Why did Blizz create such complicated system for BfA?

[Zorachus]

I've been playing since launch and more recently have become ultra casual, I still play 5 nights a week, but now just 20 minutes or so each night. Enough to do WQ cache stuff, or World Bosses, or a quick M+.

BfA seems to have complicated or confusing character stuff, that the game really didn't have before;

- Azerite gear ( which I don't mind now, it's ok, except when changing specs )
- Island Expeditions = Ugh they suck
- WarFronts = Ok to run for gearing up, other than that I call them AFK-Fronts
- Essences added, it's ok, but an extra layer of shit
- Now this whole Corrupted gear stuff, which I find super weird
- Legendary's back, but just a cloak you level up. Do we really need this at the end of BfA
- Titanic research WTF
- Horrific Visions, I still don't see what the fuck they even are? Not a dungeon run, not a Raid, and sort of a Scenario thing that's solo'd or with a group? You need to watch your sanity or something? Be cool if they had this in the Group Finder like Dungeons and Raids.
- Horrific Visions continued, you need to gather Vessels and spend them, and earn Corrupted Memo's, etc... Who the fuck created this whole mess, how was this a good idea and supposed to be fun?


Why not just KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid ), you want to gear up, you run Normal and Heroic dungeons. Or do Normal, Heroic, or Mythic Raids. No AP crap. No Arzerite or Essences or Corrupted stuff. And for things to run at end game, it's Dungeons + Raids and that's it. I suppose keep World Quests in as they better than Dailies.

[Soon-TM]

Engineers will engineer, simple as that.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Historically they've done a lot of new features in expansions. A good chunk of which never, or rarely, see the light of day again.


Though it seems to me your issue is less density of features and more just Azerite.

[Ehrenpanzer]

I've been playing since launch and more recently have become ultra casual, I still play 5 nights a week, but now just 20 minutes or so each night. Enough to do WQ cache stuff, or World Bosses, or a quick M+.

BfA seems to have complicated or confusing character stuff, that the game really didn't have before;

- Azerite gear ( which I don't mind now, it's ok, except when changing specs )
- Island Expeditions = Ugh they suck
- WarFronts = Ok to run for gearing up, other than that I call them AFK-Fronts
- Essences added, it's ok, but an extra layer of shit
- Now this whole Corrupted gear stuff, which I find super weird
- Legendary's back, but just a cloak you level up. Do we really need this at the end of BfA
- Titanic research WTF
- Horrific Visions, I still don't see what the fuck they even are? Not a dungeon run, not a Raid, and sort of a Scenario thing that's solo'd or with a group? You need to watch your sanity or something?


Why not just KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid ), you want to gear up, you run Normal and Heroic dungeons. Or do Normal, Heroic, or Mythic Raids. No AP crap. No Arzerite or Essences or Corrupted stuff. And for things to run at end game, it's Dungeons + Raids and that's it. I suppose keep World Quests in as they better than Dailies.

1. Azerite Gear: This was a total and complete clusterfuck of a failure at the start. Its much better now.
2. IE's: Easy mindless HoA rewards, with possible pets/mounts. I dont love it, but its not like it took a lot of dev work to make them
3. Try heroic warfronts, a massive improvement to the original system
4. Essences.. neat, but kinda boring at the same time
5. Corrupted gear: even more rng bullshit then TF/WF
6. Cloak. A decent system, better then rng drops
7. T Research: Not bad actually, lets you progress in either a group dominate setting or solo play (one of their better ideas this xpac imo)
8. See 7.

[GreenJesus]

Engineers will engineer, simple as that.

But engineers can't engineer since their legendary cloaks can't have the glider enchant, which is basically the only reason to be an engineer.

[MoanaLisa]

Engineers will engineer, simple as that.

There is a ton of truth in those few words.

Since the advent of serious theory-crafting and the rise of someone who revels in it (and brought a number of people from EJ to Blizzard) the engineering of the game often seems to take precedence over whatever magic thing it is that makes a game fun. One good example was the amount of words and thought that went into the topic of dot snapshotting in the last expansion. It was interesting at an engineering level but a lot of brain cycles were expended on something that 9 out of 10 players don't know about, don't do and don't even understand. There is inherent complexity in all of that. "Easy to play, difficult to master" is supposedly the watchword but often the 'difficult to master' part turns out to be really arcane stuff that is obsessively examined but beyond the care of most people.

Combine that with stories that are hackneyed and not truly going anywhere interesting--mostly recycling historical tropes over and over--you end up with a product that theoretically works but is pretty dry and stale. Maybe after 15 years and the dominance of corporate gaming this is inevitable but I've thought for some time now that the game, while not terrible, is in a rut and struggling to break through mediocre. The more the game is driven by spreadsheets the less appealing it is for a lot of people.

[Sanguinerd]

So everyone can use maths to optimize their character isnt it awesome?

Thanks Ion, super fun.

[Pedde]

All the current design decisions are driven by the goal to keep people subscribed and boost numbers like daily active users for the shareholders. The times when Blizzard designers wanted to create a game they could play themselfes are over. Thats why everything needs to be timegated nowadays.

[msdos]

As long as I don't attempt to start another character until Shadowlands, then I'm safe basically. I have the essences I need and there is no need to do anything over again on this character. It's the least I can hope for.

[MoanaLisa]

All the current design decisions are driven by the goal to keep people subscribed and boost numbers like daily active users for the shareholders.

Is DAU even reported to shareholders for WoW? I know that MAU is but I don't remember that DAU is anything they've ever put into a shareholder report.

[Sanguinerd]

Thanks Greg, thanks every lead dev, thanks WoW since day 1 - always relying on outside sources for everything. Actually something I dislike too, but hardly an "Ion" thing ^^

I know but he's the scapegoat now so I'm just following suit.

Besides as the EJ guild leader I'm assuming he's loving this stuff.

[Grimbold21]

Historically they've done a lot of new features in expansions. A good chunk of which never, or rarely, see the light of day again.


Though it seems to me your issue is less density of features and more just Azerite.

Im not being disingenuous here, but isn't this a relatively new thing?

Im trying to pick my memory apart, but wasn't it from.mop that they added new stuff, like scenario, challenge modes, farming?

Tbc introduced arenas and wotlk wintergrasp

[WraithKingOstarion]

jeeze OP, every thread you make, you have to tell us you are a casual player. we get it. you're a casual player.
that being said the game isn't all that complicated much like how others have already pointed out.

it sounds like you just want to let everyone know, once again, that you are casual.

[deenman]

I've been playing since launch and more recently have become ultra casual, I still play 5 nights a week, but now just 20 minutes or so each night. Enough to do WQ cache stuff, or World Bosses, or a quick M+.

BfA seems to have complicated or confusing character stuff, that the game really didn't have before;

- Azerite gear ( which I don't mind now, it's ok, except when changing specs )
- Island Expeditions = Ugh they suck
- WarFronts = Ok to run for gearing up, other than that I call them AFK-Fronts
- Essences added, it's ok, but an extra layer of shit
- Now this whole Corrupted gear stuff, which I find super weird
- Legendary's back, but just a cloak you level up. Do we really need this at the end of BfA
- Titanic research WTF
- Horrific Visions, I still don't see what the fuck they even are? Not a dungeon run, not a Raid, and sort of a Scenario thing that's solo'd or with a group? You need to watch your sanity or something? Be cool if they had this in the Group Finder like Dungeons and Raids.
- Horrific Visions continued, you need to gather Vessels and spend them, and earn Corrupted Memo's, etc... Who the fuck created this whole mess, how was this a good idea and supposed to be fun?


Why not just KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid ), you want to gear up, you run Normal and Heroic dungeons. Or do Normal, Heroic, or Mythic Raids. No AP crap. No Arzerite or Essences or Corrupted stuff. And for things to run at end game, it's Dungeons + Raids and that's it. I suppose keep World Quests in as they better than Dailies.

the rng is the issue,horrific visions are probably one of the best solo and small group activities they have ever added,titanic research is also a nice progression system for the visions,now if only the rewards you got from those places werent layer upon layer within more multiple layers of rng loot procs with corruption gear,and essences being the most alt unfriendly system ever,in mop they had catchup mecanics for alts once your main did it,ah....remember how people hated mop when it was announced and early on?these days it seems like a perfect expansion almost

[potis]

Why not just KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid ), you want to gear up, you run Normal and Heroic dungeons. Or do Normal, Heroic, or Mythic Raids. No AP crap. No Arzerite or Essences or Corrupted stuff. And for things to run at end game, it's Dungeons + Raids and that's it. I suppose keep World Quests in as they better than Dailies.

Because this is what the game was in 2005, its 2020.

The AP grinding is retarded yeah cause any sort of cockblock grinding for a game mechanic is retarded, the rest of the mechanics arent.

New stuff is good, imbalances for a few weeks is irrelevant, and the biggest crybabies also dont even understand them, they just cry because they can.

TLDR. New stuff keeps the game interesting for those of us that have been playing for 15 years and can press the 5 buttons required to press at a sequence while holding the right click button to move the character out of fire.

Then again, your post reeks of "I cant use my brain to do two things at the same time", and as someone else mentioned above, it seems to be something you like posting about so..Not much else to say.

[Djuntas]

Because bloodmallet and raidbots has to make money OP, that is all.

[Army Dreamer]

Why did Blizz create such complicated system for BfA?

To keep you, hamsters, running in the wheel.

[FelPlague]

- Horrific Visions, I still don't see what the fuck they even are? Not a dungeon run, not a Raid, and sort of a Scenario thing that's solo'd or with a group? You need to watch your sanity or something? Be cool if they had this in the Group Finder like Dungeons and Raids.

So you have been playing since launch but like...

you skipped challenge mode
you skipped challenge mode season 2
you skipped death of chromie scenario
you skipped withered training scenario
you skipped mage tower?
cause like, if you have done atleast 1 or 2 of those, you would not be confused by this...

also fuck no, i would not want to run these with people in group finder.

but i mean you literally can, so idk why your saying "it would be cool if"

[Adoxe]

None of what you listed is complicated? You play the game for 20 minutes a day, the game ain't and should never be made for someone like that, if you had more time to invest, you'd find the time to learn the systems. Also just because you dislike something doesn't mean it's complicated like what the hell? Islands and Warfronts are dogshit, sure, but complicated? Hell no. Horrific Visions are the best and most fun thing they've added in a long time, sounds more like the case of "get better at it" to me.

[Gaidax]

I actually agree with op. I think 8.3 cumulatively with previous patches has WAY too many over-engineered systems.


And before people reply their piece, I am not talking about YOU - the guy in this forum who is for all intents and purposes invested into WoW and who can swallow it no issue - I mean I can too, I know what charts and guides to open to understand and work through it all just fine.

But from the perspective of more casual players I can certainly see how this whole thing may start to be overly confusing and overbearing. Heck, if someone would return after long hiatus - that person would be totally in shock from all these systems, stuff and small text things to get a hold of.


IMO, Blizzard needs to chill a bit in Shlands with all this. Too many systems at once is not good really, they should keep it more simple.