MoP best or worst expansion?!

Been playing WoW since Burning Crusade first came out.. now playing on the MoP expansion. This has changed the game so much and it seems its like Marmite, you either love it or hate it.. Some people have said its the best expansion pack yet, other said its its the worst.. Im of the former opinion.. but then, Im a Battle Pet junkie!! Opinions/input please!

It's to early in life to decide either way yet.
For me the signs have been good with plenty to keep you occupied, and it looks great considering it is using a 10 year old engine.
But the true test with expansions come with when there are at the end and how burnt out with the game you are.
With Cata towards the end i neally give up WOW for good, and only got persuded to get MOP on the day of release by a couple of friends who were still playing.

I have not really touched on pet battles yet, but would love Blizzard to do a mobile app where i can do it on the go, even add crafting into it, just stuff you dont get time to do in game.

Im fairly easily pleased I suppose. The opportunity to get another 5 levels up is a draw, and refreshes the games appeal. I only really play a few hours a week now but if I were a more hardcore gamer, spending as much as say, 25, 30.. at times even 40 (!) hours a week on it (as I did at one stage!) then maybe I wouldnt be as impressed as easily.

The Pandaren race does seem very 'cutesy' which being a bit of a girlie girl, does appeal to me, but I can certainly see why it wouldnt appeal to a lot of other players.. lets face it, a cuddly Panda type character doesnt seem half as formidable as the sinister Undead or the Big, hard and frankly ugly-looking Orc!

Although I think WoW has always had a wide appeal because Blizzard has always made the game as complicated, or as uncomplicated as the player chooses, the simplified talents system seems a very good idea, and maybe opens up the game to more players who are less concerned with 'fine tuning' their characters abilities, are less able to get their head round the whole talent tree thing and just basically just want to get on with kicking ass. Just seems a bit less 'intimidating' to me. Altho I suppose the more skilled player (as in knowing exactly which talents to pick and why!!) would disagree but Im a simple girl :p

I remain suitably impressed for the moment, and when news comes of another expansion pack, Ill be champing at the bit!

Randy you been sucked into the darkside once more, next Fists will be saying he's back.

On a more serious note its been a steady decline since TBC for me personally, even taking into account TBC you could see a decline in the 2nd half of that expansions lifespan.

Many reasons for this and one I've gone into before but it basically boils down to Blizzard doing a pet hate of mine over the last 10yrs and that's the simplification of games to appeal to mass market. In WoW's case it was pretty simple as it was in Vanilla that it needed no further help from Blizz in that regard.

Will always have a special place for me and Vanilla was a truly outstanding game in so many ways. Not saying there hasn't been some improvements since but in comparison to what they got wrong it's an unequal balance.

Yeah fell off the wagon again. But I have been good this time round and only really spending time on it at weekends. Only raiding once every couple of weeks.
Its killing me though I find myself wanting to get on during the week but work has my time limited.

I can see where your coming from with the game being waterd down over the years and has become a lot easier.
It was a lot more of a social game back in vanilla, with out dungeon finder and cross realm stuff going on.

Yeah I kinda agree with Randy on that last point. Turned me off Wow for good really.

Like I said.. easily pleased, obviously

I would'nt say you are easily pleased by enjoying WOW, It still is a great game and offers a lot.
It's just that a lot of people who played from vanilla remember them days being the pinnicle of the game.
It did offer more of a community back then, and you had to be civil in Dungeons and raids so you got invited again. Now its a case do a random blitz through it and queue for another with out any comunication, as there is no need because there is little chance of running with the same people.
Also people are less tolerant and can be cruel to other players now.

But the changes also bring in advantages with no hanging around ogrimmar shouting for people to join your group and it is quicker to progress.
Also if you ask Blizzard they way tell you Cata was the greatest period of WOW as it brought in the greatest numbers. The game is more friendly to casual players now and the numbers show that.

Yeah I can agree with that. Being a friendly, well brought up, salt of the earth sort of lass.. I am at times appauled by the treatment of others in dungeons/raids etc. Ive also being harassed/insulted/being called newb which I consider to be rather pathetic on the harassers part. Its is after all just a game. Much as it really doesnt bother me, in fact it rather amuses me at times, I can see how it may upset others, especially the younger players. This is of course grossly unfair as at the end of the day, we all have to pay for the privilege of playing WoW and should all be allowed to enjoy it, regardless of ability/skill.

Also one thing I havent mentioned. I really dont like the whole guild level thing now.. It puts much too emphasis on achievements for the guild and less emphasis on the social aspect of it. I used to be Guild mistress of a very succesful guild on Eonar which I disbanded a couple of years ago when I had a break from playing. We had fun, had a laugh, made lots of friends without all the stressing about bloody raiding etc. Members did raid, but it wasnt the be all and end all.

Couldnt really comment on the earlier days of WoW as I only started playing it maybe 6 months or so after TBC came out. Gotta be honest tho, I do enjoy simpler games.. I just want to get straight into a game without having to read up and learn about all the intricacies of it!

There was many factors for WoW's steady demise in my eyes over the various expansions. Community was one part of the equation but hey I'm someone who likes to be in server leading guilds and play to min/max so a little abuse now and then has no effect. With the introduction of things like cross-server it devalued players need to be an entity on the server rather they just become a faceless name in the crowd. Add in that aspect to pvp and it tore away the rivalry factor of faction against faction in place of a simple solution to queue problems when there was more creative ways to go about the issue.

For Blizz there's no doubt Cata was their high point but numbers don't mean quality sadly. The gaming industry as a whole shows that over the last 10yrs where quality has suffered in space of turgid sequels or uninspiring shooters. Then again its partially why WoW's success came in the first place a convergence of factors at the same time gives the result of a MMO unlikely to be surpassed any time soon in terms of playable numbers (5 million at peak).

WoW had that balance in the early years of a simple to learn game that had some depth to the ability and min/max side. They lost that in later years with stat inflation, easier encounters and simpler mechanics. This all to pull in more numbers while giving instant gratification rather than trying to keep the quality of the product in tact.

They messed up pvp going into TBC massively and then you have things like gearscore which offered nothing to the table other than create false ideas within the community. Macros/Addons got outta hand for me as things went on as well but thats a more personal issue. I'm of the opinion macros should be banned in all games and addons shouldn't play the game for you (looking at you Decurse or Deadly Boss mods).

In the end its still a decent game in today's market which is rushing more and more to the point of creating games where no thought is required at all. Will always be a special game for me but my time to jump of the wagon came long ago.

Haha, I had a free trial on it Dass - and did very much get back in to it - however once that was up I made the decision not to buy it.

I enjoyed it a lot, and had a chat with a few old in-game mates and guildies on there which made me come over all nostalgic, but deep down I knew that those heady days of server leading guild raids that required a heck of a lot of dedication and time were all but over. I'm simply at a stage in my life where it is no longer quite as feasible.

For me the burning crusade was probably my high point, though I have thoroughly enjoyed them all. I'm sad to not play it anymore, but good things can't last forever.

Fists of Fury wrote:good things can't last forever.

Sure they can