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World of Warcraft Portal Removal in 8.1.5 Sparks a Firestorm of Controversy - MMORPG.com

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  • Kevyne-ShandrisKevyne-Shandris Member UncommonPosts: 2,077
    Akulas said:
    Doesn't even bother me. Walk a bit longer. CoT might take awhile to get to.

    Hmmm... I thought WoW was a MMORPG, not a walking simulator game.
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,992
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.
    Ozmodan
  • Kevyne-ShandrisKevyne-Shandris Member UncommonPosts: 2,077
    Scot said:
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.

    Or, check out those who are defending the indefensible: CDs on travel, in a game that no longer is but 2 continents of vanilla (which had enough content to make 2 current expansions too). CDs on travel was designed purely as time sinks. Something defenders never mention, either. Why do they defend designs that don't fit CURRENT needs in games? Because they don't play the current game, perhaps?
  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    So they cut travel for any new players attempting to level up, way to go Blizzard and then, of course, refuse to allow flying in the new areas yet again.  

    Funny, they want to sell mounts in the store yet make the vast majority of people not be able to use them.  That makes no sense at all.

    It has become a comedy of errors over at Blizzard these days.
    Palebane
  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    Scot said:
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.
    What are you talking about?  It is like you have never played a MMO before!
    SwampySack
  • FlyByKnightFlyByKnight Member EpicPosts: 3,967
    edited March 2019
    Forget the semantics, and the cliche compensating "get gud" dullards. Answer a simple question.

    Why now?


    "Hurr durr why not?"


    SBFord[Deleted User]
    "As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*" 

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
    edited March 2019
    Agree or disagree with what they're doing but when it's boiled down to its base element, this decision was made for ONE reason only: To increase player in-game time due to the increased travel time which influences subscriptions which correlates to monthly active users.

    Since MAUs are the only metric that Blizzard cares about, every decision they're making for WoW and every other game in their stable is to increase that number.

    Flowery words aside, I don't think they care about how it affects the game outside the number of MAUs given ATVI's dependence on WoW as a core IP as it was stated in their last financial statement.
    RexKushman[Deleted User]k61977[Deleted User]Kevyne-Shandrisgervaise1Ozmodan


    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    Portals was not a big deal to me and I seldom used the ones they are talking about.  So makes little difference.  They could have left them and worked on more important things.  Priorities....

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,041
    SBFord said:
    Agree or disagree with what they're doing but when it's boiled down to its base element, this decision was made for ONE reason only: To increase player in-game time due to the increased travel time which influences subscriptions which correlates to monthly active users.

    Since MAUs are the only metric that Blizzard cares about, every decision they're making for WoW and every other game in their stable is to increase that number.

    Flowery words aside, I don't think they care about how it affects the game outside the number of MAUs given ATVI's dependence on WoW as a core IP as it was stated in their last financial statement.
    Somehow this logical explanation makes it an even bigger disappointment, what a sad state to be in as a creative company.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    SBFordOzmodan
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,992
    Ozmodan said:
    Scot said:
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.
    What are you talking about?  It is like you have never played a MMO before!
    How did you guess? I just come on here to pass the time. :)

    Scot said:
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.

    Or, check out those who are defending the indefensible: CDs on travel, in a game that no longer is but 2 continents of vanilla (which had enough content to make 2 current expansions too). CDs on travel was designed purely as time sinks. Something defenders never mention, either. Why do they defend designs that don't fit CURRENT needs in games? Because they don't play the current game, perhaps?

    There is of course a balance, I am not saying lets remove all instant travel of any sort. But when you say "timesinks" why do you actually log on? Why do you have an issue with something that keeps you in game? When you talk about design that does not fit the “current needs” of players I thought MMORPG’s were meant to be living breathing worlds, perhaps that is not a current need for players?

    I don’t play WOW these days, the issue of teleporters, how many there are, how much time is spent on foot or riding etc have been with us since MMOs began. The more instantaneous travel you have the more of a lobby game you have. WoW sounds no where near that, but that is the direction of travel.

    It is about the journey as much as the destination, that cliché which I find is so often misused in the real world applies very aptly to MMOs.

    ragebulletOzmodan
  • k61977k61977 Member EpicPosts: 1,503
    I think any time they make a change like this they should be forced to say who's idea it was.  Could you imagine being that person that came up with this idea an if they loss massive subs because of it.  No one wants to run around spamming need port to blah,blah,blah...  that was the reason they created the portals in the first place.  The only people not complaining about this would be people that main as mages because it doesn't really affect them the same way.  Wait till they are getting hit with 100's of whispers saying can you port me here or there every couple of mins.
  • SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
    But for those interested, WoWHead put up a decent guide on how to get to the places that have lost direct portal access. 

    https://www.wowhead.com/news=290582/how-to-travel-to-the-removed-portal-locations-in-patch-8-1-5


    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


  • SteelhelmSteelhelm Member UncommonPosts: 332
    Are they trying to emulate vanilla? :wink:
    Now that they've realized how awesome vanilla is, they just want to emulate it. I'm going to say there are other changes coming that will make the retail more like vanilla.
    ScotOzmodan
    Talking about games where thousands of players exist simultaneously in a single instance and mechanics related to such games.
  • JyiigaJyiiga Member UncommonPosts: 1,187
    Interesting to see the various mentalities on this subject. Some are fine with it. Others whine that they don't want to spend anytime traveling. Lots of different tastes. This kind of thing is just pushing me harder and harder toward Classic. I have no problem with a large world and a bit of travel time. if I want to play a lobby game, I will play a lobby game.
  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297
    edited March 2019
    Scot said:
    Lets play Spot The Casual! :)

    Check out the posts above, they are falling over themselves in the rush to complain about the removal of some instantaneous travel. We know that eventually teleporters change a MMORPG into a lobby game, but that's what they want and they want it even in World of Warcraft.
    You're mistaken... a casual is someone who takes their time and doesn't always focus on objectives. Non-casuals want to get stuff done and not waste time. You're actually the casual.

    That's not intended as an insult.. just pointing out your definitions are off.
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
  • AvanahAvanah Member RarePosts: 1,615
    edited March 2019
    BFA has been dead to me ....
    In other news....

    Division 2 in 31 Hours! B) <3 B)
    [Deleted User]

    "My Fantasy is having two men at once...

    One Cooking and One Cleaning!"

    ---------------------------

    "A good man can make you feel sexy,

    strong and able to take on the whole world...

    oh sorry...that's wine...wine does that..."





  • BrotherMaynardBrotherMaynard Member RarePosts: 567
    SBFord said:
    Whether you agree with this change or not, there is, according to this article, a massive backlash from the community. This is another example of how out of touch development is with their player base on this game. 
    Also an important point: Devs actively solicited player feedback which they got in spades. Obviously, they didn't like what was said and came back again saying, "You think you want these portals, but you don't." :D
    Well, of course they did. HE is the CEO of Blizzard now - what else should people expect?
  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297
    edited March 2019
    SBFord said:
    Whether you agree with this change or not, there is, according to this article, a massive backlash from the community. This is another example of how out of touch development is with their player base on this game. 
    Also an important point: Devs actively solicited player feedback which they got in spades. Obviously, they didn't like what was said and came back again saying, "You think you want these portals, but you don't." :D
    Do you guys not have mounts?

    Same attitude...
    Post edited by TheDarkrayne on
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
  • Kevyne-ShandrisKevyne-Shandris Member UncommonPosts: 2,077
    Scot said:

    There is of course a balance, I am not saying lets remove all instant travel of any sort. But when you say "timesinks" why do you actually log on?

    You're not getting it. This has zero to do with "balance".

    SOE explained this years ago on their forums and why they did away with ghostwalking and other slow travel methods: it wasn't designed for "immersion" or RPGness, it simply was a time sink.

    It has no other purpose but to waste your time.
    jimmywolfBruceYee
  • RedMachine72RedMachine72 Member UncommonPosts: 154

    cagan said:

    Nobody travels anymore anyways... Spend 1 week to get to max level, bind your heartstone to max level raid/daily quest hub. Then same thing everyday:

    -login

    -Do dailies

    -If any friends left playing do a heroic or maybe a raid

    -get bored

    -logout



    This was the whole reason behind my leaving the game almost 4 years ago. Well, that along with the whole 'faceroll' for the win mechanics because they wanted more casual players. I may come back when the legacy servers go live, but I will hold off until I know if they truly are legacy or just changed a few things world wise and kept the same mechanics.
  • Kevyne-ShandrisKevyne-Shandris Member UncommonPosts: 2,077
    This was the whole reason behind my leaving the game almost 4 years ago. Well, that along with the whole 'faceroll' for the win mechanics because they wanted more casual players.

    There's a different between grinding and "casual" now?

    Just because people lost marriages and spent time in jail for child neglect, doesn't mean WoW was difficult.

    More so because the mechanics couldn't support what they think WoW could now, especially on 300ms latency realms (the average in the day).

    I was chastising Blizzard in WotLK about it, as SOE updated their hardware and database and I had 70ms pings from 2,500 miles away. Emberstorm battlegroup was housed in Seattle, despite it's a EST server, with 300ms pings. When the raid was finished in WotLK, the entire raid was forced offline, because DBM flooded the database.

    Remember ANY of that?????

    I even encountered a tank in WotLK with 500ms pings from his satellite phone. You can play on Russian servers with 500ms pings.

    So HOW could folks be an elitist in WoW with 300ms pings until Cata? Glider? Exploits? No life living in the basement?

    Yeah, nothing to be proud to swag about. Casuals today do more stuff than vanilla players did, because only a handful ever raided. And I doubt you did then, too. Only 10% raided then. Not even Asmongold raided, either (he didn't play WoW until TBC was almost over. Even he has no vanilla eperience).
  • esc-joconnoresc-joconnor Member RarePosts: 1,097
    This does seems like another random change with the usual lack on insight.
    I don't think this is some sort of move to start selling convenience items in the cash shop though.
    They could already make a fortune selling unlocks that normally require rep or time. (allied races, heritage armour sets)
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    This does seems like another random change with the usual lack on insight.
    I don't think this is some sort of move to start selling convenience items in the cash shop though.
    They could already make a fortune selling unlocks that normally require rep or time. (allied races, heritage armour sets)
    No company would go ahead with random change in the face of - what certainly seems to be - over whelming negative feedback. Unless they have a desired endgame.

    And as it doesn't involve improved customer satisfaction and they haven't articulated a reason then ....... I think we can assume the reason is financial.

    Even if they don't resort to selling convenience items increased travel time will increase MAUs and, they will hope, subs.
    jimmywolf
  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    Steelhelm said:
    Are they trying to emulate vanilla? :wink:
    Now that they've realized how awesome vanilla is, they just want to emulate it. I'm going to say there are other changes coming that will make the retail more like vanilla.


    Sorry to break it to you, but vanilla had portals too.

    Kevyne-ShandrisSteelhelm
  • GhavriggGhavrigg Member RarePosts: 1,308
    Oh god it's a firestorm!!
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