Worst Expansion

[Deleted]

Update: For the calls to add WoD to poll options..First of all, I dont think its possible. But even if it were possible, its not warranted. None of us can have an opinion on a pre-Alpha expansion.

Personally, I always believed Cataclysm was by far the worst expansion. I believed it the moment it was announced and I still do. However, when virtually 'everyone' agreed that Cata was the worst expac, the counter-argument was that 'people always hate the current/just-finished expansion and look with rose-tinted glasses at the past'. The argument was right at the time, no reliable conclusions could have been drawn. However, now that MoP is over (no new content patch all-but-confirmed in Blizzcon), the question can be, more reliably, re-submitted. According to the above rationale, one would expect MoP to win by a large margin, but I doubt that is or will be the case. Indeed, poll is skewed in favour of Mists as predicted, but again as predicted, Cata appears to win by a large margin so far.

True, WotLK was the expac that saw the largest increase in subs and MoP is the expac that saw the largest drop, but in my view there is a lag between changes in the quality of content on offer and the sub-fluctuation. In other words, I believe that BC is responsible for the (lagged) increase in subs in Wotlk and - more importantly for the purposes of this thread - Cataclysm is responsible for the (lagged) drop in subs that took place in MoP. Indeed, I believe that the whole of MoP was centred around amending the flaws that Cataclysm brought and that, finally, this has been achieved with the announced changes of WoD.

Now, why is all this important, apart from everyone ranting (with their transparent, black or rose-tinted glasses) about what in their opinion was the best expac? Because if the above is correct then we might begin to see a slow but steady (lagged) increase in subs, following the launch of WoD, which may continue if the content on offer remains at the same (high) quality.

So..What was the worst expac so far in your opinion? Do you subscribe to the above view that Cata was worst and subs may begin a slow, lagged recovery when WoD lauches?

[Gorehowl]

cataclysm is beyond the worst expansion, blizzard could release an expansion that every time you log in you get covered in shit irl and it would still be better.

[Iseeyou]

MOP is not over even if it was the worst imo.

W8 for 6 month of 0 content til Wod and look at subs droping below 5M (3.72 M without hb ) ez.

[Daetur]

Cataclysm was still the expansion that I enjoyed the least, by far. Mists has been great.

That said, I don't think subs are going to recover at this point. I think they may stabilize, but the golden age of WoW as a MMO with that many subs is past, and it has little to do with quality, and more to do with the changing market, demographic, gaming population, and perspective on gaming and MMOs in general.

[CosmicGuitars]

Cata was the worst expansion because they tried to do so much and came up short on virtually everything. I believe Cataclysm, specifically updating the old world, was a necessary evil for the good of the game, but it had unintended side effects. I think the game can recover, but it will never reach it's peak ever again. From this point on, World of Warcraft will always have a net loss for subscribers in every fiscal quarter. It's just a matter of how many, and at what rate.

[Deleted]

Been done to death, Cataclysm, amazing start then they left it to rot and finished it off with the pathetic Dragon Soul.

[QuizTIC]

Cataclysm was the best expansion for me. No worst.

[wych]

CATA CATA CATA CATA

SCREW CATA AND SCREW EVERYTHING ABOUT CATA.

Well Vashj'ir was ok I guess, and Worgen/Goblin are pretty cool.

Cata is the only expac that made me take a prolonged break from the game

[rebecca191]

IMO, Cata = worst gameplay, MoP = worst story

[Deleted]

close between Cata and TBC for me, but cata slightly worse, cata started off nicely, the new 1-60 zones were really good, but after a few patches the expansion just felt boring, not sure what it was, i just couln't bring myself to play. though firelands raid was really nice.

[Resentful]

By far Cataclysm.

[mmokri]

MoP - I hate rip-offs. I hate Chinese design + traditions. I hate dailies.

[Zaxvriin]

Cata was the worst expansion because they tried to do so much and came up short on virtually everything. I believe Cataclysm, specifically updating the old world, was a necessary evil for the good of the game, but it had unintended side effects. I think the game can recover, but it will never reach it's peak ever again. From this point on, World of Warcraft will always have a net loss for subscribers in every fiscal quarter. It's just a matter of how many, and at what rate.

I think the Cataclysm world update also was a necessary evil, and very dissapointed that they made it Deathwing-centric instead of more towards the future threat(That is, its just focused on cataclysm level threat and not much else). So in that reguard I say they wasted their time, because the necessary evil was not performed, but just wasted.

Guess I'm saying they should've taken the view "Here are the threats of the next 3-4 expansions, lets start building on them now", and instead they went "Lol no, lets just bump up current new expansion baddy Deathwing, and throw a bone towards Azshara/old Gods"

[McNeil]

Cataclysm will always the worst expansion polls by a landslide, this won't be any different.

I'd say from best to worst:

WotLK > TBC = MoP > Vanilla >>>>>>> Cata

[Abstieg]

Cataclysm was one of my favorite expansions through 4.2, but Dragon Soul... oh boy, Dragon Soul.

[Ifeanychukwu]

I thought Cataclysm was for a long time but so far I have gotten much less enjoyment from Mists of Pandaria. Maybe it's just me, but Cataclysm was pretty alright once you get past the usual hate that people seem to have for Cataclysm. I think one of the biggest problems was that Cataclysm was one of the most hyped expansions and expectations were so high. The content was good but there were was just something missing. All of the zones felt disjointed and out of place and being stuck in Stormwind for the entire expansion really wore down on me. But you have to recognize what Cataclysm accomplished. I remember that before it was released practically everyone said that there could never be flying in Azeroth. People would say that there was just too much blank, unused space for them to ever bother doing anything with it and allowing us to fly around but they did. They completely revamped the 1-60 quests as well and made them much more enjoyable to do. And now, after watching the Blizzcon art panel I really appreciate all the effort that must have gone into changing the entirety of Azeroth so drastically. Cataclysm had plenty of problems, but it definitely wasn't a terrible expansion.

Then you fast forward to Mists of Pandaria where all of the zones look the same and feel the same. Almost all of the architecture looks the same and the leveling felt more like a mechanical process to get to max level where you would then continue on with the same mechanical process to do dailies, farm charms and valor and run your scenarios and weekly raids and raid finders to hopefully get a few pieces of gear so you can later get more gear and on and on and on. I know this has always been the main goal in WoW but it just seems like it's been so streamlined now that there's no deviating from the path for fear that you may fall behind and be left out.

Maybe I've just been playing for too long. The overdone theme of the expansion has also worn me down, I just want to experience something different... Hopefully WoD will be what I've been waiting for. That's enough of my rant though, I'm about to pass out.

PS: this is all just my opinion of course

[Taen]

Cataclysm was incredibly poorly-executed. I don't know if it's because of a lack of proper planning or (more likely) an inability to deliver on very grandiose plans, but it really fell flat.

Which isn't an indictment of Blizzard, by the way. The complete revamp of the Old World was an enormous undertaking, and it would have been near impossible to give the expansion a common theme with all the new zones spread out all across Azeroth.

[Algearond]

Personally, I always believed Cataclysm was by far the worst expansion. I believed it the moment it was announced and I still do. However, when virtually 'everyone' agreed that Cata was the worst expac, the counter-argument was that 'people always hate the current/just-finished expansion and look with rose-tinted glasses at the past'. The argument was right at the time, no reliable conclusions could have been drawn. However, now that MoP is over (no new content patch all-but-confirmed in Blizzcon), the question can be, more reliably, re-submitted. According to the above rationale, one would expect MoP to win by a large margin, but I doubt that is or will be the case.

True, WotLK was the expac that saw the largest increase in subs and MoP is the expac that saw the largest drop, but in my view there is a lag between changes in the quality of content on offer and the sub-fluctuation. In other words, I believe that BC is responsible for the (lagged) increase in subs in Wotlk and - more importantly for the purposes of this thread - Cataclysm is responsible for the (lagged) drop in subs that took place in MoP. Indeed, I believe that the whole of MoP was centred around amending the flaws that Cataclysm brought and that, finally, this has been achieved with the announced changes of WoD.

Now, why is all this important, apart from everyone ranting (with their transparent, black or rose-tinted glasses) about what in their opinion was the best expac? Because if the above is correct then we might begin to see a slow but steady (lagged) increase in subs, following the launch of WoD, which may continue if the content on offer remains at the same (high) quality.

So..What was the worst expac so far in your opinion? Do you subscribe to the above view that Cata was worst and subs may begin a slow, lagged recovery when WoD lauches?

I do think subs will slowly increase with WoD, myself I am VERY excited about it, it wasn't that Cata was horrible, it is that 4.3 was complete, utter, shit.

[Deleted]

Cataclysm
Not only because it was bad overall, but also because SO much potential was wasted. It could have been really really good, but the execution was just disappointing.

Although MoP isn't over yet, I think it was quite good and definitely a LOT better than its predecessor.

[Buxton McGraff]

cataclysm is beyond the worst expansion, blizzard could release an expansion that every time you log in you get covered in shit irl and it would still be better.

Cataclysm was fun until Dragon Soul.