The next World of Warcraft expansion

Hatter · 2011-11-30 00:53:21

I'm not going to argue that the Pandaren don't fit the lore. Pandaren come from Warcraft III's expansion; nothing I can do about that.

But seriously, there's so much better stuff that you could focus an expansion around. The Forsaken's new plague? Lady Vashj? The Emerald Nightmare? Argus? Kil'Jaedan? Friggin' Sargeras? Those would all make better expansion material.

Instead, we get pandas. It just feels like Blizzard is Pandaren to the lowest common denominator.

Crimson · 2011-11-30 02:00:18

I think they're purposely toning down the "epic" level because they don't want to try and top Cata just yet.

But whatever, they put in Monks! I've been waiting for a dedicated fistfighting class in WoW for ever.

Hatter · 2011-11-30 02:43:45

I got that impression, too. Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King put WoW on an upward trend towards more and more epic things. Then Cataclysm came out, which tried to be epic but failed because it involved a villain no one cares about (although I do like the mechanical changes to questing and the like - that actually changed stuff up, and I respect Blizzard for that.)

Still, intentionally toning things down isn't a winning marketing or writing strategy. I'm not going to pay ~$50 for the equivalent of a waiting room for the next expansion.

Also, I'm irritated that Pandaren get to choose whether they'll go Horde or Alliance, but the High Elf/Blood Elves can't, even though there's an enormous amount of lore that could support them going either way.

TheConductor · 2011-11-30 05:55:38

Cataclysm actually destroyed any interest I had in playing WoW.

MillerCross · 2011-11-30 06:13:19

WoW destroyed any interest I had in playing WoW

/obligatory Juan post

MadassAlex · 2011-11-30 06:17:03

^

I personally just find the gameplay boring. The fact that it's become the template for MMOs has pretty much killed all my interest in the genre, too.

MillerCross · 2011-11-30 06:22:51

Yeah, pretty much.

I don't really dislike the gameplay (otherwise, i wouldn't have liked FFXII) but the fact that this is the only waay to design MMO bothers the shit out of me.

Then again, i liked FFXII because it was star wars in...nah, it was pretty much star wars. So make of that what you will.

Ironweaver · 2011-11-30 10:10:01

I'm being really annnoyed by the streamlining in the recent WoW expansions. They are taking away more and more room for character customization. Completely kicking out the talent system will be a disaster. I don't mind pandas, though.

Forzare · 2011-11-30 10:19:31

There's really never been that much room for customization anyway. If you want to warrior tank, you pretty much have to pick the exact same spec as everyone else, baring maybe one or two points here and there. If you want to DPS, same. There's only really one set of endgame gear you can aspire towards, same as everyone else of your class/spec. It's just that they haven't been hiding it with lots of fancy math and numbers and stuff.

Plus, the fewer spreadsheets I have to deal with, the better.

On the subject of MoP: I don't think describing it as a waiting room for the next expansion is entirely fair, at this point. A lot of cool lore stuff can go on without it being all fire and explosions and rending of the world. I actually like seeing WoW going in a different direction.

>villain no one cares about

fuck you Deathwing is awesome

Crimson · 2011-11-30 10:19:40

^^It doesn't really make much of a difference really, pretty much all players used 1 or 2 cookie cutter builds if they wanted to stay anywhere near competitive. Blizzard just adapted to already deep-seated player habits.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Brozare.

Bee · 2011-11-30 12:11:33

Frankly I thought Cata was the best expansion yet, even if Deepholm was kind of a yawner. I don't even mind the toning down of epicness. But...I mean, the Pandas were a joke race. It'd be like if Diablo 3 had an expansion dedicated entirely to playable Cow Soldiers. I realize Warcraft is a little more playful than a lot of franchises, but come on.

gentlemanorcus · 2011-11-30 15:13:25

I used to play WoW. I got to level 40 before getting bored.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-11-30 16:00:50

^Same, but I only hit 20.

Nyktos · 2011-11-30 17:43:08

> still caring about WoW

Bee · 2011-11-30 20:57:34

I guess if they're looking for lower-priority targets, they could always pull out, like, Magatha Grimtotem. You know, now that she's a badass level 88 boss and all.

Midgetsnowman · 2011-12-01 00:06:48

welp. somebody on my server already downed Deathwing.

Malkavian · 2011-12-01 00:18:15

So wait...

Monks...

and pandas....

I COULD PLAY AS KUNG FU PANDA?!

Midgetsnowman · 2011-12-01 01:58:49

Or kung fu gnome monk!

Hatter · 2011-12-01 03:06:27

This has only just occurred to you?

Anyway, I just sort of wish that WoW would finally end so that Blizzard could create a decent sequel that would change up the formula. They're eventually going to have to do it, and if they do it sooner rather than later they can reserve good villains and stories like Sargeras and Kil'Jaedan for the sequel.

Bee · 2011-12-01 17:42:36

But has anyone downed Deathwing on Heroic? That's one of the things I liked best about Cata, that Heroic raids were actually tuned properly.

Midgetsnowman · 2011-12-02 11:28:39

Not yet to my knowledge. Mostly because if you down them on normal you cant even try heroic till next week.

Bee · 2011-12-02 13:14:22

Yeah. I mean keep in mind the normal raids were specifically tuned to be downed by amateurs with a bit of practice, but they actually did remember to keep a real challenge this time around.

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The next World of Warcraft expansion

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