World of Warcraft is struggling – and not just since Shadowlands. However, the development team has been able to fix many issues repeatedly. But a few difficulties remain. MeinMMO takes a look at how Blizzard is tackling some of the currently biggest problems.
What are these problems? Here, we examine what WoW fans are currently complaining about the most or have been for a while. These problems are meant to reflect a certain echo from the community.
In doing so, we have tried to capture the most frequently occurring criticisms from forums, reddit, other social channels, and prominent WoW personalities. The popularity of WoW is currently even measurably declining, and these problems are certainly a reason for that.
We do not want to discuss issues like the treatment of employees and current lawsuits against the company here. While these also indirectly affect WoW, this is more about criticism of gameplay and content.
Some of the issues listed here go back years – some as far as Battle for Azeroth or Legion. They started there or have already been present before. And a small spoiler: Blizzard does not yet have an answer to every one of these issues.
So-called improvements that no one wants
What is the problem? Blizzard frequently introduces changes and systems that are met with shaking heads by players. A good example of this is restrictions in Shadowlands that serve no real purpose.
With Shadowlands came a cap on area spells (“AoE”). Many abilities suddenly had a limit of 5 enemies instead of unlimited targets. The change faced significant criticism even before the release announcement.
Furthermore, one of the new core systems received several restrictions. For example, the new covenants from Shadowlands cannot exchange important media at will but require energy. Anima, with which one can expand their covenant sanctum, was also only available in limited amounts for a long time.
Formerly the largest WoW streamer Asmongold summarized this in May with the statement: “Blizzard is fixing problems that players don’t even have.”
How is Blizzard addressing the problem? So far, there is no sustainable solution, but at least the specific problems are being addressed. Anima has been easier to obtain for some time now, and the other restrictions are also being loosened.
With the upcoming Patch 9.1.5, the AoE cap will be removed and the media energy will also be completely abolished. Here you can find more about the upcoming patch and the changes:
The penalties for changing covenants will also be eased. Previously, you had to expect numerous penalties when trying out a new covenant. With 9.1.5, it should be easier so you can check out the other abilities of your class.
Why exactly such changes even find their way into the game is something the community often puzzles over. In the case of the AoE limit, it was supposedly to make mythic dungeons more challenging again. However, it did not really help.
“More of the same” – Repetitive content
What is the problem? Many WoW fans who have been playing for years feel burnt out. When you look at the release of an expansion and shortly after, the forums almost always come back to the same complaints that the game has become boring.
The problem here is that part of the community has simply seen everything, and new content is often not particularly innovative. One of the newer examples of this is Korthia, the new area from Patch 9.1.
The criticism here is that everything feels exactly like in Mechagon from BfA: You have a weekly quest that you fill with many daily tasks. Alternatively, you hunt rare enemies or search for chests. At the same time, the inventory gets cluttered with unnecessarily many different items.
At the same time, innovative content that kept the player base engaged is being removed or not adopted at all:
- the Mage Tower from Legion was a great challenge and kept people busy for a long time, but was removed in BfA
- Torghast could still be used for leveling in the beta of Shadowlands and had an endless mode – all of which was not possible at release
How is Blizzard addressing the problem? So far, we do not know exactly what the new content will look like and whether it will consist of recycled features from old expansions.
However, at least some of the old content is coming back. For example, the Mage Tower will be playable again and Torghast can be used to level up alts. Additionally, with the Legion Timewalking, popular dungeons can be played again, for the first time even as a Mythic+ variant.
The great content drought
What is the problem? Patch 9.1 is the content update that has taken the longest in WoW to be released since the launch of the respective expansion. Since the release of Shadowlands in November 2020 and Patch 9.1 in June 2021, there are at least 7 months.
During this time, fans had only one raid and the same 8 dungeons since the release of the expansion, along with the familiar PvP options. Even though the raid Castle Nathria kept core players busy for a while, the content eventually became stale.
Since Legion, the community has been waiting longer and longer for the next content patch. The problem has been ongoing in WoW for several years now, but it has only become a bigger point of criticism from the community since Battle for Azeroth.
How is Blizzard addressing the problem? With Patch 9.1.5, the old dungeons from Legion are returning, even as a version for Mythic+. Additionally, warfronts and island expeditions can be started with fewer players.
As for new content, it remains to be seen what will come here. WoW head Ion Hazzikostas has already promised that class sets will return in the next raid tier after the Sanctum of Domination. However, when and where this will be is still unknown.
Blizzard is clearly working on the major problems, but has not yet provided answers for all. Some fans are already looking towards the next expansion in the hope that it will be better. Although there is currently no information on that either, MeinMMO has already consulted the crystal ball for the future:
