Story drives the game. Gameplay should both convey and drive the story.
If the story were a single, relatable and both playable and fun metastory, new players wouldn’t quit in droves because the story quite literally makes no sense between start in either Vanilla or the Broken Shore, which is a mistake to have put in game.
Gameplay
You want proof Blizzard doesn’t care about its customers? They haven’t yet done a balance pass to bring all classes to equal footing DPS wise, they have never done a pass to equalize gear at each item level and to make the jumps between item levels balanced nor sensible, and they’ve never actually made sure that the in game performance of said race, class, spec, gear and individual customizations are all equal at each level and each step. Then just do simple x2, x3, x4, etc., for improving item quality, greens x1, blues x2, purps x3, etc.
Imagine it. Each race has equal yet different performance. Equal DPS for each class and spec baseline, and then gear is predictable to be baseline at each item level, and then players can overstat with their own choice, pushing towards diminishing returns on stats like Mastery, Haste, and Crit, and then Versatility would no longer be a hated dump stat.
And this would be able to be constantly set at each item level, and then for each item quality.
In game balance is doable, it just takes a real understanding of how to math and spreadsheet out into the game’s own tables itself a balance pass that sets these values fairly.
Instead, all Blizzard does is type arbitrary values and then swing the pendulum so far to one side the next time they do a “balance” pass is shove it as far the other way as they can instead of doing their jobs and trying to actually set it where they have an objectively balanced game and then build on top of that long term.
The story is literally boring and not conveyed in a way that invests the audience into the narrative effort presented in game. Not a single story point nor drop of content should be available outside of the game that is not also available in game.
New player retention is quite possibly the single greatest sign of both a healthy game and community.
… There are so few new players joining WoW that I’m pretty sure Blizzard is trying to ask themselves how to add more.
My idea and answer? Blizzard needs to create a metastory for WoW from Vanilla to Shadowlands and make sure that the player gets to play said story and also interact with it.
In-game Balance will drive subscriptions up.
I realize Blizzard considers, “Gameplay First.” their greatest statement on WoW.
I’m going to say this: “Story Driven Interactive Gameplay” might just result in more customers overall as well as more new customers over time.
Show, don’t tell. It’s an old statement. Well, for MMO’s, it looks to me like an interactive story driven story that one PLAYS and has fun with as a character is more memorable, and also, by having a metastory that the player never loses track of and that the game treats the player like a participant and person both from and on Azeroth should help.
Blizzard.
You want to gain, retain, and entertain customers to revitalize WoW?
Please create a Story that is never left unfinished.
Please actually Balance WoW. All races, classes, specs, item levels and item qualities being objectively and mathematically balanced equally at each cross section will end the unceasingly endless balance pendulum swings and result in a game that is easy and possibly fun for you to add to and upgrade.
Please consider gameplay and an interactive, playable, and relatably fun story to be one and the same.
Both new and old player retention starts and ends with the first impression people get and have about your game. If WoW is polished, balanced, fun to play, gameplay and story both drive each other, and gear makes sense and is balanced around the bare minimums of being hit capped, anything past that if designed right will reward players that want to hard stack stats like Crit and Haste, while also resulting in stats like Versatility not being hated.
I figure most of you think I hate WoW.
No, I hate that WoW is not even bothering to chase its own amazingly expansive potential.
WoW started in 2004.
For the love of WoW, it’s 2021, and the game STILL has exactly ONE and only one lore tree!
I’ve made many threads over the years.
Above all, Blizzard, YOU should be as a company Azeroth’s biggest fan.
Right now, you’re not.
Please fix.
