Now that MoP is over, how would you rank it against other expansions?

[inkberry]

Funny how PVPers always seem be to be complaining no matter what, and usually because they're getting their asses handed to them ^^

We complain because if they're going to even attempt to balance pvp they should at least try to do it right instead of half-assing it.

their solution to balance pvp: let's give this class more damage and this spec more cc; therefore balanced. it's the only reason why we have so many viable specs/classes. they're viable through stupid gimmicks instead of legitimate, fun mechanics.

I enjoyed the pve content of MoP, but pve isn't enough to keep me playing an MMO. Which is why I don't play mmos anymore. the pvp is bad in all of them because they're made for casual players.

[miffy23]

We complain because if they're going to even attempt to balance pvp they should at least try to do it right instead of half-assing it.

their solution to balance pvp: let's give this class more damage and this spec more cc; therefore balanced. it's the only reason why we have so many viable specs/classes. they're viable through stupid gimmicks instead of legitimate, fun mechanics.

I enjoyed the pve content of MoP, but pve isn't enough to keep me playing an MMO. Which is why I don't play mmos anymore. the pvp is bad in all of them because they're made for casual players.

I would say it's rather the opposite, high end PVP in WoW is tailored exclusively to the hardcore. GW2 for example tries to tailor to a broader audience with their PVP.
But yes, if you want fair and balanced player versus player gaming, MMOs/RPGs are never a good adress, which is why I always stayed out of PVP in MMOs.

If you want real competition, play a shooter. Nothing imba there but your aim/teamplay.

[Deleted]

We complain because if they're going to even attempt to balance pvp they should at least try to do it right instead of half-assing it.

their solution to balance pvp: let's give this class more damage and this spec more cc; therefore balanced. it's the only reason why we have so many viable specs/classes. they're viable through stupid gimmicks instead of legitimate, fun mechanics.

I enjoyed the pve content of MoP, but pve isn't enough to keep me playing an MMO. Which is why I don't play mmos anymore. the pvp is bad in all of them because they're made for casual players.

So CC and damage isn't legitimate?
Fun is subjective so sure. But the game is what it is.

Remember that changes done to the classes affect both PVE and PVP. With that in mind and the fact that this is the only expansion where PVE gear will not affect PVP negatively, this is the one if not the best expansion/seasons we'll get and the future looks bright.

Regarding PVE:
As someone who's been raiding (HC and semi-HC) since classic WoW, the setting/lore/theme of this expansion is what made me quit raiding after almost 8 years of raiding.

[Thyranne]

If it wasn't alt unfriendly I'd give it a 9/10 (nothing will ever reach 10/10 for me).

But still this is my favorite expansion.

[inkberry]

I would say it's rather the opposite, high end PVP in WoW is tailored exclusively to the hardcore. GW2 for example tries to tailor to a broader audience with their PVP.
But yes, if you want fair and balanced player versus player gaming, MMOs/RPGs are never a good adress, which is why I always stayed out of PVP in MMOs.

If you want real competition, play a shooter. Nothing imba there but your aim/teamplay.

It's not tailored to the hardcore. The hardcore pvpers are always the least satisfied because they feel the changes more than anyone. I used to be a hardcore pvper and I hated having to change what I was doing after every patch simply to stay competitive with the best (like pretty much all hardcore pvp AND pvers do =/ )

Shooters are for kids though, I like thinking and actual strategy. SC2 all the way breh.

So CC and damage isn't legitimate?
Fun is subjective so sure. But the game is what it is.

It's not legitimate when it's just added as a way to make something viable without the thought of how it affects everything else. if you call that "balancing" then sure, go ahead.
Enhancement shamans are a perfect example. They weren't viable until they got that single target buff (that they didn't need or ask for) then they became viable because of their damage which shouldn't be a thing.

[dashflash890]

PVP in WoW since Cata has always been CC spam a target and try to burst them down before they can even react.

[Kiea]

Wrath > MoP=Cata

Cata was a good expansion up till Dragon Soul which lasted 10 months, but before that the game was really enjoyable and I had a great time during it, MoP is good, but the amount of grinding between dailies, 300 food and coins I will rank it not as good, if Siege of Orgrimmar lasts another 8 months then I will probably rank Cata above MoP.

[Sildor]

If I rank mine a bit split over different areas (and I know classic isn't an expansion, but it counts as an era of WoW):

World/Immersion:
Classic > Wrath > MoP > TBC > Cata

PvE:
MoP > TBC > Wrath > Cata > Classic

Content/stuff to do:
Wrath > MoP > Cata > TBC > Classic

[worsthitmanNa]

PVP in WoW since Cata has always been CC spam a target and try to burst them down before they can even react.

Wotlk started the "burst wins game" and the cc spam fest was bc. Every class had a random stun and they could grab whatever cc they wanted from any part of the their talent tree. There were even weapons with a random chances to stun or talents that gave you a random chance to resist cc.

[purebalance]

MoP > WotLK > TBC > Cata > Vanilla

I had the most fun in TBC and WotLK, but MoP is an improvement to the game in every way thinkable. I think Blizzard did a fantastic job with this expansion. The lore and PvE in particular.

(For those of you saying MoP isn't over yet, 5.5 will pretty much belong to 6.0 since it's an introduction patch to the next expansion. Proof? It hasn't been announced yet and won't be until Blizzcon.)

There was a blue post saying a potential 5.5 lore patch to tie up the rest of everything, but they also claimed said patch would set in place the new warchief. Now that could just mean putting said person in the chair or they changed their minds to make it in stone at the end of Garrosh.

- - - Updated - - -

If I rank mine a bit split over different areas (and I know classic isn't an expansion, but it counts as an era of WoW):

World/Immersion:
Classic > Wrath > MoP > TBC > Cata

PvE:
MoP > TBC > Wrath > Cata > Classic

Content/stuff to do:
Wrath > MoP > Cata > TBC > Classic

I'd have to disagree with your breakdown which I mean we're both entitled to have an opinion.

The world immersion is very subjective, but I think Cata deserves some credit there with the whole old world revamp.

Honestly not sure about your "PVE" area since that means anything that isn't PVP. If by raids.... BC and WotLK had at least 2 raids that beat every MoP raid hands down.

The stuff to do having vanilla dead last? I mean there's still vanilla content people have yet to complete. There was just a ridiculous degree of things to do back then because many people hit 60 before hitting EPL, Silithus, etc. Granted some of the content was added in patches, but if you ran out of things to do in Vanilla you were playing non stop and we're talking purely PVE side no pvp involved.

[iggie]

I find the blind Vanilla hate very amusing. As if there wasn't a ton to do in Vanilla, and even then getting to 60 took a LONG time.

PvE:
MoP > TBC > Wrath > Cata > Classic

Don't know if serious or trolling.

PVE
TBC > Wrath = Vanilla > MoP > Cata

[Haywire5714]

If by raids.... BC and WotLK had at least 2 raids that beat every MoP raid hands down.

BC and Wotlk also had 1 or 2 raids that were worse than or just as bad as Dragon Soul.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I liked MoP a lot, it gave the nostalgia feeling of old WoW of when we would explore old Azeroth and discover new and interesting things. It wowed me every time I did go to a new zone or visit a new instance.

My primary dislikes were the talent changes and the missing sense of peril. First of all, one of the things I really appreciated about WoW was the ability to mix and match talents from different trees, you could create your own build in a way. When the talent changes occured, they took all of that uniqueness away. Now everyone in WoW has the exact same talents as the other guy with the same spec. There's no longer a sense that players are unique in their abilities.

As for the aforementioned sense of peril, MoP declined towards the end of the expand. In the begging, you had a real sense.of danger, because of the Horde vs Alliance war. But when the focus shifted from the war to the Sha, it felt more like a good vs evil tale than an a story of two sides competing for a continent. When 5.4 happened, there wasn't enough sense of darkness or war built up to it, so SoOs dark plot felt like an awkward shift.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Don't know if serious or trolling.

This just in, having a different opinion=trolling.

[Avallon]

Wrath >> TBC>>>>>>>CATA>Vanilla

Vanilla only goes last because its judged on its current game standards, it simply lacked many great features later added.

I dont put MoP in there as to me, its not WoW. If I had to put it in then, ignoring the discontinuity of mop in wow...

Wrath >> TBC>>>>>>MOP>CATA>Vanilla

Damn, guess you're the authority on what WoW is huh?

World of Warcraft has broken ground in the traditional fantasy lore, by adding steam-punk elements (gnome tech, goblin tech, trams, motorcycles, etc), having orcs (traditionally villains in the fantasy genre) be an honor-bound race, introducing space aliens and high tech crystal powered space-ships and distance planets.

Who are you to say that MoP is "not WoW"? what defines "WoW" really? because as far as Blizzard is concerned, MoP is tethered to the precedent laid out by Pandaren in WC3, and visits a continent that was referenced over ten years ago in WC3.

Space-goat aliens, spaceships, steampunk, distant planets - all gravy, but introduce a bit of asian influenced culture founded on the pillars of lore laid out in Warcraft 3, and suddenly its "not WoW"? Sounds a bit selectively Xenophobic to me.

Feel free to have an opinion, but don't feel free to define what WoW is.

[ringpriest]

As someone who started late in vanilla, and who hasn't raided much in MoP, I'd rate things as: Vanilla>BC>MoP=Wrath>>>>>>>Cata

MoP and Wrath are very different expansions, and while MoP did a lot I did not like, for the first time since Wrath launched, it seems to me that parts of the game are actually improving.

Cata remains a steaming pile of wretchedness that nearly killed Blizzard's golden goose. I suspect that MoP is going to unfairly take the blame for what are likely many subscribers who actually gave up on the game during Cataclysm, but were strung along by Blizzard's various subscription-padding mechanisms until after MoP launched. (Then again, maybe it's not completely unfair. Cataclysm wrecked the game for me, but it took MoP's miserable talent-tree changes to actually get me to quit. And MoP did have the worst expansion launch ever.)

Will this be enough to get the "the last expansion always seems better" crowd to admit that they were wrong and that Cata was and still is truly seen as a giant load of quillboar excrement by the vast majority of current and former players?

[scarson]

TBC >>>>>>>> VANILLA > WOTLK >>>>>>>>>>>>>> CATA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MOP OMG CANT STAND IT

MOP is by far the poorest in terms of zones, lore, dungeons.

[mistahwilshire]

MoP >> Vanilla >> TBC > Cata >>>>>>>>>> Wrath

[Topcraft]

TBC >>>>>>>> VANILLA > WOTLK >>>>>>>>>>>>>> CATA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MOP OMG CANT STAND IT

MOP is by far the poorest in terms of zones, lore, dungeons.

How much of MoP did you really play though? Because it is so intensely packed with lore, you can't get around it. The whole MoP story was one big coherent story that tied up a lot of loose ends and was played out rather magnificently. And no, it's not 'all about pandaren'.
But maybe it comes down to 'I don't like Asian stuff' again.

For me it's MOP - WOTLK - BC - (Vanilla -) Cat. I sure enjoyed a large part of Cata, but I just have better memories from the others Call it nostalgia.

[dodonpachi]

Mists of Pandaria has been excellent and Blizzard should be commended for the job done on it, but I think part of it's shine is due to just how awful the previous expansion was.

So true. Mists was a return to form after cata. I would have put it up on the same level as bc and wotlk if it didn't have the whole daily / badge gear locked behind rep grind fiasco.