I have been playing mmos since 1996 with Meridian 59. I have played and returned to many mmos. I played wow straight for 6 years from release. I left for about 2 years and played a lot of Rift and tried a lot of new title. I wanted to return to WOW but the install and patching of the game was a total mess and I did not want to go through that again. I contacted WOW CS and they informed me that the game is a streaming download now I was very happy to hear that and reactivate my account.
Of course things were very different but as I got familiar with the changes I started loving WOW again. I have been back and very active about a year now and loving it more then ever. I have accepted the changes, even the ones I did not like and play WOW as it is not as I wish or remembered it to be. That is the key to return.
There is certainly a bit of nostalgia when you return but more then that it is the quality of the product that keeps me in game. Sure the graphics are a bit dated as are some of the game mechanics but the game just works well as someone mentioned earlier. There is an epic feel to WOW that no other game has achieved for me. It still is worth the price of admission. I am looking forward to WOD very much. Having played since release with a two year break I am still loving the game and I can still see myself playing WOW when it has it's 15 and 20 year anniversary. Now that would be something to have a character in a game for 20 years. Now that would be nostalgic.
Buy WoD (I am really looking forward to it after a long break)
I'll also pay for access to some others and be playing Wildstar beta. All the while dipping in and dipping out of whatever I decide to give time too. I love the way I spend my gameplay. I'm a serial MMOist after all
Dabbling in the Wildstar beta atm, and sure enough the chat seems dominated by "this is better than wow" "this is the new wow" etc etc.
And you just know that when WoD comes out the take up numbers (not existing numbers) will dwarf all these others.
It tells me two things, one positive one negative.
1. Blizzard know what they are doing.
2. It's a pretty poor reflection on a lot of the other games/gaming companies that whenever they try to bring out a wow successor/clone, they somehow manage to screw the bloody things up.
Could it be that WOW will be here for many moons purely down to the fact that its easy for older players to pick up and put down and could it be that many new games are getting a problem because people like myself could be struggling to be absorbed into a game which they once were.
WoW is well made, that is what you are miss naming as easy. It is a quality product, and consumers are attracted to that. Supply and demand, make a quality product and customers will line up at you door. Everything that we know about sales is accomplished by WoW and blizzard. The loss in customers is due to one thing they can't afford to play any more. They only problem with WoW is that their free to play has a level cap of 20. The only problem that the public has with WOW is that it is not free with no restrictions of that free play.
When anyone complains about WOW, read it as "Why must I pay for something so good that I desperately want." WoW is the bests game that 30 millions people want to play, but can't afford to because gas cost $4 or more.
Pardon any spelling errors
Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven Boy: Why can't I talk to Him? Mom: We don't talk to Priests. As if it could exist, without being payed for. F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing. Even telemarketers wouldn't think that. It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
Ive never liked WoW but the one thing they do seem to get right is producing a game that works and works well. How many of these new games launch and even after months are still a buggy mess. Being able to log in and experience smooth combat (as even critics admit WoW has) and not encounter head smashing keyboard bugs goes a long way at the end of the day. Did Blizzard hire all the geniuses and other companies are left with the C or D team? They have figured this out but others have not.
Again, I dont like WoW and will not play it but they do get this right. At the very least gamers should expect a game that responds smoothly and has a limited amount of bugs and no game breaking quest bugs.
WoW did launch polished, but the launch was far from smooth. terrible rubber banding issues made the game unplayable at times. this was mainly due to the extreme, unexpected interest in the game.
But they can take their time making a polished game because they have the resources financially and no internal pressure to release something.
Dabbling in the Wildstar beta atm, and sure enough the chat seems dominated by "this is better than wow" "this is the new wow" etc etc.
And you just know that when WoD comes out the take up numbers (not existing numbers) will dwarf all these others.
It tells me two things, one positive one negative.
1. Blizzard know what they are doing.
2. It's a pretty poor reflection on a lot of the other games/gaming companies that whenever they try to bring out a wow successor/clone, they somehow manage to screw the bloody things up.
One of the signs I usually see when you know a game is not going to live up to its potential is when chat is filled with "this is better than wow" "this is the new wow". Games that are filled by this are filled with people that are yet to let go of WoW. They are not ready to move on or WOW would never even cross their minds. Most likely they will get burnt out on the game they are saying better than WoW and end up going back to play it since its easier, more comfortable and they have already achieved much in it. This is fact because I was part of this large group, and I know first hand.
I am happy to say I woke the hell up and figured this out.
Agree, those players are looking for wow 2 in that game, I think this is while wildstar will gradually build - the game aims squarely at the experienced wow player, and bliz rather foolishly have a big gap in content that will mean wow players will feel free to try Wildstar knowing there's a gear reset at the end of the year - blizzard are screwed if wildstar succeeds (written by original wow devs remember)
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Tell you why they at screwed - hardcore guilds want to show off in the hardest perceived dungeons- if they move then wow loses the hardcore factor tha counteracts the self entitlement disease.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
I dislike how matchmaking works in Hearthstone - it's TOO familiar from WoW, it's like premades mowing down pugs in BGs (when scrubs with decks made up of 100 packs of cards get matched up with new players with starter decks). But, Hearthstone is a kick ass game, a super slick UI, and all the tons of fun you expect from a quality Blizzard title. I'd practically given up on Blizzard after they ruined Diablo and let Ghostcrawler run WoW into the ground but Hearthstone shows they still have it.
Sadly, I can't say the same for WoW, even though WoW is still probably the best option for MMORPG players right now. If Blizzard would've just left WoW alone over the years and kept adding content, I'd probably still be playing it. But they have to revamp core systems, gut the talent system, and screw with the game with every xpac, and with that and cata have basically gutted WoW to make it more like its clones - an ultra streamlined, ultra dumbed down, generic experience. At this point WoW has been stripped of all character and is as generic as any clone. If it didn't have millions of entrenched players and were to be released fresh today, it would share the same fate as its clones.
Even so, why play a clone when the original still does everything better and offers so much more? I'm beyond sick of the solo idiot mode questing in MMORPGs these days, the instant gratification for doing nothing, the lack of challenge, lack of danger, the generic formulas for every element. All the clones like WildStar just do it all the same with different lore and graphics.
If you like the style of modern MMORPGs with lots of boring and easy solo idiot mode and a general lack of challenge outside of sparse end/real game, you may as well just play WoW. Why bother with imitators?
I've considered going back to WoW but I just can't do it. I'd rather just (very sadly) not play MMORPGs and hope some developer finally goes back to the better and older formulas of challenge, grouping, danger, and niche vs wider appeal and idiocy.
I did fire up the WoW trial recently to see how things were rolling these days and as someone who adored WoW at release/beta even though it ruined the MMORPG genre, I was deeply saddened. WoW has become so generic, so formulaic, so lacking in character, so streamlined, so dumbed down, so childish, that it's just truly sad. And it's still better than its clones.
I've always said that the only potential "WoW Killer" is Blizzard themselves and I feel like their own gutting of the game IS slowly but surely driving people away.
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
What about a larger themepark designed by original blizzard developers aiming at vanilla wow players without the baggage blizzard had built for themselves (must keep huge casual player base no matter what)
I am hopeful.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Originally posted by Bladestrom What about a larger themepark designed by original blizzard developers aiming at vanilla wow players without the baggage blizzard had built for themselves (must keep huge casual player base no matter what)
Technically speaking, buying an expansion is no different than buying a new game... you're still spending money... you're still looking for something new to do.
If WoW had no more new expansions and basically what it is today is what it will remain forever... you'd have little reason to come back. WoD is just a lure to get you back. Without it, most wouldn't come back. So buying a new game is no better or worse than buying an expansion to an older game. You play it, you get bored of it, you move on.
And that saddens me, since the trend goes away from these two games. No idea why every game tries to be different at all costs,... just do a great copy and add your own flavor. That would be enough to get a solid playerbase.
thats what all of them have been trying to do, chasing WoW numbers with copy paste games and a single extra flavor feature. Thats why they keep failing, they keep doing the same old same old without new ideas and on top of that less polished and more content restrictions sometimes. The only mmo that tried to be different (and it became my favorite since WoW) is GW2 and some people cried really loud at the changes (i still love them), but even that needs more content.
So no, doing another copy of EQ/WoW with their own flavor is not what we need.
EDIT: trying to beat WoW in their own game with 10 years of polish and content is not the answer. Other companies need to move away from that, but they refuse to so they keep miserably failing.
I dislike how matchmaking works in Hearthstone - it's TOO familiar from WoW, it's like premades mowing down pugs in BGs (when scrubs with decks made up of 100 packs of cards get matched up with new players with starter decks). But, Hearthstone is a kick ass game, a super slick UI, and all the tons of fun you expect from a quality Blizzard title. I'd practically given up on Blizzard after they ruined Diablo and let Ghostcrawler run WoW into the ground but Hearthstone shows they still have it.
Sadly, I can't say the same for WoW, even though WoW is still probably the best option for MMORPG players right now. If Blizzard would've just left WoW alone over the years and kept adding content, I'd probably still be playing it. But they have to revamp core systems, gut the talent system, and screw with the game with every xpac, and with that and cata have basically gutted WoW to make it more like its clones - an ultra streamlined, ultra dumbed down, generic experience. At this point WoW has been stripped of all character and is as generic as any clone. If it didn't have millions of entrenched players and were to be released fresh today, it would share the same fate as its clones.
Even so, why play a clone when the original still does everything better and offers so much more? I'm beyond sick of the solo idiot mode questing in MMORPGs these days, the instant gratification for doing nothing, the lack of challenge, lack of danger, the generic formulas for every element. All the clones like WildStar just do it all the same with different lore and graphics.
If you like the style of modern MMORPGs with lots of boring and easy solo idiot mode and a general lack of challenge outside of sparse end/real game, you may as well just play WoW. Why bother with imitators?
I've considered going back to WoW but I just can't do it. I'd rather just (very sadly) not play MMORPGs and hope some developer finally goes back to the better and older formulas of challenge, grouping, danger, and niche vs wider appeal and idiocy.
I did fire up the WoW trial recently to see how things were rolling these days and as someone who adored WoW at release/beta even though it ruined the MMORPG genre, I was deeply saddened. WoW has become so generic, so formulaic, so lacking in character, so streamlined, so dumbed down, so childish, that it's just truly sad. And it's still better than its clones.
I've always said that the only potential "WoW Killer" is Blizzard themselves and I feel like their own gutting of the game IS slowly but surely driving people away.
This forum needs an up vote function. Viva la bitter vets!
It's 20 years old franchise. It's not only game. Books, comics, manga, movie coming, too. Even rocks under graves in Tirisfal have bigger lore than all famous villains together from any MMO made in last 10 years.
Comments
I have been playing mmos since 1996 with Meridian 59. I have played and returned to many mmos. I played wow straight for 6 years from release. I left for about 2 years and played a lot of Rift and tried a lot of new title. I wanted to return to WOW but the install and patching of the game was a total mess and I did not want to go through that again. I contacted WOW CS and they informed me that the game is a streaming download now I was very happy to hear that and reactivate my account.
Of course things were very different but as I got familiar with the changes I started loving WOW again. I have been back and very active about a year now and loving it more then ever. I have accepted the changes, even the ones I did not like and play WOW as it is not as I wish or remembered it to be. That is the key to return.
There is certainly a bit of nostalgia when you return but more then that it is the quality of the product that keeps me in game. Sure the graphics are a bit dated as are some of the game mechanics but the game just works well as someone mentioned earlier. There is an epic feel to WOW that no other game has achieved for me. It still is worth the price of admission. I am looking forward to WOD very much. Having played since release with a two year break I am still loving the game and I can still see myself playing WOW when it has it's 15 and 20 year anniversary. Now that would be something to have a character in a game for 20 years. Now that would be nostalgic.
Well my 2014 has gone something like this.
Unsub from wow
Buy DFUW
Buy RUST
Buy DayZ
Buy ESO IE
Buy Landmark TB
Buy TROVE
Buy TUG
Buy Archeage TB
Expecting to;
Buy H1Z1
Buy WoD (I am really looking forward to it after a long break)
I'll also pay for access to some others and be playing Wildstar beta. All the while dipping in and dipping out of whatever I decide to give time too. I love the way I spend my gameplay. I'm a serial MMOist after all
Dabbling in the Wildstar beta atm, and sure enough the chat seems dominated by "this is better than wow" "this is the new wow" etc etc.
And you just know that when WoD comes out the take up numbers (not existing numbers) will dwarf all these others.
It tells me two things, one positive one negative.
1. Blizzard know what they are doing.
2. It's a pretty poor reflection on a lot of the other games/gaming companies that whenever they try to bring out a wow successor/clone, they somehow manage to screw the bloody things up.
WoW is well made, that is what you are miss naming as easy. It is a quality product, and consumers are attracted to that. Supply and demand, make a quality product and customers will line up at you door. Everything that we know about sales is accomplished by WoW and blizzard. The loss in customers is due to one thing they can't afford to play any more. They only problem with WoW is that their free to play has a level cap of 20. The only problem that the public has with WOW is that it is not free with no restrictions of that free play.
When anyone complains about WOW, read it as "Why must I pay for something so good that I desperately want." WoW is the bests game that 30 millions people want to play, but can't afford to because gas cost $4 or more.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
WoW did launch polished, but the launch was far from smooth. terrible rubber banding issues made the game unplayable at times. this was mainly due to the extreme, unexpected interest in the game.
But they can take their time making a polished game because they have the resources financially and no internal pressure to release something.
One of the signs I usually see when you know a game is not going to live up to its potential is when chat is filled with "this is better than wow" "this is the new wow". Games that are filled by this are filled with people that are yet to let go of WoW. They are not ready to move on or WOW would never even cross their minds. Most likely they will get burnt out on the game they are saying better than WoW and end up going back to play it since its easier, more comfortable and they have already achieved much in it. This is fact because I was part of this large group, and I know first hand.
I am happy to say I woke the hell up and figured this out.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
I dislike how matchmaking works in Hearthstone - it's TOO familiar from WoW, it's like premades mowing down pugs in BGs (when scrubs with decks made up of 100 packs of cards get matched up with new players with starter decks). But, Hearthstone is a kick ass game, a super slick UI, and all the tons of fun you expect from a quality Blizzard title. I'd practically given up on Blizzard after they ruined Diablo and let Ghostcrawler run WoW into the ground but Hearthstone shows they still have it.
Sadly, I can't say the same for WoW, even though WoW is still probably the best option for MMORPG players right now. If Blizzard would've just left WoW alone over the years and kept adding content, I'd probably still be playing it. But they have to revamp core systems, gut the talent system, and screw with the game with every xpac, and with that and cata have basically gutted WoW to make it more like its clones - an ultra streamlined, ultra dumbed down, generic experience. At this point WoW has been stripped of all character and is as generic as any clone. If it didn't have millions of entrenched players and were to be released fresh today, it would share the same fate as its clones.
Even so, why play a clone when the original still does everything better and offers so much more? I'm beyond sick of the solo idiot mode questing in MMORPGs these days, the instant gratification for doing nothing, the lack of challenge, lack of danger, the generic formulas for every element. All the clones like WildStar just do it all the same with different lore and graphics.
If you like the style of modern MMORPGs with lots of boring and easy solo idiot mode and a general lack of challenge outside of sparse end/real game, you may as well just play WoW. Why bother with imitators?
I've considered going back to WoW but I just can't do it. I'd rather just (very sadly) not play MMORPGs and hope some developer finally goes back to the better and older formulas of challenge, grouping, danger, and niche vs wider appeal and idiocy.
I did fire up the WoW trial recently to see how things were rolling these days and as someone who adored WoW at release/beta even though it ruined the MMORPG genre, I was deeply saddened. WoW has become so generic, so formulaic, so lacking in character, so streamlined, so dumbed down, so childish, that it's just truly sad. And it's still better than its clones.
I've always said that the only potential "WoW Killer" is Blizzard themselves and I feel like their own gutting of the game IS slowly but surely driving people away.
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
I am hopeful.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
You literally just described WildStar
Technically speaking, buying an expansion is no different than buying a new game... you're still spending money... you're still looking for something new to do.
If WoW had no more new expansions and basically what it is today is what it will remain forever... you'd have little reason to come back. WoD is just a lure to get you back. Without it, most wouldn't come back. So buying a new game is no better or worse than buying an expansion to an older game. You play it, you get bored of it, you move on.
thats what all of them have been trying to do, chasing WoW numbers with copy paste games and a single extra flavor feature. Thats why they keep failing, they keep doing the same old same old without new ideas and on top of that less polished and more content restrictions sometimes. The only mmo that tried to be different (and it became my favorite since WoW) is GW2 and some people cried really loud at the changes (i still love them), but even that needs more content.
So no, doing another copy of EQ/WoW with their own flavor is not what we need.
EDIT: trying to beat WoW in their own game with 10 years of polish and content is not the answer. Other companies need to move away from that, but they refuse to so they keep miserably failing.
I return because;
nothing has approached the level of complexity or perfection of WoWs combat
and
even if something did I already am years into WoW... Why start over.
every once in a while I just need a hit of that tight action packed complex combat.
This forum needs an up vote function. Viva la bitter vets!
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."