Now that MoP is over, how would you rank it against other expansions?

[Deleted]

the ones i played as whole: MoP > WotLK > Cata

[Marxman]

WotLK > MoP = TBC > Cataclysm

Wrath had the best balance between great raid content, good lore, great alt catch-up mechanics, and good casual content.

MoP has been great raiding and has a lot to do at max level, but fails spectacularly with alt catch-up and 5man content. I think it was the worst leveling expansion as well. The first time was pretty okay, the next 8 or 9 times was a complete chore. I'm also not a big fan with the prevalence of LFR as a catch-up mechanism. I feel like the Cata and WotLK 5mans were much better. They're faster, shorter queues, and your chance at loot was better. LFR is a great addition to the game (mostly), but the weekly lockout and horrible RNG loot really makes it a sucky way to catch-up.

[Kassadin]

I know I'm going to get alot of flak for this response, but here goes.

MOP=WOTLK= Cata =TBC> Classic.

One may ask themselves "WHHAAAAAAT?!", but listen to my reasoning why I did this as a person who has played since Vanilla.

Vanilla, while most hold in high esteem justifiably mostly remember it for one particular reason; the community. While, yes, that does affect the level of enjoyment in an MMO, it doesn't necessarily make it the best. vanilla had immense mechanically problems. While the problems could be easily overlooked considering the date of it's release... they were problems nonetheless.

TBC: This expansion solved a few problems that existed in Classic, while innovating very little in my opinion. Lore-wise it gave the players something they liked; a gruelling battle against the legion, and a reunion with tremendous Warcraft figures such as Khadgar and Trollbane. TBC followed the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." In terms of raiding however, it implemented heroic dungeons, which as most would remember was a nightmare in comparison to today's heroics. Due to this aspect, it took players weeks of grinding rep, materials to craft and dungeoning to acquire the sufficient amount of gear to pummeled through the bosses (much like vanilla, however boss mechanics began getting tougher), and it reached the point where content was getting released faster than people could keep up. Needless to say it was a solid expansion overall, with the exception of butchering Illidan too early (imo).
PvP-wise... this was the expansion that brought us Arenas... who can complain about that?

WOTLK: Sadly, with the implementation of flying mounts, queueing system and an immense portals to everywhere, this expansion heralded the death of the willingness to World PvP. This expansion also had quite a few problems; the talent system which they kept began to get bloated (to the point where you had to scroll down). However, this expansion featured the conclusion of a story arch many were interested in, and classes were becoming more interesting (rotation wise). While the story drove this expansion home, there were problems. For starters, the reusing of Naxxramas was imho a bad move. In terms of PvP, this expansion introduced Vehicles, which... while sounded interesting...wasn't. Classes became too bursty, to the point where arenas lasted under a minute, and balancing was arguably...atrocious (DK and Paladin...cough). Dungeons became more convenient and easier as well as a new target audience appeared.
On the plus side, WOTLK introduced Heroic raids, and also catered to smaller guilds by having 10-man size. Sadly, I think WOTLK negatives were due to them staying unto the same course for too long.

Cataclysm: While many hate it, many must learn o appreciate it for a few things. It dared to change things the developers knew players wouldn't agree with. It overhauled the talent system by removing the bloat, it reshaped the low level questing experience, making it more streamline, and it overhauled many class mechanics. Lore-wise, it was underwhelming due to the fact that it introduced a villain most players could not relate to or did not know the origin of (Deathwing). In terms of raiding, some fights wee good and mechanically innovative, while others left one scratching their head.
PvP wise... balance still plagued it... even more so with the implementation of two legendaries.

Mist of Pandaria: In my opinion, quite a solid expansion in all aspects. It was an expansion that learned quite a bit from the mistakes of its predecessors. It once again gave players a continent to dabble in, and rather than use already existing lore, decided to implement new lore, answering quite a few questions as well. The story telling was quite effective on an emotional level. Mechanic wise, it created a system centered around something people collected anyways (non combat pets), and introduced scenarios, which allowed players to experience storytelling on a personal level as well. Scenarios also acted as a quick form of gearing ones character as well; short 'dungeoning' in laymen's terms. Raid wise, they continued to create interesting mechanics, but sadly slowed down on the aspect of 5-man content.
The talent system and glyph system were revamped entirely. It offered more options rather than the cookie-cutter builds most made anyways. It also introduced the biggest gold sink known to the game: the black market auction house. Along side this, were systems which allowed raiders to do content while raids were on CD; brawler's guild, timeless isle, and challenge modes.
PvP-wise, it didn't make the same mistake as cataclysm, which implemented new BGs, but with rehashed mechanics of older BGs. This expansion introduced BGs with new mechanics altogether; Silvershard mines being a personal favorite of mine.
Sadly, Mist of Pandaria was stigmatized by the implementation of the race Pandaren, which while some players related to.... other chose not to relate to them (I rather not go into this... this pisses me off).

[dashflash890]

I still don't get whats so bad about Cata.

[Giscoicus]

WotLK > MoP = TBC > Cataclysm

Wrath had the best balance between great raid content, good lore, great alt catch-up mechanics, and good casual content.

MoP has been great raiding and has a lot to do at max level, but fails spectacularly with alt catch-up and 5man content. I think it was the worst leveling expansion as well. The first time was pretty okay, the next 8 or 9 times was a complete chore. I'm also not a big fan with the prevalence of LFR as a catch-up mechanism. I feel like the Cata and WotLK 5mans were much better. They're faster, shorter queues, and your chance at loot was better. LFR is a great addition to the game (mostly), but the weekly lockout and horrible RNG loot really makes it a sucky way to catch-up.

So Im confused on what "great raid content" wrath had. You mean Burnout Citadel or Naxx?
I mean, how you can even compare Cataclysm 5mans and Wrath 5mans is beyond me, they are complete opposites. Wrath was an AoEfest and Cata took thought and minor coordination, which led to massive subloss of the players who were accustomed to LOL AOE SPAMM XDDDDD

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I still don't get whats so bad about Cata.

4.3 was awful.
4.2 felt a bit rushed, but not even comparable to ToGC

yea thats about it. 4.3 was bad. Oh but shhhhh, dont tell people that ICC was just as irritating and dragged on just as long.

[PrairieChicken]

I don't get what is so something about MoP that people say about lesson learned from previous expansions blah blah

It was horrible regression from wrath/cata model to crappy vanilla/tbc tiered progression gate everything make things grindier model

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So Im confused on what "great raid content" wrath had. You mean Burnout Citadel or Naxx?
I mean, how you can even compare Cataclysm 5mans and Wrath 5mans is beyond me, they are complete opposites. Wrath was an AoEfest and Cata took thought and minor coordination, which led to massive subloss of the players who were accustomed to LOL AOE SPAMM XDDDDD

In terms of difficulty they were polar opposites, but in terms of rewards they are very similar (fast and quality catch-up gear)

[Giscoicus]

I don't get what is so something about MoP that people say about lesson learned from previous expansions blah blah

It was horrible regression from wrath/cata model to crappy vanilla/tbc tiered progression gate everything make things grindier model

The things that were gated should have been gated behind effort, and those that werent gated should have been.

I should be able to work hard to get a rep if I want to, not be stuck waiting. I should also work hard to clear a raid, not just que up.

[LilSaihah]

I'd probably say Wrath/TBC/Cata/MOP.

[plantation]

I thought MoP was ok. It was a lot better than Cataclysm but WotLK is still my favorite expansion by far

[PrairieChicken]

The things that were gated should have been gated behind effort, and those that werent gated should have been.

I should be able to work hard to get a rep if I want to, not be stuck waiting. I should also work hard to clear a raid, not just que up.

Unfortunately Blizzard knows ramping up difficulty will cause mass QQ (look at cata launch heroics) so it will never happen again.

[LocNess]

WotLK > MoP > BC > Cata - Did not play in Vanilla.

MoP has been very good overall, but there hasn't really been any "shining" examples of greatness that hit me like WotLK did (ICC, Uld, Lore, Zones, etc).

[TEHPALLYTANK]

MoP>WotLK>TBC>Cata.

[flam]

TBC = WoTLK > Cata > MoP
MoP made my quit after playing since the launch of vanilla, which is why I rank it last.

[Itisamuh]

Story: WotLK > BC > MoP > Cata > Vanilla
Gameplay: BC > Vanilla > WotLK > Cata > MoP

[Giscoicus]

Unfortunately Blizzard knows ramping up difficulty will cause mass QQ (look at cata launch heroics) so it will never happen again.

Exactly.

because Wrathbabys cried when content got hard and left. Those who stayed LOVE pandaria and hate Cata. If they tried to require EFFORT again, pandaplayers would go nuts and rage quit too.

I can promise anybody ITT who ranks Wrath top put Cata bottom. Those who put TBC top more often than not put Cata higher up than MoP (lower than wrath because 4.3 really was bad)

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Story: WotLK > BC > MoP > Cata > Vanilla
Gameplay: BC > Vanilla > WotLK > Cata > MoP

Vanilla gameplay second? wut.

I mean...

wut.

Hmm I think I have a screenshot of my 60 shadowpriest around here. Oh wait.

[Goondicker]

For me:

WotLK > TBC >= Vanilla > MoP >> Cata

Vanilla and TBC are higher than MoP purely for the shinyness. Everything about the game was awe-inspiring when you first started. Aside from that, WotLK seemed to have a great balance, and classes still had a lot of identity. The lore and ever-looming threat of the Lich King was really immersive. MoP has some great gameplay and features, and the world looks absolutely stunning now, but what holds it back for me is that all the classes feel too similar.

I blame interrupts, talent tree changes (loved the Vanilla to Wrath model), and lower deltas between highly skilled vs average players.

Cataclysm ranks last for me becasue it really was a let down in so many ways. It had a tough act to follow, and it was pretty expected. So much time went into the old world revamp, which is actually very well done, but there wasn't much cohesiveness to the playing.

Oh, and ICC and Ulduar are my favorite raids, so that helps.

[torterra275]

MoP >= WotLK > Cata > TBC


Wouldn't call it over JUST YET, Blizzard could throw a 5.5 wrap up patch for us.

[Deleted]

WotLK > TBC > Cata > MoP imo

[ZwaY]

In terms of my own personal enjoyment:

TBC > WoTLK = MoP > Vanilla >>>>>>>>>>>> Cata

[Azutael]

I still favor WotLK, the period where I have had the most fun. And WotLK finished off the WC3: frozen throne story-line, which I had waited for ever since WC3.

MoP is still better than cataclysm or TBC though.

WotLK > Classic/MoP > Cata > TBC