WoW is 6+ years old now and most of the people who play this game have probably put in literally thousands of hours of play time. The have not played since January when I cancelled my account for the first time, but before that, I used to take 9-12 month breaks between expansions and even I had about 150-225 days of /played time in total. (I can't believe I wasted that much of my life, but whatever, it was fun).


Do you really think there is anything GC can do to keep a game like this "fresh" ? I mean, at some point, even the most die hard person's brain is just going to reject doing the same thing over and over and over again and want something fresh, something that new "lands" just cant provide.

This is why I keep clamoring for new gameplay types in WoW, but the fact is, WoW is WoW and adding a lot new gameplay dynamics just isn't in the cards and never will be until a sequel comes out in all likelihood. New dungeons, land zones, pets, armor types, quests, etc, etc are fine and dandy, but they get very old very quick now for those of us playing the game.

These days, just the idea of logging into the zone makes me puke a little in my mouth. My brain goes into instant "no, we've done this too much, there is nothing new, leave it alone" mode. Of course, the idea of easier instances now makes me sort of get past this as I think I might want to go farm some equipment, but with all the other kick ass games coming out in the next 5 months, who cares.


What also sucks is WoW's effects on other games. I know in my own situation, WoW has made it HARD to play any other MMO that is remotely similar. I played Rift (great game) but for me, it feels exactly like WoW and I got turned off after about 30-40 hours of play and cancelled it. Now, perhaps if Rift wasn't exactly like WoW with different textures, this wouldn't have been such a problem, but I don't know.


I am praying SWTOR isn't the same but from what I hear, it is similar in a lot of respects. Still, I am hoping the space theme and single player focus is enough to keep me going, else I will quit that pretty quick due to it feeling the "same" and "repetitive" even if it is a good game.


I guess my point is, there is only so much you can do for gamers like us before we get sick of a game. This doesn't mean WoW sucks, it just means we are sick of it and want something different, or at the very least, we need a LONG break from the game.


If you are really burned out on WoW, do what I do and take a break, or just a break from gaming for a while. It actually goes a long way to renewing your passion for it if you stay away from everything for 4 or 5 months or play something different.

 

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I took a short break and then came back to my guild being completely dead coz of RL and Rift. I found a new guild that raided on weekends I was was like lolwin. Then I moved to Horde Blackrock and running a new guild from the ground up. The game is completely fresh to me now because of all these things regardless of stagnant or rehashed content.

ATM I am having fun learning to work with a new group of people and powering through content.

Aye I agree Mithan, there is the fact that when you play a game for so long nothing can be done to make the game fresh so to speak for those players. The combat is going to play out like it has as well as other matters in the game. Yet, I still think Blizzard could do a better job at delivering different content at times than what it currently does. This is the reason the game has gone stale, but the actual lack of fresh ideas to push and innovate. Instead, each expansion plays out the same, and the end game is the same. Also not to mention the bait and switch that is pulled on the player. Leveling is so easy and soloable that you hit the end game and you hit the brick wall.

Personally, I would rather see them after the next expansion, leave WoW and make Warcraft 4. Then after this make WoW 2. Just like what you bring up with the players, I think in many ways, the current version of WoW needs to "die" and Blizzard needs to take a break from WoW itself, create a new RTS game, and then build off of that for a WoW 2.

As far as TOR is concerned, I will most likely get that at some point in time as previously discussed, and play it only as a single player game for the most part. Yet, from the talk I have heard who know people in Beta, the same issues that are currently facing WoW are going to be the same issues that will eventually occur with TOR. I have zero interest in playing the game as a MMO. I also think this is going to be what occurs actually. You will have more people, especially MMO players who as you described with your experience with Rift, who have grown tired of the MMO mechanics of yester year and want something different. Then you bring in the non MMO player, who just wants to experience KOTOR. It doesn't matter if it is a MMO. They'll play the game like they did KOTOR. Hence, You will have probably more people playing it as a KOTOR game I think than as a MMO.

I intend to level a Chiss, first time I will play a "bad" guy, because Grand Admiral Thrawn is probably my favorite character in the EU. Not sure what class, and perhaps another character on the other side. We'll see, I don't intend to purchase TOR at release and it may be a month or so before I even buy the game.

 

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I too feel like I might be burnt out on the genre as a whole, unless something new and exciting comes down the pipe. Having played swtor a bit, I can tell you, it does not redefine the genre. Don't get me wrong, I will pick it up when it is released, but I don't foresee myself playing for 2+ years like I might have in the past.

 

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It's WoW with Lightsabers and Laser guns.


I'm just waiting for GW2/Diablo 3.

 

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I have to disagree,there are lots of things that can be done.

1.Make a few new test servers with different rule sets,and guage the reaction.
2.Add a 3rd faction and make some new bg's that are 3 way instead of just 2. (War-3 had 4 factions)
3.Add dungeon falls,that will open to the faction with the most pvp objectives complete.(with top pvp loot.


There are many things they could try without hurting the game,but they seem stuck on the same model.Wow to me just felt like an instance and not a world,that's why I left.

To keep the subscriptions up, I think they need to think outside the box a little and add content that's more than just fluff or a rep grind.

I got a res scroll from a friend the other day and logged on did ZA got him his bear and i haven't played since

I am also in SW:TOR beta after playing it a bit i got off and started playing Minecraft and built a big ass Library

i'll probably buy SW:TOR because it will be a sweet single player game but as a long term MMO like WoW has been for me... no it isn't going to suck me in


I agree Mithan no MMO is really doing anything different from the WoW model i'm tired of errand/kill 10/kill X quests.. i'm tired of daily quest rep grinds but if i could run dungeons with a Tabard i'd be okay with that i rather grind mobs than have to remember to log in and do quests for 2 weeks

It really feels like games are doing as little as possible at this point.. well except maybe Rift damn every patch they release a raid or 2 and big PvP changes

You are spot on Mithan. I would wager most of the "hate" for WoW comes from people who finally realize how much of their lives they have actually wasted playing a game. They woke up and found out they were bored after 5 ,6 or even 7 years and have now decided "WoW sucks". Its the jilted lover syndrome. They put their lives into WoW , which in turn just "used" them. Broken hearts ensued.

Some people have taken the bait of Rift. Its the same crappy lover.. yet it has shaved/got its hair did (haha), put on some perfume/cologne and said "It'll be different this time, I swear" I think that Rifts mediocre success might actually be a bad thing for veteran MMO players. It tells companies that they can just do enough to make it seem different yet re-releasing WoW with a new skin = profit. Many of the drones will zombiewalk over to plunk down their money because they get what they want.. they get to play WoW without having to admit they play WoW.

/shrug at the end of the day.. who cares.

The fail was excluding players from the end game.

In Wotlk they gave everyone access to endgame, yes it lost some players who raced through the content because it was too easy for them.


But it kept a lot of players happy like the ones who didn’t have time or the skill to spend hours and hours learning boss fights.


We were happy doing normal modes killing a few bosses collecting the odd piece of loot and that’s what kept us playing and paying.


We were having fun .


Blizzard were arrogant thinking they could turn back the clock with the difficulty lvl or inspire people to learn how to play better.


I, like a lot of people on this board spent many years playing Asherons Call and tbh I liked WoW because it was similar.


I have quit playing WoW for now because it is not fun anymore.


Maybe Blizz will change things maybe not.


They have given a lot of players an excuse to try something else and that could be a good thing.

 

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Make WoW DAoC. Got it.