Cataclysm is Destroying MoP in Quality, So Far

[JhanZ]

Disclaimer: It's been 3 months, you can't use the nostalgia excuse on me!

Can't speak for 5.2. But I can say without a doubt I think Cataclysm is outshining MoP by an incredible margin so far, it isn't even funny. Probably the most unpopular opinion on these boards today, but whatever, I speak my mind either way.

In terms of raids, I think the opening 4.0 raids were much higher in quality than MoP. The boss fights were cooler, the bosses themselves were cooler, and the zones/scenery were a lot better. I don't care about chinese spring blossoms or whatever the hell is in these neon bright zones. Cataclysm had about as close a Warcraft feel as you can get. My personal favorite was Blackwing Descent. Atromedes was awesome, Maloriak was awesome, Nefarion and Onyxia were incredible.

PvP? The gearing issues in MoP are so immense it's crazy. If you didn't start in the opening weeks you are SCREWED. PvP power seems like a necessary attribute yet it ruins PvP at the same time as helping it by not forcing people into PvE. It just widens the gap in terms of being useless vs. effective. An entire month of doing no damage until Tier 1 weapon? Haha, no thanks Jeff. Won't even mention class balance, that's always been an issue. There isn't even a dedicated zone to doing world PvP anymore and despite CRZ (Well, CRZ doesn't even work in the one place it's supposed to if it wants to help level 90 world PvP - Pandaria) it's simply worse off now. Tol Barad ganking was simply too much fun. The dailies were also the least painful I've ever seen in WoW. By far. Loved doing those.

The questing? Oh my lord, Cataclysm absolutely trounces MoP in this department. Strictly talking 80-85 vs. 85-90, the fun factor difference is absolutely immense. Sure, 84-85 was tedious because of the 9 mil requirement but the zone in it was packed with awesomeness like Dwarves, Horde vs. Alliance, Cho'gall, Dragons, and Twilight's Hammer. Dread Wastes is possibly the worst zone ever crafted in any MMO to date. It's that horrible. Lorewalker Cho is the only guy that forced me to tab out of the game while questing. That's a feat of strength, right? Look at the zones:

(We aren't even talking about the AMAZING 1-60 revamp they did, some of the best story in WoW, by far)

Chinese stereotype 85-86: 10/10
Chinese stereotype 86-87: 9/10
Half decent zone: 7/10 (Except when you are washing Yak asses or cleaning up Grummle dung)
Townlong was decent
Dread Wastes turrrrrrible

Hyjal? Defending a historic zone with the freakin' ancients from none other than Ragnaros. Vash'jir was there, one of the coolest zones ever made. Completely underwater, that's innovation folks.
Deepholm? One of the most unique zones I've ever seen in WoW, home of the Stonemother.
Need a change of pace? Uldum's your thing. We've got Indiana Jones (not that great admittedly), Titan lore, Brann Bronzebeard, Tol'vir, and a cool desert utopia thing. Also, crushing 1000 gnomes is satisfying.
Last zone I already talked about above.

What does MoP give us that Cataclysm didn't have? Hmm, Pet Battles. No thanks Jeff, not my thing. I'd rather play Pokemon. Farming, yeah, uh, no. Hardly anyone actually does that I imagine. Some people do sure, if you're boring I suppose. And more DAILY QUESTS! YAY! Ugh.

Cataclysm dungeons were actually challenging and enjoyable. I remember having to coordinate with party members and it felt satisfying getting a kill and then the loot. The loot felt earned instead of a monotonous, mindless grind that is MoP dungeons.

Lastly, let's compare the first content patches, 4.1 and 5.1.

What did 5.1 bring? Dailies, dailies, and more dailies. And some story.
What did 4.1 bring? ZA, ZG. Admittedly, they are clearly a re-hash, but as for me, I never did ZG originally, and only did ZA a couple times in BC. I had a lot more fun doing those dungeons repeatedly than the garbage quests that I did for 5.1. I loved doing the 20 minute run because it was challenging and required teamwork, and once again, I had the feeling of hard earned loot being rewarded to me in the shape of a refurbished Zul'aman Bear.

Cataclysm was a lot more enjoyable, comparing the two so far.

[Mawnix]

One quick question, because this was kind of..annoying to read.

This is just your opinion, correct?

[Thelxi]

Uhm, no. Cataclysm had 4.1

[JhanZ]

Uhm, no. Cataclysm had 4.1

4.1 was a lot more enjoyable to me than 5.1 is.

[Darkhallows]

Vashj'ir? Amazing? I think I've seen enough.

Good try, though! And I think you might need to look up what a "stereotype" is.

[HatredAU]

wrong

tenchars

[JhanZ]

Vashj'ir? Amazing? I think I've seen enough.

Good try, though! And I think you might need to look up what a "stereotype" is.

Kung fu, chinese music, flying chinese dragons, kites, chinese looking temples, jade blossoms, etc. etc.

I think I've used the term quite correctly. Thank you.

Anyway, I'm done replying for now. Time to see what replies people post! This will be fun.

[Chult]

Cata had awful, boring zones, totally rehashed tier bosses, and absolutely nothing to do if you didn't level an alt. The sad part is T11 was the best tier of that expansion, and it wasn't great. The difficult dungeons were fun, but that lasted....a week until you farmed them out. So, yeah, I don't see it.

[GennGreymane]

the trolls have come a patch early it seems

[Xl House lX]

Different strokes for different folks. I'm sticking to BC and WotlK being better than both Cata and Mop.

[Mukki]

So it finally begins. "MoP sucks, I miss Cata!"

Also, 4.1 added two revamped formerly-known-as-raid heroics. Only. I get the hunch you didn't go into MoP objectively, but rather, went into it wanting to dislike it, and you know, confirmation bias and all.

Tol Barad dailies were God-awful. At least cite MF or something, I mean, maybe you liked them, but that puts you in the vast minority, considering that they weren't very dynamic. If you want a challenge, do challenge modes. 4.0 heroics were terrible to do with pugs, and was the cause of massive QQ. Current heroics aren't designed to be difficult, which leads me back to why they implemented challenge modes.

BTW, MoP has Titan lore, lol. More than Cata, I'd wager.

[Darkhallows]

Kung fu, chinese music, flying chinese dragons, kites, chinese looking temples, jade blossoms, etc. etc.

I think I've used the term quite correctly. Thank you.

Anyway, I'm done replying for now. Time to see what replies people post! This will be fun.

Stereotypes are most often used to present something in a charicatural or humorous way. I don't remember there being much funny or satirical about any of the characters in the Jade Forest. And, just a heads up, it's not a stereotype to use eastern style dragons with a race that pulls inspiration from them, because guess what? The Chinese *do* have them.

Not really sure why I responded, though...must be 2:18 A.M.

[Neazy]

Cata at release was awesome. Everything after that about Cata sucked. MoP can still get better.

[Bathory]

I agree to certain points. The lore was much better in Cata, but that's only because Cata lore was in tune with everything we knew. MOP lore isn't as striking to me, because it's outside of the story arcs we've been playing for years. But that's not a bad thing, only different.

Cata itself, I loved the aspect/chogall/twilights lore, but the execution of it kinda fizzled.

That said, I still think MOP is the best xpac so far.

[Jiggity]

Basically what Chult said. Cata was fun the first couple weeks. PVP is cata was horrid, although mop pvp does require alot of time investment. Cata was the worst expac to date though without a doubt. the 1-60 revamp ruined the last bastion of real wow. I lvled 8 alts to 85 during cata(cuz there was nothing else to do) and i dungeon lvled all of them because the revamp was such garbage.

[BrerBear]

Farming, yeah, uh, no. Hardly anyone actually does that I imagine.

And with only ten short words, you prove that you are completely out of touch with the player base.
QED.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

I completely and 100% disagree with everything you just said, and possibly anything you say in the future.

[ColbaneX]

BC=MoP>WotLK>Vanilla>Cata. Funny thing though, WotLK BC and MoP(so far) were all really good, and got one MASSIVE raid. BC-Black Temple, WotLK-Ulduar, MoP-Throne of Thunder.

[Exac]

3.1 > 5.0 > 3.3 > 4.3 > 3.0 > 2.4 > 4.2 > 2.1 > 4.1 >1.9 > 3.2 > 2.3 > 1.7 > 1.1 > 1.6 > 1.11 > 5.1 > 1.10 > 2.2 > 1.12 >1.8

[Phishbowlz]

Cata at release was awesome. Everything after that about Cata sucked. MoP can still get better.

My thoughts exactly. Cata release was quite fantastic because of the new healing model and the fact that 5 man heroics were not ZOMG AOECLEAVEFEST like they were for pretty much hall of wrath, but even that went away 2 months later when they uped the luck of draw buff to 15%.