Originally Posted by
dwarven
Before you jump on me, let me explain. I'm pretty sure a lot of dissatisfaction with expansions is simply due to how old the game is. Imagine if TBC came out today as a new expansion. People would be complaining left and right at how little content there was, how totally imbalanced the the arena system was, and how the Illidan storyline was not integrated into the casual experience at all. TBC would have been another WoD if it came out today. But back then, WoW's gameplay was still fresh. It was still innovative in a lot of ways, so people tolerated what was a largely half-baked expansion by today's standards.
There's more to do in WoW right now than ever before. Alt leveling is a lot more friendly than it was back then, there are piles and piles of cosmetics and mounts to chase after. There's PvP, raiding, dungeons, world quests, covenants, nicely integrated storylines for the solo player, and so much content it would make a 2006 player's head spin.
And yet, I've never seen people more unhappy with the game, myself included. Why? As I said earlier, I think the game is just old. It's still a good MMO, objectively speaking. But, 2022 games just feel better to play than 2004 ones. Have you ever seen that a company was doing a remake of an old game you played and you got hyped for it, only to play it and realize you'd rather just play its sequel, or whatever its newest iteration was? Game engines have come a long way since 2004.
Anyway, I think the disparity between WoW and modern games will only become more great as we move further into the 2020s. With Unreal Engine 5 looking absolutely incredible and more accessible to small developers, we're going to see even your average run of the mill games completely outclass WoW's gameplay, which used to be fresh and innovative. Blizzard has always been great an innovating, and taking older ideas and polishing them to a perfect sheen. This talent that they possess has largely been wasted by continuing to publish a 17 year old game. Yes, people still play it and give them money, which is why Blizzard continues to develop it. But, I think players are becoming more and more aware of the gameplay disparity, and this is largely why dissatisfaction with the game is growing, not because of specific content. It will probably get to a point where they are caught with their pants down and suddenly the game is empty. BFA and SL were pretty clear warning signs. If Dragonflight continues with the dissatisfaction trend, we'll probably see a sequel, or a massive engine/visual upgrade at the very least.