WoW could still return to greatness

[ShimmerSwirl]

I have been playing a lot of Wildstar beta recently, and the more I play it the more I appreciate how good of a game WoW is. That is not to say Wildstar is a bad game, its more just saying how well-crafted WoW is.

WoW's secret formula for success has proven very hard to recreate. Its more than just having lots of content or a new feature, its that 'it' factor that is the hardest thing to get right. WoW just felt right; the animations, the controls, the lighting, the way the world was rendered, the visual and auditory feedback from both mobs and the UI, the art style; all of these things mesh together in a very cohesive way to form a gameplay experience that feels smart, engaging and intuitive. Its damn near impossible to get that right and Blizzard absolutely nailed it. This to me is WoWs greatest asset, its the single biggest edge it has over all its competitors who have never been able to create that same level of engagement, no matter how hard they try.

The rarity of that asset makes it extremely valuable. Despite WoW's age, I firmly believe it could turn its fortunes around and grow once again into a 10+ million sub game with the right tweaks. The foundation is there: the technical brilliance of the world environment and gameplay. That's the hardest part to get right and WoW already has it. Its just building on that to bring the world back to life.

To me what WoW needs is that sense of mystique and wonder in the world. A sense of danger lurking around the corner. Whispers of the ancient forces of good and evil that form the deep and rich lore of Azeroth, but these whispers and forces need to be felt throughout the world, not just told in dialogue or in raids. Suck us into the World of Warcraft, let us feel all the dangers, the ancient histories of horrifying beasts of evil, and the valiant warriors who fought them. Make the world a place where the narrative of this ancient, ongoing battle is told. Make us do more than just play a video game, instead make us witnesses to the grand history of this very real and dangerous world we're in.

My ideas for how to bring back that authenticity to the world:

• Have more hard hitting elite creatures throughout the world. That sense of danger needs to be present.
• Have group quests be more challenging. A group quest for (3) should not be soloable.
• Make classes unique again. Unique buffs and abilities do so much to make the world feel diverse and real.
• Make questing more difficult, requiring some thought and engagement to conquer your foes....
• Hogger. Why do people know this little NPC from Elwynn Forest? Because Hogger was a memorable part of the WoW experience, memorable because he kicked peoples asses. Now Hogger is just another mob and new players wonder what is so special about him. Hogger is a microcosm of WoW: the thrill of overcoming a challenge is much more memorable than the monotony of button spam questing.

The hot button topic is of course LFD/LFR tools, and i'm sure no one will be surprised to hear that I am against them. But let me explain why. To me, when LFR was introduced, it was Blizzard essentially saying "Philosophically, we are now prioritizing convenience over the integrity of our created world." When they decided to make 'multiple versions' of the same raid bosses (LFR, Normal etc), the power and authenticity of those bosses goes out the window. How can I get immersed in the dark, gripping lore of the world, following the story of powerful evil forces and then finally seeing this evil face to face, only to be able to defeat this mighty power with a ragtag group of LFR misfits? And then furthermore he's not even really dead! I fight him again later, this time with a few more hit points.

I know people will probably say "No one cares about lore, get over it," or "Everything respawns anyway, the same boss appearing in LFR and Heroic is no different." To me its all about keeping the authenticity of the world intact. When you start to stray down the path of designing things out of convenience or accessibility, the game has lost its most core, fundamental attribute: Its World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft is not defined by LFR or valor points or CRZ, World of Warcraft is defined by the story of the world we play in. If a game was only about content and not story, we would all be perfectly happy playing checkers and pong forever. What made WoW so gripping was its sense of grandeur; being able to tap into the history of the place, even if it was in subtle ways. When the integrity of the Warcraft story is compromised in the name of 'accessibility', we have lost the very thing that drew us into the game in the first place.

TLDR: The focus needs to return to recreating and maintain the integrity of the world, not designing things out of accessibility and convenience.

[Guyviroth]

There is one thing you missed out; the most important thing of all: Time.

WoW has been going on for 10 years now. And so has its formula, combat, and so on. They have added things like LFD, LFR, Transmog, 25 and 10 man raids, and so forth... but at the core of it all, it's still always been a hotkey MMO with an emphasis on questing and raiding.

It's like if ever weekend I ate pizza, and nothing but pizza, for 10 years. But I keep changing and adding more things over the years; I put ham on it; I put pepperoni on it; I add some green peppers and pineapples; hell, I even change the tomato sauce for peppercorn sauce (yes, I have done that. It tastes really good), but at the end of the day it's still a pizza.

People leave because the game is, in their opinion, stale. And that's okay for them to think that.

[jadedfuture]

Why would Blizzard want to do this when they could still beat on the dead horse that is "we need to appeal to everyone" mindset and keep everyone paying- from "casuals" to "hardcore" and everything in between?

WoW is not a niche game anymore. It's an everyone game.

[ShimmerSwirl]

There is one thing you missed out; the most important thing of all: Time.

WoW has been going on for 10 years now. And so has its formula, combat, and so on. They have added things like LFD, LFR, Transmog, 25 and 10 man raids, and so forth... but at the core of it all, it's still always been a hotkey MMO with an emphasis on questing and raiding.

It's like if ever weekend I ate pizza, and nothing but pizza, for 10 years. But I keep changing and adding more things over the years; I put ham on it; I put pepperoni on it; I add some green peppers and pineapples; hell, I even change the tomato sauce for peppercorn sauce (yes, I have done that. It tastes really good), but at the end of the day it's still a pizza.

People leave because the game is, in their opinion, stale. And that's okay for them to think that.

Agreed. But the problem is that new players are not replacing them like they used to. And I attribute that to the fact that the open world experience is not as gripping as it used to be. Society hasn't changed that much since WoW's heyday in 2008 to now. People still want a good story to get into.

- - - Updated - - -

Why would Blizzard want to do this when they could still beat on the dead horse that is "we need to appeal to everyone" mindset and keep everyone paying- from "casuals" to "hardcore" and everything in between?

WoW is not a niche game anymore. It's an everyone game.

But thats my point. A deep, authentic feeling world does appeal to everyone. Who does a tame watered down world appeal to?

[Guyviroth]

Agreed. But the problem is that new players are not replacing them like they used to. And I attribute that to the fact that the open world experience is not as gripping as it used to be. Society hasn't changed that much since WoW's heyday in 2008 to now. People still want a good story to get into.

The world is not gripping because of the "worlds" the game has been set in in the last couple expansions. Cataclysm was the old world, but end game was disjointed by placing the leveling zones throughout Azeroth. Pandaria was... Pandaria. Some people liked it, and some people hated it. Personally I liked it, despite everything being green.

I believe Warlords will change that. Will probably end up getting the subs back over 10 mil.

[Deleted]

The world is not gripping because of the "worlds" the game has been set in in the last couple expansions. Cataclysm was the old world, but end game was disjointed by placing the leveling zones throughout Azeroth. Pandaria was... Pandaria. Some people liked it, and some people hated it. Personally I liked it, despite everything being green.

I believe Warlords will change that. Will probably end up getting the subs back over 10 mil.

rofl keep dreaming

[Guyviroth]

rofl keep dreaming

Which is why I said "Probably". Doesn't mean squat to me if they hit that mark, or even if they drop below the current sub base; it doesn't affect my play experience in the slightest... except maybe if people start spamming trade chat with "WoW is dead" stuff.

[Deleted]

rofl keep dreaming

Very constructive argument you have going there, well thought.

Try come up with something of your own instead of being a snide douchebag.

[Deleted]

The goal of this thread is to convice players not to play Wildstar.

The fear is real.

And you're clearly delusional judging by your signature.

[Deleted]

Very constructive argument you have going there, well thought.

Try come up with something of your own instead of being a snide douchebag.

never claimed to have an argument, just laughing at the fact that someone thinks WoD will get subscribers over 10m. its funny.

like you calling me a douchebag is also funny, calm down nerd no need to threat

[Guyviroth]

The goal of this thread is to convice players not to play Wildstar.

The fear is real.

Having played the 10 day beta for Wildstar... It's nothing special. Just like SWTOR when that game out, and GW2 after that.

[Deleted]

It's all about time. WoW has been evolving for 10 years ... I'm not just talking about player base being attached to the game, but everything of core game was polished over the years. I myself will try Wildstar since I'm a sci-fi nerd, but WoW will always stay my main game.

Blizzard could be developing some core feature for years before they finally make it appear in game, while other games, don't have the time, resources to make it as polished as they are in WoW.

[Deleted]

never claimed to have an argument, just laughing at the fact that someone thinks WoD will get subscribers over 10m. its funny.

like you calling me a douchebag is also funny, calm down nerd no need to threat

This is a discussion-forum, and "rofl keep dreaming" isnt adding anything except being rude and condescending to the guy you quoted.

Also calling people nerds on a MMORPG-forum, thanks for the laugh. Its obvious you only went into this thread to troll people.

Infracted.

[Deleted]

This is a discussion-forum, and "rofl keep dreaming" isnt adding anything except being rude and condescending to the guy you quoted.

Also calling people nerds on a MMORPG-forum, thanks for the laugh. Its obvious you only went into this thread to troll people

and yet you only came in here to call me a douchebag, some good constructive discussion you brought to this thread bravo to you.

[Deleted]

The goal of this thread is to convice players not to play Wildstar.
The fear is real.

Not sure - do you mean as real as when SWTOR was released? Or more like when Rift hit the market? :>

[Deleted]

Yes kemosabe, someone has to call out when idiocy being spread, now you're just butthurt someone did.

I dont feel like the game has lost any "greatness" other than its a very old game, and still going strong despite time.

and yet you only came in here to call me a douchebag, some good constructive discussion you brought to this thread bravo to you.

[Louis CK]

WoW still is greatness.

[Deleted]

Yes kemosabe, someone has to call out when idiocy being spread, now you're just butthurt someone did.

I dont feel like the game has lost any "greatness" other than its a very old game, and still going strong despite time.

how is it idiocy? because you disagree? if anything claiming that WoD will probably reach 10m subscribers is idiocy.

you came here spreading abuse because i found it funny that someone said WoD will probably reach 10m subscribers, which it won't. you should think before posting in the future.

[Deleted]

Explaining idiocy to an idiot is pointless, they'll never understand their faults.

I called you out for being a condescending douchebag, and you're obviously ashamed or else you wouldnt have reacted like this.

Stop going off-topic and let the thread carry on now.

how is it idiocy? because you disagree? if anything claiming that WoD will probably reach 10m subscribers is idiocy.

you came here spreading abuse because i found it funny that someone said WoD will probably reach 10m subscribers, which it won't. you should think before posting in the future.

[ACES]

WoW is still great, it doesn't need to return anywhere.