You obviously have not read the WoW loading screen tip: "Bring your friends to Azeroth, but don't forget to go outside Azeroth with them as well." Does blizzard have to do everything for you? lolAs of late and growing more so each and every expansion I have found myself enjoying WoW less and less. Mind you, I was playing this game 24/7 when it first hit several years ago and wasn't even raiding(nor attempting to raid for that matter) but found endless enjoyment in socializing/making a name for myself and for my guild/faction. I'd seriously prowl the realm forums just to see what people were saying about the night before in Hillsbrad--it was FUN being so connected to others in an online community. It added life to what would otherwise be a mundane experience.
Now, even with all of these new and neat features I kind of feel like it's all dead. I don't get that same tingling of pride nor do I enjoy my connections and friendships as I once did. The lack of necessity in befriending people, building that network, and spreading local communities to the four winds has essentially killed the experience for me that once drew me so much to WoW. Even the tedious work of building groups(which made guilds and friends all the more important) added a great deal to the game that Blizzard doesn't seem too interested in acknowledging these days.
It doesn't help that with all the technical upgrades, I'm still not seeing an upgrade to what I feel is the most important detail--your own avatar and its customization. I don't like the painfully generic templates you get and I definitely don't like the fact that even the one or two choices you DO like look terrible to much of the world(and NPCs) around it. So even trying to approach Warcraft as a more solo-orientated title with less emphasis on community, the inability to really make the character you want is dampening future prospects at this time. This continues well into the combat department. Don't get me started on the new trees. They're a step in the right direction but still severely lack imagination.
However, all that aside, I still have that nostalgia from years ago. Even though I quit MoP shortly after hitting 90 I have lingering feelings towards the franchise. Is anyone else getting this way? Am I bizarre for thinking like this or am I legit? All I ever wanted was a strong and enjoyable community in my MMO experience. If I can't get that, is it so much to ask for more personal and endearing identification with our beloved characters through not only improved visual options but more customized game-play so that the growing solo aspect has more weight to it?
I feel more at home on the latest CoD game than I do WoW. What's up with that?