World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth

Jopsy Pendragon

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Since it is now some time after the release, question: is BfA worth returning to the game after a several years hiatus in your opinion?
Bfa has some excellent pve questing, the music is great, gearing up is pretty easy. The dungeons are a mixed bag, the raid is actually really fun. Problems are that after you've done it all, the usual grind and diminishing returns kick in. And some of the grinding content is offensively banal. (Tortollan reputation is simply unforgivably awful)

The novelty, while it lasts, is definitely worth sampling and there's a lot of it. The next content release is coming dec 11, which will reinvigorate things for a while.

Depending on when you left, there will be some pretty major changes. Class abilities have been pruned down and changed, some perhaps unrecognizably so. There's a new demon Hunter class which is fun and popular.

Before you unsubbed, was there any particular aspect or activity in wow that you enjoyed more than others?
 
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Noodles

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I would say it's worth it even just for a few months of catch up. Depending on how far back you are you don't have to buy BFA itself either until you reach 110. So you could just sub for a bit and catch up.

I agree that the dungeons are meh, and the new Raid is near but tedeous. In the past I did a lot of dungeons and raids in LFD/LFR, but I think I have done most of the BFA dungeons once. The one raid has too much trash and the last boss mechanics are too much for an LFR raid to handle.

I do like the Warfronts, though I feel like I am in the minority. And I hate the weird on for a week off for three rotation. Maybe once more are available there will be some overlap.
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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I would say it's worth it even just for a few months of catch up. Depending on how far back you are you don't have to buy BFA itself either until you reach 110. So you could just sub for a bit and catch up.

I agree that the dungeons are meh, and the new Raid is near but tedeous. In the past I did a lot of dungeons and raids in LFD/LFR, but I think I have done most of the BFA dungeons once. The one raid has too much trash and the last boss mechanics are too much for an LFR raid to handle.

I do like the Warfronts, though I feel like I am in the minority. And I hate the weird on for a week off for three rotation. Maybe once more are available there will be some overlap.
Uldir Raid trash is weird. Almost nothing at the start (more would be nice, because I've been locked out too many times from the group pulling the boss before I could zone in). And there's Hella-lotta-trash before the Zul, but no trash at all between him, Mythrax and G'huun.

And yeah. G'huun is absolutely NOT LFR friendly. But unlike previous expansions where you had to farm the raid every week to make progress towards your legendary capes(MoP), rings(WoD) or epic artifact weapon xmogs (Legion). There's no long goal to work towards. (which I miss). You get Azerite Power for your necklace... but you can get that anywhere.

In WoD I started tracking my alts on a google sheets doc, progress towards various long goals, etc. In Legion, my spreadsheet-itus went -craaaazy-, I was tracking all 12 of my 110's, and their progress towards class mounts, class xmog gear, hidden weapon xmogs, tier set completion, paragon rep attempts and lots more.

Now? WoW is so dumbed down that I'm not tracking anything anymore. My main has 'done it all' and my alts, which still chase down the weekly world boss for a chance at 355 loot, aren't doing much.

But, like you, I do enjoy the warfronts and hunting rares during the down time for the toys/mounts/pets/newbie-gear. Hate waiting for them to come around though.
 
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Noodles

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My sub ends tomorrow. I have been wanting to take a break anyway for a while, and it seems like as good of a time as any. I did manage to get my Rogue to level 120 first though. I imagine I will come back, though probably not until WoW Classic. Unless the next patch/raid is some amazing thing.
 

Ashiri

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I've been away from WoW and its forums for a while but when I returned there were angry posts about removal of portals. At first I thought they were referring to the Pandarian portals, but no, the Legion portals in Dalaran (except SW/Org) are being removed in 8.1.5 and there will be a new portal room in Stormwind / Orgrimmar.

Didn't check Ashran on the PTR, but those could be gone too

Seems like to be a good time to be a mage.

(Or just to stay away)
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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Seems like to be a good time to be a mage.
Yeah I've been barking up a storm in the "YOU NO TAKE PORTALS!" threads. The new portal rooms are pretty, just, well, pretty incomplete.

Caverns of Time is the big stinker. You can still get there almost as quickly, but only if you have rep (go to Shattrath, talk to Zepher in World's End Tavern). Without rep, Org>Uldum>Fly (4-5 minute trip now, used to be 45 seconds).

Pandaland is a big kick in the ass. Northmost Jade Forest is a crap arrival point for someone already finished with the content. Throne of Thunder / Heart of Fear / Galleon take much longer to get to. Ondasta / Sha of Anger haven't changed too much though.

Karazhan's portal going away is a nuisance, but getting to the dark portal/blasted lands actually drops you much closer to Karazhan than those portals did before, so it's a loss, but not a huge one.

Hellfire Penninsula is inconvenient because it was faster to get to Magtheredon/Tempest/Black Temple from there, but I've been going to Draenor and using the "Ever Shifting Mirror" toy to switch over to Outland for so long that it doesn't bother me.



Demo Warlock had a bunch of changes, documented and not, in this awful 8.1.5 patch.
  • Our Wrathguard pet dual-wields again (lost that with 8.0),
  • Skull of Manari artifact weapon transmog is talking again (woo).
  • The flying skull is no longer totally rinky-dinky for goblins(and gnomes) like it has been since FOREVER (asked for that change many times)
  • Demonic Gateways are much bigger for some reason now.
  • [Implosion']s action button now very helpfully shows how many imps it'll use.
  • Spell effect of Implosion seems to have been cleaned up some.
  • The "Holy Comets" heads-up display for Demonbolt procs now look like "Poop Smears" everyone has decided. Lol
Oh. And yeah....
  • our felguard's energy regeneration and haste buff from implosion azerite trait were nerfbatted so hard that no one wants to play demonology anymore. So thanks for all the cosmetic stuff. *sigh*
And Zandalari Trolls are playable now. All hail the Zanda-boomkin. Mmmm Skeski-beasts.
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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I noticed, and liked while I was still bothering with the forums. Maybe I'll be back if Worgen get updates.
Yeah, they've been dragging their feet on that. Wasn't much synergy with worgen racials and warlock anyway... i recently switched mine to Void Elf and have been pushing him from 110 to 120 from time to time.
His name was "Demongrel" now it's "Mongrelf" ;)
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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Kind of ridiculous how annoyed I am over this portal nonsense. It's not just the inconvenience, it feels like blizzard deliberately giving us the middle finger.
 

Brenda Archer

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Kind of ridiculous how annoyed I am over this portal nonsense. It's not just the inconvenience, it feels like blizzard deliberately giving us the middle finger.
I'm sorry I got disconnected from you mid-conversation. It turns out I have a lock at 91 on Wyrmrest Accord. She was Demo, but if it's nerfed as much as you say I might try doing something else.

This computer is really a potato so I'm leaning to trying to relearn everything by doing low level Loremaster I've missed and pet battles when opportunity arises.

I have three toons at WoD level and I might be stuck there a while. Is there any reason to bother with a garrison at all, or has it become a completely obsolete waste of time? I always found it boring.
 

Ashiri

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I have three toons at WoD level and I might be stuck there a while. Is there any reason to bother with a garrison at all, or has it become a completely obsolete waste of time? I always found it boring.
It's rarely worth doing previous content's features such as garrisons or shipyards.

ETA: It'll likely be a while before I get back to WoW.
 

Kamilah Hauptmann

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It's rarely worth doing previous content's features such as garrisons or shipyards.

ETA: It'll likely be a while before I get back to WoW.
I've heard of people still doing alright manufacturing Hexweave Bags in the garrison. Also I think you need to do a certain minimum with it to access leveling quests.
 
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Brenda Archer

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I've heard of people still doing alright manufacturing Hexweave Bags in the garrison. Also I think you need to do a certain minimum with it to access leveling quests.
Thanks, that’s a good idea to raise money without using real money or time.
 

Ashiri

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Making hexweave bags is good but getting the materials for them can be a pain when you one-shot the elite wolves before they can be trapped
 
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Brenda Archer

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I'm kind of amazed. I have not done more than one Legion zone and part of another one and I'm already 106 (in quest gear no less). Once I hit 110 I'll start working on Pathfinder. I can't justify to myself buying BfA just yet.
 

Brenda Archer

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So I got Draenor Pathfinder in a day and half orgy of buying quests and doing treasure hunting. The treasure hunting would have been fun if it hadn't been such a panic grind for me. It was a different way of interacting with the game (for WoW), and I didn't actually mind it. I just skipped anything where it was clear I'd have to fly to it.

Feral is strong for grinding out new stuff and not getting smacked around too hard by the unexpected. So I expect taking a fair amount of time nailing Legion Pathfinder on my main before I start sending up alts (mainly to be a tourist of their class halls) and also before spending any money on BfA.

The artwork is gorgeous in Legion, and I often literally stop and smell the flowers. But I can't help getting the feeling the storytelling is somewhat uninspired and leaning too hard on nostalgia. It's a pleasant enough ride, but I can't see it being compelling to a new player.

I felt Illidan got a raw deal from the beginning and resented having to try to kill him, so seeing him get vindicated has been fun. But that's another nostalgia thing too, in its way.

I liked that the Highmountain recognized and remembered Ashamane. That made it click for me on a lore level because otherwise I was kinda "Ashamane who?" and my main started as a Tauren in WotLK.
 

Brenda Archer

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So I finished the glorious class struggle in Suramar and got Legion Loremaster.

I find it very ironic I’m questing through a story about artificial scarcity while ActiBlizz replaced some of their employees with contract workers with no benefits.
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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I'm cheesed off at blizzard enough that I've purchased and started playing elder scrolls online (ESO). Not sure it's the game for me but it's been interesting.

Latest blizzard stupidity is that they're going to make water strider mounts unable to walk on water. Was a big pain to earn those for that ability... And bliz is "replacing" it with "mount equipment". At first it looks cool, you can slot water walking equipment, and all your mounts get the water walking buff. Yay! But it's subpar. Any falling damage breaks the buff, unlike with water striders. Also, 40% of the mounts are too big to jump back on top of the water after you remount while swimming.

And, new zones will basically force us to use non water walking equipment (no-daze or safe fall will be essential). Equipment is one slot that's character wide, and affects all mounts (except one special case), which means no mounts will have water walking if you're doing new zone content.

Folks are almost as angry about it as portal removal, but Blizzard don't care, and this is just one on a growing list of quality of life downgrades in the game.

Basically, the art/music is cool... But Everything else kind of sucks right now because of stupid design decisions. I'd recommend just waiting for the next expansion... If they bother with one.

And "classic" sounds to me like it's a big wet wad of nostalgia that only the most hard core player could love. I think it's going to do more harm than good for the franchise.
 

Brenda Archer

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I'm cheesed off at blizzard enough that I've purchased and started playing elder scrolls online (ESO). Not sure it's the game for me but it's been interesting.

Latest blizzard stupidity is that they're going to make water strider mounts unable to walk on water. Was a big pain to earn those for that ability... And bliz is "replacing" it with "mount equipment". At first it looks cool, you can slot water walking equipment, and all your mounts get the water walking buff. Yay! But it's subpar. Any falling damage breaks the buff, unlike with water striders. Also, 40% of the mounts are too big to jump back on top of the water after you remount while swimming.

And, new zones will basically force us to use non water walking equipment (no-daze or safe fall will be essential). Equipment is one slot that's character wide, and affects all mounts (except one special case), which means no mounts will have water walking if you're doing new zone content.

Folks are almost as angry about it as portal removal, but Blizzard don't care, and this is just one on a growing list of quality of life downgrades in the game.

Basically, the art/music is cool... But Everything else kind of sucks right now because of stupid design decisions. I'd recommend just waiting for the next expansion... If they bother with one.

And "classic" sounds to me like it's a big wet wad of nostalgia that only the most hard core player could love. I think it's going to do more harm than good for the franchise.
Omigod, that's really bad.

And it's unnecessary.

They seem to be committed to a zone design idea where you're forced to interact with the terrain on their terms. That's been really frustrating for me since I'm bad at puzzles and mazes. I can't play anymore without constantly paging out to Wowhead.

Because I'm on druid I'm used to just going in the water. I wonder if they'll notice that's a really strong buff and take it away.

I need somewhere else to go. My computer is a potato, so I'm afraid some games would be too much. But I don't want to be too loyal either.
 
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