$20 cata today on amazon. (and your opinion on cata please)
So I noticed that Amazon is selling Cata today for $20. I have been taking a break from wow and kept telling myself that I will come back to playing it at some point, but actually enjoyed my freedom from wow so much that I have not done so. Especially given all the negative things that I heard about it early after release.
After clicking on the review section for the item on amazon, (for those who dont want to click, here's the first review of cata from a user. there were dozens more like it)
W A R N I N G !!!!! I N C O M I N G W A L L O F T E X T. (scroll to bottom if you want to bypass)
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I played WoW for six years and loved it. I downed most raid bosses while they were still relevant, achieved very high-rank PVP (and later Arena) titles, and was even satisfied as a casual player for over a year when my work schedule was rough. Then the Cata beta came along. Over the course of nearly half a year, I dutifully tested every bit of content available and experienced more of Cata than most people have on live, even now. And I hated it so much that I permanently left the game.
So what did beta testers take issue with and the developers ignore?
1. Questing. The quests are fun, but mostly only the first time around as the new "on rails" design requires each zone be done in the exact same order - no choices, skipping, or jumping around. Leveling is also too quick. It took longer to get from level 70 to 75, let alone 80. Even at a leisurely pace, it takes only days to get to...
2. Level 85. Cataclysm raid bosses are split between several raids, but don't be fooled - Naxxramas alone featured more bosses than all Cataclysm raids combined. Cata also has the fewest at-release dungeons of any expansion thus far, profession-related quests which pale in comparison to previous expansions, and few daily hubs. You get to 85 too quickly, and then there's nothing to do besides...
3. Heroics. They are too long for too little reward. For a mandatory (for progression), daily task for the entire expansion, two hours is an outright chore (and it's often still over an hour in epics). Dailies on multiple chars + raid-prep gear grinds = recipe for boredom. But the biggest problem with heroics is...
4. Healing. Universally maligned during the beta, all five specs now have identical playstyles where one spell is spammed ad infinitum. There's some variety when raid healing, and your overall healing done per spell may vary, but one spell will dominate your time spent casting. To ensure hour-long queues, Blizzard also targeted the other vital group role...
5. Tanking. Skill- and control-based mechanics have been replaced by DPS-like rotations. Tank cooldowns are now along the lines of "Reduce damage by 10% for 10 seconds" - you don't even notice you've used a special ability. The changes to tanks and healers were part of a bigger problem...
6. Homogenization and loss of replay value. If you have one tanking or healing class, you have them all. The differences are superficial, and with few talent and glyph choices, even DPS classes all provide essentially the same experience. Every instance is the same, every character is the same, every day is the same - the game feels like a second job instead of an escape. There was only one thing left to screw up...
7. PVP. The imbalances are worse than at any point in WoW's history, and that's saying something. Tol Barad is an unmitigated disaster, with mechanics that were so poorly thought-out that it's mind-boggling. The "new" battlegrounds are quick clones of Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin (Battle for Gilneas even displays AB node names at the start of games, to make it clear just how little work was put into it). Rated BGs are regular BGs with 90-minute queues.
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Anyways, with the help and advice of the veterans of this forum, I actually had built a new computer specifically for 10 boxing wow. But given the tepid responses that I heard before and the reviews that I just read, I'm not sure if spending $200 on 10 cata is warranted?
From a multiboxer point of view. or hell, from a soloist point of view. Would you guys say that the above sample review is still an accurate state of the game? Would you recommend for a lapses boxer to return? Or should I spend my time on better games? seeking opinions, no wrong answers here, just answer today if possible so I can jump on the $20 tax-free price at amazon if you recommend I go back. :p
Thanks in advance!
