Any player who is even remotely interested in the state of art of this industry simply will play Cata for some time.
If not, consider yourself a worthy member of mmorpg.com : talk without knowledge.
It's the same as joining a discussion on Operating Systems and not having access to a computer.
The results are quite amusing to see.
Yeah, but "state of the art" can take a step backwards, like "lobotomies" were "state of the art" in medicine for a time, or hydrogen filled zeppelins (Hindenburg, anyone?) were "state of the art" in aerodynamics.
"Phasing" sucks, plain and simple, and I'm calling it like it is. It's a MAJOR step backwards to the time of linear offline, single-player gaming. We "instance" because we think we have to, although there is an ongoing argument that community dungeons are far superior (and they were).
But "phasing" has no need other than a cool thing to do regardless of any consideration of what it means to parcel out the player base and separate them from one another for no really good reason.
Phasing will be heavy in Cata and will be scaled back in future games, I predict, just as the over-instancing trend in games like AOC sort of backfired.
Really Now ?
And who are you ? God ?
Whether you like or dislike changes, that has nothing to do with it.
Blizzard is the industry reference.
And if you don't even know what it is by - ignoring it - (except by following third party sources - with the same unfounded theories), you join a discussion without even the most basic hands on knowledge.
It makes for some very entertaining posts talking about "thin air" that's not even there.
Originally posted by Arnstrong Any player who is even remotely interested in the state of art of this industry simply will play Cata for some time. If not, consider yourself a worthy member of mmorpg.com : talk without knowledge.
It's the same as joining a discussion on Operating Systems and not having access to a computer. The results are quite amusing to see.
said the guy whose number of mmorpgs hes played could probably summed up with one hand, or even more likely one finger.
Any player who is even remotely interested in the state of art of this industry simply will play Cata for some time.
If not, consider yourself a worthy member of mmorpg.com : talk without knowledge.
It's the same as joining a discussion on Operating Systems and not having access to a computer.
The results are quite amusing to see.
said the guy whose number of mmorpgs hes played could probably summed up with one hand, or even more likely one finger.
Probably is - like always - an assumption: like so many I tried to like anything in these last 5 years.
At least ... the published ones (for some reason ... I can't seem to ... play ... the unpublished ones, although it is the main game play of a majority of posters I see).
They simply didn't deliver, not even an alternative.
Are you going to deny this perhaps? If so, be my guest.
Ive been an on and off player since around Jan of 2007 and I honestly have a had time just finding the motivation to log in these days. Im sure Cataclysm will be a pretty good expansion but Im just so tired of caring for WoW its just getting too old and dated for me to enjoy anymore. The fact that 4.0 has made leveling alts a complete joke (when you can run dungeons meant for your level solo with heirloom gear) just shows how easy mode this game has become.
Come back and enjoy the endless grind for stuff? Nah, i played vanilla and a little burning crusade it was fun until you realise that there is no more to endgame in this game then there is in Diablo 2. PVP or Grind for stuff!!! And i might just had bad luck, but arent the wow players just a bit unfriendly to each other? I mean more than other MMORPGS in general?
Come back and enjoy the endless grind for stuff? Nah, i played vanilla and a little burning crusade it was fun until you realise that there is no more to endgame in this game then there is in Diablo 2. PVP or Grind for stuff!!! And i might just had bad luck, but arent the wow players just a bit unfriendly to each other? I mean more than other MMORPGS in general?
What you state is fact for every single MMO out there, be it the community or the endgame grinds.
For many reasons, like Blizz's almost comatose schedule for new content, and they're inability to leave things alone when they work fine, and the way the keep changing how classes work so radically it makes no sense, and because I don't want to play this new content for another 2 years before they get around to releasing more. And welfare Epics. And static content. And the worst community of any MMO i've ever played since I sarted back with UO.
Players that left from 2008 and before wont come back since the same repeating stuff remained in wow till now.Only thing that changed is the areas.
Those that used to to find fun in battlegrounds spending hundrends of hours on them,those who liked serious bg's teamwork,maybe will come back for rated battlegrounds.
I left at the end of January in 2005 after accomplishing every goal I had set for myself. I feel I beat the game. I'm a goal driven individual and when it comes to MMORPG's that have no defined end to it, I have to create goals for myself that say when enough is enough. Several times I have tried coming back to play since then, but it never had the same flair for me. Before you say that I ruined the game by rushing to the end, know that my definition of End Game is different from a lot peoples. I see boredom in monotony and have no time to raid.
I'll never deal with WoW or Blizzard again. I've had two accounts. Last one was bought 12/09 for my son. He played it through the free month from 12/09 to 1/10 and then wanted to play again last month. I go to activate the sub and they have it banned and flagged as using exploits. He's 12, did not share passwords, and had nonone he shared passwords with online or otherwise. He played beside me and did what a 12 year old does.. made character after character trying everything out in the beginner areas.
He played 1 month and they refuse to reinstate an account they allowed to be stolen. So, Blizzard won't be stealing from me again for any reason.
Been playing since vanilla and I've seen all the changes that have been really good or reaaalllllllyy bad but it comes down to customer demand. Players want X, Y, and Z to make their experience easier and "to themselves" more fun. Not everyone can find that same feeling of fun and enjoyment. It's no different than any other emotion. WoW has been plaqued with the same balance issues every other MMO has had. Plenty of people with their own "personal" bias will say otherwise and defend their opinion but it still comes down to personal tastes. What one person says is OP, another says is nerfed beyond use. The easy-mode whiffle bat has definately beat this new release into the dirt though. I'm in Cataclysm betas and I can surely say bringing a toon from 1-85 can be done in a few weeks at "my" pace and I'm an off and on player. So the flood of toons hitting the new lvl cap will be an interesting race. Plus the flood of goblin and worgen no different then the flood of dreneai and blood elves from crusades or death knights from WotLK.
My advice, come back if you wish to to dig into the new content on the revamped mainlands. The devs did a good job and flying into thoughs haunts you would normally taxi over would bring back some memories. The dancing troll village you fly over from leaving Moonglade was a gem and was a plus my book. Always wanted to see what the party was about.
I'll never deal with WoW or Blizzard again. I've had two accounts. Last one was bought 12/09 for my son. He played it through the free month from 12/09 to 1/10 and then wanted to play again last month. I go to activate the sub and they have it banned and flagged as using exploits. He's 12, did not share passwords, and had nonone he shared passwords with online or otherwise. He played beside me and did what a 12 year old does.. made character after character trying everything out in the beginner areas.
He played 1 month and they refuse to reinstate an account they allowed to be stolen. So, Blizzard won't be stealing from me again for any reason.
Call me silly, but I'd concentrate on my own network's security (Which in your case seems....laughable?) and how to prevent any future attacks, rather than blame a developer for it's shortcomings.
Also, I do not believe they refuse to reinstate it. I believe you just haven't even tried.
I'll never deal with WoW or Blizzard again. I've had two accounts. Last one was bought 12/09 for my son. He played it through the free month from 12/09 to 1/10 and then wanted to play again last month. I go to activate the sub and they have it banned and flagged as using exploits. He's 12, did not share passwords, and had nonone he shared passwords with online or otherwise. He played beside me and did what a 12 year old does.. made character after character trying everything out in the beginner areas.
He played 1 month and they refuse to reinstate an account they allowed to be stolen. So, Blizzard won't be stealing from me again for any reason.
Call me silly, but I'd concentrate on my own network's security (Which in your case seems....laughable?) and how to prevent any future attacks, rather than blame a developer for it's shortcomings.
Also, I do not believe they refuse to reinstate it. I believe you just haven't even tried.
You have far to much faith in Blizzard. They are not a flawless company..mistakes happen on both ends. Don't always be so quick to lay the problem on the customer.
As someone thats just gone back to try the game after 18 months away all I can tell you is as I find . At present its so easy its a joke . If you win two battlegrounds on a call to arms weekend then you can level up . The instances are so simple to complete now there is zero challenge in them . Questing is like being superman knowing nothing can touch you . The only real enjoyment I;m getting is from the pvp which isn't quite as dumbed down as the rest of the game . Now the rumour is that once Cataclysm takes effect then the game will become significantly harder and it better be because if it stays at these diffculty levels they will lose huge numbers of players .
My advice to anyone going back is don't buy Cataclysm , first go back you can level through the new content for 1-60 with one of the old races and see what its like because you can experiance some of what cataclysm has to offer without buying it.. If Blizzard have'nt reversed the dumbing down and you find it so easy that its boring then you've not wasted any money . Theres a joke going around on my server . Whats the difference between World of Warcraft and Hello Kitty Island ? Hello kitty Island is more hardcore .
The author on this post hit a good many nails on the head, except for one IMO:
What else is there?
I am thoroughly burnt out on WOW. I played fairly early Vanilla through to late BC. Raided hardcore in BC and burnt out and barely came back to try Wrath a few months after it came out. I managed to find some novelty in leveling through Northrend and following through the storyline left behind in WC3. When I got back to raiding I realised that nothing had really changed, it was still the same thing, same graphics, and the gear dependency had gone up 10 fold.
Pvp IMO had been completely spoiled by resilience gear, and turned into a complete gear grind. I tried the game again more recently (after the launch of Icewing.) and found that people have essentially no sense of what skill is now. The word skill has been replaced by another term: "Gear Score". I played into that for about a month before it sickened me enough to where I just wanted to do anything else, including give up mmo's altogether for a while.
I can't speak for everyone, but I know i'm not the only one who felt some 3-4 years ago, that some of this stuff we've been doing in quests should have taken effect. For instance.. maybe gnomergan shouldn't be infested anymore.. or maybe the defias should be dead. This overhaul is a great idea, but in my book it's way too late. They waited until such time as they basically needed a new game entirely, and then did this. Sure loads of people will buy into it, maybe even me- but eventually everyone will realise, it's still the same product, with the same graphics and same philosophy guiding it.
Wow really needs a philosophy overhaul more than anything else. The gear situation in that game is completely retarded. Stats are utterly meaninless when you have swords that give over 1k dps and proc 400 crit or whatever the case may be. (Half the people reading this probably thinking.. pff. My sword has 2k dps.) They were on the right track when they cut down on the number of skill points. Now they need to take that and apply it across the board, imo. Why do people really need 50k hp or 100k? Why not scale it back to 1,000?
Playing wow makes me think of living an overpopulated third world country where the currency has completely collapsed and you have to pay 50,000-whateverdollars for a loaf of bread. Meanwhile the rest of the world looks on and thinks.. Hm. Those people should move somewhere else, really.
But the main issue is. What else is there? With the utterly epic failure of FFXIV, there really is nothing else new. I'm done with AoC and WAR. They were cute for a while, but they've worn on me. The mere mentino of Aion makes me throw up in my mouth alittle. They didn't have the staying power, or the manpower/moneypower to grow them into what they needed to be. Also, Aion sucked balls. I don't care what anyone has to say on that matter.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for GW2 and Rift, but who knows if I (or any likeminded people) can hold out that long with everyone raving in our ears about Cataclysm.
Also random plug here, but: Way to go GW2 designers for working on an awesome looking free2play mmo! Bout time!
Blizz has the money to make WoW have anything it needs any feature or mechanic and they don't fix the game or give players even a vanity tab which games like EQ2 and LotRO have, so they've lost me as a customer.
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE Waiting on: Lost Ark Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
I will not come back for Cata. I had fun playing WoW (especially at launch; lvl`s 1-60), but I`ll never go back. The fun started wearing off with Burning Crusade, and the fun stopped during WotLK. I liked many aspects of WoW and I think the game is well polished, for what it is. I hope the people that return to WoW enjoy Cata.
I think you should at least try it out, from what have read there is going to be many changes in the world. For example when that dragon destroys that DAM it destroys the tram running from Iron Forge and Stormwind cutting off both cities. Players will be advised to log out in safe cities or neutral cities like Shattrath and Dalaran. Safe cities would be Thunder Bluff and Origimmar for Horde and Stormwind and Iron Forge for Alliance. In the beta forums, there is possiblity of seeing a disruption of the flight paths world wide where players have to reconnect or get a flying mount.
I'll never deal with WoW or Blizzard again. I've had two accounts. Last one was bought 12/09 for my son. He played it through the free month from 12/09 to 1/10 and then wanted to play again last month. I go to activate the sub and they have it banned and flagged as using exploits. He's 12, did not share passwords, and had nonone he shared passwords with online or otherwise. He played beside me and did what a 12 year old does.. made character after character trying everything out in the beginner areas.
He played 1 month and they refuse to reinstate an account they allowed to be stolen. So, Blizzard won't be stealing from me again for any reason.
Call me silly, but I'd concentrate on my own network's security (Which in your case seems....laughable?) and how to prevent any future attacks, rather than blame a developer for it's shortcomings.
Also, I do not believe they refuse to reinstate it. I believe you just haven't even tried.
Fortunately I do not require your belief. If I still cared I'd call you more than silly but I'm simply stating my view of Blizzard as a company.
Multiple emails were sent to billing and admin describing exactly what I said and they did.. nothing. Wait, I take that back. They constantly referred me to the Terms of Use and I constantly referred them to the point that it was not the OWNER of the account in control of the account other than the 30 day free month period. I'm simply stating it's extremely convenient for them to basically steal an account, provide no proof of any offenses or actions taken, and refuse to do anything for the owner.. or I guess I should say former owner.
Even were my security at fault do they honestly believe that thieves would fight with them to get a single account restored as I have? No they have lost a customer, multiple accounts, and multiple expansion purchases. They have been dicks about it and you are following their example.
I like to level alts because I like the pace of the game. However, I don't like the end game which is all about gear grind. The problem I have is Blizzard made the leveling process so mind numbing easy over time after the release of BC. If Cata brings back the challenge that was there on release of Wow I will buy the expansion.
Since they switched over to Bnet for accounts I get jacked a lot. Its always when my account is inactive. First time I got jacked my account was inactive for over two years. Anyway getting you account back in super simple you just have to... follow the instructions in the regain control of your account email. If the forms aren't doing it, forms not email, pick up the phone and call their 1-800. The guy will verifiy who you are, open a investigation and give you back you account. I've done that 4? times since the change.
The best part... if you call while you are jacked, you get the rest of the jackers month paid Mr Jacker paid for 4 months on my account. Just too bad Bliz cancels the billing, that would just be awesome if the jacker kept getting dinged for an account they can't access anymore
Left shortly after BC, definitely back next year, though not at launch. Best part, the old world revamp is free so still won't need WotLK or Cata to have a look see
Comments
Any player who is even remotely interested in the state of art of this industry simply will play Cata for some time.
If not, consider yourself a worthy member of mmorpg.com : talk without knowledge.
It's the same as joining a discussion on Operating Systems and not having access to a computer.
The results are quite amusing to see.
We are coming back to try Cata--mainly as a way to mark time until GW2 comes out
Really Now ?
And who are you ? God ?
Whether you like or dislike changes, that has nothing to do with it.
Blizzard is the industry reference.
And if you don't even know what it is by - ignoring it - (except by following third party sources - with the same unfounded theories), you join a discussion without even the most basic hands on knowledge.
It makes for some very entertaining posts talking about "thin air" that's not even there.
Probably is - like always - an assumption: like so many I tried to like anything in these last 5 years.
At least ... the published ones (for some reason ... I can't seem to ... play ... the unpublished ones, although it is the main game play of a majority of posters I see).
They simply didn't deliver, not even an alternative.
Are you going to deny this perhaps? If so, be my guest.
Ive been an on and off player since around Jan of 2007 and I honestly have a had time just finding the motivation to log in these days. Im sure Cataclysm will be a pretty good expansion but Im just so tired of caring for WoW its just getting too old and dated for me to enjoy anymore. The fact that 4.0 has made leveling alts a complete joke (when you can run dungeons meant for your level solo with heirloom gear) just shows how easy mode this game has become.
HEAVEN OR HELL
Duel 1
Lets ROCK!
Cant deny your taste true but yet in this thread you dont seems to do anything else.
People grow tired of WoW accept it.
Like i said before if you are tired of WoW for me even Pacman is an good alternative
Ordered it and waiting to re-sub. Can't wait.
Come back and enjoy the endless grind for stuff? Nah, i played vanilla and a little burning crusade it was fun until you realise that there is no more to endgame in this game then there is in Diablo 2. PVP or Grind for stuff!!! And i might just had bad luck, but arent the wow players just a bit unfriendly to each other? I mean more than other MMORPGS in general?
What you state is fact for every single MMO out there, be it the community or the endgame grinds.
I understand it though.
Simlpe answer to the OP's question. No.
For many reasons, like Blizz's almost comatose schedule for new content, and they're inability to leave things alone when they work fine, and the way the keep changing how classes work so radically it makes no sense, and because I don't want to play this new content for another 2 years before they get around to releasing more. And welfare Epics. And static content. And the worst community of any MMO i've ever played since I sarted back with UO.
So, no.
Please come back i need your stuff again ?
MAGA
Players that left from 2008 and before wont come back since the same repeating stuff remained in wow till now.Only thing that changed is the areas.
Those that used to to find fun in battlegrounds spending hundrends of hours on them,those who liked serious bg's teamwork,maybe will come back for rated battlegrounds.
I left at the end of January in 2005 after accomplishing every goal I had set for myself. I feel I beat the game. I'm a goal driven individual and when it comes to MMORPG's that have no defined end to it, I have to create goals for myself that say when enough is enough. Several times I have tried coming back to play since then, but it never had the same flair for me. Before you say that I ruined the game by rushing to the end, know that my definition of End Game is different from a lot peoples. I see boredom in monotony and have no time to raid.
No, I will not be coming back for Catacombs.
I'll never deal with WoW or Blizzard again. I've had two accounts. Last one was bought 12/09 for my son. He played it through the free month from 12/09 to 1/10 and then wanted to play again last month. I go to activate the sub and they have it banned and flagged as using exploits. He's 12, did not share passwords, and had nonone he shared passwords with online or otherwise. He played beside me and did what a 12 year old does.. made character after character trying everything out in the beginner areas.
He played 1 month and they refuse to reinstate an account they allowed to be stolen. So, Blizzard won't be stealing from me again for any reason.
Been playing since vanilla and I've seen all the changes that have been really good or reaaalllllllyy bad but it comes down to customer demand. Players want X, Y, and Z to make their experience easier and "to themselves" more fun. Not everyone can find that same feeling of fun and enjoyment. It's no different than any other emotion. WoW has been plaqued with the same balance issues every other MMO has had. Plenty of people with their own "personal" bias will say otherwise and defend their opinion but it still comes down to personal tastes. What one person says is OP, another says is nerfed beyond use. The easy-mode whiffle bat has definately beat this new release into the dirt though. I'm in Cataclysm betas and I can surely say bringing a toon from 1-85 can be done in a few weeks at "my" pace and I'm an off and on player. So the flood of toons hitting the new lvl cap will be an interesting race. Plus the flood of goblin and worgen no different then the flood of dreneai and blood elves from crusades or death knights from WotLK.
My advice, come back if you wish to to dig into the new content on the revamped mainlands. The devs did a good job and flying into thoughs haunts you would normally taxi over would bring back some memories. The dancing troll village you fly over from leaving Moonglade was a gem and was a plus my book. Always wanted to see what the party was about.
Call me silly, but I'd concentrate on my own network's security (Which in your case seems....laughable?) and how to prevent any future attacks, rather than blame a developer for it's shortcomings.
Also, I do not believe they refuse to reinstate it. I believe you just haven't even tried.
You have far to much faith in Blizzard. They are not a flawless company..mistakes happen on both ends. Don't always be so quick to lay the problem on the customer.
As someone thats just gone back to try the game after 18 months away all I can tell you is as I find . At present its so easy its a joke . If you win two battlegrounds on a call to arms weekend then you can level up . The instances are so simple to complete now there is zero challenge in them . Questing is like being superman knowing nothing can touch you . The only real enjoyment I;m getting is from the pvp which isn't quite as dumbed down as the rest of the game . Now the rumour is that once Cataclysm takes effect then the game will become significantly harder and it better be because if it stays at these diffculty levels they will lose huge numbers of players .
My advice to anyone going back is don't buy Cataclysm , first go back you can level through the new content for 1-60 with one of the old races and see what its like because you can experiance some of what cataclysm has to offer without buying it.. If Blizzard have'nt reversed the dumbing down and you find it so easy that its boring then you've not wasted any money . Theres a joke going around on my server . Whats the difference between World of Warcraft and Hello Kitty Island ? Hello kitty Island is more hardcore .
The author on this post hit a good many nails on the head, except for one IMO:
What else is there?
I am thoroughly burnt out on WOW. I played fairly early Vanilla through to late BC. Raided hardcore in BC and burnt out and barely came back to try Wrath a few months after it came out. I managed to find some novelty in leveling through Northrend and following through the storyline left behind in WC3. When I got back to raiding I realised that nothing had really changed, it was still the same thing, same graphics, and the gear dependency had gone up 10 fold.
Pvp IMO had been completely spoiled by resilience gear, and turned into a complete gear grind. I tried the game again more recently (after the launch of Icewing.) and found that people have essentially no sense of what skill is now. The word skill has been replaced by another term: "Gear Score". I played into that for about a month before it sickened me enough to where I just wanted to do anything else, including give up mmo's altogether for a while.
I can't speak for everyone, but I know i'm not the only one who felt some 3-4 years ago, that some of this stuff we've been doing in quests should have taken effect. For instance.. maybe gnomergan shouldn't be infested anymore.. or maybe the defias should be dead. This overhaul is a great idea, but in my book it's way too late. They waited until such time as they basically needed a new game entirely, and then did this. Sure loads of people will buy into it, maybe even me- but eventually everyone will realise, it's still the same product, with the same graphics and same philosophy guiding it.
Wow really needs a philosophy overhaul more than anything else. The gear situation in that game is completely retarded. Stats are utterly meaninless when you have swords that give over 1k dps and proc 400 crit or whatever the case may be. (Half the people reading this probably thinking.. pff. My sword has 2k dps.) They were on the right track when they cut down on the number of skill points. Now they need to take that and apply it across the board, imo. Why do people really need 50k hp or 100k? Why not scale it back to 1,000?
Playing wow makes me think of living an overpopulated third world country where the currency has completely collapsed and you have to pay 50,000-whateverdollars for a loaf of bread. Meanwhile the rest of the world looks on and thinks.. Hm. Those people should move somewhere else, really.
But the main issue is. What else is there? With the utterly epic failure of FFXIV, there really is nothing else new. I'm done with AoC and WAR. They were cute for a while, but they've worn on me. The mere mentino of Aion makes me throw up in my mouth alittle. They didn't have the staying power, or the manpower/moneypower to grow them into what they needed to be. Also, Aion sucked balls. I don't care what anyone has to say on that matter.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for GW2 and Rift, but who knows if I (or any likeminded people) can hold out that long with everyone raving in our ears about Cataclysm.
Also random plug here, but: Way to go GW2 designers for working on an awesome looking free2play mmo! Bout time!
no i would not come back....
Blizz has the money to make WoW have anything it needs any feature or mechanic and they don't fix the game or give players even a vanity tab which games like EQ2 and LotRO have, so they've lost me as a customer.
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD
Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE
Waiting on: Lost Ark
Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
I think you should at least try it out, from what have read there is going to be many changes in the world. For example when that dragon destroys that DAM it destroys the tram running from Iron Forge and Stormwind cutting off both cities. Players will be advised to log out in safe cities or neutral cities like Shattrath and Dalaran. Safe cities would be Thunder Bluff and Origimmar for Horde and Stormwind and Iron Forge for Alliance. In the beta forums, there is possiblity of seeing a disruption of the flight paths world wide where players have to reconnect or get a flying mount.
Fortunately I do not require your belief. If I still cared I'd call you more than silly but I'm simply stating my view of Blizzard as a company.
Multiple emails were sent to billing and admin describing exactly what I said and they did.. nothing. Wait, I take that back. They constantly referred me to the Terms of Use and I constantly referred them to the point that it was not the OWNER of the account in control of the account other than the 30 day free month period. I'm simply stating it's extremely convenient for them to basically steal an account, provide no proof of any offenses or actions taken, and refuse to do anything for the owner.. or I guess I should say former owner.
Even were my security at fault do they honestly believe that thieves would fight with them to get a single account restored as I have? No they have lost a customer, multiple accounts, and multiple expansion purchases. They have been dicks about it and you are following their example.
I like to level alts because I like the pace of the game. However, I don't like the end game which is all about gear grind. The problem I have is Blizzard made the leveling process so mind numbing easy over time after the release of BC. If Cata brings back the challenge that was there on release of Wow I will buy the expansion.
Since they switched over to Bnet for accounts I get jacked a lot. Its always when my account is inactive. First time I got jacked my account was inactive for over two years. Anyway getting you account back in super simple you just have to... follow the instructions in the regain control of your account email. If the forms aren't doing it, forms not email, pick up the phone and call their 1-800. The guy will verifiy who you are, open a investigation and give you back you account. I've done that 4? times since the change.
The best part... if you call while you are jacked, you get the rest of the jackers month paid
Mr Jacker paid for 4 months on my account. Just too bad Bliz cancels the billing, that would just be awesome if the jacker kept getting dinged for an account they can't access anymore 
Left shortly after BC, definitely back next year, though not at launch. Best part, the old world revamp is free so still won't need WotLK or Cata to have a look see