Warcraft Forever is... insanity.
You cannot have a different space with all of the same old things. Warcraft players are set in their ways. From a wracking path through content at a break-neck speed and complaints when there is nothing new to do after a week or two to the slow, plodding celebration of doing everything the hard way and complaining when there is any change to the status quo. What ALL of the players share is a learned expectation of having their way when they scream and shout and threaten to leave.
Blizzard hawked something new, lovely, different with all of the same elements and perhaps new directions because this world is what might have been. A game that respects the need for new experiences and "growth" without a constant upward drive at speeds that are impossible to support. A game that holds the joys and sentimentality of the same old thing with only the slightest change to speed and quality of life accommodations.
Then they SOLD beta keys. No control over the people who arrived and advertised and tested and filmed and shared their product. No control over whether they would get real feedback or just the same old tired selfish whining that has plagued everything else Warcraft related for the past 22 years.
And people are outraged... appalled... the hype is overwhelming the actual product.
And it isn't ready for release. Different qualities of rendering (new vs. old) on in-game models and cocky almost assaultive responses from developers when asked if there's a fix for this jarring difference. (The fuckers are actually using the same "you didn't use the exact right phrase so you're corrected and not answered until you take the time to re-phrase your question using the right word" bullshit that is breaking our entire society.)
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
I WILL play Forever. I'm not sure I'm going to pay for the new race (right NOW "discounted" pricing is $29.95 or something stupid in order to unlock the new/old elves and their starting grounds.) After all of the BS and hype and a sense of compounded deja vu I think I will optimistically play on my own. No parties. No groups. Just on my own and see whether the "world" (as comprised of what is available to me including other players) meets my expectation of a more connected community or not.
I mean, the people I play with are so "retail ruined" that they have no understanding of playing TOGETHER towards a goal. My trading of gear and equipment that I can't wear and would only sell is alien. The idea that I would approach a stranger and give them 5 pieces of chain armor because I know leveling a warrior or paladin is hard as hell dumbfounds the people I usually play with. They discredit me as being stupidly supportive of others instead of looking after myself. The perceived hardship being so great going in that they would watch a warrior or paladin in cloth gear getting beaten to fuck by the environment for that extra 2 silver in gear without the concept of helping the guy out so that he can tank 5 or 10 levels from now and everyone can get gear from the dungeon.
Sigh. Maybe I am stupid. I feel it. I just keep tilting at this windmill because the game really WAS better back then. I just think people were, too. And an MMO can only be as good as the people playing it, right? I'd love to pretend it isn't me. I'm too old and jaded to believe it anymore. It IS me, and I'm not sorry for it. I am not going to apologize for it. I'm not even going to apologize for not wanting to play with other people who aren't respectful and accepting of the way I play. Why should I? They play how they want for their $15 a month and I'll do the same with mine.
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