“Ecological Succession” is a four-week-long activity during which players populate the Oasis with species from Azeroth, help these species thrive through storylines and daily quests, recruit three experts to assist in ecosystem management and earn pets, mounts, and achievements as rewards.
This new world activity introduced in Patch 11.2 lets players collaborate with Ve’nari and a team of specialists to revitalize K’aresh by populating eco-domes with diverse animal species and helping them flourish.
The activity has garnered mixed feedback, with e.g. a thread on the r/wow subreddit calling it the “worst series of quests ever added to the game”1. For example, players refer to a clunky camera mechanic to photograph animals and several bugs early into the activity. The overall repetitiveness is widely criticized, even though a few players point out that this may be alleviated by not attempting to ‘power through’ the activity quickly.
At the center of The Oasis, the Oasis Console represents a hub for monitoring species and ecosystem progression, e.g. allowing players to track the integration status of all species. This ‘dashboard’ approach enhances playability but also establishes a sense of ‘completion’ and ‘mastery’ that may be counterproductive when applied to ecological restoration efforts, at least as an unrealistic goal (though, if applied in a critical and self-reflexive way, it could also be an interesting and engaging way to frame real-life restoration projects).