Reading the feedback on Island Expeditions in 8.1

[Deleted]

I think they are fine, but i agree the doubloons should drop more often. I also would like for the map to give me the 5k gold outright and one of the other 2 missions. That would make it worthwhile.
Basically, the AP alone and pets are not enough of an incentive.

I also like the solo idea. if they let us bring our followers along it could be fun.

[netherflame]

That does not make sense. If they don't want you to level in them, why allow lower-level characters to do islands in the first place?

They want to let you experience them, that doesn't mean they should be the focal point of leveling.

[Osmeric]

The best part about IEs is that the rewards are so poor I feel no incentive to do them.

[Schizoide]

They want to let you experience them, that doesn't mean they should be the focal point of leveling.

If that were true, then why wouldn't islands be unlocked for your first character too? Why just the alts?

(In other words, that explanation doesn't hold up.)

[netherflame]

If that were true, then why wouldn't islands be unlocked for your first character too? Why just the alts?

(In other words, that explanation doesn't hold up.)

They are unlocked for your first character....did you not do the story at all? Its like 3 or 4 quests in where you get access to islands on an account with no 120 character....are you a putz?

[Drusin]

They don't want us just slamming out storyless islands to level characters? How do people not understand that, they put all this time into designing 6 new zones and they want you to level in them....

The complaints you have are actually awful.

Have some breaking news for you bud, this is an MMO the entire point is NOT to play solo.

So "have fun the way we tell you"?

[Schizoide]

They are unlocked for your first character....did you not do the story at all? Its like 3 or 4 quests in where you get access to islands on an account with no 120 character....are you a putz?

No, it's quite a few warfront quests in and level 116.

Please try to communicate like an adult.

[Archibalde]

Have some breaking news for you bud, this is an MMO the entire point is NOT to play solo.

There is plenty of solo content in the game. Hell, the first expedition you do as a tutorial is entirely solo, so it's not like it would be that much of a stretch to offer the alternative.

[Arainie]

Apparently theres lots of rewards from this, but I cant be bothered reading up on it all and especially HOW you can get certain items while killing certain mobs, im not playing it.

There's been lots of good feedback given in those threads, but there's enough said about that for a fansite thread anyway. So, what I quoted from you is the difference between the playerbase "now" and "then". MMOs never used to provide you with lots of information, you went in exploring and collectively people found things out. Pretty much every MMO is still like this besides WoW, with lots of unknowns and things being debated years into the game. However, the changes this feedback is aimed at actually included a change so that you don't have to look anything up or kill any specific bosses though, the deciding factor is now instead only what spawns on the island and not what of it you choose to kill.

[Schizoide]

That was a great change, because the islands are timed. They had two competing and diametrically opposite incentives. One one side you wanted to beat the island as fast as possible to actually win, and on the other you needed to track down specific rare spawns and enemy types to get the unique rewards.

[netherflame]

So "have fun the way we tell you"?

Massively Multiplayer Online

The expectation of this entire genre is that you are playing with other people who have lungs and are breathing.

[StrawberryZebra]

I feel that like so much with BFA, Islands had a lot of potential to be something unique and special, but Blizzard pulled back from what it could have been. There's definately a niche to be filled with fast jump-in small group content, and Islands should have been that. As it stands, they're just quick zergy murder fests. And that's fine, for the most part. Not really anything interesting or exciting, but passable.

I disagree with complaints that there's too much RNG involved though. I think the opposite is true, there should be more RNG. The map should be procedurally generated each time, it should be populated with a random assortment of both trash mobs and bosses, and throw in a couple of WQ type events in there too. That would give you a new experience every time you queued up for an Island. There's lots of potential for Islands as 3 man Rogue-Like Mini-Dungeons imo.

I do think there should be less RNG involved in the rewards though. It should be an alternate path towards gearing, maybe one where you can earn crafting patterns which use an Island Specific resource, or have an alternate currency you can spend on upgrades. Blizz intended it to be the primary means by which you get Azerite, but truth be told, there's not any need to go farming it really. Reversing that decision and allowing Islands to be their own thing, apart from the Azerite system, so they continue to be relevant content long into the future, would go a long way towards making them a content mainstay rather than a "feature" for just one expansion.

[Tydan]

They are beyond boring and such a chore. I have not even bothered looking at the loot tables for the pets and mounts because the RNG is insane.

Much like Warfronts, who at Blizard thought they were a good idea.

[Magnagarde]

They should add "completion" quests to island expeditions, remove the race aspect to them (make a mode specifically for this) and make it so that an expedition is complete only once the randomly-generated questlines are fulfilled.

There should be "race against NPC on XXX difficulty" and "race against players" modes just like we've got them right now, but there should be scenarios where you set sail yourself or with two other guys with no mandatory race attached to it and these kinds of adventure would require objectives to be met. For example, you have to plow through enemies, destroy certain settlements, steal their caches of Azerite and so on. Help your faction establish a foothold or kill naga/vrykul harpooners/dragons preventing your ship from sailing out. They could make the ship upgradeable, so it has a crew and can be upgraded defensively because every now and then some mobs should attack the ship. This way some planning and uncertainty would be attached to these scenarios.

[Lexia]

They are beyond boring and such a chore. I have not even bothered looking at the loot tables for the pets and mounts because the RNG is insane.

Much like Warfronts, who at Blizard thought they were a good idea.

Because they are a boring grindfest, you can thank Ion. He loves that stuff.

[Yunaqt]

They somehow managed to add yet another layer of RNG, with the "What quest does your Treasure Map give????"

I've done 8 or 10 and they have all basically sucked, with the titan currency one I just got being the shittiest.

Make the Treasure Map give a mount/pet/xmog item, every time. Also, make it available to characters below 120.

Funny since the only ones I want are either the 2k AP or the titan residuum quests. Couldn't care less about pets or mog items.

Each to their own I guess.

[Nnyco]

Personally I never really liked them. You zoned in, zerged stuff and left. Apparently theres lots of rewards from this, but I cant be bothered reading up on it all and especially HOW you can get certain items while killing certain mobs, im not playing it.

It all feels like a blur, messy side content thats there for no apparent reason.


Maybe its just testing grounds for Blizzard. They have already showcased BGs with AI. So they use IE as a testing ground for these awesome AIs.

Its just based on whats on island, even if you kill it or not. You see a pirate on island, you get pirate drops.

[Nelaphim-EX]

I started doing them after seeing that you could get mount drops from the weekly reward mission... nothing but AP and Azerite... and one set of 310 gloves that sold for 5k.

If they were not so easy that you can do them while multi-tasking, I would not bother anymore.

[Jastall]

Islands are better now, but they still lack meaning and progression. There's only so many times one can sit through a zergfest.

The design is just flawed. The islands are full of nooks and crannies telling some potential side-stories... but you have, by design, to run through them as fast as possible. So there's really no exploration to be had, you just need to rush to the nearest concentration of enemies/collectibles and beat their skulls, rinse and repeat. IMO they should have been dual-purpose, a solo exploration mode that rewards cosmetics (maybe with some optional hard fights for the mounts ala Mage Tower?) and the current expedition mode which is the mad dash for Azerite, in-story coming after the solo explorers discover the island.

[Soon-TM]

Island Expeditions are new environments with tons of different mobs and configurations; they are essentially handcrafted for exploration. And for some ludicrous reason this content was designed with an implicit timer and handed out to be done primarily with a random group. It is simply retarded.

This is the main problem with IEs. Get rid of the timer and have them scale for anything between 1 and 5 players. Oh, and since they provide mainly cosmetic items, don't be so stingy with the drop rates Blizzard.