Just so I understand you correctly, this expansion would have been made for you had they:
a) Allowed flying in this expansion
and
b) Build Karabor and Bladespire into capital city hubs
Is that the real root of people's problems with this expansion? Personally I like Stormshield, it has that outpost / camp feel like you really have had to establish a "beach head" to launch an assault from.
As far as flying goes, im not sure what to say about it. Some like it being removed, others dont. I'm also not sure what you mean by "new and interesting travel alternatives" unless that is code for "I would rather have flying back."
I dont mean to "pick apart and dismiss" your ideas and thoughts, and I really am trying to be respectful of your opinion and the opinion of others. I would actually really like to hear your ideas for features you were thinking of. They could be really good for the game
If they had delivered on everything mentioned at Blizzcon, and a few other select items.
- Garrisons: Can name them and eventually relocate them in other Draenor zones
- Flight: To be unlocked by an epic questline in 6.(2 now)
- Capital cities: Karabor and Bladespire, making both central hubs and offering dailies and rep grinds for each
- Daily quest hubs: Apexis is getting old
- Ashran: Only reason to go is if you like PvP, otherwise you could skip it entirely
- All models completed: Blood elves are finally making it, but some models could still use tweaking
- More outdoor content, like more lore and questing to make you WANT to wrap up zone storylines
- Remove Versatility and return the Reforge
- Unlock more race/class combos: since we got nothing new this expansion
- Revert professions back allowing characters access to only the professions they have, and the other buildings in the garrison would be standard NPC spots just like in SW/Org
and about a 100 other little things that don't need mentioning. But, I'm just a guy who's been playing Blizzard games since 1994.
While I enjoy the Garrison and I believe they will only get better with refinement, I am a little burned out of managing all my alts Garrisons.
Also I still want more interaction with other player/guildies. I don't go to Stormshield and I live in my own little bubble currently (my Garrison)
I hope Blizz uses what they have learned from Garrisons and uses that for the "Guild Halls" or something similar.
Instead of an individual Garrison I wish it was guild wide....depending what I spec into allows me access to the different building/plots but eventually your guild would have all the buildings. Just an added layer of interaction.
Sure this doesn't solve for the lack of population in faction capitals but its an improvement, and could open up some cool options that your guild can work towards.
I don't think the mandatory argument is misleading. The simple fact that the alternative methods of doing what they do are neither excluded by the use of Garrisons, nor anything close to as efficient as using the Garrison to do it. So inefficient in fact, that if you did not participate in the use of Garrisons as a 'typical' player that doesn't log in all night, every night, you would be at real risk of putting yourself so far behind the curve that participation in the game would become a struggle. That, frankly does make them mandatory for a very lot of people.
They are I agree, terrible for the game. Not just because they invalidate Mining, Herbalism, Skinning, Alchemy, Cooking, and to a significant extent Enchanting (literally weapon enchants aside); but because they are completely antisocial and do so much for the player while they're not even logged in, that it almost makes it okay to start asking that they should do yet more for us.Having said that, my stance is that garrisons as they're currently implemented aren't very fun or good for the game overall. They basically invalidate 3 professions, they flood the player with mats, gold and gear for little if any direct interaction, and tend to make these items an expectation rather than a reward.
Cool idea, just poorly executed.
But I mean, what other 'features' were even added? Of course it's the best.
Best feature to add to an MMO, a feature that is totally anti-social and removes you from the game world.
"There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
"The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
"Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"
I like a lot of the things on your list. I disagree with a few, but yeah, it would have been cool to have a few of those things, but I feel we are at a good spot currently and a few compromises were made. I think the expansion is only getting better with patches and fixes.
I agree on the removal of versatility, I think its a pretty useless stat for most classes. Don't really care to see a return of reforging, makes getting gear more important, and makes for more interesting choices. Reforge was pretty much, go to askmrrobot.com and click a button for optimized reforge / gem options. Kinda boring.
I agree on unlocking more race / class combos. Would love to see a draeni warlock, and several other options.
I like that we have a taste of other professions that we dont currently have on our char. Makes those garrison plot choices more interesting as a result.
I think that current questing in the zones is amazing, however I can also get behind your point of making more quests / more lore to get you and your char more involved. Im 50/50 on the zone checklist quest style. I prefer just questing and doing the zone and having the achievement pop up after completing most of the quests in the zone. I also think they could have done a better job with "dynamic zone objectives" As of right now they are just quests that pop up when you enter that area, I thought it was going to be more like GW2 where random events happen that you can participate in that gives you exp / gold / items based on how well you did during your participation. I still think they can add something like that into zones in the future.
Overall I like your list. Some things I disagree with, and some I agree with
Agreed. Smarter thing would have been to incorporate PvP. If you are flagged, in the open world, your Garrison can come under attack by a flagged opposing member and you have to use your stone to get home and defend it, otherwise you lose X Garrison Resources. Your NPCs could help, but most have little health and would have to respawn. It could be an achievement. Burn It Down! - Destroy a garrison for each of the following opposing races: (insert them here).
For the RPers, I would love to see an RP hall added where you can enter in and interact with famous NPCs through a series of preconfigured Dialogue. This would allow you to "open a book on the table" and be magically pulled into a story from long ago. Like the meeting in Southshore with Tirion Fordring and Commander Mograine inside the Escape from Durnholde dungeon. Or maybe you are transported to the Inn at Stratholme and hear a dark story just moments before Arthas and his people come through and slaughter everyone.
For the PvEers, I would love to see a portal that would take you an instance and see what it was like before it was taken over by whomever occupies it now, and interact with the NPCs getting to know things like why the Bastion of Twilight was built, or when Ragnaros was first seen. Things that put you in touch with the game, and its stories.
Every option would be available to all players and could be toggled (particularly the PvP).
Garrisons could be pretty good. I think they could be better to be sure, and I look forward to seeing the improvements they make throughout the patches.
I just like being called Commander.
I would agree completely. I love my garrison. In my opinion, WoD has been one of the best expansions so far. The story is engaging and there's tons of stuff to do. The people I found that don't like garrisons are the ones who feel that everything has to be done every day. If you don't want to empty your mine on a day, then don't do it. You shouldn't be spending time on stuff you don't like doing. There's so much to do in this expansion that you can focus on what you like and shouldn't worry about the other stuff. I personally like filling my work orders and sending my followers out during short down times at work. I don't have time to play, but at least I can be somewhat productive with my busy schedule.