Where did WoW go right?

[Diggles]

hey, don't hate on pokemon you asshole

[Breeziyo]

Originally Posted by DatGrump [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

half-assed Xpac's for all now. Same art, same crappy models.

This isn't really true. The closest you could get to calling an expansion half-assed is Cataclysm, but that's only if you focus on end game content. They completely revamped the 1-60 experience for that expac.

The problem most people have with WoW's current rate of content being pushed out is the fact that during Vanilla WoW, loads of new things(not just 7 boss raids lol Firelands, though to my understanding heroic ragnaros is one of the hardest WoW fights in history) each patch would be pushed out faster than they manage to now. And even then, each patch had much more substance comparitavely. WoW has been letting too much promised content go to the dump because Blizzard has either gotten complacent or doesn't have the work force to push it out, or maybe I could be wrong and they just don't like the end product.

For instance FL was supposed to be released with patch 4.1 and the troll dungeons were complete filler content. The War of the Ancients raid was scrapped and condensed into a shitty 5 man heroic. The Abyssal Maw was completely scrapped, though two of the bosses in Dragon Soul were supposedly going to be in that raid instead. The Malygos raid was supposed to be a full fledged raid as well rather than the Onyxia style one-boss room it came to. I'll probably get asked for a source here, but I can't find the alpha screenshots and data from WotLK I had saved. The only solid thing I can provide is the fact that blue dragonflight themed items are scattered throughout Naxxrammas. Anyway, it's things like this that people pick up on and it's seemingly gotten worse ever since WotLK.

MoP is looking like it will actually be nice in terms of quality and quantity of content available at launch(highest # of raid targets to date I believe), but we'll just have to wait and see how it pans out mid to late expansion. If the promised new models aren't scrapped as well(and there will be an uproar if they are), I think it will be enough to hold their audience and even bring back a sizeable portion of those who quit just like transmogrification has.

Here's to hoping WoW "goes right" again with MoP and makes better attempts to keep their game interesting. They're doing pretty well, but their subscription losses indicate they could probably stand to do better.

tl;dr Half-assery comes mostly from patch content(or lack thereof), not expansions. Expansions for the most part provide a huge amount of content that is very well polished.

[twerklee]

WoW did and continues to do plenty of things right. They catered to all types of gamers ranging from the casual, few hours a week housewife to the hardcore poopsocker. When I was still raiding I always heard the hardcore people going on about how easy everything is, yet none of them quit. It still takes skill, coordination, and leadership to down hardmodes. I spent many nights wiping over and over again. Your casual lvl 85 may be able to use looking for raid and get some purps, but they will never be equal to the end game gear of hardmodes. That was the great thing about WoW. Everyone could obtain some degree of epicness.

WoW is still very much a social game. You pretty much have to be in a guild to progress through hardmodes or even become good at PvP. On my server there were even plenty of guilds for non-raiding social players.

Yes, WoW has plenty of 14 year olds compared to EQ's prime, but the ease of access to the internet, increased number of the younger generation on the internet, and tons of other factors are also responsible for this. Comparing the two eras is apples and elephants.

I enjoy p1999 largely for the nostalgia it invokes. Running through MM or unrest brings back many memories of when I was in high school holding a pillow over the back of the computer after my parents went to sleep to muffle the 56k modem and log on. It's still an extremely fun game for me. I love camping spawns and getting to know a group, waiting and waiting for that awesome item to drop, and the thrill I still get from difficult fights where I know if I die I will lose a lvl and have a very difficult corpse run ahead of me.

*shrug* Just my 2 cents. I only read through the first 2 pages of the thread so it's likely that I'm repeating a lot of what others have said. I'm just bored now that the server is down.

[Dirtnap]

Originally Posted by Breeziyo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The problem most people have with WoW's current rate of content being pushed out is the fact that during Vanilla WoW, loads of new things(not just 7 boss raids lol Firelands, though to my understanding heroic ragnaros is one of the hardest WoW fights in history) each patch would be pushed out faster than they manage to now. And even then, each patch had much more substance comparitavely. WoW has been letting too much promised content go to the dump because Blizzard has either gotten complacent or doesn't have the work force to push it out, or maybe I could be wrong and they just don't like the end product.

I've been following the assumption that they fired most of the staff that created the game. I think all the content from day one, to TBC was planned out, and mostly created. Then they fired those guys, and now have half-assed workers doing all the new stuff. Fire the expensive workers, hire cheap ones = more money padding your pockets.

I saw a bunch of stuff a while back showing how the Emerald Dream, and Outlands had quite a lot worked on before an expansion was even considered.

[choklo]

Originally Posted by Dirtnap [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've been following the assumption that they fired most of the staff that created the game. I think all the content from day one, to TBC was planned out, and mostly created. Then they fired those guys, and now have half-assed workers doing all the new stuff. Fire the expensive workers, hire cheap ones = more money padding your pockets.

I saw a bunch of stuff a while back showing how the Emerald Dream, and Outlands had quite a lot worked on before an expansion was even considered.

Isn't this how EQ started the spiral down the toilet?

[Swish]

Originally Posted by twerklee [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I enjoy p1999 largely for the nostalgia it invokes. Running through MM or unrest brings back many memories of when I was in high school holding a pillow over the back of the computer after my parents went to sleep to muffle the 56k modem and log on.

Haha, that's awesome - the day I threw my 56k modem out was a sad day...end of an era! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Raavak]

Is there a good free WoW emu out there?

[Dirtnap]

Originally Posted by choklo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Isn't this how EQ started the spiral down the toilet?

Yeah, a lot of companies use skilled/hardworking people to build something big. Then fire them all for people who can do patchwork for a lot cheaper.

[Vladesch]

My thoughts on why so many people went from EQ to WOW....
(Not all of these are my particular reasons)
These opinions are all based on the state of the 2 games around the end of 2004. (ie OOW vs WOW classic)
- Soloing in eq was lots of downtime. WOW is pretty much constant killing for most classes.
- WOW graphics were superior.
- EQ put basic class spells behind raid mobs that were competed with. (that was the final straw for me. It wasn't fun playing an enchanter who couldn't mez the mobs in the level-appropriate zones. Actually it wasn't fun or unfun because I never got a group.)
- Competition for raid mobs and cockblocking. (I was on asian time. Not much fun playing just after the US. I remember well the anguish trying to get the ssra kill. Hmm... actually any good rare spawn was close to impossible. I eventually got ssra by "camping" the entrance to ssra and joining up with another guild to kill him.)
- Locked zones. Stupid idea and a PITA for raiding guilds having to continually reflag people as they replaced the guild hoppers.
- Raid oriented view of the game by the devs. Raid or die.

[Arclanz]

Originally Posted by Vladesch [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My thoughts on why so many people went from EQ to WOW....
(Not all of these are my particular reasons)
These opinions are all based on the state of the 2 games around the end of 2004. (ie OOW vs WOW classic)
- Soloing in eq was lots of downtime. WOW is pretty much constant killing for most classes.
- WOW graphics were superior.
- EQ put basic class spells behind raid mobs that were competed with. (that was the final straw for me. It wasn't fun playing an enchanter who couldn't mez the mobs in the level-appropriate zones. Actually it wasn't fun or unfun because I never got a group.)
- Competition for raid mobs and cockblocking. (I was on asian time. Not much fun playing just after the US. I remember well the anguish trying to get the ssra kill. Hmm... actually any good rare spawn was close to impossible. I eventually got ssra by "camping" the entrance to ssra and joining up with another guild to kill him.)
- Locked zones. Stupid idea and a PITA for raiding guilds having to continually reflag people as they replaced the guild hoppers.
- Raid oriented view of the game by the devs. Raid or die.

I don't know one friend who went to WoW. They all just stopped playing MMOs since EQ morphed into a vastly different game and all other MMOs suck. And I disagree that the cartoonish graphics of WoW were an improvement.