So, what didn't work this expansion?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

where is your source that people love pandaria? the setting and the lore are not keeping people interested in the game, subs keep dropping and if people found pandas compelling they wouldn't leave. besides, MoP has been nothing but pandering, an entire expansion built off of the lowest common denominator.

what hasn't worked is the class balancing. sure classes are generally closer together in competitiveness in pve, and certainly all specs are all a lot more viable than they were in previous expansions, but this has only served to add bloat to the game and neuter the different feel of classes.

Where's the proof it's the Pandaren? I didn't quit over the Asian theme, I loved it. I had quit because of the daily grind.

[Tyrannica]

There are tons of differences between how panda-people and all the other -people were presented and marketed. None of the previous squids, goats and cow people are so obviously based on some real culture, including all the stereotypes and cliches that come along with it (goofy animations and drunken behaviour feel so cheap, the dwarves are far better at playing resident drunks). None of them had a whole expansion dedicated to them, even though they played a far far bigger role in previous Warcraft games. And after all, Warcraft has always been a western themed medieval style fantasy game, suddenly changing the focus to far east so dramatically is bound to get a lot of people disappointed and upset.

i don't think its the far east theme, actually it can be refreshing and more horrible and have a higher PG factor than some wester themes thats not the problem at all.....i am down cause they did not implement chinese ghosts(that are very demonic and unlike wester ghosts), it could have made the theme really dark and entertaining. well if this panda land would be anything like the Chinese Ghost story movies i would enjoy it, but its disney pandas.

Where they failed is, they made panda land a disney cliché no adult want to play, i doubt wow is nowdays for kids so i do not remotely know, why they want to keep such a young audience, as this game is almost 10 years old no one is still 12. O.o a higher PG will fix some stuff. More matured story line, with clever plots instead of: hi, i am big and tall watch my armor and sword.... -.-

I mean do kids the story....metzen became a child book writer, i heard anyways? Look at the art of the wacraft2 and themes, no one would believe wow and wacraft are in the same game universe. the orcs look like barbaric ghengis khan grunts covered full with blood.

[serenka]

where is your source that people love pandaria? the setting and the lore are not keeping people interested in the game, subs keep dropping and if people found pandas compelling they wouldn't leave. besides, MoP has been nothing but pandering, an entire expansion built off of the lowest common denominator.

what hasn't worked is the class balancing. sure classes are generally closer together in competitiveness in pve, and certainly all specs are all a lot more viable than they were in previous expansions, but this has only served to add bloat to the game and neuter the different feel of classes.

well in the thread about what did work in Pandaria a lot of people are saying the lore was fantastic.

im a bit indifferent on it really, i lost interest in WoW lore after WOTLK. Catas lore and story were so bad and badly executed in game, i lost interest.

MoP has probably had the most lore of any expansion though, but i find it hard to enjoy villains i don't really know, ive known illidan and LK since WC3, but suddenly this sha pops out of nowhere, and i just couldn't get into the story.

but a lot of people are saying they do like it, i don't think story alone is enough to drive people away from WoW, it was that and a mix of changes made to the game recently, and a lot of it is burnout.


and i agree about the class balance, i like my alts to feel different, not the same class with different spell names. im not a big fan of this homogenization of the classes.

[Deleted]

Looking for a magic solution when age is probably the main factor in the game's decline. People get bored.

[Romis]

I've been playing WoW since 2005, and a LOT of people have as well. Maybe, just maybe, that's why more and more people quit. After soon to be 10 years, people get bored and move on. Such is life.

[Crypt]

dailies everywhere, i hate dailies. People become lazy when they get to access everything without any effort like in LFR or heroic dungeons, you do not feel rewarded when you get epics, they are like green items. Battlegrounds are boooooooring, they keep adding the same types of battlegrounds where you need to controll bases or pick a flag/orb. A game is suppose to be fun, but standing around in AB and just camping on different locations or capturing a flag is super boring. Come up something more fun then that. And also there are to many bgs.

[jakeic]

Where's the proof it's the Pandaren? I didn't quit over the Asian theme, I loved it. I had quit because of the daily grind.

if you found the theme and lore compelling enough you would continue to play to be immersed in them. this isn't proof positive that the lore is the cause, it is correlation. however, we can't definitively know for sure one way or the other whether the majority of players really enjoy pandaria or not, so the best we can do is look at the things we do know. first, pandaria is a radical shift away from more of the traditional warcraft lore, setting, and characters. second, we know that subs have been dropping recently. we can then assume that the different theme is not a compelling reason for players to keep playing.

you should read your sig.

- - - Updated - - -

Looking for a magic solution when age is probably the main factor in the game's decline. People get bored.

there are more gamers today than at any other point in history and the mmorpg market is as stagnate and lifeless as it has ever been.

[draykorinee]

where is your source that people love pandaria?

Im not taking the stance that pandaria is the fault here, the burden of proof isn't on me.

Its simply asinine to make the link between people leaving and people not finding the pandarean race or lore compelling especially without any evidence. If you read this thread the common denominator is certainly not lore/theme it is just one reason for some people. I will however concede that the this expansion is the only time the theme has actually been an issue.

[Deleted]

Biggest demoralising factor for me was the matchmaking tool content. The 5-mans, scenarios and LFR weren't engaging at all and were for a long time (in LFR's case still is) the only real way to gear up. It's gotten a lot better, but I'm still having to use these tools on a regular basis; especially if I want to pug raids on an alt.

I can get an alt to 490 in less than a week, then I'm stuck sitting on my ass.

This is the next problem. If I want to do anything fun on an alt, I have to pug Challenge Modes or Raids. All the other content is designed for the lowest common denominator to have no trouble clearing. I don't really get to learn or experience anything from my alts without setting up my own pug or trawling through LFR/Hc Scenarios enough to go join someone else's.

Would be nice if valor points were gone too. They've done a number on how people see the content.

I think a lot of it is just age, though. I wouldn't find my interests so restricted if I wasn't so tired of most of the content.

[Baine]

-affly revamp was a fail
-green fire quest is a huge letdown
-pandaland has nothing to do with wow. both the setting and lore have not much to connect to the wow universe
-raids are good awful boring, but that is a preference choice so don't take seriously
-85-90 questing is yet again a horrible grindfest
-pvp has never been more frustrating
-new talent tree is depressingly boring
-too much focus on pet balance, yet they again do not listen to the pvp playerbase since the beta

Poster is burned out and needs to get out of WoW for some time. :P

As for the thread topic, MoP is for me the best expansion. What I did not like however:
- Valor gear double gating: There is already a gating (the cost of the piece). There should not be additional one imo. I hated the decision to gate the 5.2 valor gear to raid reputation. It forced me to run LFR just for the sake of getting rep. That's a bad design. Even if I love to daily quests, I think it should not have been gated to faction reputation in 5.0. neither. If they really fear we would gear up to quickly, just increase the valor cost of those pieces.
-A minor nitpick: Horde and Alliance main hub should not have been so close of each other. They are at war and we hear they are living "peacefully" at close range in the Vale? They should have spreaded out the 2 cities in different zones.
-Alt unfriendly. The expansion has been a bit alt unfriendly. They added nice elements to promote alt play like faction commendations to increase reputation or account-wide mounts and pets or the 50% valor buff. The next step should be to put secondary professions (or some of them like fishing and first-aid) account-wide as well.

[reemi]

This is what I hate from MOP;
PVP gear too weak.
Too much dailies.
Too much rep farming to get rewards.
Playing alts = waste of time now.
Heroic dungeons are too useless now.
No good story.
Pandas. ( I played over 200 alts in my life, and never played a Pada yet and I will never I think)
Chine building and colored graphic. (Theme of MoP)
Pet Battles.
Too much servers are dying.
Tired of restarting to work on my alts every expansion.
Talents are boring.
Feel like Glyph are only there because of inscription.
And finally, the Cash Shop.

[Lime]

where is your source that people love pandaria?

I don't really have one. But then again, I'm not the one stating it as fact so I don't need one.

subs keep dropping and if people found pandas compelling they wouldn't leave.

A lot of people did leave, you're right.

But even more stayed (7.7 million).

There you go. I just debunked that terrible excuse of an argument.

[Romanesca]

I'm not sure what it is about MoP that doesn't feel right, but that feeling is there. It's like a tiny splinter in the side of your otherwise functioning hand that you keep checking but cannot find.

I am really starting to think that the theme of the expansion might be to blame. There is some beautiful scenery and landscapes in Pandaria, but for some reason, the feel of the continent and Pandaren themselves don't seem to fit in with the rest of the game. I know I am not alone with this feeling as I have read similar comments before.

Also, not having a main protagonist was a mistake; focusing on the Horde vs Alliance conflict was silly because we both work together at the end anyway. It's like the whole escalation in tensions between the factions was pointless.

100% agree. once they announced pandas were going to be the main theme and how "it's what everyone has been asking for" I was just like...what? meh. No thanks. Wrath and Cata both grabbed my attention. MoP did not.

[Ateista]

This is what I hate from MOP;
PVP gear too weak.
Too much dailies.
Too much rep farming to get rewards.
Playing alts = waste of time now.
Heroic dungeons are too useless now.
No good story.
Pandas.
Chine building and colored graphic. (Theme of MoP)
Pet Battles.
Too much servers are dying.
Tired of restarting to work on my alts every expansion.
Talents are boring.
Feel like Glyph are only there because of inscription.
And finally, the Cash Shop.

1. pvp gear should never be stronger than pve gear, your point is moot.
2. you don't have to do dailies.
3. you don't have to rep farm to get rewards, so i have zero idea what you're talking about.
4. i agree with alts, this expansion is not alt friendly... at all.
5. they drop blues, so who gives a crap. i'd rather them be easy, than to get stuck with some group who can't decipher their ass from a hole in the wall.
6. you and i have 2 different view points on story apparently....
7. pandas are not a good excuse to quit
8. another great reason to quit. /sacrasm
9. not our problem you can't look at the server list and pick a high pop
10. no one is forcing you to do pet battles, so again, a moot point on why to quit, or to say they went bad with mop....
11. you have to restart work on every character, every expansion, so again, what?
12. so, i suppose googling the old talents were not just as you so put it "boring". at least now they add variety.
13. many of the glyphs do something for your character. some aesthetic, some for pvp, while some for pve. i really do not get you. at all. other than that really?
14. cash shop? buaahahahahahaha. another thing that is not forced on you to use. and for those of you quitting because of it, good riddance, this community will do much better without you.


as i stated in line 14, if you're quitting for any of these asinine issues, (cept for maybe alts, i can understand the game gets rather boring on your main, so switching to alts makes it a bit more interesting) then good riddance, this community does not want, nor need you.

*edit: a word

[Osmeric]

Also, not having a main protagonist was a mistake; focusing on the Horde vs Alliance conflict was silly because we both work together at the end anyway. It's like the whole escalation in tensions between the factions was pointless.

The whole war thing is problematic anyway. Where are the armies? Where are the big battles? None of that is in the game, or realistically can be in the game. The engine does not support it. It's handled best if it's all kept off stage, where our imaginations can fill in the details that the game cannot.

All the focus on the world, and on war, does is emphasize how much like Disneyland the whole environment is.

[Tazila]

The whole war thing is problematic anyway. Where are the armies? Where are the big battles? None of that is in the game, or realistically can be in the game. The engine does not support it. It's handled best if it's all kept off stage, where our imaginations can fill in the details that the game cannot.

All the focus on the world, and on war, does is emphasize how much like Disneyland the whole environment is.

I think the first time I really was turned off of the "theme" of the expac was at the white tiger temple when it was making me fight like my inner feels or something and was like, GASP, THIS IS THE PERSON YOU TRULY HATE, and it shows me Varian and I'm just like... Well I don't really hate him... I don't even really care about the alliance.

I've been mostly a raider, minus quests that tell me to do what ever against the alliance, I can't really say I've ever gained a dislike for the opposite faction since I started playing. The game though, wants me to dislike alliance solely to further the story, and you can't just make someone like the story just because it tells you too.

[serenka]

The whole war thing is problematic anyway. Where are the armies? Where are the big battles? None of that is in the game, or realistically can be in the game. The engine does not support it. It's handled best if it's all kept off stage, where our imaginations can fill in the details that the game cannot.

All the focus on the world, and on war, does is emphasize how much like Disneyland the whole environment is.

which is why i think WoW needs a break, and a new warcraft RTS is needed to build some lore :P it's a lot easier to tell a story and build one up in a single player game. and warcraft 3 did it very well, and i really want a warcraft 4 to continue the story.

i can dream :P

[melodramocracy]

then good riddance, this community does not want, nor need you.

Thankfully, you aren't the sole arbiter of what the community wants or needs. Some people feel that certain game elements don't work to their liking. The fact that you disagree with them doesn't make their complaints invalid.

[Mandible]

Can only speak for myself in this regard obviously, but it seems like they know less and less what they actually want with the game.

- Thematically it might have been off compared to how other expansions were treated. Not that there is anything wrong with using pandarians, but looking at it it is like turning a sharp corner after having known the course so far. But I guess its down to how it was told. And thats not going into most people (of the ones writing comments) didn´t seem to get the point with the theme.
- Switching to "hard". Was a mistake considering people had just gotten used to how it was in both wotlk and cataclysm - having to use a portal to a place to get your shoulder/head enchant was imo fine, but having to fly a ton to do a bunch of dailies gets boring after the first character. Especially when its boring enough after the second character to 90. I´m not against certain things being harder, but then they shouldn´t have started making everything available to all people and actually stuck to having a story in the game - instead of now where they just cut things off, or tell it in the books making a huge mess of things.
- Leading to the instances not being all that fun. Might be the experience with what I got in randoms, but it was similar to getting Vortex Pinacle over and over again - but even worse, and this time its a lot more instances. Also I really don´t like the way scenarios are set up, so you don´t need specific roles - weee ... quests in instance form, such a diversion from what was done before.
- Refusing to deal with "dying" servers. Fx. the server I am on atm have had horde leaking to alliance side due to the massive difference making it impossible (so to speak) to do anything. Wouldn´t mind if it was a pve server, but pvp servers just get ruined when people can hardly quest due to being killed every 5 seconds, and its not an option to tell people to pay up to move off when allready paying a fee to be able to play the game. Now I´m still not expecting wonders from the 5.4 band-aid, but lets see.

To sum up - I like the overall story of mop, but its all those little things overshadowing it. So really wish they thought things further than the tip of their nose.

[Shadee]

I would say the game just doesn't feel like wow anymore. Mope was just too childish and fisher price.