The men who fell to Kalimdor

After a bit of a break (work and malfunctioning Internet connection) I finally got a chance to try out Draenei race. I had to jump to another beta test server for that, and luckily this time the name imago was not taken. I decided to play with a Paladin class - not my favorite choice, but it felt suitable for Draeneis.

I had a lot of reservations, when the new races were first announced. Blood Elves seemed like carbon copies of Night Elves and the whole idea of Draenei coming from space just felt ridiculous. 1 hour with Blood Elf and my doubts were gone about them (previous post). Draenei took even shorter to "get into".

Blizzard did a really good job interleaving the lore with quests, keeping the story entertaining and meaningful. The art direction of the starting zone... just stunning. Haunting music reminded me of the main theme to Battlestar Gallactica (the 2000's version, not the old one) - played on traditional tribal instruments it evokes the feelings of loss and sadness following Draenei crash-landing on unknown planet.

Giant Moths in Ammen Vale

The Ammen Vale Crash Site area gives the player an uncanny feeling of alienation. It's rather dark, inhabited by strange mutated creatures... Everywhere around pieces of the ship are scattered on the ground, and crash survivors lay down around the forest awaiting rescue.

imago and a Draenei mourner take a moment of silence

Most of the missions in the earliest levels are themed around reconnaissance and rescue. There is an overall feeling of calmness underlined by fear and sorrow. Overall, the environment is extremely immersing and captivating.

Bad flower, bad flower!... but so pretty...

The main concept is: our crash landing damaged the area, and while we need to figure out what to do with ourselves next, we cannot allow the surrounding environment to become polluted. The theme of the missions makes Draenei very "likable" characters and easily breaks the superstitions many players may have had concerning their impact on the lore's integrity.

Draenei speak with Indian accents (India-indian, not American natives), their dance already made Daler Mehndi a worldwide celebrity, so while suffering surrounds them, there is a lot of goofiness among players.

Tanak Tanak!