Ultimate Quest: Chapter Eleven - Dun Morogh

(Spoilers for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.)

Welcome back to the Ultimate Quest, where we play through every zone in World of Warcraft to determine, through an exacting and rigorous science, which quest is truly the greatest of them all!

This week, we kick our feet up in a gentle winter wonderland - but not before we go on a bloody rampage through it.

For Khaz Modan!

The unstated goal of any introductory zone in World of Warcraft is to explore the identity of your chosen race and cement your place in the world. Dun Morogh’s Coldridge Valley, cozy home for new dwarves, is a decent introduction in this regard. A short adventure through a troll cave and a rousing beatdown of troggs - the dwarf's more distant and debased relative - introduces us to classic dwarven conflicts. But while these adventures tell us what dwarves like to fight, they do not tell us who the dwarves actually are.

Leaving the training wheels of the tiny valley, we explore the larger region and get our first glimpse of distant Ironforge, buried deep within its namesake mountain. We hunt game, drink ale, and get to know our gnomish neighbors. And we contend with the dark iron dwarves, uncovering a conspiracy that resonates within the very falls of Ironforge.

But even as Dun Morogh expands the scope of the world, it fails to elaborate on the dwarven people. Too little time is spent on what the dark iron’s betrayal means for the new, unified Council of Three Hammers, or what it says about the dark iron’s attempts to re-integrate into dwarven society. And we certainly spend no time questioning the morality of their deaths at our hands.

The most egregious example of a missed opportunity, however, is with the Cataclysm itself. Of all the races on Azeroth, the dwarves are the most invested in the planet's history and well-being. When the world bleeds, it is the dwarf who hears her call. In the case of the dwarven king, Magni Bronzebeard, this call leads to his complete crystallization, leaving him (at the time of Cataclysm’s events) comatose. But even this knowledge comes from an outside source (the tie-in novel, The Shattering). Dun Morogh itself spends no time on the topic, despite its impact on the dwarves. And although the Cataclysm has touched Dun Morogh, we get no opportunity to root around in the implications of the event, beyond the off-handed mention of “tremors” and “earthquakes”.

If we take Dun Morogh as an exploration of dwarven identity, then our conclusion at the zone’s conclusion is that dwarves enjoy little else but fighting other sentient creatures. It is a balefully missed opportunity – and not the zone’s greatest crime. Dun Morogh falls prey to more than unfulfilled potential. It falls prey to ambitions exceeding its reach.

There are two major set-pieces in Dun Morogh. The first is a battle against an army of trolls outside Kharanos, the local hub and largest town outside of Ironforge itself. The second is a battle against an army of dark iron dwarves at Ironforge Airfield, at the gates of the great city itself.

Both set pieces are showcases for Blizzard's expanded budget and desire to generate more intrigue for some of its starting players in 2008. The Ironforge Airfield in particular, always viewable for travelers over the mountain pass but never directly accessible until the release of flying mounts in classic Azeroth, was understandably reworked to fulfill the impossible promise of intrigue its inaccessibility once promised. But the rework does not deepen this intrigue; it does not even enlarge the airfield’s role in the world. Instead, Blizzard ditches the context-less visions of dwarves bashing trolls in the mountains and replaces them with a capstone skirmish between the armies of Ironforge and a band of dark iron traitors.

As a set piece and piece of political intrigue with a healthy dash of violent adventure, it's one of the more effective storylines to appear in an opening zone. Unfortunately, it’s a jarring tonal shift, a slice of epic battle dropped into the middle of an otherwise tranquil romp through the winter wonderland. The build-up is all wrong. There is no mention of the dark irons at all until they suddenly appear. The next thing we know, we are dive bombing their soldiers from the skies, and embroiling ourselves in an enormous conflict.

The troll conflict is no better. Although taking place not twenty feet from Kharanos’ border, the citizens there seem unconcerned. Indeed, there is no sign this battle is occurring anywhere else in the zone, up to and including dialogue from Dun Morogh’s citizenry. We are simply dropped in the middle of a set-piece battle and told to be excited.

Certainly, amidst a cacophony of explosions, tanks, airplanes, and rampaging golems, these events are exciting. But they are also empty. The epic is out of place when the rest of the zone is about everything but these conflicts, and we ourselves feel (and know) our characters to be small cheese: level 10 dwarves just starting their journey to (in 2008) a max level of 85. Worse, without context, we have also no investment. Yes, it is thrilling to land in a war zone and get involved; but without any sense of the goals and motivations of the armies involved, or a sense of the defender’s vulnerability, we have no real reason to get involved. Will the trolls devastate Kharanos if they push through? Will the dark irons overthrow the Ironforge government? We are left to surmise on our own.

Compare this to the Battle of Andorhal in the Western Plaguelands, which clearly established its stakes, weaving in and out of the conflict to grant it a sense of both permanence and a matter of concern. The Battle at Ironforge Airfield occurs without preamble and is afterward forgotten almost entirely – though the battle will rage on forever, should you return to the zone at higher levels, unlike Andorhal, the outcome of which permanently changes for any character who experiences it.

Dun Morogh is an effective window into dwarven life and dwarven concerns, but its ambitions jar with its humble origins. It raises the stakes too sharply too quickly and without the follow through to give their epic nature an epic impact. It misses an opportunity to explore dwarven political identity, despite promises to the contrary with the dark iron incursion.

V. Arathi Highlands

An easy pass, as Dun Morogh offers so much more than the forgotten realm of Arathi.

Dun Morogh is better than Arathi Highlands.

V. The Hinterlands

Although Dun Morogh misses the opportunity to truly explore the character of the dwarven Bronzebeard clan, it does explore plenty. The Hinterlands, on the other hand, completely fumbles any attempt to explore the dwarven Wildhammer clan.

Dun Morogh is better than the Hinterlands.

V. Badlands

Dun Morogh's ambitions may exceed its writing, but it doesn't quite exceed its budget like the Badlands does. For that matter, it does acknowledge (albeit subtly) the trouble with fighting dark irons. Plenty of sentient beings are slain in Dun Morogh, but self-defense is a better excuse than racism.

Dun Morogh is better than the Badlands.

V. The Wetlands

Both zones establish a decent sense of place, but Dun Morogh spends enough time with its people to push it ahead of the aimless Wetlands.

Dun Morogh is better than the Wetlands.

V. Durotar

Durotar benefits from a quest structure that does not exceed the scope of its humble, early-level origins. It dares to examine the implications of orcish politics, and it even allows dissension in the ranks.

This is actually a closer race than this black and white text can convey. Both zones fumble the basics of plotting (establish setting, build tension, climax), and neither make much attempt at theming. But in the end, very little in Durotar falls flat. Its handling of the Cataclysm deepens our view of the orcs (they are brutal but can also be empathic), whereas Dun Morogh misses the boat entirely. And it complicates the nature of the orc's new governing body, suggesting that not all might agree with the orc's new direction; contrast to Dun Morogh, whose only contrarian is a mustache-twirling villain intent on destroying Ironforge itself.

Durotar is better than Dun Morogh.

CONCLUSION

One of our closest races yet succumbs to the might of the Horde, leaving the dwarves to continue their endless battle atop the Ironforge Airfield, forever and ever and ever.

Dun Morogh is the seventh best zone in World of Warcraft.

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