If you have been listening to sound files from the upcoming 5.1 patch you would be as interested in what is happening as I am. Even if you are someone that never reads the quests and doesn't care about the lore there are a lot of things going on that seem to really throw a lot of lore out there. Something we have not seen since wrath.
Not only are the sound clips datamined, which can be found on places like mmo-champion and many other fan sites, exciting to listen to but the fact we are even talking about 5.1 this close to the expansion launch when a vast majority of players have not even stepped into a raid yet and not all of the mists content has been released is proof that mists might be really committed to making the game exciting again.
While 5.1 will not include more raid content, as we really do not need it anyway yet as we have not even seen all the raid content we already have released, it will have some new scenarios, a new quest hub and lots of lore to sink our teeth into. And not just little lore bits here and there but huge lore changes. Character development on a scale I do not recall ever seeing in this game before. Perhaps someone from vanilla time might have seen it because it was all new then, but basically the only major event I can remember in recent history was the death of Carine. All other lore changes I've witnessed have been what I could call fluff. No real oh crap moment like we have coming in 5.1.
So what is in store for us really? Will this quick release schedule keep up or is it just a nice push at the start and it will end up falling off? Will they continue to bring the story to the game instead of having the game just mimic a story told elsewhere? Will they keep pushing out scenarios as a method to help tell the story and keep the main characters updated to what they are currently doing?
Is blizzard really taking the game to the next level and trying to breath life into it. The game has felt like it had no heart after the lich king died and all we had was godzilla running around. It felt more like you were watching some old 50s black and white horror movie on an early sunday morning monster of the week event. It was okay but you never felt like there was anything to worry about because the baddie was a joke and there was no story to make it seem otherwise.
Now they are making sure a story is there and spending some serious time in getting that story out there for everyone to see. The things the audio clips have talked about range from the death of a main character whom you would have figured was being groomed for much more, the storming of two different cities, one for war and one for retrieval, the rebirth of some lore neglected character from both lines of elves, a major new old ally for the alliance once again backing them, and so much more. All in one little patch, all for filler.
Now this is how filler content should be done, not giving us the two zuls like cataclysm did. Blizzard is really making sure that mists takes warcraft to the next level. Old game be damned, it feels new again, new with excitement. Lets hope these quicker patches keep coming and the story keeps rolling out with the intensity that 5.1 seems to be bringing with it.
If they can manage that I can really see warcraft showing all those new kids on the block why they are still the number 1 MMORPG out there and that they do not intend to just let their cash cow die. They are taking it to the next level and we are the lucky ones to be playing it right now and getting to experience it as it happens.
You'll Believe A Dog Can... Run Really Fast?
1 hour ago
Perhaps the unusually large and fast patch 5.1 is meant as a carrot, to try to keep the annual pass people subscribed. I suspect there are a significant number of annual pass subscribers who plan to unsub when the 1-year commitment ends.
ReplyDeleteI could very well be a marketing ploy but it is a good one if that is indeed all it is.
DeleteI would like to believe they can keep it up. It would be nice to see more little patches like that.
It wouldn't suprise me if it is because of all the incoming AP endings, either.
DeleteSimilarly, I wouldn't be too surprised if close to the release of 5.1 they'll introduce a new AP program with some shiny, oriental dragon mount or Pet (the later of course of at least Rare quality; yup I won't discount them bringing in a new rarity, as 5.1. will allow you to upgrade a Pet)
With 5.1 offering a bunch for the jaded curent subscribers (the Rep changes etc. will of course only make it worse for newcomers to cath up, as there is less and less reason to revisit content) and the AP giving a new incentive, they'll likely convince again a sizeable chunk of people to give them a pass for a year.
(speaking of which, I wonder if Gevlon the Greedy Goblin stil thinks 'AP is a deal too good to pass up'...)
Anyone that has the intention to play the AP is too good to pass up.
DeleteI think the goodies are a bonus for paying for something I pay for anyway and honestly I think they lose money in the long run giving away that stuff.
I would have paid to be in the beta, they gave it to me for free. I would have paid for a mount, they gave it to me for free. I would have paid for diablo 3 if I wanted to play it, they gave it to me for free.
Sorry, but I think giving things away for free that people would be willing to pay for is bad business. It stenches of desperation and that is what they were last time they did it, they were desperate.
Many people against the AP like to say if you quit you are basically wasting money, I look at it differently, if the cost of a yearly subscription actually amounts to "money" to you then perhaps you should not be playing wow to begin with. You should be thinking of saving money instead of wasting it on a game.
For someone like me I don't think of the cost as anything really. When I used to be a drinker I would spend more in the bar in one night than a yearly pass costs and I was at the bar 7 nights a week spending that. I don't think of the yearly pass as spending money. No more than I thought buying a few beers was spending money. Just something I do/did to have fun for a little while.
But as they say, addiction is addiction. I am sure there are a lot of people out there that have trouble paying their rent but never miss a warcrack payment.