Returning to WoW

[kurlkurry]

So Escapists, the time that every former WoW player dreads has arrived... I'm thinking about reactivating my account. Since I have recently moved (and as such, my social life is practically non-existent) I've been looking for a new/old timesink to fill the void. So my question to all the WoW players out there is this: is MoP worth reactivating my account for? If yes, why? If no, why not? Would anyone familiar with the current incarnation care to speculate how much life this expansion has left in it? Or, can anyone recommend a different, yet comparable, game that is likely to provide the social/gaming fix that I so crave?

As an aside, I have spent the majority of my time in WoW with my beloved Undead Warlock (has been my main since vanilla), yet spent quite a large chunk of Cata rocking out my prot/holy pally (pve/pvp respectively). If anything has happened to my two beloved classes that you feel I should know about prior to reactivation,it would be greatly appreciated. : )

Thanks for the input all!

 

[Eddie the head]

I heard it's more of the same. Not a bad thing mind you. If you liked Cata you will like it. But if you're like me and didn't I don't see a reason to go back.

 

[sanquin]

-Pet fights are nothing special. Just a small gimmick that's meant as a time sink after you hit max level, pretty much.
-After having played panda's and the new monk class: I don't like them much. I still think they're stupid. Monk doesn't feel like a monk at all, for one.
-Warlocks are pretty awesome now. I've rejoined WoW just over a month back and decided to level one from lv 1. Demonology is especially fun these days.
-Dungeons/heroics I have yet to try since I'm level 84 atm.
-PvP is unbalanced as all hell before max level. Max level has some clearly OP classes I've heard. So nothing new.

Basically the game is just more of the same from what you already knew. Classes have changed a little bit with skills, but still have the same overall feel. Dungeons haven't suddenly become challenging, still pandering to the 'casual' (read: brainless) crowd. I've personally only gone back to the game for exactly that reason. It's easy, and keeps me busy. It's fun to play when you don't want to think much and just play around in an mmo.

If you're looking for more of a challenge both PvP and PvE-wise try Guild Wars 2. No subscription either, just a one time buy. You need a much better pc for it than for WoW though. And if that isn't for you either, Star Wars: The old Republic has gone free to play. You can at least give that a try and see if you like what you can do for free in it, then decide later if you want to pay for the things that are locked out.

 

[IamQ]

Can't tell you anything about pandaria since I haven't played for about a year now, and I'm probably not going to start playing any time soon. I enjoy raiding, and I just can't stand having to keep up with a deadline in a game. I can't motivate myself for that like used to be able to before. Also, it's been about 3 months since the game's been out, so most people already have the current end-game gear, and I bet the next raid patch isn't far away.

 

[Lucyfer86]

Despite the absurd amount of daily grinding, i'd recommend to try it out.
I was surprised how much i enjoy playing it, wayyy better than Cata.

 

[funksobeefy]

the new zones area really pretty, and the music is something else. I played for a little bit and had fun, maybe you will to!

 

[Smegma]

I think MoP is a big step backwards in terms of Blizzard's usual level of quality

1. CRZ - cross-realm zones - have been introduced without much testing. Game balance and stability issues abound. If you check their forums, there are multiple threads in excess of 500 posts, almost exclusively complaints from players. But it means less population jiggling, which boosts Blizzard's profits - so even if everyone hates it, it's here to stay.

2. customer service - long gone are the days of opening a ticket and having a GM address it within the same sitting. Expect 3-5 days turnaround on a support ticket. For the first response - which will invariably be a form response by someone who hasn't bothered to even read your ticket.

3. death by daily quest - every faction has daily quest associated with them, now. I've lost count of how many there are - but if you want to raid aggressively, expect to spend a few weeks doing nothing but dailies, for rep so that you can buy their gear/enchants/stuff. Fun fun!

If you love the above, then MoP is for you. If not, then GW2 might scratch your itch.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

I think MoP is a big step backwards in terms of Blizzard's usual level of quality

1. CRZ - cross-realm zones - have been introduced without much testing. Game balance and stability issues abound. If you check their forums, there are multiple threads in excess of 500 posts, almost exclusively complaints from players. But it means less population jiggling, which boosts Blizzard's profits - so even if everyone hates it, it's here to stay.

2. customer service - long gone are the days of opening a ticket and having a GM address it within the same sitting. Expect 3-5 days turnaround on a support ticket. For the first response - which will invariably be a form response by someone who hasn't bothered to even read your ticket.

3. death by daily quest - every faction has daily quest associated with them, now. I've lost count of how many there are - but if you want to raid aggressively, expect to spend a few weeks doing nothing but dailies, for rep so that you can buy their gear/enchants/stuff. Fun fun!

If you love the above, then MoP is for you. If not, then GW2 might scratch your itch.

Just have to address this quickly,

Customer service is hit and miss as usual, some people have bad experiences sure, But I had a ticket answered very well in under 20 minutes in the middle of the night last week.

CRZ is largely disliked, and occasionally useful for a few people. But it does have a nasty habit of throwing you from flying mounts when you least expect it- may have been fixed by now. Have heard reasonable arguments for and against but not a fan myself. (Just give free server/faction transfers to dead servers and WATCH the guilds flock in)

The dailies were torture on release, but honestly seem kind of unnecessary now. You can certainly gear up through heroics / scenarios and the raid finder. Especially with the new upgrading system (JP or VP to increase stats on an item) and getting raid finder level gear from scenarios- which you can do as soon as you hit max level- is pretty nice. As there's no new raid content coming any time soon, you wont need to do that many dailies. But do the Cloud Serpent ones. Cloud Serpents rock.

Yeah. Personally love Pandaria. some of the best questing content we've seen to date. Pandas fit really well, but monks not so much. Can't speak much for organised PVP as I've spent most of my time leveling my new panda (yay shaman).

Oh. and if you like FUN ranged dps, roll a mage, make it anything except arcane. And don't play hunter.

Definately recommend giving it a month- enough time to hit max level and sample what there is to see, play the new starting zone as a monk and run into all the glitches and problems everyone else complains about.

But also try GW2. Seriously, it costs about as much as a WoW expac and is some of the best MMO design I've ever seen. Some of the worst too, but it's apparently getting much better.




Also, warlocks got even more awesome.

 

[chiefohara]

Left wow cause i wasn't mad about cata, came back for pandaria.... played it a few days and never picked it up again.

Same old same old tbh.

 

[Tanakh]

Or, can anyone recommend a different, yet comparable, game that is likely to provide the social/gaming fix that I so crave?

I join the GW2 recommending crowd, it is especially good if you are interested in PvP, in PvE I think WoW is a notch ahead but GW2 feels new at least.

I would also recommend DotA2 & World of Tanks if you have a high frustration threshold.

Edit: Planetside2, SW:ToR and LoL are also good options to have human contact and game at the same time; I just don't like them. And SC2 also comes to mind, but... the level of human non PvP interaction here it's very low.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Since I have recently moved (and as such, my social life is practically non-existent) I've been looking for a new/old timesink to fill the void.

From one former long-term WoW player to another, reactivating your WoW account isn't going to help you any with that.

 

[Goofguy]

If you really want to try it out and see what's new, sure. Otherwise, you oughta try the plethora of games out these days. Well worth your time and consideration.

 

[Chknboy]

Left WoW early cata after playing since early BC for the same reasons most people did, but this same thought crossed my mind after getting a free 10 days play time e-mail. I'm still debating whether or not to try it out after hearing so many good reviews from people who said cata sucked. The only thing keeping me from trying it now is the ridiculous download size and finals. I'm sure I'll take advantage of a weeks play time during break from a scroll of resurrection after I get my game disks back, but I doubt I can ever go back to being a paying customer.

If you want to make a pact, I'll try it out if you try it.

 

[kurlkurry]

I actually had quite a bit of fun with Cata for a little bit, up until Firelands patch. Just a few questions for those who responded:

1. I've heard complaints about the lore surrounding the new raid bosses, but not much about the mechanics? Are they at least interesting? Trying new things? Fun? Or are they primarily old bosses in new skins.

2. The cross realm zones sound kinda interesting, but I'm not sure I understand. Are they like in world BGs, like Tol Barad, or more like gathering places/daily quest areas?

3. Speaking of PvP, have they added any new bgs of note, ones that feel like a step foward, or at the least are just incredibly fun? (Wrath comes to mind, where they debuted two of the most fun bgs imo)

I stopped playing Cata around Firelands because I got a new job at that point, so raiding wasn't really viable. Lots of my guildmates abandoned WoW for ToR around that time as well, yet i see quite a few of their levels creeping above 85 on the armory now. I guess what I'm wondering is has Bliz broke anything beyond repair, or is the game still fun?

 

[Reven]

I actually had quite a bit of fun with Cata for a little bit, up until Firelands patch. Just a few questions for those who responded:

1. I've heard complaints about the lore surrounding the new raid bosses, but not much about the mechanics? Are they at least interesting? Trying new things? Fun? Or are they primarily old bosses in new skins.

2. The cross realm zones sound kinda interesting, but I'm not sure I understand. Are they like in world BGs, like Tol Barad, or more like gathering places/daily quest areas?

3. Speaking of PvP, have they added any new bgs of note, ones that feel like a step foward, or at the least are just incredibly fun? (Wrath comes to mind, where they debuted two of the most fun bgs imo)

I stopped playing Cata around Firelands because I got a new job at that point, so raiding wasn't really viable. Lots of my guildmates abandoned WoW for ToR around that time as well, yet i see quite a few of their levels creeping above 85 on the armory now. I guess what I'm wondering is has Bliz broke anything beyond repair, or is the game still fun?

I'm on the same boat as you wondering about returning, I've got 10 free days that i'll cash in soon, so i can tell you in more detail then, but if you're interested i found a video that gives you a pretty good idea of how the expansion is ( i share his opinion exactly in most respects so take that for what you will)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKSNz9CK2uo
(Note, I'm still fairly new to the forums, so if providing a link is not allowed or frowned upon please let me know so that i can get rid of it immediatly, my intention is not to break the rules, but to provide a link that i feel is relevant to the issue, and i feel it also gives an opinion to the OP's question better than i can by simply typing here)

 

[zephyron]

As for the OP's question, if you liked WoW before it's likely you'll like MoP. If you like doing dailies, there's plenty there, but I should emphasize they are totally optional, no matter what people think. Evil Cheese is right, the rewards they give you are on par with other things that require less effort. The new dungeons and raids are quite fun, and the scenarios (instanced 3-man group quests that work with any composition) are a nice addition, so there's lots of group stuff if single-player quests aren't your thing. I don't have a ton of experience with PvP in MoP, but honestly I haven't heard anything I haven't been hearing literally since I started playing WoW, so if you liked PvP before you'll still probably like it (and of course they're constantly balancing the more overpowered and underpowered specs).

I actually had quite a bit of fun with Cata for a little bit, up until Firelands patch. Just a few questions for those who responded:

1. I've heard complaints about the lore surrounding the new raid bosses, but not much about the mechanics? Are they at least interesting? Trying new things? Fun? Or are they primarily old bosses in new skins.

The mechanics are pretty fun. There's 16 bosses in the first tier (not including the two world bosses), so not all of them are drastically different than everything ever made, but even the first boss of the tier requires the raid to think a little differently than before. It's a good mix of familiar and unfamiliar.

2. The cross realm zones sound kinda interesting, but I'm not sure I understand. Are they like in world BGs, like Tol Barad, or more like gathering places/daily quest areas?

Cross-realm zones are a solution to a specific problem: there's usually less than 5 people in lower-level zones, even on heavily populated servers. This can have its advantages because there's rarely ever any competition for anything like gathering nodes or quest mobs, but it makes leveling a decidedly single-player experience and takes the "massive" out of MMO. CRZ essentially merges zones, e.g., Ashenvale or Tanaris, across multiple servers so that a minimum number of simultaneous players are present. New MoP zones and major cities are not merged. It has nothing to do with lowering costs (in fact it likely costs more) or any other conspiracy theories many players have come up with. Players got a pretty bad immediate visceral reaction to it because it initially was a bit buggy and they were too used to playing WoW as a single-player game.

3. Speaking of PvP, have they added any new bgs of note, ones that feel like a step foward, or at the least are just incredibly fun? (Wrath comes to mind, where they debuted two of the most fun bgs imo)

I stopped playing Cata around Firelands because I got a new job at that point, so raiding wasn't really viable. Lots of my guildmates abandoned WoW for ToR around that time as well, yet i see quite a few of their levels creeping above 85 on the armory now. I guess what I'm wondering is has Bliz broke anything beyond repair, or is the game still fun?

Don't PvP much so I can't answer your third question. I stopped playing during Cata because I think WoW starting taking a turn for the worse and the one thing keeping me playing, my guild, was falling apart. I picked it back up again with MoP, found a new guild and tbh, it feels great again. Lots of fun stuff to do and the game really stretches to fill however much time you want to invest in it. People like to complain that there's so much they "have" to do, but it's only because they've convinced themselves that they have to do everything and that's definitely not the case.

 

[kurlkurry]

Excellent info zephyron, I appreciate it. Most of the pvp I did was on my holy pally, so would still be interested to learn a little bit more about that before jumping back in, but from what you said it's looking more and more like a reactivation may be in my immediate future. Raiding was always my main focus (pew pew!), so if the current tier can provide some interesting fights with cool mechanics, that would be the main draw for me.