A clip from Bellular really struck me today. The nerfing of Baron Rivendare’s sword. Not because this is a monumental change, but because it isn’t. The effect this will have on the game is negligible, and that is the point. Someone at Blizzard, with all the complaints about WoW right now, felt this was important enough to change instead of working on that. Felt that the fun it caused, exceeded the determent to the game it was causing. That right there is WoW’s problem. People were having fun, and that needed to be corrected. This is a game. Blizzard should be focusing on ADDING fun things, not removing them.
On a related note, people have to have somewhere to go and people are finding FFXIV, a game with a better focus on fun. I’m one of those people dipping my toes, and running into a bard band putting on a show is really a treat and something that is totally alien to a WoW player. But I think this edited Asmongold clip better represents what is going on. Blizzard is giving us epic cinematics, but the epic game moments are pretty stale. Anyone who tries another game and has a moment like this, and IS NOT hooked on WoW, is not going to continue with WoW.
Now before someone comes in with a reply thinking I’m just simping for FFXIV, I’m one of the people who isn’t just leaving WoW silently, as in the first vid. This is not an “I QUIT” post. If I quit, there will not be any childish foot stomping complaint post, because at that point it means I don’t care anymore. I’m trying to amplify voices who clearly see what is wrong, because Blizzard clearly does not, and I like the core features of this game.
The undocumented Rivendare sword nerf is shameful and I would love to know the thought process behind this change. It was little things like this that made the game fun and interesting.
I do not like nor support streamers like these. The problem with games today is that they aren’t games at all. They are all just marketing tools. Wilful tracking through gaming… who would have seen it coming? lol
I’m not going to go into a long drawn out explanation. We all know it’s about making money now. Having fun along the way was a long long time ago in a far away place, not unlike our own.
Anyway, enjoy what you can, when you can, while you can. Trying to save a game that has evolved into a slot machine vs the mental escape we so desperately need, while noble, feels futile at this point.
The thing is, if it is about making money, with the subscriber numbers from years ago, with just a few of the whale transactions we have, they would make substantially more money. Had you at least watched the first video, you would have seen they are just reviewing the strategy FFXIV uses to make a successful MMO, and right now it is not debatable they have made substantial gains where WoW has not. Fewer subs = less money. That is something the store can not compensate for.
Blizzard needs to do what it has done best in the past: Take good ideas and make them better. They haven’t had an original idea since Diablo 1. They didn’t invent RTS, they just dominated it. They didn’t invent MMO, they just dominated it.
They changed it from the percentage it has always been to the speed stat bonus. That isn’t really relevant though, because this isn’t some game breaking “omg nerf nightfae” type thing. The relevant thing is they did it at all. It shows where their focus is, and it isn’t in improving core parts of the game people are having a problem with. This, if it needed changing at all, belonged so far down the to-do list, it realistically should never have gotten done. But especially not now.
It is like mowing your lawn while your house is on fire. There is something deeply wrong with your priorities or just situational awareness.
I guess what I’ve said went over your head. FFXIV has a better focus, but is still catching up. They are in the process of overtaking, and if my intent was for them to overtake, I would not have made this post. Is that more clear? There are games that visually I like better than FFXIV, and yes it can get a bit weeb. WoW is a bit looney tunes visually at times too so I consider that a wash.
Not sure what youre talking about. I am desirable on my PuG runs. Mythic+ to me is cake. More pew pew than LOL cinematics. Cinematics on that Weeb game is always Boss crying nonsense stuff like “I am an immortal god. Your puny group is no match to me”. The story is very predictable and the game is so trivial. The Bosses die regardless even if the group is weak. Good thing, that crap is not on WoW. 45 min of pure fights on Mythic+ and I can do 6 to 10 Mythic+ games without nonsense cinematics.
This is an amazing visual. I’m picking up exactly your point just in this well-crafted analogy.
What’s ironic, given the sword change, is that there are still bugs that mean longer slogs through legion and BFA content because the troop units (unless changed today) do not have any traits or abilities. They don’t add to any percent-chance.
How to advertise FFXIV in a WoW post, a tutorial by Cur.
Let’s be clear, the change to Baron Rivindare’s sword was made because players at level 50/60 pre-9.1 were equipping it specifically for the move speed buff, which is obviously not something Blizzard intended for folks to be doing.
When people do stuff like this, that’s when Blizzard has to step in and change things, because otherwise, they wouldn’t. After all the Runeblade was perfectly fine for how long before this nerf? Since the launch of Shadowlands when they scaled everything down thanks to the level squish.
By the way, if this type of stuff was even possible in FFXIV (it’s not, as weapons don’t usually have bonuses like this) and players were using outdated gear to increase their movement speed in current content, then the FFXIV devs would also step in with the nerf bat.
Both games have pros and cons. As someone who plays both, I can see the appeal of each easily. That said, I feel like a lot of the people spruking FFXIV here are ignoring the flaws of the title (of which there are many) and that they’re just advertising it here to ‘stick it to the man’ rather than give an accurate impression of the game.
Blizzard changed all the stats and effects on weapons when they performed the squish. At the time they didn’t make any changes to the speed bonus the blade offered (which basically increased the movement speed of whoever was wielding it by 10%) and they likely wouldn’t have, except that quite a few players were farming Stratholme for that blade so they could equip it in Shadowlands content and run faster than they otherwise would have been able to.
They nerfed it for the same reason they made sure the Heart of Azeroth and Azerite Gear didn’t work in Shadowlands content. They didn’t want players feeling like they had to farm old content to get advantages in current content.
