Keep in mind we have gone from 2 to 3 end game methods of PvE gearing (up to heroic gear). 2 that require a group, don’t guarantee you a drop, and are seen as harder than the new third one. Not to mention one of the core features of one of them is a timer.
Compared to the new method which can be done solo, at your own pace, guarantees at least a piece of gear per run (at least 4 a day), and fills up your vault.
It is no surprise at all that people looking for champion and hero gear are spending more time in delves in season one with that being the case, and if you look at the stats of M+ rankings the highest end (top 1%) and lower end (top 40%) are pretty much unchanged, it’s that middle group of players who are not in the top 1% that see no reason to struggle with the keys at their level for the gear they want, when they can do delves for similar gear and anyone pushing above their weight class in m+ for higher loot is either part of, or experiencing the toxicity we all see being talked about because it’s frustrating.
There definitely needs to be some balancing around delve/m+ rewards but this is the first season for a brand new end game gearing method that was a box feature of the expansion…I’m not really surprised that it is lucrative right now.
I think sooner rather than later Blizz should share their plans for rewards moving forward so that they can receive adequate feedback on balancing those rewards, the jumps in delve loot is a little wonky (also with no change above T8) and when you compare it to m+ it eliminates a lot of motivation to do m+ but there is room for both methods to exist and attract players to do both or either of them, I imagine it’s going to require some discussion though.
TBC launched with 11 new zones.
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Mmmk it didn’t it launched with 5
But let’s say it did. …you haven’t liked any expansion since tbc?
Along with Outland, it also launched with Azuremyst, Bloodmyst, Ghostlands and Eversong Woods and two faction cities.
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Yes, I’m getting a lot of lag in epic BG, whereas I didn’t before in DF. My guess is that it’s players’ add-ons which create the need for much more data. They should just ban add-ons, but I guess too many people rely on them as a crutch and would quit.
I didnt really like TBC when it came out either.
I love your post, it sums up my feelings as well, but I want to add something. You bring up wotlk, but…it’s not enough to just be wotlk quality. That was 2008. It’s 2024 now, we expect more. They aren’t meeting the baseline expectation of 2008, let alone the kind of game that we should have now in 2024. The story feels completely uninteresting, the zones, while better than bfa or dragonflight, feel boring.
If I was given the choice, I would join literally any group that offered to let me kill all of the main characters. I used to love Thrall, but I would 100% kill all of them off now. I am sick to death of all of them, they are not who they used to be, they represent something else entirely now. It’s an anime style soap opera now, not a story of a titanic globe-spanning conflict between nations. It has lost its identity.
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For me, it’s just a game. And in most video games, you can just walk up to a vendor and buy gear. I don’t care where it comes from as long as it keeps me from dying.
Sure often for beginner gear or with currencies from harder content, but most of the time loot simply becomes better the further you progress, they want you to have something to look forward and that progress often means it’s harder as you should be learning through the game and that they want to keep challenging you.
They want something for YOU to look forward to. I would be just as happy buying my gear out of the shop while looking at new mounts and pets. Some of us play a game to relax not to challenge ourselves. If I want to challenge, I will go put Tetris on hard mode and get after it. But there’s a reason why Tetris is collecting dust and I spend most of my time doing pet battles and delves.
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And you can do that in wow without getting the best gear. There are tons of stuff you can collect at a casual level. I don’t really see the problem. A bit like you said gearing might simply be done to cater to a different type of player if that’s not your thing and I think it’s fine.
oh, I definitely don’t need the best gear. I’m gonna be very content having some 619 and calling it a day. And had heroics never evolved into mythic 619 would probably be as high as the gear goes until you did heroic rating and scored some 639s lolbut 619 I can breeze through all of the content I wanna do. I just don’t want my content to “lose a raid tier" because of someone else’s content 
and this is the first time in the history of wow that a casual can say that.
I agree 100%… this expansion feels super rushed and we can see the end result, I play mainly PVP and there is no balance… It hurts
If they stop being a stubborn ss about m+ and tune it properly, the expansion’s glory will come back.
I mean cometfon, why tyrannical and fort combine into a major bullet in your head?
Stop this madness, go back where it was.
With the new buffing xalathat’s affixes, it can be much more fun.
You are squeezing the community into 1%, make it 10-25%, it will be healthier for you too.
To be fair every time Ion does anything regarding balance, he’s almost always wrong.
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So… You didn’t like the very first expansion yet 18 years ish later your still playing? Is it an addiction or do you just enjoy flushing money down the drain for a game you don’t enjoy?
Who said I’m playing this game at all?
I didn’t think I needed to state the obvious of your posting on the forums as a character leveled to 70 which means at the bare minimum you played DF. I’d assume if you came here griping about the new content then you actually played the game. However, I guess there’s a possibility you haven’t played the new content at all which then I’m wondering why you are even griping about content you haven’t played.
TBC character. that’s why its 70
Something IS wrong…I can’t stop playing! 
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