I’m in Outland and I’ve heard all the stories about how phat the lewt is here. Well, the stories were right and if anything, they didn’t do the lewt justice. For example, my wand walking into Outland was 44.4 dps. Within a half an hour, I had a 73.8 dps wand +8 peanut butter. Another surprising development is the skewed XP you get for killing folk. For example, a level 59 kill in the Western Plaguelands yields 706 XP yet in the Hellfire Peninsula, it yields 1132. WTF?!? At first, this would seem to be a good thing. But in thinking about it, why would I do any questing outside of Outland now if I want to level up most efficiently. Now that I can get in to Outland, I’m not so concerned about leveling up as fast as I can but I know that’s most important for many players.

On the bright side, I was extremely pleased to see that Outland - the limited parts I’ve seen so far is not just a collection of new high level zones. There’s a totally different feel to it than Azeroth. My sputtering video card can attest to that. Also, it seems early on that there is more attention paid to storylines, something I know we all prefer. Whether this will continue the further I venture into Outland remains to be seen.

I was also happy to hear a new set of music tracks. They definitely have a different feel and a more ominous tone to them which matches the area.

There you have it. Impressions from someone who didn’t cheat to get to Outland.

In conclusion, LO~!LO!LO!L!O!O!O - tangly clam meat