World content - Where is it?

[Deleted]

What ho,

Remember back in 2013, Blizzard had this to say about Draenor's world content?

"We received a lot of feedback over the course of Mists of Pandaria about what kinds of quests and world PvE content players enjoy most, and we’re continuing to evolve the questing experience in Warlords of Draenor with that in mind. Our goal is to give players a wide variety of fun and unexpected activities, ranging from the kinds of quests they’re familiar with to new experiences along the lines of the exploration- and event-driven Timeless Isle introduced in Patch 5.4: The Siege of Orgrimmar."

Look at this forest. It's a tiny patch of woods outside Highmaul, with a couple of idle ogres lingering about along the road for no particular reason. Nothing much going on. The forest ends just beyond the horizon, by the way.

But let's pretend. Let's pretend this was just the outskirts of a huge forest, where adventures awaited us.

Imagine:

• Further down the road, a trade caravan has broken down, allowing players to fight over its spoils.
• Nearby, there is a village. It is being raided by a band of ogres, and unless you push them back, these ogres will control the village and expand their influence over the forest, thus making life harder for everybody by increasing the difficulty within Highmaul ever so slightly, controlling the local economy among NPCs, and attacking unsuspecting wanderers in bigger packs.
• If you head west, there is a lake where flowers grow. People sometimes make farming routes around the lake, since it's such a lucrative spot for gathering herbs. Occasionally, a very rare boss will spawn in the lake, forcing you to band up with friends or nearby adventurers to take it down.
• Somewhere deeper into the forest, a player is busy collecting the eggs of giant eagles, which have fallen out of their nests. She needs to hand them into a local daily quest-giver who wishes to protect these majestic birds, lest they should get eaten by scavengers roaming the area.
• At the heart of the forest lies the fortress of Highmaul. Around it, NPC factions have erected frail perimeters which you need to strengthen daily with a steady supply of ore, lumber, and medical supplies. Got any spare follower equipment you have no use of? Great, they'll take it! You need to ensure the siege of Highmaul endures.
• This is just one forest, found in one zone on Draenor. As soon as you step outside it, other adventures await, with more dynamic and daily activities for you to pursue. Draenor is your digital playground, where anything is possible.

Going forward, which vision for World of Warcraft would you prefer? A living world full of content, or a static and linear world where raids and Garrisons take precedence above anything else?

[George Costanza]

Linear questing experience is boring. yet it requires some structure.

[Deleted]

Linear questing experience is boring. yet it requires some structure.

The questing on Draenor ranges from 'OK' to 'Great' in my view, but this is more a discussion about the endgame world content, rather than the levelling itself. There really wasn't any.

[Deleted]

OP. Aren't you describing GW2?

It's funny you should say that, because that's basically what WoD was marketed as. The Timeless Isle was supposedly the great testing ground for all the dynamic world content on Draenor. The only similarities I see are treasures and an abundance of rare mobs and toys; none of which are done as well as they were on the TI.

[George Costanza]

The questing on Draenor ranges from 'OK' to 'Great' in my view, but this is more a discussion about the endgame world content, rather than the levelling itself. There really wasn't any.

Meh More or less meant I miss the quests that had you go cross continent for smaller rewards and such. I am aware that the lack of world content at endgame (there isn't any.

[Rhine101]

From what I gather, I need to dust off my Azura Guardian and get back into GW2

[Deleted]

Meh More or less meant I miss the quests that had you go cross continent for smaller rewards and such. I am aware that the lack of world content at endgame (there isn't any.

Same here. I miss the old quest chain that had you searching beneath bridges in the Swamp of Sorrows and what-not, on some grand treasure-hunt. I can't remember what it was for, but it was fun.

[Gadzooks]

It's funny you should say that, because that's basically what WoD was marketed as. The Timeless Isle was supposedly the great testing ground for all the dynamic world content on Draenor. The only similarities I see are treasures and an abundance of rare mobs and toys; none of which are done as well as they were on the TI.

Right - where is the item to raise a sunken pirate ship? Where are the wrecks to swim down to, to get a cool diving helmet? As an aside, there's almost no underwater content in WoD, other than a couple of things in the opening area, and in one of the caves, for a treasure. Timeless Isle had a lot going on, that was engaging, even stupid little things like riding seagulls, or the opening item for the noodle cart quest. There were dailies, rep to work on with ranks, so you could choose to spend 1000 coins, or 40k. The rares were fun because they spawned randomly. There were a bunch of little buff items, or fun things like the Tuft Of Yak Hair. TI was also a leatherworker's wet dream for grinding leather.

As for the vote - all three need to be emphasized. Raids are just as important as world content, which is just as important as pvp. Granted, we'd probably have a better pvp experience without Holinka's Horror.

[Deleted]

Right - where is the item to raise a sunken pirate ship? Where are the wrecks to swim down to, to get a cool diving helmet? As an aside, there's almost no underwater content in WoD, other than a couple of things in the opening area, and in one of the caves, for a treasure. Timeless Isle had a lot going on, that was engaging, even stupid little things like riding seagulls, or the opening item for the noodle cart quest. There were dailies, rep to work on with ranks, so you could choose to spend 1000 coins, or 40k. The rares were fun because they spawned randomly. There were a bunch of little buff items, or fun things like the Tuft Of Yak Hair. TI was also a leatherworker's wet dream for grinding leather.

As for the vote - all three need to be emphasized. Raids are just as important as world content, which is just as important as pvp. Granted, we'd probably have a better pvp experience without Holinka's Horror.

In an ideal world - yes. But with Blizzard lately, it seems that only one of them can receive attention at once.

[Tech Priest Bojangles]

Going forward, which vision for World of Warcraft would you prefer?

Would prefer if you got hired as a consultant and made our game better lol
I've never played GW2 but perhaps it's time to give it a go.

[ro9ue]

World content, where is it? GW2 lol.

GW2 isn't without its flaws but it does certainly utilize the world better.

WoW just pushes people into instances for 99% of the expansions life. 90-100 questing is about 2 weeks of solid world content. Max level character progression for the remaining 90 weeks of the expansion is in raid instances.

[MrSerious]

OP. Aren't you describing GW2?

Yip, he's totally describing GW2. Its their dynamic events systems which scale and progress as you move through a map. If you fail then you have to try again or get pushed back. It finally ends on a large scale assault against their shaman leader. First time I levelled that zone it had a real epic quality to it. I envy anyone that experiences those quests for the first time.

[Golden Yak]

I like the idea of conquering areas to affect merchants in the zone.

Maybe something like having the Apexis quest areas be full of quests and content that are de-activated when the daily quest is in effect, which also triggers more mobs. Those areas are pretty interesting to explore, but they're usually a scrum of people doing quests or legions of elite mobs that hamper exploration.

[Arbs]

Ya if you want World Content / PvP play GW2 they do it better. Plus no sub & no f2p/p2w shit.

WoW is & always will be a End Game Raiding game. My opinion they stop focusing on other shit & focus on Dungeons & Raids primarily. With some new Battleground updates.

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What i don't understand is the world bosses loot is almost complete garbage. LFr seems better than world bosses now. It seems everything is made to force players into normal raiding. Personally I don't enjoy being forced into a particular tract like that--atleast in such an obvious many.

I have noticed World Bosses share the same loot table as LFR they're pointless ya.

[Deleted]

Ya if you want World Content / PvP play GW2 they do it better. Plus no sub & no f2p/p2w shit.

WoW is & always will be a End Game Raiding game. My opinion they stop focusing on other shit & focus on Dungeons & Raids primarily. With some new Battleground updates.

Breaking up is hard to do. I've been a fan of Warcraft for 20 years; WoW for 10.

Throughout most of the franchise's lifespan, lore has been on equal footing to gameplay. One has ensured we came back for more, and the other has packaged the other in a fun and interactive experience. For the past 5 years, however, I've noticed a distinct shift towards raiding.

And not even the 'good' aspects of raiding, in my opinion, which would have you prepare for a heroic adventure by unearthing the lore of a raid, killing off its antagonists, and exploring the fantastical environments within. A unique piece of Warcraft-lore, preserved within an instance for the bold few to experience. Nowadays, it would seem, raid bosses could just as well be placed inside a gladiator's arena, as it is all about the encounters themselves and not the surrounding experience.

My own theory is that the game is aging, and the core audience mostly sticks around because of their friends. Giving them a raid to get through together is likely to do more to keep those friendships intact than giving them a big adventure out in the world. After all, raiding takes hours of commitment several nights a week, lots of communication, and so on. It's a habit-inducing device, and it's probably really effective at keeping a chunk of the playerbase subscribed as others come and go.

The problem for Blizzard, of course, will be to ensure that the game has any appeal whatsoever to the non-raiding market-segment, and I don't see WoD as a step in the right direction.

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I like the idea of conquering areas to affect merchants in the zone.

Maybe something like having the Apexis quest areas be full of quests and content that are de-activated when the daily quest is in effect, which also triggers more mobs. Those areas are pretty interesting to explore, but they're usually a scrum of people doing quests or legions of elite mobs that hamper exploration.

Seems like a good idea. I would start by making the 100-areas large phased versions of the entire zones, though. As soon as you finish the main quests, things begin to change. At level 100, you gain access to the new content which is daily, layered on top of the old. Then you can roam around and find things to do.

I understand that the current level 100 Apexis areas area meant to be hotspots of activity; a particular siege, the base of operations for an enemy faction, a 'savage' part of a jungle, and so on. But they all seem very unnatural to me; partly because they're always there waiting for us, from 90-100, and never seem to be anything but punching-bags. But also because they're just there, without much explanation. "This particular area of this zone is reserved for 100 mobs". Uh, okay. The least they could have done is have a new Apexis quest-zone phase in for you each day, at different places throughout the world. That would at least bring some sense of immediacy to the threat. "Oh no, today the legion is besieging Karabor - go help them!" I distinctly remember feeling confused by this as I levelled up on Draenor. It felt so weird having that content cornered in a part of a zone, knowing that it wasn't yet relevant content. It took me out of the story.

[Louisa Bannon]

I really like the OP - great job conjuring an image of the World as it might/should have been. That single image is incredibly evocative and ably shows that Blizzard can produce quality things. What many like myself find irksome is what the game has been and what it should be, versus what it actually is at the present time.

The landscapes in MoP and WoD are pure eye candy and I loved them! I loved my original toons' designs, I just wanted higher resolution versions of them - not different ones with new and interesting flaws and clipping problems. I love PvP but they have to reduce the number of players cheating. Etc etc etc...I am going to spare you my list of gripes. But there really are things I love about WoW, they are just poorly represented in WoD and with such an obvious cash grab too.

I really think Blizzard needs to decide how a player must pay and pick one:
1. Buy the box.
2. Pay the sub.
3. Buy crap in the store, player/guild services, etc.

I'm personally pretty much done doing all three. It might maybe be worth it if there wasn't so much time-gating and cheating, but with those attendant flaws its just so totally not worth it.

I actually really like WoW, but I won't play it while its such a terrible value. I can easily afford it, the problem is that they are expecting top dollar in exchange for pointedly derivative and cynical game design. I hate RNG and I hate time gating. I also hate being herded into one playstyle when I actually had no problems with gathering (as long as I don't have to compete with 20 other realms and bots), raising my professions, reforging, gemming, and enchanting. I never did the farm in MoP and it was totally okay that I didn't. I didn't initially do the dailies much in MoP and it was totally okay that I didn't do them. All I ever really needed to do was to support my PvP-centric playstyle, but now they took away my gear and ability perks. Garrisons seems a hell of a lot more like something one has to do. And of course they gate everything. And don't forget to buy your botting program for BGs, Rated, and Arena.

This isn't probably as coherent as it should be, but you've all heard it before and even I am tired of stating it here too.

[Deleted]

Farming reputation or obtaining achievements requires you to be out in the world, exploring and what not. The rest can be found in your Garrison / Ashran. I hate Garrisons. It's great if you can only play 30 minutes each day, if you play more, it's boring to no end.

[Deleted]

Farming reputation or obtaining achievements requires you to be out in the world, exploring and what not. The rest can be found in your Garrison / Ashran. I hate Garrisons. It's great if you can only play 30 minutes each day, if you play more, it's boring to no end.

The problem with Garrisons is that they render other ways of obtaining things useless, because they are so efficient. Gathering materials, crafting, and so on should be an option via the Garrison, but it should be a lot more efficient to do it the old fashioned way, out in the world.

The way I imagined Garrisons before release was as a small catch-up mechanic while you're offline and can't play much. But it is very much the opposite; Garrisons is where you do everything.