I'm Out Y'all, Hopefully I'll Be Back... Maybe

Lore Story Forum
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Below is a transcription on my thread on GD (link below). While it isn’t directly directed to Story Forums here, I figured I’ll let you all know on my upcoming absence of the game and reasons why I finally decided to stop giving $15/month on the game. Enjoy the read, and I’ll miss you people (if my posting privileges get revoked)!

Mmmm, yeah I unsubbed. “But why are you making a thread on it?” one may ask. Well, because this is General Discussion and I can make whatever thread I please on here as long as it pertains to WoW, so deal. And additionally, this is my little (perhaps vain) attempt to add amongst the myriad of recent threads others have made on unsubbing to push the point to Blizzard that I’m dissatisfied with the current state of the game.

Will I return? Yeah probably, maybe even in the course of BfA itself when Zandalari/Kul Tirans are finally added (or when the worgen/goblin remodels are released). As of now I haven’t played WoW for a good month and I foresee that pattern continuing for the near future; paying $15/month for literally 0 minutes of playtime doesn’t make good financial sense. Reason why I haven’t logged on is because I’m provided with other gaming distractions atm and retail WoW isn’t giving me an incentive to log on. The lack of incentives will be elaborated below but the

TL;DR is… I play games to have fun (not be put down), too many false promises, and just tired of waiting.

Why am I Being Punished for Playing?

A brief summary on me, I really enjoy narratives in video games and am somewhat of a lore buff as a result of that. People can look up my post history over on the Story Forums (including the old website) if they’re so inclined. But a video game is a video game in the end and while narrative is a big factor of my enjoyment in a video game, it’s never a requirement. The difference here with WoW is that I am consuming a narrative that is consistently written to make me feel bad.

Just… why? Why is this a thing? Ignoring the fact that we already had this story in MoP, what’s the creative sense in producing content to put down the playerbase? Yes, yes, art comes in many forms and we’ve plenty of entertainment media such as film and literature meant to invoke negative emotions from the audience, but again, this is a video game, more importantly, this is an MMORPG. People don’t consume WoW once and leave like a film or book, the point of the MMO is to have the playerbase consume constantly.

I main Horde and I main a Forsaken. I rolled this Forsaken toon in Vanilla because I bought into the narrative fantasy at the time. To put simply, said fantasy was never marketed as being the villains back then; not the Forsaken nor the Horde itself. Prior to my month-long break from WoW, everyday of BfA (and pre-launch for that matter) I logged into constant discourse of how my race and/or faction were villains and we were finally going to get our comeuppance; frankly, it’s depressing. And it would be fine if it were just the playerbase talking about dumb topics but now its Blizzard itself (again, looking at you MoP) explicitly telling me I am a bad person for playing Forsaken/Horde. Just… no, I didn’t play WoW to be a villain.

So for the majority of my time in BfA I was paying $15/month to… be depressed? To get angry? To keep arguing in Trade Chat on how I’m not a villain? No, I can’t do that and I won’t. And more importantly, how is making me (and the playerbase at large) experience these emotions on a daily basis make financial or creative sense in developing this MMORPG where the goal is to have us enjoy our time in the game? Having fun is what incentivizes me to keep playing and at the moment it’s not just a lack of fun, it’s an emphasis on anti-fun.

I Paid for Content That I Don’t Have?

Allied Races, both a wonderful addition to the game yet currently a controversial topic of late. Yet, I specifically remember being told I would be able to play a specific allied race at the launch of BfA, both within Blizzcon and the BfA feature trailer itself. Of course, I’m talking about Zandalari. Yes, Ion made an excuse on why Zandalari aren’t available right now in the recent QA, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I don’t have an advertised game feature that was stated to be available at launch. A game feature that I specifically shelled out money for expecting to play.

Pretty short and simple explanation, I paid money for something, expected to play it, and somehow don’t have it and now regulated to just waiting for it. But, speaking of waiting…

WoW is… a Waiting Simulator?

So much waiting is present in BfA. If it’s not the lack of Zandalari it’s the goblin/worgen remodels, if it’s not the goblin/worgen remodels it’s the counter-intuitive Azerite grind, if it’s not the Azerite grind then it’s the cyclical Warfronts, if it’s not the Warfronts then it’s the damn class reworks.

I main a Shadow Priest, I represent ground zero at starting off BfA playing a waiting simulator. “Oh your class isn’t finished, wait until we’re halfway into the first raid tier before changes come!” So much waiting, why am I paying $15/month just waiting? Doesn’t make financial sense. So yeah, I might come back when aforementioned features that I’m waiting for are finally present in the game.

Conclusion

Usually when a WoW expansion comes lacking, say like MoP or WoD, I usually have RP to turn to (I’m on an RP server after all); player-created and player-driven content. And it’s surprising, yet depressing, that the current state of BfA is removing my incentive to do just that. So if the game isn’t fun and I am not motivated to even engage in RP, I have no reason to keep paying $15/month on this game I’ve consistently enjoyed for more than a decade.

But like I said, I might come back, depends on how my gaming experience evolves from here. At the moment I’m engrossed in Zelda: BotW and I plan to start playing ESO again after I finish said playthrough. For those of you that are still playing, I do hope the game is fun for you. Just want to say that it isn’t fun for me. And to you Blizzard, directly, if the game isn’t fun, why bother?

Subscription expires 15 February 2018. I might still post around here until then, if I’ll be able to post after said date that’d be cool too, not sure how forum posting works anymore with people saying they both can and can’t post when they’re respective subscriptions ran out. Regardless, if I can’t post anymore after said date, it’s been fun everyone. I hope I’ll be able to log back in one day and start having fun like I used to.

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Well, man, sorry to see you leave. I know what it feels like to get burnt out on this game but I always end up coming back anyway. Lol.

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I always enjoyed the perspective you brought to any discussion about the Forsaken Viv. I used to view them almost exclusively through an Alliance lens, to the point that I really couldn’t appreciate what they had to offer from a narrative perspective. While I don’t always agree with what you have to say, I do feel like I’ve learned a lot from you, in the sense that I now have a degree of appreciation for the storytelling the Forsaken offer beyond the Scourge-lite villainy they have increasingly been reduced to. So, thank you for that.

I’m also sorry to see you go, but I can’t blame you at all. It’s hard to get excited about the game anymore, especially with regards to the narrative. Thinking about it usually just makes me either angry or sad; not exactly a recipe for a fun time. Its also been rough watching the toll BfA has taken upon the community, both in terms of the players such as yourself that have unsubbed, and in terms of the caustic and argumentative tone that seems to be increasingly present on the forums. You just have to do what’s best for yourself, and if the game isn’t fun for you anymore, then you definitely should move on. I hope you enjoy Zelda, ESO, and whatever else you play, and I also hope that WoW will improve to the point that you and others will be able to come back and have fun once again. I also look forward to seeing you on the Discord as well!

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Take care and let the memes be with you, always.
:ok_hand:

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it’s always sad losing valued posters because they reach a breaking point of the garbage narrative that blizzard is forcing into their players because they have no other way to generate cheap conflict that isn’t ruining the experience,concepts, or characters.

and on top of that, the faction conflict itself generates a gigantic amount of toxity that i personally hate that end in either insults between “who is the worst character”, “my side has been throw under the bus to benefit your narrative” or way more worse “who is the worst person” with insults between players.

Faction war in cancer, it has to stop.

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GDF leaking into SF again

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I get where your coming from. I am only posting now because I used a token in my characters bags to reactivate my account so I could post. If I actually had to spent money I probably wouldn’t have bothered. I am certainly not actually playing but I did realise I kind of missed posting and my pet hate of incorrect lore details left me itching to correct people and have my say.:stuck_out_tongue:

God knows I am not bothering playing at the moment and from what I have seen of dev communication my protest unsubbing wasn’t going to make a difference.

Have fun exploring other games. I find it is always good to get a change of gaming scenery from time to time just as a rule.

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At first I was going to post something dismissive like “what does this have to do with the price of tea in Pandaria?”

But after reading some responses it seems that there were several members on this forum that valued your presence and your contribution to discussion here, so I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to give a proper good bye to them.

In general I still think it is bad form to clutter up the Story forums with a personal note like this, but I can’t think of anywhere else one might give parting words to people they’ve spent time with and possibly become emotionally attached to.

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Don’t worry about it, at this point of my investment in the game I’ll take dismissals in stride. Like you’ve said my goal here is to send my farewell to the community in the event that my posting privs get revoked once my sub runs out. And even if it doesn’t, in any case, I’ll be showing up here less frequently.

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Wait, what? What is Matoya doing walking around in Y’shtola’s body?

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I don’t know. I thought he called her Maester, but I’m hard of hearing.

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I’m going to speculate that Urianger(?) wasn’t aware that it was Y’shtola. That or Matoya passed on and Y’shtola has taken on her name. It’s not impossible that the name could have been passed down, Master to Apprentice, for some time.

I hadn’t seen that lengthier trailer before. Was nice to see it to be honest. At least we know who Thancred was escorting. Was wondering if it was the kid from the other Star from the Warring Triad questline back in Heavensward.

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I usually dismiss goodbye posts. Everyone has their reasons for what ever they do. I usually read them for the snarky replies.

However, yours did have a different tone.

Most “Goodbye Threads” have a tone similar to the dude who quits his job at the burger joint in the movie “Half Baked”. Pretty bitter and hostile. Your post, though, actually seemed to come from a good place. I can agree with many of your points.

Blizzard has mucked up the Gameplay. It is just wrong. The whole azerite system was a boondoggle. The Alliance was given ilvl 400 gear at the start of BoD. Warmode is a joke - not because of PvP, but because of unfair and outsized rewards for the Alliance.

I understand the Alliance is less played, less competitive in PvP and PvE, and needs incentives to leave Goldshire… but the events of the world first race left me a bit disgusted.

I hear rumors that a Horde raid group Faction Transfered to Alliance to reap the easy and immediate and unfair rewards - and then transfered back. Thats pretty close to paying IRL cash for gear. Playing one faction actually has gear consequences.

If BfA is seen as a failure, I feel alot of it will be because of gameplay factors. But your story points ring true as well.

I have a heart of stone when it comes to WoW’s story - 99% of the time. To quote Sylvanas - “this is war.” But that is not the case in Blizzard’s story.

Many players object to being villains when they were sold on honor and justice. Many players object to their favorite characters scorning their actions.

And the common refrain: “Well the Horde is the evil Faction. If you want to be good, the Alliance is waiting for you!” That is just silly. We may be doing bad things but there is little enjoyment when Rexxar and Mayla and the Nightborn are losing their love for the Horde.

Even players who want to RP evil have to put up with lectures and scorn every two quests. FROM THE PEOPLE SENDING US ON THESE MISSIONS! Blizzard is writing most of the Horde NPCs as not liking what’s going on…

What ludicrous leaf were they smoking when they started harping about Faction Pride in the build up to BfA launch… And now Mayla regrets leaving Highmountain to join the Horde…

I will probably play WoW until it shuts down, I am banned, or I die. I don’t consider myself a Gamer. WoW is the only game I play. Its still fun and interesting and I have many neat toys and memories. I can play for 30 minutes or 5 hours. It is the game for me.

But of all the goodbye posts I have read - yours strikes a good tone. It reflects sadness and discontent and explains why, without much rudeness. And I agree with your points.

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This meme sums up so much that is wrong with World of Warcraft. There was a time being in a different faction was a choice made for love, not for satisfaction. You chose a faction because you liked it, you felt pride in it, you liked the races within. Now it’s a matter of picking a faction based on what kind of satisfaction you want to have with your experience.

It’s wrong.

Somewhat related, but the Alliance put up with this forever in early WoW. Neutral factions always chiding us for our, ‘petty hatred,’ of the Horde. You would think after Alliance players saying, over and over, that this is not a way to feel any kind of enjoyment from your experience, that Blizzard would’ve known better than to put the Horde through it.

What’s worse is those players who take the, ‘Eye for an Eye,’ mentality about it, because the Faction Conflict has made people so jaded and cynical the only joy and satisfaction they can even get out of this game anymore is the other side’s suffering and annoyance.

I know the Developers, the Writers, etc… have said that Azeroth is not a nice place, that someone is always suffering and getting destroyed and what not, but perhaps it’s time to change this way of thinking. Just because there is war and conflict does not mean we need… this.

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This is the very nature of a faction war. Any gains come at the other faction’s expense. Every good moment for one faction is at the expense of another faction.

As an Alliance player this x-pac was wretched at the start cause all the starting moments were either getting wrecked so the Horde could feel good or a meh, so-so bit where everything didn’t matter.

Of course for Alliance players to get something good, it has to come at the Horde players expense. Then it ends in a return to the status quo. This is why a faction always sucks.

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The crazy thing is, it doesn’t need to be this way. Both factions can be written to be strong and competent and one side still lose. Losses and Victories can be balanced out in such a way that neither side makes too much headway against the other. More complex stories can arise as we see characters grow from low ranks to high ranks. A Faction War could be used to build up the narrative cast, rather than tear it down.

Take Stromgarde for a moment. Let’s assume that battle starts with the Blood Elves using an old favorite tactic: the send their Spellbreakers onto the battlefield as their Magisters rain fire down. The spellbreakers are fine and wade through the battlefield, slaying whatever survives the inferno, untouched by the flames.

The Alliance counters this by anticipating the use of this tactic, and having the Dark Irons use all that fire to create Fire Golems, who are not only immune to that fire but who can smash through the lines of the spellbreakers without issue.

The Horde sends in their Goblin sappers to destroy those Golems, while sending in Wolfriders to push deeper into the Alliance’s ranks.

This is countered by a squadron of Wildhammer Gryphon riders who throw Storm Bolts down on the Wolfriders, breaking their charge. The Horde Commander sends out Zandalari Pterrodax Riders to distract the Wildhammers, while pushing more ground forces. Let’s say a squadron of Tauren Sunwalkers. The Alliance counters that with a force of Lightforged Vindicators. Around this time both groups have priests/shamans on the field trying to revive the fallen and reduce casualties.

In the entire exchange we listed above we see intelligent decisions made, pulling on the diverse resources each faction has, giving multiple races and organizations a chance to shine and prove their worth while also showing no one is an unstoppable juggernaut, and everyone is stronger for being allied.

At that point, it doesn’t matter who wins the chess game for the territory. Both factions will have shown their strength, their intelligence, their honor, and any loss can be a result of a commander choosing to save the lives of their men for a return strike later. The winners can feel good about having won, the losers can feel good about having put up a great fight and chosen to conserve their strength for another battle.

And through it all you could see characters, new characters, being given a chance to really shine in battle.

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[quote=“Vexander-moon-guard, post:18, topic:90955, full:true”]

At that point, it doesn’t matter who wins the chess game for the territory. [/quote]

This is the point where that argument falls on it face. To many players it will matter and matter a lot. Especially if their side pulls out all those tactics for naught.

And again for one faction of players to win another has to lose. This isn’t a battleground where it doesn’t matter and is easily ignored if PVP isn’t your cup of tea. This is the story for the x-pac. It isn’t going to go away, same as the Cata revamp of the old world has never gone away.

You have described Andorhal for the Alliance, and honestly as an Alliance Player, I see no reason to accept the breadcrumb quest that sends you to Andorhal. You are actually better off never doing the questline.

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Sad to see you go, the way you portray the Forsaken was really refreshing. Hope you can still post when your sub runs out.