Chronicles of Cataclysm: The Death of the Barrens (Chat)

John Funk

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Dec 20, 2005
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Chronicles of Cataclysm: The Death of the Barrens (Chat)



What will happen to one of the most infamous zones in all of World of Warcraft once the Cataclysm hits? Blizzard spills the beans to us on the fate of the Barrens.

Let's be honest here: Everybody who plays World of Warcraft as the Horde loves the Barrens, and everybody who plays World of Warcraft as the Horde hates the Barrens. It's a huge zone in which you'll spend a good ten levels (if not more), it's dry and flat and devoid of greenery, and you've probably done all the quests there at least five times on separate characters. But as much as there is to dislike about the Barrens, there's also a strange nostalgia that comes with the place - "Barrens Chat," Mankrik's wife, Chuck Norris ... it's a rite of passage, in a way.

It's also getting blown the hell up come the Cataclysm. Blizzard sent an exclusive Q&A to our sister site WarCry [http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/7923-Exclusive-WoW-Cataclysm-Preview-Southern-Barrens] all about what's happening to the Barrens - more specifically, the southern half of the Barrens (now its own zone) - in WoW: Cataclysm.

According to Blizzard, the Barrens is one of the areas in the world "hardest-hit" by the Cataclysm. While the northern half of the Barrens will "[retain] much of the feel of the original zone," the southern half is drastically changed. The Alliance is pushing into Horde territory up from the East coast of the continent - likely in response to Horde aggression in places like Ashenvale - and the tension between the two factions will be at the core of the storyline in the zone, meant for players of both factions from levels 30 to 35.

"We tried to give players the feeling of participating in large PvP-style conflicts, even if they're playing solo. Alliance and Horde members will struggle to capture and defend key points of the battlefield against waves of enemy troops," said Cataclysm game designers Dave Kosak and Roman Marotte. "To accentuate the conflict, battles continually rage in hot spots around the zone. Finally, we put together a quest structure that throws players into the thick of those engagements."

It seems that Blizzard is relying on players' nostalgia for the old Barrens to elicit the desired emotional response. "We invested a lot of effort into infusing the right emotions into the zone. If you're a Horde player, for instance, we want you to be completely outraged by what happened at [Camp] Taurajo!"

Seeing as how players are still arguing over whether or not the battle in Alterac Valley is justified - and AV has been in the game for pretty much half a decade at this point - I have no doubt that there will be plenty of message-board debates on the conflicts here in the Barrens for years to come. It's what WoW players love to do, after all. That, and crack jokes about Chuck Norris.

To read more about the state of the Southern Barrens in Cataclysm - from the unnaturally lush Overgrowth to the strategically crucial Battlescar - head over to WarCry [http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/7923-Exclusive-WoW-Cataclysm-Preview-Southern-Barrens]!

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Marmooset

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Mar 29, 2010
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Barrens chat has been dead fer a while, to my knowledge. Or migrated. Hang out in Dal, if you feel nostalgic for it.
 

Dusk17

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Jul 30, 2010
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I wonder what is going to happen in the Crossroads. On my server that area was always packed. It was also getting attacked by alliance every thirty minutes.
 

maddog015

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Sep 12, 2008
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Kind of old news...there are youtube videos of people exploring this area for a couple weeks now with the creators of said videos guessing what this could mean for the future. Granted, it's official now and not someone's FRAPS vid.
 

FallenTraveler

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Jun 11, 2010
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they want to illicit an emotional response? it's an mmo... I have never met anyone who gets truly invested in the lowbie areas, I know plenty of people who love the lore, but that doesn't mean players are gonna head to the barrens and weep... hmm... how old is this game now?

ah, warcraft, I knew ye well... now I've moved on to bigger, better things... but I still get a hankering to head out to westfall here and there
 

Worgen

Follower of the Glorious Sun Butt.
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Apr 1, 2009
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Whatever, just wash your hands.
wow, alliance pushing into horde territory, how the fuck is that different from the almost daily raids on xroads before the burning crusade expansion?
 

BioTox

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Nov 19, 2009
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FallenTraveler said:
Ah, warcraft, I knew ye well... now I've moved on to bigger, better things... but I still get a hankering to head out to westfall here and there
No matter how many times I leave, I always come back in WoW. There is always something "missing" when I am playing other MMORPGs. The only one that came close to keeping me playing was Warhammer Online before the Devs blew it to hell.

OT: There isn't much action going on in The Barrens anymore. Only low level Horde trying to level up as fast as possible. There are the Ally raids but they don't really care about the zone. They just want to kill lowbies because they can't get into Org.

I am actually interested in seeing what Blizzard does with the whole zone and how it being split in two is going to affect the leveling because that zone was used from lvl12-lvl20, or something like that. I haven't made a new toon in a while. I got three lvl80 and two lvl70 for me to worry about. LoL

And lastly: "Chuck Norris brushes his teeth with barbed wire."
 

Dexiro

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Dec 23, 2009
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From what i've seen it's been dead for quite a while.

At least on the server i'm on it's completely empty compared to how it was a few years ago when i used to play, it's a little depressing to be honest. I used to like WoW for the community, but now wherever i go it just seems really empty and quiet.
 

warbaloon

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Aug 11, 2009
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Perhaps I will make an alt and not level in ghostlands when the expansion comes around...
 

Timbydude

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Jul 15, 2009
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BioTox said:
No matter how many times I leave, I always come back in WoW. There is always something "missing" when I am playing other MMORPGs. The only one that came close to keeping me playing was Warhammer Online before the Devs blew it to hell.
This perfectly describes my experiences, Warhammer included. Champions Online, in particular, just felt empty and pointless after WoW.

OT: I'm in the Cataclysm beta, and it's just insane how much they've improved the game. The class systems are COMPLETELY revamped, and it's all for the better. Abilities and spells no longer have "ranks", as they automatically scale with you as you level. The zones have been improved, and quests will now point you in one direction at a time instead of tasking you with running around the entire world. The Barrens are (is?) certainly no exception.

Also, the Goblin starting zone? Hilarious, and easily the best that Blizzard has ever made.
 

oliveira8

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Feb 2, 2009
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The Barrens chat was the second best thing about WoW back in the days. The other was Looking For Group channel. Why Blizzard why!? Why did you remove it! Who cares nobody used it for looking for groups, it was insanely fun and it made those strange empty zones alive, with all the mad banter in that chat box.
 

Contun

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Mar 28, 2009
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Alliance may have gotten a lot of Southern Barrens but at least the Horde gets everything else...
 

Goldeneye1989

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Mar 9, 2009
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we want you to be completely outraged by what happened at [Camp] Taurajo!" - i have not played this game for a year and a bit, longer for constant play and i was almost angry when i red this line. .... well played blizzard, well played.
 

Charli

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Nov 23, 2008
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I think the fact that there is no sanctuary city in this coming expansion says alot, we're going to have to use SW and Org as our hub cities again and that alone is going to fuel the diversity. The leveling up in Cataclysm is going to be rife with people beating the hell out of each other for questing items and territorial dominance.

The PvP servers are going to have a ball. And I get the feeling the normal severs will just enable it to prove a point to whatever smelly horde or stuck up alliance is taking their mobs.