Ask WoW Insider: An early disappointment?
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 11th 2008 at 6:00PM
With all the Wrath news dropping, there's been a ton of hype around the next World of Warcraft expansion. Lots of players are very excited (including yours truly), but Charles S isn't so much. He actually stopped playing the game in March of this past year (before that, he raided as a Warlock), and he is using today's Ask WoW Insider column to ask you, our readers, if anyone else isn't so hot on what they've seen so far:I've been reading your site and the news about the expansion and my question is, is it too early to be disappointed in what I am seeing for this expansion?
Unfortunately he doesn't expound much more beyond that, and I'd like to know what else he wants to see from the expansion -- we're going to get Death Knights, siege vehicles, and we're going to get to meet the Lich freakin' King, more than once. I don't know what more a Warcraft fan would want. But maybe you do -- think it's too early for Charles to be disappointed, or should he wait and see if Wrath will bring him back to the game?
And if you have a question you want to ask our readers, feel free to send it along to ask@wow.com, and you might see it up here next week for everyone else to answer.
Previously on Ask WoW Insider...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Ask WoW Insider, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hoggersbud Aug 11th 2008 6:03PM
Yes, I do indeed want some cute little prancing ponies.
To kill and destroy!!!
Tristina Aug 11th 2008 6:43PM
For pony!
Badger Aug 11th 2008 10:11PM
"When you wish upon a star ... I will kill you, near or far! ..."
Xoshe Aug 11th 2008 7:42PM
Yes, it is too early.
Thander Aug 11th 2008 6:12PM
I think he's asking for a completely new gaming experience. That's just not going to happen in an expansion. If he's bored of the whole Warcraft gameplay style, no expansion will change that.
badb Aug 11th 2008 6:16PM
I'm also a bit eh about the expansion. I like the idea of new content.
However I'm not all that really interested in the new class. I don't like the changes to druids. They are no longer going to be let be a main tank and lifeblooms are being weakened for resto. I also dislike the alchemy changes.
There is an attitude to hybrids in the expansion that I'm not gone on.
So far nothing makes me go thats cool I'm looking forward to playing. There is some little things, but nothing that really sells it.
However I do not expect anyone else to share my opinion. I am sure many are less pessimistic. And even if they make it so I no longer like my druid, there are alts I will still enjoy playing.
frank Aug 11th 2008 6:33PM
I can't say I agree to a single point. I'm very excited about the druid changes.
Overall, druid tanking looks to be buffed. No more defense, "Oh s*&%" button, bye-bye crushing blows. I wouldn't say we'll become the new de-facto main tank over warriors (or whatever) but I can't imagine it any worse than it is now.
Hybrids are, in general, getting big buffs. Balance druids are getting buffed (so they say, not my thing). Pallies are looking to finally be able to kill stuff. Shaman totem/buff changes and the changes to shared crits/hit should help enhancement dps. Hybrids seem to be as strong as ever (And I have a pally, druid, and shaman at 70 so I'm certainly glad about this).
The alchemy changes were rescinded last I checked. (Chain pots are back, although I agreed with the original decision).
As to Death Knights? I'm not sure about live but I just got my beta key this last week and I can say I'm very excited about them whereas I wasn't previously... They are just hella fun to play!
Lifebloom nerf. Yeah, I love lifebloom. It's a great spell. But blizzard is adding two more heals in the resto spellbook to make up for that. This is almost the more disapointing stat as I'm (according to them) one of the few druids to use all my 4 healing spells often enough.
brucimus Aug 11th 2008 6:44PM
You DONT KNOW. omg it's not like anything is final yet. I AM SO SICK OF THE PREMATURE QQing.
Mergetvs Aug 11th 2008 10:49PM
Which alchemy change? the one about Potion sickness? if so not to worry it got reverted.
Saelorn Aug 11th 2008 6:27PM
Personally, I consider adding a new class to be a less significant addition than adding two new races. Even though the two new races only have a few small changes compared to existing races, and their starting zones can be written off as new questing zones that you can routinely expect with any very large patch, every blood elf or draenei I play gives me seventy levels of play experience.
Comparably, adding in a whole new class would require a vast amount of work just to balance with existing classes. For all that people like to complain how much a warlock is better than a mage, that the DPS of every DPS class is even within 50% of every other DPS class given their wildly differening playstyles and abilities is a testament to Blizzard's skill.
However, for all that work on their part, when I create a new death knight, I'll only get to play him through 25 levels of content; in terms of how much I'll have invested into that character, he's barely half as significant as my draenei shaman or blood elf paladin.
Nillex Aug 11th 2008 6:29PM
A raid featuring murlocs
Dotixi Aug 11th 2008 6:30PM
He doesn't explain what he finds lackluster or talk about anything that has been announced that he wishes was different or anything! There's not enough info here to help this guy out.
I, for one, am excited about Death Knights!
Maybe, Charles S needs an exciting ending? Maybe since he has done all the raid and killed all the important people he feels there should be a celebration in his honor, a la happy Knights of the Old Republic ending? Either way...
jbodar Aug 11th 2008 8:02PM
Yeah I can't decide if this Charles S is a troll or just whiny.
PimpyMicPimp Aug 11th 2008 6:38PM
Really? If anything, Wrath is keeping my desire to play alive. It's harder to log into TBC every day knowing what we WILL have.
Mastermenchi Aug 11th 2008 6:46PM
I'll be honest i'm not looking head over heels for the new expansion yet either.
I realize it's just an expansion and it isn't going to fundamentally change the groundwork of the game.
I was willing to go with the lame news that there was no new classes in BC, but only 1 new class in Wrath? They've had 4 years now to get more classes ready and out the door but only one made it... the Death Knight. Frankly it's a cool class but there should have at least been death knights for the horde and something else for alliance. I mean really a tool of mass murder and destruction just gets welcomed into stormwind and ironforge without much issue?
i get to fight arthas, that's cool i suppose but there isn't anything exciting news for pve raiders except that you have more new things to hit with bigger weapons.
The spells and talents and spells are just like everything slightly new but nothing to be like wow over. i would have liked to see some new mechanic introduced for playing like combining spells with other people or something.
Overall it's an expansion and i realize i'm looking for new gameplay out of released product. But i was hoping for more. I took BC which didn't push any envelopes and wrath looks to not be doing it again the allure of the warcraft world wore off when i killed illidan every week for 6 months only to see they have the same thing planned for me in Wrath with Arthas.
Cook Aug 11th 2008 6:47PM
I'm a bit torn on this expansion. On one hand, i'm pretty excited about Northrend and the DKs, but on the other, I'm a bit let down at the lack of MORE.
Yes, northrend is bigger than outland was, but when you look at the fact that they also added 2 new races with new starting zones the total real estate of the new content looks pretty comparable to what they have done in northrend, just with nothing to offer new players, or people that aren't very happy with their highest level characters.
I think if they would have added 2 classes rather than one, it would help keep balance a little better than throwing one OP class in the mix. After all, for every weight, you need a counter to keep the balance.
I'm not one to say what blizzard should do, and I'm sure that WotLK will be amazing as they have yet to disappoint, but I just feel a little underwhelmed with what has been announced for this expansion that has taken them 2 years to put together.
jbodar Aug 11th 2008 11:25PM
"or people that aren't very happy with their highest level characters."
Isn't that partly what DK is? A shortcut to rerolling? I guess you're screwed if you only like playing ranged/casters, or even if you are looking for change up from melee, but oh well. I'd rather they implement one new class right than two half-assed ones.
Brian Aug 11th 2008 6:48PM
To my mind there is a lot of chatter about the expansion but not a lot of substance (in the news that is). As someone who's in the beta I try not to test 'too much' as I don't want to take all the fun out of it for me. However a lot of the info coming out is very disjointed from how it will feel by the time most people are 80. It's all very well to say you have this skill or that skill but until you get your hands on it, it is all just abstract theory. This isn't a complaint against the news sites but it does feel like there is a race to get 'this snippet of info' out there first, which is a shame because it comes over as just stats which don't give any idea of the feel of climbing a hill for the first time or seeing your first killer whale off the shore of Northrend.
Take the new skill of inscription, there's a lot of data out there but not much clue how it is going to work in an end game context or whether there will be 'cookie cutter' glyphs for raiding. Death Knights are cool but they don't bring anything especially new to the table. They have some nice novelty abilities and their resource bar is funky but that's about it. (The beginning story is cool but there are just as cool stories in Northrend).
The expansion feels more polished and more like traditional Warcraft but it doesn't make me feel like a whole new breath of air will refill the game. It still has the same basic mechanic and level 80 will still become a choice between Raiding or PvP. I don't think the expansion itself will hold returning players for long. But then for me MMOs are 90% the people you play with. While AoC and WAR might be fun games they are vastly diminished without my guild, but likewise without my guild WoW would seem like just another game.
Still it's fun while I wait for Starcraft II. :D
Naix Aug 12th 2008 11:19AM
Starcraft 2 is going to rock. I am putting my wow account on hold the day SC2 comes out.
Vladius Aug 11th 2008 6:48PM
Charles S is just angry that locks aren't going to be the gods they were in Burning Crusade.