I dunno what it is, maybe because it's a 3rd expansion for a 6 year old game, but I haven't had any queue's since Cataclysm launched. Everyone seems happy Cataclysm is here, but I don't see the enthusiasm as the last 2 or initial launch.

Today, it's hardly even crowded, I would assume everyone moved on to the other zones, but still, it almost feels like this a patch for WotLK. The quests are similar, some of the armor is similar in look, mobs are similar, etc.

What I don't like is, every single quest is a chain. You do one after the other, not taking a few and branching off. You can't get more quests without finishing the 1-2 that you have. I only had 1-2 quests active at any given time. It feels really bottlenecked instead of open.

Hyjal seems like it's just a bunch of little corralled pockets of quests then they send you to a NPC when you run out of quests. Every little area has a little boss that you kill with a NPC/ITEM/DEBUFF.

Maybe I have been playing this game too long. I kind of miss the open world expanse of Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord or even Hellfire from Outland.

I'm seeing a lot of cut and pasting from Northrend back to Azeroth. Lots of green grass areas with those yellow flowers just like that spot in Grizzly Hills. Burnt areas like old WoW Stonetalon or that area in Sholazar. I did this Joust quest in Hyjal and you had to grab a spear and mount a gryphon, the spear was the same one from the Argent Tournament, same logo on it. I dunno, maybe they've run out of ideas.

 

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I agree. They have sacrificed some of the open world aspects to provide more dynamic story-driven quests. You are basically are on rails for each area, doing the exact same quests in the exact same order as everyone else.

I have fond memories about stumbling on a pirate ship on the backside of the highlands that I never knew was there. There is none of that anymore.

It is kinda like comparing the original final fantasy games with 7 and beyond. You used to be able to really explore and do things within an open sandbox world. Present day final fantasy games are merely really cool graphics and a really cool story disguised as a video game.

 

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WoW has moved more towards telling a very scripted story. However, I think the quote above is an extreme that doesn't necessarily apply here.

 

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Consider it the pre-SWToR impact. This is how SWToR will be, except moreso.

'What I don't like is, every single quest is a chain. You do one after the other, not taking a few and branching off. You can't get more quests without finishing the 1-2 that you have. I only had 1-2 quests active at any given time. It feels really bottlenecked instead of open.'

I couldn't agree more. For a few minutes earlier today, I thought I didn't have any more quests at my current hub so I went wandering 'ahead' into unexplored areas in Vashj'ir, and found it largely empty. When I went back to my hub and found a missing quest, it opened up other quests and phases that populated and gave purpose to the areas I'd wandered into earlier.

I don't like this 'follow this quest path through this area' type of gameplay. It's like I'm playing a single player game progressing through a level. It's fundamentally altered the primary purpose a MMO - I go where I want, when I want. I might die going there, but at least there is content there. Now you can only access the content by following the one single pathway through it. They are basically telling us how to play their game.

 

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I feel the same as well but I believe the zones so far have more quests then I can do before hitting 85. I like to jump into instances when I can and they give a huge chunk of exp. Back to the topic at hand though, I felt the same way when the game first came out compared to AC where you could go anywhere or do anything. They want to tell you a story and guide you towards something so you arent loss. I would like a combination of what they have now with guiding you but a few more hub areas that you could go to if your current one was camped.

 

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1200 queue for Mal'Ganis atm.

 

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Ditto for Stormreaver

 

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I agree entirely. LotRO did this as the storyline quests and you had your choice as to what you wanted to do. Play the main storyline, or do a bunch of little sidequests. All were fun, but the storyline quests were the most dynamic and interesting.

Just judging from Vash and Hyjal, it seems like each quest zone is main storyline from LotRO, only we don't have a choice to do other quests, as well. Putting that hidden boat behind the mountain with a few quests in there would of been fantastic, as Sprawl mentioned.

They went from completely open questing, to completely linear questing. I feel like a spoiled child saying it, but why couldn't we have both?

Icecrown, which was traditionally a nightmare, isn't that bad.

 

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blizz ran out of idea's to steal.

 

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