Max level in an expansion is usually an exciting place. It was fun getting both my Druid and Paladin there (most recently the Paladin, Horde side) and the differences in the campaign truly made it worthwhile to enjoy both story lines. Instead of a sigh of relief while now at the level cap it’s a sigh of boredom. There just isn’t a lot of fun feels to be had with where I am at in the game.
- Sure, I’m running my daily emissary quests, all 30 minutes for each character. The quests are the “same old, same old” of Legion.
- I did a few Island expeditions on my Druid. I need 5 “different” islands to move my war campaign unlocks around. They are boring and pretty useless. Forced advancement at it’s worse.
- I haven’t done the Warfront scenario yet, but I did do the “run around Arathi highlands killing un-challenging content and getting 340 / 370 loot randomly (high end gear). Turns out I get to do that once a week now too…
- I have ran all of the 5 mans between my two tanks. They are OK. Historically I love 5 mans, but the rewards seem to be really sparse. And with the drops from the Arathi (above) I’m better off not running 5 mans and just doing Arathi once a week, with whichever side I can.
- Alts are demoralizing. You have to grind out the same rep on each character. Hard enough the first two times. Well, not hard, just not fun enough the first two times. (And I still have a long way to go).
- While the story is great, that’s the first time. The second time won’t be. It never is.
- Professions are a waste this expansion. The mats you need to craft usable gear forces mythics. They are helping that a bit this patch with a “chance” to drop in Heroics, but those aren’t that great (noted above).
- I’m not even revered yet in my main campaign reps, because grinding out 75 per pop via WQs is not a fun way to earn 12000 rep (when the emissary grants 1500 for completion. It just hasn’t been up in several days)
- The game is too formulaic this time. Every new small quest area gives a single quest to “introduce” the area. Then they give 3 quests to do within it. Then a final quest. It’s 5 per, every time.
- This expansion was the “check boxes” expansion in every way, the way it was developed, the way it plays out.
It feels like it has no soul, if that makes sense.
I keep logging in daily, hoping something will stick. I am going to play out my month, hope the story / tasks I am asked to do jumps when I get the rep I need, and just hope something clicks. I am not confident right now. Which is sad considering how high Legion was for me overall.
I’ve read a few other “mehs” – anyone absolutely loving it? Are you raiding? Just sticking to one character? Not sure what I am missing. If I am.
BfA is super cookie cutter, where everything has to fit a specific shape. The only thing that binds them is AP gain, which is a poor carrot. You are chasing the same skills you unlocked at level 112 on that Azerite piece.
Take it another way. If you remove Island Expeditions and Warfronts, there is either the same or less from Legion. Leveling zones are more streamlined than Legion (but much better stories). WQs are almost identical. The Class Hall storylines (13 of them) have been brought down to the Warfront (1 per faction). Dungeons are the same, though arguably better designed with M+ in mind. Raids are the same. Pet battles are the same. Professions are neutered. You gain no new skills or talents from Legion (in fact, you’ve lost most of what Legion gave you). We lost legendaries, artifacts, and tier set bonuses to get Azerite Gear. My monk was thankfully unchanged between expansions, as compared to say Feral or DPS-Shaman. We “have” to grind the Warfront faction to get access to all content (through Islands or WQs), and “have” to grind Champions of Azeroth to get the neck upgraded (only through WQ).
If M+ or Raids are your sole focus, then odds are you’re having a great ol’ time because that content is pretty solid. Pretty much anything else…
Reddit isn’t terribly happy now, and the main forums either. Fine enough, that’s a bit normal I guess. It’s YouTube though…Bellular is the “star” and not exactly positive on what’s come out. T&E are the only ones being positive, and really, it’s only T.
It’s not fair to compare BfA to WoD, that will take time and more content. But that this point even comes up right now has to be making Blizzard sweat. Should, even.
Will be interesting to see how they addressed some issues (Azerite Neck Rep, for one) in 8.1, They did seem to be paying *some* attention. We will see. Not fully optimistic yet but at least there is new story coming, which has been the best part (For me)
Agreed on the storyline, it really is quite well done. Not the story on the war, but believing that these islands serve a larger purpose. I’m finding that the Horde islands are a tad better than Alliance in that regard