I have to admit I’ve not really been playing World of Warcraft as much as I had anticipated, but I do pop in now and then. I’m not sure why I don’t play more. There’s nothing about it that bothers me or anything. I mean partially it is just due to playing so many games at once, but it’s partially that it hasn’t REALLY grabbed me yet. I am not playing through The War Within since I don’t have a level 70 character. I’m playing the last expansion, Dragonflight.
So far it has been a pretty chill experience, and maybe that is actually part of the issue? When I log in I play for a while and then I tend to get a little sleepy and so I log out. Mind you recently almost everything can make me feel a little sleepy (I need to talk to my doc about tweaking my meds so I’m not borderline narcoleptic). I started out doing every quest I saw but then decided instead to focus on the main questline to see how far that would take me and to see what it will unlock.
I have the new (?) dragon flight system that gives you skills to boost speed and height and a stamina bar. That’s pretty fun. And of course the area is new to me, though I’m not sure I appreciate it as much as some might. It is clearly intended to nudge you towards using the new flight tools since there’s a lot of vertical movement, but it’s also your typical fire and brimstone type biome. All lava and barren rock. At least the part I’m in now is. I honestly tend not to use mounts in games too often; I kind of like running around taking my time. And while I think you CAN get anywhere in this area by running to it, you’d spend a LOT of time circling spires looking for staircases.
I also don’t have any history with the characters so even though they talk about the years we’ve spent fighting side by side, I have no idea who they are. Without any context it’s a little hard to care about them.
I feel like a lot of this comes down to me becoming refamiliarized with the game and the lore to some extent. This should get better as I build some history with the NPCs I’m interacting with. There is nothing in the plot or the gameplay that I can point to and say “I’m not playing because I don’t like THIS.” It is all fine. It’s just not super compelling yet.
Huh, I didn’t intend to write such a ‘down on WoW’ post. OK not ‘down’ on it but maybe apathetic? Anyway, in fact I wanted to write this post because of something I really did enjoy! I did my first Dungeon yesterday using the new “Dungeon Diving with NPCs” system (not the actual name) that I think was added with Dragonflight? It was Neltharus, a Dragonflight dungeon, anyway. This NPC was loitering about outside the dungeon and offered to help. I said “OK let’s go” and the game asked me what role I was going to fill. I said DPS and bam, there I was inside with 4 NPC companions including a tank, a healer. a DPS and honestly not sure what the last was. Support? I dunno. [I of course forgot to take any screenshots.]
You can choose to lead the party or you can ask an NPC to lead. I did the latter and Captain Garrick, one of the NPCs and someone I know from Exile’s Reach, bellows “I’ll keep you safe” and takes off running. I have to say it was really just like playing with a PUG but without any attitude. Garrick ran from boss to boss. I struggled to keep up and follow everything that was happening, so just like playing with people! I felt awkward and dumb but I kept reminding myself “these are NPCs, they don’t care” and that was pretty nice. And at any time I could click a button to take back the lead and everyone would stop and wait for as long as I needed. No judgement from the NPCs!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE! this system. I let the NPC lead this time, but I might go back and do it again with me leading. The fight wasn’t really challenging at all but I definitely need practice with targeting and resource management and getting back the knack of watching the enemy, the party, and my own skill bars all at once. Being able to practice this without worrying that I’m irritating other people is amazing. And my assumption is that if I was playing with a friend, we could do the same thing and just get 3 NPC companions? I am not 100% sure on that, but Gwyn in case you are reading and are thinking of going back to play with Glo! (Though my understanding is this system only works on some of the newer dungeons.)
I know it’s a little weird to choose to play an MMO and then be delighted that I don’t have to play with other people, but that’s me in a nutshell. FF XIV has a similar system and I remember loving it there, too. I like being able to actually take my time and look around and appreciate the work that goes into these dungeons!
For my trouble of doing the dungeon I got a couple of nice gear upgrades, so it was worth it from that point of view too. I’m looking forward to doing more of these and generally it made me excited to get through this content and into The War Within where I know they’ve really leaned into this system.
Meanwhile I hit level 25 with my new character, putting her at the same level as my once-upon-a-time level-capped pre-smush characters.
So I continue to push forward. Once I get these dragons sorted I look forward to going to fight the mole men or whomever lives in the bowels of the world in The War Within!
Fascinated by my return to WoW? You may enjoy Part 1 of this series:
The “Back to WoW 2024 Journal” Part 1
I don’t think it’s you; I am playing on that “free until level 20” thing they offer and am also in the Dragonflight area. I log in, do the mechanical tasks of quest accept-quest-do-quest resolve and move onto the next section. And like you mentioned — and I feel this is an important point — by this expansion, I think a lot hinges on having SOME knowledge of who you’re talking to and why, and I ALSO don’t have that background. That just kind of makes these quests “the busywork we expect from MMOs” and not anything more pressing. I think we ARE missing out on some narrative impetus for getting hyped about what we’re doing.
My hope is that (assuming I make it that far) by the time I get to The War Within I’ll have some context. I guess you can compare it to starting a show in season 4… you’re kind of lost but by season 5 you have something to build on.
“I know it’s a little weird to choose to play an MMO and then be delighted that I don’t have to play with other people, but that’s me in a nutshell. ”
I think that is the majority of MMO players. I know it includes me. I believe human nature is one of independence. That doesn’t mean we don’t seek community or social interaction; we just want the freedom to do it on our own terms so we can maintain that independence. That is why things like group finders end up taking over the “more social” method because many players just want that independence vs having to beg in a LFG chat channel.
Yeah this is why I love systems like in Destiny or Guild Wars 2 where you just roll up on some players in a fight and you just jump in and join them without having to officially Join Them, if you know what I mean. You get the fun of the chaos that comes with a bunch of people working on the same goal, without the waiting around or having to listen to someone tell you how you’re Doing It Wrong.
Hah! You read my mind. Glo and I looked long and hard at this over the long weekend. We are pretty bored with our current library and can’t find anything new we want to play on console. We resisted though, and honestly your posts aren’t pushing us over the edge. We just find WoW too dumbed down and even this new compelling mechanic isn’t enough to make us sit at our desks after work hours. If they had ported WoW to a console, we would have been more tempted to at least see if it could hook us or if our “bored now” memories are correct. At any rate, thanks for thinking of us and we do really hope more developers embrace some form of mini-multi-player.
Have you looked at Final Fantasy XIV? You can play that on the consoles and it’s a well-liked MMO.
Yes, and Elder Scrolls Online. We need something new though, bored with those. 🙂
Thinking of what other console MMOs there are. Neverwinter and DC Universe Online, but they’re both old and show their age. Phantasy Star Online New Genesis, though I wasn’t really a fan. Beyond those I’m drawing a blank!
A couple of things:
Yes, two people can do a follower dungeon together. I believe they’re only available for Dragonflight & The War Within. As someone who doesn’t care all that much for 5-man content, I think it’s a lovely solution, but it still doesn’t make me *like* dungeons, if that makes sense. In the TWW main story quest, you’re actually made to do a follower dungeon, which is neat.
IMO, the middle two zones of DF are probably the most interesting if you don’t have all the other expansions history to work with. Waking Shores is fine, and has some good quest lines, but I thought it might have been the weakest of the four zones that the expansion shipped with.
Thank you, my WoW Sensei!! I like dungeons generally for the environments rather than the fighting, to be honest. And usually in a PUG or even with friends, you can’t really just gawk because everyone is charging ahead. I’m a gawker, though!