People have been writing about the Theramore’s Fall scenario in WoW. It is a limited time, pre-Pandaria event.
It is said to provide a glimpse into Blizzard’s plans for scenarios, which are supposed to be 3 player events which do not require a group structured along the now classic Healer/Tank/DPS lines.
So, with a month left on my account, I thought I would take a look at what Blizzard has is store. Plus, there is an achievement.
Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Because the instance group gave up on Cataclysm, and because my own interest only extended to getting one character through the solo 81-85 content, I am not geared up enough to join in.
A quick look through the auction house showed that I would not be able to simply buy my way out of the item level hole. Concentrating on just PvP gear, I managed to get myself up to 340, but 353 was out of my price range.
The ugly specter of ever increasing levels in aging MMOs rears its ugly head again. Fall behind at your peril.
The event is only for dedicated players, among whose numbers I can clearly no longer be counted. I clearly should have been grinding gear and gold.
The irony, of course, is that gear from the first level 85-86 zone in Pandaria would probably fill the bill, that being part of the cycle of life in Azeroth. Greens from a new expansion have to be as good as purples from an old one.
But Theramore will have fallen (many, many times) by then, and the scenario will no longer be part of the game.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
The eventual aim with the level 90 scenarios (or so Blizzard say) is that they should be viable for a newly levelled character in quest gear. I guess they tuned this one a bit higher in anticipation of the flood of ‘this is noob content lol/ accessibility is rubbish/ WoW is dead’ from geared players who had been around longer.
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I read somewhere that Blizzard will leave the Fall of Theramore in as a scenario to be played for a while, even after release of Pandaria. I’m pretty sure that’s the only way I’ll see it, in Pandaria greens.
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That is just terrible and horrific design. We have this new story-telling feature (which is great as story really hasn’t been WoW’s thing ever), and we have some intermediate story which is there to introduce players to the new expansion. However, they block a majority of players from even seeing it, and only allow the top 10% in?! So what is the subscription for if they make content that prevents max level players from participating in it? You pay us, but we won’t let you play it until you grind it out. Ridiculous.
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I managed to squeek in as I’d helped out on a few dragon soul raids and the super high item level of stuff from there had given my quite a boost. You didn’t miss anything, it’s completely lacking in story or lore.
I’ve just posted about this same problem, the ‘level gap’ you face if you don’t keep up with level or gear progression in most MMOs. I face this constantly in LoTRO, I started so late I’ll never catchup with the current endgame.
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You will be able to run this as a 90 level scenario – I ran it, and to be honest was not impressed. I think as a 90 level scenario and trying to gear it will be more interesting, but think of it more as a “quest for 3 people” rather than what it is called – a scenario.
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I just ran it. Here’s how it went:
Kill kill kill kill
Kill kill
Burn some crap down
Kill kill kill
Die/rez
Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill
Kill kill
Protect Jaina/kill kill kill
Kill
Die/rez
Kill
get goody bag with 15 cents and a sparkler
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ps, I forgot to add:
Halfway thru the scenario. lose tank because he was a ten year old punk and only playing because cartoons were over and he was bored (also did not know how play and/or behave in a group with strangers)
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In all fairness, I could write the same lament about EVE online. I can’t jump into nullsec with you guys, even if you wanted me to.
This is the nature of any progression centered multiplayer game, whether it be WoW, or EVE, or even TF2.
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@Ocho – most people who have been playing even semi-casually will be able to get into that scenario now. I wouldn’t be surprised if your numbers are close to upside down. I’ve played rarely in Cataclysm due to my guild shattering (see what I did there?) and I have 3 characters that could go.
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@Genda – Actually, I have seen enough 1 week old accounts in null sec fleets flying tackling frigates that I would have to disagree. Frigate roams and new characters are pretty common in null sec in some alliances. There is a whole new player program in GSF.
What would hold you back is finding a corp that would take you. It is a social issue. EVE Online doesn’t throw an alert saying you cannot enter null sec because you have insufficient skill points.
And in a level based game like EQ or WoW, if you don’t like an expansion, as I did not like Cataclysm, than you are kind of hosed on anything after that.
I am not saying EVE doesn’t have problems, you brought that comparison here yourself, but it doesn’t have these problems.
And I would ask you to define how casual your “semi-casual” really is. It seems like you would have to have been running heroics or grinding honor, since none of the open zone gear seems to come close.
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Theramore is only limited time at level 85. It will be converted to a level 90 scenario at MoP launch.
Content has to be pitched at someone – I think this scenario has been pitched at people who have been running group content for a while since hitting level 85. So it’s not for a fresh 85, nor for characters that have been running raids with their guild. I expect someone determined to do so (probably not a casual) could get the requisite gear in a week. If not, it’s not like there’s nothing else to do.
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@Besse – Well, you are correct, it isn’t like there’s nothing else to do.
I went and played Torchlight II.
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To be fair, it *is* group content, in a MMO, so it’s not unsurprising that prior group content would have been required.
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To be fair, the whole concept of scenarios… three person, no role requirements… sounds like a step in the direction of more casual group content. So putting a non-casual ilevel gate on it does not make a lot of sense to me. And as a preview to get people interested in MoP… well, if you gate it and only allow people who are already likely to buy the expansion, then you are kind of preaching to the choir.
I am already not planning to buy MoP at launch, since I do not see anything that really interests me. Here was a chance to change my mind. Only I can’t try it.
But I am only one person. Blizzard customer support has already made it clear to me that one person does not matter.
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“a non-casual ilevel gate”
Not having ilvl 353 suggests that you haven’t participated in any of the tiers of raiding of Cataclysm, played through the troll heroics or The Hour of Twilight dungeons, or competed at the equivalent level in PvP.
Blizzard are assuming that you have done one or more of these things at this point in the expansion and are looking for content tailored to that level of gear.
From their perspective, there is quite of lot of content there for you to enjoy before you try Theramore.
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I always find it a shame that in our guild those of us that would happily “carry” ,as some see it, those people through that would like it but not necessarily need to gear for it don’t allow it. I think that the ilevel etc restrictions are a bit pointless if you have a guild or friends willing to assist. That would also mean that guilds had a point more than the perks!
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Even if you didn’t raid and didn’t run Heroics, if you ran normal level 85 dungeons, you wouldn’t have enough justice points to get the ilevel.
Also, the theramore scenario will be available at 90.
This isn’t hardcore gated content.
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Sorry, I meant – if you ran normal level 85’s, you WOULD have enough justice points to get the ilevel.
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@Bernard – “From their perspective, there is quite of lot of content there for you to enjoy before you try Theramore.”
Yes, I get it, and that is my point. If you didn’t like the old content, there isn’t anything new for you, go away. Oh, and please buy our expansion.
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I watched a video on YouTube of the Fall of Theramore from the Alliance POV. I yawned. I sighed contentedly knowing that I’ve just entered the last month of the Annual Pass. Then, I hopped in my Drake to join a roam for neuts in Querious.
If only I’d found New Eden years ago…
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Point taken – Theramore is a poor advertisement to get players to purchase Pandaria. But I don’t think it was ever intended as such. It lacks any links with pandas and fails to be an ‘event’ in the way that the zombie plague or retaking Gnomer were. Rather it is just something for bored end-gamers to do.
In any case, I believe the demographic that has an active WoW subscription but is unwilling to dungeon (any), PvP (any) and unable to craft or buy a full set of 353 gear on the AH is fairly small.
Incidentally, as you are an Annual Pass subscriber, wouldn’t it have been easier to use your beta access to judge whether the expansion has content that would appeal?
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