Anyone else have no interest in the expansion?

[gunsun]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm more excited about Diablo III.

I look at the new expansion, Aion and the new Star Wars and my reaction is generally "Meh." They feel like the MMO crowd doing what the MMO crowd does. There's a formula and they're banging out more content. The early teasers, the invite to betas and the attempt to build a community pre-launch are also formulaic. I've just been there and done that too many times to get excited.

Unlike the new stuff, the early Diablo III press feels like they have more respect for the game's tradition. They put old silly features like dropping stuff on the ground to trade into the game for that nostalgic rush.

My complaint with WoW and the WoW-wannabes is that they are all seeking market domination by diluting the game into generic fluff. The new "bring the player not the class thing" makes me wonder why we even have classes. My tanks are all pretty much the same, one or two skills separate them, as are all my ranges casters. They have one or two defining skills but the class trees and the ranged dps spam are nearly identical.

What makes me really nervous is that the "A team" left WoW for the next gen-mmo. The "B team" is now running the show. The next expansion has a "B team" feel. Not a lot of innovation, some fan requested stuff, and a lot more formulaic content. 5 more levels of collection quests, kill quests, delivery quests while the "A Team" tries to dream up the next big MMO innovations.

I'll play it. I'll hope they have a couple killer instances and maybe a new killer AV. But my expectations are pretty low.

[Taliesin]

I've tried the leave-wow-for-something-new thing, including Star Wars Galaxies. That lasted a month before I was trying to find someone to just give away my account to and looking at re-activating my WoW accounts.

Diablo III and StarCraft II are the only near-future PC games that I can see eating a substantial amount of my time. I'm letting others try out Aion first and let me know what their impressions are before I even try toying with the beta. One thing that I don't like it is will be open PvP on all servers even at release. I'm not a fan of random gankings when I'm just on for a little bit trying to get something accomplished.

To restate my concern for any new game I play: content, content, content. Aion looks really nifty and all, but if it doesn't have fun content, I'm not playing it. I don't care how awesome my casting animation and gear looks.

Cataclysm should be interesting both from the advanced storyline and the fact that they are resdesigning the old world quite heavily. The new races will give me something new to play with. I don't really get tired with the grind, as I pace myself and try not to make it feel like work. My only problem is getting into too much of a routine by setting schedules with others for when to help them get something done (daily heroics).

[lans83]

<~ Worked as a {kick ass} barista at Starbucks for 2 years. I made my husband buy a proper espresso machine when I moved in so I could settle in with a real latte every morning. I'm such a snob now. If I don't make it, I don't want it.

I know how you feel. I worked at a little cafe for a couple months a few years ago and made my own mochas every day I was there. Can't stand to have someone else make them anywhere now. Not even Starbucks.

Aion looks really nifty and all, but if it doesn't have fun content, I'm not playing it. I don't care how awesome my casting animation and gear looks.

Same here. I've tried many games out both on the PC and Xbox 360 and if the game doesn't have just enough or the right things to keep my attention, I'll put it down and never touch it again. I've even done this when getting half way through some games. I just get to that point in the game and it just totally looses me or my interest.