Some of the questions posted here just make me laugh.
1. Lack of new content and summer weather are leaving raids short handed.
Summer Weather ! Good I'm glad some of these people actually get outside rather than spending their life just 'raiding'.
2. Stagnation of new content is causing some members to jump to "more hardcore" guilds in the hopes of seeing more of Sunwell.
Hold on here - How can stagnation of content cause people to jump ship to SEE MORE of Sunwell - surely this means the raid guild is not big enough or good enough to see more of the content in WOW ? Therefore there is content currently in BC they haven't experienced ! Try harder lol. My guild isn't really geared for raiding and as an older player I accept that there are areas I'll never get to play either because I or my guild isn't large enough / determined enough. However, you won't see me asking for new content just cause I can only achieve a certain level of play - either work harder at WOW or accept it, always enjoy what you can achieve not what others think you should achieve or be envious of what others have done in the game.
3. Lack of new content and lack of community goals is dragging down morale and general interest in the game.
Excellent - go outside, breath in the cool fresh air, have a run, take a bike ride - everything in life gets boring at some time and it's how we deal with our boredom that makes us what we are.
4. PVP is still boring, frenzied, and unimaginative offering no new option for us gamers who have been playing for 3 years +.
Again the more you do things repeditively the more boring they become, lets face it MMO's like WoW are all about the grind in everything, we grind to level, we grind to get PVP gear, we grind instances, raids etc - call it 'farming' or whatever. The bottom line is that it is repeditive in nature but that still doesn't stop some great and unexpected things happening, battles that suddenly turn from losses to wins or vice-versa, instances, raids going horribly wrong or very right.
Bottom line in all of this is that you are a customer, a consumer of Blizzard's product, if you're bored go try something different and simply cancel your account. Sometimes a break refreshes you. I left Everquest to come to Wow to have a break and have never gone back to EQ, I also take month long breaks from WoW just to do something different and when I come back I'm raring to go - However, I am able to do this as I have no need to keep up with the rat race of making sure I have the best equipment etc, I just focus on what I can achieve and if someone thinks my kit is rubbish compared to them, it bothers me not one jot - I'm happy with my lot knowing what I've achieved gives me pleasure - otherwise I won't be playing the game at all.
Concerns over BC growing stale
So we ran across an interesting little discussion over at the O-Boards regarding the upcoming release and the feelings of ennui related to The Burning Crusade expansion. The discussion, found here , is between a "blue" (Blizzard mod) and several of the users who frequent the boards there.
Players have expressed some boredom and concern over the perceived lack of content in TBC now that it has been around awhile. Guilds feeling they are doing the "same thing", lack of progression due to players not logging in and the overall restlessness that accompanies the finaly months before any new expansion release. Blizzard addressed this recently in the following posts, direct from their O-Boards.
Here, the Blizzard Mod Nethaera addresses some of these concerns .
Q u o t e:
1. Lack of new content and summer weather are leaving raids short handed.
2. Stagnation of new content is causing some members to jump to "more hardcore" guilds in the hopes of seeing more of Sunwell.
3. Lack of new content and lack of community goals is dragging down morale and general interest in the game.
4. PVP is still boring, frenzied, and unimaginative offering no new option for us gamers who have been playing for 3 years +.
Guilds go through this during holidays, summer, etc. I understand the frustration that goes with wanting your guild to be more active right along side of you, but it always gets better as we get back into the end of summer.
Q u o t e:
1. Release WoTLK already! (The obvious answer)
We're just not ready yet and we're not going to release it until it's ready. It would be just as detrimental to your guild for them to come back in force for an expansion that wasn't ready for them.
Q u o t e:
2. Give us a definitive release date. This way we atleast know when we will have more content and can stop blindly hoping that our painful forays through rehashed and washed-out encounters will soon be coming to and end.
We can't do this either. All I can say is that we are making very good progress and are getting there, but we're not there just yet.
Q u o t e:
3. Release the WoTLK talents. That way we can explore and play with the talents and by that guaranteeing many players continued interest for months. I might remind you that Blizzard did the same thing pre-BC.
There is a lot of information that has come out of the Worldwide Invitational and can be found on various fansites. I'm sure there might be a few things there that you might find interesting. In the meantime, more information will be coming, again, once we're ready to give it. We much prefer to avoid theorycrafting that isn't based on real gameplay when we can. We would rather work on giving players the opportunity to play the game and experience the new content and then share feedback than before. It just gives us better feedback to work with and gives players a better understanding of new features etc.
Q u o t e:
4. Release a new content patch. Something! Anything!! If WoTLK is going to take more than 6 months from now to be released, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO GIVE US SOMETHING MORE TO DO. I am already strongly considering cancelling (temporarily or permanently) my account. If the next expansion is anything more than 3 months away, and there are no more content patches promised, than I will be cancelling immediately.
We do not have any new content planned prior to Wrath of the Lich King. Our efforts are focused on creating new content as a part of the expansion and to change our focus to add content prior to it's release wouldn't be productive. I'm sorry, but I can't give you an ETA on the release and it's your choice if you wish to cancel to do something else. We'll still be here and Northrend is fast becoming reality. If you choose to come back to experience it, we'd love to see you again.
Q u o t e:
5. Do something original. Blizzard has always been able to "wow" me with their creative design and unique philosophy on gaming. So... here I am, bored as hell, so do something BLIZZARD-ISH! Do something original and fun to tide the months over. I don't have any suggestions at the moment but I am not paid to think of this stuff, you are! So gather some creative heads together and think of something cool for us to do!
Hopefully you enjoyed the Fire Festival recently. We try to do "something original" every chance we get provided it works within the scope and focus of the game. Again, our focus is on Wrath of the Lich King (though we still are doing some bug fixes etc as evidenced in the next patch) and changing course to give people something different from what is available to do now, would only infringe on the work we're doing fo rthe expansion.
Q u o t e:
Please take this thread seriously Blizzard. These are serious arguments with serious suggestions. And I am not alone in this. Not by a long shot.
I've answered what I could for you, and yes, I took your post seriously, but you also need to understand that we are progressing and have definite plans on how to best progress. We're not ready just yet to let you in on it all at this time, but the wait shouldn't be too bad.
Q u o t e:
Thanks in advanced Blizzard and thank you for years of fine gaming experiences.
Nate
You're welcome and we're hoping you're going to find what we've been working on to also add to your gaming enjoyment as well.