Reporting on games as I play them
The Eastern Plaguelands counts as the first zone that Eastern Kingdoms questers will encounter where both Alliance and Horde players will encounter the exact same zone as there is not a single quest in the zone that is specific to either faction, nor even any real members of either faction. Continuing from the first considerable interaction with the Argent Crusade in the Western Plaguelands, the Eastern Plaguelands has the players encountering and joining Fiona's caravan as they make their way across the Eastern Plaguelands, working with the Argent Crusade to fight off the remnant of the Scourge that still infests the land.
The storyline both benefits and suffers from the effective removal of faction conflict as it helps the zone really focus on its own story, providing some real characters who actually develop a little. However, it effectively removes your own character from being anything more than someone who is watching the story of Fiona's caravan and participating by running errands. Furthermore, just like the Eastern Plaguelands, there is a little bit of a disconnect in having the Forsaken work so willingly with the Argent Crusade, if you're coming from that storyline. Other than that, the introduction to the characters and their particular story, simple as it is, is probably the best thing in the Eastern Kingdoms since Kingslayer Orkus in the Hillsbrad Foothills, with some of the interaction and storytelling on the wagon rides between Fiona, Tarenar and Gidwin being modestly amusing, but having tons more character than anyone following Orkus.
Because of the focus on the Crusade versus the Scourge remnants, as well as how Tarenar and Gidwin are trying to join the Crusade, even most of the side quests actually feel fairly woven into the story and the whole zone's episodic nature as the caravan gathers some allies gives it almost a feeling of being in an interactive fantasy-set Cowboy Bebop, although the quality of storytelling is leagues behind the legendary anime. But even compared to the disjointed Western Plaguelands, the quality of storytelling in the Eastern Plaguelands is vastly improved. The variety of gameplay is a little weaker, with most of the quests tending towards kill and fetch quests, although you have some company in the form of some of your fellow caravan travelers joining you on some of them, and that does make the Eastern Plaguelands a little weaker and several of the storylines could use a lot more grounding, especially around the fate of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Plus, the post-Death Knight Scarlet Brotherhood area is completely barren and could use a little something, perhaps like continuing combat between the two factions and having some Death Knight representatives to quest for and interact with on their side of the field.
In terms of the environment, the Eastern Plaguelands is probably the most distinctive in comparison to the mostly forest-hills themes that we saw in the previous lands simply because the land has been corrupted, turning a sickly brown and red with giant mushrooms all over the place and once you reach Plaguewood, that gets even more sickly and purple. The zone also plays host to the dungeon Stratholme, which is just slightly higher in level than its surrounding area, but isn't otherwise poorly placed and is certainly thematically correct, even if no longer really feeling woven into the questing and leveling experience.
This level range means that the final types of rewards for questing are starting to show up here, like upgraded armor types and trinkets, meaning that the 40's are the conclusion of the introduction to the world of Warcraft. When you finish enjoying the modest story of the Eastern Plaguelands, some goblins offer you a rocket-ride to the Badlands as the next stop for Horde and Alliance characters questing in the Eastern Kingdoms. As far as the zone goes, the Eastern Plaguelands are certainly more rewarding than the previous three zones and probably sits alongside Hillsbrad Foothills for the mixed up degrees of fun and storytelling. The Argent focus does help the story be much tighter, but it also really pulls away from feeling much of the "war" in Warcraft as there's little to distinguish an Alliance or Horde member in these parts and you don't see any of the story relating to your respective factions or races, leaving a sad disconnect from the larger story that was being told. Furthermore, with the threat of the Lich King gone, the stakes simply don't seem very high for the zone, with the Crusade being all over the place, making it feel more like a clean-up operation than a trembling defense of the last vestiges of free life in the area.
But it's still a step up from what we've been seeing. I'm hoping the Badlands, with its goblins will be able to keep up to its level or exceed it.
Links:
- Game website
Zone Index: