Now let me make one thing abundantly clear before I begin. I would be thrilled to be totally wrong and for the next expansion to be completely jaw-dropping amazing, like the WoD questing experience only with an equally good endgame, but I have good reasons for expecting a flop.
My concerns all boil down to the climate in which this expansion was originally formulated being terrible. By "climate" I mean the decisions being made by Blizzard at the time for WoD. Essentially while this expac was in very early development, we were at a point where the devs and the players were almost completely in opposition on things like flying, PvP and our idea of "end-game" content.
What this means is that the next expansion was likely designed for NO FLYING EVER, or at best tacked on as an afterthought. I'm sure that has been reverted, but the damage may have already been done in terms of the general feel of the new zones. They will likely not look as good from the air as they would have if the expac had been formulated with full flight in mind from the start.
It would also have been designed under the presumption that garrisons were even so much as a decent model for "end-game" content. Now I'm not saying they would ever make a return, Blizz has stated garrisons are not going to carry over into this new expansion. The concern is certain mechanics, like boring 1-button for loot minigames that are totally not interactive, may make some sort of appearance in place of REAL interactive content. Garrisons and their lack of engagement killed this expansion more than anything else IMO, so I'm understandably worried if anything that even looks like a mission table should be in this next expansion.
EDIT: I found an interview with Watcher from Jan 22nd which pretty much confirms my fears about that last point about non-interactive content being considered "good" during the design process of this expac.
I'm not into PvP, so I will only touch on this briefly. My concern here is that the new expac was designed while they were still forcing Ashran on us. They have since reverted this philosophy under great duress, but it was what they were operating under while formulating the new expansion.
TLDR: The new expansion had it's groundwork laid while the devs were doing pretty much everything wrong, at a time when REVERTS were the most celebrated form of "new content" and as such, I'm setting the bar very low for expectations, with the hope I will be pleasantly surprised.
This is all obviously 100% speculation. I have seen some change in Blizzard in recent months, so here's hoping this trend can translate into a better expansion. We'll see.
EDIT: Bashiok is leaving Blizz literally on the eve of the reveal. Trying not to read too much into this, but it's ominous all the same.
Ok, now that I know where he went(Wildstar) I'm now leaning in the direction he left over expansion issues or issues with Blizzard in general. That game is not doing at all well and even his job security would be at risk. To leave a 12 year job @ Blizz for a game that was last in the news for IMPLODING smacks of desperation. I'm not knocking the game itself, I haven't played it, but the news reports I was able to dig up concerning it's health are not pretty.
My concerns all boil down to the climate in which this expansion was originally formulated being terrible. By "climate" I mean the decisions being made by Blizzard at the time for WoD. Essentially while this expac was in very early development, we were at a point where the devs and the players were almost completely in opposition on things like flying, PvP and our idea of "end-game" content.
What this means is that the next expansion was likely designed for NO FLYING EVER, or at best tacked on as an afterthought. I'm sure that has been reverted, but the damage may have already been done in terms of the general feel of the new zones. They will likely not look as good from the air as they would have if the expac had been formulated with full flight in mind from the start.
It would also have been designed under the presumption that garrisons were even so much as a decent model for "end-game" content. Now I'm not saying they would ever make a return, Blizz has stated garrisons are not going to carry over into this new expansion. The concern is certain mechanics, like boring 1-button for loot minigames that are totally not interactive, may make some sort of appearance in place of REAL interactive content. Garrisons and their lack of engagement killed this expansion more than anything else IMO, so I'm understandably worried if anything that even looks like a mission table should be in this next expansion.
EDIT: I found an interview with Watcher from Jan 22nd which pretty much confirms my fears about that last point about non-interactive content being considered "good" during the design process of this expac.
"As we think into expansions beyond WOD, I think in many ways the Garrison as an entity is very much a product of Draenor. But I think the gameplay, offline progression, having a sense of ownership and a place to call home, having followers to do your work and send out into the world in service of your cause, I think those are potential more universal things that even if there aren’t 1:1 of those terms or systems, the concepts and the type of gameplay has been embraced and so we think it’s clearly a great part of World of Warcraft."
I'm not into PvP, so I will only touch on this briefly. My concern here is that the new expac was designed while they were still forcing Ashran on us. They have since reverted this philosophy under great duress, but it was what they were operating under while formulating the new expansion.
TLDR: The new expansion had it's groundwork laid while the devs were doing pretty much everything wrong, at a time when REVERTS were the most celebrated form of "new content" and as such, I'm setting the bar very low for expectations, with the hope I will be pleasantly surprised.
This is all obviously 100% speculation. I have seen some change in Blizzard in recent months, so here's hoping this trend can translate into a better expansion. We'll see.
EDIT: Bashiok is leaving Blizz literally on the eve of the reveal. Trying not to read too much into this, but it's ominous all the same.
Ok, now that I know where he went(Wildstar) I'm now leaning in the direction he left over expansion issues or issues with Blizzard in general. That game is not doing at all well and even his job security would be at risk. To leave a 12 year job @ Blizz for a game that was last in the news for IMPLODING smacks of desperation. I'm not knocking the game itself, I haven't played it, but the news reports I was able to dig up concerning it's health are not pretty.