World of Warcraft has Lost That Loving Feeling

Over the years of playing Wow I have experienced subtle changes in the game’s environment atmosphere. That feeling of familiarity and calming warmth when playing Wow. Not only has Wow been a fantastically great game to play mechanically, but also visually. Everything about Wow is quality. Logging in to play Wow has always been a nice feeling similar to a homecoming with family and friends. Wow has always had a welcoming feeling.

Sometimes many of us pine for the good old days because we remember our experiences with rose colored glasses. Nostalgia is a tangible thing. But that’s not the case now. Wow has given us decades of happiness and that warm cozy loving feeling that has kept us subscribed for so long.

But over the past few years I have noticed a gradual erosion of that loving feeling. I have often wondered if it’s just me? Or have other players noticed this too? Now the Wow environment has felt cold and distant. I first noticed this when in dungeons. No one speaks. Dungeons are run in silence. But it’s more then that. There is a tangible feeling of player isolation. And a weird kinda player disassociation. The mechanics of the game I feel have changed in some way. Exactly how I can’t say. But it’s the kind of feeling that I imagine Dorothy felt when she first landed in Oz and said; “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”

Sure. It is expected that change is endemic to everything. But what has happened to Wow that I now feel it has become cold and sterile.

So, Am I the only one experiencing this? Or have others noticed this subtle change in Wow?

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Yes, I’ve lost that loving feeling with WoW but to be honest with myself and all you fine folks I don’t know if that’s because I changed or WoW has.

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People talk in my dungeons non stop.

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It’s you, isn’t it?

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shhhhhhhhhh

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It’s the game, but the gaslighters will say it’s you.

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I don’t know how long you’ve been playing, but as someone who has been playing since launch, I know I’ve changed a lot over 20 years.

My perceptions of games and life and everything have drastically changed. No new MMO could recreate the feelings I had 20 years ago. I still have fun, but I realize that I can’t get that feeling of wonder or newness back, and that’s not a fault of the game.

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I’ve noticed the change in wow players, and game content. I think it started with the change in development just before BfA. However, I dont think its just the game thou - in my experience, society in general is less kind, friendly, helpful and more…agressive

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Yeah I’ve been playing for 20 years too which is why I cant put all the blame on WoW.

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Three things have changed: 1. Society as a whole became asocial thanks to lack of practice with face to face interaction ESPECIALLY after 3 something years quarantined in our houses thanks to the 2019 plague, 2. The game changed and added many features that just exasperate point 1, and 3. We changed most of us after or during points 2 and 3.

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Cross realm grouping killed it.

The magic of wow was suffering with friends, and seeing the same friends and foes around the game world.

Also Ion is the clutter king, but that’s another tangeant.

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I interact every time with people in DG’s and BG’s, specially in Raids.

So I don’t feel that way.

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Feels “You feel like an Orc.”

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This is the only thing I feel the game itself really changed in to make people less talkitive.

Ion, non stop, has been trying to appeal to people that dont want to commit to socializing, want to play solo, etc.

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We are in a different generation from when the game was first released. The game has certainly changed much like society.

Tbh it didn’t really start in the last few years. It’s been gradual.

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I don’t know, there are a lot of things about the gaming industry that have gotten much worse and more formulaic to drive profit margins. Personally, I just want Blizzard to take more risks in game design, customization, and writing. Everything feels a bit too safe and sterilized right now.

But gaming has also evolved in scale and complexity over the years. WoW is what it is. It can be a lot better, it can be a lot worse, but it can never make me feel the way I did as a kid.

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Try speaking yourself.
When folks started making this claim, I made a conscientious decision to talk more myself. Guess what? Folks do talk, but you can’t be a passive potato waiting for others to talk for you.

The reason why you “can’t say” it is likely because it ain’t true.

Asking “Am I the only one experiencing this” is a type of rhetorical fallacy that insinuates that others have accepted the premise of what you have said. Yes, others likely have experienced (or said that they do) what you talked about because exceedingly few people in the world are “alone” in what they feel or experience.

Still doesn’t make any of the stuff you said true in regards to WoW. As most of what you said is a bunch of vague esoteric stuff that means literally nothing.

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Yup. People abuse tanks and healers because they can. They no longer have to worry about a reputation in their realm as an abusive twit.

Then they get on forums and whine about no tanks and healers queuing in LFD or joining premade pugs.

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It cant have a loving feeling if the people playing it keep treating people like they are sub human.

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