What does World of Warcraft do better than Cox?

[EggKookoo]

I doubt we'll ever see anything quite like it again.

 

I don't, actually. I think there's a massive, massive audience out there that's not interested in the F2P format, that has considerable disposable income, and would be more than willing to part with it if a new, classic-approach AAA MMO appeared. I mean, I know I would be thrilled to pay easily twice what WoW charges for a state-of-the-art, content-rich MMO that doesn't try to constantly upsell me. I suspect game developers are waiting for WoW to die (whether that comes from Blizzard lowering the curtain on it or not). Granted, this awesome new MMO might also be another Blizz game, but whoever it is will clean up. WoW's eventual death will kick off a new feeding frenzy.

Bold of you to assume that Blizzard won't be shut down entirely in the 2020s as all studios devoured by big faceless evil publishers eventually are.

 

I really don't think I assumed anything of the kind.

[Sunsette]

Nothing to add but that I thought that was an excellent summary of the cultural moment around WoW, Obitus. Great job.

[Heraclea]

I know enough about WoW that this sortakinda makes sense for me.  Oldie but goodie.

 

 

 

[justicebeliever]

I know enough about WoW that this sortakinda makes sense for me.  Oldie but goodie.

 

 

Hysterical..+1 Inf for the laughs

[jubakumbi]

I mean, seriously.  How were you never exposed to any of those commercials?!?

 

I don't watch cable/network TV, I don't frequent YouTube.

I know _about_ the ads existing, never seen any of them.

 

I cannot rememeber the last time I sat though a commercial, it has to be years now.

[KnightSoul]

Did anyone hit "Not being owned by NCSoft" yet?  Because they did that better, and in the end that's all that mattered.

[Roughtrade]

Not a damn thing

[justicebeliever]

I mean, seriously.  How were you never exposed to any of those commercials?!?

 

I don't watch cable/network TV, I don't frequent YouTube.

I know _about_ the ads existing, never seen any of them.

 

I cannot rememeber the last time I sat though a commercial, it has to be years now.

 

Even the Superbowl commercials?  Some of those are pretty hysterical...

[jubakumbi]

Even the Superbowl commercials?  Some of those are pretty hysterical...

 

Not typically, no.

I did remember after posting that I _have_ seen at least one in the last while, the Gillette one that got so much attention.

[Roughtrade]

Now that I’be made the obligatory snarky answer....

 

I do have to admit that WoW loves its players and has more tributes to them.  My friend, who loved WoW, passed away and we petitioned and they put a sword in game named after her.

 

https://www.wowhead.com/item=90388/greatsword-of-kofinna-kottr

 

The great sword of Kofina Kottr.  I had to make an Alliance character just so I could have it.  WoW’s landscape is littered with little tributes. 

[Liam1986]

I think WOW's newish aztec heart of darkness style rotting blood temple area is amazing i resubbed just to explore it and the bosses that dwealt within. being a huge fan of Aztec culture and the allure of a dark and rainy jungle land i really dug it. I have yet to find a place in COH where i am awe struck by the environment.

 

Warhammer online had probably the best desert/egyptian area in the land of the dead.

 

Conan exiles dunks on everyone elses games tho if you haven't played that its nuts every area just makes you excited to go explore what horrors and wonders lurk around the corner.

 

 

 

[RikOz]

Now that I’be made the obligatory snarky answer....

 

I do have to admit that WoW loves its players and has more tributes to them.  My friend, who loved WoW, passed away and we petitioned and they put a sword in game named after her.

 

https://www.wowhead.com/item=90388/greatsword-of-kofinna-kottr

 

The great sword of Kofina Kottr.  I had to make an Alliance character just so I could have it.  WoW’s landscape is littered with little tributes.

Whoa, cool - that was one of my favorite swords, and I used it in a couple transmogs! Glad to hear the story behind it, because I always wondered about the name since it's not one I'd ever heard in the lore.

[Ele]

Raise the level cap.

[Charistoph]

Did anyone hit "Not being owned by NCSoft" yet?  Because they did that better, and in the end that's all that mattered.

 

I think someone mentioned that...

 

Now that I’be made the obligatory snarky answer....

 

I do have to admit that WoW loves its players and has more tributes to them.  My friend, who loved WoW, passed away and we petitioned and they put a sword in game named after her.

 

https://www.wowhead.com/item=90388/greatsword-of-kofinna-kottr

 

The great sword of Kofina Kottr.  I had to make an Alliance character just so I could have it.  WoW’s landscape is littered with little tributes.

 

That is an amazing sword and one of my favorite mogs to use for my Death Knight (there are not a lot of green swords, and that is one of the most amazing 2h swords in the game).

[PaxArcana]

Raise the level cap.

Not really.

 

Okay, sure, WoW has done it .... seven times now (twice being only 5 levels at a time), by my count, resulting in a level cap of 100.  But each and every level cap increase in WoW came attached to a new fifty-dollar expansion - either you paid, or you didn't get a level-cap increase.

 

City of Heroes has done it only three times - once for Heroes to 50, once for Villains to 50, and once for everyone (the Incarnate system, essentially).  But all of them were 100% free.  And in my book, that is a clear "quantity over quality" thing.  :)

[Primantis]

^

 

And now there's talk of "Level Squishing".

 

Lowering the level cap back down to 60 or 65 and squishing all content etc into the appropriate level ranges. I guess even blizzard feels having levels 120 or higher is getting bloated

 

For example : Vanilla content will be 1-30,  Outlands will be 30-35, so on and so forth. (I just made these up, I have no idea what the zone level ranges are gonna be)

 

 

What a glorious mess this is gonna be xD

[EggKookoo]

And now there's talk of "Level Squishing".

 

Some of us predicted that would happen the moment they raised the level cap a second time for Wrath. When they increased it to 60, it could have been a one-off. When the went to 70, it became a trend with the inevitable reset at the end.

[PaxArcana]

^

 

And now there's talk of "Level Squishing".

 

Lowering the level cap back down to 60 or 65 and squishing all content etc into the appropriate level ranges. I guess even blizzard feels having levels 120 or higher is getting bloated

 

For example : Vanilla content will be 1-30,  Outlands will be 30-35, so on and so forth. (I just made these up, I have no idea what the zone level ranges are gonna be)

Sounds like they want to cut things in half, and probably do it with the next expansion.

 

Which suggests, assuming each area keeps at least a 5-level spread:

• Vanilla: was 1-40, will be 1-20
  
• The Burning Crusade: was 41-60, will be 21-30
  
• Wrath of the Lich King: was 61-80, will be 31-40
  
• Cataclysm: was 81-85, will be 41-45
  
• Mists of Pandaria: was 86-90, will be 46-50
  
• Warlords of Draenor: was 91-100, will be 51-55
  
• Legion: was 101-110, will be 56-60
  
• Battle for Azeroth: was 111-120, will be 61-65
  
• (whatever the next expansion winds up being called): would have been 121-130, will instead be 66-70
  

 

... and I honestly don't see how they can pull that off, and not torpedo the game entirely.  Either they will have to basically remove (or otherwise invalidate) the vast majority of content from Vanilla, TBC, and Wrath (and large chunks of Warlords, Legion, and BFA too), or else, they will have to make that "get a new level" experience happen half as often.

 

Either way, they're going to have to rebalance EVERYTHING, from the Newb Zones right on up. That is an enormous amount of work, for a dubious-at-best payoff.

 

...

 

It seems they didn't learn their lesson with what they tried to do with Flight in Warlords and Legion: they are trying to put the genie back in the bottle, while the genie scowls and says "to hell with THAT noise".

 

It's not going to work.  It will be one more stake in the heart of a successful game .... and one more roadside sign on the way to the end of said road.

 

...

 

...

 

What they really, really need to do?  Give up.  Accept that WoW has run it's course.  No more new expansions after the next one.  Put all those resources into a new game.

 

"World of Starcraft", or whatever they want to name it.

 

Take all the lessons they learned from WoW over the years, and apply them to that new game.  Keep level caps low (make each level more meaningful), never give people freely controllable Flight (but make the fast-travel network more convenient / less tedious to use), but don't make people wait until the initial level cap to get any sort of ground transport.

 

...

 

I'm not gonna take odds on them coming to their senses in time, though.  Proven track record of being unwilling to do so, and all.

[Charistoph]

^

 

And now there's talk of "Level Squishing".

 

Lowering the level cap back down to 60 or 65 and squishing all content etc into the appropriate level ranges. I guess even blizzard feels having levels 120 or higher is getting bloated

 

For example : Vanilla content will be 1-30,  Outlands will be 30-35, so on and so forth. (I just made these up, I have no idea what the zone level ranges are gonna be)

Sounds like they want to cut things in half, and probably do it with the next expansion.

 

Which suggests, assuming each area keeps at least a 5-level spread:

• Vanilla: was 1-40, will be 1-20
  
• The Burning Crusade: was 41-60, will be 21-30
  
• Wrath of the Lich King: was 61-80, will be 31-40
  
• Cataclysm: was 81-85, will be 41-45
  
• Mists of Pandaria: was 86-90, will be 46-50
  
• Warlords of Draenor: was 91-100, will be 51-55
  
• Legion: was 101-110, will be 56-60
  
• Battle for Azeroth: was 111-120, will be 61-65
  
• (whatever the next expansion winds up being called): would have been 121-130, will instead be 66-70
  

 

... and I honestly don't see how they can pull that off, and not torpedo the game entirely.  Either they will have to basically remove (or otherwise invalidate) the vast majority of content from Vanilla, TBC, and Wrath (and large chunks of Warlords, Legion, and BFA too), or else, they will have to make that "get a new level" experience happen half as often.

 

Either way, they're going to have to rebalance EVERYTHING, from the Newb Zones right on up. That is an enormous amount of work, for a dubious-at-best payoff.

 

...

 

It seems they didn't learn their lesson with what they tried to do with Flight in Warlords and Legion: they are trying to put the genie back in the bottle, while the genie scowls and says "to hell with THAT noise".

 

It's not going to work.  It will be one more stake in the heart of a successful game .... and one more roadside sign on the way to the end of said road.

 

Not as hard as you think, partly because your level ranges are currently off as of Legion, and partly because of one 'new' mechanic that actually makes a lot of this more interesting.

 

Currently it is:

Vanilla: 1-60, but beyond the initial zones, they level up with you from their base level up to 60 (the initial zones like Durotar or Teldrassil max out at 20).  So, Westfall will match your level from 10-60, while Silithus mobs start at around level 45-50 and will match your level up to 60.

 

BC and Wrath: covers from about 58-80, and it's not hard to level through all of one expansion, not finish all the content, and never have touched a dungeon.

 

Cataclysm and Mists: will cover the 80-90 ranges, and they still require the introductory quests to access them properly.  Went to My Hyjal?  The portal to Pandaria won't open for you till you go through airship assault questlines.  Oddly enough, two zones of content will usually get you through that entire range with a dungeon or two.

 

Sadly from there, you are correct.  However, the same mechanic of the mobs in the zones leveling with you will still apply.  Each zone will have a minimum level for the mobs you will face here (up through WoD, as Legion and BfA allow you to choose which zones you attack first).  It is this last mechanic which will actually make things a lot easier to do level crunching with.

 

In addition to the level crunch, one thing they can do is make it take longer to reach each level, and once you start getting in to Legion content, your progression tends to be based more on your equipment then yourself (i.e. Artifact Weapons and Heart of Azeroth) any way.

[Xaeon]

Activision-Blizzard's due for the most spectacular of train crashes in the early 2020s and my only response is that I wish I had a popcorn machine in my house.

 

 

[Sunsette]

Activision-Blizzard's due for the most spectacular of train crashes in the early 2020s and my only response is that I wish I had a popcorn machine in my house.

 

...You're coming off as kind of fixated at this point, no offense. This is like almost every post you've put in this thread.

[Xaeon]

Activision-Blizzard's due for the most spectacular of train crashes in the early 2020s and my only response is that I wish I had a popcorn machine in my house.

 

...You're coming off as kind of fixated at this point, no offense. This is like almost every post you've put in this thread.

I love to see big companies crash, burn, and die and can't wait for companies like EA and Activision perish from this earth. All the big companies are lining up to crash into a brick wall and send shockwaves through the entire triple A industry that have been coming for decades. It's gonna be awesome to see who survives and who dies when the bubble bursts.

[Zep]

I have played wow in the last year, as well as vanilla, BC, LK, and a smattering of the others.

 

WOW is just plain bigger and has more areas and things to do. Has much more quests and stories. Tonnes of raids and instances.

 

COH has (IMO) largely better stories and the vastly superior skill system. I hate the current wow skill/class system with almost as much energy as certain former COH Publishers. (If your reading this you can get some hate removed by playing nice with the COH community now).

 

Both are fine games. It is like comparing Apple Juice to power aid. You drink both - they have very different markets and reasons to drink them.

 

[echosam]

.... I hate the current wow skill/class system with almost as much energy as certain former COH Publishers. (If your reading this you can get some hate removed by playing nice with the COH community now).

 

I feel the same. I have spent the years since the end of Live bad mouthing NCSoft anywhere I could, on every forum I posted to... when it was appropriate. If a forum topic was about other games or gaming companies, I made sure to mention those A-holes, the Evil NCSoft, and their closing this game that so many loved. I have sworn I will never give another dime to them, never play another of their games and so on. I passed when friends wanted to try Wildstar and GW2. "F--- no, I will not give money to NCSoft, and will not play their games. I will not ever again say a kind thing about them"

 

So long as this game is left alone, I will refrain from my NCSoft hatred, and not speak ill of them. In time I may even decide to relent and, if they produce a game I might like, consider playing it.

 

But, should they force this game to shut down, I will redouble my past hatred, and shout my hatred from every mountain-top and forum I can reach.

 

I doubt they care... just saying it...

[Primantis]

 

...In addition to the level crunch, one thing they can do is make it take longer to reach each level, and once you start getting in to Legion content, your progression tends to be based more on your equipment then yourself ...

 

 

This is pretty much what I am assuming. If they crunch Vanilla down to 1-30 for example, you'd level to 1-30 in roughly the same amount of time has it used to take to level 1-60, or w/e vanilla caps out at now. Getting to 1-60 (if 60 is the new cap) would take as long as 1 - 120