking the mold of yet another giant island continent in the next two expansions of theWorldsoul Saga. Blizzard will instead be turning its attention to not just progressing the overarching story of the three-part saga, but to revisiting influential zones and stories that have, thus far, been left in the past.WoW: Midnightwill mark its first attempt at old zone modernization sinceCataclysm, with players returning to Quel’Thalas, the home of the Horde’s Blood Elves found in the northern section of the Eastern Kingdoms.
Quel’Thalas was introduced toWoWin its first expansion,The Burning Crusade. Its early introduction speaks to its lore prevalence, but also brought with it countless technical limitations that persist to this day. Even despite its papier-mâché backbone, Silvermoon City was crafted with a truly distinct and memorable aesthetic.A return to Quel’Thalas all but guarantees a reworking of the zones which comprise it, with Blizzard having the opportunity to create perhaps the best city in the game, especially if it can improve upon its already promising elven city attempts.
Silvermoon’s Restoration Will Be Essential To Midnight
The Return To Quel’Thalas Necessitates A Major Step Forward In Its Restoration
Quel’thalas was apivotal destination inWarcraft 3, where the undead campaign saw Arthas lead the scourge in decimating the location, andthe lasting impact of this event is seen throughoutWoW. The high-elves' source of power, the Sunwell, was left destroyed, leading to a desperation which created the mana-addicted Blood Elves. Sylvanus Windrunner and Kael’Thas, two of the most iconic characters in theWarcraftstory, also had their villainous streak begin with the sacking as well.
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WithMidnighthaving players return to Quel’Thalas, its restoration will need to be at the forefront of the expansion. SinceWoW’sThe Burning Crusadeexpansion, Silvermoon City has been left half-destroyed, with the Scourge’s destructive path creating a scar running from the Ghostlands through the city. Since then, the Sunwell has been restored, and the elves have begun work on reconstructing the ruined city. This has yet to be seen within the game, and likely for good reason. There is little doubt thatWoW: Midnightwill see the full restoration of Silvermoon City, and Quel’Thalas as a whole.
Quel’Thalas Will Need Extensive Modernization
Silvermoon City Is Based On A Paper-Thin Framework
If the entire expansion is aimed to center around Quel’Thalas, there will be extensive work required not just to its now-dated appearance, but to modernizing the framework it exists on. Quel’Thalas is unique in that the zones require a loading screen to enter, a remnant of the fact that it was created on the Outlands map. Additionally, flying is not allowed in Silvermoon,necessary because the city is essentially just a facade, with incomplete sections being hidden by the players' grounded viewpoint.
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The benefit of these glaring technical limitations is that Blizzard will surely be forced to rework the entire region, as opposed to the more granular approach as seen in Teldrassil or Gilneas. Since the zones themselves require an entire rework of their framework, and with the expansion focused on Quel’Thalas,now is the time to re-imagine these zones,and more properly display their scale and grandeur. The original trailer forBurning Crusadefeatures sweeping mountains and dotted structures, with an almost angelic-looking design waiting to be untethered from previous limitations.
WoW’s Recent Zone Trend & Work On Suramar Can Make Silvermoon Unforgettable
Combining The Iconic Location With Modern Design Philosophies May Create The Best City Yet
Dragonriding has fundamentally altered Blizzard’s zone design of late.Warlords of Draenorpromoted the approach of designing zones around ground traversal. However, Blizzard has fully embraced the challenge of creating maps that don’t just facilitate flying, but embrace it.DragonflightandThe War Withinare comprised ofzones that reach new levels of verticality and scale. They were designed from the ground up with dragonriding in mind, and are a major component in making dragonriding feel so satisfying. Withplayer housing also coming inMidnight, perhaps players can look forward to a Silvermoon high rise to call home.
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WoW’s previous attempt at an elven city, Suramar, was a resounding success. Even before the shift in design philosophy, Suramar reached a scale and detail not seen before inWoW. Silvermoon is the ideal place to try a modernization of Suramar, where Silvermoon can not just reach its size and detail, but also the verticality that dragonriding allows for. When flying is finally available to Quel’Thalas inWoW: Midnight, Silvermoon City would be the perfect location to showcase the progress of the design team, and to truly realize a location that has had significant story-relevance sinceWarcraft 3in all its glory.
