Features vs Gimmicks:

Community General Discussion
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Ya know, I always wondered why I was letting my sub lapse and why I felt like there was nothing to do, despite so much to do in WoW.

I think I identified it, really.

Features vs Gimmicks.

To give you an idea - a feature is something added that will always be and never changed in the future.

A gimmick is something that’s here today and gone tomorrow.

To give a more broad example of what I mean:

A Feature would be something like:
The Trading Post - something that makes you want to do things and generates stuff (like mogs) that will always be relevant.

A Gimmick would be something like:
Dragonflying - only useful in the Dragon Isles, for a few races, and likely won’t be coming with us outside of it.

It made me ask:
What actual features did Dragonflight add? Things that will continue to stick with us throughout the game, no matter what happens.

My answers: Trading Post, New Crafting Interface (not the crafting itself), Dungeon and Raid transmogs to be farmed in later expansions, and Talent Trees.

Gimmicks: Funnily enough - the raids and dungeons. Give them a few months, they’re obsolete, and gear similar to what is here now will be in Heroic dungeons or Mythic 0 dungeons. Crafting knowledge - nothing from Dragonflight crafted will be taken with us to the next expansion - there won’t be some super useful potion or piece of gear that’s timeless in its value like an invisibility potion, for instance.

Dragonflight doesn’t feel like it’s added many new actual FEATURES to the game. Everything in Dragonflight feels very temporary and very flighty - like it won’t be around for long.

For me, Gimmicks are like Mythic+ Affixes. For Mythic+ there are some weeks some people refuse to run because the affixes (gimmicks) are just horrible for their class or various classes they’ve leveled - for a reward that may not be worth the squeeze in that case. You just wait for the next week and things are different. That’s just how gimmicks feel.

It feels like Dragonflight is more gimmick than lasting features to contribute to the game as a whole, but it feels like those gimmicks are being pushed as features.

Does that make any sense?

For instance, if you wanted to make Dragonriding a Feature, you would add PVP BGs where you’re fighting on your mounts, attempting to outmaneuver, block, or so on.

And keep those BGs queueable in new expacs and such for people who want to play that style of thing, etc.

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No. WoW is a game you experience in the moment. What do you do day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month. What matters is whether you are having fun as you play the game in the moment.

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That’s a gimmick. That’s like cotton candy. A bit of water and you see how puffed up the sugar it actually is.

Talent Trees, rotations, evolving class design, etc. those are features that move with you and dictate how you go along.

Features are options that remain relevant with time, not with FOMO. For instance, Timewalking while leveling? Love it. Beautiful concept and a feature. Always relevant.

Holiday events? Features. Give rewards that last (and now mogs), stuff to do, come around every year, etc.

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I pay for WoW to have fun, and that should be your goal as well to be quite honest.

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As did I. I’m having less fun on WoW because it just feels pointless. The treadmill this expac isn’t even disguised.

Just because things feel gimmicky, like bells are being jingled, but no true progress is being made and I’m taking nothing with me from this expansion. My poor velocidrake is going to be suffering the fate of that goat I bought from dwarves for the sole purpose of an achievement.

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It’s never been disguised.

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I mean, this time, they put artificial patches of glue on it. Sorry, my wording was vague.

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And the new wording makes even less sense.

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You attempt to run the treadmill, it catches your foot, and holds you back from running, knocks you off the treadmill, or you choose to power through it for severely more effort for less reward than waiting for them to remove some of the glue per patch, then the eventual removal of it altogether on the last patch.

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Dudes trying to speak like a penguin in a top hat… You aren’t as distinguished as that calm it down. Sucks you aren’t enjoying yourself, also sucks they implemented the new law that if you have a WoW sub you are legally not allowed to play anything else… dang.

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I was wondering why I was disliking this expac about as much as Shadowlands and found out why by asking what did any of these expacs even add in the long term?

Dragonflight, by far, did add features, as I pointed out. And they’re good features, but they’re the most features in a long, long time, I think. But it’s not a lot of features.

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Id say a expansion needs acouple gimmicks to keep it special from the rest. Tbh the features you laid out are good ones. And id hope we get more later on

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See, this is what I’m trying to point out.

Things that last versus things that are just… there because reasons.

Mythic Dungeons as a whole were good features - as well as Mythic Raids. But there’s not been anything real feature-wise added in a long time (with the exception of what I pointed out above - and I do applaud Dragonflight for adding more actual features). Mythic Dungeons didn’t need randomized features, just increases in difficulty, maybe added mechanics, etc. That way randomized weeks didn’t just lock out or make life hell for specific classes.

As said, and I pointed out, what I consider features because they’ll last and contribute to the game for longer than a week or two.

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:penguin::tophat::no_entry_sign: you.

I actually agree with Kellak, id argue that expacs need gimmicks, thats what makes them feel unique and fun to engage. “Oh wow thats cool” moments if you will.

There are things you’ve listed as gimmicks that is impossible to know if they aren’t long term. But you do you, glad you found out why you weren’t enjoying it.

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I do hope they add dragon riding as a whole to the open world. Which i expect they will do come the end of the expac. But i so far enjoy the day to 2 day of wow and i think Df is doing a ok job at the moment.

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Then pretty much every single expansion pack is a gimmick;
-garrisons
-borrowed abilities/powers
-artifacts
-class halls

Most of these never carried over to the next expansion pack and didn’t become core.

While will lead me to believe that dragon flying won’t make into core.

Oh well.

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You may be misusing the term gimmick and feature to some extent [semantics] but I’ll agree that DF for me isn’t grabbing my attention 'cause whatever is there, the few things, isn’t anything interesting.

I don’t mind temporary things but if implemented well, could be enjoyable. They had neat ideas in Torghast, the bugged bastion SL side instanced content, so on and so forth but were implemented poorly IMO.

Now it’s just bland paint and a merry go round of mob grinding, rare hunting and cosmetics with a side of trash professions.

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Teeeechnically Artifact weapons did contribute long-term with the same system being developed into the Heart of Azeroth and whatever it was in Shadowlands. In a way, Blizzard saw we liked them, then took away the entirely wrong lesson by taking the system it was and making it long-term into a feature.

I’m glad they did away with that.

Garrisons contributed the Mission Tables - for better or for worse.

Good news. Dragonflight has a version of Torghast, the system is now a feature.

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I can’t explain why, but I’m also finding myself sneaking off to play Valheim a lot more than ever before.

Wow used to captivate me but, as much as I enjoy Dragonflight, it just doesn’t hold the same appeal that it used to.