It’s been quite the journey from alpha to beta and finally GA release. While playing through all the different stages I was very impressed with how they’ve changed the gameplay, mechanics and effects.
However, now that it’s been released I’m finding myself underwhelmed. Let’s see if I can break down the main complaints that I am having with BofA:
- Phasing – this is being heavily used in this release, but it’s interfering with the fun of playing. It used to be that when questing you would run into lots of other people doing the same quest, and if you wanted you could group up. That’s been drastically reduced. There has been practically few if any other players in all three zones during questing. In beta, there were many more people. I have 12 toons and I’ve noticed this in all the new zones at different levels on different servers. Maybe it’s just me, but I doubt it.
- Gameplay – while I have noticed great improvements, it’s like Blizzard takes 2 steps back for each one forward. The aggro rate in some zones is so ridiculous that it’s laughable. Some of the quest chains are very derivative, like they were placed there just to give the player a reason for being in the area or to connect two other quests, it just felt weak.
- Character trait nerfing – As my main is a mage, it feels like mages have certainly lost the love in the talent pool. Being a fire mage has become very weak compared to other DPS specs. I do however really like the graphical changes they made when the mage is casting and throwing spells.
- Too Similar – Maybe it’s me, but BofA feels like a cross between MoP and BL with some WotLK thrown in for good measure. It’s just not feeling “New”. Or, it could just be me since I’ve been playing this game for so freaking long🤪
So there you have my reasoning. I’ve just gotten my ilvl high enough for heroics and look forward to raiding soon. Look for a follow up shortly!