World Revamp

[MoanaLisa]

Mists of Pandaria was fairly immense.

That was launched in 2012. Development for Mists was at least for 12-18 months before that. Obviously, that's 11 years ago. I'm not going to say it's impossible but 11 years is a long time and the company, not to mention the competition and external conditions that drive current development, have changed greatly.

As large as that expansion was it's much less than what a full revamp would involve.

[Zodiark]

Revamping EK + Kalimdor would be a huge task, I would rather have them create new big zones instead. And having to go to the Caverns of time for the old zones would feel super cluncky.

Very much hoping for player housing tho.

Hmm I think that the whole caverns of time thing might just work. Correction, COULD work. It doesn't have to feel clunky. They could just make a portal near the entrance to the old Major cities like SW and Org, That takes you back. It could be something you can slip out of anywhere like an inn, similar to how it works with War Mode.

[Kokolums]

....the fact that your ideal wow is one that brings back Me'dan makes me so happy you don't write at blizzard and puts you 1 step below the guy who fucking made him

i didnt say its my ideal wow. i said it was a dream i had. unless you are saying YOU control your dreams. in that case, tell me more because the rest of us cant.

[arkanon]

Mists of Pandaria was fairly immense.

So you have to go back to projects they worked on over a decade ago to find something you think was immense? Yeah, kinda my point.

[Yooginava182]

Revamping EK + Kalimdor would be a huge task, I would rather have them create new big zones instead. And having to go to the Caverns of time for the old zones would feel super cluncky.

Very much hoping for player housing tho.

The problem is, the world feels abandoned. There needs to be a huge overhaul to the old world and make it in a way that the world never becomes irrelevant. That way new players will come through and actually stay and old players might actually stick around. This was slightly fixed with Chromie time but it still doesn't make sense that the whole world is stagnate in CATA era. I wouldn't even mind if they did revamps to Outlands, Northrend, Pandaria to show how those places have moved on. This would allow each and every area you quest in feel like a new adventure in a world thats actually alive. Northrend could be dealing with the scourge being rampant, the Vrykuls finding their path again. And outland, what have the remaining corrupted orcs done? Possible opportunity to give the red orcs as an allied race, while still tainted by corruption they are no longer under legion influence. So many opportunities to build the future of wow with.

[Iain]

I doubt that there will be a total revamp of EK/Kalimdor. They may update a zone here and there for some specific purpose but a Cataclysm-style revamp seems very unlikely.

Nothing wrong with gradually building it up zone by zone. These zones have been on fire for twelve years now, it's okay if a few remain in that state a little longer. We basically already got ourselves an Arathi rehaul.

That said. Each zone should immediately become end-game worth. Including full fledged instance rehauls and world quests.

[Shadowferal]

So you have to go back to projects they worked on over a decade ago to find something you think was immense? Yeah, kinda my point.

I admit I'm less about a revamp and more about a WoW 2.0.

[arkanon]

I admit I'm less about a revamp and more about a WoW 2.0.

Yup, and im not saying they are not capable of doing it, we all know they are capable. But they have done nothing in over a decade that shows a desire or willingness to actually do it. I dont just mean in wow, i mean overall - HOTS flopped, SC2 has been abandoned long ago, although still "supported" to some extent and still played. Hearthstone is ticking over ok but is basically just a math sim so not a huge amount of actual dev time, just balancing etc. War3:refunded, D2 "upgrade", Diablo Immortal........the last 10+ years has been an endless stream of......MEH.......

Its not all terrible, and even DI has some good features, but they have consistently missed the mark by a LARGE margin, and i dont see that changing any time soon. Would love to be proven wrong though.

[Gaidax]

I admit I'm less about a revamp and more about a WoW 2.0.

Many people think about WoW2, the risks are real though. If it flops it may be truly the end of WoW.

[Zardas]

The problem is, the world feels abandoned. There needs to be a huge overhaul to the old world and make it in a way that the world never becomes irrelevant. That way new players will come through and actually stay and old players might actually stick around. This was slightly fixed with Chromie time but it still doesn't make sense that the whole world is stagnate in CATA era. I wouldn't even mind if they did revamps to Outlands, Northrend, Pandaria to show how those places have moved on. This would allow each and every area you quest in feel like a new adventure in a world thats actually alive. Northrend could be dealing with the scourge being rampant, the Vrykuls finding their path again. And outland, what have the remaining corrupted orcs done? Possible opportunity to give the red orcs as an allied race, while still tainted by corruption they are no longer under legion influence. So many opportunities to build the future of wow with.

Yes but, again, if they want to make a more liveable EK, Kalimdor, etc they need to make it additionnaly to the already existing experience. Some of us don't care about if the world feels abandonned or relevant, we just want to have access to as much content as possible.

[Luck4]

I admit I'm less about a revamp and more about a WoW 2.0.

One thing is for sure, at some point Blizzard will have to decide between World Revamp, Lore Reboot, or making a Sequel, otherwise, we'll keep venturing into places that make each time less sense until nobody else knows what this franchise is about.

- - - Updated - - -

Ah yes, King Gordok, the pillar of the franchise that everyone truly cared about.

Nice try. Now listen, I know that some people like this cosmic bs we got in Shadowlands, but it's not what made Warcraft popular. I mean, even in Legion when going in outer space made sense, Blizzard seemed afraid to make an expansion based on Argus and/or other planets, and now we know why, despite all the gameplay issues Shadowlands was also very despised for its theme, setting, and storyline, so while I agree that some people liked it, was not the majority.

It was so clear, that even amid the honeymoon phase of Shadowlands Wowhead posted this:
https://www.wowhead.com/news/united-...l-about-323640

[Hitei]

Nice try. Now listen, I know that some people like this cosmic bs we got in Shadowlands, but it's not what made Warcraft popular. I mean, even in Legion when going in outer space made sense, Blizzard seemed afraid to make an expansion based on Argus and/or other planets, and now we know why, despite all the gameplay issues Shadowlands was also very despised for its theme, setting, and storyline, so while I agree that some people liked it, was not the majority.

What do you mean "try?" You're the one who posted a bunch of Vanilla bosses that had less setup in Vanilla than the Jailer had in Shadowlands as some indication of what made the game great and why a revamp is necessary, while glossing right over the fact that BC, you know, the spaceship-laser-cosmic expansion about blood elves crashing an alien-goat ship and giant floating windchimes made of light convincing you to kill interdimensional demon armies and Illidan; that is significantly better rated in general polling and was more popular during its lifetime.

It was so clear, that even amid the honeymoon phase of Shadowlands Wowhead posted this:
https://www.wowhead.com/news/united-...l-about-323640

Wowee, a singular Diablo/Hearthstone writer on one of wowhead's secondary sites wrote an article with a headline. An article that I'm going to guess you didn't even read, since it sure isn't reiterating your "bring back the simple straightforward themes" narrative:

A naaru that crashed over the Barrens, and multiple factions hunting for its remains? Including the Burning Blade clan, the Shadow Council, Katrana Prestor, and a crazed Zandalari troll named Kazakus, who has been suspected to be an ancient dragon ever since the release of Mean Streets of Gadgetzan? Well, that definitely sounds like old-school Warcraft!

Stormwind is not what made the game popular. Being a casual, very polished, well-running and responsive MMO at the absolute height of the MMO market, derived from a popular RTS game popular for its mods is what made it great. People do not give a shit about "muh old Warcraft/Vanilla themes!". That is why Cata is still shit on to this day, but MoP, an expansion with an entirely unrelated aesthetic and theme, entirely new systems and design approaches, storylines, and setting--an expansion much closer to Shadowlands in design and storytelling than it is to Vanilla--is still widely considered one of the best points in the game's history, right up there with BC, the turbo-cosmic scifi expansion.

[Luck4]

What do you mean "try?" You're the one who posted a bunch of Vanilla bosses that had less setup in Vanilla than the Jailer had in Shadowlands as some indication of what made the game great and why a revamp is necessary, while glossing right over the fact that BC, you know, the spaceship-laser-cosmic expansion about blood elves crashing an alien-goat ship and giant floating windchimes made of light convincing you to kill interdimensional demon armies and Illidan; that is significantly better rated in general polling and was more popular during its lifetime.

Gordok is a dungeon boss bro, the 6-piece artwork I displayed was not ONLY about Dire Maul, it was about the overall setting of Vanilla, the foundation of World of Warcraft, yet I think Ogres, in general, represent Warcraft way better than anything from Shadowlands.

But talking about Outland, that place is literally the homeworld of the Orcs that was mentioned all the way back in Warcraft ONE, so comparing that to Shadowlands just because the place is now shattered is a big stretch, not to mention that most enemies we fought there were known enemies from Azeroth such as Naga, Blood Elves, the Burning Legion, Ogres, and ofc Orcs, hell even strongholds from the Second War can be found... and the Burning Crusade lore is so tied to Azeroth that we had Battle for Mount Hyjal and Karazhan as raids and it didn't feel forced or disconnected in any regard.

Stormwind is not what made the game popular. Being a casual, very polished, well-running and responsive MMO at the absolute height of the MMO market, derived from a popular RTS game popular for its mods is what made it great. People do not give a shit about "muh old Warcraft/Vanilla themes!". That is why Cata is still shit on to this day, but MoP, an expansion with an entirely unrelated aesthetic and theme, entirely new systems and design approaches, storylines, and setting--an expansion much closer to Shadowlands in design and storytelling than it is to Vanilla--is still widely considered one of the best points in the game's history, right up there with BC, the turbo-cosmic scifi expansion.

LMAO, BC is nowhere near Shadowlands, but if you fail to see why it's pointless to keep arguing with you, having some cosmic elements in a grounded setting is different from being fully cosmic. I don't even understand how you can compare Shadowlands to Mists of Pandaria (one of my favorite expansions btw), Pandaria has connections with Azeroth everywhere, and learning about all these connections felt really great afterward. Shadowlands fails even to deliver the afterlife experience since the whole place feels more like an alien planet, or alternate dimension than a proper Hell/Heaven. I mean, just having so much fauna everywhere alone already destroys the whole vibe of it.

Shadowlands is the first expansion that is fully cosmic with the other ones having cosmic elements being BC and half of Legion. But even if we count BC as a fully cosmic expansion which I disagree we get 2.5 expansions that were cosmic while the other 7.5 versions of the game were based on grounded fantasy settings, definitely WoW can be considered a Sci-fi Cosmic game.