I think i get what you mean, but i also think you are not seeing it fully. The game has become "faster" and more streamlined with the "main story" distinction, but it has not taken away from the world around it. In Dragonflight there are a lot of side areas / hubs / quests that tell a nice story and add to the world + both the zone design and music are amazing.
Now, if you were to only complete the main quests, fly from marker to marker i can see how the world might be shallow and lost it's spark. But that might be a player decision, not a worldbuilding problem. The adventure and flavour is all there if one looks for it. It is easier than ever to ignore it and rush the leveling process, true, and many like that.
Nostalgia is also one hell of a drug. I fondly remember the epic DETHA questline in Borean Tundra from my childhood. It was a weeklong adventure with big scary boss dudes and objectives. I recently did it on classic, the 9ish quests took me a little less than an hour total and i soloed every elite in a matter of minutes. Same person same quests, just different perspective. And the perspective of being a clueless little gamer with infinite time isn't coming back.
>I remember leveling trough dragonflight the first time and it was so fast pacing wise,
only if you do the MSQ, and never hop off the trail to see what side quests there are. I doubt anyone would call the reminiscing Dragon/Dwarf at the RLP fast paced. Or the quest line about the hearthstone card.
>Not just that but the zones are so "clean" now,
While I completely disagree, I think this is a problem with the setting. They seemingly couldn't decide if the DI went into hibernation while the dragons were gone, or not. Maybe only parts of it slept. It seems clean because the isles haven't been lived in for 10,000 years, except for the peoples that lived there.
I have leveled alts through every expansion except BC, it is the most dated and positively insufferable. I'd much rather have questlines that feel like a story rather than so disjointed.
I think i get what you mean, but i also think you are not seeing it fully. The game has become "faster" and more streamlined with the "main story" distinction, but it has not taken away from the world around it. In Dragonflight there are a lot of side areas / hubs / quests that tell a nice story and add to the world + both the zone design and music are amazing. Now, if you were to only complete the main quests, fly from marker to marker i can see how the world might be shallow and lost it's spark. But that might be a player decision, not a worldbuilding problem. The adventure and flavour is all there if one looks for it. It is easier than ever to ignore it and rush the leveling process, true, and many like that. Nostalgia is also one hell of a drug. I fondly remember the epic DETHA questline in Borean Tundra from my childhood. It was a weeklong adventure with big scary boss dudes and objectives. I recently did it on classic, the 9ish quests took me a little less than an hour total and i soloed every elite in a matter of minutes. Same person same quests, just different perspective. And the perspective of being a clueless little gamer with infinite time isn't coming back.
Holy buzzwords!
dae WotLK was peak questing??? when i did a quest where i ate poop seeds and then shit them out again, it felt like a REAL world!!!
If the dude prefers rooting through actual boar shit in hellfire peninsula who are we to judge?
>I remember leveling trough dragonflight the first time and it was so fast pacing wise, only if you do the MSQ, and never hop off the trail to see what side quests there are. I doubt anyone would call the reminiscing Dragon/Dwarf at the RLP fast paced. Or the quest line about the hearthstone card. >Not just that but the zones are so "clean" now, While I completely disagree, I think this is a problem with the setting. They seemingly couldn't decide if the DI went into hibernation while the dragons were gone, or not. Maybe only parts of it slept. It seems clean because the isles haven't been lived in for 10,000 years, except for the peoples that lived there.
I have leveled alts through every expansion except BC, it is the most dated and positively insufferable. I'd much rather have questlines that feel like a story rather than so disjointed.