Rants

WARNING: To follow is a long ranting picture heavy post about all the things I found better in Vanilla. A feeling that a week of doing classic demo, levelling character after character from level 15½ to level 19 (that was the demo's limit) has done nothing to diminish. 

- Maps and Quest helpers

The maps in Vanilla was just that. Maps of the worlds you travelled, not pushing, pulling or bothering you with informations on Quests you still had not done.

 This is the Vanilla (or Classic) map. You can see the pointer - that's where I am -  and what I have discovered. Nothing else. No Quest helpers, no Flight points, nothing but a map.

This is how a map looks in BfA: The blue areas are places with unfinished Quests The yellow question marks are Quests not yet picked up. The blue winged shoes are Flight points (places from and to where you can take a flying taxi - A griffon or what the Master has to offer) you can see those markers even in places you have not yet been to.

The mini-map is a small, round map in the upper right hand corner to help you orientate yourself and find nearby resources.

 The mini-map Vanilla version. You see: The position marker. One yellow dot which could mean a completed Quest not yet handed in. Or a flower or a mining node. They all are small golden dots. The sun tells you that it's daytime - why I never really understood, except for the fact that server time is not always the same as your time. But as the sun set in game too making it quite dark, I never really saw the point.  + and - makes the minimap zoom in and out. N is for North obviously - the minimap can be set to rotate always having your nose pointing up. I get dizzy from that, and never used it.

The mini-map modern version.You see: position marker, Quest exclamation marks for Quests not yet taken, if I had any quests done, but not yet handed in, they would show as question marks, Flight master icon, and a fat yellow arrow pointing to the nearest incomplete quest.
The sun is replaced by a date, that opens a calender allowing you to see in game events. That's actually quite smart.

Even when I close the Quest descriptions under the map it still wants to remind me of "Objectives"

The tiny square upper right opens the big map.

- 🍦 -

In the Vanilla version the X in the upper right corner closes the mini-map. Like this:

Wonderful. Now you're free to explore the world at your leisure.

- 🍦 -

But how do I find the Quests? And how do I complete the Quests after I found them?

1. By looking carefully. The Quest givers are clearly marked in the world having a big, golden exclamation mark hanging over their heads (If it's silvery, you're too low level to take the Quest, come back later). Flight masters have a green one, and those with a completed Quest a golden question mark. This does not seem to bother them. Me neither.

2. Completing the Quests are done by reading the Quest description. Look at this:

Gryan Stoutmantle wants to see if I'm up to the job, I was sent here to do. To show my mettle, I have to kill 15 of two types of villains, then return to him. He then proceeds to tell me where to go and some general directions.
If you've done this several times, you do not need all this. Just read Quest objectives and click "Accept"

And if some time passes before doing the Quest (life happens, you know). I open my Quest log by clicking that holy Grail icon - one of those small joy making things, Blizzard has removed in later updates.

And first there's a summary: Gryan Stoutmantle wants me to kill 15 of two types of villains, then return to him. Secondly there's a counter. I've not killed any yes.

 Thirdly. If you're stuck, forgot, or did not pay attention to what Gryan told you then read on: He tells you where to go and some general directions.
Finally the reward 5 silver coins, That's not much, but it will cover your repair bill and other expenses and leave you with at least a few coppers left over. 

You think, you decide, you do.


 -Nodes and Quest Objectives
Not all the Questgivers wants you to slay villains, Some of the Quests require no killing at all. But no matter what objective you have it can be tracked. Which brings us to the Quest tracker. Right there  - under the mini-map. It is essentially doing the same job as the counter in your Quest log, but it's there, handy and visible ... or not so handy.

Once again Vanilla first.

I found one sack of oats. In the middle of the screen a short message: Handful of Oats 1/8 shows for a couple of seconds. In the quest log the counter states the same, and under the mini-map the name of the Quest and progress in finishing it, is shown for the next five minutes. If you don't want it to show at all, you have that option as well.

Tick the box at the arrow, close the Quest log, and the only thing telling you you're on the right track is the yellow "Handful of Oats 1/8" floating around for a few seconds.

-- 🍦--

Now for the modern version:

I removed all the tracking and help, I could possibly find. Except for the golden arrow, everything looks promising.

 But then I opened the Quest log. Notice how map and Quest log has been integrated. I can't see my quest log without opening the map - with objective markers on it, too. And it's big. I almost cannot see the world. And notice, the Quest tracker came back. Well OK, I click "Untrack" and it disappears.

But oops, I found one more transmitter and BANG it's back once again. And not a nice, discreet back, no, it comes with a bling effect saying "Hey there, look at me!" 
I don't like you, Quest tracker.

-- 🎆 --

And did you notice something else? Let's take a closer look - Vanilla and Sack of Oats:

Battle for Azeroth and Transmitter Spare Parts:

The transmitters are sparkling. And no, it's not because they're transmitters. Everything you ought to interact with, sparkles in the modern version.
- Quest objectives as seen above.
- New Quests on in-game boards: 

- Flowers (and mineral nodes/schools of fish/people you have to talk to ... )

Of course, you can disable all tracking, but then you will only have the "New Quest-here!" markers on your mini-map, not the "Here's a flower (mineral node/school of fish/what you might want to gather)".
Or you could  hide the user interface entirely. But if you have to turn it on every time you are attacked and have to fight, you'll get killed more often than not.

Of course with Quest descriptions being very obscure it' sometimes useful.

Mrglmrglmrglrwwwbaba!

This is my poor, frustrated main character. A Human Paladin currently level 113. He has been around since October 2006 - late Vanilla.

 This one is a Quest for improving his herbalism skills. I'm sorry, this is not an original screenshot, but the text in the quest log would read: 

 That Declan Senal is not really highly informative: "Go out and drink!" I think I spent about an hour on and off before giving up and used some external help. He could have told me: "... whenever you happen to be near Rosaline's apiary in Stormsong Valley, pop in and drink the potion ..." I'd have been a wiser and less frustrated Paladin.

 - End game oriented. 
Some thing you want to do or buy requires you to gain reputation with groups of people (called factions). Some of those are mutually exclusive. Like you cannot be cops and robbers at the same time. But most are not.

When I started playing, lots of thing were locked behind reputations - they still are. But there's a difference.

Classic Demo Quest completion.

Look, I gained some reputation with the people of Stormwind - that's the Human Capital city. Almost every time I hand in a Quest, I'll earn reputation with some faction or other.

This kind of reputation used to be required for cheaper training, equipping certain items, riding horses/rams/kodos/ - all the race-specific mounts were only at your disposal once you got exalted (highest rank) with the relevant faction. Lots of other funny things were as well. Fishing poles, recipes, tabards, ...

Now I don't really know what it's good for - maybe cheaper training still?

When I first played, you got this kind of reputation as you levelled. If you were in a hurry, or wanted an exotic item or recipe, you went somewhere special, fought certain enemies, handed in strange objects (insect wings, burning coins, caskets of seaweed ... ) acquired in strange ways while levelling to gain reputation.

Reputation is still needed to acquire certain items, recipes coming naturally to my mind, as I always like to collect all in-game recipes.
Back in October 2010 I handed in an endless number of Silithid Carapace Fragments to gain Exalted status with the Faction Brood of Nozdormu. This gave me a Quest item etc etc ... long questline , that ended up with me having the best In-game recipe ever: Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok chops. That is the green book with the panda portrait in the upper left hand corner of my backpack.

Screenshot October 31st 2010

But nowadays it comes to a sad ending for my poor Paladin ...

Battle for Azeroth screenshot.

 Well, at a first glance this looks quite fine.

Closeup

I have to be level 100 - current level 113 ✔
I have to have learnt Kul Tiran cooking - current skill level 25 ✔
I have to be at least Honoured with the faction Tortollan Seekers - current reputation level still Neutral ➗ - that's why it's red.

And here I stand baffled. Three quarters of the way to Friendly, the lowest possible positive reputation. I have diligently done all the Quest given to me by this guy's friends. There's no way whatsoever I can get any more reputation with this faction until I reach maximum level.
Once there I will be able to do a special category of repeatable Quests called World Quests.
Until then I can't do a thing to further my standing with the Tortollans. I can't kill any enemies. I can't cook up Tortollan delicacies. I can't hand in any ancient scrolls or anything. I'm forced to reach level 120 before I can get any more reputation with the Tortollan Seekers.

Poor Bredil feeling despondent. Inset is the numeric: 2293/3000. And that is only for the first step on the reputation ladder:
Neutral - Friendly - Honored - Revered - Exalted.

Why can't this vendor just tell me: "You have to be level 120 to start looking at all the goodies I have for you, sorry. Return later, mate."

-- 🍦--

 Of course most of the fun nowadays begin at level 120 - maximum level. And it is far too easy getting there. The number of experience points needed to reach a new level has steadily been lowered throughout the game - not necessarily in numbers, but compared to the Quest rewards etc.
You can buy gear, augmenting your gain of experience points by high percentages.
You can ride or even fly from place to place from a very low level. If it is not your first ever character, a mount is available the second you log in.

-- 🍦--

The old version of level 15.

Vanilla screenshot. My main at level 15.

No riding - the mount tab is not there even. Riding came at level 40, and you were lucky to be able to afford both training and a mount. Paladins had to do a Quest to get a mount - a hard one, requiring help from friends in-game. Now you can ride mounts when you hit level 20, and if one of your character has a mount, every single one of your characters has it. The Paladin Quest is no more. Paladins are instantaneously given their mount and the ability to ride it once they hit level 20. Faster riding can be learnt at level 40, and flying at level 60.

-- 🎆 --

I am by the way not trying to prove anything, convince anybody or even start a longer debate on the pros and cons of Vanilla vs. Battle for Azeroth. I'm just venting my frustration and telling why I'm not playing much nowadays, and why I'm looking forward to the summer of '19.

- Professions and Achievements
The Achievement system was launched in October 2008. That was right down my alley. Doing strange things and getting rewarded by a KA-CHING. 

We left my old main, Bredil frustrated over not being able to learn all the cooking recipes at the tender age of 113. First - feel his triumph! This is one of the hardest of the 200 recipes required for the then top Achievement Iron chef.

October 31st 2010 - the recipe is the green book with a panda on it.

There existed 201 or 202 in-game cooking recipes, of which one - Thistle Tea - could only be had by Rogues, one other was of the "now you see it - now you don't-variety". It was added, then removed etc. for every patch. I finally learned it in February next year and then I succeeded in learning 200 recipes not much later.

February 10th 2011

This was all in the Cataclysm expansion.

-- 🐼 --

Not very much later I also got the achievement for learning 240 Recipes This happened in Mists of Pandaria.

August 6th 2012

Since then new recipes have been added to the game with every expansion. There's now 338 in-game recipes (now being Battle for Azeroth).
But no new Achievements have been added. No, you still have to get 240 cooking recipes to get the hardest cooking Achievement. When it was launched it was a bit of an achievement, it is not an achievement any more.

-- 🍦 --

For me professions were more than half the reason I played. But now ...
Alchemy/Herbalism was ruined for me once progress could only be gotten by doing dungeons. I'm still not maxed in Broken Isle Alchemy. And as nobody need my services any more, why bother.

I fished for conjurer Margoss and for the Fisherfriends instead. I got my legendary fishing pole, the Underlight Angler, and improved it almost all the way.
But even Fishing now is ridiculous. You don't need a pole - you don't need skills. You just point your weapon (or even your empty hand) at the nearest body of water or school of fish and pull them up. And no worthwhile Achievements for your trouble.

 -- 🍳 --

 I liked the secondary professions best. In Vanilla cooking buffs could mean life or death for you. Now they might mean something in a raid, not in your everyday life - same as potions, gear, and scrolls.

 And I loved the achievements you could get. But really ... for cooking the best is STILL Ironpaw chef Where's the Draenor Chef, the Broken Chef, and the Battling Chef Achievements?

Cooking in Battle for Azeroth is just a money sink. For most of the recipes you just need two mats which you get by pointing your weapon at the water (aka fishing) and squish the oil of two fish. Yes it doesn't matter which fish, any old fish will do. Then you go and buy mats for 5 G (a heap of flour, berries, honey, coffee etc) Fills up your bags and slims your wallet.
There's nothing to it any longer. It's maybe a tell tale sign of how little value Blizz puts in Cooking, Alchemy etc. that you can not follow your progress in Armory any longer.

 -- 🍳 --

Many of the older recipes have had their ingredients altered. Fewer, easier to come by, and vendor bought items have supplanted the original ones.
Good old Westfall Stew can serve as an example. In Vanilla it was a Quest to get the recipe. First you carried the recipe from a farmer giving up farming for city life, to another with more staying power. Then she asked you to gather ingredients: 3 Stringy Vulture Meat, 3 Goretusk Snouts, 3 Murloc Eyes, and 3 Okra. You were rewarded with a copy of the recipe. The ingredients you needed to make it were almost the same - no Okra though - I always wondered why.

Vanilla ingredients for Westfall Stew

Stringy Vulture Meat (from Fleshrippers), Murloc Eyes (from Murlocs), and Goretusk Snouts (from Goretusks).

In Battle for Azeroth the same recipe looks like this:

Battle for Azeroth ingredients for Westfall Stew

 Chunk of Boar meat (from Boars or Goretusks), Refreshing Spring Water (from almost any Vendor)

Fewer and easier obtainable ingredients needed.

-- 🍦 --

I love exploring, questing, cooking and fishing. I love levelling slowly, experiencing the whole world before I outlevel it. I don't mind making goofy mistakes, like fighting with my fishing pole equipped, or trying to defend myself with the Egg hunting basket instead of my big shield. I don't mind the long corpse runs, I don't mind having to shift+click every single letter to open them. I don't mind waiting for items on CoolDown until next day. I don't mind having to hand in/kill/pick ... an endless number of things. I don't mind having to go somewhere special to craft special things. I don't mind having to cooperate with other players to craft really good items.

I don't mind all of these things as long as I can do them while I level. I do not like it when the real gameplay seems to open up at max level only. 

I play to relax and have fun. I do not play to do it right every time.


 - Scaling Zones
I repeat my own words once again: "The number of experience points needed to reach a new level compared is steadily been lowered throughout the game - not necessarily in numbers, but compared to the Quest rewards etc. You can buy gear, augmenting your gain of experience points by high percentages. You can ride or even fly from place to place from a very low level. If it is not your first ever character, a mount is available the second you log in."
And of course there's no way this would let you do all Quests in one land or area - called Zone in game - before all the Quests gave you a measly reward compared to your needs.This has been amended by a trick called scaling. That is to say that the zones get tougher as you do. Practical in so far as you can do all what is to be done in one place before moving on to the next, yet never out-levelling the contents.
The flip side of this is exactly the same. You just never out-level anything. If that Quest or monster is impossible for you, they will stay so forever. Plus you never get the thrill of peeping into a new, strange land and be almost eaten by the ferocious wolves in there. And later the feeling of mixed cautiousness and triumph when finally you're able to go there and kill those wolves.

My solution would have been to make levelling slower for those of us wanting to savour the journey and making the Heirloom gear give people wanting to hurry to max level all the extra XP they could want - give them 500 % extra if that would please them.

I like the world to be full of dangerous places and monsters. World of Warcraft should not be a tame, safe ride through pretty sights.

Classic demo screenshot - We're in Westfall, the normal monsters are from level 10 to 19, but this one is an extra big baddie - an elite - as can be seen from the silver dragon frame around his mini-portrait. He killed me in one single swoop. His portrait also shows a scull instead of a number, meaning he's 10 or more levels my senior. I looked later, at level 17, and his level was 26.

More modern version of that same dangerous bird from before scaling was implemented. (April 2012). He's lame.  My Ironman Challenger did - as you can see from his health and mana bars - not find him the least challenging at level 13.

And finally a brand new screenshot fron 16th of November. I'm just looking with my level 13 Ironman Challenger, as Ferne, a level 28 Druid is taking down Vultros with four or five swipes of her deathly claws.

World of Warcraft  is a game of surviving, of being aware of the world around you. It is a game of immersion and cunning. But the modern version is just too easy, demanding too little in attention, knowledge of character and class. That is until you reach the level where you join a group or a raid and is flamed down the second you do not do everything in the most efficient and optimal way possible, so that we can run through the contents smoothly and painlessly.
Rare is the group or Guild where we wait for a Healer or Tank for more than n a few seconds. Where we try again and again if we wipe (all on our side dies at once). Never more will I spend all evening in one dungeon, patiently waiting for the Tank to put her baby to bed, the Healer going on multiple bio-breaks, fetching the Mage from somewhere outside as he died, because he is a newbie and never actually entered this dungeon in any other way than the dungeon finder, and now is lost without a clue in the mazelike vaults of Auchindoun.

I miss all this. Pretty views and awesome graphics do not make up for immersion, excitement and gameplay.

Pretty scenery from an awesome cutscene.

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