Kurt Schumacher
Borean Tundra vs. Howling Fjord
When starting out on the new path to glory, a player must consider various factors of the leveling game. When looking north, the Borean Tundra and the Howling Fjord are two viable questing zones, but both can be done instead of just picking one. In the first couple of months, the servers will experience the highest load of players ever. Thus, the player is left with this question: Howling Fjord or Borean Tundra? To create the fastest and most entertaining leveling experience, a Horde character should start in the tundra, while an Alliance character should start in the fjord.
Upon logging in, every 70 with the new expansion installed will rush to Northrend to try out the new zones. Howling Fjord, a glacial carved landscape which "is the only region in Northrend dominated by humans and dwarves making it the only Alliance-dominated region located in southeastern Northrend" (Mordiceius 2008). This faction bias towards the Alliance is beneficial for safety and speed, making it very efficient for leveling. When a player is concerned about their sanity and time involved with leveling, the quickest path usually warrants the most people doing the same thing. When considering fluidity of leveling when doing multiple quests take into mind that "[t]he Horde quest hubs and quest chains feel more fluid, more well-connected together in the Borean Tundra. The opposite is also true for the Alliance in Howling Fjord" (Jame 2008). The Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord are the two separating zones for Northrend, and have slight bias towards their respective factions. Regardless of faction, it is nice to visit all content within the game.
The differences of the Borean Tundra are staggering. Not only do both zones favor their respective faction, the Howling Fjord has "fewer quests, however[;] it's worth pointing out that no matter which zone you start with, unless you do no instances whatsoever and kill only the minimum number of creatures required per quest, you're going to hit 80 with plenty to spare, just like in TBC" (Ekera 2008). The amount of quests for a particular zone will not matter once the player hits level 80, there will still be quests open for completion. If the player chooses to complete both zones while leveling, the difference is then reduced to the reducing difficulty of quests as a result of higher levels. Additionally, the "the Borean Tundra looks quite boring and dull, not nearly as exciting as the Howling Fjord, which is a beautiful and wonderous area full of surprises. If you are concentrating on having a better time questing, with lots of lore along the way, rather than getting it out of the way quickly, I would recommend the Howling Fjord" (Strands 2008), and "[t]he whole zone of Borean Tundra looks like a puzzle with variety of colors for each section of the zone" (Wrath King 2008). When a player encounters a new area, the color palette can be a deciding factor, as the player would not want his "eyes to bleed" while he is trying to get out of the zone. When picking out which start out on, take into account the difficulty, population, looks and feel of a zone.
The differences of the Howling Fjord and the Borean Tundra may cause some players who have superior skill to breeze through content, and cause others to take it slow. Be it the amount of quests or the navigability in a particular zone may be a deterrant or incentive towards players making their decision on where to go in Northrend. Overall, both zones may have particular bias, but both zones are vital to visit for the average player.
I READ WITH INTEREST.
Reference List
ALPHABETIZE. NEED RETRIEVAL DATES.
GRADE 90/100
Mordiceius. 2008. "Howling Fjord vs Borean Tundra: Where Should You Start?".
Mordiceius.com http://mordiceius.com/2008/10/31/howling-fjord-vs-borean-tundra-where-
should-i-start/
Jame. 2008. "What's better: Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord?". Jame's MMORPG Blog.
http://jamewowpro.blogspot.com/2008/10/whats-better-borean-tundra-or-howling.html