Praising the Expansion, but Timing of Changes Raises Concerns

Community General Discussion
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First off, I want to give credit where it’s due… The War Within has been an absolute blast so far. Blizzard has clearly started taking player feedback to heart, and it shows in the many positive changes we’ve seen. This is why it’s so crucial for us to keep voicing our thoughts… it’s the driving force behind the game’s ongoing evolution.

However, while I understand the reasoning behind the recent leveling difficulty adjustments, the timing feels off and risks alienating a significant part of the player base. Dropping this hotfix right after the global launch only fuels the controversy surrounding the paywalled Early Access (EA). The expansion itself has been stellar, but the paywall around EA was already a hot topic, and this latest decision just deepens the divide.

Some might say that Early Access didn’t provide any real advantages, but that’s not entirely accurate, here’s an example… Ask anyone who plays the auction house or dives deep into professions. There were definite perks that aren’t immediately obvious. Just because not everyone felt the impact doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. This is a prime example of how the benefits of EA might not be visible at first glance but are very much present.

Moreover, based on what I’ve seen, the leveling experience was consistent throughout the beta. It’s hard to ignore the fact that this hotfix is being rolled out now, right after the global launch. This was a known issue, it should have been addressed earlier, during the beta or immediately after EA launched.

There’s also the question of how returning players, those who skipped Dragonflight and are now jumping into The War Within at level 70 with sub-400 item level gear, will fare. Will they struggle against the newly scaled enemies? If so, what’s the plan to help them? It’s important to think about the experience of returning players who might find themselves at a disadvantage due to these changes.

The fairest approach would be to delay this hotfix until next Tuesday or the start of Season 1. Rolling it out tomorrow could reinforce the perception that EA was “pay to win.” While not everyone may agree with that view, a significant part of the community will (based on hours of reading the forums and social media), and that’s not a good look. This should have been handled during the beta or immediately after EA launched. Since it wasn’t, waiting until the next major update seems like the best way to maintain fairness.

I want to emphasize again that The War Within has been incredibly enjoyable, largely because Blizzard has been more responsive to player feedback. That’s exactly why feedback like this is so essential right now, to keep pushing the game in the right direction. Everyone should keep sharing their thoughts to ensure the game continues to improve for all players. Dragonflight was the first expansion that I skipped since Vanilla. I’m back and I’m really liking the direction they’re going with this expansion. See you all in Azeroth!

Leveling Difficulty Changes Incoming

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This is an understatement. This expansion is a complete outlier. Did people complain?

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It’s not going to make a huge difference in leveling speed.

Folks were dinging 80 in less than a day just doing quests. I have no idea if dungeons were noticeably faster or not.

As for questing, travel time is the single biggest factor to leveling speed, and that’s not changed.

But this is also about the scaling experience of putting 71s in the same instances as 79s.

Nobody will notice this in a week.

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I spent some time searching but I didn’t find complaints. I found call outs about it but generally I wasn’t able to draw a conclusion that people that played in the beta were overwhelmingly complaining about this. Then again, I am just one person researching things like this during useless meetings at work.

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This what Powershift said in the very first post. Spot on, EA for sure has everything to do with this. Most people who bought the EA are not returning players, they’re either die-hards or subs that are already retained. Hopefully this does not screw those new players like you’re speculating. I hope you’re wrong there, however I agree with the post in it’s entirety and we need some more views and discussion on this particular post IMO. Anyway I love the exp so far and have just hit 75, which brings me to my final point. I am AOTC raid geared on my Paladin, and I tore through things a bit much yes, and was godlike in any Randoms I ran. It was damn fun most of the time, however, the questing and lvling content had me very concerned. I am too powerful absolutely. This reminds me of a problem we had in Everquest where people who were raid geared from previous expansions ( yes even 1-2 expansions back! ) were just tearing the Sh8t out of new content let alone raid content again. Yes, we should be able to have a reward for doing the entire Amirdrassil campaign, however, I would argue I already had my reward just by being a badass in the old expansion. Trust me, you guys don’t want it to be like Everquest, trusssst me…these changes are for the best, even if the timing is total BS. Thanks for reading.

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just curious what positive changes have you experience so far that wasnt in the game before.?

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Thank you for eleviating my buyers remorse.

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A few points that really stand out to me:

  1. The focus on Warband features and cross-realm/faction changes is a welcome move away from a “per character” mindset. It makes the game feel more cohesive and rewarding for those of us who enjoy playing multiple characters.
  2. I’m glad to see that TWW has moved away from the borrowed power systems of the past. It’s refreshing to have our progress and strength tied more directly to our characters and choices rather than temporary systems.
  3. The increased depth in the talent system, with meaningful choices that impact gameplay, is a significant improvement. It adds a layer of strategy that makes each decision feel impactful.
  4. The continued development of the crafting system, which began in DF, is exciting. I appreciate the risks Blizzard is taking to create something fresh and unique in this area, and I’m glad they’re building on the foundation rather than scrapping it.
  5. The latest balance updates genuinely feel like balanced changes rather than simple buffs or nerfs. It’s great to see a more nuanced approach that considers the give-and-take necessary to shift balance for each class/spec.

My wife and I were heavily into Guild Wars 2 in the past, and I’m noticing a lot of ideas and systems from that game making their way into WoW, albeit with Blizzard’s own twist. This blend of familiar and new is really enhancing the experience.

Looking ahead, I’d love to see Blizzard push even further with account-wide features, expand cross-faction play (even as an opt-in option), and introduce more quality-of-life improvements. For example, why is reagent storage still limited by space? For example, in Guild Wars 2, material storage covers every single material in the game, with stack limits that can be expanded through the shop. Why is the auction house not one auction house for the entire game, and is split by realms still? These are areas where WoW could definitely improve, making the game more accessible and enjoyable for everyone—whether you play one character or fifteen.

I know a lot of limitations are due to the old architecture the game originates from and have to undergo huge projects to refactor and rebuild areas of the game to incorporate these changes. I look forward to see what is next on this path they have set out on.

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Of course people complained. They just ignored it until the masses hit the servers and it was more obvious. It literally felt worse than remix until level 80