This wasn’t the case the first two weeks of 8.1,
Something was done to eliminate AFK farming about 10-15 days ago, and after that everyone has been experiencing lower drops. Does that mean we’ve gone back to the scorecard system? Where you only get loot based on what you’ve killed? Nobody knows, and Blizzard hasn’t clarified in any way as to what was tweaked to cause this effect. And that fact is incredibly infuriating.
Islands feel much better than pre 8.1 They still are what they are, Which is run around and kill stuff. Nothing wrong with that but adding variety to the events on the islands would be nice. More things like missing the other team or islands full of giants (both mentioned at blizzcon) are needed.
Also a variety in the activities on the island. Killing mobs is great, the variety and abilities of the mobs are fairly different. But a lot is still avoid this aoe, or that aoe, or make sure to interrupt the heal. I think adding things like the Legion Kiring Tor World Quests would be a nice addition. Maybe they dont phase you into the puzzle and mobs or the other team can knock you out. Even the shell game or bejewelled or any of the other minigame type toys would be great to find randomly around the island.
Some really well hidden treasure chests that require some interesting platforming would be cool, and classes with extra movement abilities would be able to utilize them in an interesting way. Or the quests, instead of finding the key why cant rogues open in? Why cant healers cleanse the poison from brunhold?
I enjoy the difficulty of the higher islands and the chance to get one shot. It does feel a little extra punishing to be missing either a healer or tank in mythic. It feels like you cant pull fast enough to keep up with the other team, or at the least it leave very little room for error.
It can still feel like there maybe are to many weak mobs that make the pulls unruly and AOE fests instead of interesting fights. The more mechanics I can counter to beat the enemy instead of just out dps or outheal the dmg coming in the better.
When it comes to rewards, the weekly is great, the treasure map was a great addition, The rewards on the map are fairly nice, usually. The 2k azerite mission is a good reward, but it is neither fun nor interesting. Also I am a transmog collector, but ill never be excited about random bracers or boots for a set I might or might nor really be working on. The full set, or at least multiple pieces would be a better reward.
From the islands themselves it feels like I am getting less and less from them. I dont mind loot being random, I dont mind not everything be available at the vendor that is from the islands themselves. But there are to many layers of randomness that the chance to ever finish a set or get the specific weapon mog I want seems impossible, let along trying to farm a specific mount.
Personally I really enjoy islands. They still feel unfinished though. There is nothing in them that feels awful anymore (except the rate of drops sometimes). So much can feel better and so much can still be added which is what I would like to see.
Good Things - Easier to target rewards.
Bad thing - Still feels like a fill the bar quest, and no time to explore or take your time, and enjoy the scenery.
Islands would be something I would like to do solo at my own pace.
I hate island expeditions. I did four of them before 8.1. I did another four after 8.1. It was annoying and it just managed to make me more determined to start ignoring achievements so I wouldn’t have a reason to do it again. I’m just glad I don’t need azerite power until the artifact knowledge starts happening again so I can ignore this content.
i feel island expeditions is scenario’s all over again. there is very little unique to do and you basically do the same thing for hours on end with not much for meaningful rewards. the content just isn’t fun enough. thats probably why people like asmongold just afk and have viewers do it for them. you made a really boring system the best method to grind ap.
if a grind isn’t fun or have highly sought after rewards (such as the nether drakes from tbc), people won’t do it.
Still boring, Bornakk! Thanks for checking in though. Call me when ~everything~ is on the dubloon vendor and we get at least 1-3 dubloons for doing a run.
Islands run since 8.1: Around 100, split across several characters.
Islands run before 8.1: Around 650, mostly on my Demon Hunter, from whom I post this comment.
Short feedback: They’re hot garbage and 8.1 made them worse.
Detailed feedback:
While I think an everything on the vendor is over-reaching,
If we could get a rotating stock of items appearing on the vendor every week - ala the Ethereal in Dalaran during Legion, I think that would be an excellent addition. That way, even if you run an island and only get dubloons - you still feel like your grind is worthwhile.
I feel like in Mythic islands, the AI cheating can be a little too obvious. The tanks take forever to kill, they can tank a group of party member and still 3 shot elite boss mobs.
The AI also does not seem to have diminishing return on crowd control abilities when casted onto players.
There is also the balance between Azerite Ruptures and Extractors. The extractors are simple and yet give efficient reward. The ruptures seem to spawn mobs that are difficult to kill and yet not give much reward, not just that, you’re also dedicating time and effort to kill the ruptures and give up the opportunity to kill other mobs. I tend to ignore Azerite ruptures as capturing it does not change the outcome of the island at all.
Some Island affixes(?) are overtuned and annoying. The mists one that causes line of sight issue is stupid to deal with for ranged classes, there is no counterplay, just pure annoyance.
The void one that spawns random tentacles really slow down the gameplay as majority of the time you won’t be able to mount up because the tentacles seem to spawn at random time and keep you in combat forever.
There are also other mobs that are overtuned, the small Yeti Howlers that has 40 yard aoe fear effect also has no counter play as you normally pull a bunch of them at the same time.
I’m sure there are many other issues going on that I may have forgotten to list. But these are the main annoying issues I have with the current islands expedition.
Every single island should give dabloons. Every single one of them. That should be a by product of doing them. It should be the honor or justice points of doing an island. Getting extras could be a bonus.
I’d like to see everything show up as purchasable on the vendor. Lastly better rewards for the map. Azerite power is the last thing I want for a reward for anything.
I have to echo some similar statements below – forgive me for any redundancy, just need to word it my way ![:slightly_smiling_face:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/slightly_smiling_face.png?v=6" ":slightly_smiling_face:")
.
The reward structure of Island Expeditions doesn’t feel…rewarding enough. Sure, the activity is the best way of acquiring Azerite power – but just getting Azerite doesn’t _feel_super rewarding on its own. I’d like to either see a chance of getting some extra rewards (gold/titan residuum), or something more rewarding (gear/BoA upgrade items) added to the doubloon vendor. The argument could be made against Titan Residuum, as you don’t want players to feel forced to do Island Expeditions to max their return on that currency for any given week…but I would counter-argue the folks who care about min/max to that degree are already maxing their Island Expedition table each week ![:yum:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/yum.png?v=6" ":yum:")
.
Tying some of the more cosmetic rewards, like pets/mounts, to specific adds on the islands might be reminiscent of having similar rewards tied to raid or dungeon bosses…but we as players can target/access those on a more consistent basis without being under a timer. Giving the opportunity to explore the island after the match to go for those rewards would be a boon for players who are trying to target a specific cosmetic reward. Conversely, you can add to islands such that new, specific areas open up after the match closes, making it easier to target those rewards (I.E., the match ends, and players find a switch opens up in one of the caves, leading down into a small room full of storm dragonkin which have an increased chance of providing players with the Island Thunderscale mount). Alternatively, you could provide a means of triggering specific events during the course of a match that would spawn specific creatures.
Finally, the changes to random events over the course of a given expedition are a much welcome change (if I had to fight that damn Azerite elemental one more time…). That being said, I feel like the bulk of these events boils down to "Hey, a bunch of elementals/saurok/Venture Co. goons showed up out of nowhere – go kill 'em. I feel like there’s opportunity to create bigger tension and conflict points with specific events.
As an example: lets say while traversing an island, an Alliance spy crash-lands his gyrocopter in the middle of the island, carrying “valuable information against the horde”. The alliance players of the match are encouraged to get to the target and escort him to a specific safe point. Conversely, the horde players are encouraged to slay the spy. Let’s also say the reward for this random island quest is more dynamic than a mere azerite boost for the match – whoever comes out on top of this particular quest gets a boon that increases their azerite gains per mob/node by 50% for 10 minutes.
Events similar to the above would help create more tension over the course of a match, and help drive home a horde vs. alliance dynamic in an activity where both teams may not ever meet (unless Sneaky Pete be sneakin’…).
I don’t know if it’s RNG or something I’m doing wrong, but I go out of my way to help in Island Expeditions and tend to get nothing at all. Also, Artifact power as a treasure map reward is very, very lackluster in my opinion.
I haven’t ever really hated IE’s, and I still don’t. I’ve noticed however they got a lot more difficult, buffed, probably, which I don’t think is necessary. It also feels like the Horde get practically nothing from the Azerite extractor, whereas when the Alliance have it, they get tons (from a horde perspective, I’m sure it’s the same reversed. The AI somehow gets tons more in a short period of time. Might just be me though.)
The frequency of invasions and the diversity of packs is pretty fun though, I just wish some things didn’t one-shot so easily. Oh right, I’ve never really been a fan of the timer either, to be honest.
I haven’t done many islands since the latest version of them, because the rewards were horrible for my entire party. No one even got doubloons. Not even for victories.
Islands feel like the most irritating missed opportunity. While I understand the “winning” needs to take place and a rush is logical to get there, the island shouldn’t kick us off the moment the victory or defeat splashes in front of our eyes. Why not allow those who want to remain and explore (other than the pvp scenarios, at least) and perhaps earn additional chances at loot and doubloons by experiencing further invasions and events? Let us savor the islands after the azerite gathering, if we desire to!
Rewards are extremely, dishearteningly far too rare, especially with the latest iteration of islands. Mob difficulty feels far too high. Doubloons shouldn’t be an RNG demoralizing ending to the adventure, but a given instead.
Island Expeditions, so promising and pretty, turned out to be a source of great frustration and endless disappointment to me. I feel like there’s some behind-the-scenes experimentation going on about just how shabbily a game can treat its players before they feel too depressed to subscribe.
Thank you for asking. One thing I will add–I understand that “time played” is something the company wants to crank up for shareholders and there may be some fear that generous rewards will result in less hours online. I think fun and rewarding play is much more likely to make people want to keep participating and dismal, disappointing events cause them to log out and not want to return to that empty-handed feeling after trying their best. Remember, WoW can’t possibly run out the loot we crave–there’s always another re-color of pet or mount and we are going to want to add it to our collections. Until it becomes obvious that it’s out of our reach and we give up.
In summary, I would prefer to leisurely explore after the win/defeat and be able to actually get loot from killing and opening chests and participating. Islands make me melancholy in their current state.
Islands just aren’t fun. Not much feedback other than that, they’re a wasted feature. Oh, and you guys nerfing dubloon drops rates was a dick move. Everything in this game is a tedious, boring grind.
So, a couple of things:
Visuals for certain attacks need to be looked at. Quite a few of the “Ground Rupture” and “Venom” attacks tend to be practically invisible on the floor, so you just have to be super aware of where the mob may be pointing.
The two new Events: Azerite Extractor and Azerite Rupture, need to be looked at. The Extractor events constant trickle of Azerite can practically win the match on its own. Meanwhile, thanks to the general nerf you gave to mob azerite, the enemies spawned at the Rupture simply are not worth killing, due to the sheer amount of CC and shielding slowing the whole thing down. Rupture should definately spawn several minable azerite points per use, with the final giving a couple of the big ones.
Rewards definitely feel like they slowed down since the patch occurred. Don’t know why.
As others have mentioned, the fact that winning or losing does not effect rewards feels a little weird.
The way AI teams will often suicide run at your party multiple times after you have killed them is pretty annoying. Given that you get less and less Azerite for each kill, this just slows everything down. Maybe have them bugger off elsewhere if they get wiped?
I’m sorry, but island expeditions are still not fun. You can up the rewards and make the mobs less annoying, but they’re still trash mob speed runs.
The game mode itself is inherently flawed. Randomized trash mob runs work in Diablo because I have laser hands and can decimate armies of skeletons with the press of a button. Randomized trash mob runs do not work in WoW because every mob pull is like a surgical strike where one too many enemy can wipe you.
It’s just not a fun game mode. Sure, more rewards will probably up the engagement metrics, but it’s only because people are collecting the things so someday they can say “thank God I never have to do that again!”
Is that really the sort of game mode you want to be developing?
Islands are better after 8.1, but still have a ways to go to become what they were billed as: "dynamic variable content designed around exploration and Azerite recovery
Three Recommendations
Beef up the Dubloon rewards so that running an expedition at least gives you a minimal amount of currency to buy something on the vendor.
Add more vendors with more items that rotate each week. Maybe when Jorundall is up, the Dubloon vendor has Vrykul-themed transmogs, pets, and mounts to purchase. If Molten Cay is up, then fire elemental-themed rewards. Etc. Give people rewards that they can work toward, but also reflect the dynamism of the islands themselves.
Island Expeditions feel like boxing. There’s one way to win: kill everything to get X amount of Azerite. They should feel more like UFC, where there are multiple ways to win.
What do I mean?
When you load into an IE, the 3 players should be given their “task” for that expedition. Have it be one of a handful of tasks: Collection, Azerite Race, Exploration, and Conquest.
A Collection task at the beginning of the IE means you have to hit the X amount of Azerite to win as we’re currently used to.
An Azerite Race means you have to collect more than the other team in a certain amount of time.
An Exploration task means you have to explore the entirety of the island as part of a scouting report for your faction. You could even have a bar showing the percentage of the island explored.
A Conquest task means you have to kill/wipe out a certain enemy on the island.
You do these three things and boom. All of a sudden, you have true variability. You give people multiple ways to win an expedition and so there are differing strategies for each island. Plus, you never know what task you’re going to be given which provides a sense of mystery on the playability side.
You ensure everyone gets Dubloons for each run AND you add in vendors with rewards people can work towards that rotate…and suddenly you also eliminate the frustration of the RNG.
You guys are closer than people are giving you credit for to getting Islands where y’all had envisioned them. You just need to make a few more changes.
Islands still don’t have enough variance to make them feel too fun. Still feels like a chore even though the 8.1 changes are much appreciated.
Dubloon drop rates are too random and frustrating. Got 0 from two islands then got 10 on 3rd. Would like a consistent dubloon acquisition rate so I have the desire to farm them for the mounts and pets from the vendor.
Mythic feels like a slog and mobs hit very hard, even on a tank.
No incentive to do PvP islands. Can’t even find any groups that do them.
I’ve gone from enjoying islands (for the sheer joy of rounding up and killing mobs) to finding them a slog with the new changes. Too much time spent running around looking for something to fight, and of the four or five I ran right after the update, and the handful I ran the second week, I got a few pouches of doubloons, and not even a quest to show for it.
Plus, the packs of azerite infused mobs that can bounce you all over the place managed to chain kill my group on NORMAL. And we couldn’t get away from them because as soon as one of us left the ship they’d come racing up and start the nightmare over again.
I have really been enjoying Islands a lot more with the new changes, it’s nice to actually be collecting Azerite rather than just killing rares.
The addition of the treasure maps has made me actually do the weekly on all of my max character. It was a great idea.
I love the pirate hats at the vendor I have wanted this types of hat for SO LONG!
The NPCs and mobs feel a bit harder but I’m not sure if that’s just me that feels that. The new islands are very fun and have a cool layout.
One thing I would like so change is allowing the Dubloon bags bind on account. That would help a lot and give more insentive to do it on multiple characters.
All in all it has been an amazing change to the Islands , I know many people don’t do them but I have really enjoyed them a lot more.
Great job blizz! Keep up the good work.