World of Warcraft

Just looking to hear some opinions: is it going to be the exact same thing like TBC only in a different zone, or is it going to be unique like the original World of Warcraft and bring back the magic to the game.

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Guess we'll just have to wait and see.  I've never been disappointed with Blizzard product (that wasn't cancelled anyway), so I've no reason to expect anything short of the quality we expect from Blizz.

I have voted pretty much the same as TBC with different scenery, but from a personal perspective that is not a bad thing. I think one more option should have been added to say "Same as TBC with some fun twists" as that is what it is looking like at the moment, but as said above we will just have to wait and see.

I'm going to go ahead and say it'll be something new and unique.

TBC did what an expansion should do.  It's an expansion pack, not a sequel.  If you didn't enjoy WoW before TBC, then buying an expansion pack is a pretty silly thing to do anyway.

Here's what it did do right:

1) It made faction grinding much, much better than pre-TBC.  Ok, it's still a grind, but the variety of the ways to gain reputation is much improved, and some of the quests are just really fun to do.

2) It brought the Arena which, while not everyone's cup of tea, is really good fun for PvPers - (better than the BGs imo)

3) It made raiding more accessible through better designed 10 and 25 man raids.Raids reduced from 40 to 25 so it was easier to get people together, more emphasis on individual skill rather than sheer zerg.

4) Flying mounts.

5) The 'winged' dungeon approach became standard.

6) Better outdoor PvP areas.   Not as good as they could have been but then hopefully WOTLK with fix this.

7) Billions of other smaller changes that gently tweaked, rather than changed, a formula that works.

And that's the key here, World of Warcraft works - it gains subscribers, it hasn't faded away, and remains as popular as ever before.  It increased the subscriber numbers, broke sales records, got good reviews.

Look at expansions from other MMOs - have they improved the game dramatically, and if so how - through tweaks or changing the game entirely?  Have they done better than TBC?

I think it will be along the same lines as TBC but as stated above,that isnt such a bad thing. I know that Blizzard has spent alot of time focused on the PVP side because of the great amount of people that are interested in that but I also hope that the same attention has been spent on the PVE side as well. Beyond the standard fetch quests and faction grinds. WOW remains the most polished game on the market and does have a certain magical charm that all Blizzard products seem to share. We know the polish will be there lets hope it isnt just more of the same.

Its going to be more of the same, which is fine, as TBC was considered a rousing success.

Now, if the OP is tired of WOW (happens to all of us, in every game) then he's going to be disappointed because this won't really bring anything "new" in terms of game play.  Think of it as an extension of the existing style.

But what really stinks is people like the OP get accepted into the WAR beta while all I can do is gnash my teeth at my lack of luck at getting in these things.

lol agreed. I have been a member of the WAR community for a long while now and havent had chance to play it. AOC as well. Oh well soon enough I suppose.

I have to say , for me , what really made TBC change WoW in a bad way is that instead of expending it ,  they "killed" the old level 60 content (ubrs,lbrs,mc,bwl , nax etc etc) which seemed really weird for me given  the face that they worked so hard on it, and they made Azeroth a place no one hangs out after level 60, instead of combining everything into a whole. The reason I think it was a bad move is the fact that the old content was much more worked on and more creative.

I didn't get accepted into the WAR beta, my friend did and he gave me his account so I can try it out.

Originally posted by Recant

1) It made faction grinding much, much better than pre-TBC.  Ok, it's still a grind, but the variety of the ways to gain reputation is much improved, and some of the quests are just really fun to do.

Introduced a lot more factions to grind which will become useless in the next expansion. Think your gonna be able to use that AD faction you gained 55-58? Think again.

2) It brought the Arena which, while not everyone's cup of tea, is really good fun for PvPers - (better than the BGs imo)

Introduced the easiest method of gear aquisition, leading to fully epicd out characters the moment they reach level cap. Arena are so badly exploited be prepared to be rolled by veteran PVPs that outgear you in the lowest brackets. Point Selling, Win trading, their ladder system is so corrupted no PVPers accomplishments can be taken seriously. PVE progression is screwed due to this (Have fun trying to gear up a Protection speced character).

Of course they continue to push Arena, its less content they have to develop. Force you into a tiny instance and remove any sense of MMO. Arena = Guild Wars =/= MMO. Why bother trying to push network code when they  already have you trained to jump through hoops in their tiny boxes.

3) It made raiding more accessible through better designed 10 and 25 man raids.Raids reduced from 40 to 25 so it was easier to get people together, more emphasis on individual skill rather than sheer zerg.

I didnt really care for TBC raiding, I'd much rather prefer 40 man. Too many boss battles where one person can easily wipe the entire raid. Lag spike, wiped raid. Of course I expect to be flamed on this point, "oh your just a terribad who coasts on his guild" and thats just an assumption youll make having no basis on my skill level.

4) Flying mount