Poll: Rate Shadowlands

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  1. #461
    Quote Originally Posted by ashblond View Post
    Personally: 5/10

    Pros:
    - Covenant. It is a nice idea in a MMORPG, and I praise Blizzard to try new things. It is good flavor and lore for wow, but it can cause balance issue in long term.
    - Thread of Fate. It just offer players an optional way to level. More choices are always better.
    - Renown Catch-up system. It is clearly an improvement from previous expansions

    Cons:
    - Same borrowed power system. Anima/Renown = AP, Soulbinds/Conduits = Traits/Essences = Relics. It is the same max level progression system since Legion.
    - Same endgame contents (M+/raids/PvP). Legion introduced M+ as a new form for endgame. BFA and SL just remain exactly the same without innovation.
    - Maw and Torghast. They are not impressive so far. They feel like the same daily and weekly chore in a even worse form.

    Neutrual:
    - Zones and Quests. The graphic and music are good as usual.
    - Dungeons and Raids. The design and lore are good as usual.

    In summary, Legion introduced 2 major new aspects to wow:
    - Max level progression / borrowed power system
    - Mythic+ dungeons as a new form of endgame.

    BFA and SL remain largely the same as Legion without major new things. SL = BFA 2.0 = Legion 3.0

    When players did it 1st time in Legion, it was great. When we repeated it again in BFA, it was bad. When we have it 3rd time in a row, it will end worse.

    I know it is still too early to rate Shadowlands. But what is your opinion so far?
    I give it a 6: a passable grade.

    I agree on the pros, but would add the following:
    - The dungeons and raid have are exceptionally strong and enjoyable and have a grwat atmosphere, barring perhaps sanguine depths and theatre of pain, though the latter has some redeeming qualities
    - The zones, atmosphere and lore an sich work well in a vacuum

    I am on the fence regarding your cons, i agree that the semi-mandatory grind just feels very, eh, stale. I do not regard a solid established endgame as a con at all, but would wish that all were as well working as the others; at present i can only say that mythic+ seems to really work from a non-guildbound point of view. Raids are still raids; far too repetitive for my taste to warrant 4 difficulties, and each getting their own tier of gear is likely one of the core causes of stat bloat. They should just slice the tiers in half and have them overlap, perhaps adding a mythic+ like upgrade system (i mean why does mythic even need a tier at all? It's literally challenge mode for most people and needlessly mucks up the rest of the game; i'd enjoy it just as well without the slightly higher stat sticks and just the fancier artwork). Oh and pvp is a bit of a joke at low ilvls because of ilvl scaling and just a general disbalanced playing field and absent solo/impromptu gearing options, i do like the returned pvp vendors and its upgrade system though. The maw is... iffy. They tried. Torghast is just a far lesser but repeatable form of visions from last patch of BfA, but it has its fun moments with the roguelike aspects. Honestly they should add some of that island expedition AI and variety in there to spice it up.

    Cons:
    - For a late starter pvp is hell due to absurd ilvl scaling; mythic+ is effectively the only worthwhile gearing option
    - Convoluted soulbinds and conduit systems make no positive contributions, especially the latter are unwelcom

    I consider your neutrals to be positives.p

    Neutral:
    - Forging your own legendary was a cool concept, but practically it's just a (light) farm-without-catchup flavorless gear thing with added gold sink
    - Adventures. Really? I'd have thought a proper focus on core systems would allow you to see that this is just another unwelcome bit of not-quite-optional-enough bloat. Hell most of the original characters here are even more forgettable than in previous expansions. Honestly they should have just limited themselves to the truly prominent characters plus some well known old ones plus assorted memes (Meatball comes to mind)
    - So many abilities return, yet so many core ones remain absent or talent locked. What sort of arms warrior doesn't know how to cleave but does know how to whirlwind !? Also defensive stance. srsly. At least spell reflect is baseline.
    - It does not feel like warcraft at all in several respects and not in a positive way. Though also not sufgiciently negative to make it a con.
    This is a signature of an ailing giant, boundless in pride, wit and strength.
    Yet also as humble as health and humor permit.

    Furthermore, I consider that Carthage Slam must be destroyed.

  2. #462
    First 3 months? 8/10

    From March onwards? 5/10

  3. #463
    I am Murloc! Wangming's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ashblond View Post
    WoW's story has been laughable for several expansions now, since the over use of the Banshee.
    To me it was fucked since TBC, but the degree of fucked changed over time.

  4. #464
    Old God Soon-TM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wangming View Post
    To me it was fucked since TBC, but the degree of fucked changed over time.
    While BC was certainly a lore trainwreck, I find that BfA, WotLK and WoD (probably in that order) have been even more detrimental to the story as a whole.
    Quote Originally Posted by trimble View Post
    WoD was the expansion that was targeted at non raiders.

  5. #465
    Rated it like 7 or 8 originally I think, but I’d now change that to a 2 or 3. Pretty terrible when the first tier not only lasts the longest a first tier has ever lasted, but the next patch doesn’t really offer much either. More Torghast, and more Maw, because we all know how much the average player loves to do those activities.

  6. #466
    Quote Originally Posted by Soon-TM View Post
    While BC was certainly a lore trainwreck, I find that BfA, WotLK and WoD (probably in that order) have been even more detrimental to the story as a whole.
    WoD was generally really dumb in terms of its premise but the damage it caused to the lore isn't really that bad because it was mostly a self-contained story. BfA and Shadowlands on the other hand have done irreparable damage to the Warcraft lore.
    The absolute state of Warcraft lore in 2021:
    Kyrians: We need to keep chucking people into the Maw because it's our job.
    Also Kyrians: Why is the Maw growing stronger despite all our efforts?

  7. #467
    Im genuinely curious why people hate the story so much. Im not being facetious. Im one of those people who happily suspends my disbelief when watching a crappy movie (for the sake of argument, 2012 since its the first one that popped into my head), and just enjoys it in the moment without thinking about it too much. I never really minded the sls story in general. As i get it, sylvanas made a deal with the jailor at some point. There was a big flying thing that flew into the arbiter knocking her out, and since then she's been tasked with sending all the souls to the maw (which makes her pretty much the worst baddie in wow, at least Sargeras just wiped you out, he didnt lead you into an eternity of torture and turn you into a mana battery). Anyways, shes now superpowered with jailor powers, so off she went to icecrown to break a helmet which opens up the sky for reasons (i think i missed that, some kind of controlling the undead which isnt the actual shadowlands dead, but the undead on azeroth...?). And then kidnapped some of azeroths heroes and threw them into the maw with her new superpowers. And now we get to kill them, seal up the sky and pretend everything is fixed. Is that the story? It sounds very silly when i write it down. But it also sounds very warcraft as well. I mean... we live on a planet thats not a planet but an egg that all the cosmic forces are fighting over because if they can penetrate the egg, they'll have a super titan infused with their cosmic power and fighting to end the war of cosmic forces which brings us to entropy and the extinction of all things. Or something like that?

    Its all so wonderfully silly. I cant even think how you could take it seriously enough to judge it?

    Last edited by ippollite; 2021-06-23 at 08:58 AM.

  8. #468
    Haven't played the game since bfa, but made sure to stay updated by watching YouTube vids of those who have mythic raid clear experience. That said, even they dislike shadowlands and its systems and I do agree with them.

    Heard someone say that the lore is good, what in odinsbeard did you smoke. The lore is good compared to what?! It's dogshit, nothing is worse than dogshit.

    Heard people say that rotations are good, same here, it's dogshit. The rotations have changed by 15% over the span of 4 expansions. Do you know how boring that is. Can't argue if you started to play since legion/bfa/shadowlands. But for those that played since TBC it's just unforgivable.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by ippollite View Post
    Im genuinely curious why people hate the story so much. Im not being facetious. Im one of those people who happily suspends my disbelief when watching a crappy movie (for the sake of argument, 2012 since its the first one that popped into my head), and just enjoys it in the moment without thinking about it too much. I never really minded the sls story in general. As i get it, sylvanas made a deal with the jailor at some point. There was a big flying thing that flew into the arbiter knocking her out, and since then she's been tasked with sending all the souls to the maw (which makes her pretty much the worst baddie in wow, at least Sargeras just wiped you out, he didnt lead you into an eternity of torture and turn you into a mana battery). Anyways, shes now superpowered with jailor powers, so off she went to icecrown to break a helmet which opens up the sky for reasons (i think i missed that, some kind of controlling the undead which isnt the actual shadowlands dead, but the undead on azeroth...?). And then kidnapped some of azeroths heroes and threw them into the maw with her new superpowers. And now we get to kill them, seal up the sky and pretend everything is fixed. Is that the story? It sounds very silly when i write it down. But it also sounds very warcraft as well. I mean... we live on a planet thats not a planet but an egg that all the cosmic forces are fighting over because if they can penetrate the egg, they'll have a super titan infused with their cosmic power and fighting to end the war of cosmic forces which brings us to entropy and the extinction of all things. Or something like that?

    Its all so wonderfully silly. I cant even think how you could take it seriously enough to judge it?

    It's basically that lore keeps getting ret conned to fit a narrative. They need a new big demon? Let's recon stuff from WotLK and even warcraft. They want something to happen and change the history so that it fits and that pisses so many lore addicts like me off. Certain character change from strongest mortal in azeroth to a wimp, or smart ones change into a dumb blond. It's too hard to say that lore is good, for us lore addicts, the lore is as good as dogshit. Not because we hate WoW but because we love the game and want that blizzard actually gets up their arses and make it good.

  9. #469
    Well this is interesting because i strongly remember that sergaras threat always rumbling away in the background. When legion was announced (and honestly, at the time i was done with wow and literally the only thing that would have brought me back was the tying up of the burning legion story), i really wondered where on earth they could go next. Apparently its into the cosmic battles. Its sort of funny, because for weird reasons, the burning legion thread 'grounded' the game. So yeah, i can see where you're coming from. Its a fair counterpoint. It kinda has gone off the rails a bit...

  10. #470
    Quote Originally Posted by muto View Post
    Rated it like 7 or 8 originally I think, but I’d now change that to a 2 or 3. Pretty terrible when the first tier not only lasts the longest a first tier has ever lasted, but the next patch doesn’t really offer much either. More Torghast, and more Maw, because we all know how much the average player loves to do those activities.
    I believe systemlands is a solid 5.

    If they had pushed out the first patch months earlier and second patch was around the corner it could have been a 7/10. Not great but not bad but with the delay of patches and little communication I don't see a reason to rate this expansion higher than 5.

    And the only reason I feel a 5 is a fair score is because of the art team.

  11. #471
    I think it's okayish, it's just content lacking a bit, and the story itself I find it boring or non-sensical. Covenants look great, though

  12. #472
    All I can say of the story is that it did absolutely nothing to keep me subbed. I don't care about any issue or character involved in the story, and no connection to anything in the setting. There is no FOMO.
    "There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
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  13. #473
    Spam Assassin! MoanaLisa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Osmeric View Post
    All I can say of the story is that it did absolutely nothing to keep me subbed. I don't care about any issue or character involved in the story, and no connection to anything in the setting. There is no FOMO.
    That's a good observation. It takes years to cultivate major lore characters and embed foreshadowing for future expansions. Blizzard killed off a lot of lore characters in Legion without making a proper effort to create new NPC's to care about and the story has lurched from one thing to another. The story team starting back with Afrasiabi has substituted surprise and non-sequitur plot twists as "epic" and "shocking" without doing much about creating connections to the existing lore. Blizzard has never really cared much about story, especially after Wrath but what is going on now is off-putting. The vaunted long-term arcs are very artificial and the decision to structure expansions as near standalones has only made it worse by encouraging fresh starts at the beginning of expansions with content that absolutely won't much matter to anyone come the next launch.
    Last edited by MoanaLisa; 2021-06-24 at 09:07 AM.
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  14. #474
    Quote Originally Posted by MoanaLisa View Post
    That's a good observation. It takes years to cultivate major lore characters and embed foreshadowing for future expansions. Blizzard killed off a lot of lore characters in Legion without making a proper effort to create new NPC's to care about and the story has lurched from one thing to another. The story team starting back with Afrasiabi has substituted surprise and non-sequitur plot twists as "epic" and "shocking" without doing much about creating connections to the existing lore. Blizzard has never really cared much about story, especially after Wrath but what is going on now is off-putting. The vaunted long-term arcs are very artificial and the decision to structure expansions as near standalones has only made it worse by encouraging fresh starts at the beginning of expansions with content that absolutely won't much matter to anyone come the next launch.
    Yes, I totally agree.

    Most of the major lore characters alive in WoW are still from original Warcraft 3: Sylvanas, Thrall, Jaina, Tyrande, Illidan, etc. It takes long time to create popular and successful characters with good stories.

    I don't hate Sylvanas, but the her story since Legion is extremely bad. I don't care if She has good intention, she is evil, or she is morally grey, etc. as long as the writers can make logic and coherent stories in character development.

    This woman has been working with Jailer since end of wrath. She has been burning Teldrassil, killing many innocents, abandoning horde, etc, to help Jailer's goal. She sacrificed everything and did all terrible things to help him. But she betrays him right at the moment he succeeds? Why? What is the logic?

    Sylvans' story since Legion is a big puzzle with a lot of suspense. But the puzzle is an onion: when you peel them 1 by 1, there is nothing in the end. Her whole story is hidden in the dark. Players don't know or understand her motivation, reason or objective. And there is no answer in the end.

    I seriously think even Blizzard doesn't know where the story is going.

  15. #475
    The Unstoppable Force Jessicka's Avatar
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    I gave it a 7/10, it feels good to play initially, and the storylines were engaging and I really enjoyed it first couple of times through, but on reflection I feel generous giving it that - though I really did enjoy it at the start, it just didn't last.

    I found that there are too many systems which are too isolated from eachother. It's like since they dialled back the talent trees in Cataclysm, they decided the best way to make up for it is to put another bloated talent tree on top of it. And now we have what? 4 such systems (Talents, Covenants, Soulbinds, Legendaries)? And they're all independently designed in utter isolation and similarly isolated in game and in the UI. Ultimately, it burned me out because while there's a lot there on the surface, everything is spread so thinly that there's very little underneath to get involved with.

  16. #476
    Its better now then before 9.1.

    Really enjoy the expansion as it is now. The systems are so light in comparison to BfA and it gives me more time to focus more on the things I like doing in the game.

  17. #477
    The Unstoppable Force Jessicka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ashblond View Post
    I seriously think even Blizzard doesn't know where the story is going.
    I think we know that since WoD the story has been "wouldn't it be cool if..." But now they've run out of Big Bads they've had to invent a new Big Bad who was there all along, everyone knew about, but somehow avoided even a passing mention in 20 odd years.

  18. #478
    The Lightbringer vian's Avatar
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    3-4, I got a solid three weeks out of it, so worth the money.
    Quote Originally Posted by bizzy View Post
    yeh but lava is just very hot water

  19. #479
    3/10

    Visually appealing expansion, the levelling experience was fun and enjoyable. Outside of that, I think it was a chore to log on, and try to enjoy any sort of content after hitting max level. Dungeons, and world quests didnt offer any replayability for me.

    Lasted about 2 weeks from the release of the expansion. Wont return for the remainder, will be sitting this one out.

  20. #480
    I am Murloc! crakerjack's Avatar
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    I only care about raiding, so going off that alone, I’d rate shadowlands 8/10. As long as the raiding scene is top notch, I’ll continue to play.
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