Do you think Cataclysm is really just a sneaky way to release WoW2 without us noticing?
November 5, 2009 – 4:20 amPosted by: jilan
Do you think Cataclysm is really just a sneaky way to release WoW2 without us noticing? A full talent rework for classes, a rebuild of the world for all levels of play and a reworking of stat allocation to name but a few changes. I get the feeling that Cataclysm will play more like a sequel than an expansion.
One Response to “Do you think Cataclysm is really just a sneaky way to release WoW2 without us noticing?”
That’s a very good question, and one that will likely be argued about a while after Cataclysm is released. My personal opinion is that I don’t think Cataclysm will represent such a dramatic shift in the game mechanics to warrant it being referred to as a “new game,” so to speak. The basic interactions of the major statistics are still going to be there — it’s really only the auxiliary stats that are changing significantly, and we’ve seen those undergo revisions every expansion so far.
I also don’t think that the talents can be considered to be undergoing an entire refit — granted several are getting moved around and will be present via different game mechanics, but overall things like Titan’s Grip are still going to be around for us to use.
To me the principle change within Cataclysm will be the environment. Azeroth will be torn asunder, never returning to the way it was five years ago. In this aspect I do agree with you that it will be like WoW 2, but I think that’s really the only way it can be viewed like that. I should note here that personally, for myself, it will be a big enough change. I have toons of every class between level 60 and 80, and I never really intended to go back and level through the old world again; but then I heard about Cataclysm and I can’t wait to go and roll a goblin priest, if only to see new zones and quests.
I also like Ringo’s answer: “What you call sneaky, I call brilliant. If Sony could go back and do it over, I’m sure they’d prefer to have retained their EQ1 numbers with EQ2, instead of fracturing the player base in two just as WoW was released.”
EQ2 is a great game in my opinion, I’ve actually been playing it as long as WoW (although not anywhere nearly as seriously). In my dealings in the MMO industry I’ve heard lots of people say that EQ1 is actually doing slightly better than EQ2 now, and I’m sure Sony would do just about anything to go back in time and de-fracture their playerbase. The split they had will likely go down as one of the largest blunders in MMO history. And yes, I know what I’m saying will likely cause a lot of people to QQ, but such is life.
By kyrios on Nov 5, 2009