In 2019, World of Warcraft should definitely be on the rise. We reveal what WoW needs to become interesting for us again.
The year 2018 is over and with it comes an important year for World of Warcraft to an end. With the War of Thorns and the release of Battle for Azeroth, there were highs in WoW, but also many lows. Many players have already lost interest in the latest expansion and miss content that motivates them to play or brings them joy.
We have therefore thought about what World of Warcraft should definitely get in 2019 to truly convince us again.
Long Obtainable Goals
For some players, the long farming or grinding of enemies is a boring experience, but many also enjoy the meditative aspects of this playstyle. Such pure farming goals, where one plans to simply spend one or two hours casually killing specific enemies to work towards a goal, are currently scarce to non-existent.
While there are a number of random drops in the game, such as a special mount in most areas, these are “all or nothing” drops – either you get them or you don’t.
Unfortunately, there is no faction like the Winterpelt in Classic or the Arakkoa in The Burning Crusade, where you can set your own goals and farm at your own pace. All reputation is tied to world quests and therefore bound to time sequences.
That should change, and content that players can approach at their own pace without being necessarily reliant on rewards should be used more frequently.
More Emotional Attachment to Game Systems
After players earned a powerful artifact weapon in World of Warcraft: Legion, the attachment to this weapon was great. Shadow Priests loved their talking “Knaifu” and Paladins were as proud as could be when walking the world with the Ashbringer.
This was not only due to the historical significance of the weapons, but also due to the progression system in Legion. Every few hours or days (at the start of the expansion), you had to go to the order hall and unlock a new property of the weapon. Players earned new skins and designs for the weapons, thereby building an even deeper connection to these items.
This is completely lacking in the Heart of Azeroth and the Azerite items. These are not only regularly replaced, but also feel unsatisfying because you have to unlock old properties again.
Moreover, the story surrounding the Heart of Azeroth is a bit sparse and virtually nonexistent.
Fortunately, the developers have already announced that they want to substantially change this in the future with Patch 8.2. The necessary farming of artifact power for unlocking new traits should be eliminated. The Heart of Azeroth is also supposed to become more exciting and gain its own properties. We can only hope that Blizzard delivers.
Overhaul of Professions
Professions have degraded over the years and expansions. While there are smaller playthings in some cases, truly useful recipes have become a rarity.
Certainly, everyone needs gems, enchantments, and potions for a long raid night, and at least for these professions there will probably always be a certain demand. But the other crafting professions, such as tailoring, leatherworking, or blacksmithing have been neglected.
Back in Classic, but still in The Burning Crusade, one could craft really solid gear that could still be used in the endgame. While this always meant many hours of farming (who remembers the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand?), the fulfillment at the end was all the more satisfying.
Today, crafting professions only serve the purpose of providing Twinks with starter gear, which is replaced by world quest gear after just a few hours.
While there are also a few good items that can be crafted, these require items from the current raid content. And usually, you get better gear before you even have the necessary resources.
Professions should provide a way to obtain solid gear through sheer investment of time and endurance.
Communication that Can Be Felt
A final point does not concern World of Warcraft per se, but rather the entire “surrounding”. Blizzard has preached for years that they want to improve communication with players, which has not yet succeeded.
While Blizzard is objectively quite good at implementing feedback, as seen in the many improvements from Patch 8.1, the communication is lacking. Players have had the feeling for months of hitting “deaf ears,” and this has led to frustration in the forums and on Reddit.
Many players now perceive the words of the community manager as mockery and derision. If Blizzard truly manages to tackle the communication problem in 2019, it would be a fine thing that would help not only the game itself but also the atmosphere within the community.
What kind of content do you think World of Warcraft needs? What needs to change in 2019 for WoW to become a “top game” again?
