Edit: Please read the post before jumping to conclusions based on the headline. Leave that for politics. Thank you.
Pathfinder is back for SL (No surprise).
My issue with Pathfinder is not because it requires rep. Not even that its spaced out for 10 or so months.
My issue with Pathfinder is the way achieve those. People say: “You unlock it just by playing the game.” That’s true in the sense of you playing the game in a linear manner. I think what people are trying to say is:
“Blizz and I agree that this is how you play the game. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
Reasons are reasons.
For me, it’s the way rep is obtained. Grind? Sure. I’ll kill a billion mobs if needed. I’ll farm 14 quadrillion eggs if I have to.
However, I do not want to do the same world quest for 1+ years (or an entire expansion) that repeat every other day with an exceptional amount re-appearing the same day. Those world quest being a copy and paste of the leveling quest I did to get to max level.
There’s no variety. Essences, for how much they were hated, at least gave you access to multiple forms of content in order to unlock them. You want rep? World quests. That’s what you get.
That’s fine for some people, I get it. But to expect everyone to play the game in the manner you do is silly. That can’t even be said for linear single player games.
Point is, if Blizzard’s goal is to keep us interested in the game world, then make it dynamic. There’s no reward for exploring the zones, just an exploration achievement. And by reward I mean (subjectively here) interesting things, maybe ways to explore the zone differently… portals, like the ones in Island Expeditions.
I’m not a dev and I don’t know what’s being said. All I’ll have access to are their quarterly investor meetings I trogg through because I own stock. (Not everyone stock holder subscribes to the MAU/DAU that we are crucified for.)
So is this an issue with Pathfinder, I wonder, or stale content? I can’t imagine it being too hard for them to throw in a few new world quests mid patch.
They make time for cinematics that take on the upwards of 6-8 months to complete.
Am I the vocal minority? What does that even mean? I think we all know that silence =/= agreement. Some people speak with their wallets. I enjoy the game so I speak to the community. Classic saw WoW’s subs double… You can find the q3 investor call on youtube if you want to hear it come from Kotick’s own mouth.
Those people, I imagine, are okay without flying. Does that mean they would okay without flying in retail? I don’t think we have the data to make that assumption considering those are two different beasts in design.
New world quests, a change of pace on the incursions that happened during BfA would be cool. As of now, when a zone is released, the content for it is set and it operates like programmed tv channels.
Make the world dangerous, make Pathfinder hard but memorable and enjoyable.
Go easy on the sharding so I can see a guy who killed me last week and get revenge with my new weapon.
People defend the company’s technical limitations, but to what extent will that go? “The server’s can’t handle it.” Am I a bad guy for having a mild expectation that the game works to constantly evolve and grow on all fronts?
Make the world a world. A living, breathing, dynamic world. World quest’s, I believe, need to be taken back to the drawing board. I have a feeling that if the world were more engaging, you’d see a lot less issues with Pathfinder unlocking.
I love you WOW, for all the beef we have with each other, at least there are people here to have beef with. Lets keep it that way.
Edit: Typos
