Nazjatar

I’ve held off on writing about 8.2 for a few different reasons. One big one being that I spent all my time playing the game rather than thinking about things I’d like to write about. The other being that I had mixed reactions about each zone both positive and negative. I figure that each new zone will take up it’s own post, so today I will talk about what I think about Nazjatar – ancient home of the Night Elves which has been in ruin under the seas for ten thousand years, and since have been reclaimed by the Naga. I’m going to preface this whole thing by saying I haven’t completed the story in Nazjatar yet, I still have one chapter left.

What is Nazjatar?

Long before the Naga or the Burning Legion came to Azeroth, Night Elves had a vast civilization that spanned much of the planet. It was built around a gigantic magical lake called the Well of Eternity, where the Elves learned Arcane magic and advancements that would aid in a prospering society. Getting only glimpses of what it actually looked like from the Azshara Warbringer video and the artwork from the Chronicles Warcraft lore books, it was breathtaking.

Of course, that all changed when Queen Azshara opened a portal so that the demon armies of the Burning Legion could invade Azeroth, presumably with her as queen of the entire planet. But that never happened, as a massive war broke out and the Well of Eternity ulimately imploded and sent most of Night Elf civilization beneath the newly formed seas. Queen Azshara made a deal with the Old God N’zoth and transformed her and most of her people into the Naga. Over ten thousand years Azshara and the Naga have been living under the sea and rebuilding their once Night Elven civilization of Zin-Azshari into Nazjatar, the Naga capital city. Nazjatar is what Queen Azshara rules now, as she is referred to as the “Empress of Nazjatar.”

What Do I Think?

Queen Azshara and the Night Elves are a huge part of Warcraft lore that have been speculated about for years. By the time 8.2 came around, everyone (including me) had their own vision for what Nazjatar was going to be. It’s like with anything when you build up an idea in your head that seems so great to you, and when it turns out differently no matter what it’s going to feel like a disappointment. For me, I was hoping for much more area to explore and quests that revolve around Night Elf/ Highborne culture. I haven’t been completely disappointed because there’s some quests that show what life was like at the time and gives some insight into what was really going on. There’s also a pretty big area just filled with ruins and Highborne spirits and it’s pretty cool.

I love the idea that these ruins have been untouched for thousands, and that maybe even the Naga are ashamed of them but also that they serve as a memorial for what was. For what could have still been. Queen Azshara could have ordered that the Naga destroy the remants of her failure, but that would mean that she had made a mistake. The Burning Legion was just one rung on the ladder in her quest for more power. I am glad that these ruins are intact rather than the whole land being rebuilt into a more Naga-themed architecture style. I also love the little detail where every statue has been ruined except for the Azshara ones, which are all still intact.

The Music

One of the biggest surprises about Nazjatar for me was the music, but only in specific places. Walking into the area with ruins from the city for the first time was magical. The music here is beautiful and somber like the ghosts from a land long forgotten under the sea. It’s the sorrow of all the people who didn’t have a choice and are now stuck as restless spirits in a place that was once their beloved home. It’s a testament to just how much pride the Night Elves had in Zin-Azshari and the shame they feel at everything they loved being destroyed. The music here had quite an effect on me, and I had to stop and listen to a story that was being told through a somber melody. The areas with all the city ruins play this music, and they are my favorite part of the entire zone. It made me realize how long I have been waiting to see this in-game. Even so, there are some things that did not live up to expectations for me.

What I Didn’t Like

I’m definitely trying to take into account what I said earlier about things not being able to live up to personal built up hype. But I just want more quests, like Suramar in Legion. Suramar was an entire questing zone where there was tons of quests to do to advance the story there. The whole story with the Nightborne was very interesting. I would really like to see Nazjatar do the same thing with Highborne, Naga, or even the new friends we’ve made there. I also haven’t finished the story yet, so I could be missing out on a lot. I think that I’m just hoping for more, and that I need to remember that Azshara didn’t expose the entire land of Nazjatar. That can be seen at the edge of the zone where the ruined part of Zin-Azshari is disappearing into the waves.

It would be cool if there were quests under the water, where players went diving through the parts of the opened up sea to uncover more mysteries about the Naga. Maybe even an entire Naga city to infiltrate kind of like Suramar City. However I also realize that many players did not like questing in Vashj’ir, which was WoW’s only underwater zone, and that I absolutely loved it. Vashj’ir is one of my favorite zones in the game, and I was hoping Nazjatar would have some underwater aspects to it.

It’s hard for me to pick out specific things I didn’t like about the zone. Both Mechagon and Nazjatar are grinds in order to get things you want or advance the story in some way. I think that I was just hoping for more, which is kind of ridiculous since Nazjatar is a huge zone. I find myself less excited to go there than Mechagon, which may be in part because Mechagon is a completely new concept. I am already familiar with the story of Queen Azshara and the Night Elves, so in a way I am not discovering much new information. That being said, so far the raid is awesome…

Azshara’s Eternal Palace

I don’t know how the raid ends. I haven’t watched the cinematic after the Queen Azshara fight, but I have pieced some information together thanks to video titles on YouTube and Facebook. So I’m not completely in the dark, but I’d like to experience the cinematic in its entirety for the first time after my guild defeats Azshara. So far we’ve done the first two bosses, but I was only able to make it to the second boss – the Blackwater Behemoth. Being thrown into this boss fight first was interesting, because the Behemoth’s the raid’s only fight that takes place entirely underwater. It takes some time to get used to direction being 3-D, but other than that it was a blast.

The raid looks very ornate and Elven and I’m having a good time with it so far. I haven’t seen many boss mechanics yet so I’m going to hold off on my thoughts on that, but I’m excited to see what Radiance of Azshara will be like. At the end of raid night last week we tried fighting it once, only to die spectacularly so I’m looking forward to next raid night!