In WoW: Battle for Azeroth there is a lot to do. But most of it feels too “grindy” to many players – and they are complaining now.
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth has been released for just over two weeks now. The majority of opinions about the WoW expansion are positive. But alongside that, you also hear critical voices.
While there is certainly valid criticism of some systems and that is completely okay. But one criticism bothers me massively: Battle for Azeroth has become too “grindy”.
No matter whether it’s about artifact power, reputation, or better items from mythic or heroic dungeons: Everything is a tedious grind in the eyes of some players. And I simply don’t understand this criticism.
WoW has always been “grindy”
Grind elements or long farming sessions have always been a staple of World of Warcraft. Whether it’s about reputation with the Winterfur furbolgs in Classic or the factions of the Argent Tournament in Wrath of the Lich King – grinding has always been an integral part, a fixed game mechanic.
If you want a reward, you have to do something for it. Farm reputation, run instances, or gather resources.
What I want to say is: Grind has always been part of WoW. It has never been different. If someone still hasn’t understood that after 14 years and still complains about it, it’s hard to help them.
With its now seventh addon, there are – oh wonder – also things you can “grind” again. This mainly involves the reputation of certain factions or the artifact power for the Heart of Azeroth.
The reputation of the factions has a direct cap, as it is limited by the number of available world quests. If you are a frequent player, you can invest one to two hours in world quests every day and will certainly reach the maximum for the day.
Then one must critically ask: What exactly did these players expect from World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth? That they would play through the story of the new areas and then immediately get perfect gear after one instance visit? That the Heart of Azeroth would already be at level 30 in the second week so that every bonus would be unlocked?
The grind will get easier
Many players seem to simply forget that the grind gets easier every week. With the Heart of Azeroth, there is new “artifact knowledge” each week, which reduces the amount of artifact power needed per level.
For the reputation factions, there is a special bonus every day in the form of a emissary mission that brings a whopping 1500 reputation points. This corresponds to the value of 20 world quests in most factions.
So, if it feels too “grindy” to you, you can just do your emissary quests every three days and remain only slightly behind. Additionally, there is the buff from the Darkmoon Faire. Being revered a week earlier or later would probably only be an issue in hardcore guilds.
Yes, I can understand that constantly completing world quests can be a bit monotonous and more variety would definitely be useful. However, I cannot understand these “I want all the Azerite bonuses immediately and to be revered everywhere” shouters. Because perceived subjectively, those are ultimately the same ones who complain that WoW “has no content at all”. World quests, reputation factions, and artifact power are content. Maybe they just don’t like it.
What do you think about the topic “grind in WoW”? Is it really “worse than ever” or will it be over in two weeks anyway when most are revered everywhere?
