maladroit2000
25-04-2007, 07:50 PM
The title refers to my own lack of ideas about what Blizzard can do in the next expansion do freshen up the game.
After playing TBC since it was released I am already bored with it and have not renewed by subscription. As far as I can see the additions to the game were relatively minor in terms of original content. Flying mounts were a neat idea and work well, the two new races and starting areas are nice, Jewelcrafting works well and there are plenty of new areas and dungeons. But after playing a fair bit I've found that none of the additions changed the gameplay much or added much to keep me interested. Socketing jewels has quickly become the norm, the new races are merely cosmetic, flying mounts just allow faster movement.
As for the new areas and dungeons, they look pretty with new models and such but are basically identical to previous content. Going to 5/10/25 man dungeons is still just a case of clearing boring trash mobs to get to boring bosses I have seen before. I've seen mind control before, I've seen mass fear before, I've seen mobs randomly dropping agro before, I've seen big monsters before, I've seen bosses with millions of hit points before etc etc. Playing through Karazhan, Gruul and Magtheridon I just feel like I've been there before and I can't see myself getting excited at the prospect of SSC or the Black Temple. The loot that drops is basically the same as well, just with a few more stat point and ap/damage points. The quests are unoriginal and I've done virtually all of them before in different guises.
I've spent a bit of time thinking about how Blizzard could change things for the next expansion:
1) More character customization. As things are there are hundreds of virtual clones running around. There should be more individuality both in terms of appearance and abilities. There have been talks of "Hero Classes" in this respect but I am not sure exactly what this means. Obviously there are major balancing difficulties going down this path.
2) More equipment variety. Instead of just +stats, +damage, there should be more original items. Items that gift abilities and talents. Sets that have set bonus' that are completely unique. My own lack of imagination and balancing issues don't allow me to come up with many exact ideas.
3) More of a story. Massive quest lines that allow the player to get really involved in the story line - similar to more linear games that take a couple of hundred hours to complete.
The way I see it, just introducing more areas and dungeons, another race or even class, a couple of professions, a higher level cap, some new artwork and the same tired old quests just won't cut it. I can't really think of any other changes other than the ones I've listed without radically changing the nature of the game. Perhaps Wow has run its course for those of us who have played it for a long time already.
After playing TBC since it was released I am already bored with it and have not renewed by subscription. As far as I can see the additions to the game were relatively minor in terms of original content. Flying mounts were a neat idea and work well, the two new races and starting areas are nice, Jewelcrafting works well and there are plenty of new areas and dungeons. But after playing a fair bit I've found that none of the additions changed the gameplay much or added much to keep me interested. Socketing jewels has quickly become the norm, the new races are merely cosmetic, flying mounts just allow faster movement.
As for the new areas and dungeons, they look pretty with new models and such but are basically identical to previous content. Going to 5/10/25 man dungeons is still just a case of clearing boring trash mobs to get to boring bosses I have seen before. I've seen mind control before, I've seen mass fear before, I've seen mobs randomly dropping agro before, I've seen big monsters before, I've seen bosses with millions of hit points before etc etc. Playing through Karazhan, Gruul and Magtheridon I just feel like I've been there before and I can't see myself getting excited at the prospect of SSC or the Black Temple. The loot that drops is basically the same as well, just with a few more stat point and ap/damage points. The quests are unoriginal and I've done virtually all of them before in different guises.
I've spent a bit of time thinking about how Blizzard could change things for the next expansion:
1) More character customization. As things are there are hundreds of virtual clones running around. There should be more individuality both in terms of appearance and abilities. There have been talks of "Hero Classes" in this respect but I am not sure exactly what this means. Obviously there are major balancing difficulties going down this path.
2) More equipment variety. Instead of just +stats, +damage, there should be more original items. Items that gift abilities and talents. Sets that have set bonus' that are completely unique. My own lack of imagination and balancing issues don't allow me to come up with many exact ideas.
3) More of a story. Massive quest lines that allow the player to get really involved in the story line - similar to more linear games that take a couple of hundred hours to complete.
The way I see it, just introducing more areas and dungeons, another race or even class, a couple of professions, a higher level cap, some new artwork and the same tired old quests just won't cut it. I can't really think of any other changes other than the ones I've listed without radically changing the nature of the game. Perhaps Wow has run its course for those of us who have played it for a long time already.