Whats the point of leveling past 100?

[Manhands]

I think Legion is a step in the OP's direction, but they are testing the waters a bit. As mentioned, zone scaling and artifact weapon basically mean that player power doesn't really change with xp increase. And then we have Suramar, which is a huge max level exploration zone which introduces some important story. You could imagine removing the xp bar entirely and have all zones feel like Suramar, which develop story through a lengthy, story-focused questing arc. Along the way, you earn reputation with factions that have great items for increasing player power. Seems like a direction WoW could definitely go.

Of course, you wouldn't want heroic/mythic dungeons and raids to be available immediately after expansion release. The top players would just skip the story entirely and jump right into gear progression. And because the top players do it, the whole try-hard community (I say that without meaning anything derogatory) will also do it. And suddenly, WoW is even LESS about story. So I think you'd want to have story unlocks to heroic/mythic dungeons. (And I personally like the idea of having a solo-scenario at the end of each zone where you recap what you accomplished, have a minor climax, and then motivate killing dungeon bosses in that zone.)

But yeah, this is a direction WoW could go. Seems like it could be okay.

[WowIsDead64]

Since we have the zone scaling in play, why do we even have to level to 110. Why couldnt Bliz just take GW 2 approach and keep our max level at 100 with maybe some progression paths to gain new skills and continue with the story(like you ahve to do some main quest chain events to unlock Suramar zone), while remaining at lvl 100?

Also whats gonna happen to artifact weapons in the expansion following legion, lets say from lore perspective, since theyre supposed to be the uber weapons of the world. We just happen to come upon better ones?

Leveling nerfs your gear - without it you would be able to do new content with the same gear. Blizzard want you to grind new one.

[Immitis]

Since we have the zone scaling in play, why do we even have to level to 110. Why couldnt Bliz just take GW 2 approach and keep our max level at 100 with maybe some progression paths to gain new skills and continue with the story(like you ahve to do some main quest chain events to unlock Suramar zone), while remaining at lvl 100?

because people dont like that. people like leveling up.

[MabusGaming]

Pretty sure they've already said that Artifacts will be irrelevant after Legion.



lol final expansion. Nice one.

They said there's only 3 or so expansions left, so seems reasonable enough to have 1 more expansion after 120.

[ComputerNerd]

The feeling of progression, plus the gating that comes along with levels.
Dungeons, quests, equipment requirements, as in the same that has always been there.

[heerobya]

Kind of have a feeling they are going to have some kind of event at the end of this xpac/beginning of the next one that makes us "absorb" the power of our Artifacts and destroy them.

i.e. we retain the abilities and passives baseline for our spec, then for next xpac we go back to using regular weapons.

It's not the artifact after all, it's the hero that is where the true power comes from etc. etc. lore reasons.

[Deleted]

Why would they "end" a game that's still making them money hand over fist? Of course they'll keep making expansions to the game for as long as it makes sense fiscally, even if it means downsizing slowly towards less realms and less people on the teams.

[Gephyrophobia]

Most people say that about raiding and pvp.

Can we take that out too?

I'm game. There shouldn't be little fucking lobbies for your activities in an MMO. It's supposed to feel like a living breathing world, not a grinding simulator or dungeon crawler. World quests are a huge step in the right direction.

[therealbowser]

I agree that scaling zones was a bad idea, but leveling was never about overgearing old questing content. It was about character progression. And that still exists, you just feel it a hell of a lot less in these leveling zones.

Arguing that we should remove leveling, though, is something I strongly disagree with. And I say this as an altoholic that plays all available classes. Just jumping straight into endgame would be boring, let alone the fact that leveling serves other purposes as well -- such as equalizing the raid gear from the last expansion, for instance. I'd be severely disappointed if they ever removed leveling as a part of character progression.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Pretty sure this gonna be the last expansion anyways. No need to deal with the artifact weapons after that.

It's not going to be the last expansion. Silly

I'm game. There shouldn't be little fucking lobbies for your activities in an MMO. It's supposed to feel like a living breathing world, not a grinding simulator or dungeon crawler. World quests are a huge step in the right direction.

No, Raiding and PVP can stay, don't take it away because it somehow makes you think it's not a living breathing world. Grind is always in a MMO to.

[Vynestra]

I am almost positive once we reach level 120, that's when we'll see the next expansion afterwards be the final expansion anyway or levels will no longer go beyond 120. I think this legion tech is the first process in doing that with scaling.

They've said they've thought about it, but I've gotten the feeling they're too scared to do it and that if they did it, it would be a giant disaster that they can't recover from.

Pretty sure they're too scared to flirt with a potential disaster like that, just imagine waiting 2 years for an xpac with no new leveling. They'd have to wait 2 more years to even get the chance to -fix- the shitstorm they created, it'd be horrendous.

I think it's a bad idea unless wow is on it's last dying breath. Then do whatever cause at that point it doesn't matter.

[therealbowser]

Pretty sure this gonna be the last expansion anyways. No need to deal with the artifact weapons after that.

The last expansion will be the one where players quit playing. The final raid boss of World of Warcraft will be the playerbase, when that raid boss dies, WoW will be finished.

They just introduced a ton of new lore. Legion is the end of another phase of World of Warcraft, but it's definitely not the end of WoW. lol

[Fang7986]

What's the point of leveling at all, period.. Stupid ass concept.

most people play WoW just to level in my experience. And if you don't like leveling, WoW isn't the game you should be playing, it's like going swimming and complaining about the water.

- - - Updated - - -

Kind of have a feeling they are going to have some kind of event at the end of this xpac/beginning of the next one that makes us "absorb" the power of our Artifacts and destroy them.

i.e. we retain the abilities and passives baseline for our spec, then for next xpac we go back to using regular weapons.

It's not the artifact after all, it's the hero that is where the true power comes from etc. etc. lore reasons.

That's kind of how I've felt they would deal with artifact weapons. That we would have to sacrifice them and use their power to do something at the end of the xpac, and then start fresh again somehow.

[Cerus]

Well it already makes no sense that you and 999999 other players have the Ashbringer. Or that youre supposed to be the chosen hero in your class hall, but theres also the "XXSEPHIROTHXX" guy, "Gnomestomper", "Illidanz91" and all the others right there with you.

I guess its useless to bring logic into this.

You're confusing lore and gameplay like most do. Lorewise there aren't other players with ashbringer. Same way undead priests are all shadow priests lore wise. Obviously for gameplay things are different.

[bmjclark]

Unless they squish secondary stats every pre patch we're always going to need to level just to "reset" our secondary stats. Currently i have nearly 50% chance to crit on my mage in pvp gear, 2 tiers into legion it'd pushing 100%.

[Gephyrophobia]

most people play WoW just to level in my experience. And if you don't like leveling, WoW isn't the game you should be playing, it's like going swimming and complaining about the water.

LOLWUT. Leveling is over with in one or two sittings. Leveling is hardly even a thing at this point and hasn't been for YEARS. Each expansion comes with a free level boost now, and for $5 around Christmas, you can RAF yourself and grant a shit ton of characters in a few hours worth of effort. Let's not forget about heirlooms. What are you smoking? Even if you leveled without any of those things, mobs die in 2 hits anyway.

[jettzypher]

Well it already makes no sense that you and 999999 other players have the Ashbringer. Or that youre supposed to be the chosen hero in your class hall, but theres also the "XXSEPHIROTHXX" guy, "Gnomestomper", "Illidanz91" and all the others right there with you.

You also need to remember, that if you remove the mmo part of the game, you would be the sole player. You alone would wield all the strongest weapons and have the best gear. When standing in your order hall, you would truly be the pinnacle of the best your class could muster. And that you actually would stand on equal footing as many of the grand characters we know in game.

Anyways. I kinda hope they introduce different ways to shape your artifact weapon in future expansions. Such as expanded or alternate trees for skills and different skins, while still maintaining its usefulness. It does take a bit to adjust to no actual weapon drops in Legion, but that is something that quickly passes. So focusing on relics to increase your power seems better to me in the long run.

I don't look forward to seeing them pass on and are never used again.

[Deleted]

because your right, having Ashbringer, the best weapon ever to be wielded by a Paladin, then replacing it with a generic sword at level 111 on the next expansion would make no sense.

Oh please, like the game ever made real sense. Like when I just killed archimonde and soon will die if I pull 3 trash mobs while leveling in legion...^^

[Spiral Mage]

You can't do max level 110 content at 100, that's why you will.

As for not adding more levels, and just adding new abilities and quests? I've asked myself that question before, so to be less literal with my answer. I'd say the reason is because BLIZ is >terrified< of trying anything that is not their standard run of the mill formula that they've been beating to death for years. They are afraid if they change the game too much, or do anything dramatic, people will leave but with how many subs they're losing and will lose over the course of LGN, I dunno why the thought of losing players still concerns them, they seem pretty bent on it as is.

You will sacrifice your artifact weapon to save humanity at the end, or return it to a more "rightful/deserving" owner.

You will not keep it and move on to the new expac with it. Which is one of the many reasons the whole decision to do it at all was stupid as fuck. BUT one upside is, your weapon is at the core of your DPS, always. So having one consistent weapon you yourself are responsible for upgrading .. without ever being cursed by the RNG Gods, in itself is not a bad idea. The execution of it, however, was fucking horrible. But that's pretty standard for BLIZ too. Come up with an excellent thought .. fuck up the execution royally.

DEVs constantly say "Ideas are cheap, execution is all that matters." You can't execute what you haven't thought of -- and if execution is so critical, why it is always done so much worse than the idea itself? BLIZ is notorious for this.

[Archibalde]

It never made sense that every Draenei is the hero who Velen personally thanked for saving their new home or every Goblin being a potential Trade Prince, either.

It's not a new thing.

It's not quite the same, though. From a story-telling perspective there's no proof any of the other Goblins were ever next-in-line for the position of Trade Prince. It's the same with the whole "you are your faction's leader", in some way. It's all done through storytelling, it doesn't have any visible impact on the game. Artifacts are a bit different. You can see all the other Retribution Paladins hanging out in Dalaran with their Ashbringers, even though there's only supposed to be the one. Transmogrification and different appearances will at least help make it a bit less obvious.