Enemy faction AI buff is annoying. Not necessarily more difficult but their dogged persistence with no reward for dealing with them is pretty lame.
Islands overall feel a lot better now. You aren’t running across a half empty island to find more stuff to pull so that’s great.
Having lot’s of events and not having to target specific mob types for drops is also good.
That being said, I’m not a fan or the orb nerf. Going from full-restore to a 100ish K is really annoying.
There is also some wonkyness with some mobs:
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where they have a cleave triangle and if primary aggro target moves out of it the stupid triangle moves with you and still hits you.
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Some abilities trigger way too fast. Some of the giants do an AOE circle around you where if you aren’t already moving when it starts you will most likely get clipped for half your health.
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Some of the fire elementals cast stuff at their feet (think meteor) but the swirly is really hard to see sometimes because it either hides under them or it’s in shallow water.
I also don’t understand the azerite rupture, it seems faster to just ignore it than to mess with it as it just keeps spawning mobs with tons of HP, whereas I can get azerite faster by just aoes down a couple packs down the road.
I also don’t like the race aspect of it. You kill the opposing faction once and it’s basically over unless they got a super good spawning location.
1 Like
They would be alot more fun if it wasn’t a race the whole time. Ally vs horde every time you show up to an island is boring. MIx it up! Add events like waves of enemys that get harder and harder. Stuff like Elmental lords showing up and creating new effects like Mythic+ affixes. Boss level mobs that will strait up murder you with a huge aggro range patrolling the island. Quests that are actually fun. Jump puzzles, treasure puzzles, flying puzzles. Keep the ally vs horde aoe crap but add more modes.
They have alot of potential for fun but they are just a zerg grindy mess. Let us explore and make it worth exploring.
1 Like
Being 100% honest, I just do the 4 weekly heroics that I’m required to, and that’s it.
First of, in terms of balance, the “Azerite mobs” (the ones that are near azerite vents and extractors) seem to do a very disproportional dmg. With 386 ilvl, if I pull 3-4 “spiders” they literally melt my hp. The other island mobs I can pull 20 and walk away just fine.
And, in the current version, I’m glad they finish faster and have more “random events” at least. But for the feedback:
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1 ) I don’t even consider they have rewards. Why?
- I can’t target the island I will do, it’s random.
- they don’t have a “loot table”. If I wanna do a dungeon I can simply open the journal and see what rewards are there. With islands, it’s a mistery.
- I really won’t go to a 3rd party site to figure out what the islands “have a chance to drop”. That information should be on the game. I don’t know, make a “Island Journal” with some vague information about the island, and on the right page, the loots you can get. Just like the dungeon journal.
- It’s really silly that people can’t target or queue for an specifit island. I’m sorry, but if I wan’t a loot for island A I’m really not going to queue to have 33% chance of getting that island (if it’s up for the week) and THEN have another complete mistery % chance of getting said loot.
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2) Islands had a lot of potential, to be a “3 people cool scenario”, but it turned to be just one of those “grind a few every week and whatever”. The absolute ONLY reason I step foot on them is because of the weekly AP quest + the mission.
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3) I’d possibly do more if:
- I could target which island I would do.
- I knew whatever hell drops from it (aka, “Islands Journal”.
- They were not some “RUSH RUSH RUSH GET AP AGGRO EVERYTHING AND AOE”. They didn’t even need an “oposing faction”. Just make an options to do a “exploration island” with hidden puzzles, things people have to figure out, minibosses with actual mechanics. That would be SO MUCH more interesting than 3 oposing faction bots pretending to be players.
6 Likes
Pros:
- Flow is better, intuitive sense of direction exists now, which is nice
- The newer maps are actually pretty cool in terms of art
- The weekly map has succeeded in tempting me to do the min. of 4 per week
Cons:
- The objective is still to mindlessly click/kill everything asap, which continues to be super boring and makes an island feel like a long fill the bar quest
- Still too much RNG on rewards. Finishing and not getting dubloons is awful
- Weekly reward is RNG gated too! As a raider not getting residuum sucks
- The purpose of islands is still to grind azerite, which itself is not compelling
TLDR; better, but rewards are still too poor to incentivize me to do any more than the bare minimum because the content itself is still just a silly mob zerg.
5 Likes
They are better, but to be honest I’ve only done a few. I don’t especially like the play style of “go go go”. We already have that with M+. I would have preferred something with more exploration, questing, etc. vs. just a grab for Azerite. Feels like you can’t even look around.
IIRC there are some more changes coming with the play style though. This feels like it could have borrowed some of the Warfront technology to give us something procedural, but interesting. Unlike the Warfront, different each time (within reason). Unlike the current grab, something at a slower pace from time to time.
Feels like the kind of technology that is Blizzard trying different things, but a 1.0 product that will be much improved in the future.
2 Likes
Pros:
Love the enemy diversity. Fighting pirates and dragons on an island? Neat!
Constructive feedback:
Rewards are too little and too random. Azerite is not motivating and not rewarding right now. Drop rates for interesting things are too low. Would be amazing and more rewarding if we could use dubloons on a vendor with all the drops from islands. Something we can tangibly work towards as I don’t find current dubloon vendor items very interesting or comprehensive. The cool stuff is only in the low drop rate RNG which is sad and makes me not want to play just to roll the dice.
I think yall need to make mechanics and activities on the islands that are not kill everything as fast as possible more rewarding so players will take the time to do them.
3 Likes
The island changes are for the better! Here’s a list of pros and cons, with a summary alongside suggestions regarding island expeditions for Patch 8.1 Tides of Vengeance. Thanks for reaching out to the community for feedback!
PROS:
- The revamped mob placement is so much more enjoyable!
- The AI seems smarter, better, stronger, more of a threat.
- Invasions from various races happen earlier on for better engagement.
- More methods for collecting AP were added help with the variety for AP collection.
CONS:
- Damage output for Heroic is pretty high.
- The AP collected vs. AP rewarded system is very unfulfilling.
- The unique transmogs, mounts, weapons, toys are still too random, unclear.
- Doubloon currency is inconsistent.
SUGGESTIONS:
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Should be able to embark to specific islands.
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Reputation tokens should be tradeable for doubloons too.
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Add a “Call to Arms” system to specific islands.
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Update the “Appearance” tab with Island Expedition transmogs (to show source).
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Completing your “Weekly Scouting Report” should enable a lootable chest on region reset with gold, AP, toys, mounts, transmog etc.
SUMMARY:
Overall, the newer island expeditions are a right step in the right direction. The mob placement is ten times better than its predecessor. The AI for each faction is great. They actually seem to either hunt you down, run away when needed, or race to the finish line for completion when necessary. The invasions that occur during the expedition happen much earlier on which is fantastic. We get to experience whatever unfolds on that island earlier, than later. And the addition of adding more AP collection resources and involving The Heart of Azeroth was much needed, and appreciated.
Now, there were some problems too that were introduced with this patch. Damage output of creatures on the specifically Heroic Islands are incredibly more difficult and noticeable than previously before. Getting rooted/stunned/blinded repeatedly into a telegraphed one shot on Heroic isn’t fun. The AP collected on a Heroic island for example shouldn’t be reduced down to 225. It feels odd that I’m battling against island creatures and enemy faction AI to collect 9,000 AP, only to be rewarded 225 when I’m done. The rewards from the islands are still unclear for me. I don’t know if its intended, but I’m still using a 3rd party resource to identify which islands I need, which themed invasion I need to look for, etc. The doubloons seem to be very inconsistent as a reward. Sometimes I get 10+ for doing my weekly scouting report, sometimes I get 0. It’s just inconsistent.
And finally, I’d like to comment on the suggestions I listed. The islands that are available weekly should all be able to be specifically queueable just like dungeons. If I wanted to farm a specific island that was unlocked for the week, I should be able to embark to that island as many times as I would want to. Now, like the dungeon queuing system has, this would also need a “Call to Arms” feature that is enabled for anyone to participate in for queuing for a random expedition. Maybe have it reward “Plundered Booty” bag that contains a fraction of the gold that the “Call to Arms” bag rewards, that also contains augment runes too. Lastly, a possible idea to help alleviate confusion for some of the lootable transmogs from island expeditions. Perhaps an update to the “Appearance” tab with the transmogs obtainable from islands. For example, the Swarmfury cloth set obtainable from Mantid invasions should say on the “Appearance” tab: ‘Mantid Invasion: Island Expeditions’. And lastly, perhaps expand on the weekly cache system and add it to the island expeditions. Completing the “Weekly Scouting Report” unlocks a chest on next reset that contains a plethora of random items such as items related to your professions, gold, augment runes, and rewards from the islands (transmogs, mounts, weapons, toys). Afterall, we are invading, exploring, and looting islands.
Thank you for taking the time again to reach out to the community for feedback!
2 Likes
I would love to do the quests, and I don’t particularly want the quest items marked and sparkling because that takes away the scavenger hunt feel of finding them. At the same time, the “race against the other team” aspect makes it hard to feel like I can take time to finish the quests, because doing so may put my team at a disadvantage. The “puzzle” style of play and the “race” style of play are at odds.
2 Likes
They are pretty much the same as before except far more dull.
Before 8.1 the loot tables, while obscure and not well explained meant there was actual gameplay involved in it, you had to explore the island and tag different types of enemies to get a chance at loot.
Now you just face roll through whatever packs you come across, winning doesn’t really matter, what you attack doesn’t really matter. Now they are just a weekly quest to fill the bar.
Edit : Also, The Other faction NPCs still respawn way too fast, and the lack of new teams that use diverse groupings instead of being “racially themed” isn’t great either. If you lot are gonna shove “ZOMG FACTION WARZ!” down our throats can you at least have the faction members work together instead of just being “Orc Group! ELVES! OTHER ELVES! and Moo Cows!”
2 Likes
I’ve been digging the islands. They’re really fun and I find it to be a zen time waster.
What I’d request though is a review on the match making. I’m sitting on my third deserter penalty while trying to level because I joined a group with 2 guys in the same group. 1’s clearly afk so its real just a guy leveling the toon but I get kicked because he just wants to be alone.
So now I’m looking at 40 minutes of interrupted gameplay because the system considers that “deserting.” Honestly thats my biggest reason for not doing them anymore. Not going to sink time into a thing that leads to 40 minutes being wasted because of an exploit in the current set up.
2 Likes
I’ve done roughly 50 Normal Island Expeditions since the patch has gone live. I personally feel like the item/cosmetic rewards from the islands is still too low.
I have gotten a great many rep items (If i get one more Dented Coin i am going to murder Cyrus with a bag of them…) compared to pets, toys, mounts, or weapon/item transmogs.
Are the rep items meant to be more heavily weighted to drop then the other things comparatively? I understand they are meant to be rare but to not get anything other then rep items is very discouraging.
I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that this is going to be another achievement along the lines of Going to Need a Bigger Bag. Hopefully i am wrong, Some of those armor sets are really cool!
1 Like
I never usually post on forums but when i seen this blue post i wanted to voice my thoughts. I have done more islands then most people even after 8.1 for mounts since i am a huge mount collector. Going to list my pros cons and suggestions.
PROS
- Mob variety seemed to improve with extra invasion
- Dubloon Vendor added. Step in the right direction
- Azerite Extractor adds new flavor to the island. And if there was not one on the island they bless you with an extra invasion.
CONS
-Rewards too Scarce. (Mounts, Mog)
-RNG layers. ( Pray for the invasion mobs to show up, then Pray for the item you want to drop)
-Mounting up because i ran through an invasion mob and they CC’d the mobs chasing me. now i have to figure out which ones got stuck before i can remount.
-island maps dont seem that rewarding
SUGGESTIONS
-Rotating Vendor with all rewards. id feel great if i knew i was working towards a reward rather to have Layered RNG
-island maps, make them have a high chance for those super rare loots to drop
-Dubloon drop rate, i seen buffs nerfs to these, but maybe give them every island but at a steady rate not too high or low.
To summarize this id feel more engaged to do these if i knew i was working towards something. Thanks for listening
4 Likes
Heroic islands were regularly giving 1-3 items when 8.1 dropped. With this and the addition of treasure maps, it finally seemed like islands were headed in the right direction. Sometime the week before last, on the 19th or 20th, the drop rates for islands were changed because people were AFK farming them. I understand that giving players the ability to AFK farm content was not intended, but a blanket nerf to drops, even from WINNING an island, is CLEARLY not the proper fix. Currently you’re lucky to even get a couple of dubloons… with drops usually coming in the form of 0-1 item. Also why did you all feel the need to nerf the dubloon drop rate after adding the vendor? Dubloon drops don’t feel particularly rewarding now, even after choosing the Eitrigg upgrade to acquire more dubloons. As it stands, islands feel even more mundane and tedious now than at launch, and this is coming from one of the (few) players that actually enjoys running islands.
One step forward, two steps back.
4 Likes
Islands are far more annoying now. Prior to 8.1 I was running 50+ islands a week for pets, since 8.1 I have only really been capping 1 toon, sometimes an alt as well. Drop rates seem fine currently but I have a low sample size post 8.1, but it is in general items I don’t care about as I can no longer target which mobs I want to kill for which drops.
Mobs are far more difficult, this makes it annoying to grind out islands while doing something else on my second monitor. Will probably end up just buying the rest of the pets I need from the AH and not farm them. I’m having trouble seeing projected textures and spell effects on the two new islands, I think they are going through the ground. Sometimes I just randomly die on the new islands without seeing anything to dodge.
Overall dislike 8.1 island expeditions far more than I did the 8.0 ones and will probably just stop doing them.
2 Likes
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/isles-after-the-afk-hotfix/
you nerfed the drop rate some weeks ago, the mobs are broken, the rewards are again back to pre 8.1
7 Likes
What if instead of a 3 person que thing it’s a persistent 20-40man island where people are just there killing stuff or looting stuff with a bunch of people. No goal to be met just rewarded for what you individually kill or pick up. You can enter and leave without punishment or affecting other players.
2 Likes
I only tried a few after patch. It seems like dull content that was slightly changed into still dull content.
I can accept that not every part of WoW is going to be for me but I am struggling to find a angle that would make this enjoyable.
You polished a turd. Its still a turd. If you are dead set on making this a staple of the content simply remove the AI make it a single player instance with loot and make it a way to AoE farm world drops.
It would still be boring but it would have a functional purpose in game beyond grind the time gate to unlocking your gear.
4 Likes
Ive done maybe 5 treasure maps between a couple characters and my missions where the following:
1 cloth transmog bracers (which ok transmog but bracers feel kinda bad)
4 AP items
Getting AP from a 1+ day mission feels bad, especially after doing 3-5 expeditions which arent super hard but, it is a chunk of time spent.
Treasure map mission rewards should feel like actual rewards, bare minimum should be a good chunk of doubloons (probably 20-50 and another 20-30 bonus) or transmog gear appropriate to that week. As of right now its just not worth the investment for what you do, and ive gone from doing it on 2-4 120 characters to just my main.
As someone who has done 1500ish islands, who has all the pets and all the quest items but 0 mounts, here’s some feedback;
- Raise the item level requirement for Heroic OR;
- Scale down the mobs on the islands for Heroic and Mythic, ESPECIALLY the casters (mostly the casters who cast Shadow spells as they hurt a lot more than they should).
- Add in some sort of bad luck protection for the mounts or make it so there are specific named rares or events that give a 100% drop rate on the mounts. There’s people with several thousand islands done and 0-1 mounts, and then there’s people with not as many who have all 9. The drop rates of the mounts (especially when you have all the mobs who can drop mounts on one island) is bad and you’re creating an unhealthy farm for mount collectors. The mounts aren’t unique, they are recolours and shouldn’t really be so impossible to get.
- Make the map rewards have a higher chance to give pets/mounts. Getting 5k gold, azerite or titan residium on alts really sucks. Well, the gold not so much, but azerite and titan residium I don’t want on an alt sucks. The idea of giving a big chunk of dubloons is also good.
- Make killing the Alliance worth something. They’re so annoying and a waste of time to run into or kill that I generally just avoid them.
- Put the items that can drop on vendors. One vendor for transmog armor of each type, one vendor for weapons, one vendor for pets, one vendor for mounts, one vendor for quests. Let people who farm a lot for one item be able to spend their dubloons on a mount. Also, don’t make the mounts cost 1k each like the albatross. The albatross is unique and special, the drops are not. Make them 500 like the recoloured seahorse and leave as is. 500 dubloons is achieveable, 1000 was horrible and people shouldn’t have to grind 9000 dubloons to get 9 mounts because their RNG luck is so bad they have 0 mounts after over a thousand islands.
- Make dubloon bags a 100% drop off a win. Honestly, the whole ‘I won an island on Normal/Heroic and didn’t get anything but AP’ sucks. A dubloon bag should be 100% on a win and then anymore loot should have an increased chance to drop on a win. Winning and getting nothing is very demoralising.
- Have some sort of role sorting for queues. There is nothing worse than getting into an island and having 2 Healers and one Tank/DPS and the Healers refuse to change roles. It makes the island take way longer or becomes a loss. There should be a role check and then anyone queieing as Heals/Tank ends up in a group with 2 x DPS.
5 Likes