WoW, a World Reborn

[Amarys]

Pretty much the only reason most casuals still play is because they've played the same game for a loooong time.. What will happen if they no longer have that attachment? Oh yeah, they'd fuck off.

I can't speak for others but I stuck around for a looong time and not because of that. I was hoping for the game to get better but it never did. Then Classic came along and while it had it's flaws, I realized how much better designed it was and how pointless retail was (because of the constant resets every patch).
This is when I realized that retail is never gonna get better and only might get worse.

I also don't like where the story is going. From savage, brutal close to classic fantasy evil races vs classic fantasy good races to furries(I don't just mean the pandas and foxes but there are too many races in general with most of them being copy/paste of a real ancient culture but instead of humans, it's some kinda furries)/ Also they constantly keep nerfing the big scary baddies into comically incompetent pushovers.

I would come back for a reset world if they would keep all the world relevant, made it more like Warcraft 1 - WoW classic again and got rid of all the excessive resets and catchups.

[Tiwack]

That is one way to end a never-ending game... A hilarious way at that haha
-But think of the shareholders and poor addicts that built their existence around WoW.

[Ashleyxoxo]

we have wow classic for people who want to experience an untarnished pure world of warcraft

Untarnished? You mean like boosts and mount skin monetization?

[Clone]

1. the jailer has now openly said that everyone shall serve. if we lose, we won't have anything even close to normal wow.

It really depends how they go about it. People can serve without knowing it like how humans are used as batteries in the Matrix without knowing.

[rhorle]

Untarnished? You mean like boosts and mount skin monetization?

Vanilla and TBC had the TCG loot cards so only the level boost is new.

[Paperfox]

I think there are two parts to this question:
The story part - what if they did something like the choice offered to TBC servers: keep your toon on classic, migrate or pay for both? Moving to another story with all your mogs, mounts and titles intact but with a complete loss of power might be okay to keep it fresh. Or you keep your toon on current servers and be stuck forever in SL.

The gameplay part - ah, the tricky part. Borrowed power, multiple currencies, rep grinds.

Storywise a reset might be okay, WoW has always been light on story, all the quest dialog boxes have a TL;dr section. For the gameplay wise? I think that's another story.

[aceperson]

It really depends how they go about it. People can serve without knowing it like how humans are used as batteries in the Matrix without knowing.

i agree with your take, but current blizzard just isn't competent enough to pull off something like the matrix right now. it could work, but not with the current team.

[Zodiark]

I've been saying this or something similar for some time now on various YouTube comments etc. We need a dose of Humility. Not every expansion should result in us beating the baddie or driving back the forces of darkness. It's now to the point it's basically a Meme. WE as the players SHOULD get our teeth kicked in a bit. It will make the NEXT expansion that much more engaging. Think about it.
(After the forces of Azeroth toiled and fought against the powers of death with all their might, the forces of the Jailer proved too much in the end! So near the end of the battle of attrition the Alliance and Horde decided to focus on damage control and pull their forces back for a tactical retreat. Now however the Jailer has his way but all is not yet lost. A small group of Heroes have gathered in the shadows to form a plan to fight back against the Jailer!)
What will the new plan bring? Join us in XXXXX-Expansion where we uncover new realms both inside the Shadowlands and back home in Azeroth. The Eastern Kingdoms open ancient vaults of the Titans that were all but forgotten containing secrets of the First ones... Meanwhile on Kalimdor The Horde has uncovered a vast Labyrinth beneath the Sands that has mysteriously risen up from the ancient depths. The entrance bears strange markings that are Titan-Like but somehow different. Are these two places connected ? What other mysteries await?! Join us and find out.

[WinningOne]

After reading through this thread it looks like there's a general agreement that WoW is failing. I know not everyone said that but it seemed to be the majority to me. I went and looked at Activision Blizzard earning statements for 2019, 2020, and 2021 and found that WoW is the most profitable it has ever been. There is significant use of micro transactions for both retail and classic WoW as well as growing engagement and record levels of revenue.

Now, I know everyone says that just means Blizzard is greedy and only cares about cash but that money is coming from players who are making purchases at record levels. I think it may be time to consider that those of us who frequent these forums may be out of the loop when it comes to what the majority of WoW players want. The need for a "revamp" doesn't appear to exist based on the apparent silent majority who speak with their wallets and not through the forums.

Sources:
https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/04/a...s-down-to-27m/
https://dotesports.com/business/news...illion-in-2020
https://investor.activision.com/fina...rterly-results

[Cæli]

After reading through this thread it looks like there's a general agreement that WoW is failing. I know not everyone said that but it seemed to be the majority to me. I went and looked at Activision Blizzard earning statements for 2019, 2020, and 2021 and found that WoW is the most profitable it has ever been. There is significant use of micro transactions for both retail and classic WoW as well as growing engagement and record levels of revenue.

Now, I know everyone says that just means Blizzard is greedy and only cares about cash but that money is coming from players who are making purchases at record levels. I think it may be time to consider that those of us who frequent these forums may be out of the loop when it comes to what the majority of WoW players want. The need for a "revamp" doesn't appear to exist based on the apparent silent majority who speak with their wallets and not through the forums.

Sources:
https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/04/a...s-down-to-27m/
https://dotesports.com/business/news...illion-in-2020
https://investor.activision.com/fina...rterly-results

a revamp will kill interest and kill their cash cow. "now that they removed my attachment to the game, what's the point for me to keep playing"
people don't understand that not everything needs to be "cutting edge graphics". look at agdq. old games are extremely popular. if those games were all replaced by 2021 unreal engine graphics, the interest would simply disappear. I suspect the subject about "revamps" mainly comes from young persons with little experiences or biased views on reality.

[Gaidax]

If this game has another 1.5 year gap for hell knows what that nobody even knows how will play out, it will be done for.

[Osmeric]

A fundamental restart of WoW would only make sense when combined with a restart of the company -- or, more practically, a sale of the IP to another untarnished company.

[Gaidax]

A fundamental restart of WoW would only make sense when combined with a restart of the company -- or, more practically, a sale of the IP to another untarnished company.

OK, yeah, that's a bunch of bullshit, IMO.

I'm all for Blizzard brass being held responsible for all the lawsuit thing, but if you even for a moment think that Blizzard would sell its prized IP or would go under because of all this, then you're living in a dreamworld.

Want a spoiler? Blizz will settle, some people will be let go, then we will get D4, OW2 and new WoW expansion and this will be forgotten just like all other nonsense Blizz tried to pull out like RMAH, RealID, China and what not.

And frankly, you're also dreaming if you think any other company than Blizzard can actually develop WoW. The skills and knowledge it requires is not something you can just toss some $$ at and have it fixed just like that.

[Nnyco]

So you basically want a new expansion as usual, but for reasons also remove everythin else?

[Osmeric]

OK, yeah, that's a bunch of bullshit, IMO.

I'm all for Blizzard brass being held responsible for all the lawsuit thing, but if you even for a moment think that Blizzard would sell its prized IP or would go under because of all this, then you're living in a dreamworld.

Want a spoiler? Blizz will settle, some people will be let go, then we will get D4, OW2 and new WoW expansion and this will be forgotten just like all other nonsense Blizz tried to pull out like RMAH, RealID, China and what not.

And frankly, you're also dreaming if you think any other company than Blizzard can actually develop WoW. The skills and knowledge it requires is not something you can just toss some $$ at and have it fixed just like that.

Blizzard doesn't sell the IP, Activision-Blizzard does. If Kotick wants to sell it no one at Blizzard itself would have a say in the matter.

I consider such a sale an inevitable end point for WoW and Blizzard. The company exists now largely on momentum of past successes. When things wind down, there will be a final sale and shutdown. This scandal cannot be helping Blizzard avoid that; quite the opposite. The easiest way for Kotick to get ATVI beyond this is to amputate the problem.

[Ivarr]

This idea that WoW would somehow need to end and a new game would have to come in order for there to be a new engine that makes everything magically look better is flawed.

WoW has had its engine, as well as its internal graphics enhanced many times. It's still a game that stands out amongst the most modern games. A New World is supposed to be this new state of the art MMO. Even technically it's still just on par with WoW but where it completely breaks down is when you compare the consistency and art direction of both games.

A new engine does nothing for WoW. It's still all laboriously hand-crafted art that sells the game.

Starting from scratch when it comes to both lore and gameplay is different. Whereas in nature and history we see a constant revival. Things die, new things take its place, this isn't happening in WoW. Features continuously get added. Characters aren't overstaying their welcome, not just the antagonists, but the familiar and loved as well. This feels unnatural and jarring. It feels like that Friends reunion movie. The show was about young people growing into adulthood. The movie is about middle-aged people reminiscing about it, depressing.

People seem to notice this. Everything feels tired. We want more of the same, only new, and at the same time we can't let go of what we already have. It's ugly.