I think that WoW needs to have a complete overhaul in order to get some lost players

[kaminaris]

It needs a new engine. I'm just guessing here but i believe the engine is what really is the reason everything new is just a modified older system. Everything has to be more difficult to do than on a newer engine. I know its been modified and updated, but its still based on WC3! Look at how quickly fortnite can pump out animations. That would take like 3 years in wow lol.

I aggree it needs new engine, just look at this:



But lets not over exaggerate, In worst case it takes double the time compared to modern engine.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

- Story-wise. We're starting whole Void and Light arc which can easily spread for 2 expansions, with plenty stories brewing. What's the point cutting it short now?

Are we really, though? Because it sure seems like we're killing N'Zoth this expansion and that's the end of your supposed 2 expansions of Light VS Void stories.

[epigramx]

It might also need a new name. That way old players will know (because they're old and know) and new players will feel it's fresh.

I say Warcraft. Just Warcraft.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

It might also need a new name. That way old players will know (because they're old and know) and new players will feel it's fresh.

I say Warcraft. Just Warcraft.

See now you're crossing from "revamp" into just WoW 2.

[epigramx]

now

The entire OP is about a full technological soft-reboot. There will be no way to login with an old character.

That will benefit both old and new players for reasons prementioned.

[kenn9530]

..of course, that would mean they will NOT retain some old players so it's risky. However, it's pretty obvious to me because I tried out Final Fantasy XIV's trial and it's pretty clear WoW has a lot of potential if it caters more to its single-player aspect and new graphics. What FFXIV seems to do better is that the single-player aspect is better constructed and the graphics are a little updated. Of course its writing quality is often VERY weak because it appears to have disconnected stories shoehorned in a succession in order to reach a conclusion they seem to have set to reach anyway. Part of the boredom of wow for old players is that they've played the basic/classic story a dozen times two dozen times and it's way overdone to read that text and most people skip it anyway. So the only thing that remains to them is endgame and endgame is often what makes people leave the game either because it shouldn't be the only part of the game anyway or that their lives do not warrant 8-hour a day gameplays anymore (a full job in a game). It would also bring new players if the game is fully overhauled/soft-rebooted.

To be clear what I mean:

1. Full soft-reboot of the game. No expansions, don't even mention them, don't even give them for free or automatically. That would make new players not be terrified of the game but also old players have a reason to read the quest lore for a change.

2. The story should still be elegantly connected to original WoW. e.g. it could be a sequel but also refer vaguely to the old heroes of the past era.

3. Get good ideas from FFXIV and others: e.g. nice cutscenes each quest with the hero more focused (not necessarily THE focus), better GFX.

I reiterate, I know this would alienate current old+subbed players so it's a risk. But I also know current old+subbed players are thinning.

an overhaul would mean nothing, current generation of MMOs are all too similar what we actually need it a next gen MMO, kinda like what star citizen is doing with space but for magic/fantasy type games, i think the anime Overlord would be great as an actual game.

[epigramx]

an overhaul would mean nothing, current generation of MMOs are all too similar what we actually need it a next gen MMO, kinda like what star citizen is doing with space but for magic/fantasy type games, i think the anime Overlord would be great as an actual game.

OP here and I full agree. I never meant for a second to hold back.

[Lex Icon]

I aggree it needs new engine, just look at this:



But lets not over exaggerate, In worst case it takes double the time compared to modern engine.

i like the idea of a new engine but not anything like this. WoW should still look like WoW but it'd be nice if gear wasn't glued to the character and responded to the movements of your character properly. visually i'd expect more of Overwatch than anything else.

[Izzyfurious]

People like the OP.

STILL CARE ABOUT SHIT Modern WoW Lore.

Gimme a break OP, you people are the reason the lore is so garbage today as it is!

[Gaidax]

Are we really, though? Because it sure seems like we're killing N'Zoth this expansion and that's the end of your supposed 2 expansions of Light VS Void stories.

Because clearly N'zoth is the ultimate big bad lord of the Void and once killed there will be a peace for all the eternity.

Not like we had whole new faction sneak peek in Legion with Shadowguard, Void Lords premonitions everywhere, Chronicles clearly stating N'zoth and other Old Gods are just servants of said Void Lords and literally this in Seat of The Pantheon.



No sir, not a threat at all... just was added for cool factor.

[Aehl]

Unless Blizzard gets a revamp of its staff, fires Lore and a host of other incompetents, it will be putting lipstick and mascara on a geriatric pig in a nursing home.

Aint happening and Blizzard has burned too many too often, lied to us too often.....the last four years are a litany of failure after fuckup after screwup. It cant be saved.

[Swnem]

I don't think any of that would bring players back.

To bring players back, the devs need to make a game worth playing, worth living in. WoW is nothing but the end-game gear grind. There is no world. Just static quests for emmisary caches most don't even bother with. We need the world back in warcraft.

Dynamic events, meta events, housing, side-games with it's own progression (wow version of hearthstone for example, maybe pet races, etc. AKA the gold saucer idea from FF), no AP and titanforge crap, new skills for classes as you level up. Probably a skip to the new zones. Reduction of the number of raid difficulties (i'd say 1 lock with heroic and hard modes (aka mythic) in the same lock with LFR for those who can't clear it to see it), a mega dungeon with every tier or a 10 man raid.
A customisable companion could be cool as well, and of course, a more imersive story woud be nice and would flesh out the world more, so i can give you that one.

Aka, they need to give reasons for you to live in the world of warcraft and they need to get content in for smaller groups.

[epigramx]

New visual technologies are not only about Fidelity, it's also about Systems: for example, the solo questing experience can be enhanced with more personalized responses from the NPCs in a live-cutscene manner because yeah, MMOs are fine and all, but it's super anticlimactic to try to do something like leveling around Undercity, and you have spergs jumping up and down next to you ruining the atmosphere of the Lore.

It cant be saved.

With a full technology and characters reboot it's more possible than you first imagine. A large part of the inanity that exists in WoW is because of legacy. e.g. nobody can feel confident about a game that if you start a new Troll character you feel like it's 15 years ago at graphics.

Or devs had discussed how even the bags of WoW have legacy code for them and it was absolute hell when they wanted to expand them and still is to a large extend whenever they extend subsystems like that.

A new team or a team faced with a clean slate can do more than you may think. e.g. look at Overwatch. While I personally don't care much about FPS games anymore it's a Marvel Blizzard did, recently.

A clean slate in this case can do much more than just better graphics: It can make new gamers feel like they actually play a new game, and not one tainted by a thousand expansions they'll never manage to make them theirs but also make old players feel refreshed again, follow the lore of the starting zones again, not just skip it because "who cares, I've followed it 24 times already" (even if they skip it at a speed run, they'll still want to do it later on when they chill).

It's also an opportunity to enhance gameplay with new technologies and systems without having to care about how to do it on an ancient engine and without breaking old subsystems that would interact with it.