Okay, so it's taking me a bit longer to get through the second installation of the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. So I'm going to go through all the information that's out so far for the next WoW expansion. I'm pulling my information from MMO-Champion, WoWhead, and WoWWiki. I will also be referencing Warcraft III quite a bit, as it is the game that introduced me to the Warcraft universe. They are still claiming that Warlords is not a filler expansion... which I have my doubts on. But this isn't about Warlords.
Random Stuff
The Broken Shore will be released as a pre-expansion event, and I am looking forward to this. The developers said that we will be shocked as to what happens there, and that we will wake up to its aftermath to a world on fire. We should also be getting a new character slot. Flying will be obtained in a similar manner as to Warlords, which I'm good with. I had fun earning flight in this expansion, so be quite honest. The team for professions has been expanded, and there will be a quest line for each one.
Setting/Zones - we will be fighting once again on Azeroth in the Broken Isles. It is an area that people who played Warcraft III will be familiar with, it is the home to the Tomb of Sargeras, and that is where quite a few interesting things in the history of Warcraft happened. It is where Guldan found his death seeking power, it is where Illidan left Maiev Shadowsong to die on his own quest to destroy the Lich King, among other events not seen in Warcraft III. It appears we will have six zones, Suramar, Azsuna, Stormheim, Highmountain, Val'sharah, and Thal'Danath. It has been mentioned there is a Titan artifact called a Pillar of Creation in each zone that we will be hunting for in order to keep it out of the Legion's hands.
Suramar - This was the ancient capital city of the Night Elf civilization, and where the Well of Eternity was located. It is where Queen Azshara invited Sargeras himself in the world, and where the Sundering took place. It would appear that another branch of the elven race lives here, one that has thrown in their lot with the Legion. It was also mentioned that this is where we will finally confront Gul'dan.
Azsuna - This zone is mentioned as the dying remnants of the Night Elf society, home to a group of exiled nobles from Suramar, as well as Blue dragons. The Naga will figure prominently into this zone from the looks of things.
Stormheim - This is one I'm REALLY looking forward to, since it will give us a closer look at the Vrykul that we first encountered in Northrend, then again in Cataclysm. From what's been shown so far, this will have a very Nordic feel, with Titan keepers battling each other, and riding around on ghost ships.
Highmountain - This is another zone I'm quite interested in, as it has a branch of the Tauren race, my favorite of the Horde races. It is also the home to Neltharion's lair, before he went mad and became Deathwing.
Val'sharah - This is where the first Night Elf druids were taught, and where Malfurion Stormrage learned under Cenarius. Xavius will be here, trying to unleash the Emerald Nightmare into Azeroth. Bad thing, very bad thing!
Thal'Danath - We know next to nothing about this area, other than its location on the map. But a twitter post confirmed it will be in the expansion.
Dalaran will also make a return, and once more be a neutral city in the skies. The pictures that have come out are just amazing. I forgot where it is, but there's one picture of a face carved into a tree. That is just so cool to me.
Dungeons - As of right now, it looks like Legion will release with 9 dungeons. Some are familiar, some are entirely new.
Halls of Valor - Located in Stormheim, with a heavy influence from Valhalla. It is also where we find out the Vrykul are working with the Legion.
Black Rook Hold - There isn't a lot of info yet, other than it is located in Val'Sharah, and where Lord Ravencrest once lived (the first leader of the Kaldorei resistance in the first Legion invasion). It was designed an a fortress against the Legion, and some kind of shadow has fallen over it. Players will start in the catacombs and work their way towards the top.
Vault of the Wardens - This is where Maiev Shadowsong locked away the remains of Illidan, and where the demonhunters will begin. Since this is where we see Gul'dan awakening Illidan, this is where we start our hunt for both of them.
Eye of Azshara - Not much mentioned, other than we will be fighting Azshara's minions here.
Darkheart Thicket - This is the home of Shaladrassil, a corrupted World Tree, and where the Nightmare is spreading from. It is mentioned that we will be rescuing Malfurion from this dungeon.
Neltharion's Lair - Located in Highmountain, and where another Pillar of Creation is located.
Helheim - This is an opposite to the Halls of Valor, where Vrykal go to die and become the cursed Kvaldir. The dungeon takes place on a ghost ship.
Suramar City - This is where the Nightbourne elves rule, and where we will discover their ties to the Legion. More catacombs are mentioned as well.
Violet Hold - This was a dungeon from Wrath, and pretty neat in my opinion. It is mentioned that the proximity to the Tomb of Sargeras will allow us to see more secrets about mages and the beginnings of the world itself.
Raids - We start off with two raids, and both look pretty bad ass.
The Emerald Nightmare - This has been one of those places rumored and hinted at since the launch of WoW, and it looks like we will finally be seeing it! This will be a seven boss raid, and it's mentioned that Cenarius will be aiding us along the way.
Suramar Palace - This will be a ten boss raid tier, and based on the Night Elf society. It was mentioned this will be akin to the Black Temple, where you don't go in the front gates, but from the side, and work your way. This is also where Gul'dan will meet his fate (finally!).
New Class - Demon Hunter!
This is another one of those things that feels like it's a long time in coming. Ever since the Burning Crusade expansion, I think just about everyone has wanted to play one of these. In Warcraft III, Illidan was one of my favorite characters. They will be the only class to use Glaives, as well as Daggers, Fist Weapons, One-Handed Axes, One-Handed Maces, and One-Handed Swords. There will be two specs, a DPS and a tank spec. I'm fine with this, since it keeps things from getting too watered down. I also love that they can only be blood or night elves. It's something that fits with the lore, and what we have seen of them in game so far. It looks like there will be many different cosmetic options too, which is awesome. Their abilities are also familiar with what I've seen in the lore, such as double jumping, an eye beam, a fel charge, and a retreat that lets you jump out of range. They start at level 98 and ten years in the past, with Illidan sending his demonhunters on a mission. I cannot wait to give one of these guys a go.
Class Order Halls
This is rather interesting, and it feels like this is meant to replace the garrisons of Warlords. It is based on classes, and the Horde and Alliance both meet within the Halls. Each class has its own unique location, with Paladins under Light's Hope Chapel, Warlocks offworld on what is described as a Legion Portal world, Shamans in a cave overlooking the Maelstrom, and Rogues in the sewers of Dalaran. We will also be recruiting Champions instead of followers, and it's sounding like these will be more interactive. It's mentioned that some will be established characters, and they will help you finish missions, rather than going off and completing them. I'm very curious to see what other locations will be revealed for the Order Halls, but this seems like a good evolution from garrisons.
Class Changes
It's been mentioned that all classes are getting an overhaul of some kind. The greatest amount of detail we have is for Hunters, and I LOVE what I've seen so far. Survival hunters are becoming melee with a pet, Marksman is becoming ranged only, and Beast Mastery is ranged with a pet. Survival hunters also get an ability called Harpoon to drag targets into range. The Hunter specs have felt alike for far too long, and I can't wait to see this. My night elf hunter was my first WoW character, and I look forward to giving all the specs a shot (see what I did there?) Warlocks are also getting a big overhaul to demonology, which is overdue. It's supposed to become more about demon summoning, and not becoming one, which fits better in my mind. Discipline priests are going to be more about offensive healing, but still with a DPS aspect. Rogues are changing as well, Assassination themed around poisons, Subtlety around ninjas, and Combat has more of a pirate/swashbuckler feel.
Artifact Weapons
Instead of getting weapon drops throughout the expansion, we will be getting an Artifact weapon appropriate to our specs. This is going to be something that has to be done very well, or it will fall on its face. I do like the idea though. You get a weapon of legend, and over the course of the expansion, you can customize what it does for your abilities. You can also upgrade your weapon, and change its appearance. I also remember seeing that it will be transmogable. We have a few of these out already. The Doomhammer is going to Enhance shaman, and the Ashbringer to Retribution paladins, and are the two most well known weapons we have right now. Fangs of the First Nightsaber are for Feral and Guardian druids, Fire mages get Kaelthas' sword, Frost deathknights get a pair of swords forged from Frostmourne, Survival Hunters get the Eagle Spear, Mistweaver monks are getting the staff of Emperor Shaohao. There will also be Relic slots to fill, and Relics are obtained by doing the expansion's content.
This will be an interesting aspect to the expansion, and it was mentioned that the people who previously weilded these weapons either died or lost hope. Which means Tirion Fordring and Thrall both are potentially on the chopping block. That will be very curious to see how that goes.
Transmog Changes
There isn't much information out YET, but the whispers I've seen make it sound like we're going to have a system like the Dressing Room in Diablo III, which is a good system. I currently have both pages of Void storage full on one of my characters, so yeah. I need more room, hehe.
Thoughts for Now
I have to admit that I am REALLY looking forward to this expansion, though I am wary with what happened in Warlords. I'm also wondering how many more expansions we will have after this, given that the Legion has always been the big evil baddie of the Warcraft universe. Hopefully we will get more information at BlizzCon in November, and the beta should follow soon after. I will be keep a close eye on things, since I want to see where the story goes with this expansion.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Movie Review - The Rescuers (1977)
I ran across this on Netflix searching for Rescuers Down Under after playing the music for an orchestra concert, and decided to watch them both again. I remembered loving both movies growing up, and I think they are highly underrated Disney classics. The opening of The Rescuers is interesting, after the initial introduction to Penny it becomes a series of still images. They're very nicely done, and something unique is that the sound design still sounds as if it's an animated sequence.
Most of the characters are very enjoyable to watch. I very much enjoyed Miss Bianca growing up, for a reason I didn't realize then. Eva Gabor lends her voice to the character, and her manner of speaking reminded me a lot of my German-Hungarian grandmother and great-aunt. Miss Bianca's character is a very kind and determined character, never giving up on accomplishing the mission that she insisted on taking. Bernard is enjoyable as well, voiced by Bob Newhart. One thing I found curious was his superstitious nature, and watching the movie again makes me wonder just what triggered it. There's never any explanation of why he is so afraid of the number thirteen. But he's very determined, and that helps save the day more than once. Penny... I found to be a bit annoying. I think it was partly from how she spoke, though now it's not as bad. It's never explained how she can speak with the mice and the orphanage cat, though it might be in the books.
There are a few villains, Madame Medusa, Mr. Snoops, and the two alligators that Medusa keeps as pets. Geraldine Page voices Medusa, and does a very entertaining job of it. It's funny to listen how she can switch very quickly from calm and charming to utterly psychotic. Mr. Snoops is the incompetant henchman to Medusa, who also has an obsession with fireworks. That both helps and hinders he and Medusa at times, and always to comedic effect. Brutus and Nero are the alligators, and their animators must have had a lot of fun with their work.
There are several minor characters, and many are very memorable. The first that come to mind are the swamp dwellers. Luke, a muskrat I think, is voiced by Pat Buttram, who also voiced the Sheriff of Nottingham in Disney's Robin Hood. Something I didn't think about when I was little was that his jug was full of moonshine. Minor, but something that makes me chuckle now. The other neighbors of the swamp are interesting in their own right, Evinrude the dragonfly serves as the engine of a boat, another reference I get now that I'm older. There's also a turtle wearing a Confederate hat, very crotchety old sort. There's an owl preacher, which strikes me odd now, given that I didn't think animals were religious. It's clear the group of swamp animals are meant to be akin to rednecks, especially in how they speak and the music when they're on screen. Orville the Albatross is pretty fun to watch as well, even if he only shows up a handful of times.
Something I noticed, again now that I'm older, was the international board of mice, and how it was done. Some are a bit strange now that I know about the wider world. One mouse represents all of Africa, rather than a few for the different nations. There's a mouse for Vienna, as well as one for Austria. And the way they're represented... is a bit interesting. The Turkish mouse is wearing a fez and dark glasses, while the Arabian mouse wears a sheikh's robe and the same sort of glasses. The Scottish mouse is in a kilt, while the Austrian mouse is wearing a Tyrolean hat. The African mouse has an afro. They aren't really offensive, just very distinctive. In my mind, it's what you would expect to see in a kid's cartoon.
The animation throughout is quite good, and there are a couple moments that really jump out for the quality. Whenever Snoops sets off fireworks, it looks quite spectacular, especially for the time. The facial expressions of the various characters are fun to watch, especially when things start going wrong for the two mice. There's a scene where Bernard and Bianca are hiding in a pipe organ from the two alligators, and it's a great deal of fun to watch.
All in all, it's still a good movie, and one of Disney's that isn't all that well known. It's definitely worth a viewing in my mind if you haven't seen it, and worth watching it again if you haven't seen it in a long time. My next movie review will be of The Rescuers Down Under, one of the best Disney sequels in my opinion. Stay tuned!
Most of the characters are very enjoyable to watch. I very much enjoyed Miss Bianca growing up, for a reason I didn't realize then. Eva Gabor lends her voice to the character, and her manner of speaking reminded me a lot of my German-Hungarian grandmother and great-aunt. Miss Bianca's character is a very kind and determined character, never giving up on accomplishing the mission that she insisted on taking. Bernard is enjoyable as well, voiced by Bob Newhart. One thing I found curious was his superstitious nature, and watching the movie again makes me wonder just what triggered it. There's never any explanation of why he is so afraid of the number thirteen. But he's very determined, and that helps save the day more than once. Penny... I found to be a bit annoying. I think it was partly from how she spoke, though now it's not as bad. It's never explained how she can speak with the mice and the orphanage cat, though it might be in the books.
There are a few villains, Madame Medusa, Mr. Snoops, and the two alligators that Medusa keeps as pets. Geraldine Page voices Medusa, and does a very entertaining job of it. It's funny to listen how she can switch very quickly from calm and charming to utterly psychotic. Mr. Snoops is the incompetant henchman to Medusa, who also has an obsession with fireworks. That both helps and hinders he and Medusa at times, and always to comedic effect. Brutus and Nero are the alligators, and their animators must have had a lot of fun with their work.
There are several minor characters, and many are very memorable. The first that come to mind are the swamp dwellers. Luke, a muskrat I think, is voiced by Pat Buttram, who also voiced the Sheriff of Nottingham in Disney's Robin Hood. Something I didn't think about when I was little was that his jug was full of moonshine. Minor, but something that makes me chuckle now. The other neighbors of the swamp are interesting in their own right, Evinrude the dragonfly serves as the engine of a boat, another reference I get now that I'm older. There's also a turtle wearing a Confederate hat, very crotchety old sort. There's an owl preacher, which strikes me odd now, given that I didn't think animals were religious. It's clear the group of swamp animals are meant to be akin to rednecks, especially in how they speak and the music when they're on screen. Orville the Albatross is pretty fun to watch as well, even if he only shows up a handful of times.
Something I noticed, again now that I'm older, was the international board of mice, and how it was done. Some are a bit strange now that I know about the wider world. One mouse represents all of Africa, rather than a few for the different nations. There's a mouse for Vienna, as well as one for Austria. And the way they're represented... is a bit interesting. The Turkish mouse is wearing a fez and dark glasses, while the Arabian mouse wears a sheikh's robe and the same sort of glasses. The Scottish mouse is in a kilt, while the Austrian mouse is wearing a Tyrolean hat. The African mouse has an afro. They aren't really offensive, just very distinctive. In my mind, it's what you would expect to see in a kid's cartoon.
The animation throughout is quite good, and there are a couple moments that really jump out for the quality. Whenever Snoops sets off fireworks, it looks quite spectacular, especially for the time. The facial expressions of the various characters are fun to watch, especially when things start going wrong for the two mice. There's a scene where Bernard and Bianca are hiding in a pipe organ from the two alligators, and it's a great deal of fun to watch.
All in all, it's still a good movie, and one of Disney's that isn't all that well known. It's definitely worth a viewing in my mind if you haven't seen it, and worth watching it again if you haven't seen it in a long time. My next movie review will be of The Rescuers Down Under, one of the best Disney sequels in my opinion. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Oops!
Sorry for leaving this go for a couple weeks, I will be doing a movie review here very soon. Had some internet issues, as well as writer's block. And I would much rather put out something good and interesting, than just something to fulfill my self set quota. Stay tuned!
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