So before anyone tries to tell me that this belongs in the Mac Technical Forum, we were just told that they don’t want to hear it anymore, and we should post over here, instead. Here’s the link: Crashing, freezing, and stuttering after 8.3 [Intel GPUs] - #1931 by Drakuloth
Bottom line here is, quite simply, Macs can’t get the same gameplay experience that was intended and promised, due to a bug that took close to a month to nail down, and was apparently missed in the QA process. The workaround that has been given is to turn off particle effects, essentially blinding the player to things like ground effects in raids and instances, as well as crippling even some world quests. The tech support folks do not have any information for us as to when this will be corrected, stating that they are not privy to development or further QA efforts, nor are they Community Managers.
So, we turn now to the CMs, to ask why we aren’t getting any information other than “it’ll get fixed someday”. We were told that they “might” have to work with Apple and Intel to get this addressed, but beyond that, we get nothing. Are you working with them? Do we have anything?
Is Blizz planning to abandon the platform? Have we gotten there?
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I think they’re working on it. I am using a mac myself, definitely experiencing all of the fun of 8.3. Overheating, freezing, etc. Settings turned down lower than ever.
There’ve been changes to the particle effects already, it seems. With it disabled (as of Tuesday), I was unable to see many things on the ground, as you mentioned. The Tortollan Calligraphy quest was one of them–fixed as of today, for some reason. Doubled checked to see that particle effects remain disabled.
So they’re trying to improve the work-around as we’re temporarily stuck using it for the safety of our computers. Makes me believe they’re working to fix the actual issues as well, and not abandoning the platform.
(who knows)
Can you really fault them if they do? Mac OS is just not that great a platform for gaming. It never really has been. Apple just isn’t all that focused on PC gaming.
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That’s not what they’re saying.
This is what they’re saying.
What gameplay experience did they promise? If I’m on a computer from 2002, should I also be mad that the game doesn’t run well on my computer? Would that be blizzard’s fault? Macs are notorious for being pretty incompatible with games.
They said they will communicate when they have something, so if they’re not communicating they must have nothing.
What a dumb comparison. A computer from 2002 would never meet the system requirements for the game. People aren’t trying to run the game on some potato, they are using systems that are well over the system requirements for the game. Obviously Blizzard are saying you can game on those systems.
Oh by the way, we still can’t.
This issue is falling silently away because I imagine all the Mac users are unsubscribing. How on earth Blizzard are getting away with selling the game without warning Mac users confounds me.
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Intel gpu that’s the problem
As a former Mac user and Apple salesperson (ACSE, APP 12 years), Apple has gone directions that frankly, have been questionable.
Now, this isn’t dismissing Blizzard, but since Nvidia and Apple don’t get along, we’re unlikely to see any new Macs down the road with Nvidia chipsets, and Nvidia I believe is a much better graphics processor than AMD. Nvidia also programs MUCH better drivers than Apple when it comes to graphics cards.
Curiously enough, when using Boot Camp and installing Windows, the Apple hardware seems to play WoW better than on the Mac side.
After using Mac for a long time, I just got a cheap refurb Dell PC and put a 1050TI Nvidia graphics card in it, and it plays WoW FAR better than any Mac I have ever used, and all I spent was about $450, versus an iMac 27" which would play WoW similarly would be well over $1500.
Again, I thank Blizzard for making WoW accessible to Mac users, but we really need to focus on quality, here. Blizzard has their problems, but I also believe Apple is at fault, here, too. Mac, frankly, just ISN’T a gaming platform, and until things change on the Apple side, it never truly will be. I find that pretty sad considering that I’ve been using Apple for 30+ years, and then giving up and finally switching to Windows just so that I can have a decent WoW experience.
It’s appalling.
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Honestly I think Apple has just shifted focus to their mobile platforms. Their consumer grade PC division doesn’t seem like a priority to them anymore. It wouldn’t surprise me if the iMacs and MacBooks didn’t slowly disappear in the next 5-6 years in favor of the Mac Pro and ever more powerful iPads.
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The point is completely being missed. I would never recommend anyone buy a Mac for gaming. I don’t know anyone who bought a Mac with the primary intention of gaming. I have mine for video production, and I can’t justify spending $350+ just to play some games.
Blizzards official position is also that I shouldn’t have to. I don’t care if it is Apple, Intel, AMD or Nvidia. The game is not and has not been acceptably running on most Mac’s since 8.3 launched. There should be a warning for Mac users purchasing the game, and a refund for people stuck with longer term subscriptions they can no longer reasonably use.
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