Blood Elves

Sundays are "dick around" days for me, so among other things I got another level on my lowbie druid and started a Blood Elf paladin. (Yes, I know, it's not like there is a shortage of them, but I don't want to start a second rogue, I hate casters, and I hate warriors more. My options are kinda limited.) I want to say, I think the development team did an excellent job with the Blood Elf new player experience, and it's worthy of congratulations.

It's basically the same format as the other starting areas (totally safe newbie area to get you to level 5 or so, then a quest that takes you to the next area) but it's a little more dynamic, and there are some nice touches - like a quest that shows you how to use the Blood Elf racial ability. I would love to see similar quests added for other races - it didn't occur to me to try War Stomp with a Tauren until many levels in.

The post-level 5 areas are much more diverse, as well - it's not just one single, overwhelming quest hub. I only played til level 7, but this felt much more interesting and less overwhelming to me.

The actual quests and race details are well done, too - the Blood Elves have a distinct feeling of a group that firmly believes itself to be in the right, despite unsettling evidence to the contrary, and that will do whatever is expedient to reach their goals. Silvermoon City is gorgeous, well-laid-out, (mailboxes in every corner! What an idea! Two banks! Two auction houses!), and deeply creepy city. There are little NPC interactions going on, like a citizen being hassled by the guards, a protest which is effectively (and disturbingly) controlled, and of course, the paladin chapterhouse, which holds a very unsettling secret.

My only real quibble is that it still feels very stagey - there doesn't seem to be any way to affect any of these interactions. The quests don't have any meaningful choices, even where it would be interesting to have them - do I assassinate the guy, or let him go after paying me protection money? Do I lie to the teacher for the students, or turn them in? This isn't a failure compared to the rest of the game - it's actually interesting that I'm feeling frustrated about the lack of choice with these quests, because I certainly never did with my rogue, who has made it through most of the rest of the content. It's actually, I think, a sign that Blizzard is reaching for more meaning, and getting close to it. Just... not quite close enough to make this old-school Ultima fan really happy.

I would love to see some branching quest lines put in - preferably more than one. Ideally, I'd love to see a neutral playable race - that is, the race itself is neutral, like the goblins, but players, though their choices, can build up rep with either the Alliance or the Horde - or carefully walk the line between. But then, I still want to make Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar Online.