Blizzard confirms World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor expansion pack

[Shawn Knight]

Blizzard has revealed the next expansion pack for World of Warcraft will be Warlords of Draenor. Rumors of the title started swirling when Blizzard trademarked the name last week before officially confirming it on Friday during BlizzCon 2013.

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said Warlords of Draenor gives players a chance to take a commanding role in one of the Warcraft series' most crucial conflicts. The expansion also includes features that make it easy for anyone to jump right into the action, whether they've played WoW at some point in the past or are just setting foot in Azeroth for the first time, he noted.

True enough, both new and returning players can instantly start any one character at level 90 to start on a more level playing field. Other new features include the ability for gamers to construct their own expandable, customizable Garrison.

Elsewhere, character models and animations for several existing races have been revamped. Blizzard is also adding new dungeons, raids, zones, battlegrounds, scenarios and a new level cap of 100 for a bit more flexibility on the higher end.

The expansion couldn’t come at a better time as the franchise has been bleeding subscribers for quite some time. At last check, some 1.3 million subscribers ditched the paying service during the first quarter of this year.

Do you think World of Warcraft will be able to recover some of the lost subscribers with this new expansion pack or is the MMORPG simply past its prime?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54638-blizzard-confirms-world-of-warcraft-warlords-of-draenor-expansion-pack.html

 

[oldikes]

The reason I stopped playing the game (around the time WOTLK came out) is because they released expanions far too frequently for me to keep up with. And because honestly $15 a month I cant justify. Maybe $5. or $10.

Kind of ironic, really, because they keep doing this to stop people from leaving.

I guess it keeps the hardcore, 5 hours a day players though..

Also starting characters at level 90 is rather stupid. Just make the grinding less tedious. But I suppose theyve proved at this point they dont know how to do that to a degree...

 

[Mister_K]

It seems this expansion does not bring anything huge other than building up your Garrison+New Zones.

I was expecting little bit more, either a new profession, class or race aren't mandatory but would have been nice.

When will we know the whole feature list? I am thinking of returning back to the game (absent from RETAIL since 11').

 

[Mister_K]

The reason I stopped playing the game (around the time WOTLK came out) is because they released expanions far too frequently for me to keep up with. And because honestly $15 a month I cant justify. Maybe $5. or $10.

Kind of ironic, really, because they keep doing this to stop people from leaving.

I guess it keeps the hardcore, 5 hours a day players though..

Also starting characters at level 90 is rather stupid. Just make the grinding less tedious. But I suppose theyve proved at this point they dont know how to do that to a degree...

I think people who don't like frequent expansion packs are in the very small minority, considering ICC dragged on for a while (over a year) and a lot of people pretty much left because of it. Cata was a nail in the coffin for me, mainly due to the reason of rehashing talent trees and the system for my fav. class. However, overall theme of the expansion was just way too boring. TBC/WotLK still remain the best game states.

I think it would have been much more justifiable if the content expansions would have been packing a lot more content. For example, TBC brought HUGE amount of changes and each expansion after that brought less and less (although Cata had huge overhaul in talents and scenery).

 

[treeski]

And because honestly $15 a month I cant justify.

These days, game subscriptions are complete turn offs. GW2 is the only MMO I've gotten into lately, simply because there's no subscription required.

 

[oldikes]

I loved TBC, but my main problem is after I finally hit 70 with one character and had just started getting good gear together, WOTLK came out and all of my work was pretty much obsolete.
The way I see it, its best to either start playing from level 1 shortly after an expansion is released, or to have the best of everything before an expansion is released, so your ready for it. Otherwise things get changed in the middle of your talent trees or your spells get changed or your level.

Some people might like expansions coming out before you are ready for them, but it just throws me off drastically.

 

[Mister_K]

These days, game subscriptions are complete turn offs. GW2 is the only MMO I've gotten into lately, simply because there's no subscription required.

and look at where GW2 is now. Subscriptions channel more resources to the development teams. However, considering how much cash Blizzard is getting, they should be adding more content compared to the current state.

 

[Mister_K]

I loved TBC, but my main problem is after I finally hit 70 with one character and had just started getting good gear together, WOTLK came out and all of my work was pretty much obsolete.
The way I see it, its best to either start playing from level 1 shortly after an expansion is released, or to have the best of everything before an expansion is released, so your ready for it. Otherwise things get changed in the middle of your talent trees or your spells get changed or your level.

Some people might like expansions coming out before you are ready for them, but it just throws me off drastically.

Actually lot of the TBC gear was still decent for entry-level raiding (assuming you had BIS + same goes for Vanilla > TBC) whereas WotLK to Cata was a huge leap (seriously wtf where they thinking with the inflation of numbers??). Sorry this is an MMO, progress is required. At least now, you can collect gear and use it as transmog if you so wish, so it's not completely obsolete.

The way I see it, an expansion is a reset stage for those who have not either attained BIS gear before it or have not been playing at all. When you get to cap, it won't matter as much if you weren't geared enough in previous expansion. You can go and buy BOEs, quick badge farms and drops from heroics and get ready for raiding, and this very same pretty much applies to PvP as well. Oh and I forgot to mention LFG/LFR for gearing up if you aren't in a raiding guild.

The only real reason to get ready for an expansion is gold wise to buy BOEs from the AH, gems, enchants and what not. To do that, you can stockpile profession mats and sell them at a higher price when the expansion releases. However, this can be tricky.

My usual strategy is to stockpile cloth, herbs and ore as well as enchanting materials and resell them. While at the same time level to cap, level up my professions, farm heroics and gear to best possible pre-raid gear.

Then hop on gatherer alt and level up mining/herbing and sell the mats on AH or use them on my main to create items or prospect those materials. More cash for the main.

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Garrison Screenshot: http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2013/november/bconWWWNext68.jpg

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I think it would have been much more justifiable if the content expansions would have been packing a lot more content. For example, TBC brought HUGE amount of changes and each expansion after that brought less and less (although Cata had huge overhaul in talents and scenery).

You mention content in relation to dungeons and raids. They have added other content though. I've been away from the game for a while too, but my understanding is now they have flexible raids that change difficulty based on how many people are in your party. There are now 4 difficulty levels for raiding, and stuff I never even tried like pet battles, brawlers guild, and next will be proving grounds. This is all 'new content' just not new levels.

Part of the downside of the subscription model is Blizz has to cater to everyone. That means some content that you probably won't care about. However, WoW is, without a doubt, the biggest and most comprehensive game out there. I bet nothing even comes close. It may not be the most hardcore or even have the most players (I think league of legends has more doesn't it?) but WoW has more content for every different type of player.

 

[Tekkaraiden]

Nice to see them overhaul the graphics a bit, still not interested to play again.

 

[Mister_K]

You mention content in relation to dungeons and raids. They have added other content though. I've been away from the game for a while too, but my understanding is now they have flexible raids that change difficulty based on how many people are in your party. There are now 4 difficulty levels for raiding, and stuff I never even tried like pet battles, brawlers guild, and next will be proving grounds. This is all 'new content' just not new levels.



Part of the downside of the subscription model is Blizz has to cater to everyone. That means some content that you probably won't care about. However, WoW is, without a doubt, the biggest and most comprehensive game out there. I bet nothing even comes close. It may not be the most hardcore or even have the most players (I think league of legends has more doesn't it?) but WoW has more content for every different type of player.

10, 20, 25 mans are still there. I guess if you have 24/25 the raid will be slightly easier though. However, top raiding will be done in 20 man now, kind of fk!"# over 10 man guilds.

Pet battles are mini-game, not exactly what most people do in WoW and same goes for the rest. Raiding hasn't been great since WotLK, although I heard MoP had pretty decent raids. TBC for PvE was just fantastic while PvP was alright, not until WotLK most classes got balanced out (most useful specs) although wizards were still strong.

 

[fimbles]

Gave up after cataclysm, which was also disappointing.

Daily quest grind was mind numbing, and mostly in overcrowded PVP areas.

 

[Guest]

As a long time, on-again off-again WoW player, I was excited to see Rift become free to play. I encourage folks to at least try it out. For me it scratches that itch for MMORPG grinding, without the $15/month price tag that I just can't justify.

 

[Mister_K]

As a long time, on-again off-again WoW player, I was excited to see Rift become free to play. I encourage folks to at least try it out. For me it scratches that itch for MMORPG grinding, without the $15/month price tag that I just can't justify.

It's actually a WoW with better graphics as many say. Its certainly a great F2P game but it has its faults. If those seeking new MMO Rift and SWTOR are deffo a good places to start. Wildstar is also looking pretty decent, but obviously not the next big thing.

 

[9Nails]

I'm tired of babysitting buttons in WoW. There isn't a fighting class that has a true spell damage rotation. This means that you're watching for buttons to cook off instead of watching the game. Not fun. And what's worse is that each point release imbalances the game and you have to learn how to play or chance spec to stay on top.

No thanks Blizzard. MMO's should be about having fun with people, and your game is getting in the way!

 

[dennis777]

Button watching... ehehehe

I'm tired of babysitting buttons in WoW. There isn't a fighting class that has a true spell damage rotation. This means that you're watching for buttons to cook off instead of watching the game. Not fun. And what's worse is that each point release imbalances the game and you have to learn how to play or chance spec to stay on top.

No thanks Blizzard. MMO's should be about having fun with people, and your game is getting in the way!

 

[Arris]

I escaped this games grip after WotLK and won't be back. Too much of a grind and required time sync to be "fun". More of a chore. Happy playing pick up and play games for an hour or two max. 4+ hour raids and grinding professions/skills/levels, no thanks. Even if the grind is less this time around I think I've done enough MMO gaming of this type for a lifetime.

 

[Gallifrey2]

I'm tired of babysitting buttons in WoW. There isn't a fighting class that has a true spell damage rotation. This means that you're watching for buttons to cook off instead of watching the game. Not fun. And what's worse is that each point release imbalances the game and you have to learn how to play or chance spec to stay on top.

No thanks Blizzard. MMO's should be about having fun with people, and your game is getting in the way!

This, totally agree with the button watching. I used to enjoy the game but I find that they are hand holding people too much now. If something takes too much effort there is a huge outcry. The more time goes on the more the remaining players just want that I win button. I have had enough of the MMO games to last me a life time.