If WotLK was released today

[Deleted]

...would it be taken as an absolute failure? Just think about it, 1st raiding tier's main raid was a rehashed one from Vanilla, while the other two were small and you almost didn't notice they were there.
3.1 brought just one raid. I can't even imagine how big the outcry would be if 6.2 brought only HFC, without any other content. Yet it was OK back then.
3.2 added a really small raid that was probably the most uninteresting raid ever created (heck, the whole raid happened in one small arena) and an annoying dungeon that was in the same arena + "mounted combat" system (which is terrible, even more terrible than garrison shipyard). The dailies were alright, aside from the vehicle ones, but getting all the things from there was a torment.
3.3 was probably the best WotLK patch, it added a big raid instance and 3 new dungeons, but it was a current tier for 12 months and that was not really nice.

So, my question is, if WotLK came out today, would it be regarded as a "failed expansion"?

[Tekkommo]

It was taken as a failure when it was current content.

This forum was littered with complaints.

[Darsithis]

There were people then who claimed it was, especially considering how easy the new Naxx 2.0 was.

People complain. All the time. This is nothing new.

[n7stormreaver]

Especially if back in 2008 we had Mists of Pandaria instead, yes.

[Acidbaron]

Overall there was more content in wotlk.

Even totgc while short was entertaining and gave us an alternative challenge. It also gave us an entire daily zone, with shocker pets that weren't tied to my plastic card.
Ulduar was great, plenty of variation and memorable characters also and showed they could make interesting raid content with decent lore behind it and not be fully tied to the main story in wrath.

Sure there were also large parts of content drought, but that has been a constant in every expansion the amount we get per patch however and especially when looking over a whole expansion has been decreased.

[Deleted]

If WotLK was released instead of WoD then yes it would be considered the lesser of those expansions.

[Darksoldierr]

The starting raiding content was a joke, we finished Naxx 2.0 with 23 people for server first where we started with 16 i think. We were just inviting people as they dinged 80.
Maly and Sarth was a joke also. This forum would literally pick the game apart faster than you people discovering that WoD has no content outside raiding

[Deleted]

If Wotlk was released today I'd buy it and play the shit out of this glorious expansion.

to adress your points

Naxxramas was technically a rehash yeah, but there were not one, not two, but three other raids too @ lauch (Maly, Sarth and Archavon's chamber) But what's important is that no one even did Naxx when it was current content, so for 99% of the players it was entirely new and that's what matters not if it's technically a rehash or not.

Ulduar still is one of the best raids, the sheer amount of content inside that instance is awe-inspring to say the least. Hardmodes and literally over a hundred achievements, all in one zone. No dailies? I'm pretty sure they added some new ones where you had to gather stuff to build the coliseum. Even if that's my memory failing me, there was so much launch content to do it didn't matter. Tons of dungeons you could do daily for upgrades, tons of faction hubs and of course the glory that was Wintergrasp, the well designed world pvp zone that got the whole realm engaged and entertained.

Coliseum wasn't what I'd call a glorious raid but it came with one of the biggest daily zone additions ever and another dungen to top it off. To this day I haven't finished all of it. Mounted combat was one of the best things that happened to this game and it is a shame that they seem to use it so rarely these days. A good example of wasting potential. This patch was also where they introduced the difficulty slider as we know it today, featuring Normal and Heroic.

Icecrown Citadel is also one of the best raids in the game and with it came not one, not two, but three whole new dungeons, with 2 difficulty settings and they also added a new epic questline that tasked players with reforging Quel'delar or however it's spelled. Season 8 was the best season they ever made. Pvp overall in Wrath was exciting and engaging: fast paced action where every mistake mattered and skill still allowed you to outplay players even naked, thanks to no terribly infalted health pools and stupid heal mechanics that trivilialize every single mistake.

[Acidz]

WotLK wasn't perfect, but WoW sure as hell was a lot more enjoyable than it is now.

[Tekkommo]

The starting raiding content was a joke, we finished Naxx 2.0 with 23 people for server first where we started with 16 i think. We were just inviting people as they dinged 80.
Maly and Sarth was a joke also. This forum would literally pick the game apart faster than you people discovering that WoD has no content outside raiding

We cleared it with 19 or 20 the first week (whatever the achievement was).

It took us 2 nights to clear it the first time, the second night we had more people that had hit 80, but we were like nope, there is no room, we are getting this achievement.

[satimy]

naxx was rehashed for 1% of the population, OS could be really easy or really hard, malygos was a challenging retard check. So naxx was well received by the majority. The Icc 5 mans and tournament dailies were also some of the most fun I've ever had

[Tekkommo]

Naxx was rehashed to the same difficulty the timewalker dungeons are.

[Kevyne-Shandris]

...would it be taken as an absolute failure?

Maybe.

WoW came at the perfect time in 2004 (and WotLK rode the tide). If even TBC launched today, it's style and all, I doubt it would be that hit.

Kids now expect the sky, and in some ways can, as the tech is there (sure wasn't in the day -- 2004 broadband wasn't rolled out fully across the nation yet. Internet connection to WoW in WotLK? Satellite phone for some ... yep, was in a dungeon with a tank with 500+ms latency and playing from a satellite phone [when we averaged 300+ms latency in the day, as your Battlegroup and your server WAS EST but in Seattle!]).

[Deleted]

It was taken as a failure when it was current content.

This forum was littered with complaints.

Pretty much this. It was also the same case with TBC.

[Faesroll]

It wasn't until ulduar and later on ICC that WotLK was in it's full glory. Before that it was only average.

[Deleted]

It was taken as a failure when it was current content.

This forum was littered with complaints.

No, it wasn't.

- - - Updated - - -

People complained to the point that even the rise to 12 million subs was commented as "Just because McDonalds is popular doesn't mean the food isn't shit". LFR apparently killed the game in WotLK and the fact that ICC lasted 12 months. Oh yeah...the increasing buff meant overcasualisation as did Catch up mechanisms.

Today a drop of subscribers is a sign that the game is bad - back then a rise in subscribers meant the game was shit anyhow.

LFR didn't happen in Wrath.

[Tekkommo]

People complained to the point that even the rise to 12 million subs was commented as "Just because McDonalds is popular doesn't mean the food isn't shit". LFR apparently killed the game in WotLK and the fact that ICC lasted 12 months. Oh yeah...the increasing buff meant overcasualisation as did Catch up mechanisms.

Today a drop of subscribers is a sign that the game is bad - back then a rise in subscribers meant the game was shit anyhow.

LFR wasn't in WotLK.

For the rise in subs, what other games was there to play? Compared to today, there is lots of MOBAS and other MMOs on the market. Back then it was only fail MMOs as the competition.

No, it wasn't.

Yes it was, I remember very clearly.

[Schmeebs]

No, it wasn't.

Yes it was, I distinctly remember complaints during Wrath launch:

Naxx is too easy/rehashed content. Nothing new.

Sarth is too easy, why would anyone do 'optional' hard mode?

Maly is too easy.

[Darsithis]

Don't forget ToC, people.

[Demithio]

Wotlk was a bit light on raid content at the start; however Naxx, Malygos, and Sarth did keep most guilds entertained for a good while. I'm not talking about the small % of raid groups that could clear it with their eyes closed on day one, but rather mid pack guilds which make up the bulk of the player base. Naxx was great for most people as only a tiny % saw it in Vanilla.

Wotlk was certainly not perfect, but IMO was leaps and bounds over what we've seen since in the way of compelling content and the quality / amount of content. TBC was tops as far as I'm concerned, followed by Wotlk. The rest, more or less rubbish.