Home Gaming Ion Hazzikostas talks World of Warcraft with Rolling Stone

Ion Hazzikostas talks World of Warcraft with Rolling Stone

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My gaming life (and large part of my real life) has been dominated by the latest expansion of World of Warcraft… thanks Geoff. The question, however, is what makes World of Warcraft such an addictive game, and why millions of player flock back for every expansion?

Ion Hazzikostas chatted with Rolling Stone magazine in an article titled “3 Things We Learned From “World of Warcraft” Boss,” where he discussed the disappointment that was Warlords of Draenor, and the promise of Legion which has since been a huge hit. Let’s take a look at some of his answers and try add some clarity, if needed.

“I think that the pace and the rate at which the story of Warlords unfolded from a storytelling perspective, from a narrative perspective, a pacing perspective probably did feel rushed.”

It’s true, Warlords of Draenor was up in the air in terms of the Lore. We left Pandaria chasing Garrosh back in time, rushing through the campaign pushing back the Iron Horde and eventually confronting Gul’dan before defeating his henchman along the way. It was a great trip down memory lane, getting to face bosses like Blackhand, Archimonde, and others. The most disappointing example of pace was the final fight between Garrosh and Thrall.

thrallvsgarrosh

Looking back at Warlords of Draenor I now see the premise and understand, to some extent, why it was rushed. We were in a sense preparing for the Legion invasion and Blizzard knew they had to jam pack some Lore into WoD in order to set the stage for what was going to come in Legion.

Next, Ion touched on the biggest drawing point of Legion – The Legendary itmes!

There should have been more rare, legendary items for players in Legion

“We were too stingy with them, especially up front, and then there’s this general sense of them feeling like a bonus rather than a reward,” he says.

“It feels like players are due for a legendary at a certain point, and if they don’t get the one that they wanted, it becomes a disappointment instead of what would otherwise be an exciting moment.”

This is one of the major pitfalls of Legion. Your class, and it’s functionality as a healer/tank/dps is heavily dictated by which two legendary items you equip. Some classes’ legendaries make the class overpowered, while others don’t really do much. For example, Demon Hunter’s have a ring called Anger of the Half-Giants. This item alone makes them one of the strongest damage classes and is a defining item between those who have it on their Demon Hunter, and those that don’t. The damage, regardless of gear level, is superior for those who have this item.

illidan

I’ve also had a number of friends who have grinded their hearts out only to get bad legendaries and thus change classes, level a new character. There was a lengthy Reddit post some time ago where a top raider discussed the Legendary system and how guilds whose players were “lucky” enough to get the good legendary items prior to the first raid were obviously going to get ahead. That’s the unfortunate thing about WoW, it all boils down to luck and RNG.

The Legendary system is getting a small reword for the next major patch, but nothing substantial has been said about that yet. Ion’s short and sweet interview with Rolling Stone did bring some clarity, and it’s great that after seven expansions the player base continues to rise. I don’t know if I’ll stop playing any time soon, but I probably should.

Last Updated: February 1, 2017

5 Comments

  1. Kromas Ryder

    February 2, 2017 at 07:04

    Time travel has a 90% chance of failure if the media was not designed to take it in effect. Take Star Trek Enterprise for example. Or any of the new ST movies.

    Reply

    • PurplePariah

      February 2, 2017 at 07:53

      Except all of the latest ST movies have been great. So your point is rather silly.

      Everything. Everything at all – is subjective. Opinions differ like day and night where only a blade of grass differs. That’s how entertainment of any kind works.

      Reply

      • Kromas Ryder

        February 2, 2017 at 08:10

        They were great action movies but (almost) the Worst star Trek movies. Nemesis barely beats them out for that title. If you really enjoyed the new movies then you did not grow up with the series.

        Reply

        • Original Heretic

          February 2, 2017 at 08:20

          Gotta disagree. I’m a huge Trekkie fan and I loved the new movies. And yes, I’ve watched ever ST series out there (except a chunk of the original cast series). But pretty much everything from Next Gen onwards, that I’ve watched. I have ALL the movies that have been made.
          The reboot was bloody well done. And the newest movie, Beyond, I consider to be one of the best ST movies ever.

          Reply

        • PurplePariah

          February 2, 2017 at 08:21

          I did grow up with the series. Unfortunately I also read books, with particular love for some really fantastic authors. Everything I read, everything, was better than Star Trek which, like Star Wars, started out as sub-grade sci-fi – and only became popular because there wasn’t much else around back then.

          Reply

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