To the OP. This is an awesome post!
I mean yeah, I get what you sniffed here.
However, I see it differently:
He points out that Fin - CAN - do anything now.
The covenant gear and pvp gear you can aquire solo puts you at a level where you CAN do all content (to a certain point).
People have done said content in less gear (Keystone master was achieved on… 179? 197? ilvl…? I don’t remember…)
The person behind matters a lot, of course.
I 100% get the discourse, I fully understand your switch-sniffing here, and I agree; but also disagree (I don’t know if that even makes sense).
What he says is true, but also untrue.
You can do everything - but you also can not.
People are usually your limitation, and it’s actually great how Fin is pointing it out in a different perspective which is purely solo-view.
Meanwhile, Preach puts it on to the “If you wanna go further from here, it will take a lot of time investment (Implementing; Finding people to do X with and gear upgrades being sparse).”
I feel like loot is fine up to ilvl 200 mark.
After that, it gets awfully harder to get unless you:
1 - have friends/guild and do high raid / m+ / pvp.
or
2 - are an extremely patient pugger and push yourself really hard to get better scores or make your own groups.
I think we agree with eachother on some levels.
I just find other spokespeople more problematic in their approach to how WOW is right now.
Hope that makes sense ^^
No I get where you’re coming from with that. It makes sense.
The thing is I wonder if Preach had to do the role reversal and did what Finn did would he be as upbeat about it? I think he wouldn’t, he’d probably get annoyed and angry that he’s doing that.
Which kinda makes me think that Preach is clearly not a good judge of where the game stands. It’s like imagine Simone Biles giving a lecture about what needs to change in gymnastics, but the lecture is being given to a group of older slightly over-weight adults in their 30’s and 40’s. She sees the sport in a different light because that’s where she competes at, and it’s going to be hard for her to see what they’re going through because she’s not in nor will never be in that position.
SL is the worst thing they have done in a long time.
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But - why bring up preach?
My post was about how BlizzardActivision keep repeating mistakes.
Preach has contributed with critique (AKA pointing out Covenants being trash with the “Choice”-excuse) - but it’s not like he’s one of the biggest fishes out there.
As I said, there are more problematic ones out there… ones that sit around making excuses for Blizzard, while also making fun of us Forum posters and our “Shipshows”.
but, neither changes the fact that it’s BlizzActivision that keep making the same poor choices and designs, even after proven they could make something right;
just to repeat the bad stuff to “fix” it later.
- Fun side note; BlizzActivision forum is now telling me to stop having a conversation with you cause this is apparently not enough for a discussion.
It’s asking me to instead PM you.
Anyway, we’re prolly in the same page.
Hopefully BlizzActivision starts being on a saner one soon… but I can’t say I am optimistic.
I say Preach because he’s interviewed Ion a few times and it’s clear he knows a few people on the Dev team.
But the problem as I see it is there’s a general unwillingness to change. Basically they floundered from end of MoP into Legion. Legion was seen as being somewhat of a success compared to WoD and since then they’re hasn’t been to my knowledge (I only played through a bit of BFA and SL) any significant changes in the game since then. The progression system has largely remained the same with no additional content or new “Main Staples” added to the game.
Which is kinda why I bring up those guys because while yes they have criticisms, even they with their criticisms, fail to grasp the entirety of the problem.
Taelisin (Spelling) etc has also had personal connections with the higher ups, even being hired officially by them, yet they keep sugarcoating the content and mocking our complaints.
Is that not a bigger issue than Preach not going volatile over the issue, but rather saying that the problems exist, acknowledges it, but in a different manner than “Guys this isn’t working”?
I’m not saying its right, but Preach is hardly the biggest bad of the puddle here.
There are others who need to change their tune to what actually mirrors the problems.
Oh I don’t doubt it.
I just use Preach because this video highlights the best of the issue players are talking about.
I’m fairly sure that Asimangold whatever his name is probably equally as bad. The guys at Blizz have now just retreated into their cocoon and have their people they talk to about how to improve the game.
Which I’m sure they see is really only impacting about maybe 10% of the population. But that’s where they all come from so it’s not shocking.
Funny enough - Asmongold has been mega vocal about the issues of WoW, and even retired from streaming officially (For a break, arguably) due to it.
So he’s one of the smaller issues since he frequently picked on BlizzActivision and their choices.
His most famous anger being the store-mounts to a questionable degree…
The people BlizzActivision talk to are more suit-people and china.
Kotick himself has the famous quote of wanting to take “Fun” out of game development… and he’s the runner head.
That speaks a tonne.
Having EA argue about Lootboxes being “Surprise Mechanics”, Bethesda and Fallout-76 being… fallout-76, Cyberpunk being… as it is (etc) - the entire industry is run by the wrong people, at least in the higher titles.
Even indie companies are affected by this toxicity (when seen through players eyes), as there are very small developers spewing out some interesting amount of distaste for their own fanbase. (Not going to mention names).
The era we live in is just not built for fun and happiness - it’s greed, selfishness and addiction.
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I know that I’m late to the game of replying to your post. Though I do have some experience with all that you’ve mentioned. I have played every expansion since WoW’s inception, save for the OG beta. Got into heavy raiding in BC, tried in WoTLK. Though I saw major changes to the game’s soul, as it were starting in Cata and into MoP.
It was the erasure of the MMO aspect.
Not that you couldn’t go team up with other people, but rather that the storyline being the focus, where teaming up was encouraged, it was that your character was in fact, the storyline. Your character became the titular hero of WoW. In my opinion, this change was the death knell to the MMO aspect of WoW. That’s not to say that there aren’t people out there that this new style works for. It’s just that it became a fundamental shift in game design that perpetuates to this day. It encourages a soloist attitude. If your singular character is the hero, why do you need others to complete the story?
You don’t have to deal with the drama of other people, whether it’s from a guild, a pug, or group quests. Yes, you still need to do all those group things, M+, Dungeons, Raids, WQ’s, but as your character it doesn’t fit the narrative, the storyline.
I left BFA for Classic, because I thought that I could relive the glory days, and to an extent, I did. However, the attitude of the “My Character is the hero of the story” came to Classic from those of BFA. There was more drama, more elitism, than I saw many years ago. I think it’s because they didn’t correct the issue of shoring up the MMO aspect before launching Classic, and encouraging a sense of community. So, I quit altogether.
I took time to play other games, or work on my own life, and let the “Drain of WoW” dissipate. As you can clearly see, I’m back playing WoW. Though by no means am I beholden to the Dev’s version of the game. I don’t do M+’s, or LFR’s, and have done only a handful of dungeons. My character is not the hero of the story, and I don’t play like that anymore. I understand that the MMO aspect of this game might have been irreparably damaged by the design direction of the Dev’s choices, but I personally don’t care. Not anymore that is. WoW used to be a way of escaping into a world and having fun. Now, more than ever, the dev’s seem to want it to be a second job. Where you must scrape by, or invest so much time and effort into it that it’s the only world you live in. And if that’s your idea of fun, more power to you.
It’s a choice you must make, to play the game how YOU WANT to play it. Not how they intend for you to play it. They lost the idea of what was fun long ago, and told players, “Our way is the only way to play.” I say screw that. It’s my $$ that gives me access to this game, not theirs. So, it’s my way to play, or I’ll just take my $$ and do something else.
That’s what you have decide. What do you want from playing this game? Do remember, it is a game. It’s not an extension of your life, and you shouldn’t be burdened into thinking it is. Teaming up with other people should be a fun experience, not a soul draining set back. So, find out what makes this game exciting for you, even if it’s one thing, and if you find it has value, do it. Forget the rest, forget trying to be the hero of the game. Just play the game your way. And, should you find that even doing that isn’t enough. Then quit, there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t owe anything to the Dev’s of this game, or to the other people who play it.
TL; DR: In the end, it’s a Game. Play how you want to play, not how others think you should. If you find that you’re not having fun, and it’s become a chore, or a second job. Then quit, you don’t owe anyone anything, not even an explanation for leaving.
PERSONALLY,
I HATE TIMEGATING
NO FLYING AT MAX LVL
VOID FORM FOR SHADOW PRIESTS
REMOVING OLD CONTENT SO YOU CAN’T OBTAIN ITEMS ANYMORE.
NEW CHARACTER ANIMATIONS… —
Iwant have a choice to play with old animations for my night elf.
If they could fix this…i would be very happy.
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I came back after a year away in FFXIV to check out Shadowlands.
I have 11 days left of the 3 months I bought, and all I do is the daily and weekly quests.
Not going to buy any more.
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Actually I think Cata and MoP had way more content than BFA and SL, a lot more thought and effort into the world and questlines and npcs. There was continuity and flow, as opposed to the choppy/random/disconnected feeling of quests since BFA.
I feel that regardless of the systems or PVP balance or endgame content, the main world content has to be interesting, with interesting characters and storylines. Vanilla, TBC, Wrath, MoP had fantastic questlines and characters. I guess there was a mass exodus of writers or something.
I’m logging in less and less as well, let’s see if Ashes of Creation can deliver, I guess I miss the true sandbox mmo.
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The point about story lines is a good one.
BfA is the first expansion I played through on both sides where I can’t remember any characters other than the main story line chars. (Talanji… Can’t remember the names of the Alliance ones. Daughter of Bolvar, English accent guy, etc. Old harbor master guy?) Ok I remember Magni, but he’s not really a new char for the expansion. I mainly remember the “wouns”…
SL is even worse. I can kind of remember doing stuff in the zones and I can picture the zones and what they look like, but I’m not sure I could tell you the names of any of the characters reliably.
In Legion there were many characters and story lines that I remember. Runas, Mayla, Lasan Skyhorn, the criminal goblins. Loved killing those guys. Ly’leth Lunastre, Oculeth, Valtrois?, Prince Farondis. Captain Fareeya. The talking rune tree. The Suramar smuggler that saved his sister.)
I’m just not as invested in the stories. Probably because there subjectively to me doesn’t seem much depth anymore.
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kind of sad is it not?
It’s just a different form of problematic. We’ve gone from a mandatory 40 hour a week game-job to unemployed. Neither extreme is desirable. On the positive side there are things that were better in BFA, just like there are things better in SL.
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