tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post5322905472412420668..comments2024-03-21T23:18:45.644+00:00Comments on Priest with a Cause - A World of Warcraft (Classic) blog: Strange New Retail WorldShintarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-39491191494037102512020-10-19T19:33:09.275+01:002020-10-19T19:33:09.275+01:00Yeah, printed manuals, trinkets, cloth maps. :) I ...Yeah, printed manuals, trinkets, cloth maps. :) I love those and I still have a bunch of old Apple ][ games with them.<br /><br />I find the Defias pretty generic as a 'common folk betrayed by the ruling class'. I think I have more fondness for Mr Smite than I do the rest of the Defias. Though Pillagers with their fireballs make me want to slaughter them all. ^_^ Also, you really only start to see the Defias in depth when you get to Westfall, which isn't necessarily a 1 to 10 starter area.<br /><br />It's hard to say about Murlocs since Blizzard made them the Wow mascot and uses their image everywhere. (New players have a murloc head as an icon if you're a Guide.) They might not be iconic without that help from Blizzard.<br /><br />Kobolds and their candles are a well known phrase, but I've seldom heard it used in game or actual voice chat. I'm much more likely to hear a comment about Leeroy Jenkins.<br /><br />I do agree that Exile's Reach won't leave that much of an impression as a zone on new players. But then, I think it is more a tutorial than a typical Wow racial starter zone. Exile's Reach is more: we'll gently teach you how to play and get you going with the rest of Wow. The other areas are more: here's the world, you figure it out. (I also think if Blizzard makes any more new starter zones, Exile's Reach will be the pattern going forward. The old zones will end up slowly rotting away -- the Worgen starting zone currently being a buggy mess, for example.)Pallaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052537793722183657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-19219860609661942742020-10-18T19:58:59.157+01:002020-10-18T19:58:59.157+01:00I didn't have years of experience with WASD wh...I didn't have years of experience with WASD when I started playing Vanilla and it still captivated me! I just read the manual before first logging in. This train of thought kind of makes me miss gaming manuals...<br /><br />And I think you're doing the Classic human zones an injustice. They used many common fantasy tropes, but they also did their own thing. The Defias, murlocs and "You no take candle" didn't become iconic for nothing. Can you really picture Exile's Reach leaving as much of an impression on new players?Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-86731495873162268352020-10-18T13:56:46.555+01:002020-10-18T13:56:46.555+01:00At this point in the life of WoW I think a tutoria...At this point in the life of WoW I think a tutorial-like starting experience is what the game needs. I'm sure almost all MMO gamers have tried WoW one time or another. To attract new gamers they need to have a tutorial. Classic players forget that folks don't have years or decades experience with WASD. I mean, my wife who spends as much time on her games as I do mine is put off by having to learn to use WASD and the other mechanics that are so common with MMOs and other PC games. If Blizzard could somehow tap that market which plays mobile or browser games that would be a major win for them. (I don't think Exile's Reach is that win for them, but at least they made an attempt.)<br /><br />As far generic and cliched goes, that's pretty much all of Stormwind and the human zones in WoW. Especially in Classic. There's a bit of pot = kettle == black. ^_^Pallaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052537793722183657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-43328899698935580552020-10-18T00:46:30.091+01:002020-10-18T00:46:30.091+01:00I don't think the disdain from the Classic peo...I don't think the disdain from the Classic people was about difficulty, but about things like how tutorial-like many of the quests are, and how the story and characters are very generic and clichéd.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-40966667215957819552020-10-17T17:31:47.254+01:002020-10-17T17:31:47.254+01:00I also think that a lot of the real creativity has...I also think that a lot of the real creativity has been squeezed out of Blizzard by the homogenization and monetization that Activision has been pushing on Blizzard.Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-56629132506673932112020-10-17T16:54:49.648+01:002020-10-17T16:54:49.648+01:00Yeah, Exile's Reach is pretty streamlined, but...Yeah, Exile's Reach is pretty streamlined, but I think that's a good thing given the age of WoW and the desire to retain new / returning players. I do find it amusing that Classic players look down on it given how easy Classic is compared to retail WoW (or Everquest is). Classic can be tedious, but it isn't hard. ;)<br /><br />Definitely leveling moves fast. Blizzard wants folks to be at max level pretty quickly. Given that's their main focus I can see them wanting to get people there in a rush.Pallaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052537793722183657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4659326122793396570.post-85326587526684030672020-10-17T16:45:44.163+01:002020-10-17T16:45:44.163+01:00I just posted my "review" of Exile's...I just posted my "review" of Exile's Reach, in which the word "generic" features several times. I didn't hate it. It's functional. The really weird thing is, it could be any one of a dozen eastern imports I've played over the last few years. It feels like a translation, somehow, not just of the dialog but the very concepts.<br /><br />That's particularly ironic comig off the back of Genshen impact, which *is* a translated Chinese import and which has a generic fantasy storyline, and yet still manages to feel fresh, exciting and zingy. <br /><br />I think Blizzard as a company feels tired these days. No-one keeps the standard up forever and they've been at it a long time now. It's beginning to show. More than beginning.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.com