And how, exactly, is requiring specific content to access gameplay mechanics, like flying, good for the game? How are the current gearing, AP, and Essence systems good for the game - how is forcing specific content at specific times for specific gameplay (not gear/content) rewards good for the game?
The grind, in older expansions, was always optional. Sure, they had attunement quest chains for raids, but outside of the normal leveling process, no gameplay was locked behind a grind, only certain content - you were max level, so you had all of your talents and abilities. You could grind for gold, rep, or professions (and could do any of the 3 as you preferred), and the rewards of all 3 were relevant, because the gaps in power from gear were smaller and better gear was more difficult to obtain, but that was through PvP/Dungeons/raids, which are the main contents that players do primarily because they enjoy them. Alts could be geared quickly if you had the gold to buy better BoE gear or could craft it.
Keep in mind that sub counts are down right now. The game isn’t anywhere near its peak, and its peak was when the game had flying and most content was optional… This is an MMORPG, not a loot grinding simulator like Diablo. That needs to be kept in mind for dev decisions - there’s a lot more variation in content, so different people will like/dislike different parts of the game, and when people are being forced to do content they don’t like, they’re more likely to just quit the game outright.
Requiring the players that do play the game to do more of specific content if they want to play it how they want isn’t a good design decision.
The problem here is what they’re gating behind the grind, not that they’re gating something behind a grind. I don’t care at all if they gate cosmetic rewards, crafting plans, or access to certain content behind a grind, especially if there’s more than 1 way to complete that grind. I absolutely mind abilities (essences/azerite/artifact traits) and flight being locked behind a grind, especially they they only give one way to complete it.
The grind to get rep for the heroic keys in BC was optional? No it wasn’t
The only profession that was relevant after the second or third raid tiers in each expansion was enchanting, and later jewelcrafting.
The power gaps were not smaller, they were bigger. Raid gear was far superior to anything in pvp. You could also get good epic gear outside of raiding. BC is when they began using tokens and badge vendors.
Source?
correlation doesn’t equal causation
You are right, this is a mmorpg. All mmorpgs have grinds, and wow has always had a loot treadmill/grind. The real problem is for a long time the game pandered to the instant gratification crowd, and now they’re beginning to easy back on that and now want players to actually earn their rewards by playing through the games content.
Since BFA has been universally received poorly i don’t think its a stretch to say the subs are down from legion. We know it started off strong but that was pre-orders and before things went to fish. So I’d say its a more than fair conclusion to reach since we can’t know the truth.
You mean exactly like tanks can just walk through mobs, daze not even a mechanic for them, and survive an onslaught of NPCs with a few CD but any chasing DPS would immediately be shredded? You mean that kind of danger?
No ofc not, But based on popular streamers, GD, reddit, youtube… etc etc. C’mon you can’t ignore all these. Ions even come out stating things were handled poorly, especially azerite and the heart of azeroth.,
Oh well if someone said it on the internets then it must be true! Tip: They don’t represent the playerbase either, and streamers will say lots of things to get clicks. Just because a ‘popular’ streamer says something doesn’t make it true.
None of us know how the game is doing sub wise. Trying to use fictional numbers to support a narrative only serves to hurt the agenda that narrative is trying to push.
Ok so maybe i gotta explain how reaching a conclusion works.
Ion, the lead Dev, agreeing with fan, with the playerbase that things were handled wrong, that they didn;t work out the way they wanted from 8.0 to 8.1.5. That immediately lends weight to all the dissatisfaction we have seen on the numerous platforms i listed. Ion has Data you and i Don’t have. So now how we reach a logic based conclusion is this. If Ion is echoing some of the same sentiment the playerbase is then it’s not a stretch to assume that subcount has dropped a bit, or at the very least the time metric they go for now. I’m not saying WoW is dying not by any stretch. Ion isn’t some streamer, hes not some dev, hes the leader of the company. To dismiss what hes saying as lending support to the idea that sub/time metric has dropped is… well to put it bluntly, stupid. It should weigh heavy in the discussion if nothing else will for you.
He’s the game director, Brack is the president/ceo of Blizzard.
A lot of conclusions could be formed based on what Ion said, we don’t know how they came to their internal conclusions. With out that information all you have is faulty logic which has lead to a faulty conclusion. Sure sub numbers could be down, but to use that theory as though it was some kind of fact to spin a narrative. (As others have been doing in this thread and on GD) Adds nothing to a discussion.
I’m not following a narrative i’m picking a part a single response from you. And they came to their internal conclusions cus despite GDs best efforts they aren’t entirely clueless. People have opinions, it’s called public opinion. It’s not inherently wrong, it’s inevitable. We base our opinions on the best data available. It’s not a stretch to theorize that time played/subs are down. I know i sure as fish ain’t keeping up an alt. I am not grinding essences on two people much less 3.
I unlocked flying last night and spent an hour revisiting the tired BfA zones to see them from new angles. I found some new things I’d not seen before (in the places you never go while questing) and had a lot of fun. I completed a bunch of world quests, where normally I do the absolute minimum to get by.
Everything was so much more accessible, and I actually had a lot of fun just zooming about.
Given we play games for fun, flying is as necessary to me as anything in this game. It’s a source of fun in itself. It won’t help me raid, but it will help me enjoy a game I was playing for about 2 hours a week through most of 8.1.