Monday, September 21, 2015
Final Fantasy XIV: Chocobo color changing made easy
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Final Fantasy XIV - The Rising
Rawr!
So right now while writing this, there is an event going on in the world of FFXIV called The Rising, which I completed on the first day it launched, but I can't stop thinking about it, so decided to make a post.
In the event, you do your normal "save everyone" quest and then discover that actually, behind the face of the in game minstrel asking for your help is the real life face of one of the main creators of the game! Not only do you get two cute minions and some fun, but, the completion of the quest grants you access to a special secret floor in the game where the real life makers of the game, the heads of all the diff departments, dwell at their desks in the game, as they would in real life, except, with fantasy themes, like unicorns and dragons and such. Plastered on their walls are production art and glowing shapes, and each one wants to tell you about what they do for the game and how much they appreciate you playing.
After you do all of this, enjoying their witty references to Final Fantasy titles from the past, and remarks about current concerns of players in the forums, such as housing, then you talk to the head guy again, only to have him explain that long ago, in this same world, they made a mistake, and were quick to realize that they needed the heroes as much as we needed them. They put out content that was not worth putting out and went back and remade the world into one worth saving. They love their world. They wholeheartedly care about it and the people in it that they have invested so much of their own effort and time and money into. And they won't ever let that prior mistake happen again.
What he is talking about is the orig version 1.0, where, it had bad reviews and whatnot, but then, they, of their own volition, remade everything, and listened as much as they could to every complaint and thought of ways to incorporate player wishes into A Realm Reborn, which has been a giant success of a game. But he didn't stop there.
He then had all the in game versions of the real life game makers circle around you, cheering for you, thanking you as a unit, and he said something that has stuck with me.
He said that sometimes the heroes and the makers argue and disagree, but he appreciates it all the same, because it shows how passionate both sides are about the world and it being the best world it can be. He appreciates heroes wanting to save the world, because he loves the world, and by me, and every other player, wanting to save it and love it too, we become the makers' heroes. Every player who loves their creation like they do is their hero and not merely an in game hero.
I have gamed since I was 5. I have loved gaming without needing anyone to thank me or without anyone needing to applaud me and say anything about it. But, especially after Blizz's deceptions and lack of concern about player input or whether or not players stick around and want to be there anymore, I will unashamedly admit I cried when I saw such an all out level of appreciation on this big of a scale done for us who play Final Fantasy XIV. They went above and beyond to express how much their game means to them, and how much their players do.
I love gaming. I always will, even when FFXIV has long passed away into the annuls of gamer history, but it has taken a place, even though I have only played for such a short time, as one of the greats for me, and Square Enix, which I have always admired Square since I was just a kid and playing the first FF on the orig Nintendo, has only uplifted its already prestigious name as a gaming company. I used to feel like Square and Blizzard were decently on par with each other, one a master storyteller with incredible gaming graphic and gameplay feats, and the best rpgs, and the other with the best rts games and super innovators of whatever niche they chose in gaming, taking something common and remaking it awe inspiring. Blizz has stepped down from that, into making games that are easy, but not amazing, and are mass played, but only because they are there, repetitive, and made by a known gaming company.
Square, on the other hand, is still pushing itself to expand its own greatness and it is very wonderful to experience. Square Enix has done everything they could to make me feel safe with a gaming company again, safe to trust them and not worry that they will just be heartless money suckers, without me even having to express to them that I felt that distrust. I feel like someone who broke up with a lying jerk, and met someone awesome, who didn't even know about my ex, but still made up for everything they did.
I never had to be thanked for gaming. To me, I always was grateful to the makers of the games for giving me such wonderful worlds and lives to lead. But now that I have been thanked, and in such a fun and sincere way, I am just so happy. That which I love loves me back. I couldn't be more pleased that I am giving my money to someone who cares about their product and their customers on this level. It is nice. Really nice.
Rawr :)
So right now while writing this, there is an event going on in the world of FFXIV called The Rising, which I completed on the first day it launched, but I can't stop thinking about it, so decided to make a post.
In the event, you do your normal "save everyone" quest and then discover that actually, behind the face of the in game minstrel asking for your help is the real life face of one of the main creators of the game! Not only do you get two cute minions and some fun, but, the completion of the quest grants you access to a special secret floor in the game where the real life makers of the game, the heads of all the diff departments, dwell at their desks in the game, as they would in real life, except, with fantasy themes, like unicorns and dragons and such. Plastered on their walls are production art and glowing shapes, and each one wants to tell you about what they do for the game and how much they appreciate you playing.
After you do all of this, enjoying their witty references to Final Fantasy titles from the past, and remarks about current concerns of players in the forums, such as housing, then you talk to the head guy again, only to have him explain that long ago, in this same world, they made a mistake, and were quick to realize that they needed the heroes as much as we needed them. They put out content that was not worth putting out and went back and remade the world into one worth saving. They love their world. They wholeheartedly care about it and the people in it that they have invested so much of their own effort and time and money into. And they won't ever let that prior mistake happen again.
What he is talking about is the orig version 1.0, where, it had bad reviews and whatnot, but then, they, of their own volition, remade everything, and listened as much as they could to every complaint and thought of ways to incorporate player wishes into A Realm Reborn, which has been a giant success of a game. But he didn't stop there.
He then had all the in game versions of the real life game makers circle around you, cheering for you, thanking you as a unit, and he said something that has stuck with me.
He said that sometimes the heroes and the makers argue and disagree, but he appreciates it all the same, because it shows how passionate both sides are about the world and it being the best world it can be. He appreciates heroes wanting to save the world, because he loves the world, and by me, and every other player, wanting to save it and love it too, we become the makers' heroes. Every player who loves their creation like they do is their hero and not merely an in game hero.
I have gamed since I was 5. I have loved gaming without needing anyone to thank me or without anyone needing to applaud me and say anything about it. But, especially after Blizz's deceptions and lack of concern about player input or whether or not players stick around and want to be there anymore, I will unashamedly admit I cried when I saw such an all out level of appreciation on this big of a scale done for us who play Final Fantasy XIV. They went above and beyond to express how much their game means to them, and how much their players do.
I love gaming. I always will, even when FFXIV has long passed away into the annuls of gamer history, but it has taken a place, even though I have only played for such a short time, as one of the greats for me, and Square Enix, which I have always admired Square since I was just a kid and playing the first FF on the orig Nintendo, has only uplifted its already prestigious name as a gaming company. I used to feel like Square and Blizzard were decently on par with each other, one a master storyteller with incredible gaming graphic and gameplay feats, and the best rpgs, and the other with the best rts games and super innovators of whatever niche they chose in gaming, taking something common and remaking it awe inspiring. Blizz has stepped down from that, into making games that are easy, but not amazing, and are mass played, but only because they are there, repetitive, and made by a known gaming company.
Square, on the other hand, is still pushing itself to expand its own greatness and it is very wonderful to experience. Square Enix has done everything they could to make me feel safe with a gaming company again, safe to trust them and not worry that they will just be heartless money suckers, without me even having to express to them that I felt that distrust. I feel like someone who broke up with a lying jerk, and met someone awesome, who didn't even know about my ex, but still made up for everything they did.
I never had to be thanked for gaming. To me, I always was grateful to the makers of the games for giving me such wonderful worlds and lives to lead. But now that I have been thanked, and in such a fun and sincere way, I am just so happy. That which I love loves me back. I couldn't be more pleased that I am giving my money to someone who cares about their product and their customers on this level. It is nice. Really nice.
Rawr :)
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Final Fantasy 14 - Happy!
Rawr!
So, I have not had any interest at all in WoW since I started up on FF14, period. It is like I upgraded games. The graphics, not only the engine, which would be unfair to compare to WoW's since it is over a decade old, but the style is refreshing. Your enemies are to the point of cute when you first start out, as if you are not yet skilled enough to fight harder creatures, cooler things, more dangerous things, but the awesome looking monsters are hinted at, and you start seeing more and more of them as you increase in skill and lvl.
Your race and all when you create your character, really, don't add much to the stats, but rather, to your experience. My race is Elezen, which are basically Elves, but they are a 'noble' race, so I ride side saddle and I stand tall in perfect posture. There are other races who ride broad back on their mounts, skip, and even ones who stand cross legged and bored. This is all little characteristic stuff that adds nothing to combat, but it makes you feel closer to your own character.
The rain in this game doesn't fall straight down. The wind can push it. It can spray right toward your face. When you are in it, you actually get wet. If it is storming, there are pockets of air and rain lashing about.
When you go looking for enemies, the animal types actually live near their respective type of home, and do not wander the whole zone spread equally with equal numbers of each kind. Most zones have a lot of smaller, common animals, spread all over, and then, by the water are the mosquitos and newts while the raptors like highlands and the predators such as wolves are often in clusters of three to five. There are elementals on the maps, spread out, tending nature.
The gathering in the game has you walk up to a tree, and you have to decide whether to harvest something that you are skilled enough to get a high percentage of success at getting, or to go for something with a lower percent of success, but higher experience rewards, while knowing that you could come back for it later once you are more skilled and you would have that higher percent, but also, would you need it? Would you want just a log for making knife handles, or a full branch for making a lance? Or would you rather grab that snail crawling along the branch to cook up later for exp increasing food?
The game has the straightforward, follow this path, main story, but there are tons of side stories, some just placed in towns or around the maps as you lvl, some involved in your class training, and some, just to unlock dungeons, fun games, or even new emotes and dances.
The mounts move in manors characteristic of their species. The cat mount's claws extend and retract as it runs. The unicorn mount canters and jumps like a show horse. The dragon snorts and shrugs its wings.
The details in this game. I could go on and on. The lighting. The expressions. The game is full of examples of someone going above the call of their position and trying to add something extra to make it more special. The combat is fun, but right now, it is the GAME itself, that is impressive.
And yet, the combat, it is also engaging. I haven't gotten this excited, this much thrill, from a game in years. I haven't felt as much thrill at beating a boss (Garuda, which you fight challenging fights as low as lvl 25, this one was higher, but still) since BC in WoW. The baddies in this game start out being almost easy, but swiftly add more and more skills to avoid and more ways to find victory. Fighting requires brain function, which is such a nice change. And the bosses are sufficiently awesome and engaging that you WANT to beat them.
The minions are not all just re-skins of the bigger version of themselves, but are their own smaller, cuter model. The races have different histories and goals, unique ways of viewing the world.
The class quests are not repeats of each other. They build up to a climax at lvl 30, and then again, another as you go on, and for ANYONE who has ever been sexually abused or molested, make an Arcanist. I know, personally, the story filled me with a huge sense of closure, and I had thought myself pretty much over it all since it happened so long ago in my life.
That is another thing. The stories, and the things that are in the lives of the people in this game are not for small children. There are real issues dealt with and confronted. There are mature lessons. There is fun cute stuff, funny stuff that has you literally going lol, and yet, serious themes you get passionate about.
I wish I played it sooner. My siblings made the switch to FF14 from WoW and I wish I jumped into it faster. I wish I played it years ago. It felt hard to leave a game I had so much invested in as WoW, but now, all I can think about are all the ways I want to invest my time into FF14. All the experiences, the goals I have for the game. And it is so good to CARE about playing a game again; it is just so good to be this happy.
Rawr :)
So, I have not had any interest at all in WoW since I started up on FF14, period. It is like I upgraded games. The graphics, not only the engine, which would be unfair to compare to WoW's since it is over a decade old, but the style is refreshing. Your enemies are to the point of cute when you first start out, as if you are not yet skilled enough to fight harder creatures, cooler things, more dangerous things, but the awesome looking monsters are hinted at, and you start seeing more and more of them as you increase in skill and lvl.
Your race and all when you create your character, really, don't add much to the stats, but rather, to your experience. My race is Elezen, which are basically Elves, but they are a 'noble' race, so I ride side saddle and I stand tall in perfect posture. There are other races who ride broad back on their mounts, skip, and even ones who stand cross legged and bored. This is all little characteristic stuff that adds nothing to combat, but it makes you feel closer to your own character.
The rain in this game doesn't fall straight down. The wind can push it. It can spray right toward your face. When you are in it, you actually get wet. If it is storming, there are pockets of air and rain lashing about.
When you go looking for enemies, the animal types actually live near their respective type of home, and do not wander the whole zone spread equally with equal numbers of each kind. Most zones have a lot of smaller, common animals, spread all over, and then, by the water are the mosquitos and newts while the raptors like highlands and the predators such as wolves are often in clusters of three to five. There are elementals on the maps, spread out, tending nature.
The gathering in the game has you walk up to a tree, and you have to decide whether to harvest something that you are skilled enough to get a high percentage of success at getting, or to go for something with a lower percent of success, but higher experience rewards, while knowing that you could come back for it later once you are more skilled and you would have that higher percent, but also, would you need it? Would you want just a log for making knife handles, or a full branch for making a lance? Or would you rather grab that snail crawling along the branch to cook up later for exp increasing food?
The game has the straightforward, follow this path, main story, but there are tons of side stories, some just placed in towns or around the maps as you lvl, some involved in your class training, and some, just to unlock dungeons, fun games, or even new emotes and dances.
The mounts move in manors characteristic of their species. The cat mount's claws extend and retract as it runs. The unicorn mount canters and jumps like a show horse. The dragon snorts and shrugs its wings.
The details in this game. I could go on and on. The lighting. The expressions. The game is full of examples of someone going above the call of their position and trying to add something extra to make it more special. The combat is fun, but right now, it is the GAME itself, that is impressive.
And yet, the combat, it is also engaging. I haven't gotten this excited, this much thrill, from a game in years. I haven't felt as much thrill at beating a boss (Garuda, which you fight challenging fights as low as lvl 25, this one was higher, but still) since BC in WoW. The baddies in this game start out being almost easy, but swiftly add more and more skills to avoid and more ways to find victory. Fighting requires brain function, which is such a nice change. And the bosses are sufficiently awesome and engaging that you WANT to beat them.
The minions are not all just re-skins of the bigger version of themselves, but are their own smaller, cuter model. The races have different histories and goals, unique ways of viewing the world.
The class quests are not repeats of each other. They build up to a climax at lvl 30, and then again, another as you go on, and for ANYONE who has ever been sexually abused or molested, make an Arcanist. I know, personally, the story filled me with a huge sense of closure, and I had thought myself pretty much over it all since it happened so long ago in my life.
That is another thing. The stories, and the things that are in the lives of the people in this game are not for small children. There are real issues dealt with and confronted. There are mature lessons. There is fun cute stuff, funny stuff that has you literally going lol, and yet, serious themes you get passionate about.
I wish I played it sooner. My siblings made the switch to FF14 from WoW and I wish I jumped into it faster. I wish I played it years ago. It felt hard to leave a game I had so much invested in as WoW, but now, all I can think about are all the ways I want to invest my time into FF14. All the experiences, the goals I have for the game. And it is so good to CARE about playing a game again; it is just so good to be this happy.
Rawr :)
Friday, July 24, 2015
WoW - to continue to play or not
Rawr!
So... I have been very frustrated with Blizzard as a company lately. I was one of the thousands upon thousands who protested the 'no flight again ever' thing. I should have copy and pasted my forum posts, but I didn't so oh well, but basically, for anyone who doesn't know, WoD gets more and more lackluster as it goes on, more and more boring and tedious. People started leaving in droves because of the sheer issue of NOTHING but chores to do at max lvl. So Blizz very foolishly decided that the people who were left were the 'hardcore' fans and said they didn't want to put in the effort to design flight anymore. They pretty much had a riot, but not really so much because of flight itself, though flight is liberating, but because of the way they had been treating their customers.
Blizz announced the no flight thing on a third party website no one watches the day before a holiday weekend in the hopes that no one would notice, and if they did, that it would blow over in three days. During that time, they were bombarded on twitter, the forums, everything, with pure rage from their playerbase, not only for the silly decision, but also, for the way it was done, and yet, they responded over the weekend on twitter with comments such as "We are listening. Tell us how to make the game better without flight." or "Just because we don't agree with you and don't respond doesn't mean we are ignoring you." even though that is the literal definition, but anyhoo, they were being very very condescending about the whole thing, especially after they had always led everyone to believe that flight would be added to WoD.
Back before it even launched, they said, "there will be no flight during the beginning, so that you have to do land work and appreciate our content we made, but we will add it later."
Of course, Blizz, they tried to say that they never 'actually said they would add flight, just that they might', and so players themselves had to go back and do the research and find the documents, the comments, and fight back against their own company they love with the company's own words in writing. Blizz was confronted with multiple times they had actually used terms that meant 'for sure we will'.
So then people started asking for their money back for the new saber mount from the Blizz store, which, when advertised, is shown flying over Shadowmoon Valley in Draenor. Blizz refused, so then people started saying it was illegal in the state of California to false advertise, and though you cannot take Blizz to court as a player, per the agreement you sign when you play, you can, as an American citizen, take them to court, over breaking laws.
At this point, Blizz announced that they would have a giant Q&A about the new content in 6.2 and everything, and plz to hold off on anything til then. After 10 days, they would do this. So the rioting continued, because again, Blizz was not responding, just blowing everyone off, and not addressing player concern. What started as 'no more flight ever' had become 'we know how you should have fun in our game, and you should accept what we say and do at all times, or gtfo'
Now Blizz didn't need our money, as players. Now they were putting out reports, as well, during this, saying, the loss in sub's didn't matter, because they could always suck more money out of current players with in store mounts, pets and also, with tokens. They didn't need every player to stay, cuz each player was expected to be worth more revenue.
People just got more furious and left in droves. People had been posting their 'leaving the game' in the forums, but now, it was thousands of people leaving, instead of only hundreds.
Blizz postponed the Q&A. They had to 'carefully consider how to address the needs of the players'
The truth is, that they finally decided to change their mind about flight, and make it that you have to complete achievements you would probably complete by playing the fullness of their content in WoD anyhoo.
Now you can unlock some achievements, and boom, you can fly, in a later patch. This seemed fine to me, but what wasn't fine was all the hurt Blizz had caused, the realization that they didn't care, and the utter disappointment in their mind set. What also wasn't fine was 6.2 itself.
6.2 is nothing, absolutely nothing, but a giant grind fest of chores and annoyance. The chores are not fun. The grinding is not fun. The rewards are not awesome. It is just a giant zone of things that want to kill you for you to kill for some crystals to buy a couple of ok items, like the raven mount, and then the rest are all wasted on gear you can get better than of in the raid.
The raid is full of repeat of other raids, the mechanics are just all dodge or die, and the bosses are re-skins of previous content. Even Gore sits in a pool imitating Yog, letting his belly mouth float in the water with the exact same mechanic when you first walk up to him to fight him. Everything is just a green glowie of stuff you have already seen.
Now I could get flight, but why? What content is there worth putting in any effort to do? I came to realize that WoD is quite simply, no fun, at this point. I could waste my hours farming felblight, grinding out dailies, or just murdering enough in each little area that I fill the bar to the right of my screen. That is it. There is nothing else.
On top of that, after everything that happened, I feel kind of sick about Blizz. There can only be two causes I can reasonably comprehend for their actions, and neither are comforting.
Either, on the one hand, they are that arrogant and genuinely want the players to only enjoy the game how they dictate, streamlining the game to the point that player invented adventure is bad and not listening and paying them for telling you how to play is insubordination so go play something else, or, they are actually purposefully trying to 'kill' WoW because it is not cost effective in their mind to keep it up when they have other, new, easy to produce games on the market.
Either way, they are gift wrapping their customers for other games. Customers who would have gladly kept throwing their money at them if only they deserved it. Customers who did love WoW and love Blizz and actually didn't really want to leave, but were pushed into it. Customers like me.
I have ended my subscribing to WoW. I am 'paid' thru October, but honestly, I don't know if I wanna stay. I certainly don't care about playing. I log in maybe once or twice a week, just to toss a 'hi' to my old guildies. I wouldn't touch it again if not for them. If I do keep the game up, it would be with a token a month, which I know gives them an extra 5 bucks, but, well, it is easier to stop playing and not feel bad if you just waste in game gold, and plus, I don't hate Blizz. Honestly, I am heartbroken that this is the stance and direction they are going.
Blizz has already announced that they are now done with WoD. They will not be adding anymore content to it, cept maybe something to introduce whatever new expansion they make. They want more money faster, so another expansion already suits them fine, more 60 bucks a pop from everyone, 70 for CE, but also, WoD is no fun, and the players they still retain, they will try to keep and string along and squeeze as much money out of that they can, and at this point, new content is the only thing that will make anyone play WoW.
Personally, I don't know if I can care about whatever they put out next. I don't know if they have ended my interest, much like GW2 did back when they destroyed the game for me. I have never played GW2 again, after they did that, despite it being free for me. I have good memories of the game. I don't wanna play it when it is less than that.
I feel this way about WoW now. So, I have purchased a new game, which I have wanted to play for a while, but didn't, because I was unsure of it, knowing no one else really who played it, but, well, I need something fresh and fun. I need something that feels epic. So, I picked the game that always inspired me and kept my eyes wide with awe as a kid and teen- Final Fantasy.
So far, it has been an excellent choice, and I would recommend the game to anyone. It has so much more 'filler content' than WoW, so if you get sick of all the 'normal' MMO stuff, like raiding and pvp and dungeons, there is still lots to do. The game is more involved, and rewards effort, plus, the FF aspects are refreshing and nostalgic. The storyline is incredible, which as a writer myself, I certainly appreciate being immersed in an in depth story I can get emotionally involved in. I am thoroughly enjoying my dive into the game, and am not even max lvl yet.
WoW has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and FF14 is filling me with that childlike wonder at gaming again, which is a relief, because I have been a gamer since I was 5 years old. I need it. I need it like I need to eat or need to write. I try not to let companies that hurt me keep me from playing at all, and apparently, so do many of their former players, since the number one game people are going to when they leave WoW is FF14. And unlike Blizz, who puts out worse and worse content, seemingly on purpose, and cares about the dollars per customer as the most important thing, Square Enix put out FF14 in the first place, and got bad reviews, so they spent their own money and resources to make it BETTER because they cared about making the game great. I find that very comforting about their company. They care if their players enjoy their game. They want it to be amazing. They want it to be worth buying.
And so, they will be getting my money.
Rawr :)
So... I have been very frustrated with Blizzard as a company lately. I was one of the thousands upon thousands who protested the 'no flight again ever' thing. I should have copy and pasted my forum posts, but I didn't so oh well, but basically, for anyone who doesn't know, WoD gets more and more lackluster as it goes on, more and more boring and tedious. People started leaving in droves because of the sheer issue of NOTHING but chores to do at max lvl. So Blizz very foolishly decided that the people who were left were the 'hardcore' fans and said they didn't want to put in the effort to design flight anymore. They pretty much had a riot, but not really so much because of flight itself, though flight is liberating, but because of the way they had been treating their customers.
Blizz announced the no flight thing on a third party website no one watches the day before a holiday weekend in the hopes that no one would notice, and if they did, that it would blow over in three days. During that time, they were bombarded on twitter, the forums, everything, with pure rage from their playerbase, not only for the silly decision, but also, for the way it was done, and yet, they responded over the weekend on twitter with comments such as "We are listening. Tell us how to make the game better without flight." or "Just because we don't agree with you and don't respond doesn't mean we are ignoring you." even though that is the literal definition, but anyhoo, they were being very very condescending about the whole thing, especially after they had always led everyone to believe that flight would be added to WoD.
Back before it even launched, they said, "there will be no flight during the beginning, so that you have to do land work and appreciate our content we made, but we will add it later."
Of course, Blizz, they tried to say that they never 'actually said they would add flight, just that they might', and so players themselves had to go back and do the research and find the documents, the comments, and fight back against their own company they love with the company's own words in writing. Blizz was confronted with multiple times they had actually used terms that meant 'for sure we will'.
So then people started asking for their money back for the new saber mount from the Blizz store, which, when advertised, is shown flying over Shadowmoon Valley in Draenor. Blizz refused, so then people started saying it was illegal in the state of California to false advertise, and though you cannot take Blizz to court as a player, per the agreement you sign when you play, you can, as an American citizen, take them to court, over breaking laws.
At this point, Blizz announced that they would have a giant Q&A about the new content in 6.2 and everything, and plz to hold off on anything til then. After 10 days, they would do this. So the rioting continued, because again, Blizz was not responding, just blowing everyone off, and not addressing player concern. What started as 'no more flight ever' had become 'we know how you should have fun in our game, and you should accept what we say and do at all times, or gtfo'
Now Blizz didn't need our money, as players. Now they were putting out reports, as well, during this, saying, the loss in sub's didn't matter, because they could always suck more money out of current players with in store mounts, pets and also, with tokens. They didn't need every player to stay, cuz each player was expected to be worth more revenue.
People just got more furious and left in droves. People had been posting their 'leaving the game' in the forums, but now, it was thousands of people leaving, instead of only hundreds.
Blizz postponed the Q&A. They had to 'carefully consider how to address the needs of the players'
The truth is, that they finally decided to change their mind about flight, and make it that you have to complete achievements you would probably complete by playing the fullness of their content in WoD anyhoo.
Now you can unlock some achievements, and boom, you can fly, in a later patch. This seemed fine to me, but what wasn't fine was all the hurt Blizz had caused, the realization that they didn't care, and the utter disappointment in their mind set. What also wasn't fine was 6.2 itself.
6.2 is nothing, absolutely nothing, but a giant grind fest of chores and annoyance. The chores are not fun. The grinding is not fun. The rewards are not awesome. It is just a giant zone of things that want to kill you for you to kill for some crystals to buy a couple of ok items, like the raven mount, and then the rest are all wasted on gear you can get better than of in the raid.
The raid is full of repeat of other raids, the mechanics are just all dodge or die, and the bosses are re-skins of previous content. Even Gore sits in a pool imitating Yog, letting his belly mouth float in the water with the exact same mechanic when you first walk up to him to fight him. Everything is just a green glowie of stuff you have already seen.
Now I could get flight, but why? What content is there worth putting in any effort to do? I came to realize that WoD is quite simply, no fun, at this point. I could waste my hours farming felblight, grinding out dailies, or just murdering enough in each little area that I fill the bar to the right of my screen. That is it. There is nothing else.
On top of that, after everything that happened, I feel kind of sick about Blizz. There can only be two causes I can reasonably comprehend for their actions, and neither are comforting.
Either, on the one hand, they are that arrogant and genuinely want the players to only enjoy the game how they dictate, streamlining the game to the point that player invented adventure is bad and not listening and paying them for telling you how to play is insubordination so go play something else, or, they are actually purposefully trying to 'kill' WoW because it is not cost effective in their mind to keep it up when they have other, new, easy to produce games on the market.
Either way, they are gift wrapping their customers for other games. Customers who would have gladly kept throwing their money at them if only they deserved it. Customers who did love WoW and love Blizz and actually didn't really want to leave, but were pushed into it. Customers like me.
I have ended my subscribing to WoW. I am 'paid' thru October, but honestly, I don't know if I wanna stay. I certainly don't care about playing. I log in maybe once or twice a week, just to toss a 'hi' to my old guildies. I wouldn't touch it again if not for them. If I do keep the game up, it would be with a token a month, which I know gives them an extra 5 bucks, but, well, it is easier to stop playing and not feel bad if you just waste in game gold, and plus, I don't hate Blizz. Honestly, I am heartbroken that this is the stance and direction they are going.
Blizz has already announced that they are now done with WoD. They will not be adding anymore content to it, cept maybe something to introduce whatever new expansion they make. They want more money faster, so another expansion already suits them fine, more 60 bucks a pop from everyone, 70 for CE, but also, WoD is no fun, and the players they still retain, they will try to keep and string along and squeeze as much money out of that they can, and at this point, new content is the only thing that will make anyone play WoW.
Personally, I don't know if I can care about whatever they put out next. I don't know if they have ended my interest, much like GW2 did back when they destroyed the game for me. I have never played GW2 again, after they did that, despite it being free for me. I have good memories of the game. I don't wanna play it when it is less than that.
I feel this way about WoW now. So, I have purchased a new game, which I have wanted to play for a while, but didn't, because I was unsure of it, knowing no one else really who played it, but, well, I need something fresh and fun. I need something that feels epic. So, I picked the game that always inspired me and kept my eyes wide with awe as a kid and teen- Final Fantasy.
So far, it has been an excellent choice, and I would recommend the game to anyone. It has so much more 'filler content' than WoW, so if you get sick of all the 'normal' MMO stuff, like raiding and pvp and dungeons, there is still lots to do. The game is more involved, and rewards effort, plus, the FF aspects are refreshing and nostalgic. The storyline is incredible, which as a writer myself, I certainly appreciate being immersed in an in depth story I can get emotionally involved in. I am thoroughly enjoying my dive into the game, and am not even max lvl yet.
WoW has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and FF14 is filling me with that childlike wonder at gaming again, which is a relief, because I have been a gamer since I was 5 years old. I need it. I need it like I need to eat or need to write. I try not to let companies that hurt me keep me from playing at all, and apparently, so do many of their former players, since the number one game people are going to when they leave WoW is FF14. And unlike Blizz, who puts out worse and worse content, seemingly on purpose, and cares about the dollars per customer as the most important thing, Square Enix put out FF14 in the first place, and got bad reviews, so they spent their own money and resources to make it BETTER because they cared about making the game great. I find that very comforting about their company. They care if their players enjoy their game. They want it to be amazing. They want it to be worth buying.
And so, they will be getting my money.
Rawr :)
Monday, January 19, 2015
World of Warcraft: WoD
Rawr!
So WoD has been out long enough now that someone needs to review it as a long term expansion. My opinion being only mine, but meh, I will do it anyhoo.
Firstly, the storylines and quests are mostly spot on, with more fulfilling endings, well done cut scenes, and promises of more to come with things like Tanaan Jungle and the "Netherstrom" area in the future. The settings feel good, for the most part, and some of the new creatures are awesome. The Missions in the garrisons and picking buildings to suit you is great.
Now, I wish they hadn't gone a little overboard with re-skinning. The mounts, the beasts, even the battle pets, though, battle pets they always have, but good grief, soooo many re-skins. The garrison building picking is limited, because some you realize you HAVE to get to be effective and some you get them, used them for a bit, and now they are useless pretty much (Inn) and you have to put in money and resources for something else. The sheer overabundance of ore you get from your garrison is crazy, and I really really hope that they add more recipes in 6.1 to eat up all that extra ore in every profession.
The dungeons, well, they are typical dungeons. Not insanely impressed or depressed about any of them, except quite disappointed in UBRS, having been a fan of the orig, and sure there is a nod to it with the arena fight, but, it feels like a waste to redo content instead of add.
The raiding so far, is typical raiding, nothing majorly amazing or jumping out at you.
Once you finish the awesome story in each zone, you realize that some are beautiful and you want to go there all the time (SMV Nagrand) and some are just places you visit for dailies and mount camping (Frostfire Gorgrond). At least Gorgrond has the delightfully ironic war between dirt, and the evil plants that eat dirt, but it is kinda just a huge nothing. Frostfire's scenery is so boring and redundant that I still haven't gotten my hordie main to 100, despite almost 3 alli's up.
Blizz did a wonderful thing with the 'random upgrades' with gear, and a long tedious thing with the grind for all reps. They gave us a toy box for our crap, and then gave us a ton of things that should be considered toys that aren't so our bags are still full. Still nothing about a tabard collection tab, though, in the future, they have announced heirlooms will get one, which will rock.
They put the totally awesome treasures on the maps, and the rares that anyone can tag, only to leave you feeling like you completed a zone once you get/kill them, and now what else is there but a fishing daily or pet trainer to draw you back. I fell in love with the Spires of Arak from the first moment they drop you at the entrance and a laser is shooting down into the stunted forests while refugees flee. The entire story was captivating, and the veils all matched the people who dwelled there so perfectly. The curse of Sethe and the three gods, and even just the fun voice acting for the hunched, crooked, Talonpriests was so great. But after the story is done, you are left with an open end and nothing else to do in the zone except go to one corner and farm rep for hours.
Now, every zone gets left behind at some point in this game, when the next expansion comes out, usually, but it is still this expansion, even the beginning of it, and zones are becoming pointless. The garrison is just rinse and repeat, like checking an app on your phone daily. The camping and the rep farming takes hours of monotony. After the very well done initial content, being 100 feels like a let down. 6.1 is coming soon, so hopefully that will help comfort everyone standing around in their garrisons with no reason to leave except to destroy their banks full of ore.
In conclusion, I have enjoyed WoD tremendously, and would suggest that if you haven't played it, to do so. WoW feels like WoW again, for the most part, and some of the content is just awe inspiring. But, take it with a grain of salt that the leveling content is better than the max level content right now, and that once maxed, it will be more fun to level alts than to grind away on your main until more content is released. I do see WoD having a bright and prosperous future though, based on the improvements over MoP I have seen thus far.
Rawr! Smile :)
So WoD has been out long enough now that someone needs to review it as a long term expansion. My opinion being only mine, but meh, I will do it anyhoo.
Firstly, the storylines and quests are mostly spot on, with more fulfilling endings, well done cut scenes, and promises of more to come with things like Tanaan Jungle and the "Netherstrom" area in the future. The settings feel good, for the most part, and some of the new creatures are awesome. The Missions in the garrisons and picking buildings to suit you is great.
Now, I wish they hadn't gone a little overboard with re-skinning. The mounts, the beasts, even the battle pets, though, battle pets they always have, but good grief, soooo many re-skins. The garrison building picking is limited, because some you realize you HAVE to get to be effective and some you get them, used them for a bit, and now they are useless pretty much (Inn) and you have to put in money and resources for something else. The sheer overabundance of ore you get from your garrison is crazy, and I really really hope that they add more recipes in 6.1 to eat up all that extra ore in every profession.
The dungeons, well, they are typical dungeons. Not insanely impressed or depressed about any of them, except quite disappointed in UBRS, having been a fan of the orig, and sure there is a nod to it with the arena fight, but, it feels like a waste to redo content instead of add.
The raiding so far, is typical raiding, nothing majorly amazing or jumping out at you.
Once you finish the awesome story in each zone, you realize that some are beautiful and you want to go there all the time (SMV Nagrand) and some are just places you visit for dailies and mount camping (Frostfire Gorgrond). At least Gorgrond has the delightfully ironic war between dirt, and the evil plants that eat dirt, but it is kinda just a huge nothing. Frostfire's scenery is so boring and redundant that I still haven't gotten my hordie main to 100, despite almost 3 alli's up.
Blizz did a wonderful thing with the 'random upgrades' with gear, and a long tedious thing with the grind for all reps. They gave us a toy box for our crap, and then gave us a ton of things that should be considered toys that aren't so our bags are still full. Still nothing about a tabard collection tab, though, in the future, they have announced heirlooms will get one, which will rock.
They put the totally awesome treasures on the maps, and the rares that anyone can tag, only to leave you feeling like you completed a zone once you get/kill them, and now what else is there but a fishing daily or pet trainer to draw you back. I fell in love with the Spires of Arak from the first moment they drop you at the entrance and a laser is shooting down into the stunted forests while refugees flee. The entire story was captivating, and the veils all matched the people who dwelled there so perfectly. The curse of Sethe and the three gods, and even just the fun voice acting for the hunched, crooked, Talonpriests was so great. But after the story is done, you are left with an open end and nothing else to do in the zone except go to one corner and farm rep for hours.
Now, every zone gets left behind at some point in this game, when the next expansion comes out, usually, but it is still this expansion, even the beginning of it, and zones are becoming pointless. The garrison is just rinse and repeat, like checking an app on your phone daily. The camping and the rep farming takes hours of monotony. After the very well done initial content, being 100 feels like a let down. 6.1 is coming soon, so hopefully that will help comfort everyone standing around in their garrisons with no reason to leave except to destroy their banks full of ore.
In conclusion, I have enjoyed WoD tremendously, and would suggest that if you haven't played it, to do so. WoW feels like WoW again, for the most part, and some of the content is just awe inspiring. But, take it with a grain of salt that the leveling content is better than the max level content right now, and that once maxed, it will be more fun to level alts than to grind away on your main until more content is released. I do see WoD having a bright and prosperous future though, based on the improvements over MoP I have seen thus far.
Rawr! Smile :)
Monday, October 6, 2014
Rawr: Woops! World of Warcraft
RAWR!
I totally forgot to say why I, after almost 4 and a half years, started playing WoW again!
Partially, I have gotten past some of the personal reasons that I had quit the game cuz of, things like people I had had relationship with dumping me, and a friend dying I played with. I am naming my firstborn son after my friend who died, and I am happily engaged to someone who fills me with contentment about life.
Secondly, I quit because of Cata, and I still look at that expansion and see it as horrible, pathetic, and overall, designed to ruin and take away, from the actual world and from the player. I have gone back and tried the new zones it provided, and mostly, they are ok, some totally against lore (Uldum should have been a mix between titan-ish and dwarv-ish), but ok. I find it amusing that Uldum, the most deviated zone from the lore, period, was the most fun to do in my opinion and most that I know, while Vash(Underwater zone) which is almost all lore based, was the most stunning, yet frustrating to quest in. I think cuz of all the caves, personally, but a lot of people had trouble with the swimming and fighting, I guess.
Cata was a huge mistake, thru and thru. They obliterated awesome zones, they remade dungeons and raids into something, that were fun, worthless, and they totally took away soooo much from the game. I literally hate Cata, to the point that when I go back to zones it wrecked, or play SFK or ZG, I can only taste bitter hatred, and I am playing World of Warcraft.
Pandaria, it was alright, and I liked that they took Chen from Warcraft 3 and gave him a vibrant home world, and an explanation for why we never saw him or his race before in the WoW series, even though he was right there with Rexxor in Warcraft 3. The problem I find with Pandaria, is some of the designs are very cutsie (panda's themselves...biggest offender), and not in the "let's target women" way the fae dragon is. Also, the whole of pandaria is the same scenery repeated over and over again. With BC and Wrath, you got a sense that each zone was it's own mini world, some of the stuff repeated, but a ton of it was unique to where it was born. Pandaria just felt like a ton of repeat with diff colors. I did like a lot of the aspects as far as rewards go, such as the mounts, and CM's were interesting.
Now, I have sooo much to complain about, and I was playing Rift. Why am I playing WoW, again, after such a large break from the game?
Boredom. Every other game I tried, after a few months, became very boring. The worlds are way too small and that is huge for me. Rift did double its world, but it was still too small. GW2 I hope to never play again since they ruined it for me, but who knows, they might pull a WoW and offer an expansion that might be worth it all.
My fiancé also likes WoW, so that helped push me toward it, and all, but really, I am back because my siblings moved far away and this is something we can all do together, catching up has kept me occupied and entertained, and I am interested in WoD.
I have always loved the orig horde leaders, their stories and the era and here is an expansion offering an experience with them. They are REDOING old content WITHOUT taking away the original. Leaving BC alone and making it from scratch is, for me, what Cata should have been. I am SO glad they are doing it this way.
They also are adding Garrisons, which I see so much potential in, and hope they do right. I want to see the new zones and the new storylines, which for me, more than Cata or Pandaria, are fully based on the original lore, with a twist, that the orcs refused the demon blood. I do wish they were removing less from the world as the new expansion prepares to launch, because people who are moving right now, like my siblings, and people who play the game three times slower than normal people because they pet battle every pet, gather ever ore, and read every quest, like my fiancé, won't get awesome things that I have, like the Ahead of the Curve achievie and reward or the CM phoenix. I hate that they are punished for playing the game to its fullest, or having RL going on. Honestly, I just hate any removed content/rewards being removed from any game any time, if it is not due to glitches/bugs. Period.
But, as much as I rant, it is only because I am passionate about what I play, and someday, I want to be able to go back with my kids, once they are old enough, and show them the old great games, and watch their faces puzzle things out, or eyes widen with wonder. I can't if they take things away. I look at the game as it is, and as I hope it will be in 10 years. I always view anything I play in this manner. That is why I care. That is why I rant. And that is why I am playing WoW again.
RAWR! :)
I totally forgot to say why I, after almost 4 and a half years, started playing WoW again!
Partially, I have gotten past some of the personal reasons that I had quit the game cuz of, things like people I had had relationship with dumping me, and a friend dying I played with. I am naming my firstborn son after my friend who died, and I am happily engaged to someone who fills me with contentment about life.
Secondly, I quit because of Cata, and I still look at that expansion and see it as horrible, pathetic, and overall, designed to ruin and take away, from the actual world and from the player. I have gone back and tried the new zones it provided, and mostly, they are ok, some totally against lore (Uldum should have been a mix between titan-ish and dwarv-ish), but ok. I find it amusing that Uldum, the most deviated zone from the lore, period, was the most fun to do in my opinion and most that I know, while Vash(Underwater zone) which is almost all lore based, was the most stunning, yet frustrating to quest in. I think cuz of all the caves, personally, but a lot of people had trouble with the swimming and fighting, I guess.
Cata was a huge mistake, thru and thru. They obliterated awesome zones, they remade dungeons and raids into something, that were fun, worthless, and they totally took away soooo much from the game. I literally hate Cata, to the point that when I go back to zones it wrecked, or play SFK or ZG, I can only taste bitter hatred, and I am playing World of Warcraft.
Pandaria, it was alright, and I liked that they took Chen from Warcraft 3 and gave him a vibrant home world, and an explanation for why we never saw him or his race before in the WoW series, even though he was right there with Rexxor in Warcraft 3. The problem I find with Pandaria, is some of the designs are very cutsie (panda's themselves...biggest offender), and not in the "let's target women" way the fae dragon is. Also, the whole of pandaria is the same scenery repeated over and over again. With BC and Wrath, you got a sense that each zone was it's own mini world, some of the stuff repeated, but a ton of it was unique to where it was born. Pandaria just felt like a ton of repeat with diff colors. I did like a lot of the aspects as far as rewards go, such as the mounts, and CM's were interesting.
Now, I have sooo much to complain about, and I was playing Rift. Why am I playing WoW, again, after such a large break from the game?
Boredom. Every other game I tried, after a few months, became very boring. The worlds are way too small and that is huge for me. Rift did double its world, but it was still too small. GW2 I hope to never play again since they ruined it for me, but who knows, they might pull a WoW and offer an expansion that might be worth it all.
My fiancé also likes WoW, so that helped push me toward it, and all, but really, I am back because my siblings moved far away and this is something we can all do together, catching up has kept me occupied and entertained, and I am interested in WoD.
I have always loved the orig horde leaders, their stories and the era and here is an expansion offering an experience with them. They are REDOING old content WITHOUT taking away the original. Leaving BC alone and making it from scratch is, for me, what Cata should have been. I am SO glad they are doing it this way.
They also are adding Garrisons, which I see so much potential in, and hope they do right. I want to see the new zones and the new storylines, which for me, more than Cata or Pandaria, are fully based on the original lore, with a twist, that the orcs refused the demon blood. I do wish they were removing less from the world as the new expansion prepares to launch, because people who are moving right now, like my siblings, and people who play the game three times slower than normal people because they pet battle every pet, gather ever ore, and read every quest, like my fiancé, won't get awesome things that I have, like the Ahead of the Curve achievie and reward or the CM phoenix. I hate that they are punished for playing the game to its fullest, or having RL going on. Honestly, I just hate any removed content/rewards being removed from any game any time, if it is not due to glitches/bugs. Period.
But, as much as I rant, it is only because I am passionate about what I play, and someday, I want to be able to go back with my kids, once they are old enough, and show them the old great games, and watch their faces puzzle things out, or eyes widen with wonder. I can't if they take things away. I look at the game as it is, and as I hope it will be in 10 years. I always view anything I play in this manner. That is why I care. That is why I rant. And that is why I am playing WoW again.
RAWR! :)
Saturday, September 27, 2014
World of Warcraft: The removal of yet more content... Instead of adding
World of Warcraft.... almost a full 10 years of existence and I still think the worst thing about it now is what the worst thing about it was when I quit the first time at the launch of Cata, and when I played as a noob so long ago at the tail of Vanilla.
The removal of content.
I CANNOT understand why a company would waste their money paying someone for man hours to design or create something for the game and then after a few months, or ever a year or two, remove that something. I have always, and will always, think it is the stupidest idea ever. Collectors can NEVER truly collect because of temporary content, only the most elite and rich stand a chance, but even they will never get it all, and the truth is, that now WoW has started posting things they took out of the game on the Black Market Auction House, and announced that in 6.0 they intend to do even more so.
This is good for people who cry over what they can never have, but HORRIBLE news for everyone else, because this means all current content can at anytime be removed and put in that BMAH instead, meaning, you spend hundreds of thousands of gold on something that if WoW had left alone, you could have just done the chain, the farm, the achievement, whatever, for.
The BMAH is proof that Blizz DOES NOT care about giving people an elite feeling for having gotten a mount or title or set before it was removed, and that they are trying new ways of CONTROLING players and their mass saved up gold. It is a money sink, purposefully designed to make people get excited that they can have something removed, when what would have made ACTUAL sense would be to leave it there in the first place.
A game that removes good things just for the sake of removal, without there being a glitch or a bug in it, but to create a sense of 'elite' players who can flaunt their mount, is making a huge mistake.
Firstly, I stated with guild wars 2, that someone saw something I had from their horrible "every 2 weeks we put out something temp again, and never expand the game world we made in our game" and asked me about it. I explained that you could never get that particular pet again, and the person said, "Well, that is the coolest thing I have seen in your game, but no point in playing if I can't get it."
IT LITTERALLY DETERS people from playing the game who have never played to remove content.
Secondly, it makes your current gamers feel like the company is segregating them into "good players" and "casual players". Now the 'good' will think this is great, feel patted on the back, and feel lordly over the other players who have excuses like "life" for why they fail. The casuals, who are the majority of the players, will feel abused, dejected, robbed, and smacked down. Why can't the 'good' players be made to feel great about themselves WITHOUT treating casuals like crap? You could put a badge of the logo of the expansion someone got a mount in, since people complain about only having a date for proof, to their achievie, or you could give titles and transmog sets for doing content at the max lvl for that expansion. Anyone can turn off their xp for a while, and then back on, when they want. You could even just do like with CM's and push the gear lvl's down. But removing content is so unreasonable and foolish.
Another reason to NOT remove it, is this was LITTERALLY my reason for leaving WoW back at the launch of Cata, that and the dailies, but mostly, I had been farming ZG for over a year and a half weekly for the mounts, seen both drop 3 times but lost the rolls, and you were removing them. You already removed the mounts from Naxx when I had just started getting the achievements required, and I won't even speak about ZA. In Cata, you not only were removing the ZG mounts, but destroying the raid and making it a dungeon, which I have tried once since I returned to WoW and it is HORRIBLE compared to the raid. Whoever re-did it made it terrible to even want to try. People like the warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings of content as it is, not ruined redone stuff that shows you are too lazy to create. You lose players every time you take away instead of add. Every single time.
But Cata was, in and of itself, an expansion designed to take away. You took away auberdine, a place filled with some of the fondest memories I have in the whole game, and you didn't even replace Gubba Bump, which my sis in law cries over anytime anyone mentions the ransacked upheaval you have turned that zone into. Not a single change made in the cata expansion made anything that was destroyed or removed better. Nothing. Every single thing you ruined. None of it was improved.
Which is really the point.
Even if you didn't have a single player in your game, which you lose more everyday cuz instead of adding content you keep removing it, but even if there were none, the GAME does NOT get BETTER by removing content. You will NEVER improve a game by taking away rewards, incentives, and things for people to enjoy.
But since you don't seem to care about the game and whether or not it is good, think of it this way: The more crap people have to strive for, the more hours they will waste trying to get the crap, and the more subscription time they will buy. People want more, not less. You want more people, not fewer. This is not hard.
STOP removing good things from World of Warcraft.
The removal of content.
I CANNOT understand why a company would waste their money paying someone for man hours to design or create something for the game and then after a few months, or ever a year or two, remove that something. I have always, and will always, think it is the stupidest idea ever. Collectors can NEVER truly collect because of temporary content, only the most elite and rich stand a chance, but even they will never get it all, and the truth is, that now WoW has started posting things they took out of the game on the Black Market Auction House, and announced that in 6.0 they intend to do even more so.
This is good for people who cry over what they can never have, but HORRIBLE news for everyone else, because this means all current content can at anytime be removed and put in that BMAH instead, meaning, you spend hundreds of thousands of gold on something that if WoW had left alone, you could have just done the chain, the farm, the achievement, whatever, for.
The BMAH is proof that Blizz DOES NOT care about giving people an elite feeling for having gotten a mount or title or set before it was removed, and that they are trying new ways of CONTROLING players and their mass saved up gold. It is a money sink, purposefully designed to make people get excited that they can have something removed, when what would have made ACTUAL sense would be to leave it there in the first place.
A game that removes good things just for the sake of removal, without there being a glitch or a bug in it, but to create a sense of 'elite' players who can flaunt their mount, is making a huge mistake.
Firstly, I stated with guild wars 2, that someone saw something I had from their horrible "every 2 weeks we put out something temp again, and never expand the game world we made in our game" and asked me about it. I explained that you could never get that particular pet again, and the person said, "Well, that is the coolest thing I have seen in your game, but no point in playing if I can't get it."
IT LITTERALLY DETERS people from playing the game who have never played to remove content.
Secondly, it makes your current gamers feel like the company is segregating them into "good players" and "casual players". Now the 'good' will think this is great, feel patted on the back, and feel lordly over the other players who have excuses like "life" for why they fail. The casuals, who are the majority of the players, will feel abused, dejected, robbed, and smacked down. Why can't the 'good' players be made to feel great about themselves WITHOUT treating casuals like crap? You could put a badge of the logo of the expansion someone got a mount in, since people complain about only having a date for proof, to their achievie, or you could give titles and transmog sets for doing content at the max lvl for that expansion. Anyone can turn off their xp for a while, and then back on, when they want. You could even just do like with CM's and push the gear lvl's down. But removing content is so unreasonable and foolish.
Another reason to NOT remove it, is this was LITTERALLY my reason for leaving WoW back at the launch of Cata, that and the dailies, but mostly, I had been farming ZG for over a year and a half weekly for the mounts, seen both drop 3 times but lost the rolls, and you were removing them. You already removed the mounts from Naxx when I had just started getting the achievements required, and I won't even speak about ZA. In Cata, you not only were removing the ZG mounts, but destroying the raid and making it a dungeon, which I have tried once since I returned to WoW and it is HORRIBLE compared to the raid. Whoever re-did it made it terrible to even want to try. People like the warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings of content as it is, not ruined redone stuff that shows you are too lazy to create. You lose players every time you take away instead of add. Every single time.
But Cata was, in and of itself, an expansion designed to take away. You took away auberdine, a place filled with some of the fondest memories I have in the whole game, and you didn't even replace Gubba Bump, which my sis in law cries over anytime anyone mentions the ransacked upheaval you have turned that zone into. Not a single change made in the cata expansion made anything that was destroyed or removed better. Nothing. Every single thing you ruined. None of it was improved.
Which is really the point.
Even if you didn't have a single player in your game, which you lose more everyday cuz instead of adding content you keep removing it, but even if there were none, the GAME does NOT get BETTER by removing content. You will NEVER improve a game by taking away rewards, incentives, and things for people to enjoy.
But since you don't seem to care about the game and whether or not it is good, think of it this way: The more crap people have to strive for, the more hours they will waste trying to get the crap, and the more subscription time they will buy. People want more, not less. You want more people, not fewer. This is not hard.
STOP removing good things from World of Warcraft.
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