Obligatory ‘back in my daaaay’: The commitment to a specific character + server location + sharding + guild + gearing time is what gave a specific ‘toon’ identity. It felt good to recognize someone in a major capitol city and know THAT was the toon they would be playing for the expansion. It felt good to know that the character you were currently controlling was your ‘Main’, and it was what YOU would be playing for the expansion. The amount of time to level, gear, find a raid spot etc made ‘alts’ nearly out of the question without SIGNIFICANT time investment. Even then, when you logged on that character, it didn’t really feel like ‘you’. It felt like you were playing temporary dress up for fun, but the most comfortable you are in this game is when you log back on that main toon and know right where everything is and your rotation is done by muscle memory.
For me, personally, that character is an Undead Warlock that I made in ~2006, then played it heavily from Vanilla-Cata. Returning to the game, I chose to try out some utility classes because I simply didn’t have the time to try and experience this game through DPS queues. However, no matter what shoes I’ve worn, nothing has really fit like those UD Lock treads.
As we can see the development of ‘all classes for all races’ on the horizon, which I 110% fully support, I think this is a great opportunity to bring back that identity. A few things need to happen first, though.
-Delete utility-based racials. They should be purely for flavor, at most. The ability to switch toons so easily, or have many of one class is really what makes characters feel so soulless these days. BGs and PUG mythics are filled with ‘Cutiexdlol’ flavor of the month races because they heard their favorite streamer say that ‘Night Elves are currently the best choice for pvp racials’ or ‘Trolls are currently the best choice for pve racials’
Use a MOBA style approach for racials. Each race has 4 flavor racials that are there for nothing more than convenience, then I have 2 slots to fill. If I’m about to PvP, I have two slots, like talents. I can, BEFORE queueing, choose to fill these 2 slots. One slot is a CC break. I can choose Stun, Snare, Fear/Charm/Sleep, Disorient, Polymorph, or something of the like. (I think this will help against FOTM classes. Say I know Moonkins are especially powerful right now, I’ll lock in my snare removal. Maybe Sub rogues are especially powerful. I’ll take stun removal. These all share a 30sec CD with trinket.)
It’s a gamble. You may take the snare removal and face a team with no snares. Such is life, but this is how we’re already playing the game.
Another slot is utility. This could be a sprint, a blink, a self heal, a shield, etc. Something simple that gives the player more agency. Feel squishy? take the shield til you gear up. Feel slow in M+? take a sprint on a long CD. Wanna add an edge to your ‘go?’ You can pick up an extra DoT.
-Consolidate Reps. out of my 90 exalted reputations, the Vanilla-Mists one are on my lock. The WoD ones are on my druid. The BfA ones are on my Monk. The SL/DF ones are on my priest. This is a bummer. I wish my toon felt popular no matter where I went because I HAVE put in the work for them.
Now, the good part: You create a character based on a RACE, and that’s it. WoW has made impressive strides toward tutorials and ‘class identity’. Lean into that. You make a character and you’re thrown into either the starting zone of that race or the Reach. You could talk to an NPC and take a short quiz.
Do you like attacking your enemy up close and personal, or from afar?
Do you like leading your group into battle, or hanging back to support them?
Do you like casting magical spells, or weilding a powerful weapon?
Do you like dark magic that slowly withers your opponent, or strong, quick bursts of fire?
Depending on the results, you may be recommended the ‘Fire Mage’ tree, the ‘Protection Warrior’ tree, the ‘Restoration Druid’ tree, or the ‘Affliction Warlock’ tree.
Now, say I, as a new player, wanna start my journey as a Fire Mage. It was fun for a while, but I wanna try something new. No worries. You can go speak to a trainer in any major city (which could use a HUGE face lift. Give ability examples/short description of the playstyle of the spec. Use the animations from Character creation/tooltips. Allow us a few of the abilities in front of a target dummy. Provide a bag of green weapons we can put on that sells for no money and gives no stats that can just be ‘vendored’ back to the trainer or considered ‘rentals’ that disappear if we walk away that allow us to use the abilities like a 2H weapon, even if I’m wearing cloth just to get the feel of using Mortal Strike on a dummy) that will lead you on a journey of unlocking the prowess of becoming a Protection Warrior, all while remaining on your same character. This would be a great place to reuse Legion Artifact quests, Reach into quests, class based quests, Proving grounds, Mage tower, etc.
Let’s be honest. Modern day leveling is a little dull. You make a new toon. Blow through Reach quests. Queue LFG. Blow through dungeons without anyone saying a word as you watch the hunter pull 3 packs before you’ve finished the first. You get to 60 and did you really… LEARN anything about your class on the way? the spell book fills out and before you know it, you’re in a BG trying to figure out if Shift+8 was really a good bind for one of your major defensive CDs.
If I, as an Undead Lock could go learn more about becoming a warrior through Mage Tower, then some Legion artifact quests, then some dungeons, then some proving grounds to earn my ‘Protection Warrior’ tree along with cool transmogs like the artifact weapons, the Order Hall mount (that I can only ride if I’m currently a warrior spec) or an armor set I would be FAR more engaged than just making a level 1 warrior and blowing through LFG only to decide I don’t like it. Achievements could be available for unlocking every spec in the game on a single toon. Achievements for beating a +15 as three specs on a single toon. Reaching 1800 in arena as 3 specs… etc.
So. I’m on my Undead I’ve had since Vanilla. Suddenly every spec in the game (barring Evoker and Demon Hunter stuff) is available to me. Every armor spec in the game is available to me. Factions, mounts, toys, transmog, etc. I really see no better way to extend engagement. It could be argued that fluctuating racial power and alts is the way to extend sub life, but nothing would keep me subbed more than being able to play every class from a single character and truly fill out a collection.
-Armor prof/appearance would still be locked to whatever tree you’re in. If I’ve chosen the Affliction Warlock tree, I can’t run around in plate or look like I am. HOWEVER, at least I could have that plate on hand/in my bank for when I’m ready to run dungeons or pvp as an Unholy Death Knight. If I’m wearing cloth when I respec, it could all just go red and my stats set to 0 until I put on plate.
-Yes, gearing would come with a lot of work, but, we’re already doing that. No more sending mats and gold to seven alts because you decided you wanna try the ‘Resto Shaman tree’. I could still loot leather/mail on my main running stuff, then having it on hand to try something new. Appearances could finally be added to your collection no matter the toon you’re on. Every Legion order hall/mount collection could be finished by a single toon. Loot from dungeons/raid could actually be usable. ‘Oh no the BiS fire mage trinket dropped even though we have no fire mages. Well, I’ll hang onto it in case I try that tree soon.’ or ‘Nah, no one wants it. Good thing we have a enchanter in the group.’ Still feels better than just vendoring all the plate that dropped.
-Give us one more Prof. Make ‘Collection’ their own category. You can choose Herbalism, Skinning, or Mining. It honestly feels bad to need an alt that’s destined just to collection, while your main is for the money making/useful duo. Or feeling like you need to play 2 characters of the same armor Prof for an expansion because it will be easier to gear them if they’re both clothies and your main has Tailoring. Hell, give a single toon access to ALL profs, but you can only have one of each category active at a time. One Armor Prof, one Collection Prof, and one Utility Prof. If I see myself starting the expac as an Affliction Lock, I can go Tailoring/Herbalism/Alch. Maybe I’ve capped these and want more. I’m currently specing Blood DK, so now I want Blacksmithing, Mining, and Jewelcrafting. Crafting orders are still there as the path of least resistance, but if I want to truly lean into learning Blacksmithing for my new spec, the option is there.
YES, it comes with a significant grind, but at LEAST it’s better than making a full on ‘alt’, void of all your past, your reputations, quest completions, etc just to try a new prof because Blacksmithing doesn’t make sense on a Warlock.
This new play style is unchanged for casual players. If you wanna commit to something like a Holy paladin that’s 0 Blacksmithing, Capped Mining, and capped Enchanting, great, that’s there for you. if you’re an alt-o-holic that wants numerous races because they’re fun, or you wanna farm old content for that elusive mount, great, that’s there for you. If you wanna log onto your account that has literally ONE toon with 10,000 years played time in, again, a ROLE PLAYING GAME, great. that’s there for you.
Thanks for reading! What part(s) of this do you hate and will never work because reasons?