Old player looking to come back - how does MoP compare to previous expansions?

[barrsftw]

IMO:

TBC >>> Wrath >= Vanilla > MoP >>>>>>>> Cata

[Mefistophelis]

What? Did you skip Cata completely?

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 01:28 AM ----------




Actually we have the hardest set of dungeons in WoW history with MoP.

Say what ?

[Abysal]

My assessment:

The good:
-MoP is beautiful. Great zones.
-MoP has lots of exploration.
-MoP has more community interaction than Cata did. "LFM Sha of Anger"
-MoP has given us real choices with talents instead of no brainers. Former no brainers are baseline. Choices are utility for the most part. When there is a throughput talent tier, the "best" choice changes depending on circumstances, and the "not best" choice isn't usually that big of a loss.
-MoP has more content to do than previous expansions.
-Professions, for the most part, level more smoothly than before.

The bad:
-Too much CC in PvP. Chain CCing is a total buzzkill now.
-Lots of imbalance in PvP. Healers are OP and a few DPS specs (seemingly the bursty ones). It's still early in the expansion so I'll give them time to balance it.
-Dailies dailies, a million times dailies. I know it's not mandatory to do them, but you're seriously gimping yourself if you don't. This isn't even because you can't buy rep rewards, it's because if you actually intend to raid, you're at a huge disadvantage if you don't have your charms to use for bonus rolls each week.
-Almost everything of value with professions costs Spirit of Harmony which are BoP and don't have that great a drop rate. If you intend to use a crafting profession, you're going to have to spend a lot of time farming trash for Mote of Harmony to convert in Spirit of Harmony.

The TBD:
-Raids. So far I'd say they are better than Cata raids, but there's a lot left to see for final judgement.
-Monks. They have pros and cons right now but are obviously being retuned heavily still.
-Class balance. In PvE it's in a pretty good place right now. PvP needs a lot more work.
-The story. Obviously, we're in 5.0.5. When we get to the last patch, we'll know.
-The burnout. So far, it looks like there's going to be a lot more to do than Cata ever had AND it looks like content is going to come faster, so I expect good things here.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 06:13 AM ----------

Actually we have the hardest set of dungeons in WoW history with MoP.

Strongly disagree. I suppose it depends how you define "hard" but I think the only place I've seen a wipe is in Scarlet Halls on Armsmaster Harlan and Scholomance on buggy trash pulls. Contrast that with the original Cata heroics and the 4.1 Troll heroics that were total wipe fests. Most of the MoP heroics are face rolls for me at least and have been from the moment I unlocked them.

[Devia]

Thanks guys! It really helps taking these things into consideration. It seems a lot of people like this about as much as TBC which I think was the best expansion also. I'm not thrilled about the thought of daily quests - I have never been a fan of them since they were introduced at the end of BC. I liked running instances for reputation in the respective dungeons in BC(not the silly "wear the tabard for whatever rep you want" crap).

I've currently been playing on a vanilla wow private server(completely legal, don't worry), and while I'm nostalgic about many things while playing it, I fear that once I reach 60 since I don't have the time to dedicate my entire life to raiding like I did back in the day that I won't have anything to do once there. So...that's why I was looking into coming back to new wow. I just wish I didn't have to pay $60 AND my monthly fee to give it a try...

[eat my butthole]

it's ok but dont expect it to be anything like the previous expansions

[Siltah]

My assessment:

The good:
-MoP is beautiful. Great zones.
-MoP has lots of exploration.
-MoP has more community interaction than Cata did. "LFM Sha of Anger"
-MoP has given us real choices with talents instead of no brainers. Former no brainers are baseline. Choices are utility for the most part. When there is a throughput talent tier, the "best" choice changes depending on circumstances, and the "not best" choice isn't usually that big of a loss.
-MoP has more content to do than previous expansions.
-Professions, for the most part, level more smoothly than before.

The bad:
-Too much CC in PvP. Chain CCing is a total buzzkill now.
-Lots of imbalance in PvP. Healers are OP and a few DPS specs (seemingly the bursty ones). It's still early in the expansion so I'll give them time to balance it.
-Dailies dailies, a million times dailies. I know it's not mandatory to do them, but you're seriously gimping yourself if you don't. This isn't even because you can't buy rep rewards, it's because if you actually intend to raid, you're at a huge disadvantage if you don't have your charms to use for bonus rolls each week.
-Almost everything of value with professions costs Spirit of Harmony which are BoP and don't have that great a drop rate. If you intend to use a crafting profession, you're going to have to spend a lot of time farming trash for Mote of Harmony to convert in Spirit of Harmony.

The TBD:
-Raids. So far I'd say they are better than Cata raids, but there's a lot left to see for final judgement.
-Monks. They have pros and cons right now but are obviously being retuned heavily still.
-Class balance. In PvE it's in a pretty good place right now. PvP needs a lot more work.
-The story. Obviously, we're in 5.0.5. When we get to the last patch, we'll know.
-The burnout. So far, it looks like there's going to be a lot more to do than Cata ever had AND it looks like content is going to come faster, so I expect good things here.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 06:13 AM ----------



Strongly disagree. I suppose it depends how you define "hard" but I think the only place I've seen a wipe is in Scarlet Halls on Armsmaster Harlan and Scholomance on buggy trash pulls. Contrast that with the original Cata heroics and the 4.1 Troll heroics that were total wipe fests. Most of the MoP heroics are face rolls for me at least and have been from the moment I unlocked them.

I absolutely I agree with this. I love almost everything in this expac, and things I don't enjoy or do, I can live without. This brought me back from a two year hiatus after I -just- hit 85 in Cata.

[Pancaspe]

MOP is by far the best thing Blizzard has ever done. It is perfect.

[TequilaFlavor]

but the PvE is pretty boring.

The raids are really good, though - and raids are where it's at since Vanilla.

They are really challenging without being overtuned - if you have the right gear and know how to perform on certain encounters.

[Glorious Leader]

Everyone and anyone saying it's like tbc doesn't have a clue and probably didn't actually play tbc. It is more like Vanilla. Much closer to that paradigm but with the qol of every other expansion.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 09:11 AM ----------

Mop is by far the best thing Blizzard has ever done. It is perfect.

I mean would it matter what they released? would you say anything they did was bad when it came out? I'm sure if this were two years ago I could replace Mop with cata and you'd say the same thing or two years in the future I could replace Mop with whatever the next expansion is.

[Bigzumzah]

What? Did you skip Cata completely?

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 01:28 AM ----------




Actually we have the hardest set of dungeons in WoW history with MoP.

I'm guessing you didn't play BC where you had to CC things to not get your tank murdered and actually had to watch your aggro so the boss didn't turn around and zomgwtfbbq pwn you..

I skipped wrath and came back at the end of cata to find a bunch of derp aoe pulls and easy loot.

MoP is actually holding my interest for now.. Raid encounters are interesting and there's plenty to do.. Best of all no JP/VP farming for welfare loot, but I suppose LFR could be considered welfare loot?

So my vote goes to BC>Vanilla=MoP>wrath(even tho I didn't play it but four levels)>cata

[Deleted]

Just play the 10 day free trial

[Deleted]

If you loved vanilla you will like MoP.

There was no daily quest grinding in Vanilla so no, he won't.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 09:55 AM ----------

It seems a lot of people like this about as much as TBC

80% of those who say that never played TBC, they're just going by what they heard. It's totally different.

[Itisamuh]

Other than CRZ causing world PvP to finally happen again, MoP PvP is a joke. Not sure where you heard otherwise. But, as blunt as this may sound, nobody can give you the answer you want because everyone feels differently. Just play and see for yourself. Personally I think MoP is the worst expansion yet so far. At least for my purposes. But some people are calling it the best since Vanilla, so you have to just play and see for yourself.

[Black Rider]

Best expansion so far.

[Azerate]

I started playing in wotlk and imo it's the best expansion ever (possibly because im nostalgic) but anyway i'd say definitely come back, cataclysm was a total disaster for me and pandas are really fun and have lots of stuff to do outside raiding which cataclysm didnt really offer

[Maelstrom51]

Its significantly more grindy than the previous two expansions. Take that as you will.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 11:03 AM ----------

Best expansion so far.

Best raiding so far, but to me its the worst in any other sense.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 11:06 AM ----------

Actually we have the hardest set of dungeons in WoW history with MoP.

Is this a joke? These are significantly easier than Cata or even Wrath heroics. You can't be serious here.

[Deleted]

There is more to do, in a sense that you have dailies, scenarios, heroics, challenge modes, pet battles, pvp, raids and so on.

So I don't expect you to get burnout quickly and some of the dailies change round as well.

and about the VP cap problem that some poster was having. i got capped in about two days from doing Heroics and Dailies so... its not hard

[Deleted]

Its significantly more grindy than the previous two expansions. Take that as you will.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 11:03 AM ----------



Best raiding so far, but to me its the worst in any other sense.

---------- Post added 2012-11-04 at 11:06 AM ----------



Is this a joke? These are significantly easier than Cata or even Wrath heroics. You can't be serious here.

Oh my god, people like you are so bad for my health. Complaining about everything, all day long and then when things finally get changed your way complain even MORE.

[Bigzumzah]

Oh my god, people like you are so bad for my health. Complaining about everything, all day long and then when things finally get changed your way complain even MORE.

Pot calling the kettle black lol

[MasterHamster]

MoP is, in short the accumulative of what Blizzard has seen to work from previous expansions, rolled into one.

Optional but rewarding content. Factions that actually matter. 5man HCs being the first stepping stone in endgame progression. Challenge modes. Scenarios while in a queue for something else. Fun meta game (pet battles)

They've really hit the sweet spot between time and reward. Although some people aren't used to it yet. The idea of individually deciding when and how to do dailies for factions seem alien to them, and they feel forced to do all dailies every day.