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Ulduar can't save World of Warcraft's end-game


  Once you're done, well... just PvP.

Not too long ago, World of Warcraft players celebrated the release of the Ulduar 3.1 patch. As every gaming website on the planet reported, it’s a massive patch that adds in a ridiculous amount of new content. So what’s the problem? Nothing if you’re a die-hard WoW enthusiast. But for the other three of us out there, it’s still the same game with a deceitful sheen that covers the flawed end-game.

Anytime a new instance and equipment is patched in, it’s a day to celebrate right? Well, Ulduar may be the newest raid instance for players seeking more bounty at WoW’s end-game, but they’re just fishing in a radioactive lake; there’s no point. You’ve already done this hundreds of times before. Gather your guild mates, look up the strategies online, kill the bosses until your gear drops, /g quit.

Alright I’m being a little unfair. New content is always a nice thing and it’s great that Blizzard has decided to release such an immense patch to satiate the hunger of the people. Even still, all of this is just more of the same ole thing. Are you really going to spend months going into the same place, defeating the same bosses (or attempting to) for gear that’s just a smidgeon better than what you currently have equipped? I know the answer for a resounding number is yes but when is enough, enough? After you’ve collected the items you need you’re going to be back where you were before the patch came out. Running around aimlessly farming and blogging about how bored you are.

Despite the raid addition, the patch did add in other great things like swimming mounts and the ability to switch specialization on the fly. Those were extremely nice upgrades, but who can argue with mechanics that make your life easier than it already is? It’s a wonder why they don’t just have an auto-pilot feature by now. But it wouldn’t be a Blizzard super patch without changing a certain class. Good thing they decided to revamp every single class, again. Perhaps you can spot a terribly noticeable trend here.

As much as you may not want to admit it, Ulduar does nothing progressive for WoW. It’s a patch that proceeds in extending end-game play, but provides no reasonable incentive to continue forward unless you’re in the hardcore percentile. That being said, understand that this patch is not a mistake. I may despise the end-game in WoW, but you can’t just stand up and change the core of the gameplay. WoW will never change and for that reason patch 3.1 does what it needs to do to keep the zombified population happy.

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, Phoenix Video Game Examiner

Andrew Whipple III grew up in Central New York and has a violent passion for entertainment. Writing since junior high, he shares his opinions in a bold yet informative matter that's hard to find elsewhere. E-mail him: infestedandy@gmail.com

Comments

  • RDB 3 years ago

    Your point of view really is nuanced enough. You just assume everyone's opinion is, at its core, the same as yours. But I dont think you see the point of endgame-content. At all. People dont raid in wow because they are hypnotized or some crap. People appreciate the idea of working together with 20-something other people, in order to achieve a goal. To cooperate and think creatively. If the endgame-content had worked the way you are expressing, there would be no need for more than one instance in the game. At all. But people want more challenges and "puzzles". And by giving more and more varying content, thought always the same at its core, it gives people more chances to work with other people.

  • oogie 3 years ago

    BURNED!

  • JUAN 3 years ago

    RDB , obsession is a bitch isn't it.

    Enjoy chasing carrots for another 5 years of your life in front of computer.

  • RDB 3 years ago

    I don't play World Of Warcraft, although I know many people who do. That doesn't matter, though. I just think you should be more nuanced when you critize something like this. The goal isn't to "win" because there is no victory (in PVE, anyway.) The goal is to cooperate with other people on large scales and to have fun while creating order out of chaos. There isn't any endgame to save, because the endgame content is working perfectly with achieving what it's supposed to achieve.

  • Maxpus 3 years ago

    AI AGRE WITT RDB KOMPLETLI

  • gwb 3 years ago

    I think your comment illustrates perfectly the problem with our todays mmo gaming community which, saddly, consists of a lot of younger gamers who never played a mmo before World of Warcraft.

    If you´re in it for the loot - get out.

    You need, you absolutely have to either enjoy the game for the people you met and learned to love in it OR if you are a pvp maniac (in which case WoW is the wrong game for you).

    Raiding is merely a vehicle for giving your friends and you a shared goal which you will work towards as a team and celebrate as a team when you reach it.

    If you have no friends in the game, only "people who help you get loot" of course you will one day realize that all those epics are worth nothing at all.

    But the good times I had late at night laughing and bitching, philosophing and falling asleep at my desk are priceless.

    Btw Ulduar rocks :)

  • Cheeseknight 3 years ago

    If you don't like WoW's endgame, then you picked the wrong game to play. I could apply your logic to any number of games if I wanted to and it would look just as stupid.

    Your logic:
    "You have done this a hundred times. It's just a cycle. Why continue to do so?"

    Now let's reapply to another game.
    "Why keep playing God of War? It's the same mechanics as you go from dungeon to dungeon, you still have more or less the same moves (Which, like WoW, do upgrade and diversify over time), and it's basically the same thing over and over. Why bother?"

    Or another:
    "Why keep playing Super Mario Brothers after the first castle? It's nothing more than doing the same thing over and over. Beat Bowser once, then get to him the next time, rinse repeat"

    Dispite what you may think, most WoW players do not play it for the "phat lewt." I would guess 85% play for friends in their guilds, who are probably also friends in real life, or to experience the new content. It's not about the loot (Especially for me), it's about the experience. Just like every game.

  • Mr. Whipple 3 years ago

    @RDB Perhaps you should play the game so you understand how the end-game truly works. There's no creative thinking and people don't look forward to working with other people. That was true a along time ago, not now.

    @Cheeseknight you can't apply that statement to every game out there. Games are repetition, it just depends on how they're implemented. God of War is not an MMO and does not suffer from the same issues that WoW does. This is mainly due to the fact that WoW is a much longer game than God of War could ever hope to be.

  • Jeff 3 years ago

    Let me explain something, no let me copy paste something.

    "o?pin?ion
    ? ?/??p?ny?n/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-pin-yuhn] Show IPA
    –noun
    1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
    2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal."

  • WindowLicker 3 years ago

    Well its certainly no Everquest 1 when you could corpse camp people for hours until they hated playing the game. But WoW will do for the time being. There are still lowbie towns to go to and kill the flight path guy and all the kids leveling up. Thats always fun. It's no excitebike.. but I get a chuckle out of it every now and then. What are those purple pixels good for if your not showing them off to the level 12's your 1 shotting.

    This who opinion article was just about as good as my post. Did someone mention carrot up there? mmmm carrots....

  • Button 3 years ago

    Lesse now....what was it I came here to say again?

    Oh that's right.

    You're an idiot.

    Maybe you don't enjoy working with other people, probably because you're an elitist and somewhat retarded, and judging by your article here, I'm under the assumption that you actually lack creative thought as a whole, so I imagine that aspect is again lost on you.

    Cheeseknight had it right when he stated that your "repetition" comment was obviously flawed when applied to other games. You responded it couldn't be applied to other games. If that's the case, why make the comment at all? If all video games, in some form, require some form of "repetition" (and they do), why point it out about WoW? I could put it out about Tetris, Pong, Super Mario Brothers, the Madden franchise, Devil May Cry, Black & White, Everquest, Ragnarok Online, EVE Online, God of War, Halo, etc etc etc through out the ages of gaming in general. If you're going to criticize gaming, and not a specific game, please do not disguise it in an article about said specific game.

    Kthx.

  • Bellwether 3 years ago

    I enjoy how you invalidate dissenting opinions through degradation and application of the "sheeple" tactic.

  • Mr. Whipple 3 years ago

    @Button Let's put aside your condescending attitude for a minute and discuss what you just said. I pointed out the repetition in WoW, nothing else, because it's dreadfully painful. As I stated in a previous comment, repetition is needed in games, it just depends on how it's implemented. That's how you decide whether it's worth your time or simply not.

  • Button 3 years ago

    Dreadfully painful for who? You?

    You examine games based on personal preference. That's an opinion based article with no empirical data to support your claim.

    Besides which, I seriously doubt you have actually ever experienced WoW's endgame, which is in no need of "saving" to begin with.

    And that condescending attitude? That's my neutral setting when I smell bullshit.

  • Jeff 3 years ago

    As much as I'm laughing at all these defensive comments, I again have to point out that the purpose of an opinion is to express personal judgment or view.

    Anyway moving on. While I don't COMPLETELY agree with this article, I think it makes some good and decent points. I didn't get out of this article whether or not it's about working together, but the fact that all the dungeons in end-game are repetitive. I did Naxxramas and quit the game because I didn't feel like doing it every week same thing same time. Where as Ulduar will be the same, if I wanna see what's going on there that's what youtube is for instead of paying 15 a month to waste my time doing the same thing.
    For now I'll just sit here and watch and laugh at the addicts continue to defend their "honor".

  • Non 3 years ago

    You're a moron and you look like you're 12. This article is entirely you're opinion, and my opinion is that you suck and can't down the first boss.

  • dave 3 years ago

    "@RDB Perhaps you should play the game so you understand how the end-game truly works. There's no creative thinking and people don't look forward to working with other people. That was true a along time ago, not now."

    This is untrue. My (real life) friends and I have spent the last two weeks working out good strategies for the bosses in Ulduar, and only the first 4 so far.

    And if you don't look forward to working with people, you are just anti-social. Don't speak for 10.5 million subscribers. I personally love the social aspect of the game, it is what makes raids both fun, and difficult. If I wanted to just kill some really big looking bad guy, I'd go pick up FF7 or Shadows of the Colossus. Then again, Shadows of the Colossus you just kill big bosses over and over again. Really repetitious. Guess that's another game that sucks.

    Really, how can you say that no one looks forward to working together? Have you interviewed a workable sample of the population? I figure about 10k-50k people polled should give you a good idea of OUR opinion. I'm assuming you've already spoken to this many people?

  • Asphyxia 2 years ago

    Everything is a grind. Work? Oh yeah we all have dream jobs that don't suck. Reletionships? perfect, no need to grind rep with the woman by doing things you would rather not. Personally, playing a game where my mind can be free of the daily drudgery is a thing a beauty. And far less expensive than getting oblitered at a bar every weekend.

  • A person 2 years ago

    youre right :)

  • car 2 years ago

    Anyway moving on. While I don't COMPLETELY agree with this article, I think it makes some good and decent points. I didn't get out of this article whether or not it's about working together, but the fact that all the dungeons in end-game are repetitive. I did Naxxramas and quit the game because I didn't feel like doing it every week same thing same time. Where as Ulduar will be the same, if I wanna see what's going on there that's what youtube is for instead of paying 15 a month to waste my time doing the same thing.
    For now I'll just sit here and watch and laugh at the addicts continue to defend their "honor".
    same thing with ICC my wife and i have pali healer and warr tank both over 3100gs same crap over and over again getting realy old..

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