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In the World of Warcraft, the next expansion has to be well considered. The Burning Crusade was quite fun and people got over it. Above and beyond that, it's turned raiding and the end-game into something people aren't happy with. So what should the focus of the next expansion be?
To make the next expansion has a more lasting impact on the game is issue of concern, but how about World of Warcraft?
An expansion entirely dedicated to revamping/expanding on "old world" Azeroth. As a game, World of Warcraft is not just about the end-game because it's so quick to level up, making and alt is one of the primary joys of the game. Blizzard should recognize this by providing buckets more content for the level 1-60 experience. Bring lessons learned from patch content and BC into the old world, and revitalize the places all World of Warcraft players love.
In the Outlands, the Burning Legion streams through the gate into Azeroth. A number of zones are fundamentally changed, new areas are opened to questing by the actions of the legion, and previously passive parties have been forced to take a stand.
The actions of the Legion lead to numerous changes across Azeroth. Desolace, Azshara, and Strangelthorn Vale are all somehow affected, providing new content within those zones. In the game, the small changes are made to almost every zone in the game, with an emphasis on creating "BC-like experiences" from level 1. Improvements in quest design, mount previews, and some effort to include PvP battlegrounds in zone quest lines are all on the table. Geography is up in the air as well, thanks to the power of the Legion. It leads to remap the old world to allow for flying mounts.
Areas of Azeroth that were previously blank spots on the map are filled in as various groups come under attack by the Legion. Similarly, the Legions actions lower Dalaran's shield and wake a sleeping evil beneath the ruins of Alterac. Over the whole of Azeroth both factions should have new zones allowing alternatives to previous leveling paths. IE, there should be at least three zones for any given span of ten levels, with one brand new. The other two zones should be revamped as mentioned above to allow for added re-playability. No new continent, though islands and such around Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms makes a lot of sense.
There are several races stand up and take the fight to the demons under assault by the Legion. The races are unaligned at character start, and can choose to become friendly with either Horde or Alliance over the course of their careers. Faction gained with one side eventually causes faction loss with the other, until the character is as much Horde or Alliance as an Orc or Human. Each race has a starting city with 1-20 zone content.
But there is no heroic class, it might be nice to allow players to respec their character into a new class and maintain a portion of their progress. Level 70 characters work their way through a lengthy quest line that sees them working to foil the Burning Legion's efforts in Azeroth, works through new level 70 zones in old-world and includes some dramatic encounters in lower-level old world zones.
It sounds that the next expansion may be Blizzard's last chance to really address some issues in the old world before things get away from them. Most expansions are going to add a ton of new virtual land to the world; maybe it is a chance to think about systems, revamping existing content, and telling a story in the world all of us grew up in.
To make the next expansion has a more lasting impact on the game is issue of concern, but how about World of Warcraft?
An expansion entirely dedicated to revamping/expanding on "old world" Azeroth. As a game, World of Warcraft is not just about the end-game because it's so quick to level up, making and alt is one of the primary joys of the game. Blizzard should recognize this by providing buckets more content for the level 1-60 experience. Bring lessons learned from patch content and BC into the old world, and revitalize the places all World of Warcraft players love.
In the Outlands, the Burning Legion streams through the gate into Azeroth. A number of zones are fundamentally changed, new areas are opened to questing by the actions of the legion, and previously passive parties have been forced to take a stand.
The actions of the Legion lead to numerous changes across Azeroth. Desolace, Azshara, and Strangelthorn Vale are all somehow affected, providing new content within those zones. In the game, the small changes are made to almost every zone in the game, with an emphasis on creating "BC-like experiences" from level 1. Improvements in quest design, mount previews, and some effort to include PvP battlegrounds in zone quest lines are all on the table. Geography is up in the air as well, thanks to the power of the Legion. It leads to remap the old world to allow for flying mounts.
Areas of Azeroth that were previously blank spots on the map are filled in as various groups come under attack by the Legion. Similarly, the Legions actions lower Dalaran's shield and wake a sleeping evil beneath the ruins of Alterac. Over the whole of Azeroth both factions should have new zones allowing alternatives to previous leveling paths. IE, there should be at least three zones for any given span of ten levels, with one brand new. The other two zones should be revamped as mentioned above to allow for added re-playability. No new continent, though islands and such around Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms makes a lot of sense.
There are several races stand up and take the fight to the demons under assault by the Legion. The races are unaligned at character start, and can choose to become friendly with either Horde or Alliance over the course of their careers. Faction gained with one side eventually causes faction loss with the other, until the character is as much Horde or Alliance as an Orc or Human. Each race has a starting city with 1-20 zone content.
But there is no heroic class, it might be nice to allow players to respec their character into a new class and maintain a portion of their progress. Level 70 characters work their way through a lengthy quest line that sees them working to foil the Burning Legion's efforts in Azeroth, works through new level 70 zones in old-world and includes some dramatic encounters in lower-level old world zones.
It sounds that the next expansion may be Blizzard's last chance to really address some issues in the old world before things get away from them. Most expansions are going to add a ton of new virtual land to the world; maybe it is a chance to think about systems, revamping existing content, and telling a story in the world all of us grew up in.
