Is it that we hate MoP or...

[Aucald]

It's interesting to me how this same pattern is repeated for nearly every WoW expansion I've experienced (which is currently all of them). During the expansion, it seems the masses decry and criticize the current content for any of a number of reasons. In TBC I heard complaints about barriers to entry for raiding, the 10-man to 25-man split when it came to going from 10-man Karazhan to 25-man Magtheridon/Gruul/etc., and even the oppressive difficulty of heroic dungeons like Shadow Labyrinth in starting iLvl gear. Along comes WotLK and almost overnight TBC is given the rose-colored treatment... with criticisms ranging from the dumbing-down of the game due to easier heroics, Death Knights ruining class balance forever, lackluster raids, and a general sense of anti-climax with ICC and RS.

Now, in Cataclysm, we see the same cycle... with oft-recurring sentiments like "Tell them only that the Lich King is dead, and that the World of Warcraft died with him." TBC and WotLK are seen as almost on equal footing and nearly every element of Cata is roundly detested (if you listen the vocal minority, in any case). I'd be willing to make a generous bet that when MoP rolls around we'll suddenly see people extolling the virtues of Cata with gems like "man, raids are so easy now, at least in Cata there was a challenge" and "this expansion is for babies; at least Cata was brutal/gritty/real/whatever."

I've no idea what causes this kind of cycle of behavior... I understand the whole rose-tinted glasses hindsight thing, but I just don't get the "why" part of it. To me, Cata has some glaring flaws, and it has some strong merits... it was, all in all, a good expansion. It's my hope that the developers will take the lessons learned and apply them MoP in a positive fashion, all the while adding all new things with the potential for mistakes along the way.

[Kalcheus]

"Best bit of Cataclysm was running the hard heroics at the start of the ex-pac."

Let's not go nuts here

Here it is, 5 man "raiding" Challenge Mode Dungeons are gonna be the arcade quick-fix needed to give people something to do (other than PvP) when they aren't raiding.

Well, we already know the heroics will be largely faceroll. LFR is LFR. I welcome an addition to the game that I can use both to practice my own skill in the game as well as work with others in my guild on their raiding skills (or "audition" someone - even though we're very casual, I don't want one bad player ruining the experience for the other nine).

Plus, say goodbye to the training dummies. When the time comes to test a new rotation or spec, challenge mode will provide much more relevant comparisons.

[rebecca191]

I really like where they are going with this game, its nothing but good, people who don't like it are either pretending to be hardcore and not liking it, ignorant or just plain stupid.

Nice job insulting people who simply have a different opinion. I don't insult people who enjoy Cata and/or who look forward to MoP, why can't you do the same to those who disagree with you? The expansion just doesn't appeal to me personally, doesn't appear to be changing what I disliked from Cata, and isn't what I needed to keep me interested after being disappointed in Cata. If you like it, good for you, but don't insult people simply for having a different opinion.

[Kharli]

As for the ''poke'' battles..you don't have to do them..you DON'T HAVE TO DO THEM. >.<
as for the rest, I don't mind it, we need a mind rest fromeath, Death Death DEATH DEATH DEATH, END of the world..

Vanilla(I never played it, but asked a friend who did)it was basiclymg..warcraft MMO!
TBCmg burning legion, oh blood elves! wait..blue goats?
Wrath:OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG we gona go kill Arthas!
Cata:who the frak is Deathwing(yes that is a quesiton many people ask them selfs, cause they never played Warcraft orcs vs humans/Warcraft 2) so they have no idea who that guy is, and the Vanilla players, least my friend went:Oh..god..not rag not again >.<

[Dch48]

I'll just be really happy if MoP does not have any tentacles anywhere. I go in DS and there they are and I'm thinking "Tentacles, why does it have to be tentacles?" I feel like Brann Bronzebeard.

[Deleted]

If it's something different from what's in the game now, people will complain "it's not WoW!"
If it's something similar to what's in the game now, people will complain "it's a rehash!"

Frankly, they had me at "Challenge Mode Dungeons"

Thank you. Also waiting on the other features to see if they are entertaining. But yeah, time will tell

[Amghealme]

Bad gear has always been "free" in the sense that you run easy stuff over and over waiting for it to drop. The only difference is that now this bad gear is purple instead of blue. I take nonprime in javing 4pc lFR gear, just like I took nonprime in being in sungai set blues when they were the pre(real)raiding gear.

It's all in perception I suppose. Right now I just returned from a break, so I'm currently in te gearing process with LFR/normal modes and don't feel like I've accomplished much apart from preparing for REAL raiding (HM content). Anything below HM I just see as gearing up, just like running 5mans in BC prepared me for real raiding.

That's my outlook, most people don't share it, but that doesn't change by enjoyment and motivation.

It's the direction of the game, not MoP for me.

It's pointless and time consuming with zero real rewards. I want to earn my raid slot and have fun leveling to it.

I may change my mind if they break away from the T10+ model, but free gear = subs for Blizz, I guess.

NOT.

[stumpy]

But I do specifically remember them mentioning something about there being no way Mists of Pandaria would be the next expansion back when it was leaked around April. The time frame was pretty close I think, easy to get mixed up.

I remember that. As I recall, it was more along the lines of "We'd never announce a new expansion in <setting>" or some such. ie: It sounded definitive enough that all the people in denial were convinced that it wasn't happening and shut up for a while, but didn't in fact confirm anything at all.

[dope_danny]

I wonder if most folks in the 'change is baaaaad!" camp did not see the whole 'oh by the way, dark portal opens and you are going to another world- oh and a spaceship is crashing off the coast of kalimdor' deal when we transitioned from vanilla to burning crusade.

We whent from kalimdor and eastern kingdoms to the nordic inspired northrend and the world didnt end, i think the world can be fleshed out with a far eastern, avatar ish wuxia style continent as well and it wont end.


To be brutally honest i wonder why more people dont have a problem with the fact that cataclysm has happened and even with the new phasing technology you dont actually stop the cataclysm effects in any zone, they are as lava filled and shattered as they were those in game timeline years ago.

THAT is more of a problem than 'guess what, this vastly isolated continent has a unique culture because of it'.

---------- Post added 2012-01-19 at 05:05 AM ----------

I feel like Brann Bronzebeard.

-or a japanese schoolgirl in a late 90's bootleg vhs

[Dacia Ultan]

Well...I don't hate it. I'm a bit leery about some of the talent/class changes, definitely looking forward to monks and a new continent to explore, and very much in "wait and see" mode on everything else.

That's not to say that I wasn't kind of hoping for Argus or something.

[Dch48]

Bad gear has always been "free" in the sense that you run easy stuff over and over waiting for it to drop. The only difference is that now this bad gear is purple instead of blue. I take nonprime in javing 4pc lFR gear, just like I took nonprime in being in sungai set blues when they were the pre(real)raiding gear.

It's all in perception I suppose. Right now I just returned from a break, so I'm currently in te gearing process with LFR/normal modes and don't feel like I've accomplished much apart from preparing for REAL raiding (HM content). Anything below HM I just see as gearing up, just like running 5mans in BC prepared me for real raiding.

That's my outlook, most people don't share it, but that doesn't change by enjoyment and motivation.

For me and my guild "real" raiding is the normal modes. We never even get to the heroic level so not everyone sees it the same. We're having enough of a challenge in normal DS at this time and still have not downed Rag in normal FL. So when they say that the 5 man heroics will not be as hard as the Cata ones were at the start, that's fine with me.

[Pool of the Dead]

I'm actually excited for this Expac moreso than I was for Cata.

No hate for it at all.

Also people still on the "LOLPANDASCHILDISH" bandwagon are generally children themselves.

[Jumpieboi]

Someone needs to do a bit of fact-checking.

He's talking about from BC to WOLTK.

[Scooby Doo]

Going to go out on a limb here and say I kind of look forward to the new expansion. Some of the new class changes, namely to warlock seems really nice. New zones look good, as well.

ANd I am praying the older models ingame will have some major work done, and a tiny flicker of hope we will have more race/class combos (Give me Blood Elf Druids now!)

[Wrinklefinger]

Also people still on the "LOLPANDASCHILDISH" bandwagon are generally children themselves.

I can understand most of the comments in this thread, even if I disagree with them... I dont get this comment tho. How is a panda NOT childish? Kung Fu Panda anyone? As stated above we used to have undead and demons. Pandas are clearly a gimmick designed to draw in a younger crowd, a crowd generally comprised of the "mememe" generation who has little to no understanding of a functioning online community. Log in, do what makes YOU happy, screwing over other people in the process, and log out, zero consequences. How can you not compare pet battles to Pokemon is beyond me. Same difference, again put in place to draw in a younger crowd. This may or may not be good for blizzard, but it certainly is not good for me. The obvious answer is that I should move on, which in large part I have... yet I do miss the community and I do have a right to voice my dismay at the direction the game is going.

[Dacia Ultan]

How is a panda NOT childish? Kung Fu Panda anyone? As stated above we used to have undead and demons. Pandas are clearly a gimmick designed to draw in a younger crowd, a crowd generally comprised of the "mememe" generation who has little to no understanding of a functioning online community. Log in, do what makes YOU happy, screwing over other people in the process, and log out, zero consequences.

So...a race based on a real animal is "childish" because of a movie that came along five years after WC3? That makes absolutely no sense.

Also, the crowd you described there? From my observations, they tend to be more interested in things like...wait for it...zombies.

[Max Rebo]

It's the direction of the game, not MoP for me.

It's pointless and time consuming with zero real rewards. I want to earn my raid slot and have fun leveling to it.

I may change my mind if they break away from the T10+ model, but free gear = subs for Blizz, I guess.

NOT.

This is a poor argument.

Players earn LFR gear. Better players earn normal mode gear. The best players will earn heroic gear.

I don't see a problem with this.

Rewards don't make much of a difference to me. Killing the bosses and getting better gear along the way is reward enough.
A new mount here and there is always cool, but for me that's not a huge part of why I like the game. I can understand why heroic raiders might want to differentiate themselves from the rest, however. I guess better gear and a guild full of legendary weapons isn't enough.

I guess it's up to the individual whether they enjoy the leveling process that comes with each expansion.

[SneakyDave]

I'm hoping that the game gets more drinking-related achievements.
Because your ability to drink determines how epic you are. Killing stuff is just a byproduct. Just like RL.

[reckoner04]

It's been exactly the same with TBC. One of my WoW friends left before TBC launched because he didn't play WoW for pink armor, space goats and giant mushrooms. Turned out to be a pretty good expansion.

[HairyJube]

Honestly, I'm just excited to kill some pandas!!!