iaccidentallytwink
Guild Master
Quoting from my own post here.
I play the game for the sole purpose of twinking out my characters and doing content or PvP in a unique way. The last time I played endgame was 3.1, and I loved every second of Ulduar. After seeing the trainwreck that folllowed 3.1, I decided to play my own meta and set some goals for myself in WoW. With all the crying in Casualclysm about how bad the game had become, I was able to ignore it as much of it did not affect me directly. Garbage raids? Cool. I don't play them. Easier travel? I'll take it. The mechanics for my content did not change much.
Blizzard has had the habit of slowly etching away at the difficulty of content and the dark-ish atmosphere of the game. Lets face it - the game was never too hard, and was never too dark. However, it had a good medium that started out with the big boys being able to compete, and the casuals at bay, with the option for them to hop in and go for the ride, proving themselves and advancing beyond the casual stature.
I ignored the outcry following Casualclysm. I simply decided to continue not participating in endgame. I felt they had valid concerns, but that they were being highly exaggerated. Today I realized this was not the case.
As many old raiders are aware, when you are slowly introduced to something, you are more likely to endure or embrace more of it later on. This is what Blizzard has done since WotLK was released. A slow descent into Saturday cartoon raids, rehashed mechanics, and fake difficulty that goes into not standing in void zones, which are extremely blatantly marked nowadays. If you take a look at the progression of the expansions, it's hard to ignore this pattern, but it's also hard to outright fight against it because of the slow pace it was done at.
This morning, however, I realized how bad it really got when I decided to start running the new Scholomance. I simply couldn't believe it at first.
Scholomance had 13 interesting, lore-filled boss fights with interesting mechanics that at the very least immersed you in the dark fantasy surroundings it introduced. The quests were interesting, and while the dungeon tedious and long, if you took the time to appreciate the nature of it you find yourself enjoying it.
The moment you step into the new Scholo, however, you notice something is not right. You realize that all the old NPCs are gone. The old quests are gone. To the left and right are invisible walls, no longer the option to jump down. Instead, you are greeted by none other than a "Talking Skull". Really? Did you run out of ideas? Could you really not think of anything better than "Talking Skull"? Okay. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Lets take his mundane-looking quests with no real reward and continue onwards.
You go through the gate only to be met by what seems to be a female version of Ras Frostwhisper. That's your great replacement? A smaller, cartoon-styled female lich? You start the fight, expecting some kind of amazing mechanics. After all, there has to be something to make up for this atrocity? But no, it's a DPS check fight with dreadfully boring mechanics, very clear marked void zones that cause damage after an amount of time that any child could react to. Disappointment strikes. And it continues to strike, as behind all the flashy additions I begin to realize that the so-called additions were only made to cover up how little Blizzard thinks of it's old dungeons and players. It's all about their wallets. Lets add some flash and remove the skill! Phase two sets in, and it's a cluster of random elemental damage that all does the same static amount. All flash and no real delivery.
Later down the line, you realize all the fights are equally as boring, with no real exception or comparison to the original Scholomance. And to add insult to injury, Blizzard dares to continue coming up with ridiculous NPC names that children watching cartoons can relate with. Talking Skull, Bored Student, and who knows what will come next?
I'm not going to sit here and talk about every fight. They're all as boring as the first. Blizzard has reduced Scholomance into a linear progression style gearfest that gives no focus to lore and ability, but instead throws loot and pretty colors at your screen, coaxing you to continue leveling towards what I can only assume to be a similarly boring and dreadful festival of repetitive mechanics and further rewards of flash and loot. You have done the same injustice to SM. A single hallway with no choices to make, no paths to take, and nothing interesting to do except a SINGLE mechanic that must be paid attention to, and nothing more. Thinking on your feet and reacting quickly is too hard for players these days, as you seem to imply. You've redefined fun in Warcraft as shiny colors for repetitive minds that do not enjoy real content. I will continue sticking to my classic content, and if you choose to ruin the last few outlets of the game I enjoy even further (Old Raids and low level PvP), I will be joining the so-called quitters.
Enjoy the fattened wallets and dropping subscription numbers.
TL;DR You screwed up Scholo and SM royally and made me realize that all the endgame old-school complainers were right. Your game sucks now.
I play the game for the sole purpose of twinking out my characters and doing content or PvP in a unique way. The last time I played endgame was 3.1, and I loved every second of Ulduar. After seeing the trainwreck that folllowed 3.1, I decided to play my own meta and set some goals for myself in WoW. With all the crying in Casualclysm about how bad the game had become, I was able to ignore it as much of it did not affect me directly. Garbage raids? Cool. I don't play them. Easier travel? I'll take it. The mechanics for my content did not change much.
Blizzard has had the habit of slowly etching away at the difficulty of content and the dark-ish atmosphere of the game. Lets face it - the game was never too hard, and was never too dark. However, it had a good medium that started out with the big boys being able to compete, and the casuals at bay, with the option for them to hop in and go for the ride, proving themselves and advancing beyond the casual stature.
I ignored the outcry following Casualclysm. I simply decided to continue not participating in endgame. I felt they had valid concerns, but that they were being highly exaggerated. Today I realized this was not the case.
As many old raiders are aware, when you are slowly introduced to something, you are more likely to endure or embrace more of it later on. This is what Blizzard has done since WotLK was released. A slow descent into Saturday cartoon raids, rehashed mechanics, and fake difficulty that goes into not standing in void zones, which are extremely blatantly marked nowadays. If you take a look at the progression of the expansions, it's hard to ignore this pattern, but it's also hard to outright fight against it because of the slow pace it was done at.
This morning, however, I realized how bad it really got when I decided to start running the new Scholomance. I simply couldn't believe it at first.
Scholomance had 13 interesting, lore-filled boss fights with interesting mechanics that at the very least immersed you in the dark fantasy surroundings it introduced. The quests were interesting, and while the dungeon tedious and long, if you took the time to appreciate the nature of it you find yourself enjoying it.
The moment you step into the new Scholo, however, you notice something is not right. You realize that all the old NPCs are gone. The old quests are gone. To the left and right are invisible walls, no longer the option to jump down. Instead, you are greeted by none other than a "Talking Skull". Really? Did you run out of ideas? Could you really not think of anything better than "Talking Skull"? Okay. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Lets take his mundane-looking quests with no real reward and continue onwards.
You go through the gate only to be met by what seems to be a female version of Ras Frostwhisper. That's your great replacement? A smaller, cartoon-styled female lich? You start the fight, expecting some kind of amazing mechanics. After all, there has to be something to make up for this atrocity? But no, it's a DPS check fight with dreadfully boring mechanics, very clear marked void zones that cause damage after an amount of time that any child could react to. Disappointment strikes. And it continues to strike, as behind all the flashy additions I begin to realize that the so-called additions were only made to cover up how little Blizzard thinks of it's old dungeons and players. It's all about their wallets. Lets add some flash and remove the skill! Phase two sets in, and it's a cluster of random elemental damage that all does the same static amount. All flash and no real delivery.
Later down the line, you realize all the fights are equally as boring, with no real exception or comparison to the original Scholomance. And to add insult to injury, Blizzard dares to continue coming up with ridiculous NPC names that children watching cartoons can relate with. Talking Skull, Bored Student, and who knows what will come next?
I'm not going to sit here and talk about every fight. They're all as boring as the first. Blizzard has reduced Scholomance into a linear progression style gearfest that gives no focus to lore and ability, but instead throws loot and pretty colors at your screen, coaxing you to continue leveling towards what I can only assume to be a similarly boring and dreadful festival of repetitive mechanics and further rewards of flash and loot. You have done the same injustice to SM. A single hallway with no choices to make, no paths to take, and nothing interesting to do except a SINGLE mechanic that must be paid attention to, and nothing more. Thinking on your feet and reacting quickly is too hard for players these days, as you seem to imply. You've redefined fun in Warcraft as shiny colors for repetitive minds that do not enjoy real content. I will continue sticking to my classic content, and if you choose to ruin the last few outlets of the game I enjoy even further (Old Raids and low level PvP), I will be joining the so-called quitters.
Enjoy the fattened wallets and dropping subscription numbers.
TL;DR You screwed up Scholo and SM royally and made me realize that all the endgame old-school complainers were right. Your game sucks now.
