A topic I would like to see addressed is zone phasing. I come from the RP community, and a big part of our engagement comes from meeting one another out in the open world.
There is alot of frustration trying to arrange get-togethers with characters in different phases of questing/leveling/etc. Party sync was a step in the right direction, but it sometimes hard locks people out of phases regardless if the sync is on or not.
I could make a list of specific zones, but that would be a grand list. Just think of zones that change based on quest progress or the version of Chromie Time someone picked. Attempting to consolidate the phases in the capital cities on RP servers was a step in the right direction, but we need a bit more meat on the bone.
This issue probably affects more than just RP’ers. We would like to see more people out in the open world, no matter what content we enjoy.
I liked the item in Shadowlands that let us clear out the NPC’s in the Ampitheater in Ardenweald. A mechanic like that in some other areas would be a huge boon to RP’ers. I don’t know how to exactly fix these kinds of problems, and I know they’re pretty far down on the list as far as things to fix in the game.
I’d like to hear what others have to say about phasing within common areas.
8 Likes
Phasing is a massive deterrent to some people in RP realms, and I don’t see an easy solution because it’s something that’s just baked into the gameplay itself. Sometimes the correct phase for the intended purposes isn’t the default one, with the example of, say, Tyr’s Hand in the Eastern Plaguelands, which is often used as an RP hub due to being fully under Argent Crusade domain once certain questlines are done.
The main offender to this, I think, is something that would confuse even people who don’t engage in RP if they were to visit Tirisfal Glades often: the zone of Tirisfal alone has around four phases depending on different criteria, some of which are nebulous at best! Brill changes in the blink of an eye as you get closer to it, and getting everyone to sync up when even Zidormi sometimes isn’t present at all is a very frustrating process.
I think it’s great that Shadowlands and Dragonflight have both toned down massively on the use of phasing, which used to be rampant in Cataclysm and Mists (e.g. Jade Forest is still nightmarish to navigate). Like I said at the start, I don’t know what form a solution could have because it is in fact a product of gameplay. Anything short of establishing a “new current state” to these zones that is the default will probably just lead to more frustrations.
I for one am advocating against the reduction of phases. Phases are a great way to show that something actually happened in the zone when you were questing in it. A great example of this is Mount Hyjal where you push back the attack against the world tree, and you can visually see it on the map. This is something I feel has been totally lost after Warlords of Draenor and something I dearly miss.
I fully understand the issues that phases present for RP players and as a solution, I’d rather see a phase picker implemented (either globally or for RP realms). And the phases in the picker don’t need to be limited to phases from quests, they could allow you to swap between different phases in all zones.
1 Like
The inclusion of Zidormi is a step in the right direction for this. An interaction we can have with an NPC/Item/Whatever that allows a swap to a different phase so everyone can get on the same page (Like with Uldum and the Vale) would cover this.
That way players can both see the progress on one hand, and also get together for an RP event on the other.
2 Likes
Agreed on Tirisfal, even with Zidormi its a hot mess. Seems there’s the two major phases, and then the progression of the zone based on other questlines as well.
1 Like