The warfront in the Arathi Highlands of World of Warcraft leaves a bad taste for many players. The feature is not really fun.
For a few hours now, Horde players can finally try out the warfront in the Arathi Highlands and earn cool rewards. It offers gear with item level 370 and for repeating the completion, items in the range of 340. So it’s a worthwhile undertaking for all who still need gear.
But the warfronts have a clear problem: They are not fun.
The warfronts are one of the major features of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth and were heavily advertised. Unfortunately, the battle for Arathi simply cannot live up to expectations.
I don’t feel like “the hero in a map from Warcraft 3” but rather like the little peon who is supposed to rush around the entire map.
I fell trees, collect the wood, run to the mine, pack the ores, and return to the camp. There, I put all the resources into building buildings. I am not a hero, I am the fool of the day. This is a nice change when questing, but rather annoying in an epic warfront.
Honestly, I don’t remember Arthas suddenly chopping down trees in Warcraft 3 or standing in the mine to mine iron with Frostmourne.
When participating in the actual battles for the control points, there is also no real warfront feeling. You run against a wall of hit points and slowly cut through it. Sure, that’s the “usual battle flow” in World of Warcraft – but just not what I expected from an epic battle.
The AFK problem
The most annoying thing about the warfronts is that players are already beginning to exploit the entire system. They repeatedly sign up for the warfront and are then more or less AFK. They can be, because it doesn’t matter with 4-5 players in the warfront. Probably, one could also solidly handle the scenario with a five-man group if there is enough coordination.
A single player can make it
Equally absurd is that there are already some strategies on how to manage the warfront completely alone. Players report repeatedly that they come into groups where everyone “just runs around aimlessly” and does not respond to calls. Then there is a way, at least with solid equipment, to cope mostly alone and utilize the NPCs.
That is simply not right.
Expectations were not met
Currently, the warfront is a disappointment to me. It has no difficulty, requires no skill, and conveys only a very slight feeling of a real battle. When I received my 370 gloves at the end, my joy was limited. It simply didn’t feel right. Undeserved. Given for free. And I don’t like that.
What are your experiences with the warfronts? Have you already claimed your rewards? Do you like the Arathi scenario or is it rather disappointing?
