Game is becoming increasingly dumbed down

[Deleted]

* Class Design is at an all-time low.

Most specs now are both incredibly easy to play and easy to master. The gap between a good player and a bad player has never been smaller

* The amount of handholding during questing is jaw-dropping

* Pruning is over the top

We haven´t got any meaningful (permanent) abilities since WoD and from now on every new ability/cool interaction we earn will be taken away from us at the start of a new expansion. Core abilities are turned into talents (Hammer of Wrath, Shadow Word: Death, Consecration...) which shows lack of ideas and lazy design. In the game´s current state, more buttons would indeed mean more engaging gameplay. Depth is gone.

* Everything is made to take longer without being challenging.

Yes, they changed the leveling process. But it is still just as brainless as before, only takes longer. There is no challenge whatsoever, except getting through the slugfest while accepting that three rotational abilities is all you have. What has become of old Combustion? Old Efflorescence? MoP engaging class gameplay? The game is being designed for half-wits and people with dysfunctional neurotransmitter circuits now. It is reflecting whats going on in the world in general. People are stupid and it is lucrative to cater to stupidity instead of trying to raise people to their senses and wake them up.

* BfA feels more like a patch than an expansion and everything is reused, but just has a new name

1) warfronts - similar to WoD garrison invasions

2) island expeditions - similar to legion invasions / invasion points

3) the whole setting up of our base in the new zone feels like establishing a garrison in WoD

4) the azerite system feels so much like the Netherlight Crucible. It also feels like a system meant to tax those who play multiple specs

5) right now leveling in BfA is just useless, you don´t become stronger, you don´t gain any cool interactions with spells or new abilities. There is no level 120 talent row. You just level because you have to. The road is compulsory. But in the past we at least got something along the way, be it new abilities, talents, artifact skills or cool interactions every 2 levels.

6) the whole Honor system is almost entirely unchanged. Most of the entire talent system is unchanged. Almost all specs feel the same. Even Prestige rewards stay the same. Keystone Master achievement rewards will stay the same, too. No new one for bfa +15 completion. Feels half-assed, rushed and characteristic of a game whose lead developer tries to manage the decline of, not to bring it to new heights

7) the whole time-gating fiasco will be more ridiculous than ever before. You might get a new item but you cannot upgrade it because your azerite level is not high enough so you have to wait weeks to be able to use it properly. Expect this to continue throughout the whole expansion. You receive a cool carrot but it will stay in your backpack and waiting for being able to equip it is like waiting for a timer to run out

8) it seems the game emphasizes cosmetic rewards more than anything. Sad that most people seem to have forgotten how cheap the current allied races actually look, the Nightborne in particular.


I could go on and on. Did I say that the game is becoming increasingly dumbed down? Oh yes, it is. But that´s to be expected, because humanity is becoming increasingly dumbed down, despite the fact that raising the level of one´s consciousness has never been easier...

[TheVaryag]

It's a sad fact since Activision Blizzard released Cataclysm their main task was to dumb down everything so that they can cator to casuals rather than their hardcore audience.

That's the short version of everything you just wrote. The game does try to make things easier, and It never was more obvious how they cator to casuals more than hardcore than In Legion. With the new PvP system 3.0 DESIGNED to be used by anyone and for everyone to have a similar power level.

Despite someone playing Legion pvp for 3 months and gathering cool gears, struggling to get gear pieces (But not really, since best gear pieces come from World Quest which are easy as nails to complete) for all that time. And then comes In random noob player #4236346, does PvP for a WEEK and Is at the same power level as the guy whose been at It 3 months because Blizzard tries to have everyone at a "Leveling playing field" well bollocks to that, if I do something for MONTHS I expect to be BETTER at It than some random tit who just joined up and doesn't even know how to spell rogue.

So yeah I mostly agree with you mate, but knowing these forums you'll have this either closed down soon or be bombarded with fanboys, possibly even before I make this first post some fanboy would've already posted something about how bad you are and things, which Is sad but hey, that's the kind of breed of player WoW has been creating since Cataclysm. One you spoon feed everything, one that doesn't have to try to gain anything... and BfA will be no different.

At this point I'm almost glad I got banned on WoW on my main account, least I don't have to suffer through the game becoming more and more bland by the expansion.

[Sethus]

Implying that it ever took more than 2 brain cells to play WoW. It's always been the over simplified, casual product created to cater to the spoiled western audience. Nothing changed.

[yetgdhfgh]

The game is still going strong after 13+ years so they must be doing something right!

No matter what you think so called 'casuals' are the ones who pay the bills and blizz has done a reasonably good job to placate both unskilled, moderate skilled casuals and the hardcore.

[Deleted]

At this point I'm almost glad I got banned on WoW on my main account, least I don't have to suffer through the game becoming more and more bland by the expansion.

Oh hey, it’s the guy who tried using the oldest excuse in the book (my brother did it) for over a year while changing his story constantly. And how he’s bitter about the game? No surprise there..

In all fairness though isn’t there an equally large part of the PvP player base who actually wants a levelled playing field? If you actually need those three months worth of gear to beat a guy who just jumped into PvP gear might not actually be the issue..

[Deleted]

The time i remember warlocks Toping DPSmeters just by spaming shadowbolts.


Yea. Gap was never been smaller.

Old combustion? Which one? that spell was changed like 30x times

[Yizu]

It's a sad fact since Activision Blizzard released Cataclysm their main task was to dumb down everything so that they can cator to casuals rather than their hardcore audience.

Cata more casual that wrath?? HAHAHAHHAHA Youre kidding right?? If you played both Wrath and Cataclysm you would know this is not true.

[Deleted]

* Class Design is at an all-time low.

Most specs now are both incredibly easy to play and easy to master. The gap between a good player and a bad player has never been smaller

Objectively false statement.

[Fitsu]

I can't recall a time past vanilla where questing was hard and rotations outside of a few classes has never been hard. I actually quite like how rotations feel quite smooth and work around procs atm. Most specs have a smooth rotation around procs/resource/cooldowns which requires some level of forward-thinking to maximize.

As for PVE Content, most mythic raiders will tell you the games never been harder and this is the first time we've had challenging dungeon content... Ever. The game is quite literally the hardest it's ever been (Just look at mythic KJ), hell even some heroic bosses are a bit tricky now compared to what heroic used to be like. Can you give some examples of content that is sooo much easier now than it used to be?

As for your comments about the expansion just being a copy of old mechanics... I for one commend this, I want an expansion to BUILD on the games previous mechanics not replace them. I'm looking forward to seeing polished versions of M+, WQs, Invasions and AP. That's what an expansion should be, building on what the game has not trying to reinvent itself.

[Deleted]

Someone didnt play on cataclysm release. If you played both Wrath and Cataclysm you would know this is not true.

Yea like Arms warrior. Where you have to change stances constantly and have macros on all abilities to do insane Deeps.

[Deleted]

* Class Design is at an all-time low.

Wrong. Classes are in a good state atm. Some things are still weird like overpowered healers or Druids with too much mobility, but it's getting better.

Most specs now are both incredibly easy to play and easy to master. The gap between a good player and a bad player has never been smaller

False. The Game is over 13 years old now, many things like Warcraftlogs, askmrrobot or WoWAnalyzer have been around for years. It's not that classes are easy to play and easy to master, but more and more players know how to get better at the game.

We haven´t got any meaningful (permanent) abilities since WoD and from now on every new ability/cool interaction we earn will be taken away from us at the start of a new expansion. Core abilities are turned into talents (Hammer of Wrath, Shadow Word: Death, Consecration...) which shows lack of ideas and lazy design. In the game´s current state, more buttons would indeed mean more engaging gameplay. Depth is gone.

The Problem with abilities is that over the course of WoW there have been too much abilities for players to handle, you can discuss about wether sentry totem, create fire-/spellstone or mind soothe was really gameplay engaging, I think not since most people won't even know what it is.

* Everything is made to take longer without being challenging.

Yes, they changed the leveling process. But it is still just as brainless as before, only takes longer. There is no challenge whatsoever, except getting through the slugfest while accepting that three rotational abilities is all you have. What has become of old Combustion? Old Efflorescence? MoP engaging class gameplay? The game is being designed for half-wits and people with dysfunctional neurotransmitter circuits now. It is reflecting whats going on in the world in general. People are stupid and it is lucrative to cater to stupidity instead of trying to raise people to their senses and wake them up.

You may be right about that one, but still, I want to know how many players killed Argus on mythic (Did you do?). But about the leveling process: the change was necessary and good. People can now choose where they want to level and don't have to change the zone every 10 or 20 minutes. Leveling takes longer, but you safe the time you are traveling to the next zone.

* BfA feels more like a patch than an expansion and everything is reused, but just has a new name

1) warfronts - similar to WoD garrison invasions

2) island expeditions - similar to legion invasions / invasion points

3) the whole setting up of our base in the new zone feels like establishing a garrison in WoD

4) the azerite system feels so much like the Netherlight Crucible. It also feels like a system meant to tax those who play multiple specs

5) right now leveling in BfA is just useless, you don´t become stronger, you don´t gain any cool interactions with spells or new abilities. There is no level 120 talent row. You just level because you have to. The road is compulsory. But in the past we at least got something along the way, be it new abilities, talents, artifact skills or cool interactions every 2 levels.

6) the whole Honor system is almost entirely unchanged. Most of the entire talent system is unchanged. Almost all specs feel the same. Even Prestige rewards stay the same. Keystone Master achievement rewards will stay the same, too. No new one for bfa +15 completion. Feels half-assed, rushed and characteristic of a game whose lead developer tries to manage the decline of, not to bring it to new heights

7) the whole time-gating fiasco will be more ridiculous than ever before. You might get a new item but you cannot upgrade it because your azerite level is not high enough so you have to wait weeks to be able to use it properly. Expect this to continue throughout the whole expansion. You receive a cool carrot but it will stay in your backpack and waiting for being able to equip it is like waiting for a timer to run out

8) it seems the game emphasizes cosmetic rewards more than anything. Sad that most people seem to have forgotten how cheap the current allied races actually look, the Nightborne in particular.


I could go on and on. Did I say that the game is becoming increasingly dumbed down? Oh yes, it is. But that´s to be expected, because humanity is becoming increasingly dumbed down, despite the fact that raising the level of one´s consciousness has never been easier...

All the points you named here are connected with bad experience from YOUR point of view. I remember people crying about player housing, they wan't to set up their own guild houses etc. and they got Garrisons. Were they happy? Apparently not. I enjoyed the concept of the Garrison and ofc it's always room for improvement. Cosmetic items are a thing since Cataclysm and people wanted it so bad. You are talking about engaging gameplay and yet you complain about cosmetic items which give you the chance to create the character just like you want.
Yes, there is a lot of improvement for BfA like new spells or new talents. On the other hand I think that it deserves a try, the game is getting only better, not worse and if you think that's not the case, well then you should play some older content (Wotlk, MoP) and then you will see how shitty it was compared to now. Your Post is the definition of pessimistic nostalgia-glasses.

[Hekazi]

Meh.

Still better than Bless.

[babyback]

All hail the good old days like TBC when the game was so complex that all shamans did was spam chain heal, warlocks spammed shadow bolt, shadow priests just mind flayed and mages spammed fire balls.

[cparle87]

It's a sad fact since Activision Blizzard released Cataclysm their main task was to dumb down everything so that they can cator to casuals rather than their hardcore audience.

Wasn't Wrath the era of run-in-pull-the-instance-aoe-and-win dungeons and one shottable puggable raids?

[Schmilblick]

It's always been the over simplified, casual product created to cater to the spoiled western audience. Nothing changed.

I remember back then when there was a big gap between a very good warrior and a normal one, especially with stance dancing.

[Sencha]

Agree. They will lose more players than they will gain. Bad choice.

[Currently Retired]

After having to deal with the WoW community for 14 years, I don't think Blizzard is... as sane as before. I get some the points though, but keep in mind that, for example, a new level 120 talent will most likely mean they are going to have to rework the entire talent tree for it to be balanced. It's not as simple as it sounds. There are around 756 talents right now - a new row will add 108 talents.

[Deleted]

The time i remember warlocks Toping DPSmeters just by spaming shadowbolts.


Yea. Gap was never been smaller.

Old combustion? Which one? that spell was changed like 30x times

Yet most specs now play like 0/21/40 destro locks... Go figure...
I mean the MoP combustion when you really had to know how the spell worked. You could easily tell which fire mage was bad and which was good. A few more similar examples:

mind flay refreshing SW:P duration. On multi-target fights refreshing it before the last tick with MF vs just reapplying it ended up providing quite a significant dps boost
shadowburn mirroring with Havoc. You had to know how the two spells worked and you could pretty much use your spec to the best of your ability and it made you feel good.
Cataclysm feral druid and MoP demonology - rotations the mastering of which really meant you were able to dish out awesome damage; conversely, sucking at these specs meant you performed terribly

[Yizu]

HAHA stance dancing, please dont make it sound so hard when anyone who has half a brain used a macro and power auras back in the day, really not different now

[Gardoc]

LOL all these people saying classes are not dumbed down and in a good state... probably PVEers or casuals that think classes only have their rotation and that's it