Blizzard getting Lazy?

Q u o t e:
Do you all think Bliz is being lazy just revamping old content, bringing back old bosses instead of actually spending some time and making new content and new bosses with a story line that takes more than 2mins to think of. I see a steady decrease in the time they spend on making gear look halfway decent. Really seems that bliz is taking the easy and quick way out on everything now. I guess the more money you make the less you care about your customers satisfaction.

I was waiting for this topic to come up. First: keep things constructive, just complaining doesn't accomplish anything. Please explain why you feel these plans for the expansion are not sufficient compared to previous expansions.

Also, keep the entire picture in mind when discussing this. Yes, there are technically fewer brand new zones and fewer levels to level up through - but - in return for this there is a much cleaner leveling experience from start to finish and many other things. Think of it like this, would you rather have this cleaner leveling system, the guild leveling system, and the new path of the titans max-level progression system or more zones/dungeons to level up through?

We want to hear your thoughts on things especially since we are doing something very different this expansion, but if things don't become constructive the thread will be locked.

Q u o t e:
Cleaner leveling system? Are you referring to how the zones are being redone (i.e. Lordaeron zone level revamp)?

Yes. The new system will avoid requiring you to run back and forth between continents to find the right quests to do. Instead there will be a natural flow all the way through.

Q u o t e:
Also, are you guys going to increase the speed of leveling again, or is that remaining constant?

Hard to say, just making the system flow better will probably speed it up, but I am not sure that the actual number of experience points needed will change.

Q u o t e:
And with that in mind, lets say I roll an undead. What incentive do we have to explore say, Kalimdor? If I am a newbie starting out, and I can do everything by skipping along zone to zone in sight of the Undercity, doesn't that kinda kill the whole "big world" feel?

This goes into the "your choice" category. Would you prefer to hit all the zones in Eastern Kingdoms like Arathi Highlands and both of the Plaguelands or swing over to see what has happened in Stonetalon Mountains and Desolace? You can enjoy one area with one character and then hit the others on another too. We like the idea of giving players more options.

Q u o t e:
If you could enlighten us a little on the guild leveling system that would be awesome? It sounds great.

Everything we are able to provide is here: http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/recaps/systems-panel.xml

You can probably find some more pictures on some other sites too. More details will be shared in the future as we continue to develop it.

Q u o t e:
are the areas going to be essentially the same levels they are now? otherwise how are we to know which zones are appropriate for our level (in game i mean, obviously this here intarwebz will have info).

I don't have exact information at this time, but imagine if the "bread crumb" quests that were available always sent you to an adjacent zone and you could head there straight to the quest hub and continue to quest/level. While the other continents/areas would be involved, you wouldn't be forced to go from one to the other just to find things to do.

Q u o t e:
Just wondering, Bornakk, I know it was said every zone would change, but will the terrain in every zone change, or just the quests?

The terrain is not guaranteed to change in every zone, many zones are likely going to stay the same terrain-wise but the questing will get the clean up.

Q u o t e:
What of those that are just starting out with wow 1. Will they be in the new content? or will phasing be used to blend in the new from the old when you run the expansion?

If the world has changed at a fundamental level... it wouldn't feel right to have the previous version around right?

Q u o t e:


I like the new classes, I like the new racials, I like the guild stuff.

I hate the new leveling system. I hate archeology. I hate the path of the titans. I like options when it comes to how I level, I liked being able to level different ways on different toons to keep things different when leveling multiple toons. Now I feel like Im forced down the same leveling path everytime and Im already thinking its going to be hell getting more than 2-3 toons through what Ive seen of the new system without wanting to put a bullet through my head.

I'm a little confused here. The current Cataclysm design makes it so you don't need to hit every zone to go from 1-60, instead you can go to certain zones at your own choice and continue to level smoothly. That said, I don't understand why this improvement is against what you want. What are some examples of the "different ways" to level that you prefer?

What do you dislike about archeology as a new secondary skill? And how about path of the titans which is another way to progress at max level? Overall not a lot of information came out on these so I am having a hard time understanding what you dislike about them.

Q u o t e:
1st question, Bornakk. Do you lick Chicken?

2nd question. With the new addition of heroic versions of lower level dungeons, will new players still have access to the current versions or are they being totaly done away with and replaced with just 80+ versions?

3rd question. Since Wrath came out and we've had both sides interacting with the Kirin Tor, I always thought those in Silverpine should become friendly to the horde and new quests designed in that area that didn't involve killing them. With that said, are there plans to change this? Maybe have all those mages join their people in Dalaran and have the place tooken over by Worgen or something?

Last Question. Can you give some insite on the changes to existing races' racials? Not asking for a complete lsit of Spoilers, just a few tidbits we can look forward too. lol.

1 - no
2 - Just adding a heroic version shouldn't affect the normal version.
3 - Nothing that I know of at this time
Last - Not at this time. :)