Comment by axython | Hacker News Reader

Comment by axython | Hacker News Reader

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I'll disagree so, so very much with this and I am certain this comes from someone who hasn't played the game for a while or played very casually. Yes, doing quests and just roaming around has became way easier than before, however the game has tons of room for anyone who actually wants a challenge. I don't want to go super deep, but high end raiding is still alive and finally started getting monetized/sponsored plus you can always push mythic+ dungeons. It has to be noted, that all of this is group content and what WoW lacks right now is difficult solo content and I'd give you that.

Basicly right now the retail WoW can be played as time-intensively and on whatever difficulty you want. There is always something to do, however you hit diminishing returns quite soon. There is tons of hard, engaging content to be done with friends.

I think Classic is kinda fad, something a lot of people think they wanted, but after some time they will realize they did not. Of course, I might be wrong in which case I am happy they got a completely new game to play and hope they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the two years of WoW Legion(had to stop, because I did not have time to play at the level I wanted).

On the other hand, I can't wait for Warcraft 3 Remastered, that will work by default with most of old custom maps. I am taking a week off for that. :)

> what WoW lacks right now is difficult solo content

This is what burned me out on it to begin with, and I'm still kinda there. Instead of providing interesting and difficult challenges, they introduced vast amounts of repetitive tediousness.

I seek out well-crafted tension and release in my entertainment, but I don't have a lot of free time. On a regular basis, I want to struggle somewhat and maybe need a few attempts to defeat a challenging scenario, then occasionally receive a nontrivial reward for it. It's not a complex formula, just one WoW doesn't provide. If they did, I would be more likely to consider a subscription.

Another aspect which could give the 'more challenging yet not too time intensive single player campaign' a better chance in the market is making minor tweaks to such campaigns so they're also playable by a couple. There are tons of couples who have played this game together over the years (probably most of whom have limited interest in coordinating lengthy raids with strangers in their limited free time). It seems to me like a win-win to provide them and solo players something interesting to do that doesn't require too much grinding.

The thing Vanilla had was you were locked in a realm, faction, class, and spec. That was you. People learn to know you. You become friends. You build up a name. You know a mage who can come? Sure let me ask my friend, slfnflctd.

And you know what? I didn't even play Vanilla. But I have played a plethora of games where community was important, including SWTOR.

I had a similar feeling in Legion (the cross-realm pulp is terrible but PvP was decent). I was attached to one character, and no more split farm. However the RNG fest of legendaries and the mega grind of AP were not my cup of tea. I kinda liked the relic system and the augmentation aspect of the legendaries.

(I quit hardcore raiding end of WoD.)

Man, you hit the nail on the head with this. I agree with everything you said. I wish WoW had some solo content for me as I can't always be available to raid anymore. Plenty of my friends have been playing classic recently and have been just complaining the entire time. They all use to play, so I think the fad pulled them in before they could realize why Blizzard fixed the things they did.

Also, WC3 custom games will be my time sink for a LONG time again. I loved them so much growing up.

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