Why does SL feel like end of expansion time?

[Soon-TM]

We should compare first patch to first patch. Were you able to ignore islands and world quests if you were doing any progression content during Uldir/Season 1?

I am not a mythic progression raider, but I raided Uldir HC in 8.0 without even setting foot in an island - and I did just fine.

However, I cannot raid CN HC without leggos, i.e. without Torghast, without my guild carrying me hardcore - unlike Uldir HC. I hope that you can see the difference.

[Argorwal]

I am not a mythic progression raider, but I raided Uldir HC in 8.0 without even setting foot in an island - and I did just fine.

However, I cannot raid CN HC without leggos, i.e. without Torghast, without my guild carrying me hardcore - unlike Uldir HC. I hope that you can see the difference.

A hard required short grind vs a less required infinite grind.

I guess it depends on the person which is better.

[crusadernero]

They need to stop these updates every 6-8 months and do smaller ones every 3 months or so.

Like the maw update should of been 9.05. The raid 9.1 and the dungeon 9.15.

How they are still this bad at planning after 17 years is beyond me.

well good thing is that we dont really need to play until last patch of each xpac. Catch up ger and all.

[Dracullus]

I am not a mythic progression raider, but I raided Uldir HC in 8.0 without even setting foot in an island - and I did just fine.

However, I cannot raid CN HC without leggos, i.e. without Torghast, without my guild carrying me hardcore - unlike Uldir HC. I hope that you can see the difference.

That's why I put Islands and world quests together - as there were main source for AP. Soul ash only drop from Torghast (in reasonable amount), but you are done after.. like 5 weeks right? (every week ~1 hour to complete both wings). For sure you were not done with neck after 5 weeks - and it wasn't Legion where multiple roads were profitable, AP from dungeons and raids were small scraps.

SL is definitely less grindy.. scratch that, SL grind is almost non-existent compared to BfA (first season). You have to do 1 hour Toghast weekly for 5 weeks, you have to spend 10 minutes in Maw per week (for lets say 12 weeks), but that's it for casual content.

[rhorle]

well good thing is that we dont really need to play until last patch of each xpac. Catch up ger and all.

Why not just wait until after the next expansion launches so you out level the content?

[crusadernero]

A hard required short grind vs a less required infinite grind.

I guess it depends on the person which is better.

Gotta stress the issue here to - problem is Torghast is the only way to work on your legendaries. When that feature is SO boring and mundane, it becomes an issue. I thought Torghast would be a fun side activity were you got OP powers, steamrolled mobs and had a fun time. Oh boy was I wrong. I got legendary on two characters, i'll never return.

- - - Updated - - -

Why not just wait until after the next expansion launches so you out level the content?

Well thats something different. Honestly, the last couple of xpac the game has been the best in the last patch. Imagine all the grind we had to do before the last patch, only for in the last patch have big catch up systems ignoring all the work.

[Zorachus]

They need to stop these updates every 6-8 months and do smaller ones every 3 months or so.

Like the maw update should of been 9.05. The raid 9.1 and the dungeon 9.15.

How they are still this bad at planning after 17 years is beyond me.

That's actually a great idea. I'd much rather have small mini patches more often, than huge patches every 6 months.

[rhorle]

Well thats something different. Honestly, the last couple of xpac the game has been the best in the last patch. Imagine all the grind we had to do before the last patch, only for in the last patch have big catch up systems ignoring all the work.

But all the work you do in the last patch is undone by the next expansion. Same thing but you are arbitrarily treating it different. That is always the problem with the "catch up mechanics make investment worthless" type of arguments. That always happens at some point.

[crusadernero]

But all the work you do in the last patch is undone by the next expansion. Same thing but you are arbitrarily treating it different. That is always the problem with the "catch up mechanics make investment worthless" type of arguments. That always happens at some point.

True, but you get to experience the xpac when current with all features, dungeons and raids out. The most frustrating part of being a fan of wow is how long it takes between content patches. After 15+ years of playing this game, still wanting more, I so so wish it was worthwhile to keep on playing all the time.

[Liarparadox]

They need to stop these updates every 6-8 months and do smaller ones every 3 months or so.

Like the maw update should of been 9.05. The raid 9.1 and the dungeon 9.15.

How they are still this bad at planning after 17 years is beyond me.

Yeah i like this idea quite a bit. it would keep the game feeling fresh more often. 6 months with no update sorta sucks. 8 months is crazy. 3 months, even if it's sorta smallish, little zone here and there. yeah that'd be nice.

[Dracullus]

True, but you get to experience the xpac when current with all features, dungeons and raids out. The most frustrating part of being a fan of wow is how long it takes between content patches. After 15+ years of playing this game, still wanting more, I so so wish it was worthwhile to keep on playing all the time.

No, you just don't experience 75% of raid bosses, most of them become dancing dummies with some transmog or mount inside.

[rhorle]

True, but you get to experience the xpac when current with all features, dungeons and raids out. The most frustrating part of being a fan of wow is how long it takes between content patches. After 15+ years of playing this game, still wanting more, I so so wish it was worthwhile to keep on playing all the time.

That is only true if you play for each patch though since last patch doesn't keep every previous patches content current. It was never worth while to play all the time with WoW since content has always come in stages. Things in the early expansions were artificially strung out or the doing it just for fun was more of a thing.

[Shiekyerbooty]

Yeah i like this idea quite a bit. it would keep the game feeling fresh more often. 6 months with no update sorta sucks. 8 months is crazy. 3 months, even if it's sorta smallish, little zone here and there. yeah that'd be nice.

Are we going to need soul ash after 9.1, I honestly don't know.... but, I keep doing Snoreghast just in case

[Soon-TM]

Are we going to need soul ash after 9.1, I honestly don't know.... but, I keep doing Snoreghast just in case

Expect leggo ilvl to be bumped up come 9.1, and guess how are you going to upgrade them... Yes, you guessed it, more Boreghast for everyone, yay! Or at least for everyone who is still here

[crusadernero]

No, you just don't experience 75% of raid bosses, most of them become dancing dummies with some transmog or mount inside.

Like current with LFR?

[Cronovey]

I love this I have been unsubbed for about a month now because I have all the best gear I can get at my skill/ time level. I got best gear I could and got to 210ilvl and am happy I cleared the content I cared about and now I can wait to resub and use catchup mechanics when the patch drops.

And there are plenty of people like you and that's fine!

It was more of an answer as to "why does it feel like players are gone", and you're an example of what I'm talking about. Without the carrot on a stick of a random corruption or Titanforge on something, players aren't compelled to continue playing nonstop for the loot casino.

Not knocking it, just saying I understand it.

[Evaddon]

Shadowlands is brand new still, early on in the expansion. But for some reason 4 months into the expansion it feels more like the time between expansions, that purgatory time where the expansion is 18 months old, no more patches and still months away from a new expansion.

I log in, see way less Guildies on. The cities emptier. Trade chat not a non stop spam fest. It feels more like a ghost town and just less players on.

I typically only feel or see this after an expansion has been out awhile and people waiting for the next one. But we're still early on in Shadowlands.

I play on two full populated servers and it just feels empty lately. Even log time WoW friends I see not logging on as much. My Guilds usually has dozens of players on all the time, now it's just a few people on.

I can't even recall in all my years playing WoW, to see a new expansion so empty so early.

Active thread warnings:

This thread is awful close to a "WoW is Dead/Dying" thread, but I've opted to live it open for constructive state of the game discussion. But the weapons-grade takes and infighting need to settle down. Be civil with one another going forward.

If its empty, I'd say your server is pretty dead. Oribos is ALWAYS packed no matter the time of day for me, it can be 3 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon. PACKED! There are still plenty of people playing, yes some are sitting around doing nothing, but you will always see that no matter what time of the Expansion

...BUT that's because alot of people jumped at the world content in the first few weeks instead of leveling and gearing alts to 60 pre-raid, then following the raids launch people went full throttle right away, as is becoming more and more common even with more "semi-casual" guilds! We went full Honeymoon phase and rushed into everything quickly then people rightfully so got burnt out instead of savoring the content and with the state of the world right now, COVID did impact some of these development cycles so we are reaching a point of drought now until 9.1, not because the content wasn't there..it definitely is in many ways, it was just easy to complete in many regards and everyone was stuck at home to do so, so it took no time at all outside of bad RNG

[Auroboros]

And there are plenty of people like you and that's fine!

It was more of an answer as to "why does it feel like players are gone", and you're an example of what I'm talking about. Without the carrot on a stick of a random corruption or Titanforge on something, players aren't compelled to continue playing nonstop for the loot casino.

Not knocking it, just saying I understand it.

I'm right there with you, I've definitely got that feeling of unease that there is no reason for some to play, but it's keeping me busy at least

[TheFirstOnes]

They pulling a WoD was weird there as well. These things are rarely planned. I mean storywise it was important. It set up the return of the Legion in full force. What Blizzard didn't realize, I think, is that people were already sick to death of orcish drama as that was Cata and MoP already. And with the WarCraft movie released, nobody who cared about the lore needed a refresher of who the more important clan leaders were. So when they saw how people didn't much care for the basic premise, they decided to wrap it up ASAP and focus on Legion, the fanservice expansion.

Or they just had no idea how to fully fit the timey timey shit full regarding Draenor itself. And while it did SET UP the Legion's invasion, that in itself wasn't the main focus of WoD. WoD as a whole was moreso a filler expansion compared to Legion, BFA, and SL. Legion was about the Burning Legion's greatest attack against Azeroth, and us fighting back against them as well as Sargeras himself, and it was about Order Vs Disorder basically (With the Titan spirits, Azeroth, the creations of the Titans, etc Vs the forces of the Twisting Nether). BFA was about the climax of the Alliance and Horde Conflict, as well as N'Zoth and the Black Empire's rise and defeat. And SL is about Life Vs Death, the true expansion of the Warcraft Cosmos, as well as us realizing who the fuck caused all this shit to begin with, AND it's about us dealing with the so called "Enemy of All".

[Master Guns]

It doesn't feel like that AT all.