Since the end of LK content, five million people turned the game off, uninstalled it and didn't come back. Half the player base, or nearly so. So, yeah. Blizzard can't seem do to anything except drive off more and more of their players. It's like they're trying to kill their own game.
I don't have the energy, time, desire, any of those things, to start over in a new game. I put a lot of time and effort into my WoW character. During the times I wasn't subscribed (which was mostly just most of MoP, I played from September to a month or so ago then quit again) I didn't play other games and I don't think I will ever try another MMO.
Perhaps, but I can see the merit in letting people recruit their friends without having the "oh, you have to level through all this old stuff first" disclaimer.
I actually did have a friend that quit around level 20 because he couldn't play with the rest of us until he hit 90.
You can still explore on ground mounts. Just saying. It's actually quite fun with added dangers and travelling.
You speak as if flying is the ONLY way to explore. And I call bullshit on that.
As he said in the interview the people who like or dislike flying is about 50:50. It seems to be that way on the forums and everywhere else I look as well. If they did not allow flying at all, I think yeah, they would probably start losing subs. Personally, after running around on my ground mount until max level and viewing all of the eye candy, I am ready for my flying mount. If I reach the end of content, which normally does not take long, I will probably unsubscribe until they become available.
Well, he could have played with his max-level friends, but apparently they couldn't/wouldn't go play with him while he leveled? Or make an alt to level with him?
But yeah, giving away free max level characters 'is' a sign of desperation. Meanwhile, selling high level characters is just plain and simple greed for them dollars.
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Flying 'is' the only way to explore the game world.
I never cared for doing a lot of exploration on a ground mount, and now that I've seen how much more fun it is for me on a flying mount, I can't go back. Fun is a subjective thing. For me I've only ever really enjoyed exploration with flying. Maaaaaaaybe if we had never gotten flying in the first place it would be at least tolerable, because I did put up with it for a year or so of vanilla WoW - but we did and no amount of wishing by Blizzard or any player will undo that fact.
Posted this on the wow forums in the "no flying topic", sharing it with u guys too. It's honestly how I feel about the game. Some of u might not agree, but it is what it is:
"I rarely post on these forums simply because the censorship has become gross. Just like Blizzard's approach to this game in the last 4-5 years.
Your lack of originality and creative game design is why there's even a debate on the topic of "flying". And what's even worse is that, as usual, instead of listening to the majority, you tend to cater to the minority that always complain about the most ludicrous things in this game. In this case the minority that for some reason hates flying. Why must u always do this?
I don't know how constructive I can be when describing the following, but I will do my best. I am not trying to insult anyone, but I am simply mind boggled at your recent decisions concerning World of Warcraft, a game that I've been spending hundreds of days playing. So excuse me for being a little direct, but as someone who's spent his precious time on your product, I do feel entitled to share my views and concerns, and You as a developer which is getting paid, by players, like myself should put aside your arrogance and listen.
1) The Blizzcon announcement of WoD has been the least exciting out of all the expansions so far, simply because it isn't. This has proven again that your "in house" ideas don't match the desires of your player base, AT ALL. Yes, it does sound cool to meet some of WoW's historic figures, but the context in which we are going to do it, is bland.
2) Besides Garrisons, what is this new "content" for which you are increasing the expansion price? You're asking full price for an EXPANSION. New Character models were a necessity that the game needed and the fact that you're trying to sell it off as "new content" is simply insulting. Plus, players won't even need to buy the expansion, the new models will be available by default.
3) No new race, no new class and a revamped Outlands which we will get to by journeying back in time to a parallel "time line". Is this still World of Warcraft, or a "Through the Warmhole" episode? Once upon a time we were loving this game cause we got to kill undead and demons, now we fight kung fu pandas and are traveling to new dimensions. We sure have come a long way! Both of these THEMES were not THEMES desired by the majority of the PLAYER BASE. I put that in caps to make sure that u can read it properly.
4) It seems to us that, despite all of your explanations and excuses in regards to "resources", you do spend a big part of it on content available for MONEY. I have bough most of Blizzard's Deluxe editions. I am fortunate not to be struggling for money, and $10 extra is nothing for me, but the principle itself is what leaves a sour taste in my mouth. How are you going to increase the price yet sell less content? I can't help but feel insulted, it feels like you consider us all a big heap of idiots that will spend money on anything that has a Blizzard tag on it. We're not idiots, we're people that have been supporting your games for the past 2 decades. Somewhere along it feels like u guys have lost respect for that.
How many people do you think will spend $70 on a deluxe pre-order of an expansion which might not include flying at all. The "extra content" in the deluxe is not even "new content". A flying "Raven Lord" really? You put the Iron Skyreaver in the shop for $25, which should have been the DELUXE MOUNT considering the theme of the expansion, and you're pushing this bird down our throats which has been in the game since TBC as a ground mount? Have you no decency for us left? It's hard to keep calm considering the hypocrisy of all this. I am truly sorry, but this has gone too far. As a player, I feel that my intelligence is being insulted by a company which I have supported since the days of Warcraft.
I am sorry if my post hasn't been "constructive" enough, but I don't think that censoring people's thoughts is the way to go. You guys have been making poor decisions about the direction of WoW since the release of Cataclysm.
Cordially,
Electharyen of Blackrock."
I think it's a good idea to have no flying at first because that's when the content is new and fresh and having to explore is great at that point. However, a year on and people will have more or less seen everything there is to see at which point no flying will just be a pain in the ass - it's not necessarily fun to keep "exploring" the same area you've "explored" 300 times before.
I do have to admit I'm finding the idea of this xpac rather bland. I love the sound of the balance tuning changes coming but in terms of new content can't say I'm that impressed. It's nice we're going to see stuff that is more wholesome than kung-fu pandas but the story and lore needs to move forward whereas for the last xpac and this one it just seems to be moving sideways. Ultimately, Warcraft lore is about Azeroth vs. Burning Legion. It's been several xpacs since BC, let's get back to that plot arc already.
Last edited by Aqueous; 2014-03-13 at 06:27 PM.
Here are my thoughts on the subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ43xo8FSMg
Don't see the issue at all, considering nearly ALL of the content in the game is done in instances anyway. If you are so upset, you must not be actually doing anything at level 90!
WoW Moderator and Staff Editor at Stratics-WoW!http://wow.stratics.com/ - A World of Warcraft Fansite dedicated to lively opinions on the important topics within the game.
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I said no such thing.
I said that he is more hardcore than the average playerbase and that I can't consider someone that cares (or is passionate) enough about a single game to make 3300 posts about it and dedicates one of his 6 monitors to the website alone at work casual. That sir, is not casual. It's not normal either.
It is hardcore, meaning "unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated".
It is passionate, meaning "ruled by intense emotion; expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; or intense or vehement"
For the purpose of talking about this game, both mean nearly the same thing with reference to Superman. 3300 posts represent someone that is very committed to WoW (he has admitted to being a fanboy even) and on top of that some of his posts are very intense and demonstrate his intense or strong feelings for WoW.
He is not a casual player. Casual players do not spend the majority of the workdays posting on gaming forums about a single game that they claim to only play a few hours a week. Derp, herp, derp.
Uh, no, Blizz added something that was a big improvement to the game for me, and now that I've had it, I realized how much not having it sucked and made the game less fun. Also I am not scared of rocks or weird paths on hills that end and go nowhere blocking my way, or super easy mobs that I can kill by auto attacking and stay above 90% health, I just don't *like* them when they serve no purpose except to waste time, because I'm not leveling or doing a quest and they don't drop anything good, and consider it busy work that gets in the way of admiring a zone (if I'm out in the world to look around) or that makes it take far longer to get to the content I do enjoy.