tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post2867413351430613446..comments2024-03-28T04:50:52.945+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: Figuring It OutBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-91507495158236486102020-10-22T09:08:26.822+01:002020-10-22T09:08:26.822+01:00I saw plenty of complaints about the difficulty of...I saw plenty of complaints about the difficulty of leveling through the final ten levels over the past couple of years but I thought that mostly related to the issues over things actually getting harder as you acquired better gear, some peculiarity of BfA's specific progression system.<br /><br />In most MMORPGs combat does get harder as you get to the high end of the mid levels, though, so I guess you'd expect it to happen to some degree. I'll find out when I get there, which I'll have to do eventualy if I want that fox character.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-59945802164652979642020-10-22T00:58:18.449+01:002020-10-22T00:58:18.449+01:00leveling in Retail WoW is almost entirely challeng...<i>leveling in Retail WoW is almost entirely challenge-free</i><br /><br />The early levelling is certainly as easy as ever, but we've found that difficulty does ramp up a bit once you get into the higher levels. It's unclear how much of that is intentional though... my husband found it hard to play his death knight alt for example since he had no way of regenerating health between combats yet, and for some reason all the food he could cook or buy was tagged as requiring level 45 or above to eat...Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-7407551248036531022020-10-20T21:45:23.223+01:002020-10-20T21:45:23.223+01:00If it feels like you're watching a game being ...If it feels like you're watching a game being played, perhaps what they were aiming for in the first place. That they're not really interested in the "low level" areas at all, but only the current expac. And even there, the endgame of said expac.<br /><br />Remember, the level squish and "the new starter zone" + "last expac" design was for "new" players to WoW. Before this, it was the "instant L120" or whatever that you could buy as a new player to skip everything and get straight to the latest expac. Nothing is stopping a player from going back and examining all of the other areas in Azeroth, but trying to make sense of it all can be so confusing to a new player --especially given the heavy use of phasing in game-- that anybody who tries is pretty much on their own.<br /><br />From my perspective, WoW is less about getting new players and more about keeping the ones they have left.Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-81965839726445158822020-10-20T19:23:40.267+01:002020-10-20T19:23:40.267+01:00Wilhelm has a handy chart up in his post today sho...Wilhelm has a handy chart up in his post today showing how the various expansions are still available "horizontally" as well as verticaly. It seems as though most of the pre-patch leveling options still exist pretty much as before with the new ones layered over the top. I had the impression from the way the level squish was presented that it was going to be a complete revamp, with the old way of levelling disappearing for good, but it seems not.<br /><br />I just put two levels on my Druid in Darkshire, which is where she's been since ebfore the patch, and everything seems exactly the same as it was before. I'm very happy they've left us with the option of carrying on as if nothing has happened but I can't see how they've done anything at all to make leveling simpler or more straightforward. More confusing and complicated, definitely!Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-90899695373778046232020-10-20T17:53:42.940+01:002020-10-20T17:53:42.940+01:00I've also been exploring the new Starter Editi...I've also been exploring the new Starter Edition, and also been quite confused by it all, but I am starting to figure out some of it.<br /><br />I still haven't cracked how to access Chromie time (as someone who never played BfA, I'm not sure I can), but I have managed to get to a point where I can access all the other expansions and just go quest there anyway.<br /><br />What I did was ignore the city tour and just hop on the boat from Stormwind to Northrend. I got a warning that I was about to leave the tutorial, clicked okay, and wound up in the Borean Tundra as per normal.<br /><br />Then, I went back to Stormwind and found that a bevy of new quests had opened up. Most notably, the "Heroes' Call" bulletin boards now offer a variety of breadcrumb quests to various leveling zones, including both old world stuff and alternate expansions, like Pandaria and Draenor. Just to add further confusion, though, the board only shows three breadcrumbs at a time, seemingly chosen at random, and the only way to access more is to accept some, close the window, and access the board again.<br /><br />It's nice being to able to go wherever you like, but the system is anything but straightforward.Tyler Edwardshttps://superior-realities.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-21879028730445182822020-10-20T17:18:08.174+01:002020-10-20T17:18:08.174+01:00Oh, that's interesting. After one evening with...Oh, that's interesting. After one evening with them I can't help but feel a little of the trolls goes quite a long way. Plus that ziggurat is a real pain to navigate. I have to get through it if I want my Vulpera. Otherwise I doubt I'd bother. I usually favor Alliance anyway.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-27000011872476506172020-10-20T17:15:22.047+01:002020-10-20T17:15:22.047+01:00Leveling in Retail WoW is such a strange hybrid. T...Leveling in Retail WoW is such a strange hybrid. The almost complete removal of any challenge almost turns it into some kind of "walking simulator" visual novel but the story really doesn't support that style very well. I have found it particularly striking, coming to it immediately after leveling up in Genshen impact. I mean, I'm not saying GI's story is anything more than a very familiar take on some extremely well-worn, off-the-peg fantasy riffs, but it has a zest, an enthusiasm and a twinkle that makes the tired old cliches feel, if not fresh, then at least lovingly re-furbished. The storylines in WoW aren't bad - at least the quest stories I'm seeing aren't - but they feel simultaneously stretched out and undercooked, as though the writers liked the basic idea but lost interest in it almost immediately after they came up with it, then had to string it out to a set length anyway to meet some external benchmark.<br /><br />I'm not saying I'm not enjoying it. I kind of am. But it's a strange experience. The oddest part is that it doesn't really feel like I'm playing a video game. More like I'm watching one being played. maybe that's intentional in these days of mass-market audiences for streaming services?Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-54029421671190495122020-10-20T17:05:59.633+01:002020-10-20T17:05:59.633+01:00That's very interesting. I'd read that you...That's very interesting. I'd read that you ned to do the "BfA introductory quests" before Chromie will set you up with the expansion you want but I haven't tried to narrow down just what that means. Alliance-Chromie, though, as you can clearly see in the screenshot I included in the last post, tells me she might be able to send me back into the past when I've "toured the city and met the king", by which I assume she means Stormwind. <br /><br />So very much not the simple solution I think we were all probably expecting!Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-53801988321101693532020-10-20T16:30:25.777+01:002020-10-20T16:30:25.777+01:00I found the Horde side of BfA to be less well done...I found the Horde side of BfA to be less well done than the Alliance side. The questing, writing, and exploring of all those troll zones was a slog for me to get through. <br /><br />The Alliance side isn't brilliant, but I think general consensus was that it's a better experience.Everwakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00568047016912855438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-67439971878568203052020-10-20T14:47:46.017+01:002020-10-20T14:47:46.017+01:00/Sigh
The more I read about Retail --including yo.../Sigh<br /><br />The more I read about Retail --including your posts, Bhaggy, the less I'm inclined to play it. Interest in the lore (and the Mary Sue/Marty Stu pair of Jaina and Thrall) has been sucked out of me by the endless lack of interesting things to do. The leveling experience as you describe it highlights the problem WoW created: the belief that the game begins at max level means that people aren't interested in the journey, but the endgame.<br /><br />Even people I know in Classic who are going to play in Retail are all about the "stuff" --the character creation options, the pets, the transmog, the allied races-- rather than the story itself. And those that are interested in the story give me a backstory that sounds so convoluted that it sounds like a telanovela plotline.<br /><br />I feel more and more like a stick in the mud these days rather than someone on board the hype train. Perhaps it's the knowledge that in retail associating with people beyond the basic "Hi" and "Thanks" just leads nowhere. I remember the old blog WoW Alone, where Darth Solo tried to play WoW in Wrath on his terms as a completely soloable experience, and whereas he was more the exception to the rule back then, his goals <i>became</i> the rule over time.<br /><br />Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-30694974936618771692020-10-20T14:21:52.620+01:002020-10-20T14:21:52.620+01:00I will get to this in a post later, but with a new...I will get to this in a post later, but with a new character I could not get the option to choose the expansion path until I had gone into the BFA expansion and had finished the tour of Boralus, the alliance town. After that I was able to recall back to Stormwind and it was there we chose Wrath to move forward with.Wilhelm Arcturushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07033496821708933394noreply@blogger.com