WoW poorly explains things

[HitRefresh]

I've just been kind of paying attention to how the game is experienced for people who don't go to outside resources all the time lately, particularly because my SO has started playing more regularly and I've had to explain so much that just isn't told to the player well.

Just some examples off the top of my head, the Obliterum Forge with PvP gear. Things like where to find the PvP vendor. Where to find the legacy PvP vendors (frankly they're all over the god damn place, I'm not sure how someone would really understand to check those places if they were new to the game and didn't Google it). Things like what item level should be expected from Nethershard rewards. The Sentinax. Overall just obvious pointers for people. I feel like Blizzard has sort of become comfortable with the idea that fans organize all their shit so they don't bother doing any of that in-game.

Not to mention the requirement to use many add-ons. It would be pretty neat if the game had a clean interface for things like boss warnings and the like. Should treasure locations really be hidden from players who don't get an add-on to see where they are? It's weird to think about how disadvantageous it would be not to have any.

Story-wise, someone unfamiliar with WoW probably doesn't understand that 1-60 takes place during its 3rd expansion, then goes back to its 1st then 2nd then 3rd again. And it's like they just want to ignore that stuff, so here's a level boost, just skip that shit.

I can feel the sort of hacked-togetherness of a lot of content. Things are just missing that final pass or something. I feel like yeah, it's fine for people who have been playing the game for a while, but it's kind of punishing to people who don't usually play this stuff. I think that's probably really important for growing the player population, as opposed to just doing enough to mostly maintain it.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[Deleted]

I think that is really just what can happen when a game's life goes on for this length of time with probably quite alot of people pitching in.

Take the star wars books prior to the Disney acquisition. Those books covered everything and anything, from all sections of the timeline. And Disney just cut it all out to enable them to push forward with the films and new canon.

Cata did alot to revamp of this and align the zones to be more current, but I can imagine the effort to effectively retcon everything to fit the current story would be waaaaayy too much to do every time a new expansion appears.

With addons, they are just the strategy guides of this day and age - I remember the book ones! I still have one for Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver (Part 1 and 2!) and the BC one!

However, I would kind of like a pvp hub for the legacy vendors, I cba to go to Area 52 and bounce back to Stormwind and then Northrend Dalaran.

[Deleted]

prob the same as a person coming in a living room during last 10 mins of a film and keeps asking, who is that, why did he do that, who killed who - etc, annoying lazy people.

[HitRefresh]

I think that is really just what can happen when a game's life goes on for this length of time with probably quite alot of people pitching in.

Take the star wars books prior to the Disney acquisition. Those books covered everything and anything, from all sections of the timeline. And Disney just cut it all out to enable them to push forward with the films and new canon.

Cata did alot to revamp of this and align the zones to be more current, but I can imagine the effort to effectively retcon everything to fit the current story would be waaaaayy too much to do every time a new expansion appears.

With addons, they are just the strategy guides of this day and age - I remember the book ones! I still have one for Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver (Part 1 and 2!) and the BC one!

However, I would kind of like a pvp hub for the legacy vendors, I cba to go to Area 52 and bounce back to Stormwind and then Northrend Dalaran.

Of course, I don't expect them to revamp 1-60 again, but even something like a quick explanation of how the timeline is proceeding after you hit 60 could make it less confusing.

Nothing against addons, I think that it's great that they are there, but I feel like there are a lot of things that could be added into the default interface, with polish, much like they did in vanilla with scrolling combat text and such.

[Charge me Doctor]

Things like where to find the PvP vendor. Where to find the legacy PvP vendors (frankly they're all over the god damn place, I'm not sure how someone would really understand to check those places if they were new to the game and didn't Google it).

Just like we did you silly, by walking around like "woah what's in this place?" and stumbling on things

[Deleted]

Of course, I don't expect them to revamp 1-60 again, but even something like a quick explanation of how the timeline is proceeding after you hit 60 could make it less confusing.

Nothing against addons, I think that it's great that they are there, but I feel like there are a lot of things that could be added into the default interface, with polish, much like they did in vanilla with scrolling combat text and such.

I agree some of them could be added in and become part of the core UI. I also realised after my comment in regards to the treasure chests - you can buy maps at like honoured no? Each zone faction sells one.

I think its similar to buying the maps in WoD from the archaeology vendor near Ashran.

[HitRefresh]

Just like we did you silly, by walking around like "woah what's in this place?" and stumbling on things

I would say that the PvP vendor is pretty essential to PvP in general considering that's how you gear up. Also knowing that you can obliterate your unneeded gear for currency for that. It shouldn't be something that someone has to Google or otherwise randomly stumble upon.

- - - Updated - - -

I agree some of them could be added in and become part of the core UI. I also realised after my comment in regards to the treasure chests - you can buy maps at like honoured no? Each zone faction sells one.

I think its similar to buying the maps in WoD from the archaeology vendor near Ashran.

Yeah, I'm thinking of the Broken Shore treasures in particular, especially that it's part of the quest line and not just an extra thing.

[HuxNeva]

Why pretend Google/fansites/addons don't exist? The game is perfectly playable without any of this. I know people that do. And for those that want more, they'll very easily and quickly know where to find it. I'm old enough to remember MUD's before the WWW. They were specifically designed with less than perfect information about all the game elements, so people would have to talk to each other and create a collective knowledge.

[HitRefresh]

Why pretend Google/fansites/addons don't exist? The game is perfectly playable without any of this. I know people that do. And for those that want more, they'll very easily and quickly know where to find it. I'm old enough to remember MUD's before the WWW. They were specifically designed with less than perfect information about all the game elements, so people would have to talk to each other and create a collective knowledge.

That's all perfectly fine, great in fact. I'm saying that the playing experience lets you easily completely miss something important. Even for me, there's stuff I just flat out missed, even though I look at fan sites constantly and have played this game since vanilla was in alpha testing. That's the missing element I'm talking about. In that case it's not even about Googling, because the person doesn't even know they should Google it in the first place. I feel like I'm not being understood clearly here. I'm not saying people shouldn't get addons, or that people shouldn't Google things.

Frankly it hasn't really been an issue until I'd say the last couple expansions or so. Like the location of PvP vendors used to make sense because they would be near where you would queue up, or where the actual location of the BG/arena was, so a player could make that connection. Since you don't ever physically do that now, there's more of a disconnect. I can totally imagine someone newer to the game doing PvP constantly and never realizing they can obliterate the gear they didn't need, end up selling it to vendors instead, and not even know there was a PvP vendor that could sell specific pieces using a currency from your obliterated pieces, since you do get gear from playing anyway. Especially that PvE doesn't really have a vendor like that (unless I totally missed it) and gear from PvE is completely randomly dropped like PvP, except you can't obliterate that and get a currency that will let you get a piece that you save up for, so why even think about that being a possibility?

[Deleted]

This is a no issue. The new players influx into this game is dramatically low and among those i assume most know how to use google or can ask other players.

[Qnubi]

prob the same as a person coming in a living room during last 10 mins of a film and keeps asking, who is that, why did he do that, who killed who - etc, annoying lazy people.

Except when you start fresh in WoW you begin, duh, from the beginning. So your analogy is total crap. The person watches the movie from the beginning but a lot is not explained.

[HitRefresh]

This is a no issue. The new players influx into this game is dramatically low and among those i assume most know how to use google or can ask other players.

The issue isn't even Googling, a lot of things are just left unknown because the player doesn't even know that it's something that can be Googled.

[Deleted]

prob the same as a person coming in a living room during last 10 mins of a film and keeps asking, who is that, why did he do that, who killed who - etc, annoying lazy people.

That makes them annoying, not lazy.

And then there is the fact films are intended to be watched from the start so you have the answers to those questions.

The correct equivalent would be a film released a year back is now only viewable with key scenes removed leading to those questions being asked.....

[alzoron]

The game had far less hand holding when it first launched and 10+ million people somehow managed to figure things out and thrive.

[Lochton]

Sounds a bit more like a person not liking to explore? A lot of these things were unknown to many of us until we found them. Shouldn't need a babysitter.

[Charge me Doctor]

I would say that the PvP vendor is pretty essential to PvP in general considering that's how you gear up. Also knowing that you can obliterate your unneeded gear for currency for that. It shouldn't be something that someone has to Google or otherwise randomly stumble upon.

Neither me or any of my friends had to google location of PvP vendor (can't you ask guard for location these days?), and doesn't obliterium forge says that you can shove pvp items in it? Maybe i just tried it out and it worked.
Everything can be solved or found by yourself, it's just the case of "well i searched for 1 minute i suppose i have to google it" or "well i searched for 1 minute, probably i have to search better", which is fine human reaction, but i don't like that attitude as a player - it kinda kills the adventure

[Mirishka]

They honestly need to just treat the previous expansions as kind of a Lorewalker/Timewalking thing.

At level 68 Lorewalker Cho pops in and says "And this is the tale of what happened during the great war against the Lich King in Northrend," Poof, you're on the boat to Borean/Howling Fjord.

By treating it like a tale that you're sort of timewalking through, it makes sense of things like Varian being alive, having to fight a Lich King that has been dead for 10+ years in game, etc.

[Feuerbart]

When someone doesn´t find something important it can´t be that important to begin with.
Either it is and the person thereby know to maybe look for it or it is not an the person doesn´t even know about it.

As long as you don´t know about something it really can´t be important or you would need it for whatever.

I for example didn´t know my warlock could fear a mob until I hit 70 an went into karazhan. I just didn´t need it before. And then I needed it because the raid wanted me to fear some mob so I looked it up and learned about it.

[sosleapy]

The game had far less hand holding when it first launched and 10+ million people somehow managed to figure things out and thrive.

I could not agree more with you....Game first come out i wish i had even a sliver of the tools i did now to get me thru things...

My son just started playing wow for the first time a month ago and he got all the way to 60 with no issues no going to other websites then he bought legion because he is like me and absolutely hates leveling in any game so he can get to 100 then work easily to 110. Now when he got to 100 I had to help him out alittle on legion stuff like AP and that it dont matter what zone to start in and make sure to pick up chests and what not along the way. but that took me 5 mins to explain to him and he kept going just fine.

[Luko]

Compared to what, though? WoW is one of the more in-depth, hand-holding and well explained MMOs I've ever seen. You're talking about overlooked rifts of needless information that have manifested over the FOURTEEN years the game has been up and are only subjectively important.

I don't know about you, but I'm quite happy with their resources being used somewhere other than extremely detailed, biyearly catch-up explanations.