I tanked and killed Kael'thas today. Overall Magister's Terrace was rather underwhelming.
The early pulls were just annoying. Lots of casters, and worse, mobs which stun, causing the casters to run all over. With the number of mobs I feel uncomfortable not using CC, which is exactly what I like about my paladin, not needing CC. Forcing CC into groups is a terrible design choice. This isn't my usual complaint about the slowing-down of runs, but that it restricts group possibilities. It hurts shamans, paladins, druids, priests, and warriors. Who wants a class that can't CC in an instance where CC seems almost necessary and you can't even cheat a bit by using a tankadin?
The first boss was easier than the trash. He was a total joke. That was a terrible way to start an instance. Perhaps we were overgeared, but then why was the trash so much more of a challenge? He certainly needs a buff, maybe the trash needs to toning down as well, but the boss is definitely too easy.
The second boss wasn't too tough either. We did manage to get an enhancement shaman killed, but I think that was due to me lagging horribly and Omen being unable to read the new combat logs.
The third was almost interesting, but with so many adds it felt tedious. Making the actual boss so squishy felt silly. We've killed the boss, so why do we have to deal with all this other crap? We actually wiped because our healer was being a moron; he backed up too far and got feared into a group that we'd passed. But the boss encounter was completed, so I used DI to save the repair bill and run back.
Finally we got to Kael'thas. This isn't a good game for fully three-dimensional encounters. It's disorienting and the bubbles were a complete pain in the ass. It felt like Blizzard was trying to design a fun and challenging encounter with an epic feel to it, but instead it felt like we'd just killed an obnoxious boss and gotten decent loot.
The turn-in only increased the feeling that we'd done nothing important. This is Kael'thas we're talking about here. Ruler of the Blood Elves, the man who we wanted to hunt down because he was tearing apart Netherstorm. He was a member of the Legion, high-ranking and powerful. But he dies so pitifully, in the middle of a small room, alone, without even a decent speech. Turning in his head gives a bit of text about our accomplishment, a gem, a heroic key... and a feeling of total unimportance. I wanted to grab the NPC and chake him, scream at him "do you realize what we have done!? This is history, this is the world changing!"
The passages are too narrow. They give an almost claustrophobic feeling like Scholomance, but without the darkness which makes it fit together. Blizzard could make the instance much better just by taking everything and making it 1.5-2x larger and further apart. I felt cramped in there. This was supposed to be a place made by Blood elves, in the same style as Silvermoon City which is a very open and airy place. It makes us feel like we're all crushed into a tiny space, tiny people in a tiny place killing tiny, unimportant enemies. Despite the pattern of linear, narrowly-pathed instances, MT still managed to feel exceptionally small. I don't know who would have thought it was an appropriate size. I could understand this for a house (like Scholomance) or underground area (Stockades), but for an outdoor area it feels strange.
I only hope that the Sunwell is better.
