WoW needs a different direction, the old one is boring.

[Strakha]

wow needs less rewards not more. being constantly rewarded works for tablet games with grandmas but id imagine the average seasoned gamer probably has little to no chemical response left in their brain for the rewards to be rewarding enough for the time involved to gain them.

the reason why classic appealed to some was because there was less rewards that were more difficult to get and once you got them they were representative of having accomplished some of the more difficult tasks.

getting 1000 epics a month with varying degrees of "forged" does not become any more enjoyable after a year.

[MasterHamster]

Yep, WoW's current design breeds boredom. It makes sure you'll always be able to get past everything to get to your goal as smoothly as possible, all non-raid content is just... there. It doesn't challenge you. It doesn't expect you to try, fail, gear up, try again. Blizzard apparently doesn't dare to do that anymore. Because apparently if you die ingame, you unsub. It's just there to pad the road, since it's designed so that you're guaranteed to succeed, it doesn't matter how well-designed it was in other ways, you just blow past it regardless.

After many years the design paradigm has fallen into a trap of thinking that players has to succeed or attain something every 15 minutes or else they get bored.
Years ago I could stay motivated for hours and hours, even days, for a single big upgrade item from a faction... because that item actually mattered and made a difference. It made a difference to not only how well I performed in the world, or how well I performed in dungeons or raids, but also unlocked more content in the process, content I previously was unable to tackle. It wasn't the difference between killing a mob in 1.2 seconds versus 1.3 seconds.
I could actually notice my character getting stronger because there was content that actually made me need better gear in order to succeed. That's what kept me motivated. That's what made gearing up fun. It wasn't just the difference of killing some "elite" group (cough) mob in 9 seconds instead of 10, it was the difference whether I could stand a chance or not at all.

Items nowadays don't really do shit unless you're on a boss (those that actually are alive for more than 30 seconds, ie raids). They are the difference between 3-shotting a mob and... well 3-shotting a mob. You don't really notice any significant difference. Everything is designed to be a pushover from the go.

How people are this godawful at seeing why they're bored in-game is fascinating. How can the game be fun when you're not actually progressing? Yes, your numbers go up, but it doesn't DO anything. Other than raids, you're not actually seeing content go from challenging, to moderately hard, to easy and a breeze. Where you actually appreciate and notice the difference. Now you go from Very Easy to Extremely Easy in 2 afternoons. Whoopdidoo.

WoW's transition into an 3rd person, instant-gratification hub ARPG is what ultimately is killing it's long term enjoyment. It has put all the brain-engaging content in optional, high end M+ or raiding, and made everything else a guaranteed success, gold-star-for-logging in mess. No wonder it'll never recuperate the losses from WoD. No matter how well-designed Legion is, this overarching design is what's putting people off, and very few can apparently see it, though everyone feels it's effects. It's subconscious, but whenever you try to discuss it, people just react defensively with "I don't want to be slowed down!"

Legion is still many, many times better than WoD, but it sure is a shitty MMORPG compared to LK or MoP.

[Chaotic1962]

I am comparing the fact that companies adapt to the new era of gamers, blizzard is not with Wow.

But they have, but you arent seeing it. Most people refer to it as "Diablofication" of WoW.

[Themanintobuildafire]

I agree with the OP. It is boring. The same 5 types of quests, and you have to do 100s of them each expansion. THEY ARE NOT FUN. Also, forget trying to NOT do the quests because other xp avenues get nerfed hard as the devs WANT you to do the quests. Almost everyone has an alt or two, or ten, and doing quests on them to hit max level just puts the nail in the coffin of fun.

Raids are pretty much the same. I don't raid as I find raiding boring as fuck.

Dungeons are pretty much the same, and I don't do those either after a while as they are boring as fuck.

Twinking was probably the biggest reason I kept a sub and the whole stat squish is going to fuck that up badly, so yeah...probably I will be gone once my sub runs out in a month or so. I am just BORED.

[vertigo12]

Since raiding was brought up, here's something to keep it interesting:
Rotation of weekly quest tied within the raid. Rotation of weekly quest sourced from outside the raid and having the quest objective inside it.

What makes ICC interesting is a rotation of weekly ICC quests as section/wings get unlocked.
Possibly have 3-5 rotation per wing and each week would rotate on those available quests.
> Weekly quest rotating within trash mob or wing bosses . Additional mechanics to boss fight or trash pull/ interactable objects.
> From Dalaran or Major City, from unlocked reputable faction,PvP NPC, newly spawned NPC, Allied Race NPC,introduce portal which brings you else were, etc.

1st month of doing it would unlock 1 weekly quest per lock-out.
2nd month would allow you to do 2 weekly quest in one weekly lock-out.
3rd month would allow you to do 3 weekly quest in one weekly lock-out.
4th month would allow you to do 4 weekly quest in a lock-out.

NOTE: Weekly dungeon quest would also be a good suggestion as to something similar to World Quest. Also can be implemented on Timewalking available dungeon bracket.

[Deleted]

Yep, WoW's current design breeds boredom. It makes sure you'll always be able to get past everything to get to your goal as smoothly as possible, all non-raid content is just... there. It doesn't challenge you. It doesn't expect you to try, fail, gear up, try again. Blizzard apparently doesn't dare to do that anymore. Because apparently if you die ingame, you unsub. It's just there to pad the road, since it's designed so that you're guaranteed to succeed, it doesn't matter how well-designed it was in other ways, you just blow past it regardless.

After many years the design paradigm has fallen into a trap of thinking that players has to succeed or attain something every 15 minutes or else they get bored.
Years ago I could stay motivated for hours and hours, even days, for a single big upgrade item from a faction... because that item actually mattered and made a difference. It made a difference to not only how well I performed in the world, or how well I performed in dungeons or raids, but also unlocked more content in the process, content I previously was unable to tackle. It wasn't the difference between killing a mob in 1.2 seconds versus 1.3 seconds.
I could actually notice my character getting stronger because there was content that actually made me need better gear in order to succeed. That's what kept me motivated. That's what made gearing up fun. It wasn't just the difference of killing some "elite" group (cough) mob in 9 seconds instead of 10, it was the difference whether I could stand a chance or not at all.

Items nowadays don't really do shit unless you're on a boss (those that actually are alive for more than 30 seconds, ie raids). They are the difference between 3-shotting a mob and... well 3-shotting a mob. You don't really notice any significant difference. Everything is designed to be a pushover from the go.

How people are this godawful at seeing why they're bored in-game is fascinating. How can the game be fun when you're not actually progressing? Yes, your numbers go up, but it doesn't DO anything. Other than raids, you're not actually seeing content go from challenging, to moderately hard, to easy and a breeze. Where you actually appreciate and notice the difference. Now you go from Very Easy to Extremely Easy in 2 afternoons. Whoopdidoo.

WoW's transition into an 3rd person, instant-gratification hub ARPG is what ultimately is killing it's long term enjoyment. It has put all the brain-engaging content in optional, high end M+ or raiding, and made everything else a guaranteed success, gold-star-for-logging in mess. No wonder it'll never recuperate the losses from WoD. No matter how well-designed Legion is, this overarching design is what's putting people off, and very few can apparently see it, though everyone feels it's effects. It's subconscious, but whenever you try to discuss it, people just react defensively with "I don't want to be slowed down!"

Legion is still many, many times better than WoD, but it sure is a shitty MMORPG compared to LK or MoP.

Woo this guy gets it. Well said.

[Daffan]

Gearing is screwed as a progression mechanic for 90% of players because...

It's better to wait for a patch to hand out welfare and catchup then actually farm lower/mid tier content to progress your character. If you don't raid Heroic then why are you wasting time farming gear when Blizzard gives it to you for free each patch and let's you go to the next raid without even beating the previous.

Then again you have armies of people who I believe are well, something off about them farming LFR so they can do LFR better next week. They "enjoy" the game but probably have nothing better to do with their time tbh. The sad part is they just spent 8 weeks farming LFR to get gear that will be replaced by next patches LFR and they never even used the gear for anything.

As soon as they find that out they rapidly unsubscribe, hence the sub retention in this MMORPG is horrible. A complete time sink with zero payoff.

[Rekz]

Difference is... 10 million come back each expansion hoping for some return to quality gameplay that used to exist... and drop of less than 3 months later.

By far, there are more people who long for the old WoW game development to return and are easily bored with the garbage being churned out now than stick around to play and are "happy" with it.

Alot of people feel this way now. These new devs can't think of an original idea of their own and are just piggy backing off the idea of the older devs who made this game great.

People want a taste of the old quality and that's why they return albeit with diminishing returns as the game is just no longer the same quality as before.

The features they introduce now are just re-packaged recycled content which they now try to pawn off to the player base as new IE. Lightforged Draenei and Dark-Iron Dwarves.

I think they are now just catering to their dwindling player base and are managing the decline of WoW.

[Maudib]

The features they introduce now are just re-packaged recycled content which they now try to pawn off to the player base as new IE. Lightforged Draenei and Dark-Iron Dwarves.

I think they are now just catering to their dwindling player base and are managing the decline of WoW.

I so agree. We have to face it, the playerbase has shifted... mostly because Blizzard has wanted it to. Shifted to people who get doe eyed at the thought of playing these "new" races. Same game, same animations, different skins. It's disgusting because Blizzard has little by little run off the people who expected actual content, and they have placated to those that are just happy to pay their sub fees and play anything mindless.

I'm afraid there is no going back... although Blizz may very well see the writing on the wall when Classic becomes more popular that current WoW. And once they see how much more money they can make simply re-releasing WoW the way it was... they will probably end-of-life current WoW.

[crusadernero]

I am comparing the fact that companies adapt to the new era of gamers, blizzard is not with Wow.

Blizzard got D3, SC2, HS, WOW & OW. Would say they cover quite a bit of different gamers.

Why this obsession to have wow be something it was never intented to be? Should I cry my eyes out on forums cause Call of duty is not like the fallout games? That Starcraft should be more like the Civilization games?

[meowfurion]

This just in: Random Internet guy assumes authority on most popular MMORPG ever's game direction. Posts forum thread. Film at 11.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

This game is easily the most adaptable. If you changed the things you want them to change then it's no longer wow. Wow has incorporated a ton of things over the years though. If you dislike the direction that's your own fault. They have made every opportunity to make the game appeal to as many as possible.
There is nothing else for them to do. Please consider going outside.

- - - Updated - - -

Gearing is screwed as a progression mechanic for 90% of players because...

It's better to wait for a patch to hand out welfare and catchup then actually farm lower/mid tier content to progress your character. If you don't raid Heroic then why are you wasting time farming gear when Blizzard gives it to you for free each patch and let's you go to the next raid without even beating the previous.

Then again you have armies of people who I believe are well, something off about them farming LFR so they can do LFR better next week. They "enjoy" the game but probably have nothing better to do with their time tbh. The sad part is they just spent 8 weeks farming LFR to get gear that will be replaced by next patches LFR and they never even used the gear for anything.

As soon as they find that out they rapidly unsubscribe, hence the sub retention in this MMORPG is horrible. A complete time sink with zero payoff.

Spoken like a true casual. Have a look at the item levels of gear out there and tell me with a straight face that 910 gear from Argus is better than 930 gear from mythic tomb?

[vertigo12]

Don't loose your hope guys cause once we get to the dark side of WoW history, the time when it was before 10kya ago and even during the events of Troll vs. Aqir wars and the Black Empire, I will surely bet that they will also do a nostalalgia trip that would fit perfectly to such Storyarc. Welcome to World of Azeroth: Ancient Kalimdor World Map!

All gears will be Timelost version (all equiped gears will be Timewalking version and scales as you level up. and every body goes back to Level 1 and relieve history as you level yourself back up to latest level cap in the Alternate world of Azeroth.

There is no Kalimdor, no Pandaria, No Maelstrom, No Northrend and not even Eastern Kingdoms but only 1 supercontinent of Ancient Kalimdor.

Old armors and gears now in HD model.

[Ashleyxoxo]

Companies are adapting to the 2018 audience and thats how a game will be a successful.

Duh. There's money involved. They're not doing it because they're considerate of you or "them."

(Don't consider it "us," though! I despise this wet butt and farts decade.)

[procne]

if game needs a new direction then usually a new game is created. By changing the direction of a game you will lose the players who liked the current direction and you are not guaranteed to attract new players. With the new game you don't risk losing anyone. When Blizzard wanted a new direction they created Hearthstone, Overwatch and heroes of the storm. WoW stays here for the people who love:

"You level up
Gear up
Do raids or PvP"

[RangerDaz]

I do believe that some core ideas do need some "update". I have no idea how people still enjoy the same end game raiding content after 8 expansions. Different dungeons, different bosses, different mechanics, the same raiding concept of clearing a raid and upgrade gear over, and over, and over, ...

I would love if wow would follow more a lore heavier direction, inspired on warcraft 3.

the patch cycles are getting boring: add zone, world quests, complete zone chain, gear up, clear new raid, clear the raid in a higher difficulty, prepare for mythic raiding.
I stopped raiding long time ago because of many reasons, and one of them is that this cycle gets repetitive after a while.

Pve and Pvp endgame attractions (raiding, mythics and pvp contests) don't trigger me anymore.
I enjoy much more farming collectibles and playing other alts (different classes, different races).

If they had a more heavy story driven content i would love it.
However they need to balance it with repeatable content, so they keep players interested throughout the entire expansion.
They should also consider what should be repeatable by alts and what could be skipped. Some content experience should be allowed tro become skippable after the first time the players experience them.

[Teri]

I have yet to see a mega succesful new MMORPG with a new direction...

And don't name mobas , mobile games, or action/hack and slash genres.

I have seen 2 mobas that shut down very shortly after release cause they had a different direction from Dota/LoL:

- Infinite Crisis
- Master X Master

Now, those arent MMORPG, but were still designed from the ground up.

[blackblade]

I can see the executive meeting now at Blizz HQ now.

"We have a steady playerbase of about 4 million with about 2 million players who come and go pretty regularly, but this guy on MMOC thinks we should change up everything to try and attract a new playerbase"

Raiding / PVP was always the end game, why not introduce something different? Do you guys ever wonder why subs are declining since cata? Well some left because the hardcore crowed hated the casual changes, but the problem is that even if this game is all time casual, casual players are still qutting the game, so making the game even more casual will not change attraction of the audience.

Mythic +, Transmog hunting, Achievement hunting, Rep Grinding, Dailies all also constitute endgame; BfA is bringing in Warfronts and Island plundering to the mix.

[MechaCThun]

OP forgets the kind/genre of game WoW is, and expects it to be something different.

It's kind of hard to take this seriously with that mentality.

[Paperfox]

if game needs a new direction then usually a new game is created. By changing the direction of a game you will lose the players who liked the current direction and you are not guaranteed to attract new players. With the new game you don't risk losing anyone. When Blizzard wanted a new direction they created Hearthstone, Overwatch and heroes of the storm. WoW stays here for the people who love:

"You level up
Gear up
Do raids or PvP"

This. It seems to me that expansion are designed to refresh the game by adding a theme to it. Some will like it and those who don't can continue to play their old characters.

And it looks like BfA will nudge the direction WoW is going simply by going back to the roots and not having a Big Bad that everybody has to get together to kill.