I got tired of WOW before The Burning Crusade Came out. There is nothing in the new xpac that would make me want to play wow again but for people that enjoy the game I think it will be a big success.
So very true. What each player enjoys differ. Even among lovers or haters, each love or hate for their own reason.
I do not know who will love which part or hate which other part. I will wait to see for it myself to see how I love or hate it.
One thing I am pretty sure. When I load up cata, if I ever do, it will be all about playing and very few issues about bugs or feature problems. That kind of polishness will be there in cata. I stll recall the first time I log on VG after launch. I go back to the same stone around the corner of the first road out of newbie birthplace. Whoops, I fell through the floor, exactly as I always did, after reporting that issue during beta for over half a year. The only way out? Reboot, delete that alt and build another.
what is so wrong with phasing? I thought it was one of the better parts of the WotLK expansion. WotLK was a disappointment for me overall though, some of it has to do with the xpac itself and some of it has to do with me playing the game since beta. People who enjoy WoW now will enjoy the Cataclysm expansion. Some ex players might return to see the new stuff but I know a lot of ex players that aren't coming back. I am undecided at this point, nothing from the upcoming xpac really excites me.
Well, "phasing" feels artificial and it separates players who normally would be standing upon the same ground right next to each other. It is a contrived and false game mechanic, and therefore a hit upon immersion. Now, to WOW designers, "phasing" is a method to vary the same square footage without expanding a zone, but it is still another form of instancing.
I was disappointed with WOLTK too; I felt it was more an expansion of a storyline than the game world. I prefer dynamic and spontaneous play to forced, scripted, storyline, on-rails gameplay.
I agree that "people who enjoy WOW will enjoy Cataclysm."
How to create a dynamic game? Using the word "dynamic" does not solve problems at all. It just adds one more adjective.
I think it will be a success (each WoW xpac has set records), and certainly breathe new life into the game. I might even give it a spin if it looks interesting enough.
Current: None Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
What do you think, will wow cata be a dissapiontment, or will it make total domination on the mmo market ? Cataclysm is blizzards most expensive expansion pack they ever worked with, and it seems difrent a new then BC and WOTLK. I must admist i cant wait for it, and i think it will make total domination, and claim more of the mmo market. What do you think ?
I think "Cataclysm" will revive WOW long enough for Blizzard to get their new "secret" MMO into place in a couple of years.
The best thing about "Cataclysm" is if they overdo "phasing" and it comes back to bite them, then maybe we will not see too much of "phasing" in their new "secret" MMO. (I mostly see the last 7 years of MMO design as trying a bunch of stuff that shouldn't and didn't work, serving to get it off the table).
That makes perfect sense. Which means Blizz is wise in making use of it client population to help them test out design theories.
In regards to phasing as long as its used wisely it will be fine, I only know of 2 events in Wotlk that has phasing, although I am sure there's more, wrath gate was good fun and the other one where "I" defend the Argent Dawn (i think it was those guys) camp from the invading neurb, blew up the gorge to stop them coming through and finally jumping onto the cannons and laying waste to remaining neurb was oodles of fun.
Yes it means there could be some one standing next to me who has not completed the event and we cannot see each each other but come on, people want to change to world, well we can now, there was always going to an issue but its a good solution, we cannot have a system where by one player completing a quest changes the world for all.
In Cata the major phasing is in the new Worgen and Goblin starting areas, effectivly both the goblins and worgen are set before the cataclysm and as you work through the starter area to level 20 phasing is used to change the NPC's, mobs and even the land/coast line, leading them up to cataclysm.
Phasing is just fake, sort of like instances. The purpose of an MMO is immersion, and phasing kicks it back into just a game. Phasing is gamey.
But, if Blizzard wants to pound nails into the coffin lid of WOW with excess phasing, instances, jarring injections of modern technology into a medieval fantasy world, and further trivialiation of its own gameplay, then so be it.
There is a "WOW killer", you know. It's WOW itself.
Phasing is just fake, sort of like instances. The purpose of an MMO is immersion, and phasing kicks it back into just a game. Phasing is gamey. But, if Blizzard wants to pound nails into the coffin lid of WOW with excess phasing, instances, jarring injections of modern technology into a medieval fantasy world, and further trivialiation of its own gameplay, then so be it. There is a "WOW killer", you know. It's WOW itself.
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
Phasing is just fake, sort of like instances. The purpose of an MMO is immersion, and phasing kicks it back into just a game. Phasing is gamey. But, if Blizzard wants to pound nails into the coffin lid of WOW with excess phasing, instances, jarring injections of modern technology into a medieval fantasy world, and further trivialiation of its own gameplay, then so be it. There is a "WOW killer", you know. It's WOW itself.
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
Because it's fake. It introduces "chapters" in a liner story to gameplay. If you and I are standing next to one another, I should not suddenly disappear because I am further along in a quest chain.
Now, I'm not talking of porting to a special magical cavern that exists in the gameworld; I'm talking about the gameworld changing differently to players, depending upon where they are in some quest line.
Phasing is just fake, sort of like instances. The purpose of an MMO is immersion, and phasing kicks it back into just a game. Phasing is gamey. But, if Blizzard wants to pound nails into the coffin lid of WOW with excess phasing, instances, jarring injections of modern technology into a medieval fantasy world, and further trivialiation of its own gameplay, then so be it. There is a "WOW killer", you know. It's WOW itself.
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
Because it's fake. It introduces "chapters" in a liner story to gameplay. If you and I are standing next to one another, I should not suddenly disappear because I am further along in a quest chain.
Now, I'm not talking of porting to a special magical cavern that exists in the gameworld; I'm talking about the gameworld changing differently to players, depending upon where they are in some quest line.
Phasing is lameness.
If you were standing next to me, you'd probably be a talking corpse, a humanoid with blue skin and two foot long ears, or a goddamn gnome.
IT'S A GAME! Of COURSE it's 'fake'. Have you even experienced phasing in WoW? Or are you just talking out of your ass, because the way Blizzard has pulled it off thus far, is nothing short of brilliant, and if anything, deepens the immersion for the individual experiencing it for a brief time. I mean, if I'm fighting side-by-side with Thrall and Sylvanas to recapture a city, and I'm forced to share the experience with some douchebag flippy elf named 'Immapwnu', it's a buzz-kill. It's a way for Blizzard to have the players experience something important to the story, to feel a little bit epic for awhile, without having to worry about some other clowns ruining it, which would, can and does happen in every other MMO out there.
Blizzard could literally SHIT in the xpac box and sell it to people. And it would be a huge success. It really doesn't matter what kinda game play it adds.
Blizzard could literally SHIT in the xpac box and sell it to people. And it would be a huge success. It really doesn't matter what kinda game play it adds.
And sadly, that shit-in-a-box would be better than practically any of the other MMOs available right now.
I for one know that CATA will be a huge success. If it is anything like the previous x-pacs then it will sell in swarms, create shortages and have people standing in line day one.
Also to the people talking like they know how to handle phasing or think it's a cheap parlor trick, get real. Phasing in WoTLK was nothing short of amazing. I finished every quest in Northrend and being able to have some of my exploits show real effects on my version of the gaming world did more for me than anything cooked up by other MMOs to this point (which is nothing btw).
Is it my fault that joe shmoe is too lazy/bored/busy to finish a quest line to gain access to a new flight path, get faction rewards, or provide a way to get some exclusive crafting recipes through phasing? I say no. For years players have been asking for a way to effect the world they play in or have quest that actually DO something other than appear as always. So we get a taste of one way to do it from Blizzard and some people try to chalk it up as a cheap gimmick.....
These are the same players that think only 1 MMO is needed to satisfy 100% of the MMO population. As long as it's done juuuuust right, everyone can have a good time. Or the same person who thinks that most players wouldn't know a great MMO if it bit them in the arse.
I think it's time for the vocal minority to wake up and realize that if they can't tough out the rough times while the MMO genre experiences growing pains they need to quit now.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Phasing is to WOW what instanced housing was to EQ2. I remember how folks used to dump all this gold into their instanced house that pretty much only they could see. Didn't matter at all to me or the rest of the folks in the gameworld; to us those people were pretty much tossing away their gold on nothing.
If it doesn't exist to other players in the game world at the same time it exists to you, then it might as well be offline.
Look at WOW now. Forget phasing for a moment; they've got "drive thru dungeoning." The new LFG tool ports you into a group which often races through a dungeon in record time (minutes, even). Heck, they race so fast, one time my mage had died and they forgot I was dead. I had to tell the healer to rez me. This kind of gaming is like putting a bunch of ADD kids in a candy store and letting them OD and spaz out on sugar.
Sad that so many players these days were weened on WOW; they may never be able to snap the umbilical cord and free themselves into richer and more immersive MMO gaming.
Little matter; some great games are on the horizon. Might be a year or two though.
Phasing is to WOW what instanced housing was to EQ2. I remember how folks used to dump all this gold into their instanced house that pretty much only they could see. Didn't matter at all to me or the rest of the folks in the gameworld; to us those people were pretty much tossing away their gold on nothing. If it doesn't exist to other players in the game world at the same time it exists to you, then it might as well be offline. Look at WOW now. Forget phasing for a moment; they've got "drive thru dungeoning." The new LFG tool ports you into a group which often races through a dungeon in record time (minutes, even). Heck, they race so fast, one time my mage had died and they forgot I was dead. I had to tell the healer to rez me. This kind of gaming is like putting a bunch of ADD kids in a candy store and letting them OD and spaz out on sugar. Sad that so many players these days were weened on WOW; they may never be able to snap the umbilical cord and free themselves into richer and more immersive MMO gaming. Little matter; some great games are on the horizon. Might be a year or two though.
What a ridiculously biased comparison.
Comparing phasing to an instance only 1 person got to see? Phasing in WoW was for entire zones. And eventually all the people who went through it ended up with walking around in the same area of the game.
The biggest difference is that Blizzard added the dimension of 'Time' to zones as well. Which actually makes more sense story wise instead of the 'snapshot' we usually get to see.
Cataclysm is doing something that I wish more MMOs would do: Change up the early game a bit.
I mean in most MMOs there is always this 'New Evil' that appears and alters the world (always at the end game/new areas) but never seems to touch the basic part of the game. Soon those early zones always end up becoming dead zones (even in WoW) because people are tired of doing them or have done them so much that there is no reason to do them anymore, leaving new players with very limited world grouping options (not talking about dungeon systems here, so i could care less about cross server LFG things).
It also brings back a sense of exploration to the lower levels, because people will want to see whats new and whats not there anymore, as well as new quest lines.
As for phasing, I see nothing wrong with it. It allows players to feel they had an impact on the game world. Only thing I wish they would do is when you are grouped with someone who hasnt finished the line for the whole phasing thing, allow you to swap to thier 'reality' so you can help them out. Was kind of a pain when you were trying to help people find the right NPCs or fight the Bosses when you already finished the quest line and they didnt.
There are 3 types of people in the world. 1.) Those who make things happen 2.) Those who watch things happen 3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
My experience of WotLK was that phasing increased immersion far more than it hurt it.
Sure there were times when I was prevented from interacting with someone because they were in a different phase, and that was annoying and hurt immersion. But those few occasions were completely swamped by the effectiveness of areas like Crusaders' Pinnacle and the Shadow Vault changing radically through phasing as I progressed through the quest chains to beat back the Scourge forces in Icecrown.
That was far more immersive than the unchanging world of 1.0 WoW and TBC.
My experience of WotLK was that phasing increased immersion far more than it hurt it. Sure there were times when I was prevented from interacting with someone because they were in a different phase, and that was annoying and hurt immersion. But those few occasions were completely swamped by the effectiveness of areas like Crusaders' Pinnacle and the Shadow Vault changing radically through phasing as I progressed through the quest chains to beat back the Scourge forces in Icecrown. That was far more immersive than the unchanging world of 1.0 WoW and TBC.
I think the single player RPG players, of which there are many, never really grasped what playing in a "world" meant. They may still see a game as sort of a linear progression (i.e,. Tutorial, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3,..... Final Confrontation).
The richest most immersive MMO experiences have arguably been "worlds", not "stories." UO (Ultima Online) is a fine example. Graphics were pre-Diablo, IMO, however I have never seen an MMO's fans rave as much as about that game. There must have been something so magical, so immersive about it to make UO the legend that it is. EQ, AC, were the same.
Now there my be two major niches for MMO's in the market: "The Story" and "The World", and perhaps some hybrids (i.e., WOW?). I just would like to see dev's create another great "World"-style MMO. Looks like FFXIV is doing just that. I can only hope that Copernicus and Everquest Next are in the same camp.
WOW'ies need not worry; they'll always have WOW. Therefore, I'm speaking for the rest of us hanging out there, waiting for the right MMO that is a "world."
Financially, I am sure "Cataclsym" will be a major success, with overnight waiting lines, the number One spot, and selling a gazillion copies in its first week.
However, on an MMO level, I wonder if instancing, phasing, and futher isolation of players from their server community will be worthwhile.
Mostly, though, "Cataclsym" is an extension of the lifespan of WOW until the new "secret" MMO rolls out in a couple of years.
Financially, I am sure "Cataclsym" will be a major success, with overnight waiting lines, the number One spot, and selling a gazillion copies in its first week. That is an objective measurement of a business project, and seems no one can cast doubt on the success of "cataclysm" However, on an MMO level, I wonder if instancing, phasing, and futher isolation of players from their server community will be worthwhile. I wonder what can be used to measure the success of a game in the "MMO level", because it just means your personal view pretended to sound grander. Mostly, though, "Cataclsym" is an extension of the lifespan of WOW until the new "secret" MMO rolls out in a couple of years. So that is a success?
Come to think of it, there is nothing to "argue" any more.
IMO.. It will be a financial success, but in my eyes it will be failure, and here is why..
Level Cap to 85 - Is this really a great increase? With only 5 levels, does that really give you enough room to justify equipment upgrades. If they hold to the same formula as before, Level 219 epics will keep you happy till you hit 85 when you start doing the new heroics.. I give this feature a "C+"
New aesthetic changes to old world, and limited low and high end quest. I personally see this as nothing but window dressing.. Darkshore gone! Guess what, I don't care, and nor do most others.. In reality, there will be LESS, low level content then before (not including the 2 new phased entry zones)..I give this feature a "B-"
Several new dungeons.. I believe that 5 new 5-man's and 1 or 2 raids is HALF of what other expansions gave us.. Again this is 1/2 of what we received in BC and WoTLK.. Grade "D"
New PvP zones.. Do we really need another BG? We already have problems with populating the ones we have now, and you wish to add another to the mix, which will make queuing more of a pain and timeless feature. The game doesn't have enough PvP rewards or players justifying increasing the PvP zones.. Grade "D+"
Archaeology anything new in skill is a bonus.. I just hope it's worth it and done correctly.. Grade "A"
Rated BG system.. this is a feature that will probably only get used by less then 5% of the player base.. Grade "C-"
Flying mounts in Azeroth .. It's brought to my attention this is not a world-wide feature.. Only a select number of zones will allow flying.. Grade "C"
Paths of the Titans.. I read a lot about what bonuses are here and how you get em.. These are minimal bonuses that most will probably forget to use or not use at all.. Grade "D"
Guild leveling .. A feature that only applies to raiding guilds to justify giving them perks like raid summoning and resurrection.. Grade "D"
New Races.. Do most really care? Our guild doesn't. Most of the guildies that have multiple alts and have no free slots left are NOT going delete an existing toon to make room for a new race.. Would I delete my 80lv Human warrior to make a Worgen Warrior? NOPE, not going to happen.. Grade "C"
New class combination.. See Above Grade "C"
Changes in combat stats and skills.. This could be a HUGE hit or miss.. This I will give a double grade.. Intent "A-", but I believe that actual outcome will be a "C-"
50% of everything that will change will be global changes at NO cost to the player base, to to actually call it an expansion would be fuzzy.. Cataclysm is a combination of expansion and a global patch.. To sell the expansion anything over $15 would be greedy..
Comments
So very true. What each player enjoys differ. Even among lovers or haters, each love or hate for their own reason.
I do not know who will love which part or hate which other part. I will wait to see for it myself to see how I love or hate it.
One thing I am pretty sure. When I load up cata, if I ever do, it will be all about playing and very few issues about bugs or feature problems. That kind of polishness will be there in cata. I stll recall the first time I log on VG after launch. I go back to the same stone around the corner of the first road out of newbie birthplace. Whoops, I fell through the floor, exactly as I always did, after reporting that issue during beta for over half a year. The only way out? Reboot, delete that alt and build another.
Well, "phasing" feels artificial and it separates players who normally would be standing upon the same ground right next to each other. It is a contrived and false game mechanic, and therefore a hit upon immersion. Now, to WOW designers, "phasing" is a method to vary the same square footage without expanding a zone, but it is still another form of instancing.
I was disappointed with WOLTK too; I felt it was more an expansion of a storyline than the game world. I prefer dynamic and spontaneous play to forced, scripted, storyline, on-rails gameplay.
I agree that "people who enjoy WOW will enjoy Cataclysm."
How to create a dynamic game? Using the word "dynamic" does not solve problems at all. It just adds one more adjective.
I think it will be a success (each WoW xpac has set records), and certainly breathe new life into the game. I might even give it a spin if it looks interesting enough.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
I think "Cataclysm" will revive WOW long enough for Blizzard to get their new "secret" MMO into place in a couple of years.
The best thing about "Cataclysm" is if they overdo "phasing" and it comes back to bite them, then maybe we will not see too much of "phasing" in their new "secret" MMO. (I mostly see the last 7 years of MMO design as trying a bunch of stuff that shouldn't and didn't work, serving to get it off the table).
That makes perfect sense. Which means Blizz is wise in making use of it client population to help them test out design theories.
In regards to phasing as long as its used wisely it will be fine, I only know of 2 events in Wotlk that has phasing, although I am sure there's more, wrath gate was good fun and the other one where "I" defend the Argent Dawn (i think it was those guys) camp from the invading neurb, blew up the gorge to stop them coming through and finally jumping onto the cannons and laying waste to remaining neurb was oodles of fun.
Yes it means there could be some one standing next to me who has not completed the event and we cannot see each each other but come on, people want to change to world, well we can now, there was always going to an issue but its a good solution, we cannot have a system where by one player completing a quest changes the world for all.
In Cata the major phasing is in the new Worgen and Goblin starting areas, effectivly both the goblins and worgen are set before the cataclysm and as you work through the starter area to level 20 phasing is used to change the NPC's, mobs and even the land/coast line, leading them up to cataclysm.
There are more phasing events coffee. Not that is bad, I enjoyed it but it seems not everyone does like that kind of gameplay.
Other events included the Death Knight starting zone, Storm Peaks Hodir area, and Icecrown had a bunch of them (including the one you talked about).
CAT is going to make WoW into a Sandbox/TP hybrid.
Check out the New Talent Tree System
Phasing is just fake, sort of like instances. The purpose of an MMO is immersion, and phasing kicks it back into just a game. Phasing is gamey.
But, if Blizzard wants to pound nails into the coffin lid of WOW with excess phasing, instances, jarring injections of modern technology into a medieval fantasy world, and further trivialiation of its own gameplay, then so be it.
There is a "WOW killer", you know. It's WOW itself.
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
Because it's fake. It introduces "chapters" in a liner story to gameplay. If you and I are standing next to one another, I should not suddenly disappear because I am further along in a quest chain.
Now, I'm not talking of porting to a special magical cavern that exists in the gameworld; I'm talking about the gameworld changing differently to players, depending upon where they are in some quest line.
Phasing is lameness.
"world of warcraft cataclysm - succses or failure ??"
you sir, are retarded.
(signature blocked)
WTF!!!!
How does Phasing not be immersive? You are talking out your rear
Because it's fake. It introduces "chapters" in a liner story to gameplay. If you and I are standing next to one another, I should not suddenly disappear because I am further along in a quest chain.
Now, I'm not talking of porting to a special magical cavern that exists in the gameworld; I'm talking about the gameworld changing differently to players, depending upon where they are in some quest line.
Phasing is lameness.
If you were standing next to me, you'd probably be a talking corpse, a humanoid with blue skin and two foot long ears, or a goddamn gnome.
IT'S A GAME! Of COURSE it's 'fake'. Have you even experienced phasing in WoW? Or are you just talking out of your ass, because the way Blizzard has pulled it off thus far, is nothing short of brilliant, and if anything, deepens the immersion for the individual experiencing it for a brief time. I mean, if I'm fighting side-by-side with Thrall and Sylvanas to recapture a city, and I'm forced to share the experience with some douchebag flippy elf named 'Immapwnu', it's a buzz-kill. It's a way for Blizzard to have the players experience something important to the story, to feel a little bit epic for awhile, without having to worry about some other clowns ruining it, which would, can and does happen in every other MMO out there.
Blizzard could literally SHIT in the xpac box and sell it to people. And it would be a huge success. It really doesn't matter what kinda game play it adds.
Ea is like a poo fingered midas ~ShakyMo
And sadly, that shit-in-a-box would be better than practically any of the other MMOs available right now.
No argument here.
To Quote the Massiah Obama "To Big To Fail"
Ea is like a poo fingered midas ~ShakyMo
I for one know that CATA will be a huge success. If it is anything like the previous x-pacs then it will sell in swarms, create shortages and have people standing in line day one.
Also to the people talking like they know how to handle phasing or think it's a cheap parlor trick, get real. Phasing in WoTLK was nothing short of amazing. I finished every quest in Northrend and being able to have some of my exploits show real effects on my version of the gaming world did more for me than anything cooked up by other MMOs to this point (which is nothing btw).
Is it my fault that joe shmoe is too lazy/bored/busy to finish a quest line to gain access to a new flight path, get faction rewards, or provide a way to get some exclusive crafting recipes through phasing? I say no. For years players have been asking for a way to effect the world they play in or have quest that actually DO something other than appear as always. So we get a taste of one way to do it from Blizzard and some people try to chalk it up as a cheap gimmick.....
These are the same players that think only 1 MMO is needed to satisfy 100% of the MMO population. As long as it's done juuuuust right, everyone can have a good time. Or the same person who thinks that most players wouldn't know a great MMO if it bit them in the arse.
I think it's time for the vocal minority to wake up and realize that if they can't tough out the rough times while the MMO genre experiences growing pains they need to quit now.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Phasing is to WOW what instanced housing was to EQ2. I remember how folks used to dump all this gold into their instanced house that pretty much only they could see. Didn't matter at all to me or the rest of the folks in the gameworld; to us those people were pretty much tossing away their gold on nothing.
If it doesn't exist to other players in the game world at the same time it exists to you, then it might as well be offline.
Look at WOW now. Forget phasing for a moment; they've got "drive thru dungeoning." The new LFG tool ports you into a group which often races through a dungeon in record time (minutes, even). Heck, they race so fast, one time my mage had died and they forgot I was dead. I had to tell the healer to rez me. This kind of gaming is like putting a bunch of ADD kids in a candy store and letting them OD and spaz out on sugar.
Sad that so many players these days were weened on WOW; they may never be able to snap the umbilical cord and free themselves into richer and more immersive MMO gaming.
Little matter; some great games are on the horizon. Might be a year or two though.
What a ridiculously biased comparison.
Comparing phasing to an instance only 1 person got to see? Phasing in WoW was for entire zones. And eventually all the people who went through it ended up with walking around in the same area of the game.
The biggest difference is that Blizzard added the dimension of 'Time' to zones as well. Which actually makes more sense story wise instead of the 'snapshot' we usually get to see.
Cataclysm is doing something that I wish more MMOs would do: Change up the early game a bit.
I mean in most MMOs there is always this 'New Evil' that appears and alters the world (always at the end game/new areas) but never seems to touch the basic part of the game. Soon those early zones always end up becoming dead zones (even in WoW) because people are tired of doing them or have done them so much that there is no reason to do them anymore, leaving new players with very limited world grouping options (not talking about dungeon systems here, so i could care less about cross server LFG things).
It also brings back a sense of exploration to the lower levels, because people will want to see whats new and whats not there anymore, as well as new quest lines.
As for phasing, I see nothing wrong with it. It allows players to feel they had an impact on the game world. Only thing I wish they would do is when you are grouped with someone who hasnt finished the line for the whole phasing thing, allow you to swap to thier 'reality' so you can help them out. Was kind of a pain when you were trying to help people find the right NPCs or fight the Bosses when you already finished the quest line and they didnt.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
My experience of WotLK was that phasing increased immersion far more than it hurt it.
Sure there were times when I was prevented from interacting with someone because they were in a different phase, and that was annoying and hurt immersion. But those few occasions were completely swamped by the effectiveness of areas like Crusaders' Pinnacle and the Shadow Vault changing radically through phasing as I progressed through the quest chains to beat back the Scourge forces in Icecrown.
That was far more immersive than the unchanging world of 1.0 WoW and TBC.
I think the single player RPG players, of which there are many, never really grasped what playing in a "world" meant. They may still see a game as sort of a linear progression (i.e,. Tutorial, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3,..... Final Confrontation).
The richest most immersive MMO experiences have arguably been "worlds", not "stories." UO (Ultima Online) is a fine example. Graphics were pre-Diablo, IMO, however I have never seen an MMO's fans rave as much as about that game. There must have been something so magical, so immersive about it to make UO the legend that it is. EQ, AC, were the same.
Now there my be two major niches for MMO's in the market: "The Story" and "The World", and perhaps some hybrids (i.e., WOW?). I just would like to see dev's create another great "World"-style MMO. Looks like FFXIV is doing just that. I can only hope that Copernicus and Everquest Next are in the same camp.
WOW'ies need not worry; they'll always have WOW. Therefore, I'm speaking for the rest of us hanging out there, waiting for the right MMO that is a "world."
I'll probably play it for a couple months then quit when GW2 comes out. WoW is best played casually tbh.
This statement is false.
Financially, I am sure "Cataclsym" will be a major success, with overnight waiting lines, the number One spot, and selling a gazillion copies in its first week.
However, on an MMO level, I wonder if instancing, phasing, and futher isolation of players from their server community will be worthwhile.
Mostly, though, "Cataclsym" is an extension of the lifespan of WOW until the new "secret" MMO rolls out in a couple of years.
Come to think of it, there is nothing to "argue" any more.
IMO.. It will be a financial success, but in my eyes it will be failure, and here is why..
50% of everything that will change will be global changes at NO cost to the player base, to to actually call it an expansion would be fuzzy.. Cataclysm is a combination of expansion and a global patch.. To sell the expansion anything over $15 would be greedy..