Is Burning Crusade just more of the same?

[Pinion]

Is the Burning Crusade just another place to level, and new bosses to kill? A fresh coat of paint on an old wagon?

I ask out of true curiosity - I am only level 63 currently in the expansion but I have spent a lot of time reading about the high end content. My hopes were quickly dashed when I saw the large amount of keying and such to progress in the end game. I was hoping for a new end game that revitalizes the fun, new objectives to strive for..

But is the end game simply a key fest to get better gear? What do you do at 70 when you complete your quest log besides run heroics and raids every day? PvP a little in between in 1 new battleground that adds NOTHING new from the sounds of things. Capture the flag AND bases now, woohoo! How very exciting..?

I am possibly just jaded and a bit disinterested after playing WoW for so long (since release basically, with a few breaks in between.) I just returned from a 2-3 month hiatus and while I am having fun it is just not what I was hoping for from an expansion pack so long in development. Refined, yes. Loads of new content, yes. Innovative? Not really.

Again, I am up front and honest about the fact that I have not personally hit 70 to experience that content. But I can say with experience that I had a great handle on what the end game of WoW pre-TBC was before ever stepping in a raid zone.. and I was right. I hit the raids in pre-TBC much later than everyone else, mostly due to preferring a smaller guild, and the content was as treadmill and drab as ever. So, tell me.. Is Burning Crusade a fresh coat of paint or is there more to it?

[Lenaldo]

I mean... of course it is. Have you ever played an MMORPG?


Of course blizzard took it to new levels by making the lvl 70 raid gear = lvl 70 5-man gear; just a change in color(epix omg!).

Honestly. The itemization in this expansion is fucked. Someone needs to get fired.

[Composter]

In short, yes, TBC IS the same game as WoW. Why did you think it would change? It's an expansion on an existing game, not a new game itself.


The only thing that may hold some interest for you if you're truly burnt out on the raid/gear grind would be the Arena system.

[Draegan]

I played up to level 69.5 before I stopped for Vanguard. There areas are amazing and the content is great. However it is still more of the same packaged differently. It's basically the same mechanics (class wise) but in a different world. The only thing different are the item stats and the tricks up the raid boss's sleeves.

What really made me laugh was when I was doing the Blood Furnace for the first time a day or two after release and we got to the final boss, toss how it was set up and I told my group that It was just like the emberseer in UBRS. And it was really that predictable.

It's a beautiful game. Well done. Alot of content to tackle but when it comes down to it, it's the same game and nothings new, just different goals to tackle. I quit to play VG for a different playing experience.

[Samflam]

It is.
Recently my playtime has been cut quite a bit, so I'm behind the curve (WRT my guild) and so right now I am 67... trying to catch up and hit 70..
But by the time I am 70, my guild will be done with their Karazhan keys (most are) and will be done with normal 70 instances... about the time I need to hit them. They will be working on heroics, I will be working on Kara and my D3 set.
There's one difference, with regards to 5 mans - PUGging them is an absolute fucking nightmare.
It's not as severe as AA's and flagging, but there is definitely a linear path and unless you can find a solid crew to do them with, you're pretty much SOL.
.... and so ends my personal, non-relevant SOB story.

To be honest I wish I could forego all this soloing, questing, levelling bullshit and be 70 and raid ready. This entire process is becoming quite a sore spot for me.
I'm a holy priest, too, so that probably has alot to do with it.

[Kreugen]

When you turn level 70 the angels sing and the gates of heaven are thrown wide, and you walk streets paved with gold under a shower of pink rose petals.

Otherwise its pretty much the same old shit, sure.

[Samflam]

Originally Posted by Kreugen

When you turn level 70 the angels sing and the gates of heaven are thrown wide, and you walk streets paved with gold under a shower of pink rose petals.

Otherwise its pretty much the same old shit, sure.

I think the point I was trying to make was that there definitely is a POP feel to this expansion, and even though it's not as severe, it's still an absolute drag jumping through the hoops without a static group.

[Aphextwin]

I bought it a day after release, played for two hours and have not played since, currently having way too much fun in Vanguard.

[needraRZ]

I love the flagging and progression. As a few posters elsewhere have said, it encourages character progression and character attachment, something really lacking in WoW to date.

[spentmotiff]

Originally Posted by Aphextwin

I bought it a day after release, played for two hours and have not played since, currently having way too much fun in Vanguard.

Can we please not go down the road of Vanguard vs. WoW in this thread? There are many, many, many threads on this board now devoted to Vanguard where this would be more sensible, and appreciated.

As to the question, while I think TBC is more of the same for WoW, I think they've refined it to where it is far superior then vanilla WoW. From them fixing the item values of green > blue > purple so that they flow more naturally (as opposed to vanilla WoW where MC loot was FAR superior to anything pre-DM, ZG, AQ20) to the 5 mans that are more interesting then just tank-and-spank, I am really enjoying the expansion.

And 5v5 World Arenas? Yeah, that's cool, too.

Really though, if you didn't like WoW, TBC isn't going to make you a convert. If you are already playing the game though, it does make it a fresh minty experience all over again.

[Clericnon2boxed]

TBC made me wish I could use my flying mount in the old world.

"more of the same" is a quite useless statement, the game is what it is and it evolved a bit, no groundbreaking changes required

[Cad]

I'll echo the above and say if you quit WoW for various reasons, you'll probably quit TBC for the same reasons. Unless it was content, in which case there's plenty to do right now. If you just want stuff to do, log on and..... do the stuff thats there. Keying for kz and other places is no more complex than running 5-mans once each and completing each raid. There's no grinding required unless you decide you want rep, and every rep besides scryer/aldor can be maxed by running the instances. Far, far cry from CC rep, for example.

[Twobit Whore]

It's more of the same, but better. The faction raising bit is there and it is a key component in progressing, but it isn't retarded like Argent Dawn used to be or something. Everyone gets rep for killing stuff and you don't fight over/get shafted on insignia/token drops etc.

Everyone else already said pretty much everything. Lot of cool bosses, instances are winged, so you can do pretty much any one of them in under 2 hours, some as quick as an hour.

Soime instances do need keys, but if you have a couple of friends it doesn't take that much to get them. Me and 2 friends did our Shattered Halls key in about 45 minutes from start to finish, and most of that was flying/banking for the tradeskill components.

Kharazan key is obviously a bit more involved, seeing how it is a raid key, but if you do all the instances, you should get it anyway.

[Bolero]

How can it not be more of the same? What expansion pack for an MMO wasn't more of the same?

[Soygen]

MMOs are more of the same period. There is no "beating" the game, so if you find the process of keying, farming and killing to be no fun, then you're probably just bored of the genre in general. I found that after years of neglecting single player games for EQ, WoW, etc that I really appreciate starting and finishing a game in a few weeks these days.