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[Nokterian]

Well, I can't speak for MMO industry (I've only gotten into MMO's few months ago), but after trying out Wildstar and playing FFXIV a bit (I'm still playing it whenever I feel like it), I still go back to WoW.

I don't know how to describe it, but there's that hook that makes me wanna go back to WoW. Maybe it's how the game plays and feels.

It's a combination of that Blizzard charm and their almost perfect implementation of a Skinner box that no one else can seem to recreate.

It helps that Blizzard sticks by it's "when it's done" mentality... as many people hate on Blizzard for being slow, or being iterative versus revolutionary... They know what they do best, and it's taking ideas that exist elsewhere and polishing them to a crazy shine.

I know what you mean. I've played most MMOs in the last 10 years and nothing quite feels like WoW.

It can be as casual or hard-core as you want it, which I think is great. WoW means a lot of different things to people. Some want to lvl alts, some want to farm tons of gold, some play the AH, some casually raid, and some hardcore raid. You could literally play hundreds of hours of each of those things. I don't think many other, if any, MMOs can say that and still keep people interested after all these years.

Hopefully WoD continues strongly in the coming months.

However, I think some of the DPS has to be worked out. Tanks are doing way too much DPS and I'd like to see warlocks and shamans doing more DPS, but that's a whole other issue I guess.

Just enjoying the expansion and getting ready to raid come Dec. 2

One of the reasons i still go back to WoW. It is the atmosphere,the music and the charm. But also my friends still play it. I played a lot of MMO's these past 10 years yes also Wildstar,FFXIV but those still don't hold me as Blizzard does what they do.

I really like how they did the new models still the old feel with a fresh coat of paint. WoD is next to MoP my favorite expansion.

 

[Meia]

I heal FFXIV with my WHM. It's terrific. dpad by default cycles through your party, plus everything is sticky.. So you basically leave your target stickied to the tank, and then a quick up/down on the dpad to grab someone else which after cast then stickies back to the tank. then (as healer) likewise for enemies you hit left/right on dpad to cycle through enemies.

to be more correct.. I healed WHM while weaving in and out of Cleric stance for DPS. All with dualshock 4.

I used to believe exactly what you are saying.. but seriously.. FFXIV controller support is sublime. I was utterly blown away by how they married traditional MMORPG controls to the dualshock 4 (and of course remember at anytime you can flick your thumb across the touch screen and get a mouse pointer). To the point that even playing it on the PC I'll use DS4 for all controls, and just use my keyboard for chat.

Again though, PvP "may" be a different story.. I've never PvPed in FFXIV.


HOTS hell no. MOBAs on consoles are almost all uniformly bad. hearthstone I'm a little shocked by actually. I have to believe that team is just crazy small.. given the length of time to get the android port out, and that they haven't gotten a console port of what would seem to be a brilliant money maker (constantly in the top 20 apps by revenue on iPad App Store)

FFXIV also has you dealing with less people as a healer, in any facet you'd do it from(1 less in regular small groups, +2 less in raids).


I'd be curious to see how it works at end game, but I never made it to end game in it because I never found the healing game that interesting in it. They've changed healing so much now in WoW, that I'll have to wait and see if it's still fun for me though. :\

 

[radioactivez0r]

I haven't played in 5 years and the friends who got me into the game quit before I did, but the new stuff sounds really really intriguing. I haven't played a PvP MMO for quite some time and would probably lean toward one of those servers if I re-subbed, but my question is - is that a waste of time and a study in self-hate to do solo? I imagine I won't have anyone to play with unless I find a friendly guild.

 

[flyinpiranha]

That's an insane bump in subs. I would not have expected that.

I won't lie, I was tempted. But my girl plays GW2 with me so having to pay for two subs is just out of the question. Hell, one sub is out of the question really, I just don't like that model anymore.

 

[lazygecko]

That's an insane bump in subs. I would not have expected that.

I won't lie, I was tempted. But my girl plays GW2 with me so having to pay for two subs is just out of the question. Hell, one sub is out of the question really, I just don't like that model anymore.

Uh, Guild Wars doesn't operate on a subscription model.

 

[borghe]

FFXIV also has you dealing with less people as a healer, in any facet you'd do it from(1 less in regular small groups, +2 less in raids).

very minor using the dpad up/down. you are already pressing it twice to get to the player 2 spots away from the tank. now you just have two players 2 spots away from the tank.. inconsequential IMHO.

I did crystal tower(?) 24-man twice.. and honestly it was fine. Both healing in group and raid wide..

and this is coming from WoW where I've healed resto Shaman in Vanilla (MC and BWL) and both disc and holy priest in MoP (LFR and Normal 5.0 raids). I mean WHM even let's you bubble heal reasonably well if you don't just want to play the traditional game of healer tetris.

/shrug.. like I said. I was just as sold as the next guy that WoW would forever be unplayable on a console without kb/m support. And I mean there are good "console" MMORPGs. I genuinely enjoy DCUO for example.. but that has a combat system designed for console play. then FFXIV:ARR came along and I was basically blown away with "damn, they actually figured out a way to perfectly meld a traditional action bar based MMORPG with a console controller" Was pretty floored.

 

[witness]

Wow, that's awesome. I'll jump back in myself at some point next year. Can't play WoW and all my console games this fall. Bravo to blizzard, hail to the king.

 

[Kalnos]

Uh, Guild Wars doesn't operate on a subscription model.

Him and his girlfriend = 2 subs, that's why he doesn't want to switch

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

I had sworn off Warlords in spite of the friends and family already at 100 imploring me to return, and set aside all of my game time in the coming week for Smash. Then after reading this thread yesterday, I thought I'd put in a support ticket to see if I had any unused time from my last subscription that Blizzard would reimburse (as they are known to do sometimes because they know it sells expansions).

Blizzard just gave me ten days of credit.

Well then.

 

[codhand]

how many people still play Second Life these days?

 

[orochi91]

Question:

If I want to start playing WoW for the first time ever, will I still be able to tackle Arthas and all those other bosses?

Will I be able to do these solo or is group raiding a requirement?

 

[FLUXCapacitor]

So I haven't played WoW since Vanilla. What do I need to get back into it? Do I need all the previous expansions or can I just buy the latest and it comes with everything?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Question:

If I want to start playing WoW for the first time ever, will I still be able to tackle Arthas and all those other bosses?

Will I be able to do these solo or is group raiding a requirement?

No need to be in a group to start a raid. At level 90, you can pretty easily solo Wrath of the Lich King raid content. Some raids have unique mechanics that makes them tricky, but it's totally doable.

So I haven't played WoW since Vanilla. What do I need to get back into it? Do I need all the previous expansions or can I just buy the latest and it comes with everything?

Everyone that has bought WoW at some point automatically owns up to Mists of Pandaria now. All you need to do is subscribe and buy Warlords of Draenor to access the content. A $55 investment.

 

[Interfectum]

So I haven't played WoW since Vanilla. What do I need to get back into it? Do I need all the previous expansions or can I just buy the latest and it comes with everything?

Your version of WoW comes with everything but the new expansion. So all you need to do is buy the expansion and, if you want, use the level 90 boost that comes with it and immediately play the newest stuff.

 

[Marven]

The rogue changes are just something incredible.

They really, really are. Combo points on the rogue is huge and having slice and dice being passive as Assassination is a game changer. I'm 98% sure I'm changing my main from a Monk to a Rogue now because of how much fun it is.

 

[borghe]

No need to be in a group to start a raid. At level 90, you can pretty easily solo Wrath of the Lich King raid content. Some raids have unique mechanics that makes them tricky, but it's totally doable.

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.

Question:

If I want to start playing WoW for the first time ever, will I still be able to tackle Arthas and all those other bosses?

Will I be able to do these solo or is group raiding a requirement?

as some have said.. it depends on the raid.. content prior to Cata is pretty trivial in terms of damage in vs. damage out. However there were/are often mechanics that require multiple players. The first boss of BWL took me forever to figure out solo as if you don't get through the second(?) phase fast enough (limited by distance, not damage) the boss will execute a wipe.

 

[Marven]

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.

It did. You can walk into all the old raids solo now. I've been soloing heroic 25 ICC on my Monk for weeks going after invincible and I just walk right in.

 

[JCizzle]

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.

It did change. And you can not only easily solo wrath raids, but also most Cata ones.

 

[Adaren]

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.

You don't need another person anymore. They changed it a while back (but I've been on-and-off WoW the last couple expansions so I'm not sure exactly when).

 

[Deleted member 17706]

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.

Already been answered, but it couldn't be simpler. You right click your characters portrait and select your raid preference (10-man, 25-man) and then just walk right in.

 

[metalhead79]

has this changed (starting the raid)? Last time I ran MC and BWL for transmog (2013) you still needed someone else in group to convert to raid to enter the zone. would be awesome if that changed.



as some have said.. it depends on the raid.. content prior to Cata is pretty trivial in terms of damage in vs. damage out. However there were/are often mechanics that require multiple players. The first boss of BWL took me forever to figure out solo as if you don't get through the second(?) phase fast enough (limited by distance, not damage) the boss will execute a wipe.

Yes. You can just zone into the raid instance now.

 

[borghe]

It did. You can walk into all the old raids solo now. I've been soloing heroic 25 ICC on my Monk for weeks going after invincible and I just walk right in.

It did change. And you can not only easily solo wrath raids, but also most Cata ones.

You don't need another person anymore. They changed it a while back (but I've been on-and-off WoW the last couple expansions so I'm not sure exactly when).

Already been answered, but it couldn't be simpler. You right click your characters portrait and select your raid preference (10-man, 25-man) and then just walk right in.

this is AWESOME. I was always annoyed circa-2013 because you couldn't even ask someone to join group just so you could get in. The second they knew you were farming battle pets they would be like "I'll join group but I want to come along and we'll roll on everything"

 

[k4n3]

why this xpac is so much better is they focused on 90+ 100% no new classes no new races and i think the titan team coming back helped a ton, the question will be if they can keep the people once they reach 100 and have a level 3 garrison

ps: yes the rogue changes are amazing being able to keep combo points passive SnD omg, and for my warlock i finally get a full time doomguard pet something ive wanted since vanilla

 

[orochi91]

No need to be in a group to start a raid. At level 90, you can pretty easily solo Wrath of the Lich King raid content. Some raids have unique mechanics that makes them tricky, but it's totally doable.

as some have said.. it depends on the raid.. content prior to Cata is pretty trivial in terms of damage in vs. damage out. However there were/are often mechanics that require multiple players. The first boss of BWL took me forever to figure out solo as if you don't get through the second(?) phase fast enough (limited by distance, not damage) the boss will execute a wipe.

I see what you guys mean.

I believe my issue was that I was thinking about playing an MMO game as a single-player RPG.

 

[borghe]

why this xpac is so much better is they focused on 90+ 100% no new classes no new races and i think the titan team coming back helped a ton, the question will be if they can keep the people once they reach 100 and have a level 3 garrison

blizz's stated goal is big content faster. According to them we should never go more than 4-6 months without a big content patch/xpac. Actually specifically it sounds like we should expect 1-2 big patches during the year and then an xpac around 12 months give or take.. hopefully that maintains.

I see what you guys mean.

I believe my issue was that I was thinking about playing an MMO game as a single-player RPG.

largely you can. your biggest issue will be end game.. gearing up you will probably need to run heroics a bit and then LFR is the "casual endgame". and by "issue" I just mean you can't literally solo that stuff. However your worst case scenario is just queuing up in dungeon finder and raid finder.. still multi-player but you don't need to form a group/guild/alliance/etc. the only things left in the game where you have to "know other people and interact with them regularly" would be like heroic/mythic raiding, and of course any pre-made PvP (pre-made BGs, arenas, etc)

 

[Owensboro]

There's a really good jumping puzzle in SMV

Spoiler

which takes place behind a waterfall

which ends up with a really cool rare

Spoiler

called the hypnocroak

. It wouldn't have been possible (or at least nearly as cool) if flying were enabled in the new areas.

Spoiler

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOCROAK

That was seriously the moment where I thought "Okay, not having flying mounts is the coolest thing in the world, because it's actually allowing platforming and exploration."

There was another one where I was questing with a friend and he was having fun hopping from

Spoiler

stone arch to stone arch, the entire time bragging about being up so much higher than me, when he suddenly exclaimed "Oh man! There's a treasure chest up here!

. It certainly makes exploration and platforming more fun! Makes me miss the wall-walking glitch though

 

[King Gilga]

I expected and uptick but not thaaaat much.

I am impressed.

Wonder what it's going to level at a couple months from now.

 

[KojiKnight]

I hadn't realized they had disabled flying mounts in the expansion... You had my interest before, but now you have my full attention.

Timeless Isle was the best thing to hit WoW in Pandaria because of this. Flying mounts are nice, but it really does kill a lot of what made Vanilla so great. Sometimes limits on what you can do give you a lot more room (as creators) to be creative.

 

[Fjordson]

No it includes Asia, why it's always been misleading.

WoD didn't launch in those other countries until today, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's yet another bump from those areas.

And it's not at all misleading lol, but you probably already knew that.

 

[leazo]

Not to be that guy but it would be more interesting to see the numbers 3 to 4 months after the launch of the expansion rather than just a week into it in my opinion.

To draw an analogy to MoP it went up by over a million at the start and then had a downwards trend throughout the whole thing.

 

[KojiKnight]

Not to be that guy but it would be more interesting to see the numbers 3 to 4 months after the launch of the expansion rather than just a week into it in my opinion.

To draw an analogy to MoP it went up by over a million at the start and then had a downwards trend throughout the whole thing.

While this is true, the jump from MoP to WoD was a lot higher than Cata to MoP (several times as much).

 

[CassSept]

Sad that people couldn't get over pandas, MoP was a terrific expansion that easily had the best offering out of all past WoW expansions.

WoD is really impressive though, you can see why 5.4 ran for as long as it did. It's too early to rate it against other expansions though (WotLK had great world and horrible end-game content apart from Uldu). After MoP I'm really confident they can provide solid raiding experience though, ToT and SoO were ace.

 

[Fjordson]

Not to be that guy but it would be more interesting to see the numbers 3 to 4 months after the launch of the expansion rather than just a week into it in my opinion.

To draw an analogy to MoP it went up by over a million at the start and then had a downwards trend throughout the whole thing.

Obviously. But with the jump being so much bigger than MoP it was a given they were going to announce these numbers.

 

[Rockandrollclown]

Best thing I can say about the new expansion is it actually has me interested in doing stuff other than gearing for raids. Finding treasures, recruiting followers and screwing around with the garrison are good fun. I will continue to hope flying comes back though.

 

[TheContact]

Best thing I can say about the new expansion is it actually has me interested in doing stuff other than gearing for raids. Finding treasures, recruiting followers and screwing around with the garrison are good fun. I will continue to hope flying comes back though.

Agree with everything but flying coming back. Flying everywhere ruins a lot of stuff and they alleviated the lack of flight with of taxis, portals, etc

 

[CambriaRising]

Agree with everything but flying coming back. Flying everywhere ruins a lot of stuff and they alleviated the lack of flight with of taxis, portals, etc

It's coming back. You know it is.

 

[KojiKnight]

It's coming back. You know it is.

Inevitably, but hopefully not til the expansion is half over (or even when the expansion is essentially 'over').

 

[Loxley]

It's coming back. You know it is.

I'd be fine with them bringing it back when we're, say, half-way through WOD's life-cycle. I really hope they stick to the no-flying for as long as they reasonably can. Thus far, I haven't seen many complain about the lack of flying since the expansion's release - people seem to be exploring zones (and enjoying them) way more as a result.

 

[SargerusBR]

Didn't Blizz already said flying is coming back in 6.1 ?

 

[borghe]

Didn't Blizz already said flying is coming back in 6.1 ?

No but it's been rumored (hinted?)

 

[Chmpocalypse]

So ship it with a keyboard and mouse that is compatible with the system.

the Wii U controller was meant to be used for mmos, and I'm really sad none were even thought of for it.

As far as I can tell, Blizzard has no interest in porting WoW to any console, especially not a failed one. Just not worth the cost, both real and opportunity.

 

[Chakan]

Damn. 10 million? I'll join this soon.

Right now I'm too busy playing the first Dragon Age. Not kidding. lol

 

[TheContact]

I find myself in first person a lot just looking around, it's quite nice

 

[Sojiro]

Agree with everything but flying coming back. Flying everywhere ruins a lot of stuff and they alleviated the lack of flight with of taxis, portals, etc

100% agreed. I think the world is a much better place when you don't circumvent everything by flying. I am expecting it will come back at some point, but I really hope it doesn't. Anywho, back on topic, that is just awesome, and they earned every sub. This expansion has been amazing, it probably even tops Burning Crusade for me personally. Bask in that glory Blizzard, you earned it.

 

[Projectjustice]

They really, really are. Combo points on the rogue is huge and having slice and dice being passive as Assassination is a game changer. I'm 98% sure I'm changing my main from a Monk to a Rogue now because of how much fun it is.

They finally changed how Rouge combo points work! I was asking for this change back when BC came out. This is why I quit wow. Blizzard us too slow for changes. Been askong for new characer models since BC. We get them now. Lol

 

[Chmpocalypse]

I'm looking to get back into it in the next month or so. This expansion actually made WoW look appealing to me again.

Besides SCII and maybe Heroes, they've got quite the powerhouse going right now, with Overwatch coming next year as well.

Don't forget Hearthstone, even if it's not your thing - hugely popular. Personally, it's my GOTY, but I'm biased. ; )

 

[Chmpocalypse]

Ya, shamans are fucking terrible.

I main a resto shaman and disagree, but am curious why you feel this way.

 

[Chmpocalypse]

Indeed. I think WoW, despite its age, still have the best character animation and movement of all mmos. I've tried almost every single big mmo in the past 10 years.
It's baffling me, why can't they do that right?
GW2 animation is the one that is considered good, but the floaty movement feeling still kinda bugging me. FFXIV is good, but the ice skating animation ruined it all.

Polish. Blizzard is huge on iteration and refinement.

 

[Wafflecakes]

In the year when I lapsed from WoW I played Guild Wars 2 for a while.... it left me so unsatisfied. I felt like the whole was VASTLY less than the sum of its parts, and the lack of trinity make the game more basic and samey rather than more engaging.

I always come back to WoW. Every time.

 

[Mad1723]

Alright, I started playing WoW for the first time yesterday. So far, I'm enjoying, but nothing is really... clicking yet. I just crossed path with an NPC named Horatio Laine though, cracked me up when he made the classic intro word play. Was only missing the sunglasses.

But so far, it's pretty much kill this, go there, kill this now, go there. Does it get better with higher levels? Currently sitting at 11, just playing an hour or 2 at the time.

PS: Don't hit me, never been really into MMOs, just trying to get an opinion. I know a lot of content is later, but when does it start picking up?