I want to stake out a small post of positivity on this bleak forum to make a plea directly to you dear forum goer: Don’t decide you hate Plunderstorm before giving it a fair chance.
I think people prejudge what is Pluderstorm based on their understanding of WoW PVP is. They hate WoW PVP and therefor they hate this. But hear me out…
I cut my teeth in this game playing exclusively pvp. After leveling to 60 I pretty much spent every hour of my gameplay inside Warsong Gulch and AV. As new BGs and Arena were added, I added that to my play. This lasted through MOP for me, after which I stopped playing WOW. I came back at the tail of Legion and found that PVP had moved passed me so far that it wasn’t fun anymore. Even for someone who was very proficient in the classic game - there was essentially a vertical wall of skill and knowledge I didn’t have the heart to summit. I turned to Raiding and PVE, and dabbled in RBGs, but never really got beyond YOLO-Pugs. The amount of specialized gear, required add-ons, cagey community, and hyper-specific knowledge was too great a barrier to entry. Even taking a few weeks to dedicate to pvp felt like nothing was gained.
Plunderstorm is the PVP experience I am looking for.
Plunderstorm last season really scratched an itch for me that I didn’t even really know I had. And I’m very pleased it’s back. So, here is my bulleted list (in no particular order) of why I think you’ll like Plunderstorm:
No gear, No classes, totally new abilities - but also very simplified gameplay means your “knowledge” and “execution” will grow steadily (there is no massive barrier to entry, just a nice climbable slope)
Fast Games - you have quick iteration, and ultimately means you can feel improvement over a short time. You will feel like a noob when you first start, but if you can stick with it after some games you’ll start to feel progress - I guarantee it.
Zero stakes for losing - related to fast games, if you get a bad-luck start you just “go’gen” no sweat.
It’s very fun to play with friends. I’m in a pretty active guild, so I have a lot of people to play with - but I really enjoy queuing with people, even if they are bad at Plundering.
Plunderstorm mechanics are deeper than it first feels. At first you’ll feel like “oh this first storm is completely broken!” But as you learn how the abilities play it’s actually a little more Rock-Paper-Scissors. The more you learn, and better you play, you’ll start to see interactions. This is amplified by x10 in duos/trios.
Anyway, that’s my thoughts on things. Sound off below if you enjoyed Plundering last time and if you’re Hype for Plundering again!
I enjoyed it. I’m glad there’s less rewards this time if you got everything last time, so there’s no pressure to grind it and I can just play as I like and get everything.
I actually think this is the main selling point. Games that are Battle Royals in their entirety are also difficult to master in short order. I’ve played some Fortnite in my day, got completely obliterated, and had no desire to learn to play it well.
Plunderstorm is something fun to do. You jump in. Yo-Ho for a little while. Then call it a night.
That being said, I think the game is more mechanically deep than it appears “out of the box.” But for sure not as deep as other dedicated BR games.
I gave it a chance last time. Nothing was explained. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I had no health or abilities to kill even a spider without losing 3/4 of my health and then I’d get finished off by a bunch of players.
I quit day one. LOL
This time around, I’ll still have no idea what I’m doing and probably still won’t get anywhere. But I want that black and purple set.
I hate “real” PvP and I started out the last Plunderstorm by hating it because I thought it would be the same. Turns out it is actually kind of fun and even though I never got lucky enough to win last go around, I did manage to surive until final 2 several times and I collected all the things, which was really why I was there! This time I will be going in with a different mindset and hope I can at least put one “W” on my record. Happy Plundering to all!
I don’t like how it separates me from WoW and my guildies.
I don’t like battling other players. I never really have. Tol Barad as a Disc Priest was funny. But rare for me. AV as Affliction was the same thing: funny but rare. Friends had to drag me in. I made a huge stink over having to PvP for the legendary cloak, too. I was tricked into finishing it by a friend who didn’t tell me what we were doing and the next thing I knew I was queued for PvP. LOL
I don’t like not having a clue how the game works, because I’ve never played anything like it.
I don’t like people stealing my stuff.
There’s underhanded ways to play this mode to beat others, like landing on them to kill them. And I’m just not a fan of such things. I can’t even play those card games that encourage you to screw over the people you’re playing with. I think Exploding Kittens does that? I can’t remember. It’s been years.
I’m just not the type of person for this game mode. But that’s fine. Not everything is for everyone. And I’d totally ignore it this time around, but purple and black…
I heard talk of a daily quest where you had to complete a match for some daily plunder. If that’s the case this time around, I will probably do that, provided I don’t have to survive the duration of the match. If I die early and I have to sit around and watch, that’s fine. I’ll just tab out while the remaining players have at it.
You never “had to” sit around and watch, you could leave immediately, it just by default put you in spectator mode after you died. I’ve not seen how it works this time around though.
Sure will, but if there is one thing I hope they did change is that. I wanted to just leave and requeue without the spectator mode but it’s still the same, just take a second more, is what it is I guess.
