Keep'em coming guys! Anything in disagreeing with what I'm saying or putting in your own feedback is more than welcomed.
Agree with a lot of what you said.
I thought the Artifacts and AP grind in Legion was a mistake.
Just like I think the Azerite items and AP grind in BfA is a mistake.
Tying Talent choices to piece of gear is just bad design imo, this forces me to repeatedly re-grind AP so that I can unlock abilities I already had before I got an item upgrade.
The fact that Azerite gear is so difficult to obtain, especially with the BiS traits, makes saving up multiple sets of gear for multiple sets difficult.
Yes, before Azerite gear you had to carry two full sets of different gear to change specs.. but why was it easier to obtain a full set of gear back then than it is to collect three offspec pieces of Azerite gear?
Currently, having to reforge a piece of azerite gear each time you swap specs feels bad.. get rid of Azerite gear and turn the traits into Talent selections..
The whole idea of pruning classes to husks of what they used to be, and then giving them new talents that are attached to pieces of gear doesn't feel rewarding.. it doesn't allow you to play your character most effectively until you've managed to triple stack your BiS trait.
Island Expos/Warfronts:
I like these.. it's new content.
Island Expos allow you to skip a lot of the questing during the leveling process which I am all for. I've always been a multiclasser, but I've also always hated questing. Island Expos allow me to quest to friendly with the 3 zones and then spam Expos/BGs to level.
As far as Island Expos and Warfronts being repetitive.. yeah of course they are.
An Island Expedition is an Island Expedition regardless of the map.. kill mobs and collect azerite faster than the other team. To improve upon these, they need to make the reward from Heroic/PvP Island Expeditions worth doing.. right now everyone just spams Normal because it is the most efficient way.
For Warfronts, it's collect resources, and collect bases, until you've got enough to break down the wall and kill the boss.
Main thing about Warfronts that irks me is the fact that you can't join as a raid group.. This was explained in one of the Q&As by Ion that randoms that would get into a pre-made warfront would be upset that the raid group would steamroll through the Warfront. He basically said "we, and the players, want warfronts to take a long time because it's more fun that way."
People expecting an entirely different concept with the Darkshore warfront, or new Island Expos, confuse me..
They don't complain about new Dungeons being essentially the same as other dungeons prior (all dungeons are exactly the same.. kill trash, kill boss, kill trash, kill boss)
World Quests:
Back in the day, you ground out rep until you hit exalted and then you bought your rewards for that faction. Done.
Now, we're basically expected to do that same exact concept, except we're supposed to do it for an entire expansion.. Y tho?
I thought the Artifacts and AP grind in Legion was a mistake.
Just like I think the Azerite items and AP grind in BfA is a mistake.
Tying Talent choices to piece of gear is just bad design imo, this forces me to repeatedly re-grind AP so that I can unlock abilities I already had before I got an item upgrade.
The fact that Azerite gear is so difficult to obtain, especially with the BiS traits, makes saving up multiple sets of gear for multiple sets difficult.
Yes, before Azerite gear you had to carry two full sets of different gear to change specs.. but why was it easier to obtain a full set of gear back then than it is to collect three offspec pieces of Azerite gear?
Currently, having to reforge a piece of azerite gear each time you swap specs feels bad.. get rid of Azerite gear and turn the traits into Talent selections..
The whole idea of pruning classes to husks of what they used to be, and then giving them new talents that are attached to pieces of gear doesn't feel rewarding.. it doesn't allow you to play your character most effectively until you've managed to triple stack your BiS trait.
Island Expos/Warfronts:
I like these.. it's new content.
Island Expos allow you to skip a lot of the questing during the leveling process which I am all for. I've always been a multiclasser, but I've also always hated questing. Island Expos allow me to quest to friendly with the 3 zones and then spam Expos/BGs to level.
As far as Island Expos and Warfronts being repetitive.. yeah of course they are.
An Island Expedition is an Island Expedition regardless of the map.. kill mobs and collect azerite faster than the other team. To improve upon these, they need to make the reward from Heroic/PvP Island Expeditions worth doing.. right now everyone just spams Normal because it is the most efficient way.
For Warfronts, it's collect resources, and collect bases, until you've got enough to break down the wall and kill the boss.
Main thing about Warfronts that irks me is the fact that you can't join as a raid group.. This was explained in one of the Q&As by Ion that randoms that would get into a pre-made warfront would be upset that the raid group would steamroll through the Warfront. He basically said "we, and the players, want warfronts to take a long time because it's more fun that way."
People expecting an entirely different concept with the Darkshore warfront, or new Island Expos, confuse me..
They don't complain about new Dungeons being essentially the same as other dungeons prior (all dungeons are exactly the same.. kill trash, kill boss, kill trash, kill boss)
World Quests:
Back in the day, you ground out rep until you hit exalted and then you bought your rewards for that faction. Done.
Now, we're basically expected to do that same exact concept, except we're supposed to do it for an entire expansion.. Y tho?
10/18/2018 02:31 PMPosted by StealthoncdAgree with a lot of what you said.
I thought the Artifacts and AP grind in Legion was a mistake.
Just like I think the Azerite items and AP grind in BfA is a mistake.
Tying Talent choices to piece of gear is just bad design imo, this forces me to repeatedly re-grind AP so that I can unlock abilities I already had before I got an item upgrade.
The fact that Azerite gear is so difficult to obtain, especially with the BiS traits, makes saving up multiple sets of gear for multiple sets difficult.
Yes, before Azerite gear you had to carry two full sets of different gear to change specs.. but why was it easier to obtain a full set of gear back then than it is to collect three offspec pieces of Azerite gear?
Currently, having to reforge a piece of azerite gear each time you swap specs feels bad.. get rid of Azerite gear and turn the traits into Talent selections..
The whole idea of pruning classes to husks of what they used to be, and then giving them new talents that are attached to pieces of gear doesn't feel rewarding.. it doesn't allow you to play your character most effectively until you've managed to triple stack your BiS trait.
Island Expos/Warfronts:
I like these.. it's new content.
Island Expos allow you to skip a lot of the questing during the leveling process which I am all for. I've always been a multiclasser, but I've also always hated questing. Island Expos allow me to quest to friendly with the 3 zones and then spam Expos/BGs to level.
As far as Island Expos and Warfronts being repetitive.. yeah of course they are.
An Island Expedition is an Island Expedition regardless of the map.. kill mobs and collect azerite faster than the other team. To improve upon these, they need to make the reward from Heroic/PvP Island Expeditions worth doing.. right now everyone just spams Normal because it is the most efficient way.
For Warfronts, it's collect resources, and collect bases, until you've got enough to break down the wall and kill the boss.
Main thing about Warfronts that irks me is the fact that you can't join as a raid group.. This was explained in one of the Q&As by Ion that randoms that would get into a pre-made warfront would be upset that the raid group would steamroll through the Warfront. He basically said "we, and the players, want warfronts to take a long time because it's more fun that way."
People expecting an entirely different concept with the Darkshore warfront, or new Island Expos, confuse me..
They don't complain about new Dungeons being essentially the same as other dungeons prior (all dungeons are exactly the same.. kill trash, kill boss, kill trash, kill boss)
World Quests:
Back in the day, you ground out rep until you hit exalted and then you bought your rewards for that faction. Done.
Now, we're basically expected to do that same exact concept, except we're supposed to do it for an entire expansion.. Y tho?
Thanks for the feedback and I agree on most of these things. The only thing I somewhat disagree on is the enjoyment of the Island Expeditions. But what I fully agree on this point is that people should NEVER see the Normal mode as the most efficient way when there's Heroic, Mythic, and PvP are all available.
Lots of good points here chief. It's a thumbs up from me :)
10/18/2018 05:11 PMPosted by SaentLots of good points here chief. It's a thumbs up from me :)
Thanks Saent!
10/14/2018 05:05 PMPosted by JalenAzerite Power and the Neck
This was flatout a huge mistake. A big grind with a huge payoff at the end is 10x better than an endless grind with no hope of reaching a point where you're finished.
*starts singing* It's the grind that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. Some people started grinding it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue grind just because this is the grind that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. Some people....*continue singing as he walks towards another AP world quest*
Honestly, AP is like a rep grind that simply doesn't end and will continue on at the same rate for 2 years. You rep up with your gear instead of vendors. And eventually have nothing to show for the grind because the next xpac will remove everything you were grinding for, also unlike rep vendors.
Oh look, another well-written critique of BfA that Blizz doesnât give a s about.
The biggest MMORPG in the world hits the scene with a vast world ready to be explored. Vanilla was all about the world of warcraft.
Now we play patch by patch, never actually making use of the world that's available to us. BfA has SO MUCH instanced content it's a disaster. Loading screens dominate your gameplay and you just sit there in the main city waiting for a queue to pop. The social aspect is gone. The next raid immediately invalidates all the progress you've made in the current progression. Nothing lasts, so why do it? The numbers just get automatically increased. Come 8.1 I'll do my M+0 and get 380 item level, woohoo!
I'm mad as hell.
Now we play patch by patch, never actually making use of the world that's available to us. BfA has SO MUCH instanced content it's a disaster. Loading screens dominate your gameplay and you just sit there in the main city waiting for a queue to pop. The social aspect is gone. The next raid immediately invalidates all the progress you've made in the current progression. Nothing lasts, so why do it? The numbers just get automatically increased. Come 8.1 I'll do my M+0 and get 380 item level, woohoo!
I'm mad as hell.
10/18/2018 05:29 PMPosted by XeldraOh look, another well-written critique of BfA that Blizz doesnât give a s about.
Much appreciated friend.
10/14/2018 05:05 PMPosted by JalenLet me start by saying this. I love World of Warcraft. I started this game in Wrath of the Lich King and fell in love with the lore, the characters involved, the world, the music, and many other things. But over time, the game has just degraded and gotten worse. Blizzard asked for feedback on everything in BFA and most of it was straight up ignored. I'll be discussing things like that and other elements that were brought into BFA and the lack of NEW elements in game types that people have enjoyed. So Blizzard, here's my BFA feedback.
World Design and Music
I'm going to start on the positive thing that I think Blizzard has straight up knocked out of the park. The newer zones and the music that accompanies them are straight up fantastic. Whenever I'm doing my homework, I'm listening to the what I believe is called the "General Walk" music of Vol'dun. The main theme with the Armenian duduk makes me look forward to going to that zone as much as I looked forward to going to Grizzly Hills.
From the massive Cthulhu Squid structure in Stormsong to storm struck statue in Vol'dun, from the cold and ghastly chills of Drustvar to the savage lands of Nazmir, and from the pirate infested lands of Tiragarde Sound to the dense jungles of Zuldazar, these are some of the best zones I've seen in World of Warcraft.
Mythic +
Unfortunately that's kind of where it stops for me. I say kind of because I like the dungeons and still enjoy doing them. What I'm disappointed in is the fact that Blizzard saw that this was something that a lot of people enjoyed in Legion and didn't take it to the next level in BFA.
While I think that the affix that comes from the current raid is an interesting idea, it blows my mind that Blizzard didn't consider an actual rating system similar to what PvPers get in terms of rewards. They could have a seasonal rotation just like they do for PvPers and give out rewards based on how hard you made pushes in M+ while it was available. They could have also made it thematic and based each season rewards on the dungeon in question.
Like a Waycrest Manor themed season with xmog sets based on how hard you pushed in all the dungeons in M+, a wicker mount if they pushed to the next level, and then a Gorak Tul tabard with a glowing aura coursing through it. Something like that would make M+ a lot more interesting for players that already enjoyed it in Legion, and people that are somewhat interested in it to begin with. You could even add a rotating affix that based on the current raid and the current seasons theme to switch it up.
Dunno, I feel that M+ in BFA was underwhelming and definitely missing new features for it. And I'm suggesting creating sets for M+ since we have lost, and yes Blizzard it's a loss for everyone, our tier sets.
Also who's idea was it to remove gear swapping in Mythic +? If a player comes prepared for the encounters then let them be prepared. Let the gear they've acquired over time help them push keys.
Island Expeditions
I don't like it. Personally I really don't enjoy them. The main issue is that content was specifically designed to be a thing to go in and farm Azerite Power instead of try and create a quality experience with it. You can change the design of each island all you want with it being open exploration. But the main goal is right clicking the bags and mines and killing the mobs for Azerite.
It's just not interesting. My suggestion is going to be to add more end goals other than Azerite. As well as a rotation to Island layout that changes from open exploration to something like a linear path. Like lets say you drop on the island and there's an outside area that has some Azerite. And upon both sides getting a certain number of Azerite from a counter, a big intimidating cave entrance opens and it's your job to clear it and claim the Azerite all while trying to defend yourself from Alliance / Horde attackers.
I think anything that switching up the goals would change the experience a bit because literally farming Azerite is something that makes a lot of people upset because it's something nobody truly enjoys. Which brings me to my next point but I want to end it by saying this.
It should have been a more worthwhile thing that drops gear similar to how Warfronts do. It would give players an option to do either the Warfront, complete a M0 dungeon, or a fun and more fulfilling Island Expedition. On to the next point.
Azerite Power and the Neck
This was flatout a huge mistake. A big grind with a huge payoff at the end is 10x better than an endless grind with no hope of reaching a point where you're finished. All the feedback on Artifact Power was flatout ignored. It's a massive issue in my opinion because it just seems that this is one of several things that Blizzard sees that people don't like and then they say.....
"Okay but how about if we did this instead? Would you like it then?"
Just let it go Blizzard. Please! I and many other players don't like the endless grind. It makes alts a nightmare to level, and only seeks to keep metrics up on our time played seeing that we don't want to fall behind.
GCD Change
Something else that was ignored by Blizzard was the GCD change. When they asked for feedback on what people thought, from what I saw and I know there's a sense of bias on my end, a lot of players voiced that they didn't like it. And once again the feedback given was brushed under the rug. It just makes classes clunky and slow for the sole reason of making them clunky and slow.
An example for me was doing Mythrax on Heroic. I was doing completely fine and adhering to all the mechanics while the boss was active. 4 people get Orb MC'd at once and get a typhooned out which nukes the entire raid. I'm sitting at 10% health and stop my rotation and spam my defensives cause Turtle was down. Then the ruin debuff that does raid wide AoE damage goes off and I die because of it.
Why are defensives on the GCD? They're all reactions to what's happening around you. Am I supposed to know that I'm going to randomly get 1 shot from a boss, stop my rotation and then wait for it to happen when there's really no clear indication of it coming my way? It's just silly to do this.
Another massive problem occurs for me in PvP. Whenever I'm fighting melee classes the first thing I do is put down a Freezing Trap because I know most people will trinket the first thing in either World PvP or Random BGs. Well great! They're trinket is down! Now lets go through the list of things I have to use before I can start doing my burst rotation.
> A Murder of Crows (1.5 sec GCD)
> Beastial Wrath (1.5 sec GCD)
> Aspect of the Wild (1.3 sec GCD)
> Dire Beast Basilisk (1.5 sec GCD)
And then we top it off with....
> Intimidation
WHICH HAS A 1.5 SEC GCD! This is beyond dumb to me. Slowing down the burst isn't our problem when opposition can't see the signs due to their own incompetence. It has always been...
"Hunter turn red and pet get big? I pop defensive!"
PvP was so much more exciting when you got to do things in a fluid motion. The GCD makes PvP feel like I'm playing UNO with my grandparents.
Tier Sets
It makes me sad that Blizzard decided to do away with Tier Sets. I personally don't care about the whole Tier 2 or Tier 4 bonuses system going away but just the fact that we lost them for the faulty Azerite System, and for the idea that they can just create Raid sets based on Armor types.
Something that makes me sad is that if I didn't like the tier set for Hunters, I had a shot to grab the Shaman set. Same goes for Priests. Look at the Siege of Zuldazar set.
https://www.wowhead.com/news=287373/patch-8-1-siege-of-zuldazar-raid-armor-cloth-leather-mail-mythic-tints
Do Priests want to look like warlocks nowadays? You don't get a choice in the matter now with this set.
Do I want to look like....
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/790532.jpg
God I don't know what that is, but I'm stuck with it!
There's just no more variety when it comes to representing classes through raid gear. If Blizzard wants to do away with their tier bonuses then whatever. But let us retain our class identity through the Raid sets.
Titanforging
Whoever came up with the mentality that players stop playing en masse after they get geared back in the day is a straight up lie.
I remember getting my full Conquest gear set and then going out in the World or Random BGs and pwning noobs. Getting to experience us at our maximum potential was amazing because you felt validated in your hard work and got to play the game how you see fit in whichever gear you've acquired.
Now there will never be an end to your gearing. In its current state you will never be at your maximum potential of you class and spec and that feels horrible. Having to go back and reclear and refarm raids for gear only causes even more burnout than retaining players. Because once you got all the gear you needed, you got to sit back and enjoy the game be it getting high parses in raid, going into Random BGs or WPvP and pwning noobs, or going into the Arena to compete.
Something's gotta change or it needs to get removed. Because smacking your face against the wall with no chance of being at your best is only pushing people away.
Warfronts
It actually made me quite upset that it was never considered to let guild groups and premades go in and complete pretty much a PvE Battleground. And on top of that, it's pretty damn boring. Every time I hear Muradin say, "HAHA! (x) building is up and running!" I flatout ignore him because it doesn't change the flow of the fight or even mean anything. There's no real strategy or overall. It's straight up a guaranteed win with no changes in the flow of battle or how you achieve it. The opposite faction literally just stands there and gets their face beaten in and we're supposed to celebrate.
In the last warfront that I did, when the siege became available I just sat back and watched until the gate went down then killed the final boss. It's boring, it's not engaging and is just not worth my time at all in between raids.
On top of that it's rather dry to me that only 1 faction goes to the zone at a time. Nobodies going out there en mass to kill the rares when they don't have control of the zone. And it baffles me even more that the faction that isn't in control of the zone is force flagged into warmode, when there aren't even any World Quests or Dailies to complete for something like Conquest or Honor!
They should really consider adding something like that when you don't have control of the zone out in the Open World. That way it can rotate between PvE when you're in control with the Dailies, and then PvP when you're not in control. As well as the typical Azerite Power and Order Hall Resource type World Quests on top of that.
As for in the instance, they said it at the Q&A but they should have already had a Heroic Warfront for communities to actually have to strategize and work together as a team to complete. As well as a PvP mode for it based on what's happening in the current cycle.
Grinding resources, killing players, and capturing locations in the PvP warfront should give a certain currency we'll call "War Effort" for now. Killing players in the Warfront will also reward Conquest and Honor but back to the currency. You would then take that currency and then purchase pieces of gear at the vendor within your home city be it Boralus or Dazar'alor. Speaking of vendors....
PvP Vendors
Still really confused as to why PvP Vendors aren't back in the game yet. Its been said over and over in Legion that we don't like the RNG system and would greatly prefer having some player choice in the matter but we keep getting ignored over countless threads.
The only thing I recall hearing was that it felt bad when you messed up on what you were supposed to purchase and it threw things off. But the thing is that players would then learn from their mistake and then make sure that it wouldn't happen again in the future. Or make the same mistake again, which isn't a Blizzard problem that needs to be fixed, it's a player problem that they should recall their previous mishap and act on it while they can trade it back to the vendor. While we're on PvP....
Warmode
I have mixed feelings about warmode. I like the warmode incentives that are given and reap the rewards from it. But that's it really. It has nothing to do with faction imbalance or any of that stuff to me. What kills it for me is the sense of server community.
Not too long ago I was out in Vol'dun and ended up running into a guildy and we started doing World Quests together. We then attracted a group of 4 Horde and they killed us 3 times and it was clear that they wanted to just camp us. So I turned to the guild and we rallied together a squad to not only take them out, but to take over the World Quest area and then informed all the Alliance in the zone that we were taking over and to come complete the World Quest while they could.
That group from earlier then turned to the Group Finder and dropped a full CRZ raid on us shortly after and then bailed for us to never see them again because they were from a different realm.
How is that fun? CRZ and phasing is something that really hurts warmode. I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting in Boralus and heard about a city attack to only look around and find that I was in a different phase from the folks making that call in gchat. It's dumb, and it just further kills community.
I really don't have an answer as to what can be done because CRZ and phasing has been so embedded in the game that I'm not sure that it will ever go away. But I would love to see it go forever. It doesn't create a sense of community. Only frustration.
Shamans and Shadow Priests
There should never. EVER. Be an expansion launch that tells certain classes and specs to wait for a patch drop to become a viable and whole class. If there was a serious rehaul that needed happen you guys should have waited to drop BFA.
Nothing else here. Was very disappointed when this news came out.
Azerite Armor
There is no reason for Azerite to not drop in Mythic plus. Why do we have to wait every Tuesday for the chance of getting an Azerite piece due to random RNG. Possibly with traits I have no interest in getting whatsoever. It completely takes away the players ability to create a goal and then work toward it with some layer of RNG. But the thing is if I run several keys repeatedly, eventually it's going to drop and I'll get a sense of satisfaction from it.
Just put Azerite in Mythic + already. Please consider this and make it happen. You're making things harder than they need to be and it comes across as stingy!
To touch on a previous point, there's no reason to lock abilities behind the Azerite Neck ilvl other than increase playtime metrics. It makes Azerite drops unfulfilling when you get them then realize....
"Well dang. My neck ilvl isn't high enough so I don't get to use the abilities on it"
It just feels really bad.
Master Loot
This made me mad when they announced this. This was something that was utilized to help gear your team to its optimal power. It had player control with some RNG. Now it's complete RNG and little to no control to help out players potentially falling behind on ilvls.
I don't believe at all that the status quo of top end raiding guilds was to cheat every single trial out of loot. That makes no sense at all because if every trial was being screwed how does a guild make it to the finish?
It also makes it extremely frustrating when going into Mythic and seeing something like Zul, Mythrax, and Gh'uun being killed from class stacking and not being able to feed gear to players that are looking to bring in those classes on alts for those encounters.
And before people say it was to slow down gearing for the World First race it didn't do jack. Method and other guilds still cleared the raid within 1-2 weeks of progression. So it didn't change anything.
If it's really that big of a hassle to use ML, then have it only be able to be done through guild only runs or have it be Mythic only. It's extremely frustrating to solely rely on RNG and a bad luck protection system.
World Defense
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20752338547#post-1
We got lied to. I'm not meaning to be rude, but we straight up got lied to on this. We never heard of, or had any conformation on anything like this after the QA listed on the bottom. This one really riles me up because it was a big thing that hurt the RP PvP community side of the game.
So much for claiming and defending guild bases....
Conclusion
I'm sure there are things that I've missed but overall I'm disappointed with the xpac because it has potential to be good. The issues that are being brought up are ignored and we're being told to just deal with it or there's nothing you can do. Yes. Yes there is something you can do. Stop telling us about how you want to improve communications with us and just engage in conversation with us. The only person I've seen do this is Ythisens (who has been amazing by the way) but it's just not enough.
I know people are going to complain about the game regardless but there are some blatant things that BFA has brought that I feel should have been a conversation. I love World of Warcraft and I want to see it succeed. Some of my best memories come from playing this game, making friends, and creating some amazing experiences be it through PvP, PvE, or even RP.
Please listen to your playerbase Blizzard. Not just my post. I'm just 1 of over millions of players but we're telling you what we don't like.
well da,m i think you sum almost all my problems and love the name haha (thats my rl name :)
10/18/2018 05:51 PMPosted by Spartaawell da,m i think you sum almost all my problems and love the name haha (thats my rl name :)
Mine too ;D
10/14/2018 05:05 PMPosted by JalenLet me start by saying this. I love World of Warcraft. I started this game in Wrath of the Lich King and fell in love with the lore, the characters involved, the world, the music, and many other things. But over time, the game has just degraded and gotten worse. Blizzard asked for feedback on everything in BFA and most of it was straight up ignored. I'll be discussing things like that and other elements that were brought into BFA and the lack of NEW elements in game types that people have enjoyed. So Blizzard, here's my BFA feedback.
World Design and Music
I'm going to start on the positive thing that I think Blizzard has straight up knocked out of the park. The newer zones and the music that accompanies them are straight up fantastic. Whenever I'm doing my homework, I'm listening to the what I believe is called the "General Walk" music of Vol'dun. The main theme with the Armenian duduk makes me look forward to going to that zone as much as I looked forward to going to Grizzly Hills.
From the massive Cthulhu Squid structure in Stormsong to storm struck statue in Vol'dun, from the cold and ghastly chills of Drustvar to the savage lands of Nazmir, and from the pirate infested lands of Tiragarde Sound to the dense jungles of Zuldazar, these are some of the best zones I've seen in World of Warcraft.
Mythic +
Unfortunately that's kind of where it stops for me. I say kind of because I like the dungeons and still enjoy doing them. What I'm disappointed in is the fact that Blizzard saw that this was something that a lot of people enjoyed in Legion and didn't take it to the next level in BFA.
While I think that the affix that comes from the current raid is an interesting idea, it blows my mind that Blizzard didn't consider an actual rating system similar to what PvPers get in terms of rewards. They could have a seasonal rotation just like they do for PvPers and give out rewards based on how hard you made pushes in M+ while it was available. They could have also made it thematic and based each season rewards on the dungeon in question.
Like a Waycrest Manor themed season with xmog sets based on how hard you pushed in all the dungeons in M+, a wicker mount if they pushed to the next level, and then a Gorak Tul tabard with a glowing aura coursing through it. Something like that would make M+ a lot more interesting for players that already enjoyed it in Legion, and people that are somewhat interested in it to begin with. You could even add a rotating affix that based on the current raid and the current seasons theme to switch it up.
Dunno, I feel that M+ in BFA was underwhelming and definitely missing new features for it. And I'm suggesting creating sets for M+ since we have lost, and yes Blizzard it's a loss for everyone, our tier sets.
Also who's idea was it to remove gear swapping in Mythic +? If a player comes prepared for the encounters then let them be prepared. Let the gear they've acquired over time help them push keys.
Island Expeditions
I don't like it. Personally I really don't enjoy them. The main issue is that content was specifically designed to be a thing to go in and farm Azerite Power instead of try and create a quality experience with it. You can change the design of each island all you want with it being open exploration. But the main goal is right clicking the bags and mines and killing the mobs for Azerite.
It's just not interesting. My suggestion is going to be to add more end goals other than Azerite. As well as a rotation to Island layout that changes from open exploration to something like a linear path. Like lets say you drop on the island and there's an outside area that has some Azerite. And upon both sides getting a certain number of Azerite from a counter, a big intimidating cave entrance opens and it's your job to clear it and claim the Azerite all while trying to defend yourself from Alliance / Horde attackers.
I think anything that switching up the goals would change the experience a bit because literally farming Azerite is something that makes a lot of people upset because it's something nobody truly enjoys. Which brings me to my next point but I want to end it by saying this.
It should have been a more worthwhile thing that drops gear similar to how Warfronts do. It would give players an option to do either the Warfront, complete a M0 dungeon, or a fun and more fulfilling Island Expedition. On to the next point.
Azerite Power and the Neck
This was flatout a huge mistake. A big grind with a huge payoff at the end is 10x better than an endless grind with no hope of reaching a point where you're finished. All the feedback on Artifact Power was flatout ignored. It's a massive issue in my opinion because it just seems that this is one of several things that Blizzard sees that people don't like and then they say.....
"Okay but how about if we did this instead? Would you like it then?"
Just let it go Blizzard. Please! I and many other players don't like the endless grind. It makes alts a nightmare to level, and only seeks to keep metrics up on our time played seeing that we don't want to fall behind.
GCD Change
Something else that was ignored by Blizzard was the GCD change. When they asked for feedback on what people thought, from what I saw and I know there's a sense of bias on my end, a lot of players voiced that they didn't like it. And once again the feedback given was brushed under the rug. It just makes classes clunky and slow for the sole reason of making them clunky and slow.
An example for me was doing Mythrax on Heroic. I was doing completely fine and adhering to all the mechanics while the boss was active. 4 people get Orb MC'd at once and get a typhooned out which nukes the entire raid. I'm sitting at 10% health and stop my rotation and spam my defensives cause Turtle was down. Then the ruin debuff that does raid wide AoE damage goes off and I die because of it.
Why are defensives on the GCD? They're all reactions to what's happening around you. Am I supposed to know that I'm going to randomly get 1 shot from a boss, stop my rotation and then wait for it to happen when there's really no clear indication of it coming my way? It's just silly to do this.
Another massive problem occurs for me in PvP. Whenever I'm fighting melee classes the first thing I do is put down a Freezing Trap because I know most people will trinket the first thing in either World PvP or Random BGs. Well great! They're trinket is down! Now lets go through the list of things I have to use before I can start doing my burst rotation.
> A Murder of Crows (1.5 sec GCD)
> Beastial Wrath (1.5 sec GCD)
> Aspect of the Wild (1.3 sec GCD)
> Dire Beast Basilisk (1.5 sec GCD)
And then we top it off with....
> Intimidation
WHICH HAS A 1.5 SEC GCD! This is beyond dumb to me. Slowing down the burst isn't our problem when opposition can't see the signs due to their own incompetence. It has always been...
"Hunter turn red and pet get big? I pop defensive!"
PvP was so much more exciting when you got to do things in a fluid motion. The GCD makes PvP feel like I'm playing UNO with my grandparents.
Tier Sets
It makes me sad that Blizzard decided to do away with Tier Sets. I personally don't care about the whole Tier 2 or Tier 4 bonuses system going away but just the fact that we lost them for the faulty Azerite System, and for the idea that they can just create Raid sets based on Armor types.
Something that makes me sad is that if I didn't like the tier set for Hunters, I had a shot to grab the Shaman set. Same goes for Priests. Look at the Siege of Zuldazar set.
https://www.wowhead.com/news=287373/patch-8-1-siege-of-zuldazar-raid-armor-cloth-leather-mail-mythic-tints
Do Priests want to look like warlocks nowadays? You don't get a choice in the matter now with this set.
Do I want to look like....
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/790532.jpg
God I don't know what that is, but I'm stuck with it!
There's just no more variety when it comes to representing classes through raid gear. If Blizzard wants to do away with their tier bonuses then whatever. But let us retain our class identity through the Raid sets.
Titanforging
Whoever came up with the mentality that players stop playing en masse after they get geared back in the day is a straight up lie.
I remember getting my full Conquest gear set and then going out in the World or Random BGs and pwning noobs. Getting to experience us at our maximum potential was amazing because you felt validated in your hard work and got to play the game how you see fit in whichever gear you've acquired.
Now there will never be an end to your gearing. In its current state you will never be at your maximum potential of you class and spec and that feels horrible. Having to go back and reclear and refarm raids for gear only causes even more burnout than retaining players. Because once you got all the gear you needed, you got to sit back and enjoy the game be it getting high parses in raid, going into Random BGs or WPvP and pwning noobs, or going into the Arena to compete.
Something's gotta change or it needs to get removed. Because smacking your face against the wall with no chance of being at your best is only pushing people away.
Warfronts
It actually made me quite upset that it was never considered to let guild groups and premades go in and complete pretty much a PvE Battleground. And on top of that, it's pretty damn boring. Every time I hear Muradin say, "HAHA! (x) building is up and running!" I flatout ignore him because it doesn't change the flow of the fight or even mean anything. There's no real strategy or overall. It's straight up a guaranteed win with no changes in the flow of battle or how you achieve it. The opposite faction literally just stands there and gets their face beaten in and we're supposed to celebrate.
In the last warfront that I did, when the siege became available I just sat back and watched until the gate went down then killed the final boss. It's boring, it's not engaging and is just not worth my time at all in between raids.
On top of that it's rather dry to me that only 1 faction goes to the zone at a time. Nobodies going out there en mass to kill the rares when they don't have control of the zone. And it baffles me even more that the faction that isn't in control of the zone is force flagged into warmode, when there aren't even any World Quests or Dailies to complete for something like Conquest or Honor!
They should really consider adding something like that when you don't have control of the zone out in the Open World. That way it can rotate between PvE when you're in control with the Dailies, and then PvP when you're not in control. As well as the typical Azerite Power and Order Hall Resource type World Quests on top of that.
As for in the instance, they said it at the Q&A but they should have already had a Heroic Warfront for communities to actually have to strategize and work together as a team to complete. As well as a PvP mode for it based on what's happening in the current cycle.
Grinding resources, killing players, and capturing locations in the PvP warfront should give a certain currency we'll call "War Effort" for now. Killing players in the Warfront will also reward Conquest and Honor but back to the currency. You would then take that currency and then purchase pieces of gear at the vendor within your home city be it Boralus or Dazar'alor. Speaking of vendors....
PvP Vendors
Still really confused as to why PvP Vendors aren't back in the game yet. Its been said over and over in Legion that we don't like the RNG system and would greatly prefer having some player choice in the matter but we keep getting ignored over countless threads.
The only thing I recall hearing was that it felt bad when you messed up on what you were supposed to purchase and it threw things off. But the thing is that players would then learn from their mistake and then make sure that it wouldn't happen again in the future. Or make the same mistake again, which isn't a Blizzard problem that needs to be fixed, it's a player problem that they should recall their previous mishap and act on it while they can trade it back to the vendor. While we're on PvP....
Warmode
I have mixed feelings about warmode. I like the warmode incentives that are given and reap the rewards from it. But that's it really. It has nothing to do with faction imbalance or any of that stuff to me. What kills it for me is the sense of server community.
Not too long ago I was out in Vol'dun and ended up running into a guildy and we started doing World Quests together. We then attracted a group of 4 Horde and they killed us 3 times and it was clear that they wanted to just camp us. So I turned to the guild and we rallied together a squad to not only take them out, but to take over the World Quest area and then informed all the Alliance in the zone that we were taking over and to come complete the World Quest while they could.
That group from earlier then turned to the Group Finder and dropped a full CRZ raid on us shortly after and then bailed for us to never see them again because they were from a different realm.
How is that fun? CRZ and phasing is something that really hurts warmode. I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting in Boralus and heard about a city attack to only look around and find that I was in a different phase from the folks making that call in gchat. It's dumb, and it just further kills community.
I really don't have an answer as to what can be done because CRZ and phasing has been so embedded in the game that I'm not sure that it will ever go away. But I would love to see it go forever. It doesn't create a sense of community. Only frustration.
Shamans and Shadow Priests
There should never. EVER. Be an expansion launch that tells certain classes and specs to wait for a patch drop to become a viable and whole class. If there was a serious rehaul that needed happen you guys should have waited to drop BFA.
Nothing else here. Was very disappointed when this news came out.
Azerite Armor
There is no reason for Azerite to not drop in Mythic plus. Why do we have to wait every Tuesday for the chance of getting an Azerite piece due to random RNG. Possibly with traits I have no interest in getting whatsoever. It completely takes away the players ability to create a goal and then work toward it with some layer of RNG. But the thing is if I run several keys repeatedly, eventually it's going to drop and I'll get a sense of satisfaction from it.
Just put Azerite in Mythic + already. Please consider this and make it happen. You're making things harder than they need to be and it comes across as stingy!
To touch on a previous point, there's no reason to lock abilities behind the Azerite Neck ilvl other than increase playtime metrics. It makes Azerite drops unfulfilling when you get them then realize....
"Well dang. My neck ilvl isn't high enough so I don't get to use the abilities on it"
It just feels really bad.
Master Loot
This made me mad when they announced this. This was something that was utilized to help gear your team to its optimal power. It had player control with some RNG. Now it's complete RNG and little to no control to help out players potentially falling behind on ilvls.
I don't believe at all that the status quo of top end raiding guilds was to cheat every single trial out of loot. That makes no sense at all because if every trial was being screwed how does a guild make it to the finish?
It also makes it extremely frustrating when going into Mythic and seeing something like Zul, Mythrax, and Gh'uun being killed from class stacking and not being able to feed gear to players that are looking to bring in those classes on alts for those encounters.
And before people say it was to slow down gearing for the World First race it didn't do jack. Method and other guilds still cleared the raid within 1-2 weeks of progression. So it didn't change anything.
If it's really that big of a hassle to use ML, then have it only be able to be done through guild only runs or have it be Mythic only. It's extremely frustrating to solely rely on RNG and a bad luck protection system.
World Defense
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20752338547#post-1
We got lied to. I'm not meaning to be rude, but we straight up got lied to on this. We never heard of, or had any conformation on anything like this after the QA listed on the bottom. This one really riles me up because it was a big thing that hurt the RP PvP community side of the game.
So much for claiming and defending guild bases....
Conclusion
I'm sure there are things that I've missed but overall I'm disappointed with the xpac because it has potential to be good. The issues that are being brought up are ignored and we're being told to just deal with it or there's nothing you can do. Yes. Yes there is something you can do. Stop telling us about how you want to improve communications with us and just engage in conversation with us. The only person I've seen do this is Ythisens (who has been amazing by the way) but it's just not enough.
I know people are going to complain about the game regardless but there are some blatant things that BFA has brought that I feel should have been a conversation. I love World of Warcraft and I want to see it succeed. Some of my best memories come from playing this game, making friends, and creating some amazing experiences be it through PvP, PvE, or even RP.
Please listen to your playerbase Blizzard. Not just my post. I'm just 1 of over millions of players but we're telling you what we don't like.
Hire this person NOW. This single post covers a wider capture of the various major issues with BFA and the past 10 months or so. The only thing off the top of my head to add would be the feeling of "over-simplification" of each class.
Its not "epic" to be one of the strongest wizards in the realm and yet have a 2.5 page spellbook, and a few wish-wash talent choices in your wizards bag.
Its not "epic" to travel to areas previously "adventured" and have a turtle turn around and shrug off blasts of lightning, fire and deadly curses.
Pardo was correct when he explained the importance of fantasy, the "thats neat!" moments when using a newly learned spell and imagining the possible uses for it.
Flavor is huge for players to build that connection to their characters that keeps them so engaged. And Engaged players are subscribers.
I wish i could like this x1000
A detailed and well thought out post that's not confrontational, I have been assured that this forum has thirsted for this kind of thing and won't at all do the same kind of thoughtless white-knighting that it does with every other post that criticizes BfA.
And that the devs and CMs will flock to read your post and give feedback because the only problem in BfA right now, the only one at all, is toxic players flinging vitriol at hardworking game devs who long for constructive criticism and simply know no better. This small, struggling, financially strapped indie developer longs for this kind of feedback, so I have been told.
And that the devs and CMs will flock to read your post and give feedback because the only problem in BfA right now, the only one at all, is toxic players flinging vitriol at hardworking game devs who long for constructive criticism and simply know no better. This small, struggling, financially strapped indie developer longs for this kind of feedback, so I have been told.
Thanks for taking the time to write that all out Jalen. I really enjoy it when people actually give some content to the reason they feel the way they do.
Much more constructive than the herd of sheep who post there 3 word reply no's and you're wrongs. I wish we had more people like you on these forums.
Much more constructive than the herd of sheep who post there 3 word reply no's and you're wrongs. I wish we had more people like you on these forums.
Agree with all points. Only thing I would really add is class design. Way too much pruning and simplification of classes & specs.
Blizzard seems to have forgotten what made World of Warcraft great in the first place. They've changed the game so much over the years it's hardly recognisable now.
I wish we could go back to the last patch of Mists of Pandaria.
Back when world PVP wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when dueling wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when you didn't have to rely on RNG to get gear thanks to vendors.
Back when skill actually mattered, not your class.
Back when every spec was viable.
Back when every spec was fun. (opinion, but most players bring up MOP times)
I could go on.
Blizzard seems to have forgotten what made World of Warcraft great in the first place. They've changed the game so much over the years it's hardly recognisable now.
I wish we could go back to the last patch of Mists of Pandaria.
Back when world PVP wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when dueling wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when you didn't have to rely on RNG to get gear thanks to vendors.
Back when skill actually mattered, not your class.
Back when every spec was viable.
Back when every spec was fun. (opinion, but most players bring up MOP times)
I could go on.
There should never. EVER. Be an expansion launch that tells certain classes and specs to wait for a patch drop to become a viable and whole class. If there was a serious rehaul that needed happen you guys should have waited to drop BFA.
Nothing else here. Was very disappointed when this news came out.
This one particularly was so disappointing.
And a clue about the kind of piss poor balancing that was to come for the whole expansion.
10/18/2018 06:49 PMPosted by PolariteaThanks for taking the time to write that all out Jalen. I really enjoy it when people actually give some content to the reason they feel the way they do.
Much more constructive than the herd of sheep who post there 3 word reply no's and you're wrongs. I wish we had more people like you on these forums.
I'm smiling while reading this. Thank you for the kind words.
/salute
10/18/2018 07:44 PMPosted by NexiusAgree with all points. Only thing I would really add is class design. Way too much pruning and simplification of classes & specs.
Blizzard seems to have forgotten what made World of Warcraft great in the first place. They've changed the game so much over the years it's hardly recognisable now.
I wish we could go back to the last patch of Mists of Pandaria.
Back when world PVP wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when dueling wasn't dead and was fun.
Back when you didn't have to rely on RNG to get gear thanks to vendors.
Back when skill actually mattered, not your class.
Back when every spec was viable.
Back when every spec was fun. (opinion, but most players bring up MOP times)
I could go on.
You're right on Class Balance and Pruning. I'll put something up for sure on that.
Back to the front page
10/14/2018 05:09 PMPosted by AmineI am part of the playerbase though and I don't have a problem with most things you are QQ'ing about.
I like personal loot and agree with the removal of master loot.
There is a reason why mythic plus which is spammable doesn't drop azerite gear.
I like island expeditions - for such short of content you really need a slash and burn approach.
People claimed they wanted to 'earn' things in this game - the neck does that.
Well said.
Frankly, if the OP managed to pull out this much baseless drivel from the (unarguably) most successful MMORPG in the business, he should try a new game.
There's nothing wrong with the current gearing path in PvP/PvE, there is obvious class diversity (i.e. balance) among raid groups and rated PvP content, and Warmode has resulted in more players becoming involved in PvP than ever before.
What he's essentially asking for is for the Devs to shape the game around his and only his interests and class. I nearly lost it when he demanded the GCD change be removed so he could one shot people as a BM hunter.
No support.