@Servasus: Nobody is talking about new content here. We've largely accepted that there won't be flying in 6.0. We want it in 6.1. (Or at least I do, I try not to talk for everybody.)
That kind of screws over the players who are more immersed while flying. Also, you really have no right to complain you are forced to fly because it's optimal, if you are refusing to play optimally in other aspects of the game. If you don't have the best gems, gear, enchants, consumables, etc that are at all possible for you to get, because you choose not to, why can't you also choose to use a ground mount when you feel like having some fun and restrict using flying mounts only to those times when you absolutely HAVE to rush to get something done? And why not have a mix of zones designed for flying and zones that don't allow flying? Have some Icecrowns and Storm Peaks, while also having some Timeless Isles. Why not have something for everyone? Why does Blizz now only care about the players who don't like flying, so they get everything and the players who have loved flying the past 8 years and 80% of the game's life that flying has existed, are left with nothing?
Interesting and insightful. A lot more so than the softballs (marshmallows?) tossed at Blizzcon. I would, however, like to take up one item: questing.First some personal disclaimers. My main toon, Garmheim of Zul'jin, is ranked by WoW Progress as #1 on my server in quests and daily quests completed, #127 world-wide in all quests completed and #156 world-wide in completing dailies. I like questing obviously and don't get bored easily. I find that quests and dailies are a far better way of gauging my toon's abilities and progress that training dummies. Training dummies are fine for determining if a macro is functioning properly but nothing substitutes for getting out in the world and killing a MOB that had been killing my toon regularly. That holds true time after time as killing MOB X starts with a medium long fight that leaves my toon damaged to under half health but alive to the point where my toon takes no significant damage and is killing MOB X with 1 to 3 casts. Another factor in questing is confidence building. Confidence isn't always a commodity that's wanting in WoW. I'm sure that we've all had the experience of going into an instance with players whose confidence is far, far greater that their skill and ability to deliver on that confidence. Doing a daily day in and day out over the course of a year or more generates the kind of confidence that matches one's abilities.At the same time doing dailies and questing generally allows one to experiment. Garmheim is a mage. After six years of playing arcane with a brief and unsatisfying foray into fire spec during Cataclysm, I switched to Frost about a year ago. My round of dailies and other quests helped learn the spec and put into practice the changes it entails. Similarly daily questing has helped hone my abilities given the changes for the Warlords expansion.The last positive point for quests and dailies are that they are great money makers. I hear others in my guild complain all the time that they don't have gold for repairs let alone gear, material or other purchases. I never have that problem. Garmheim began by earning the gold for his flight training and first flying mount by doing the dailies on the Isle of Quel'Danas years ago and continued to do 25 per day through Wrath. I've been able to buy the mounts and pets and gear I wanted ever since. I never need to beg for cash to repair. In a culture that likes to think of itself as being "self-sufficient", "personally responsible" and "rising by personal merit" what better expression of those myths than working hard and earning one's way in WoW as in life?In Pandaria there have been plenty of dailies and other quests to complete. In fact there are so many that doing all of them would be nearly impossible in one day and I will say that I've actually tried.I understand that most players have limited attention spans and demand more instant gratification than I do. Most are far more easily bored. Let's not, however, let those rather juvenile demands skew the game for everyone. Forcing players into some questing for reputation, perks and gear is not a bad thing regardless of how loudly the players howl. Just as making kids eat their vegetables is good for them, making players quest and do dailies makes them better players. If you characterize quests as Alex Afrasiabi did as "collect 10 bear asses" quests sound boring. Let me turn that around and point out that it's up to the game designers to invent quests that are more interesting than that.The original game had a variety of very interesting quest lines. Some were utterly maddening but interesting nonetheless. The original version of the dungeon key quests is one example, the sunken rowboat in Un'Goro Crater, the Fallen Hero of the Horde and the Sceptre of the Shifting Sands are some others. As long, complex, travel heavy and maddening as those chains could be no one can deny that they weren't fun in the end and, especially in the Sceptre chain, provided several useful rewards along the way to the ultimate goal much in the way that the Legendary cloak quest line did in Pandaria. More complex chains may be one way to make questing more interesting. In any case, regardless of how some, even many, are annoyed when they can't just log on and reach max level there's no reason to denigrate questing or daily questing. If quests have gotten a little stale maybe the fault is less with quests per se than with the people who create them. That's worth some consideration at least.
Yay for proper questions :D Thank you for this interview.
I'm most hoping that the drop rates on things like invasion reward mounts and other vanity stuff is high, because if it's only weekly/bi-weekly then we should feel very rewarded each time. I mean, 250 mounts for that felfire hawk is a lot of mounts when you already don't have enough money for cool mounts/pets from the TCG and in-store stuff.
Very interesting - great job all around
I really LOVE these interviews, I think it's being about to finally put faces to names that you see in tweet and posts all the time, and even more so the devs personalities. Also just watching the sheer joy and passion while they are answering questions, so very cool.
I love how the Garrisons worked, I admit the dailies were tiresome in MoP, but the Garrison is such a fun feature! I can't wait to get into mine.
Only a few more days until the expansion. I can feel the excitement building.
Great interview. Surprised about what they said concerning flying though. Last I'd heard it would be locked off until completion of the Warlords legendary quest line. Little torn about how I feel about no flying planned. On the one hand I do like taking my time, exploring the land, and learning the quickest and easiest way around the areas. On the other hand I'm sure that little pleasure will go away quickly the hundredth time I'm de-mounted by some mob while I'm on my way elsewhere and I didn't notice it until it was to late to avoid.
Excited to see what is to come
Sound like they're listening to people to try to make the game better - which is awesome. Looking forward to garrisons!
Give me a quest to collect bear asses, I want it now. :P
so did i hear right you now have to do cm to get into heroics?
I take vacation, close the phone, lock the door and i am ready to play at 5:00
Awesome!
Garrisons are going to be such a good addition to the game. Its 1 step closer to housing guys. Just wait, they will get it eventually.
Blizzard, I have high expectations for this xpac! Ashran world pvp = awesomeGround only mounts = kitty druid = awesomeCM mode rewards for people who dont always run at gold, is also awesome. I find it hard to get stability with groups due to working shift work, very pleased.And the garrisons look pretty cool, but I'm waiting to see how their profs work out.Well done, count down begins