Returning to WoW

[Smegma]

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?

CRZ is to WoW, what ground glass and rat poison is to cocaine.
CRZ is to WoW, what herpes is to swinging.
CRZ is to WoW, what "tossed salad" is to a new prisoner.

Need more imagery?

Check out the following link - and it's only ONE OF MANY - where the entire community near unanimously pans CRZ. Sorry, not 500 posts - 546 PAGES of posts. And that's just this thread.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6521292325?page=1

If you still think it's a good thing, feel free to jump in on one of the threads which hasn't maxed out.

 

[Smegma]

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.

I find no logic to your first statement, that CRZ costs more. That strikes me as utter twaddle. Fewer servers to handle the same number of players seems to me to be a VERY strong indication of a cost savings motive. Your statement is sheer nonsense.

"bit buggy" - is an understatement. That's like saying Rick Santorum is a "bit unpopular" with the LGBT crowd. There are several (maxed out) threads where they methodically go through the issues with CRZ - and they all come down to a completely pants implementation, and not - as you assert - complaints coming from players who want WoW as a single-player game.

 

[elvor0]

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.

I find no logic to your first statement, that CRZ costs more. That strikes me as utter twaddle. Fewer servers to handle the same number of players seems to me to be a VERY strong indication of a cost savings motive. Your statement is sheer nonsense.

"bit buggy" - is an understatement. That's like saying Rick Santorum is a "bit unpopular" with the LGBT crowd. There are several (maxed out) threads where they methodically go through the issues with CRZ - and they all come down to a completely pants implementation, and not - as you assert - complaints coming from players who want WoW as a single-player game.

Firstly it could be either way, your sentiment sounds plausible, but so does the idea that more tech has to be in place in order to accommodate for CRZ. We've got nothing but speculation on that end really.

See, while there are a lot of people complaining about it, I'm still not seeing the inherent issue with it, it is buggy, (never had issues with it myself, but that's the besides the point, there are obviously bugs going on, otherwise it wouldn't be so divisive) but once they fix it it can only mean good things. The old worlds just feel SO DEAD playing through them now, you see noone and it really does take the "massively multiplayer" out of the game when the only time you see other players are in the cities, that's what Guild Wars 1 was.

Most of the things in that list in the thread linked are stuff that would be happening regardless of CRZ were the world not so stretched over 90 levels now, it was the same stuff that happened at max level 60/70.

Lastly, there are a lot of threads with people damning it, but like a lot of people have said in the past, you don't see positive threads in the forums, because they have no reason to make a thread about it, so it's almost only the people annoyed with some aspect of the game or theorycrafters that hang out in the forums, which does make it look like no one is happy with anything. It can create a rather wonky impression.

 

[Smegma]

See, while there are a lot of people complaining about it, I'm still not seeing the inherent issue with it, it is buggy, (never had issues with it myself, but that's the besides the point, there are obviously bugs going on, otherwise it wouldn't be so divisive) but once they fix it it can only mean good things. The old worlds just feel SO DEAD playing through them now, you see noone and it really does take the "massively multiplayer" out of the game when the only time you see other players are in the cities, that's what Guild Wars 1 was.

Buggy is one thing. This is beyond "a bit fiddly" - it's utter rubbish. The OP in the thread I linked put forth an itemized list of the CRZ defects. All of those defects were still unaddressed as of the end of Nov, when my subscription finally died. This is just one more maggot wriggling about on decomposing corpse of Blizzard "customer service".

If you read through the thread (of course, not all of it), people aren't complaining about CRZ as a concept - they're complaining about CRZ as a completely bollocks implementation.

 

[el_kabong]

One thing that they don't tell you before going into MoP (and the reason I left) is that 90% of the Alliance and Horde quests are shared. So, if you're on a PvP server, make sure your side of the Alliance/Horde equation is in the majority (or at least close to equal). Unfortunately, Cross Realm Servers only serve to populate lower areas. They could be used to balance faction ratios, but aren't. The result is that, if you're in the minority, you need to have friends to have your back or you have an extremely frustrating time ahead of you.

I spent a large amount of time just trying to get some questing done, only to be pounced on by 3 to 5 Alliance goons looking for easy Honor. They have the numbers, so there's not a whole lot of strategy other than to flee like an idiot. Whether you die or escape, it's still a waste of time.

I know that the cynics among you are saying "then don't play on a PvP server". Well, to that I'd add that I've played on nothing but PvP servers and, up until MoP, haven't had a frustrating time of it. Sure, there were the occasional high-level gankings and campers. But playing MoP on the Horde side on Sargeras is like being a Jew in Nazi Germany. You're marked for death.

 

[Denamic]

As a destro warlock, I finally get to get rid of my fucking imp without having an enormous DPS drop.
And I've even got survivability now! I'm not just a free kill in PvP any more, given my new defensive CDs and many ways of healing myself. I've even gotten a rare item from a rare mob that gives me rejuvenation, the druid spell, as if it was my own. It's pretty sweet being a lock now, for once. I don't even have to life tap any more, with my mana regen almost being 100 000 mp/5.

 

[Smegma]

They could be used to balance faction ratios, but aren't.

In short - crappy implementation?

 

[elvor0]

See, while there are a lot of people complaining about it, I'm still not seeing the inherent issue with it, it is buggy, (never had issues with it myself, but that's the besides the point, there are obviously bugs going on, otherwise it wouldn't be so divisive) but once they fix it it can only mean good things. The old worlds just feel SO DEAD playing through them now, you see noone and it really does take the "massively multiplayer" out of the game when the only time you see other players are in the cities, that's what Guild Wars 1 was.

Buggy is one thing. This is beyond "a bit fiddly" - it's utter rubbish. The OP in the thread I linked put forth an itemized list of the CRZ defects. All of those defects were still unaddressed as of the end of Nov, when my subscription finally died. This is just one more maggot wriggling about on decomposing corpse of Blizzard "customer service".

If you read through the thread (of course, not all of it), people aren't complaining about CRZ as a concept - they're complaining about CRZ as a completely bollocks implementation.

Well yeah, it should've gone through a lot more testing, and they really should've taken it out and taken it to some PTRs for now just to try and even it out. There are a lot of problems arising from it, and people are well within their rights to complain, but priority where it's due I'm not sure why people (from my experience) are most vocal about stuff like "competition for nodes/rare spawns, quest competition, enemy players camping quest givers, language barriers, spamming. pvp imbalance" is stuff that's any where near as bad as it was when people were actually populating those areas. Or the doomsday prophets that act like CRZ has ruined the game beyond all repair, it's given issues, but fundamentally the game would be the same regardless of whether it was there or not.

Maybe it's just there's no real way to test it properly on PTRs due to the severe lack of the regular population for stress testing, I hope it'll be here to stay once they sort it out, and I'd like to think it's top priority for fixing.

 

[anthony87]

With regards to the dailies, sure they're there but you don't HAVE to do them. Do dungeons > Do heroics > Do LFR > Do Raids. The dailies are there if you choose to do them, plus at 20g or so per daily quest to gold can add up. There's also an item you can buy from pandarian faction quartermasters now once you hit revered with that faction that gives you double rep with that faction for ALL characters on your account, even the ones you haven't made yet. Handy for getting from revered to exalted, handy if you've got a lot of alts.

 

[Ryan Hughes]

I have not played MoP, but I would like to take the opportunity to try to disuade you from returning:

If you like WoW, fine, personnaly I have yet to play any MMO with a solid design philosophy, but to each their own. The problem with WoW is that you just get more of the same, and then even more of the same. Quests are just lazy game design, there is no arguing against that, and the mathematics underpinning WoW's balance have now reached Fibbonacci levels, making the whole thing nearly impossible to balance.

Please take my advice and play a real game, maybe get some classic RPGs you haven't played before on PSN or GOG. That is my advice.

 

[anthony87]

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

Do non arcane mages still get that arcane missile proc thingy? Getting kinda bored with my boomkin so I'm thinking about rolling a mage or shammy.

 

[Verkula]

Of course its "more of the same", how is that a bad thing? Its WoW, thats what its players want.

 

[Googenstien]

I got the come back for 10 days email.. thought about it and did it. My pal sent me a Scroll of Ressurection and I was able to get it to work so now I have a free lvl 80 with OK gear and got account upgraded to Cata for free too - If I sub he will get some kind of mount.

I pop into my new level 80 druid and im shocked that there is no class talent system anymore.. they really dumbed down the game. You pick with spec you want.. and thats it. Every 15 or so levels you get to pick 1 of 3 specialization that seem to not really do all that much.

I got into dungeon queue and got a group with 2 priests.. they absolutely destroyed the zone together. We re-queued 2 more times and it was the same. Seems as if, at least leveling in pve priests are pretty damn OP.

I dont think I will resub, playing this game for 1 hour made me remember why a game like Guild Wars 2 is so refreshing... its just hard to play GW2 with just me and my wife. Would love it if i could convert old friends to play it but so far no such luck.

Either way.. if you go back look into a scroll of resurrection sent from a active player, you may be shit out of luck if you activeated the free 10 day trial.. I called and customer service helped me do it since it was not even 24 hours when I realized the Scroll option was good. Customer Service guy said your account has had to be idle since at least March of this year for the Scroll to work.

 

[Nomanslander]

So Escapists, the time that every former WoW player dreads has arrived.

You know, I remember when I played WoW there was this joke within the community when ever a player started nerd raging that they were going to quit the game, the communities response was "you'll be back." The game being an addiction was just as apparent to us as it was for our family and friends that watched us toil away grinding, farming, and leveling in that game. An addiction that could never, and would never pass.

Well, it's been years since I played that game - I left just a little after TBC came out - and I don't think I'll ever go back again.

Back then, the thought of leaving WoW was a sense of gaining freedom, so I can understand the thought of going back would seem dreaded.

Well, personally, I don't think I would see it as something to dread, because as much as I want to really go back, I don't think I ever will.

The game has just changed way too much for me, and as much as I'd like to delve back into that world again, the realization that it's not going to be the same world puts me off.

So, hope you get what you're looking for if you do go back. As for myself, I'll just wait for Blizzard's titan project and then see what I'll do next.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

going back to wow is dependent on the same thing it depended on 7 years ago, do you know other people playing?

If you are planning on going back to it alone then it's a waste of money. But if you are going back to a guild with people you know, or starting from lvl 1 with people you know then it's fine.

This is mostly true, except that the novelty wears off faster and faster each time you do it. It just wears off exponentially faster if you do it alone.

[Disclaimer: the use of the word 'exponentially' in the previous sentence had nothing to do with math and is an inaccurate overstatement].

 

[Jewky]

I've played TBC, Wotlk, Cata and now MoP (Warlock/Rogue in BC, Priest in the latest 3 expansions) and MoP does introduce some interesting features and changes several aspects of the game, but it feels like it's patching up a very very old suit for a fancy dress party. (Personally I'm letting my current subs run out)

So I'd say, don't reactivate your account. There's only minor changes to the gameplay and any new content is very quick to clear (normal/HC raids obviously only if you've got a proper team but any other thing such as the BG's, the dungeons, the questing and any other new thing is easily cleared) and you'll quickly resort to the traditional 'stand in capital city AFK, catching up on Breaking Bad and wait for trade to suggest something interesting'.

If you want to play a time-consuming online game, I'd recommend League of Legends. DotA and HoN just have very annoying communities (I've played DotA 1 for roughly 4 years, a bit competitive at that and HoN for a year orso) and the LoL community has the raging kind of people as well, but a heck of a lot less. It takes a little getting used to, but once it happens, you'll enjoy it a lot (even more so if you've got a few friends to play it with). Another plus to LoL-games vs Dota/HoN is that it fits in my 'something to play less than an hour' category of games, 5v5 matches last on average 30 minutes instead of at least 40 minutes.

For some single-player thing, you could take up a Hitman game or Garry's Mod, Garry's Mod especially will give you loads and loads of messing about ^^

I hope this helps you somewhat and good luck on your decision!

 

[angryfish]

I've returned to wow recently after a year or so, but haven't bought mists, just leveling some alts while I remember how to play / get used to the new changes. I'm not a huge fan of the new talent system, I liked having 31 points to put into specialising, rather than 6 to put into very specific things. Though I do quite like that every talent is pretty much viable now, where it wasn't really the case before. Although once all's said and done, differences this makes to gameplay aren't very noticeable.

I've been a bit confused about the Cross Realm Zones thing. Before my experiences yesterday I didn't have an opinion either way. Now, based on my one experience, I think it's a stupid idea. A bunch of hordes level 11-14 (my tauren included) were trying to hand in a quest for well over 2 hours because a level 90 rogue in a cross realm zone was ganking the quest giver as soon as he respawned.

On a related note, there seems to be a lot more ganking around than there was when I last played, unless I was particularly lucky before. I'm on a pvp server, where it is to be expected, but it does get a bit ridiculous when many of the low level zones seem to have 10 max level players of the opposite faction dedicated to making sure that there is no quest player or npc alive in the zone. The blasted lands (dark portal in particular), and Thrallmar (the starting horde base in outland) are particularly bad on my realm. All horde in those areas are repeatedly wiped out, including the npc townsfolk, questgivers, etc. Undercity seems to be constantly under attack too.

I'm assuming it's the same for Alliance in other places/realms, but as I only play horde I don't know about that.

Despite what I've said, I am enjoying it, but when you get right down to it it is just more of the same. It is turning me into a hermit in my room at uni too...

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

Do non arcane mages still get that arcane missile proc thingy? Getting kinda bored with my boomkin so I'm thinking about rolling a mage or shammy.

Nope. I don't even know if arcane still does, but fire and frost certainly don't

 

[zephyron]

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.

I find no logic to your first statement, that CRZ costs more. That strikes me as utter twaddle. Fewer servers to handle the same number of players seems to me to be a VERY strong indication of a cost savings motive. Your statement is sheer nonsense.

The statement is pretty simple if you actually understand the basic architecture of WoW's realms. A single realm has a number of separate servers, including a Kalimdor server, an Eastern Kingdoms server, a Northrend server, etc. Because CRZ does not always have to be on, all of these servers must exist for the realm in addition to the extra servers that represent shared versions of these. Personally, I think most people had bad experiences with CRZ (e.g., they experienced a bug, or they experienced real world pvp on a pvp server?yes that includes ganking), which gave them a bad visceral reaction to it, which it turn causes them to retroactively come up with reasons to justify their bad reaction so that it doesn't have to do with any faults of their own (e.g., they picked a pvp server but they don't really want everything that a pvp server actually entails).

I pop into my new level 80 druid and im shocked that there is no class talent system anymore.. they really dumbed down the game. You pick with spec you want.. and thats it. Every 15 or so levels you get to pick 1 of 3 specialization that seem to not really do all that much.

I see this argument a lot and it's pretty specious. The previous talent system was the one that was truly "dumbed down." If you had 31 points (or even more in previous expansions), 95% of the talents chosen would be obvious ("pick the one that increases your damage") and if you were lucky you'd have a few points which you'd probably invest in a single utility talent. So you've essentially made one total decision. With the new talent system, you're in almost all cases making six separate and often tough decisions. With the way that the new talents are set up and the ease of changing talents, it's not uncommon that nearly every single raid encounter I'll want to switch a talent or glyph out. That's decision making right there.

 

[Smegma]

Firstly it could be either way, your sentiment sounds plausible, but so does the idea that more tech has to be in place in order to accommodate for CRZ. We've got nothing but speculation on that end really.

Blizzard is running a business - they don't do something on the scale or technical difficulty of CRZ just to make their player base happy - they do it to turn a profit. I honestly can't think of any other reason than saving on server costs and the trouble of balancing server populations, that they would do something like CRZ.

Now, I'm not opposed to them turning a profit - as they clearly are. I terminated my account because I don't want to pay to be a beta tester. If I want to play a buggy game that's in the works, then I have no shortage of beta games to sign up for. Subjecting their user base to a clearly buggy and poorly thought out half-baked implementation is disingenuous to their paying customers.

Result - mine and many other accounts have ceased. I no longer suggest WoW to any friends. I point them to GW2 or tell them to hold out for ESO - where at least there's some hope that the company won't ignore widespread complaints from their customer base.

there are a lot of threads with people damning it, but like a lot of people have said in the past, you don't see positive threads in the forums

So by your logic, any complaints can be ignored because - people are more likely to complain about the stuff they don't like than to praise that which they do? Egads, I hope you aren't in public relations or customer service - because the only place that sort of attitude can survive is the military or the DVLA.