How well is World of Warcraft doing right now? MyMMO demon Cortyn believes: It probably won’t get any better than 2023 in the coming years.
After another successful visit to heroic Amirdrassil, there was a lengthy discussion in my raid group’s Discord on Thursday about the current state of World of Warcraft. A somewhat grumpy warrior believed that World of Warcraft was at a low point – nothing was fun for him anymore. It had been the “worst year for WoW in a long time.”
The (surprisingly objective) discussion that ensued led us to reflect on the entire year since the release of Dragonflight. Ultimately, most – myself included – came to the conclusion:
World of Warcraft had its best year in 2023 since the game’s release in 2004, even if many will only appreciate that in a few years.
More content than ever before – and nothing is mandatory
When you look at the sheer amount of content patches that World of Warcraft has received since the release of Dragonflight, it’s quite impressive. It’s hard to comprehend how long Shadowlands made us wait and how quickly fresh content is now coming in “continuous firing”. A new patch every 6-8 weeks with a handful of quests and smaller activities to get lost in.
Yes, not every patch offers weeks of entertainment for everyone. But each patch contains at least a little something to look forward to. Whether it’s mount collectibles, new toys, pets, small story quests, or a new world event to farm transmog.
Those who enjoy multiple contents here can spend almost infinite time in the game – all without pressure.
Because even though there are many options, there is virtually no compulsion. There is no time pressure because many rewards are simply cosmetic and completely optional. If someone doesn’t want to go back into the Zskera vault to collect the last toy, they just won’t go in there again. It’s completely different than Torghast, where everyone was basically forced to go in there every week.
World of Warcraft no longer “forces” players to spend time in the world. But it offers more than ever before.
Some miss this catalog of mandatory tasks – but the vast majority around me totally enjoys finally only having to do what they really feel like.
Another point is the number of significant overhauls of classes. Paladins and demon hunters have been drastically reworked (and significantly improved), mages have received more diverse talents, and the summoner even got a completely new specialization. These are things that Blizzard would have brought out earlier only at the launch of a new expansion – now all of this was “added on the side” in the smaller patches.
In addition, there are so many small but nice “Quality of Life” improvements. It has never been easier to play with friends – no matter which realm they are on or which faction they belong to. For a while now, guilds that unite Horde and Alliance have been possible and this mix has existed in all types of dungeons and raids for a longer time.
These are details that one quickly gets used to and which are simply “good” even though they stand in stark contrast to what World of Warcraft has done for nearly two decades.
The developers are listening – and I have the impression they really are. The tent toys were nice, but unsuitable for RP fans, as they appeared in random orientation and with a short time limit. One patch later, the tents last a full 15 minutes and always appear at the desired location and then I made a fool of myself with you.
Of course, in some ways I have also had something taken away. For example, I can no longer stroll around the capital city with my gigantic tree – but hey, it was silly that it was even possible.
Similar improvements have been made in “Mythic+”. Here the criticism was that you only focus on the affixes and no longer on the dungeons as such. Blizzard has taken this to heart, reduced the number of affixes, eliminated the most annoying ones, and increased the thresholds at which affixes become relevant.
More small things:
- Draenei can now choose the skin colors of Man’ari.
- Warlocks can now be played by all races.
- The reconquest of Gilneas
- The legacy questline of the undead
- The new hair colors
- The cool sets for night elves
- The trading post with numerous creative and previously unseen transmog rewards.
If you list them, there is so much “new stuff” that has made individual player groups very happy.
An end that really felt like one
Patch 10.2 and the subsequent patch 10.2.5 achieved something that has been praised multiple times in the World of Warcraft subreddit. Because Dragonflight feels like it really got a conclusion.
Whether it’s the heartwarming quests where we converse again with the aspects, Tyrande, and Shandris or the big party in the last patch – especially the party!
The celebration inaugurating Amirdrassil was just another quest for many, which they sprinted through without looking left or right. In fact, over 100 NPCs were gathered here – namely, almost all the quest NPCs we could encounter throughout Dragonflight. Almost every character from all the small side quests somehow showed up, could be spoken to, and had a few lines to say about our deeds.
Anyone who took the time here could surely spend half an hour at the celebration (rather longer) and think back on everything that had happened in the story.
This felt rounder, more complete, and simply more coherent than in all previous expansions, where there was never a real, visible resolution, but always a rush from one problem to the next.
This time it feels more organic, more natural. There are initial hints for the next expansion without immediately painting the devil on the wall. There was a “happy ending” for the dragons and the night elves.
More than just Dragonflight
When I talk about the “best year”, I don’t just mean World of Warcraft Dragonflight. Because the other WoW versions had a pretty strong year as well. I want to summarize that briefly, because I personally don’t have much to do with these WoW variants, but I am aware there were many fans who were very happy with them.
World of Warcraft Classic had the expansion “Wrath of the Lich King” – even today, many consider it the “best expansion” and accordingly it was nostalgic for many to return to Northrend and give the Lich King a beatdown. Many were also able to experience this addon for the first time “properly”, as they were simply too young back then.
The “Season of Discovery” might be the most creative and fresh thing World of Warcraft could have done with Classic – no wonder the servers were overcrowded. The old game in a new guise and with some interesting “What if?” ideas. There are fresh raids, new abilities for old classes, and even completely new roles that heroes can fulfill. As a little bonus, there are even some story elements that won’t become relevant in “Retail” until many years later.
Oh, and WoW Classic Hardcore also existed, which treated us with grandiose scenes of numerous hero deaths,some of which even received their own cinematic.
Overall, World of Warcraft had a good year – not just Dragonflight.
It’s not perfect, but still the best year
Of course, the “best year” for me doesn’t mean that everything went perfectly. For example, I am very dissatisfied with the current state of the shadow priest and I am quite sure that a few other specializations could benefit from another update – especially monks have been crying out for an update for months and quite rightly so.
However, these are all minor issues. Although I hardly enjoy my shadow priest gameplay, I still play and always have something to do. Even though World of Warcraft has reduced or completely eliminated most mandatory tasks, I continually find new activities that I enjoy.
In the end, it is clear to me: Looking back at the last year and simply listing how much new content there was, how many good and meaningful changes were made, how many adjustments to classes and specializations came together, how much feedback was implemented and wishes were fulfilled: We as WoW players have never had it as good as a whole.
And then, you add “Wrath of the Lich King Classic” and the “Season of Discovery” on top of that.
Even if many are complaining right now – because WoW players always do – I am quite sure that in 5 or 10 years we will look back at the past WoW year and say: “That was pretty awesome back then. Now I miss it.”
Much like how Mists of Pandaria was only appreciated later.
