Off the Beaten Path

The world can be a wondrous place.  Surprises can be found around every corner if we allow ourselves to pause a moment in our busy day and look with fresh eyes.  I found my favourite bookstore quite by accident one day.  I wandered down a street that I hadn't really paid any attention to before, and noticed a sandwich board sign on the sidewalk outside one of the large Victorian homes which line the street.  I stepped onto the porch hesitatingly, unsure if the bookstore was inside the house or perhaps around the back.  As I peered in through the glass pane of the door I saw Nirvana; shelf upon shelf, row upon row of old books occupied the entire first floor.  Narrow aisles threaded their way through shelves arranged from floor to ceiling.

Inside, books on every conceivable subject could be found, with nary a paperback in sight.  I found pre World War I history books, 2nd edition Sherlock Holmes, and Atlases that included maps of Constantinople (not Istanbul) and Rhodesia (not Zimbabwe).  The retired couple who owned the shop spent their summers driving the continent seeking out old books, and the remainder of the year manning the counter.  Thus began my love affair with Arlington Books, whose existence I would have been totally oblivious to had I not chosen to take a right onto Arlington Avenue that sunny fall afternoon for not particular reason at all.  Providence has also revealed some treasures to me in Azeroth and in much the same way.

A few days ago I decided to run Murray through some of the Horde held Eastern Kingdoms zones for the xp and achievements.  I reached the Greymane Wall in Silverpine and decided to roam around Gilneas, even though I knew I should find an essentially empty zone.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that several areas of the ruins offered discovery xp.

I was quite taken with the artistry of the architecture and all of the detail that is put into everything.  For example, the interior of Greymane Manor.

The sun shafts coming through the rear window amaze me, and the baggage neatly stacked and ready for departure blows my mind.  The designers clearly put thought into the psychology of the residents, and added all those things which should be there in the circumstances in which Gilneans found themselves.  Of course the upper class would rally in the home of the King.  Of course they would pack their fine clothes and jewelery, their papers and artwork.  It's completely in keeping with how people of their station would behave in time of crisis, and demonstrates to me exactly the degree of planning that goes into world design.

I wandered my way around Gilneas in a clockwise fashion and soon found myself at the Cathedral.  This detail about which I next speak may not appear clearly in the screenshot but if you peer closely you should notice something about the lamps.

Did you see it?  The oil lamps are smoking; exactly as real oil lamps do.  Then there is the subterranean passage from Greymane Court in the city to Aderic's Repose, the graveyard to the west.  If you have run through here on a shiny new Worgen you may not have noticed this as you were too busy setting fire to the endless spawn of rats on your run through.

You will observe a stream of water dripping from the ceiling on the left side; totally appropriate given that the passage crosses underneath the moat surrounding the city.   To the northwest of the graveyard is Keel Harbour, the last area of Gilneas a worgen experiences prior to leaving for Darnassus.  There are a couple of houses outside of the harbour area proper, and I wandered into one to have a look see.  Sometimes homes are adorned with artwork and I like to see if any new ones have been created.  I ran in and upstairs and after a moment descended again to the main floor.  Then I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye.  I was a taken aback.  As of yet the only living things I had seen in Gilneas were the packs of sheep which wander to the north east.  It was just inside the door to the left that I found that which had startled me.

Worms.  At a table covered in fishing tackle is a can of worms;  a can of wriggling worms.  They look almost like fingers waving.  At this point I was totally in awe.  Here is a zone that moves you through it at a fairly brisk pace when you are supposed to be there, and offers no incentive to be there at all to anyone else, and yet the completely realistic detail of live worms exist in a fisherman's house by the harbour. 

The last thing that caught my attention, and a little anti-climatic I'm sure, was the harbour lighthouse.

Now first off, the lighthouse is on an island located here:

When you play a worgen you have absolutely no reason whatsoever to come to this island, in fact getting there would entail either a hell of a long swim or threading your way through tons of mobs.  Maybe one player in a thousand would have the idea of  going there, and few of those would bother actually trying.  And yet, this island is accessible via the beach on the south-western corner and conveniently enough there is a path and bridges to allow you to ascend to the very top.

There are many examples of this throughout Azeroth.  You can see for yourself how complete the designers and artists have sought to make this world.  All  you need to do is go wandering.  Some players complain that Blizzard doesn't give a damn, or that they produce an inferior product.   That is such rubbish.  They care, deeply, and it shows, and the game world is so much richer for their efforts.

Happy Wandering,
E