Have a few thoughts on the game and no one to talk to about them. So here on the forums I write. I love WoW and want it to succeed. But playing it safe and forgetting why people play this game in the first place is not going to make it the cultural phenomenon it once was. High stakes, class identity, world-building, and the feeling of adventure is what did it. TWW is good, but it is simply not good enough and needs some serious work in key areas to make this game great again.
The gameplay is fun. Class identity is a huge part of WoW that Iâve felt has been missing from the game for a long time. I donât necessarily think itâs back, but with specializations, itâs getting better. People select classes because it is a reflection of themselves in some ways. These class identities need to be further reinforced through chess-style gameplay. A mage is squishy because they wear cloth, but if they get that cast off, youâre cooked. A warrior with his shield up and plate armor is tough to damage, but they do little damage themselves. A monk is free-flowing like the wind and hits hard with their combos. An âEnhancement Shamanâ should be placing down totems that buff their allies and enhance their abilities. These class identities should be at the forefront of this game and reinforced through RPG mechanics that support these specific archetypes. We do not want everyone to have a stun. We do not want 4-5 classes to have bloodlust. If you double down on class identity through further iterations of class specializations, it will be a major step in the right direction.
The zones are fantastic. The music is 10/10. The feeling of flow between them is also the best itâs been in a while. Shadowlands was probably the worst iteration of this seemingly new attempt to implement world-building. While I still do feel like classic WoW is peak worldbuilding, it seems like theyâre starting to understand how to handle zone transition. I donât think flying is healthy for the game as it turns the game into zoomy-game quest icon rather than traversing the world, but thatâs for another discussion.
The writing and dialogue have improved. Conversations flow more naturally - somewhat. It still feels like piecemealed statements where everyone takes their turn to say the line. I did watch all the cutscenes and tried to read some of the quest text. While I do think itâs better, I still find the general story, characters, and dialogue boring and lacking zest. I think they are playing it too safe in general, and need to put characters in tough situations they need to fight tooth and nail to get out of. We are fighting Nerubians, an ancient spider race that has existed for thousands of years. They are a bug race. Bug races usually have a swarm mentality with minimal thought or self-reflection. Why is this race seemingly just like every other race? Why do they speak so clearly? Why arenât they a terrifying horde that swarms the Arathi every night? No words, no consideration, just pure fear and horror. I recently hit 80 and honestly cannot recall any one quest or cutscene that stood out for me. Where is the combat? Where is the fighting, the war, the struggle? The story feels much like the leveling experience. Easy and forgettable.
Hearing Chris Metzen talk about how he came back to the team and realized that WoW decision making had become democratized honestly made me understand immediately why the game has been this way for so long. Too many cooks, no one with a clear definitive vision and understanding of the story, the game, and what made it crack back in the day. I like TWW but I do think they need to take bigger risks when it comes to game design and story if they want to maintain this product for the next 20 years.
