Decline World of Warcraft past WotLK

[Val the Moofia Boss]

You have to factor in the age of the people still playing MMOs. When Everquest and WoW came out, you had teenagers with no responsibilities and unlimited free time playing those games. They had the time to go at their own leisurely pace. Once they got older, started having families with mortgages and expensive health insurance to pay and children to raise, they had little free time. When you have limited time, you want to maximize it. Consulting an online guide for meta builds and strats is the surest way to maximize progress in the limited time you have. If you play a meta build then the boss dies faster and you can accomplish more in your session, and over the months you progress a lot more. You are more likely to clear the boss in the first place. MMOs were a 2000s trend so there isn't a huge influx of teenagers with unlimited free time playing these games anymore. They're playing Fortnite or Fall Guys.

 

[J1M]

Theorycrafting and preparing to play by looking at guides is a way for some people to extend their enjoyment of the game to hours when they can't be playing.

Something to think and read about during lunch at school/work.

I actually think there is an unrefined genre of game design in theorycrafting. Both as a solo activity similar to deck building or as a coop activity for turn-based games. The gap seems to be substituting the element of social standing that drives a lot of theorycrafting for something easier to implement intentionally.

 

[somerandomdude]

Even in some of the old school MMORPGs like Acheron's Call, other players were mostly competition or obstacles. I remember there was a special weapon you made (Atlan weapons) that had elemental stones you socket into them in order to swap between various element types, and getting the stones was super annoying only because they locked the place to a single instance, and the stone spawned only every 15 minutes, so there was a line of players waiting, literally dozens of players waiting to get their stone after it spawned in. Pretty much during all hours. Anyway, I line jumped and ninja'd all my stones, and was honestly shocked why anyone would wait like 2+hrs patiently in line for their stone. This is why dungeons and quests need to be instanced for the individual or team. It was either this, or you got players like me who would kite 20 or 30+ mobs into your team and remove you from the equation, or I'd just line jump and grab the items if I could. The old school games were super cutthroat, but you always had people who were etiquette queers attempting to go against the game's cutthroat nature. Me, I embraced it. And I got as good as I gave when it came to people training mobs into me, in fact that's how I learned how to do it.

 

[mediocrepoet]

You have to factor in the age of the people still playing MMOs. When Everquest and WoW came out, you had teenagers with no responsibilities and unlimited free time playing those games. They had the time to go at their own leisurely pace. Once they got older, started having families with mortgages and expensive health insurance to pay and children to raise, they had little free time. When you have limited time, you want to maximize it. Consulting an online guide for meta builds and strats is the surest way to maximize progress in the limited time you have. If you play a meta build then the boss dies faster and you can accomplish more in your session, and over the months you progress a lot more. You are more likely to clear the boss in the first place. MMOs were a 2000s trend so there isn't a huge influx of teenagers with unlimited free time playing these games anymore. They're playing Fortnite or Fall Guys.

This is at least a bit revisionist. WoW was such a big thing at the time, that stories of MMO addiction were mainstream and if you played vanilla with other people, there's a good chance you knew one or more people that got into it so hard that they started to face real world issues like spouses leaving / cheating on them with other players, losing jobs, getting kicked out of university, etc. The people with families, mortgages, etc. were always there. The difference is that people are no longer throwing their lives away in the same way.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

If anything, the people playing MMOs now are the ones who truly do have that kind of free time: retired people. Interact with people in some non-WoW MMOs and you'll quickly realize these games are full of old people who want to socialize. It wouldn't surprise me if they make up a disproportionate amount of whales.
Some are also just more dispositioned towards this e.g., Star Trek Online is old guy central.

 

[Myobi]

The potion thing is really mind boggling decision, now have 170 mana potions and a bunch of high end elixirs.

I've been selling most of this shit in the AH or NPCs since it started clogging my bank and bags.

I don't know why the fuck this is a fucking thing...

 

[Reever]

The difference is that people are no longer throwing their lives away in the same way.

Yeah, now they're throwing their credit cards away.

 

[Kem0sabe]

And im done with WotLK, was fun while it lasted but after clearing all the quests in northrend, clearing all of the current raids 10/25 and getting full ilevel 200 epics with a couple of 213 pieces, theres no point to playing beyond raid logging and hoping to marginally improve one gear slot or another.

Ill play plaguetale requiem, persona 5 and a couple of other gamepass games till Dragonflight drops, and maybe return to WotLK to try out Heroic+ dungeons when they release.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

And im done with WotLK, was fun while it lasted but after clearing all the quests in northrend, clearing all of the current raids 10/25 and getting full ilevel 200 epics with a couple of 213 pieces, theres no point to playing beyond raid logging and hoping to marginally improve one gear slot or another.

I am done with all the content of a game so I am done with it. Well yeah.

Unless you are into competitive raiding there really isnt any point when you finished all the quest and raid.

 

[Sykar]

You could do PvP.

 

[Dr1f7]

And im done with WotLK, was fun while it lasted but after clearing all the quests in northrend, clearing all of the current raids 10/25 and getting full ilevel 200 epics with a couple of 213 pieces, theres no point to playing beyond raid logging and hoping to marginally improve one gear slot or another.

I am done with all the content of a game so I am done with it. Well yeah.

Unless you are into competitive raiding there really isnt any point when you finished all the quest and raid.

you're telling me you don't want to grind the same dungeon a billion times for +1 extra stamina cockpiece?
maybe mmos just aren't for you

 

[Reever]

And im done with WotLK, was fun while it lasted but after clearing all the quests in northrend, clearing all of the current raids 10/25 and getting full ilevel 200 epics with a couple of 213 pieces, theres no point to playing beyond raid logging and hoping to marginally improve one gear slot or another.

I am done with all the content of a game so I am done with it. Well yeah.

Unless you are into competitive raiding there really isnt any point when you finished all the quest and raid.

you're telling me you don't want to grind the same dungeon a billion times for +1 extra stamina cockpiece?
maybe mmos just aren't for you

It's a 4 stam 4 str leather belt tyvm