"Do you feel exhausted? Do the words Strat, Scholo and UBRS in pink give you cold shivers on your back?"
These were the words of a fellow priest I read several weeks ago on the WoW Boards; and yeah I felt that way. Suffering from "Priest Burnout Syndrom" as well as from RL work overload I cancelled my WoW Account two months ago, as I just couldn't bring my self to log on anymore.
I had joined a professional raid guild at this time and done literally countless runs on Scholo, Strat, DM and UBRS, as well as several attempts on MC ( http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...topic=5990 ) and even an almost sucessful try on Onyxia. Ironically it was this Onyxia raid that convinced me the that i needed a WoW break badly. After all these weeks of doing the Quest series for the Onyxia Key with the guild, we finally stood before the dragon lady and I felt literally nothing. Just another healing job to do: watching health bars, managing my mana budget, keep myself out of harms way. Same procedure as every raid. All I was thinking was: "Can we please get this one done. I need some sleep."
Two months later the thought the thought of Scholo, Strat and UBRS still give me cold shivers, but I reactivated my WoW Account anyway, if anything then to just stroll the beautiful world and chat up with my guildmates B)
Riding and flying over the "World" of Warcraft and chatting with my guildmates on voice chat, I thought about several things regarding the of game design in WoW and how it affects my playing style. My guildmates brought me of course up to date concerning the status of our guild as well as on life on our server in general:
First our guild had made quite a progress in MC (only Ragnaros remains to be slain) and has Onyxia on farm status now. This great news; at the time i quitted WoW I was rather pessimistic about our ability on sucessfully handling MC.
Second many members just log on for raid events, and stay away the rest of the time. This isn't good news at all and quite symptomatic for the state of things in WoW in general imho.
Third the server community falls into two camps. The PvE crowd inhabitating MC, BWL and Onyxias Lair on one side, and the PvP aficionados camping the BGs. The world itself is almost void of any 60s, inhabitated by twinks only. Another symptom of how things are in WoW now.
Before I continue with my little rant, camouflaged as analysis, let me get one thing straight: I do not mind raid content at all. In fact I enjoy it a great time now and then. I also enjoy BGs, at least Warsong Gulch. I wouldn't have rolled a priest if would hate instancing. This post is not about whats wrong about Raid and PvP content but more about what is lacking in the other aspects of the game.
Nostalgia flash, back to European Final Beta:
I fell in love with this game by the love of detail applied to the design of zones like tirisfal glade, the ironic bent on all the fantasy clichés, the thrill I experienced in my first instance Shadowfang Keep and the irresistible urge to collect new cool items.
Looking back now, I realize the instance and item aspect have been pushed ad absurdum , while the world development itself has been almost completely neglected by the developers.
Having logged on last night I marveled once again on the beauty WoW has to offer and cursed the devs for the ghettoization they have in mind for capped chars. All the good items beyond blue drop in raid instances or as battlegrounds rewards. There is no reason for 60s to walk the world of warcraft, as char progression outside of dungeons and BGs is not possible. It is quite ironic that once you have mastered the game in terms of experience progression you are being de facto jailed by the developers in some dungeon oder gladiator arena. The beautiful world out there is not for you to walk, please keep out of sight in of our instances ;)
That many players that simply do not have the time ressources to subscribe to raid events (we live in a 24/7 society and quite a few people have to work at night, even on weekends) or to put up with the insanly time requirements for achieving a high rank in PvP, are being excluded from the end game completely is one thing, the other is the fact of designing a great world just to lay it to waste once you have quested through the zones.
What could be done to alleviate the situation:
1.) Give us new zones instead of only new instances (dungeons or BGs). These zones should have quests that yield valuable rewards, beyond blue. No, I don't think they should be equal to what you can earn from MC , Onyxia or BWL, but they should allow char progression outside of raid content. Make these new zones with all the love to the detail you spent on zones like e.g. Tirisfal. This means fill them with little stories, interesting NPCs, new architecture etc.
2.) Revive existing zones
a.) some of the existing zones, especially in Kalimdor could need some love
b.) make zones dynamic, things like the elemental invasion are a step in the right direction. One could also think of random spawns of rare materials, mobs that have to be found and drop really good items, small alliance and horde encampments popping up in enemy territory, spreading of the scrouge etc.
3.) Implement a meanigful crafting system ffs:
This is one of things that really gets me mad about WoW. The devs intentionally implemented a crappy crafting system, so that crafted goods from players doesn't compete with their percious drops. This has been stated repeatedly by officals in the WoW forums (the wording was something like this: crafted items serve as temporary replacement for outdated equipment until players find an appropriate drop). That a good crafting system is vital factor in making a good community (as selling and buying fosters social relations and players can become renowned for their crafting abilities, as well as keeps the economy alive, must be something the WoW devs decided to ignore in their analysis of existing MMORPGs. Really when do you have bought something at the AH for your instance gear equipped 60 char the last time? The auctioneers should have script that says "Move along folks. Nothing to see here..."
Well anyway, my account will remain subscribed for the time, if anything then just for the good times I had in WoW and for the hope that the devs will take a break from desining just new uber dungeons and BGs, and eventually will focus once again on what I loved about the "World" of Warcraft. ;)
These were the words of a fellow priest I read several weeks ago on the WoW Boards; and yeah I felt that way. Suffering from "Priest Burnout Syndrom" as well as from RL work overload I cancelled my WoW Account two months ago, as I just couldn't bring my self to log on anymore.
I had joined a professional raid guild at this time and done literally countless runs on Scholo, Strat, DM and UBRS, as well as several attempts on MC ( http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...topic=5990 ) and even an almost sucessful try on Onyxia. Ironically it was this Onyxia raid that convinced me the that i needed a WoW break badly. After all these weeks of doing the Quest series for the Onyxia Key with the guild, we finally stood before the dragon lady and I felt literally nothing. Just another healing job to do: watching health bars, managing my mana budget, keep myself out of harms way. Same procedure as every raid. All I was thinking was: "Can we please get this one done. I need some sleep."
Two months later the thought the thought of Scholo, Strat and UBRS still give me cold shivers, but I reactivated my WoW Account anyway, if anything then to just stroll the beautiful world and chat up with my guildmates B)
Riding and flying over the "World" of Warcraft and chatting with my guildmates on voice chat, I thought about several things regarding the of game design in WoW and how it affects my playing style. My guildmates brought me of course up to date concerning the status of our guild as well as on life on our server in general:
First our guild had made quite a progress in MC (only Ragnaros remains to be slain) and has Onyxia on farm status now. This great news; at the time i quitted WoW I was rather pessimistic about our ability on sucessfully handling MC.
Second many members just log on for raid events, and stay away the rest of the time. This isn't good news at all and quite symptomatic for the state of things in WoW in general imho.
Third the server community falls into two camps. The PvE crowd inhabitating MC, BWL and Onyxias Lair on one side, and the PvP aficionados camping the BGs. The world itself is almost void of any 60s, inhabitated by twinks only. Another symptom of how things are in WoW now.
Before I continue with my little rant, camouflaged as analysis, let me get one thing straight: I do not mind raid content at all. In fact I enjoy it a great time now and then. I also enjoy BGs, at least Warsong Gulch. I wouldn't have rolled a priest if would hate instancing. This post is not about whats wrong about Raid and PvP content but more about what is lacking in the other aspects of the game.
Nostalgia flash, back to European Final Beta:
I fell in love with this game by the love of detail applied to the design of zones like tirisfal glade, the ironic bent on all the fantasy clichés, the thrill I experienced in my first instance Shadowfang Keep and the irresistible urge to collect new cool items.
Looking back now, I realize the instance and item aspect have been pushed ad absurdum , while the world development itself has been almost completely neglected by the developers.
Having logged on last night I marveled once again on the beauty WoW has to offer and cursed the devs for the ghettoization they have in mind for capped chars. All the good items beyond blue drop in raid instances or as battlegrounds rewards. There is no reason for 60s to walk the world of warcraft, as char progression outside of dungeons and BGs is not possible. It is quite ironic that once you have mastered the game in terms of experience progression you are being de facto jailed by the developers in some dungeon oder gladiator arena. The beautiful world out there is not for you to walk, please keep out of sight in of our instances ;)
That many players that simply do not have the time ressources to subscribe to raid events (we live in a 24/7 society and quite a few people have to work at night, even on weekends) or to put up with the insanly time requirements for achieving a high rank in PvP, are being excluded from the end game completely is one thing, the other is the fact of designing a great world just to lay it to waste once you have quested through the zones.
What could be done to alleviate the situation:
1.) Give us new zones instead of only new instances (dungeons or BGs). These zones should have quests that yield valuable rewards, beyond blue. No, I don't think they should be equal to what you can earn from MC , Onyxia or BWL, but they should allow char progression outside of raid content. Make these new zones with all the love to the detail you spent on zones like e.g. Tirisfal. This means fill them with little stories, interesting NPCs, new architecture etc.
2.) Revive existing zones
a.) some of the existing zones, especially in Kalimdor could need some love
b.) make zones dynamic, things like the elemental invasion are a step in the right direction. One could also think of random spawns of rare materials, mobs that have to be found and drop really good items, small alliance and horde encampments popping up in enemy territory, spreading of the scrouge etc.
3.) Implement a meanigful crafting system ffs:
This is one of things that really gets me mad about WoW. The devs intentionally implemented a crappy crafting system, so that crafted goods from players doesn't compete with their percious drops. This has been stated repeatedly by officals in the WoW forums (the wording was something like this: crafted items serve as temporary replacement for outdated equipment until players find an appropriate drop). That a good crafting system is vital factor in making a good community (as selling and buying fosters social relations and players can become renowned for their crafting abilities, as well as keeps the economy alive, must be something the WoW devs decided to ignore in their analysis of existing MMORPGs. Really when do you have bought something at the AH for your instance gear equipped 60 char the last time? The auctioneers should have script that says "Move along folks. Nothing to see here..."
Well anyway, my account will remain subscribed for the time, if anything then just for the good times I had in WoW and for the hope that the devs will take a break from desining just new uber dungeons and BGs, and eventually will focus once again on what I loved about the "World" of Warcraft. ;)