Legion: From Alpha to Beta

So, as you have heard the Blizzard Beta is opening soon for Legion.

     Blizzard has officially closed off the Legion Alpha, and tomorrow as long as there are no unforeseen circumstances Legion Beta will be opening.

     Now, I've been vocal before on my opinion that the Alpha felt a lot like the Beta to me.  There was as expected a lot of unfinished business to play through.  Bugs and broken things.  However, it didn't take long to feel like it just needed to be polished from the little bit I played through. Now I have to admit that I didn't play far or extensively.  But I really think that a large  part of what Blizzard called Alpha would have been Beta in past expansions.

      So now the gates are opening to a larger crowd.  More folks to test what Blizzard has built so far.  This means that there is a lot of confidence on their part they are getting close to a finished product.  I am imagining a month or two of Beta as they start to put some meat on the bones of their product, and then Anywhere from end of June to end of July the pre-patch will drop.  I would love to say end of June, and of course other Betas recently in Warlords and Pandaria  the patch betas seemed to last about a month or so, but there is more work to be done here than in a standard beta for a patch.  While I would like to think we are getting our pre-expansion content sooner than later, I would put more money on later.

       What does that mean for us now?  Watch your email to see if your invited in for the Beta.  Be aware that there are scam artists out there that will be banking on folk clicking links in emails or signing up through such links.  Don't forget your internet safety.  If you get an invite check it out through your battle.net account.  Don't let excitement push you into something you regret.  Don't trust any Beta keys unless they are given through a reliable source.  Even then, make sure you don't fill out anything or click on any links.  Just take said key, if received and enter it in at the battle.net site.

     We are finally approaching the doorstep to the new expansion.  Very soon we will be breaking forth and fighting the Legion once again.  After that, who knows.  I have a guess from reading the book Illidan where we may go next.  Of course, at the same time I don't think the possibilities offered  would be great for the next expansion.  We need to have differences in expansions and the paths offered there would be a definite similar note if they followed those branches immediately. I think it will more likely be a second trip to Northrend as there is the Bolvar as Lich King and that story line I feel will need to be explored before we go  on anymore outer space adventures.

     So with three months left I'm going to work on getting my characters to that level 100 mark.  I want to have my options in line when the next expansion drops.  I am debating swapping to Demon Hunter as a main, but Lag will still probably get leveled first, as he is and has been my main unless there is a good reason to swap right away.

    So, what is everyone else's plans?

Lag

     

Hail Ashbringer.

So... I did the retribution paladin's artifact quest.

     The artifact quests themselves seem fairly short and to the point.  I think I could have done both the Demon Hunters, and the Paladin's in about 15 to 20 minutes with little trouble.  My guess is the rest of the quests are going to be similar, but I look forward to doing a few more to see if I'm correct.

     It's kind of cool to be wielding Ashbringer.  This is a sword that has been in Wow since vanilla. (Might have been in the RTS games, but I only played Warcraft 3 and I don't remember it in there.)  I know there was a corrupted Ashbringer in the original Naxxaramas.  I never played, but I have heard the stories.  I believe there was a quest in the Eastern Plaguelands which was created around the idea of reclaiming and purifying the Ashbringer, but I have never had the pleasure to do it.

     Here comes my qualms.  There is an obvious price for the right to wield the Ashbringer.  I had heard the price hinted at, but seeing is believing and I am not happy with the circumstances.  It has also been said that some of the other weapons will be obtained in a similar manner.  With some of the weapons that will be wielded the overall price in potential stories down the line baffles me.

     Yes, I'm trying to be a little vague here.  While the price is easily guessed I want to avoid all out spoilers for any who want to find out for themselves when they play this content.  If you want to know what happens look it up.  Plenty of other folks have spoiled it.  It's a quick google search away.

     Needless to say, that the Azeroth we are fighting for might be a very different place if even a third of the Artifact weapons we are gaining comes with such a price.  While change brings potential, too much change at once makes me worry.  If you shake up your player base too much you risk losing a few folks.   This might shake up the face of the Horde and Alliance as much as Catalysm and Siege of Ogrimmar did.  If not more.

      My other worry, is that if these quests have as much bearing on the future of Azeroth as this one did, than I think they should be longer.  More epic in scope.  15-20 minutes is fine.  But I could see a bit longer since this is a quest you only do once for each weapon.  With the possible future repercussions I think that more time might be worth spending on each of these.  Of course, if we have to get three weapons each if we use all our specs, (four for druids) 15-20 minutes might be just right.

     So, I am looking forward to doing a few more artifact weapon quests.  But I am hesitant about where they will lead in terms of story.  I keep mentioning price.

     What will be the price of this expansion.