Name WoW's most significant flaw

Timegating.

In theory, it’s supposed to keep players engaged between content releases.

In practice, it makes released content less enjoyable and less replayable.

There are so many other gameplay design issues which stem from this concept. But, what’s your take on WoW’s most significant flaw?

EDIT: Results roughly 80 responses in (including from repeat posters)…

  • Artificial or meaningless restrictions: 20
  • Blizzard not relating/listening to their consumers: 17
  • Game Systems (including temporary ones): 14
  • Lore/Story: 10
  • Lack of ducks: 6
  • The age of the game: 4
  • The Community: 3
  • In-game rewards: 1
14 Likes

Most significant flaw? Putting the stockholders above their employees and customers.

59 Likes

Narrative and story. Time gating is annoying but temporary; bad story is permanent until the next retcon.

16 Likes

Exploitation of FOMO.

11 Likes

WoW’s flaw is trying to please everyone when there’s too many different kind of players …

Example : What you see as timegating , i see as a means to let me have a life outside wow without falling behind too much . Yet someone else will see it completely different from both of us !

11 Likes

It’s gearing system.

12 Likes

This 100%.

2 Likes

Role/spec/alt restrictions.

They end up punishing players for wanting to play the game more.

4 Likes

I would never have guessed they try to please everyone based on their design choices.

Covenants/Soulbinds/Conduit Energy - don’t really please many players. Casuals are hit hard with the restrictions as well as players who enjoy multi-endgame content. And yet, hardly anyone outside of the strict RP minded that are a little sadistic are actually pleased by the systems.

4 Likes

Listening and responding to feedback in a timely manner before it gets to live.

8 Likes

Which is incredibly stupid.

Happy customers means the product attracts more people and makes more money. But no, let’s not focus on that . . .

3 Likes

I think in a weird way, it’s age is a big flaw.

While many might reflect on positive memories, there is still a core game that can cause limitations to development.

Further to that having been such a big game there is always a comparison to the ‘glory days’ despite the game still having a population that would probably be the envy of basically any gaming company.

I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to player this game after merely ‘observing’ it for 15 years!

3 Likes

the devs lol do u no it

Company culture

Gatekeeping. Time gating doesn’t bother me because it’s always been a thing. The problem is that back in Legion, by this point in the expansion, you could hit cap. Go do a couple world quests. Have enough AP to go into most forms of content, especially arena, and you could go play.

The amount of crap you have to do right now just to be able to actually go into the form of content you enjoy - hell, just to be able to upgrade honor PvP gear to a decent point - is insane. And the fact Blizzard tried to pitch this nonsense as alt friendly when you have all the other stuff like renown grinding, conduit grabbing, torghast running, leggo crafting, etc - that is the biggest example of false advertising I have ever seen.

22 Likes

Personally for me level scaling killed a lot of my fun in wow.

17 Likes

I feel the same. Especially when the story requires you to ignore way too much. It’s like they don’t realize there’s a limit to one’s suspension of disbelief.

THis has always confused me .

In order to make the investors more money they need to get people to play more .

If I play say 2 days a week for say 6 hours total each week for a month do I not equal the same number as a person who say plays every day for hours on end ?

Wouldn’t they make more money for the investors if they actually made it so more people actually wanted play the game . I would think more people subbed to the game would make them more money then how can we get what we have now to play more .

3 Likes

And doing things to shatter that suspension of disbelief makes it very difficult to get reinvested in the story.

I don’t know if others have had that moment, but for me the Burning of Teldrassil completely broke my interest in following the lore for…pretty much ever, I think. It completely ripped me out of the story, to an almost jarring degree, and I’ve sort of just…skimmed the narrative since because I feel very out of place on this character.

3 Likes

Requiring repetition that is blunt, dull, and disengaging.

6 Likes