Old player looking to come back - how does MoP compare to previous expansions?

[dokilar]

PvP balance is a bit wonky atm, but that's been true for every expansion on release. Certainly nowhere near as bad as balance was during all of TBC or the first two seasons of Wrath.

all i did in WoW was basically pvp and while im no expert i find that your belief that TBC pvp was the least balanced to be a tad absurd. just my opinion, but i think it was more balanced than just about any other expansion

[LuminousAether]

all i did in WoW was basically pvp and while im no expert i find that your belief that TBC pvp was the least balanced to be a tad absurd. just my opinion, but i think it was more balanced than just about any other expansion

I don't see how you could possibly say that. Many specs were complete garbage for PvP as a whole. That's not true today. Certain combos were almost unstoppable. I guess you never got stunlocked by a warrior.

[Firebert]

I don't see how you could possibly say that. Many specs were complete garbage for PvP as a whole. That's not true today. Certain combos were almost unstoppable. I guess you never got stunlocked by a warrior.

Do you think we're almost there? I still see Enhancement Shamans getting told to go Resto/Elemental for PvP, as well as Moonkins getting told to go Feral for Arena...

[LuminousAether]

Do you think we're almost there? I still see Enhancement Shamans getting told to go Resto/Elemental for PvP, as well as Moonkins getting told to go Feral for Arena...

Enhance is a lot better now than it was in TBC. Same with moonkin (and feral and elemental). In TBC, if you wanted to achieve high success in PvP as a shaman or druid, you pretty much had to go resto.

[Trubo]

While the current raid tier isn't fully released yet, it's been the best in terms of overall challenge since WotLK.

My biggest complaint with MoP is the lack of lasting non-raid content.

[LuminousAether]

While the current raid tier isn't fully released yet, it's been the best in terms of overall challenge since WotLK.

My biggest complaint with MoP is the lack of lasting non-raid content.

MoP has the most non-raid content of any expansion by far, so that's a really weird thing to say.

And Cata raids were way harder than WotLK raids.

[Trubo]

MoP has the most non-raid content of any expansion by far, so that's a really weird thing to say.

And Cata raids were way harder than WotLK raids.

It certainly has a lot of content, but most if it isn't lasting. Once people are done with getting to exalted with factions they care about, people will stop doing dailies, which is going to make the world just as dead as it was in Cata (I expect this to happen in the next month or so). Scenarios are interesting the first few times, but for as much time Blizzard spent hyping them up, I was expecting more of them considering how short they are. Unless you plan on doing Challenge Modes, dungeons are the worst they've been since mid-WotLK. Then there's pet battling, but other games have done that system better and don't require a monthly fee.

I won't comment about PvP as others have already gone into detail about either in this thread or in the forums, and I haven't really done much pvp this expansion.

But yeah, if you can get into a semi-regular raiding group, whether 10 or 25 man, you won't be disappointed with the raids.

[LuminousAether]

It certainly has a lot of content, but most if it isn't lasting. Once people are done with getting to exalted with factions they care about, people will stop doing dailies, which is going to make the world just as dead as it was in Cata (I expect this to happen in the next month or so). Scenarios are interesting the first few times, but for as much time Blizzard spent hyping them up, I was expecting more of them considering how short they are. Unless you plan on doing Challenge Modes, dungeons are the worst they've been since mid-WotLK. Then there's pet battling, but other games have done that system better and don't require a monthly fee.

I won't comment about PvP as others have already gone into detail about either in this thread or in the forums, and I haven't really done much pvp this expansion.

Oh no, dungeons were worst in TBC. I've never seen a 5 man worse than Black Morass. Violet Hold came close, but it didn't have the mind numbing trash clear before starting. The only 5 mans I liked in TBC were Magister's Terrace and Shattered Halls. The rest ranged from boring (all of Coilfang and Tempest Keep) to actively annoying (Caverns of Time, Auchindoun, Blood Furnace, etc.). WotLK had dramatically superior 5 mans.

No one has gone into detail about PvP in this thread, but TBC had the worst PvP by far.

[Deleted]

MoP is really a double-sided coin for me.

On the one hand, I like the increased effort by Blizzard to put the 'World' back into WoW by adding a few outdoor bosses and additional PvP-incentives. There are also lots of little atmospheric details scattered around the new continent - like little shrines and so on.
Strangely enough, I also like the new and simplified talent-system and that every choice puts power back into the character.

However, I'm put off by the daily quests that are required of me to gain exalted with different factions and get epic gear. It's not that I mind working hard, it's just that daily quests are such sloppy design, providing minimal content and expecting players to be happy with it for a long while.

I'm not too fond of Pandaria, either. I'm not getting the sense that it's a real continent, despite Blizzard's efforts with PvP and outdoor bosses. I think this is much due to the fact that it feels too much like an island in my eyes, geographically speaking, and only one or two zones come off as really unique or cool in my eyes (Valley of Four Winds and, to some extent, Kun'Lai Summit). The Jade Forest is just more jungle, which can be nice but doesn't really set Pandaria apart in any way. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms was a major disappointment as it's hyped up to be the most beautiful zone in Azeroth, but is really only lots of dry grass and a couple of statues. The two western zones I'm yet to explore fully, but from flying over them they look pretty cool.

[Trubo]

I wasn't trying to say dungeons were at their absolute worst in WotLK. Aside from challenge modes, MoP 5 mans STARTING of the expansion are worse than the mindless aoe-fests that were WotLK 5 mans midway into the expansion.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 03:20 AM ----------

However, I'm put off by the daily quests that are required of me to gain exalted with different factions and get epic gear. It's not that I mind working hard, it's just that daily quests are such sloppy design, providing minimal content and expecting players to be happy with it for a long while.

Dear god this so much. Reputations this expansion make no sense. Why do reputations only care if you do daily chores with them and not for killing their respective enemies (i.e. Mantid for Klaxxi, Mogu for Golden Lotus and/or Shado-Pan, Sha with August Celestials. For that matter, why does Wrathion care if you kill some random Mogu or Mantid in the world rather than your endeavors in raids? You can only benefit from that reward of his if you do some sort of raiding (LFR, normal, or heroic).

[dokilar]

I don't see how you could possibly say that. Many specs were complete garbage for PvP as a whole. That's not true today. Certain combos were almost unstoppable. I guess you never got stunlocked by a warrior.

yea i got stun locked by a warrior lots of times, but i played a full demo spec warlock with a disc priest in 2s and still played at a 2-2.1k rating. i also played 3s in the same spec with the same priest, and a bm hunter and played at the same rating.

i played with these 2 individuals throughout my entire WoW career, with the exception of MoP, and ive personally never felt the balance was as good as it was in TBC. i obviously cant say much from about MoP but from everything ive read and seen the balance isnt any better than other expansions.

obviously seasons 5 and 6 will probably go down as some of the most imbalanced and again everything ive stated is purely my opinion

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 03:25 AM ----------

Enhance is a lot better now than it was in TBC. Same with moonkin (and feral and elemental). In TBC, if you wanted to achieve high success in PvP as a shaman or druid, you pretty much had to go resto.

i dont agree with this either. was it easier to get a higher rating playing resto? im sure it was, but i played some 3s with an elemental shaman and a shadow priest and broke the 2k rating during s3.

not amazing dont get me wrong, but to imply that the only way to play at a decent/high rating was to go resto is just not true

[Nuvuk]

It really just comes down to personal preference. No one can tell you what to think of the expansion. I love this expansion I have heard others think it is the worst so far. I say try it and find out for yourself. I love it cause it has the best lore development so far but again it all comes down to what you like about the game in the first place.

[Shadee]

Mope is a pretty weak expansion. The whole thing feels like filler content while they stretch out wow before titan comes out.

[PrairieChicken]

I smell another flame war coming

hehe

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Mope is a pretty weak expansion. The whole thing feels like filler content while they stretch out wow before titan comes out.

Ah and you're back. Well lets see from your other posts this pretty much the only thing you say. Well, from what you've said in the past, you never even played "Mope". You quit before it came out.

[Mookes]

Can't decide which xpac I like better, this one of BC. And I loved BC.

[mosely]

It's as bad as WotLK. Everything you disliked about that expansion is back in full force.

[Shadee]

It's as bad as WotLK. Everything you disliked about that expansion is back in full force.

At least WotLK had good raid content like ulduar. Everything is face roll again, it has hours of mandatory dailies and pretty meh side content like pokemon and farmville. I would avoid op.

[melodramocracy]

It's ok. Solid, but not really mind-blowing in any way. Questing is polished, though it's mechanically the same kill / collect stuff it's always been for the most part. I haven't been in the level 90 versions of the dungeons yet, but so far they're a letdown. A good amount of phasing, but done in a smooth manner. Leveling takes longer than what you're probably used to, which is a good thing IMO... there's a decent amount of content here. Character builds require far less thought and decision making.

Can't comment on pvp yet, though I imagine it's the same see-saw as always, and if you're looking for a balanced experience, you're in the wrong game / genre. Hard to say whether it's actually worth your while, everyone will have different answers on that. I personally came back after nearly a year away due to 30% curiosity, 70% boredom with other titles. It's entirely too early to know if I'll stick around or not.

[KCguy]

Fantastic IMO. The best expansion since Burning Crusade.