Is it time to revise World of Warcraft once again? Yes, some think so. Because some goblins have been making a fortune for years.
World of Warcraft Cataclysm was the first expansion for Blizzard’s MMORPG that was considered quite controversial. The overhaul of the old world was deemed necessary at the time, but many also felt it was a shame that the “beloved old game world” was no longer accessible in its original form.
It has been over 15 years since Cataclysm. Some details in the game world seem almost absurd when you consider how long some NPCs have been repairing damage caused by Deathwing. Leading the pack are some goblins in Booty Bay, who apparently found the job of their lives.
Which goblins are we talking about? We are talking about the goblins on the rooftops of the city of Booty Bay in the Cape of Stranglethorn. During the Cataclysm expansion, Deathwing flooded the city and most dwellings were destroyed. Of course, repairs were necessary. However, it seems that no one thought back then that these repairs would take over 15 years – because the goblins are still doing it. Therefore, someone rightly asks in the WoW subreddit: “How long have they actually been repairing this roof?”
The answers vary:
- “Time is money, my friend. And the two are paid by the hour.” – MayuIwatani
- “That’s called money laundering.” – mekolayn
- “Things like this are why I think we need another overhaul of the world like in Cataclysm. It’s long overdue.” – RobotBoy221
Many Cataclysm areas have aged poorly
What’s the problem with the Cataclysm areas? The discussion becomes a bit more serious when it comes to overhauling the Cataclysm areas. While some zones have aged quite well, there are others that consist almost entirely of movie and subculture references.
Again and again, the Redridge Mountains are mentioned, which essentially have references to the Rambo movies in all quests from start to finish.
- “I wish the Redridge Mountains would finally be freed from the 180 Rambo references.” – Mallyveil
Westfall also doesn’t fare well. Although the story surrounding Edwin van Cleef’s daughter is interesting, large parts of the quest line are references to CSI: Miami – a show that is also fading into obscurity.
Many of these stories were funny and entertaining at the time, but they age poorly because pop culture evolves. Timeless stories that only parody or reference current events in select cases hold up much better.
However, one should not forget about NPCs that are seemingly trapped in a time loop, as Jaggiboi points out:
- “A guy in Silvermoon has been hammering away for 20 years straight and soon it will pay off big time.”
Cortyn says: The ever-expanding world of World of Warcraft essentially presents Blizzard with an unsolvable problem. Because even if specific areas are occasionally overhauled – like in Midnight Quel’thalas – it is nearly impossible to keep all areas of the game up to modern standards. It’s simply too big of an effort.
Perhaps after the expansion “The Last Titan,” we will finally see a larger overhaul of the old world when the cosmic powers recede a bit into the background. That would also be the perfect time to modernize many old areas and give them somewhat “timeless” stories and a bit more personality. The modern areas of WoW already do this quite well and reduce pop culture references to a moderate level that doesn’t become overly disruptive over the years. But especially in Cataclysm, it was apparent that this had taken over in some instances.
That the old world can also periodically serve as a backdrop for new stories is something we will experience in the upcoming expansion Midnight. Because there, you travel alongside Arator around the world to visit iconic places and learn more about the Light.
