The prepatch is a huge mistake

[[Apok]]

You can mock this post all you want, but in a few years, people will look back at what put the final nail in the coffin of WoW, and it will be this patch.

Show us something not anecdotal, and people might actually take you seriously.

[LordTakeo]

Finally enjoy leveling? You've never enjoyed leveling before, but making it go superfast so it's over in a couple of hours will make you finally enjoy it? You shouldn't play MMOs.

Well, yeah. 1-120 was a bit too much. Jumping from expansion midway to expansion is tiresome.

Now I go through one, a level up feels better than just a "mhm".

And appolgies, but I won't just stop playing just because you cant comprehend people enjoying different things.

[3DTyrant]

Here's a VERY simple concept: If you don't like it, don't play it. Blizz isn't holding a gun to your head, screaming at you "PLAY OUR FUCKING GAME OR ELSE!"

[Polybius]

You can mock this post all you want, but in a few years, people will look back at what put the final nail in the coffin of WoW, and it will be this patch.

This patch will bring new players and keep old content away from interfering with the new. We're at a point where old stories and their assets are irrelevant. The game grows and evolves, you're lucky they're not removing past expansions.

[psychodad]

Show us something not anecdotal, and people might actually take you seriously.

You'll all see.

[Deferionus]

1. The level squish invalidates all the effort we've put into our characters over the last 16 years. We've seen them grow from 1-60, to 70, 80 and eventually all the way to level 120. Now we'll all be set back to level 50 and then go to level 60 again. We've already done that. Why should we level from 50 to 60 again? I know that characters will be deleveled proportionally to what their level is right now, but at the end of the day, it still doesn't change that we are back to a certain level. One thing here invalidates all the effort we've put into leveling even further and that is

2. The leveling process from 1-50 after the prepatch is incredibly fast. Way too fast. I remember level 60-70 taking very long back in TBC, and 70-80 also taking very long back in Wrath, but some time after the expansions had been out, that leveling process was shortened immensely. I welcomed it at the time as I'm sure many other players have, but looking back I can only say that it is a mistake to keep making leveling faster and faster. We are now at a point where leveling from 1-50, which is 1-120 right now, will take like 6 hours. Is it a good idea to have an MMO where you can reach max level on multiple characters in a day? All this does is further invalidate the time we all have put into each of our characters. It is no different than when they introduce catch up gear in a patch that is as good as heroic raid gear from the previous patch. It makes people go, wait I put in all this effort and these people get it just like that, just because they joined the game at a later date? This is what you are doing when you are shortening the leveling process. You are telling everyone, who played the game before and invested tons of time into developing these characters that they are basically idiots for having wasted all this time. They could've just waited til you shortened the leveling time for characters. It diminishes our accomplishments.

3. Changing level ranges for zones is a mistake. And so is level scaling. I was never quite happy with it when they made Outland and Northrend both scale from 60-80. It destroys the identity these zones have. Outland wasn't for level 80, neither was Northrend for level 60. It feels wrong. In the beginning it was nice cause it was different, but it destroys the natural progression of the expansions. You first go to Outland, then you go to Northrend. That is just the way it is, and changing that changes the world and how we experience it. Now we're at a point where level ranges are completely different with Vanilla going to level 25 only (even less time to do Vanilla zones) and then TBC going to 27...? What kind of nonsense is that. The way they destroyed the natural progression of expansions we're now at a point where you need to do Chromie Time to level, because who is gonna go to Outland for 2 levels, to Northrend for 3 levels, etc.

This is utter nonsense. Level scaling is bad, because of many reasons. It completely destroys progression, when a mob levels up together with me and sometimes, because of scaling, I actually end up having a harder time defeating it than before, because of the way things scaled. This happens all the time. Mobs should have a certain fixed level. You go to Ashenvale, and things are level 20-30, and you peek into Felwood and see a level 50 bear ready to maul you. You level up to close the gap between you and that mob, and eventually, even outlevel him. Sure some of this still exists in some form. Not everything scales from 1-50, but it might as well. Because the identity of everything has already been destroyed.

Some people will say, well, level scaling is good because we outlevel things so fast. But why is that? Let's go back and look at number 2. This is a problem Blizzard has created, because they made leveling so fast. You wouldn't outlevel a zone if the pacing wasn't completely off. And the level squish will only make it worse. Because you'll still reach the next level superfast, there's just gonna be even less levels.

I just can not help but feel like we are about to experience a second Cataclysm. The world forever changed with the Cataclysm prepatch, and I think people will look back and only then realize that maybe they didn't understand what they were in for.

The changes are to make the game feel more welcoming to a new player. It should be healthy for the game long term. Number inflation felt bad for seasoned players as well.

Far as your experience change "is a finger to old players and their time commitment" I don't really care. I played RuneScape. That game is largely about the experience high scores for your skills. I maxed my character back when 20-50,000 exp an hour was the norm, depending the stat. Today on that game you can get 1-3m exp an hour. A new player on RuneScape can get experience at a rate 120x the rate I maxed my skills, in a game that is predominantly about the highscores for skills. What WoW does is sane and reasonable and good for the game's long term health. Look at other MMORPGs if you want examples of poor decision making.

[psychodad]

Well, yeah. 1-120 was a bit too much.

No, it wasn't. Leveling to max level took like a couple of days.

[NewportsDentarg]

You can mock this post all you want, but in a few years, people will look back at what put the final nail in the coffin of WoW, and it will be this patch.

And if that happens. This game will have gone on for 2 decades. It was a hell of a ride. And still a VERY successful game. At that point we will be forced to move and and try out other activities/games for entertainment. Maybe give another game company a try! Win/win.



Off topic. You are very poor at debating. You will have to try hard to sway the populous. If that was not your goal, it just seems like pointless whining.
Reason? Shadowlands is coming. They will not revert the massive changes that seem to bother you. Solution? Don't play/pay. Send them a personal hand-written letter. A public is a bad venue for your topic. You're asking to be talked down upon.

[psychodad]

you're lucky they're not removing past expansions.

Blizzard is lucky anyone is left playing this game.

[Pheraz]

1. The level squish invalidates all the effort we've put into our characters over the last 16 years. We've seen them grow from 1-60, to 70, 80 and eventually all the way to level 120. Now we'll all be set back to level 50 and then go to level 60 again. We've already done that. Why should we level from 50 to 60 again? I know that characters will be deleveled proportionally to what their level is right now, but at the end of the day, it still doesn't change that we are back to a certain level. One thing here invalidates all the effort we've put into leveling even further and that is

2. The leveling process from 1-50 after the prepatch is incredibly fast. Way too fast. I remember level 60-70 taking very long back in TBC, and 70-80 also taking very long back in Wrath, but some time after the expansions had been out, that leveling process was shortened immensely. I welcomed it at the time as I'm sure many other players have, but looking back I can only say that it is a mistake to keep making leveling faster and faster. We are now at a point where leveling from 1-50, which is 1-120 right now, will take like 6 hours. Is it a good idea to have an MMO where you can reach max level on multiple characters in a day? All this does is further invalidate the time we all have put into each of our characters. It is no different than when they introduce catch up gear in a patch that is as good as heroic raid gear from the previous patch. It makes people go, wait I put in all this effort and these people get it just like that, just because they joined the game at a later date? This is what you are doing when you are shortening the leveling process. You are telling everyone, who played the game before and invested tons of time into developing these characters that they are basically idiots for having wasted all this time. They could've just waited til you shortened the leveling time for characters. It diminishes our accomplishments.

3. Changing level ranges for zones is a mistake. And so is level scaling. I was never quite happy with it when they made Outland and Northrend both scale from 60-80. It destroys the identity these zones have. Outland wasn't for level 80, neither was Northrend for level 60. It feels wrong. In the beginning it was nice cause it was different, but it destroys the natural progression of the expansions. You first go to Outland, then you go to Northrend. That is just the way it is, and changing that changes the world and how we experience it. Now we're at a point where level ranges are completely different with Vanilla going to level 25 only (even less time to do Vanilla zones) and then TBC going to 27...? What kind of nonsense is that. The way they destroyed the natural progression of expansions we're now at a point where you need to do Chromie Time to level, because who is gonna go to Outland for 2 levels, to Northrend for 3 levels, etc.

This is utter nonsense. Level scaling is bad, because of many reasons. It completely destroys progression, when a mob levels up together with me and sometimes, because of scaling, I actually end up having a harder time defeating it than before, because of the way things scaled. This happens all the time. Mobs should have a certain fixed level. You go to Ashenvale, and things are level 20-30, and you peek into Felwood and see a level 50 bear ready to maul you. You level up to close the gap between you and that mob, and eventually, even outlevel him. Sure some of this still exists in some form. Not everything scales from 1-50, but it might as well. Because the identity of everything has already been destroyed.

Some people will say, well, level scaling is good because we outlevel things so fast. But why is that? Let's go back and look at number 2. This is a problem Blizzard has created, because they made leveling so fast. You wouldn't outlevel a zone if the pacing wasn't completely off. And the level squish will only make it worse. Because you'll still reach the next level superfast, there's just gonna be even less levels.

I just can not help but feel like we are about to experience a second Cataclysm. The world forever changed with the Cataclysm prepatch, and I think people will look back and only then realize that maybe they didn't understand what they were in for.

actually everyone loves this prepatch except you.

[TickTickTick]

You are the dinosaur then. Stuck in the sentiments of the past, terrified of change.

There are many things Blizzard did wrong with SL, but the ones you mentioned are not them. They are all needed for the longevity of the game and to reduce the imtimidation of new players.

I know it's said there are no "wrong" opinions, but there are some exceptions, such as yours.

[psychodad]

The changes are to make the game feel more welcoming to a new player.

Your premise is wrong. The game was never "not welcoming" to new players in the first place. The number one thing turning players away from the game is probably the subscription cost. Let's see if Blizzard are serious about welcoming new players and remove that cost.

[Relapses]

Blizzard is lucky anyone is left playing this game.

You do realize you're posting on a fan website, right?

[psychodad]

You are the dinosaur then. Stuck in the sentiments of the past, terrified of change.

Some changes are shit. Just because something is new and different doesn't make it better.

[LordTakeo]

Is anyone even doubting that this isn't just bait anymore after these responses?

[TickTickTick]

Your premise is wrong. The game was never "not welcoming" to new players in the first place. The number one thing turning players away from the game is probably the subscription cost. Let's see if Blizzard are serious about welcoming new players and remove that cost.

A person who decided to not give it a shot is not a new player, since they never played to begin with. Your entire point is wrong.

Please be so kind as to just quit the game and leave this forums. If you're not enjoying WoW, go find a different hobby. Your life doesn't depend on it.

[Dejavuproned]

The only utter nonsense is op's post. But glad you bought these concerns up while there's time to change things...

Oh wait.

The invalidating previous effort argument has always struck me as odd at best, and frankly selfish and ignorant at worst. This is an MMO, its not about just you. And wow will have certainly slowly bled out players if the leveling system wasn't fixed. It was confusing, messy, and unsatisfying even after the scaling changes. And if you need the game to stay a mess to feel good about the time you spent in it then that says more about you then anything.

Wow now has a chance to do something it hasn't done in some time. Grow. Now, if it actually will is up in the air. But I applaud the effort to get new players in the game.

As for scaling, I've never really had an issue with it. The way I see it is a bear in Elwynn forest should still be a threat to some degree at any level in that bracket, because its a freaking bear. And bears are dangerous. Ditto for wolves and such. For me it makes the game more immersive, not less. But its a divisive topic.

Sent from my SM-G981W using Tapatalk

[psychodad]

You do realize you're posting on a fan website, right?

You guys are all robots. The things you write I have seen over and over again, for the last decade. It's like you get all schooled in parroting the same lines.

Blizzard not only reads these forums, there are official Blizzard accounts here.

[TickTickTick]

Some changes are shit. Just because something is new and different doesn't make it better.

In this case it is.

You are the definition of "dinosaur". Deal with it.

[Argorwal]

I used to think a lot of players wanted a longer, more involved leveling experience for their alts.

Then classic came out and the boost community is massive, which makes me think a large portion (most?) of the player base does not want to spend any significant amount of time leveling an alt and would prefer it just instantly be at the cap.