Another area of concern is the new Talent Trees. While many are parroting the developers assurances of how much more "fun" it will be and how much this was "needed", it still smacks of nothing more than Blizzard tinkering with things that aren't really broken. First of all, once you choose a Talent Tree, you're stuck with it, barring a respec. No more choosing Talents a'la carte according to what suits your fancy. Blizzard knows best and they are going to "make" you effective by setting you on the path and making you stay there.
Then, there's the issue with the selection of Talents. Right now, I look forward to the next level when I get to open my Talent interface and manage my talents. After the Cataclysm, that's gone. Talents become available at much greater intervals and no more can you buy into a new talent in increments. Instead, if you want a Talent that costs two points and you've only gained one, you can't get a lower level version and work your way up. The whole Talent is closed to you until you have enough points to buy it. With the WoW playerbase demanding more immediate gratification, I can't imagine how anyone on the development team honestly thinks this will be well-received.
Blizzard has always suffered from hubris and demonstrates a certain contempt for their playerbase. Greg Street seems bent on leaving his own mark on the game, like Kaplan, Afrasiabi, and others. Blizzard is so secure in the addictive nature of their product, that they don't care what players think. The shift from their recent RealID debacle was, I'm sure, based on the potential of multiple lawsuits and bad publicity. Much of the WoW customer base isn't too tightly wrapped and this was a nightmare waiting to happen.
Cataclysm looks exciting on the surface, but beneath that is a big middle finger and a smirk directed at the players Blizzard thinks they've got enthralled.
I agree with your post. And please let me add, when they make changes, balances to classes, they do so ultimately because they want to, not because anything is overpowered or underpowered. I have played WoW since release and I have seen my fair share of completely OP classes, unneeded nerfs and ninja nerfs (the ones they dont tell you about till you figure it out on your own.)
Small example of a nerf they just felt like making -Many moons ago Priests could Shield themselves and falling damage would be absorbed. Blizz comes along, nerfs it so it doesnt absorb falling damage (they do the same to Frost mages absorb shield), they say its because absorbing falling dmg was unintended.
But Palladins can still bubble and all damage is absorbed. Whats the difference? Short answer, someone at Bliz has a hard on for Palladins and doesnt give a %$#% if thats being hypocritical. <---Insert middle finger and smirk.
I was recently talking on another thread how in MMOs you have your basic archtypes, tanks, heals, ranged dps etc. I was explaining how all classes cant do everything.....because that would be overpowered.
Please consider the Paladin of WoW,
-Heavy Armor
-2 stuns
-Ranged Damage
-Anti Snare Buffs (you arent going to kite them)
-A cleanse so that if you do manage to put something on them, they will just remove it.
-24/7 Run buff (you arent going to get away from them)
-Absorb bubble and full immune bubble (Oh you almost killed them once? Prepare for round two)
-Ranged Dmg
-Burstiest Dmg in game
-Holy dmg cannot be resisted.
-They can heal themselves by hitting you
-Full normal heals
Insert Middle finger and smirk
They are the closest thing to an all in one class if there ever was one.
I havent seen anything from with streaming walkthroughs and dev posts to show it will be great. Cataclysm is the first new lore to Warcraft in 8 years, Thats because everything up until Cataclysm was taken from the old IP. They basically said we have 85% of the games content not being used as greater than 75% of active players are at max level and that is Northrend. So they put some new polish on it, brought it up to date, and gave you a new stat system to grind for more gear. Its basically WOTLK part deux. Diablo is the only fairly original IP that Blizzard has produced mainstream, Warcraft and Starcraft are both stolen and made cute with their influx of pop culture so I am not sure what "lore" is so awesome but to each their own. It will be the last exp I buy and I may be wrong but I wouldnt be suprised if by spring next year, they start losing people and after this, they may lose the subscribers that keep their subscriptions and dont play. People finally may...cancel.
Dont worry the Chinese market has a general yearly double digit growthrate and will compensate for the allready ongoing western losses, aslong as they continue to roll out adds in rates you'd expect from new I-Phones and Coke, so naive user and fanboys will be pleased with their continued million records they will never have any benefit from, not even finacial and dilluded by cashshop sales compensating for shrinking western subcribernumbers.
Do ppl ever get tired of calling doom on WoW lol jeez, I bet everyone will just leave and go to whatever MMO your playing that is so great and growing so fast!
I think mmorpgs make a error when they forget the low level crowd and just focus on the high end. The low level crowd are important, and especially as they're likely repeaters who've done all the content already. So its pretty good what they are doing with Cataclysm. It also makes the world look 'dynamic' and changing which is probably a mmorpg players dream albeit a still very static offering as far as mmo technology allows. So yeah thumbs up when Cataclysm finally comes along. My only disappointment for a 6(?) year old game they have only added one new class. And seem to be hoping everyone will be enthralled playing a new race instead.
I think mmorpgs make a error when they forget the low level crowd and just focus on the high end. The low level crowd are important, and especially as they're likely repeaters who've done all the content already. So its pretty good what they are doing with Cataclysm. It also makes the world look 'dynamic' and changing which is probably a mmorpg players dream albeit a still very static offering as far as mmo technology allows. So yeah thumbs up when Cataclysm finally comes along. My only disappointment for a 6(?) year old game they have only added one new class. And seem to be hoping everyone will be enthralled playing a new race instead.
Well any game that spams new classes will very rapidly (within a couple new classes) end up with classes that feel nearly identical. Heck, a lot of WOW critics would claim that the existing classes feel very similar already.
WOW took sort of a "10 classes which act like 30 different classes" approach. It would sort of suck if you had to re-roll a new character to try a Resto vs. Feral vs. Balance Druid because they were each separate classes with different names. Instead, you roll one character who can basically switch between 2-3 viable classes.
In that light, you might say they've added 15+ classes since release, in the form of new viable playstyles that've been introduced.
They just did a poor job marketing it. They simply lifted the poor specs out of the gutter gradually over time, rather than say "New in Burning Crusade: The Enhancement Shaman class!" (because realistically, enhancement and elemental were non-functional specs for the purposes of PVE, prior to BC.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Altough im an old wow player i dont know anything about cataclysm besides what i readet in this post.
Even if this expension is the best from all of them doesnt change anything and when i see they removed some stats so the game could be easier .. all i can say for it is wtf WoW with new expansion will be for 8+ years lol
I loved aspects like hit raiting that u needet to dps or heal or def raiting for tanks and avoid every stat had big meaning for each class and it was what made i special now any boon can play lol no thx im not even gonna buy the expansion WoW R.I.P. for me.
I am the punishment of God... If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you Genghis Khan
Another area of concern is the new Talent Trees. While many are parroting the developers assurances of how much more "fun" it will be and how much this was "needed", it still smacks of nothing more than Blizzard tinkering with things that aren't really broken. First of all, once you choose a Talent Tree, you're stuck with it, barring a respec. No more choosing Talents a'la carte according to what suits your fancy. Blizzard knows best and they are going to "make" you effective by setting you on the path and making you stay there.
Then, there's the issue with the selection of Talents. Right now, I look forward to the next level when I get to open my Talent interface and manage my talents. After the Cataclysm, that's gone. Talents become available at much greater intervals and no more can you buy into a new talent in increments. Instead, if you want a Talent that costs two points and you've only gained one, you can't get a lower level version and work your way up. The whole Talent is closed to you until you have enough points to buy it. With the WoW playerbase demanding more immediate gratification, I can't imagine how anyone on the development team honestly thinks this will be well-received.
Blizzard has always suffered from hubris and demonstrates a certain contempt for their playerbase. Greg Street seems bent on leaving his own mark on the game, like Kaplan, Afrasiabi, and others. Blizzard is so secure in the addictive nature of their product, that they don't care what players think. The shift from their recent RealID debacle was, I'm sure, based on the potential of multiple lawsuits and bad publicity. Much of the WoW customer base isn't too tightly wrapped and this was a nightmare waiting to happen.
Cataclysm looks exciting on the surface, but beneath that is a big middle finger and a smirk directed at the players Blizzard thinks they've got enthralled.
I agree with your post. And please let me add, when they make changes, balances to classes, they do so ultimately because they want to, not because anything is overpowered or underpowered. I have played WoW since release and I have seen my fair share of completely OP classes, unneeded nerfs and ninja nerfs (the ones they dont tell you about till you figure it out on your own.)
Small example of a nerf they just felt like making -Many moons ago Priests could Shield themselves and falling damage would be absorbed. Blizz comes along, nerfs it so it doesnt absorb falling damage (they do the same to Frost mages absorb shield), they say its because absorbing falling dmg was unintended.
But Palladins can still bubble and all damage is absorbed. Whats the difference? Short answer, someone at Bliz has a hard on for Palladins and doesnt give a %$#% if thats being hypocritical. <---Insert middle finger and smirk.
I was recently talking on another thread how in MMOs you have your basic archtypes, tanks, heals, ranged dps etc. I was explaining how all classes cant do everything.....because that would be overpowered.
Please consider the Paladin of WoW,
-Heavy Armor
-2 stuns
-Ranged Damage
-Anti Snare Buffs (you arent going to kite them)
-A cleanse so that if you do manage to put something on them, they will just remove it.
-24/7 Run buff (you arent going to get away from them)
-Absorb bubble and full immune bubble (Oh you almost killed them once? Prepare for round two)
-Ranged Dmg
-Burstiest Dmg in game
-Holy dmg cannot be resisted.
-They can heal themselves by hitting you
-Full normal heals
Insert Middle finger and smirk
They are the closest thing to an all in one class if there ever was one.
/rant off
Your post makes me laugh. This post reads like some of the immature QQ post I read on the WoW forums. Let me address some of those QQs.
Heavy Armor. Yeah, they may have heavy armor but that does not help against any spell damage.
Stuns. Yeah, they may have stuns but they don't have a silencing spells or any distance closer, something that other classes do have.
Ranged Damage. Paladins only have 4 ranged attack while other classes have a lot more than that. Plus one of them can only be used when a target is below health. Plus two of them are talented.
Cleanse. Other classes have cleanse too plus other classes can remove curses while we cannot.
24/7 run buff. (You aren't going to get away from them). Yes you can, if you know what you're doing. Other classes like the hunter and mages have spells that can slow paladins down and effectively kite them.
Absorb bubble and full immune bubble. Unless you're specced holy, the bubble is not as strong as the priest's bubble. Plus the paladin bubble is on a 5 minute cooldown and you cannot use them within one minute of each other.
Burstiest Dmg in game. Other classes can get just as much burst damage as the paladin can when played correctly.
Holy dmg cannot be resisted. Sure they cannot be resisted but out of all the schools of magic, they do the lowest dmg while all other schools does much higher dmg.
They can heal themselves when hitting you. Yeah but the heals become insignificant compared to direct heals. when other classes can do much higher damage to the paladins, the healing becomes insignificant.
Full normal heals. Other classes have it too.
Basically, you have no idea what you're talking about. Blizzard do balance classes based on if they're underpowered or overpowered. Take the death knight, for example. They were overpowered at the start of WOTLK but were nerfed to be on par with other classes.
Why don't you leave the balancing to the professionals instead. Blizzard can balance classes better than you or me or any other people on these forums can.
I also have to laugh a bit at the people who love phasing citing that it makes them feel like they're making a real change in the world. Really? How many possible outcomes are there? How is your experience any different than any of the mutlitudes of other players who play the same railed content? You don't change anything. The game changes it for you. Phasing is just one of Blizzard's latest toys and all it serves to do is create theme park rides that compartmentalize the game world.
There are a couple of problems here. First, phasing creates an alternate universe, if you will, exclusively for those who have ridden that particular "Event Ride". Other players who haven't done the event are in a different reality. This makes going back and helping your friends problematic since they are now in a different "phase". Also, with the addition of phased content in the new racial areas, those races are stuck doing the same content. No more creating an alt and running to another race's starting area for a little freshness.
Boxes within boxes within boxes, that's what the once expansive world of Azeroth is becoming.
Ok, so maybe the game does change the world for you. Completing a quest does not change the world for everyone, only yourself. I'll admitt that. But the way some quests are texted or played out makes you feel like your actions caused the environmental change. For example, the volcano in the goblin's starting area erupts because you kick a bomb into the volcano itself. So in a way, you are responsible for causing the island to blow up.
Also, why would you create another race just to play in another race starting area? Regardless of whether you play a dwarf or bring a human to the dwarf starting area, you are still doing the same quests as the dwarf does. It makes no differences.
Dont worry the Chinese market has a general yearly double digit growthrate and will compensate for the allready ongoing western losses, aslong as they continue to roll out adds in rates you'd expect from new I-Phones and Coke, so naive user and fanboys will be pleased with their continued million records they will never have any benefit from, not even finacial and dilluded by cashshop sales compensating for shrinking western subscribernumbers.
Take your QQ somewhere else. It is WoW haters like you that I cannot stand. WoW will continue to be the best MMO on the market in terms of both quality and subscriber numbers for the next few years.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Another area of concern is the new Talent Trees. While many are parroting the developers assurances of how much more "fun" it will be and how much this was "needed", it still smacks of nothing more than Blizzard tinkering with things that aren't really broken. First of all, once you choose a Talent Tree, you're stuck with it, barring a respec. No more choosing Talents a'la carte according to what suits your fancy. Blizzard knows best and they are going to "make" you effective by setting you on the path and making you stay there.
Then, there's the issue with the selection of Talents. Right now, I look forward to the next level when I get to open my Talent interface and manage my talents. After the Cataclysm, that's gone. Talents become available at much greater intervals and no more can you buy into a new talent in increments. Instead, if you want a Talent that costs two points and you've only gained one, you can't get a lower level version and work your way up. The whole Talent is closed to you until you have enough points to buy it. With the WoW playerbase demanding more immediate gratification, I can't imagine how anyone on the development team honestly thinks this will be well-received.
Blizzard has always suffered from hubris and demonstrates a certain contempt for their playerbase. Greg Street seems bent on leaving his own mark on the game, like Kaplan, Afrasiabi, and others. Blizzard is so secure in the addictive nature of their product, that they don't care what players think. The shift from their recent RealID debacle was, I'm sure, based on the potential of multiple lawsuits and bad publicity. Much of the WoW customer base isn't too tightly wrapped and this was a nightmare waiting to happen.
Cataclysm looks exciting on the surface, but beneath that is a big middle finger and a smirk directed at the players Blizzard thinks they've got enthralled.
I agree with your post. And please let me add, when they make changes, balances to classes, they do so ultimately because they want to, not because anything is overpowered or underpowered. I have played WoW since release and I have seen my fair share of completely OP classes, unneeded nerfs and ninja nerfs (the ones they dont tell you about till you figure it out on your own.)
Small example of a nerf they just felt like making -Many moons ago Priests could Shield themselves and falling damage would be absorbed. Blizz comes along, nerfs it so it doesnt absorb falling damage (they do the same to Frost mages absorb shield), they say its because absorbing falling dmg was unintended.
But Palladins can still bubble and all damage is absorbed. Whats the difference? Short answer, someone at Bliz has a hard on for Palladins and doesnt give a %$#% if thats being hypocritical. <---Insert middle finger and smirk.
I was recently talking on another thread how in MMOs you have your basic archtypes, tanks, heals, ranged dps etc. I was explaining how all classes cant do everything.....because that would be overpowered.
Please consider the Paladin of WoW,
-Heavy Armor
-2 stuns
-Ranged Damage
-Anti Snare Buffs (you arent going to kite them)
-A cleanse so that if you do manage to put something on them, they will just remove it.
-24/7 Run buff (you arent going to get away from them)
-Absorb bubble and full immune bubble (Oh you almost killed them once? Prepare for round two)
-Ranged Dmg
-Burstiest Dmg in game
-Holy dmg cannot be resisted.
-They can heal themselves by hitting you
-Full normal heals
Insert Middle finger and smirk
They are the closest thing to an all in one class if there ever was one.
/rant off
Your post makes me laugh. This post reads like some of the immature QQ post I read on the WoW forums. Let me address some of those QQs. Your post makes me think you play a paladin.
Heavy Armor. Yeah, they may have heavy armor but that does not help against any spell damage.
Stuns. Yeah, they may have stuns but they don't have a silencing spells or any distance closer, something that other classes do have. Yes some other classes have silences and dont have stuns, whats your point? You just agreed with what I said.
Cleanse. Other classes have cleanse too plus other classes can remove curses while we cannot.
Ranged Damage. Paladins only have 4 ranged attack while other classes have a lot more than that. Plus one of them can only be used when a target is below health. Plus two of them are talented. This is getting funny, I didnt know you had 4 ranged attacks, thank you for agreeing with me again and making my point for me
24/7 run buff. (You aren't going to get away from them). Yes you can, if you know what you're doing. Other classes like the hunter and mages have spells that can slow paladins down and effectively kite them. Blessing of freedom + pursuit of justice that gives you a 15 percent movement buff. For those that dont play WoW that means they are running at you faster than you can run away and when you try to kite them, blessing of freedom stops that. O sure mages can spell steal blessing of freedom if they are incredibly lucky and feel like going OOM or taking the gamble that you can spellsteal freedom before the pally gets to you.
Absorb bubble and full immune bubble. Unless you're specced holy, the bubble is not as strong as the priest's bubble. Plus the paladin bubble is on a 5 minute cooldown and you cannot use them within one minute of each other. So you still have a bubble that makes you completely immune? Ok thanks just checking.
Burstiest Dmg in game. Other classes can get just as much burst damage as the paladin can when played correctly. No, just no. Anyone fought a paladin recently? This is laughable.
Holy dmg cannot be resisted. Sure they cannot be resisted but out of all the schools of magic, they do the lowest dmg while all other schools does much higher dmg. Again, this is laughable. Burstiest dmg in the game and you are claiming that as a school of magic, Holy doesnt hit as hard? Wow, just wow. How many other classes have you played in pvp?
They can heal themselves when hitting you. Yeah but the heals become insignificant compared to direct heals. when other classes can do much higher damage to the paladins, the healing becomes insignificant. Man you are being way to reasonable, stop agreeing with me already. You are making this too easy. Ofcourse the heals that rets get while hitting you arent like Greater heals but they are significant enough to make a difference.
Full normal heals. Other classes have it too. The point I was making is that at no time have I seen a class with so many class defining abilities. Ret paladins are ridiculous. All you need is a pet and stealth and you could do everything.
Basically, you have no idea what you're talking about. Blizzard do balance (blizzard do balance?) classes based on if they're underpowered or overpowered. Take the death knight, for example. They were overpowered at the start of WOTLK but were nerfed to be on par with other classes.While palladins are still OP, btw I am still waiting on that RET nerf.
Blizzard does whatever the fudge blizzard wants to do.
3 minute mage spec been popular for years, not overpowered, blizzard nerfs it.
Blackout ability that was a huge part of a Shadowpriest playstyle. Doesnt exist anymore.
Blizzard has insisted on soul shards for Warlocks claiming there was no better way, refused to change it until THIS EXPANSION.
Rogues stealth was ninja nerfed, vanish and CLOS have been broke but Blizzard has claimed "Working as intended". You know how laughable that is? At one point they as much admitted that fixing vanish would make rogues overpowered....
Why don't you leave the balancing to the professionals instead. Blizzard can balance classes better than you or me or any other people on these forums can. Balance is laughable in WoW. How can there ever be balance in pvp when they balance the abilites of classes for raiding? They cant.
I digress, you are so right. I am totally clueless. Its not like I havent played 3 mmos pre WoW, or played WoW since release....or have 4 80s that I pvp on and know like the back of my hand.
In a few short months GW2 will blast a gigantic hole in that wall of text.
No, it really won't. It wont matter how good it is, how amazing the gameplay, or how stunning the graphics. The majority of WoW players are not "MMO Genre" fans, they dont look about for the next WoW killer. They just like Warcraft, and so play it.
The only thing likely to kill WoW is a combination of age and the WoW sequel.
FYI, we have no idea who the majority of WoW players are. For all we no 10 million of them could indeed be looking out for the WoW killer.
Make an MMO good enough to keep the first month herd and i guarantee you the others will follow. When news breaks that something is doing very well more and more people are going to start trying the game. The problem at the moment? Nothing can sustain that first herd and the bad reputation starts flowing in. People rarely look twice so a good first impression is what you need.
Latest MMO's have been failing at the that and thats the reason why WoW survives.
As for Cata being the best WoW expansion, From what i've heard TBC and WotLK didn't exactly set the bar to high. (Not to say they was complete fails but i hear alot of people saying WoW Vanilla is still the best)
Still, GW2 won't kill anything with it's B2P model. Makes it an easy 1 out of 2 MMOs type game.
No doubt it will be a fun expansion, and for fans of the game as it currently stands I'm sure it will be great.
But for every person playing WOW right now, there's probably at least 2 that have quit.
And 2 out of 3 came back every time they saw what the rest had to offer and wading through dozens of trials? Not everyone has a son to refer to.
I am sure our "stats" only apply to regular mmorpg.com visitors too.
-- Back on topic though --
If the guild based PvP competition in Cata (called wargames now) is half as good as I think, Blizzard would once again have a runner for the coming years.
After all: they have the market in hands. Tie it in with that excellent responsive controls of the avatars and the only thing they need is put an ever lasting PvP system on top of it.
Look at the changing Lore (no more dual cities between factions, but all out war clan leaders). It will stay on the "extra option" side of things - not hampering too much the Pve part - but don't underestimate the competitive nature of WOW with the new guild status/achievements.
They lost time with those Arena skirmish fights for 3.5 years now. Arena is simply too hardcore in eye hand coordination for that typical public of older/casual 28 year olds (average age).
Those who take time to analyse the new combat and talent systems see that GC is all on top of it. Cata is a restart in stats and talent construction, this time with an individual PvP system integrated..
That's the big difference with the other expansions: they didn't limit themselves to build another world or continent, they have a reconstruction of the stats/talents, and this time PvP was not an "after thought" like old WOW.
Therefore the real success of CATA will have to be measured past 6 months.
If the game succeeds in its extra guild and PvP goals with that extreme polish in avatar controls, they tuned in for the next 5 years and will win over a complete new generation of MMO players (in fact they did that too with Raiding and Vanilla WOW).
Older MMORPG players may not like it: but that's exactly the market out there. Next.. see: World of Call of Duty incoming.
I am not so impressed by phasing as the OP. It was originally invented by Turbine to make LOTROs story move forward like in the books.
It however also divides up the population of the game more than the instances already does and that takes away a little more of the epic MMO feeling.
I do believe more in ANETS dynamic world instead because it does not divide up the population while it still feels like the world is moving forward and what the players do matters. That idea is not perfect either but it is better than phasing.
Also I think Blizz should have added another hero class to the expansion.
OP might still be right but not because the reasons he stated in the first post. Cata seems good enough and they finally add some stuff I know many people have waited for a long time like flying mounts in all zones and more guild things so that might be enough but phasing will only make the servers feel less populated.
To me it seems like Blizz are going head to head with Bioware now, putting more and more into story and there is nothing wrong with that but splitting up the population even more is a mistake. If CATA will be the best expansion or not is something we really wont know until a few months after it is released.
If the game succeeds in its extra guild and PvP goals with that extreme polish in avatar controls, they tuned in for the next 5 years and will win over a complete new generation of MMO players (in fact they did that too with Raiding and Vanilla WOW).
Older MMORPG players may not like it: but that's exactly the market out there. Next.. see: World of Call of Duty incoming.
I don't think so and the reason for that is that the next generation really don't do what the last one did. CATA might get back the Wow players who quit but Blizzard needs their next MMO to get to the next generation.
If you look on anything you see that young people tend to want their own things. There is a reason that so few young people play pen and paper RPGs today and that is not that computer games is better but it is the thing of the last generations. Just check on this forum, most older players who started with EQ, Meridian or UO plays old school games while people who started wiith Wow often still plays Wow.
Wow has already gotten it's generation and I don't believe that it can get another one, the new generation will want a new game. Wow doesn't attract so many new players anymore but many old players try it again at times and great improvements might get them back but there is a reason that Blizzard moved Kaplan to their next game, he is their best guy nowadays and they needs him for the next game, that game will be Blizzards future will Wow is their present and Diablo their past.
Not all people are affected by generation gaps but most are even if they don't like to admit it, and young people are affected most since they don't want to grow up and turn into their parents (don't worry kids, you will anyways in the end).
The most improved aspect of WoTLK was, without a doubt, the lore, storyline, and the quality of quests.
I really wasn't that impressed with phasing. In my honest opinion, the best thing WOTLK could bring was the removal of a lot of RNG talents and abilities in arena PvP. Unfortunately, the tempo of PvP increased in the mentioned expansion by a huge margin compared to TBC, so I didn't play too much during this expansion.
I think mmorpgs make a error when they forget the low level crowd and just focus on the high end. The low level crowd are important, and especially as they're likely repeaters who've done all the content already. So its pretty good what they are doing with Cataclysm. It also makes the world look 'dynamic' and changing which is probably a mmorpg players dream albeit a still very static offering as far as mmo technology allows. So yeah thumbs up when Cataclysm finally comes along. My only disappointment for a 6(?) year old game they have only added one new class. And seem to be hoping everyone will be enthralled playing a new race instead.
It the one of the big mistakes earlier mmos did.
One thing that odd is why no character graphics update? Shouldn't they atleast up it to be on par with Aion or upcoming GW2 and SW:TOR?
If they updated characters graphics. I would totally replay WoW.
-- "Any free people have the right to choose how it wants to be govern thats the essence of democracy. It's sad when America has chosen for the stability and consistency of a dictatorship and doing it democratically" -utnow
I think the Burning Crusade was the best expansion .Blizzard had yet to start really implimenting the changes that would make WoW a game for 8+ year olds by constantly making it more and more simple and easier . Cataclysm does'nt offer anything to make the game as fun and challenging as it was then . If your a fan of the game as it is now then I'm sure you'll find it "awsome" . WoW I'm sure will continue to do well as there plenty of children in the 7-14 year old range that will enjoy it for what it is now which seams to be a game is a game aimed at that age range . If your an adult that can still play it inspite of its ease and stomach the immature community (generally speaking)then kudos to you . I left all that behind in the schoolyeard over a decade ago and have no wish to revisit it in a virtual enviroment . In a way I'm glad WoW is there as it act like a magnet for the younger player which leaves other games untouched . I'm hoping they dont all quit and hop over to StartWars next year when it starts up but I think they just might when Cataclysm fails to live upto the hype . "I have a bad feeling about this" . lol
If the game succeeds in its extra guild and PvP goals with that extreme polish in avatar controls, they tuned in for the next 5 years and will win over a complete new generation of MMO players (in fact they did that too with Raiding and Vanilla WOW).
Older MMORPG players may not like it: but that's exactly the market out there. Next.. see: World of Call of Duty incoming.
I don't think so and the reason for that is that the next generation really don't do what the last one did. CATA might get back the Wow players who quit but Blizzard needs their next MMO to get to the next generation.
If you look on anything you see that young people tend to want their own things. There is a reason that so few young people play pen and paper RPGs today and that is not that computer games is better but it is the thing of the last generations. Just check on this forum, most older players who started with EQ, Meridian or UO plays old school games while people who started wiith Wow often still plays Wow.
Wow has already gotten it's generation and I don't believe that it can get another one, the new generation will want a new game. Wow doesn't attract so many new players anymore but many old players try it again at times and great improvements might get them back but there is a reason that Blizzard moved Kaplan to their next game, he is their best guy nowadays and they needs him for the next game, that game will be Blizzards future will Wow is their present and Diablo their past.
Not all people are affected by generation gaps but most are even if they don't like to admit it, and young people are affected most since they don't want to grow up and turn into their parents (don't worry kids, you will anyways in the end).
You could be right. But I think CATA adresses the younger generation more than the older one they caught in 2005/2006.
I would call the 2004 generation the typical "classic Raider generation" brought in.
But ...
On line play these days means shorter playing sessions, I want to fight "now" instead of later and have the fun element.
If you think WOW 2010 is anything like WOW 2004 was ...you haven't been following the game at all.
That's why I called out: World of Call of Duty
It is obvious they change to the market demands and by the obvious whining of those old raiders it is already clear they address the "new" instant fun generations.
So I think the next few years Blizzard adapts to newer demands. In 2007 you stated the same things. We are 2011 soon.
It remains to be seen what Kaplan comes up with, buit I am quite convinced it is not something like Wow.
It is more conveniant to let the franchize cover newer mechanics (in this case competitive PvP).
And frankly CATA shows that an MMO is just as old as its latest expansion (even content and mechanics wise in this case).
I think that only half a year past CATA launch time can tell to what extent it has made an impact on current and potentially new MMO player bases, as applies to all MMO and expansion launches. It's certainly a given that CATA will see a lot more competition than any WoW expansion has before - forget a WAR, AoC or LotrO, next year will see a number of the highest potentials arrive on MMO stage, making it a MMO year as we haven't seen before.
Personally I don't give much of a damn about what MMO will come out on top and be longterm successful, it's the variety in enjoyable choices I favor.
I do think though that CATA is the most rigorous one of the WoW expansions in the changes it brings.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
The biggest problem I think I will have with it is that it's going to be more of the same, the gear grind hamster wheel. I may get the expansion and run one (hell maybe even 2 if the leveling is fun) of my 80's to 85 and perhaps check out the starting areas for the new races but I'm just not interested in their end game grind anymore.
I think mmorpgs make a error when they forget the low level crowd and just focus on the high end. The low level crowd are important, and especially as they're likely repeaters who've done all the content already. So its pretty good what they are doing with Cataclysm. It also makes the world look 'dynamic' and changing which is probably a mmorpg players dream albeit a still very static offering as far as mmo technology allows. So yeah thumbs up when Cataclysm finally comes along. My only disappointment for a 6(?) year old game they have only added one new class. And seem to be hoping everyone will be enthralled playing a new race instead.
It the one of the big mistakes earlier mmos did.
One thing that odd is why no character graphics update? Shouldn't they atleast up it to be on par with Aion or upcoming GW2 and SW:TOR?
If they updated characters graphics. I would totally replay WoW.
That's because Blizzard puts gameplay first before graphics. Something that I wish more game companies would do. Ita even one of their values.
I thought I would write in something here. I have read what you have written and although my opinion of WoW is not what it used to be, I must admit it could be due to burnout as much as a change in the game that I used to play and enjoy.
It's good to see you still enjoy WoW and that you are looking forward to Cataclysm.
Unfortunately, for me, the community was probably one of the main reasons why I left. I was in a solid guild and had a healthy list of friends online. I have too played the game since Vanilla and I do believe the community has evolved into a state of being that for me is not healthy which is why I have no intention of returning to this type of community. There may be some adjustments (guild titles/battlegrounds etc) but the core game itself feeds off the community as much as the community feeds off the core game. I truely think that a big part of it for me was the "Boxing" of content to make the content more accessible. The other big part of it was the introduction of the "Gearscore add-on." Another big part of it was the making things redundant so that a big chunk of the earlier content seemed a chore with the rush to get to the end game.
For me, this has changed how the game progresses and how the community handles and enjoys the end game content. I truely believe they did not need to introduce a "Badge reward" system and make it so important and detrimental in WOTLK end game PVE progression. They should never have introduced it as a "must all get" at end game which was only partially true in BC. Worst still is that they used it as a hamster wheel to grind H dungeons. The dungeons and the loot themselves have no meaning when the real reward is to use them to collect badges. You see, for me it was all too much of a "must build towards without the fun" rather than a "hey, what can I achieve now and still build towards but with the fun" kind of stagnant rotation.
Unfortunately, the introduction of the Gearscore add-on has only fueled the fire. Gearscore has created a sense of entitlement rather than co-operation. This has further led players on the grind wheel of quick LFG dungeons which for me lacks any sort of variety, sense of danger and co-operation with fellow players.
The boxing part of WoW is in a way an attempt to get content more accessible and quicker to the players. For me, this has lead to a general decline of any type of exploration, beyond perhaps pure boredom and achievements. GW 2 is introducing an outdoor dynamic system to get people exploring and playing together. Phasing will play a part in Cataclysm but I never really enjoyed phasing because it meant no-one else could see or share the experience and there leaves no trace of your existance in that phased environment as soon as it has finished. The LFG could be designed so players don't just stand around Dalaran and other major cities most of the time hopping into LFG dungeons. Perhaps the introduction of more outdoor content?
When looking at Cataclysm, one thing that springs to my mind now that has been a hot topic on the WoW beta forums is the instant quest and looking for quest system. People say that one does not need to use it, that it is their choice. Yes, this is true in one sense. But, in reality you don't miss what you don't have. WoW never needed all the quests laid out so that all you need to do is "select quest, chk on minimap where the blue is, ride there and do the quest, fly back to quest giver." Players don't need this in Cataclysm since the exploration of the revamped world and the new 80-85 zones is worth the extra mile or two? I do believe the given the right situation, players will use this and then will continue to do so when they can't find a location or quest mob.
These are some of the main reasons why I personally have left World of Warcraft on a good note and want to leave it that way. For me, the game has changed from the vision and style of play that I used to enjoy and that I using objective eyes can see that Cataclysm will still be enjoyed by the masses for what it is: Because it is more toned down and accessible than it used to be with an ongoing reward system to keep players hooked into getting better gear.
Comments
I agree with your post. And please let me add, when they make changes, balances to classes, they do so ultimately because they want to, not because anything is overpowered or underpowered. I have played WoW since release and I have seen my fair share of completely OP classes, unneeded nerfs and ninja nerfs (the ones they dont tell you about till you figure it out on your own.)
Small example of a nerf they just felt like making -Many moons ago Priests could Shield themselves and falling damage would be absorbed. Blizz comes along, nerfs it so it doesnt absorb falling damage (they do the same to Frost mages absorb shield), they say its because absorbing falling dmg was unintended.
But Palladins can still bubble and all damage is absorbed. Whats the difference? Short answer, someone at Bliz has a hard on for Palladins and doesnt give a %$#% if thats being hypocritical. <---Insert middle finger and smirk.
I was recently talking on another thread how in MMOs you have your basic archtypes, tanks, heals, ranged dps etc. I was explaining how all classes cant do everything.....because that would be overpowered.
Please consider the Paladin of WoW,
-Heavy Armor
-2 stuns
-Ranged Damage
-Anti Snare Buffs (you arent going to kite them)
-A cleanse so that if you do manage to put something on them, they will just remove it.
-24/7 Run buff (you arent going to get away from them)
-Absorb bubble and full immune bubble (Oh you almost killed them once? Prepare for round two)
-Ranged Dmg
-Burstiest Dmg in game
-Holy dmg cannot be resisted.
-They can heal themselves by hitting you
-Full normal heals
Insert Middle finger and smirk
They are the closest thing to an all in one class if there ever was one.
/rant off
Do ppl ever get tired of calling doom on WoW lol jeez, I bet everyone will just leave and go to whatever MMO your playing that is so great and growing so fast!
I think mmorpgs make a error when they forget the low level crowd and just focus on the high end. The low level crowd are important, and especially as they're likely repeaters who've done all the content already. So its pretty good what they are doing with Cataclysm. It also makes the world look 'dynamic' and changing which is probably a mmorpg players dream albeit a still very static offering as far as mmo technology allows. So yeah thumbs up when Cataclysm finally comes along. My only disappointment for a 6(?) year old game they have only added one new class. And seem to be hoping everyone will be enthralled playing a new race instead.
Well any game that spams new classes will very rapidly (within a couple new classes) end up with classes that feel nearly identical. Heck, a lot of WOW critics would claim that the existing classes feel very similar already.
WOW took sort of a "10 classes which act like 30 different classes" approach. It would sort of suck if you had to re-roll a new character to try a Resto vs. Feral vs. Balance Druid because they were each separate classes with different names. Instead, you roll one character who can basically switch between 2-3 viable classes.
In that light, you might say they've added 15+ classes since release, in the form of new viable playstyles that've been introduced.
They just did a poor job marketing it. They simply lifted the poor specs out of the gutter gradually over time, rather than say "New in Burning Crusade: The Enhancement Shaman class!" (because realistically, enhancement and elemental were non-functional specs for the purposes of PVE, prior to BC.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Altough im an old wow player i dont know anything about cataclysm besides what i readet in this post.
Even if this expension is the best from all of them doesnt change anything and when i see they removed some stats so the game could be easier .. all i can say for it is wtf WoW with new expansion will be for 8+ years lol
I loved aspects like hit raiting that u needet to dps or heal or def raiting for tanks and avoid every stat had big meaning for each class and it was what made i special now any boon can play lol no thx im not even gonna buy the expansion WoW R.I.P. for me.
I am the punishment of God...
If you had not committed great sins,
God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you
Genghis Khan
I hope Cataclysm is the best... BC was far better than WotLK to me.
- Sensible, revamped talent, glyph, & mastery system
- Revamped "destroyed" Azeroth 1-60
- Two new playable races
- Five new major zones
- Level cap raised to 85
- New secondary profession
- Viewing ranged increased, water graphics improved, etc.
Seems much more promising than WotLK (Death Knights? Meh... Inscription? pft...).
The revamped talent system alone takes the cake (if you haven't seen it yet, I urge you to go check it out).
Your post makes me laugh. This post reads like some of the immature QQ post I read on the WoW forums. Let me address some of those QQs.
Heavy Armor. Yeah, they may have heavy armor but that does not help against any spell damage.
Stuns. Yeah, they may have stuns but they don't have a silencing spells or any distance closer, something that other classes do have.
Ranged Damage. Paladins only have 4 ranged attack while other classes have a lot more than that. Plus one of them can only be used when a target is below health. Plus two of them are talented.
Cleanse. Other classes have cleanse too plus other classes can remove curses while we cannot.
24/7 run buff. (You aren't going to get away from them). Yes you can, if you know what you're doing. Other classes like the hunter and mages have spells that can slow paladins down and effectively kite them.
Absorb bubble and full immune bubble. Unless you're specced holy, the bubble is not as strong as the priest's bubble. Plus the paladin bubble is on a 5 minute cooldown and you cannot use them within one minute of each other.
Burstiest Dmg in game. Other classes can get just as much burst damage as the paladin can when played correctly.
Holy dmg cannot be resisted. Sure they cannot be resisted but out of all the schools of magic, they do the lowest dmg while all other schools does much higher dmg.
They can heal themselves when hitting you. Yeah but the heals become insignificant compared to direct heals. when other classes can do much higher damage to the paladins, the healing becomes insignificant.
Full normal heals. Other classes have it too.
Basically, you have no idea what you're talking about. Blizzard do balance classes based on if they're underpowered or overpowered. Take the death knight, for example. They were overpowered at the start of WOTLK but were nerfed to be on par with other classes.
Why don't you leave the balancing to the professionals instead. Blizzard can balance classes better than you or me or any other people on these forums can.
Ok, so maybe the game does change the world for you. Completing a quest does not change the world for everyone, only yourself. I'll admitt that. But the way some quests are texted or played out makes you feel like your actions caused the environmental change. For example, the volcano in the goblin's starting area erupts because you kick a bomb into the volcano itself. So in a way, you are responsible for causing the island to blow up.
Also, why would you create another race just to play in another race starting area? Regardless of whether you play a dwarf or bring a human to the dwarf starting area, you are still doing the same quests as the dwarf does. It makes no differences.
Take your QQ somewhere else. It is WoW haters like you that I cannot stand. WoW will continue to be the best MMO on the market in terms of both quality and subscriber numbers for the next few years.
No doubt it will be a fun expansion, and for fans of the game as it currently stands I'm sure it will be great.
But for every person playing WOW right now, there's probably at least 2 that have quit.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I digress, you are so right. I am totally clueless. Its not like I havent played 3 mmos pre WoW, or played WoW since release....or have 4 80s that I pvp on and know like the back of my hand.
Still, GW2 won't kill anything with it's B2P model. Makes it an easy 1 out of 2 MMOs type game.
And 2 out of 3 came back every time they saw what the rest had to offer and wading through dozens of trials? Not everyone has a son to refer to.
I am sure our "stats" only apply to regular mmorpg.com visitors too.
-- Back on topic though --
If the guild based PvP competition in Cata (called wargames now) is half as good as I think, Blizzard would once again have a runner for the coming years.
After all: they have the market in hands. Tie it in with that excellent responsive controls of the avatars and the only thing they need is put an ever lasting PvP system on top of it.
Look at the changing Lore (no more dual cities between factions, but all out war clan leaders). It will stay on the "extra option" side of things - not hampering too much the Pve part - but don't underestimate the competitive nature of WOW with the new guild status/achievements.
They lost time with those Arena skirmish fights for 3.5 years now. Arena is simply too hardcore in eye hand coordination for that typical public of older/casual 28 year olds (average age).
Those who take time to analyse the new combat and talent systems see that GC is all on top of it. Cata is a restart in stats and talent construction, this time with an individual PvP system integrated..
That's the big difference with the other expansions: they didn't limit themselves to build another world or continent, they have a reconstruction of the stats/talents, and this time PvP was not an "after thought" like old WOW.
Therefore the real success of CATA will have to be measured past 6 months.
If the game succeeds in its extra guild and PvP goals with that extreme polish in avatar controls, they tuned in for the next 5 years and will win over a complete new generation of MMO players (in fact they did that too with Raiding and Vanilla WOW).
Older MMORPG players may not like it: but that's exactly the market out there. Next.. see: World of Call of Duty incoming.
I am not so impressed by phasing as the OP. It was originally invented by Turbine to make LOTROs story move forward like in the books.
It however also divides up the population of the game more than the instances already does and that takes away a little more of the epic MMO feeling.
I do believe more in ANETS dynamic world instead because it does not divide up the population while it still feels like the world is moving forward and what the players do matters. That idea is not perfect either but it is better than phasing.
Also I think Blizz should have added another hero class to the expansion.
OP might still be right but not because the reasons he stated in the first post. Cata seems good enough and they finally add some stuff I know many people have waited for a long time like flying mounts in all zones and more guild things so that might be enough but phasing will only make the servers feel less populated.
To me it seems like Blizz are going head to head with Bioware now, putting more and more into story and there is nothing wrong with that but splitting up the population even more is a mistake. If CATA will be the best expansion or not is something we really wont know until a few months after it is released.
I don't think so and the reason for that is that the next generation really don't do what the last one did. CATA might get back the Wow players who quit but Blizzard needs their next MMO to get to the next generation.
If you look on anything you see that young people tend to want their own things. There is a reason that so few young people play pen and paper RPGs today and that is not that computer games is better but it is the thing of the last generations. Just check on this forum, most older players who started with EQ, Meridian or UO plays old school games while people who started wiith Wow often still plays Wow.
Wow has already gotten it's generation and I don't believe that it can get another one, the new generation will want a new game. Wow doesn't attract so many new players anymore but many old players try it again at times and great improvements might get them back but there is a reason that Blizzard moved Kaplan to their next game, he is their best guy nowadays and they needs him for the next game, that game will be Blizzards future will Wow is their present and Diablo their past.
Not all people are affected by generation gaps but most are even if they don't like to admit it, and young people are affected most since they don't want to grow up and turn into their parents (don't worry kids, you will anyways in the end).
I really wasn't that impressed with phasing. In my honest opinion, the best thing WOTLK could bring was the removal of a lot of RNG talents and abilities in arena PvP. Unfortunately, the tempo of PvP increased in the mentioned expansion by a huge margin compared to TBC, so I didn't play too much during this expansion.
when will they finaly give us the next hero class?
Realy dunno if i am gonna buy the expansion this time.....still in doubt.
Watching some other mmorpg's now and one of them look very oldscool but in a full 3d world.
but those will be for next year......maybe i'll just go back to vanguard....
It the one of the big mistakes earlier mmos did.
One thing that odd is why no character graphics update? Shouldn't they atleast up it to be on par with Aion or upcoming GW2 and SW:TOR?
If they updated characters graphics. I would totally replay WoW.
--
"Any free people have the right to choose how it wants to be govern thats the essence of democracy. It's sad when America has chosen for the stability and consistency of a dictatorship and doing it democratically" -utnow
I think the Burning Crusade was the best expansion .Blizzard had yet to start really implimenting the changes that would make WoW a game for 8+ year olds by constantly making it more and more simple and easier . Cataclysm does'nt offer anything to make the game as fun and challenging as it was then . If your a fan of the game as it is now then I'm sure you'll find it "awsome" . WoW I'm sure will continue to do well as there plenty of children in the 7-14 year old range that will enjoy it for what it is now which seams to be a game is a game aimed at that age range . If your an adult that can still play it inspite of its ease and stomach the immature community (generally speaking)then kudos to you . I left all that behind in the schoolyeard over a decade ago and have no wish to revisit it in a virtual enviroment . In a way I'm glad WoW is there as it act like a magnet for the younger player which leaves other games untouched . I'm hoping they dont all quit and hop over to StartWars next year when it starts up but I think they just might when Cataclysm fails to live upto the hype . "I have a bad feeling about this" . lol
You could be right. But I think CATA adresses the younger generation more than the older one they caught in 2005/2006.
I would call the 2004 generation the typical "classic Raider generation" brought in.
But ...
On line play these days means shorter playing sessions, I want to fight "now" instead of later and have the fun element.
If you think WOW 2010 is anything like WOW 2004 was ...you haven't been following the game at all.
That's why I called out: World of Call of Duty
It is obvious they change to the market demands and by the obvious whining of those old raiders it is already clear they address the "new" instant fun generations.
So I think the next few years Blizzard adapts to newer demands. In 2007 you stated the same things. We are 2011 soon.
It remains to be seen what Kaplan comes up with, buit I am quite convinced it is not something like Wow.
It is more conveniant to let the franchize cover newer mechanics (in this case competitive PvP).
And frankly CATA shows that an MMO is just as old as its latest expansion (even content and mechanics wise in this case).
I think that only half a year past CATA launch time can tell to what extent it has made an impact on current and potentially new MMO player bases, as applies to all MMO and expansion launches. It's certainly a given that CATA will see a lot more competition than any WoW expansion has before - forget a WAR, AoC or LotrO, next year will see a number of the highest potentials arrive on MMO stage, making it a MMO year as we haven't seen before.
Personally I don't give much of a damn about what MMO will come out on top and be longterm successful, it's the variety in enjoyable choices I favor.
I do think though that CATA is the most rigorous one of the WoW expansions in the changes it brings.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
The biggest problem I think I will have with it is that it's going to be more of the same, the gear grind hamster wheel. I may get the expansion and run one (hell maybe even 2 if the leveling is fun) of my 80's to 85 and perhaps check out the starting areas for the new races but I'm just not interested in their end game grind anymore.
That's because Blizzard puts gameplay first before graphics. Something that I wish more game companies would do. Ita even one of their values.
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html
Amarandes,
I thought I would write in something here. I have read what you have written and although my opinion of WoW is not what it used to be, I must admit it could be due to burnout as much as a change in the game that I used to play and enjoy.
It's good to see you still enjoy WoW and that you are looking forward to Cataclysm.
Unfortunately, for me, the community was probably one of the main reasons why I left. I was in a solid guild and had a healthy list of friends online. I have too played the game since Vanilla and I do believe the community has evolved into a state of being that for me is not healthy which is why I have no intention of returning to this type of community. There may be some adjustments (guild titles/battlegrounds etc) but the core game itself feeds off the community as much as the community feeds off the core game. I truely think that a big part of it for me was the "Boxing" of content to make the content more accessible. The other big part of it was the introduction of the "Gearscore add-on." Another big part of it was the making things redundant so that a big chunk of the earlier content seemed a chore with the rush to get to the end game.
For me, this has changed how the game progresses and how the community handles and enjoys the end game content. I truely believe they did not need to introduce a "Badge reward" system and make it so important and detrimental in WOTLK end game PVE progression. They should never have introduced it as a "must all get" at end game which was only partially true in BC. Worst still is that they used it as a hamster wheel to grind H dungeons. The dungeons and the loot themselves have no meaning when the real reward is to use them to collect badges. You see, for me it was all too much of a "must build towards without the fun" rather than a "hey, what can I achieve now and still build towards but with the fun" kind of stagnant rotation.
Unfortunately, the introduction of the Gearscore add-on has only fueled the fire. Gearscore has created a sense of entitlement rather than co-operation. This has further led players on the grind wheel of quick LFG dungeons which for me lacks any sort of variety, sense of danger and co-operation with fellow players.
The boxing part of WoW is in a way an attempt to get content more accessible and quicker to the players. For me, this has lead to a general decline of any type of exploration, beyond perhaps pure boredom and achievements. GW 2 is introducing an outdoor dynamic system to get people exploring and playing together. Phasing will play a part in Cataclysm but I never really enjoyed phasing because it meant no-one else could see or share the experience and there leaves no trace of your existance in that phased environment as soon as it has finished. The LFG could be designed so players don't just stand around Dalaran and other major cities most of the time hopping into LFG dungeons. Perhaps the introduction of more outdoor content?
When looking at Cataclysm, one thing that springs to my mind now that has been a hot topic on the WoW beta forums is the instant quest and looking for quest system. People say that one does not need to use it, that it is their choice. Yes, this is true in one sense. But, in reality you don't miss what you don't have. WoW never needed all the quests laid out so that all you need to do is "select quest, chk on minimap where the blue is, ride there and do the quest, fly back to quest giver." Players don't need this in Cataclysm since the exploration of the revamped world and the new 80-85 zones is worth the extra mile or two? I do believe the given the right situation, players will use this and then will continue to do so when they can't find a location or quest mob.
These are some of the main reasons why I personally have left World of Warcraft on a good note and want to leave it that way. For me, the game has changed from the vision and style of play that I used to enjoy and that I using objective eyes can see that Cataclysm will still be enjoyed by the masses for what it is: Because it is more toned down and accessible than it used to be with an ongoing reward system to keep players hooked into getting better gear.
I would like to know your thoughts.