Garrisons are Breaking Immersion

Before I hop onto the flying/no flying debacle one of the major arguments that requires a bit of backing up is in regards to gaming immersion within World of Warcraft. Pretend you're a time-traveler and you've read this information AFTER you read my future post.

We need to first analyze what provides a sense of rich immersion within WoW? You would think the developers have this as a check-list by their desks when they design content, but let's not go there yet.

Here is my quick and dirty.

What Provides Immersion in WoW

Our toons are the starting point as they are the digital representation of what we would like to be as heroes in a fantastical world. We need to feel involved and invested in their progress (take note of the word "progress") through their adventures and how they live their story as they grow up in Azeroth. Their gestures, dances, transmog outfits, all the customization bolster character-side immersion.

The world of Azeroth plays into immersion. The physical world in which we traverse needs to be fantastic and interesting. That sense of awe when a new player first discovers how BIG the world is, that the zone they are playing in is merely a fraction of what they can discover.

However, just a beautiful zone with no substance is not enough. The story of how we traverse this world, through quest text and story-telling also play a part into immersion. WHY are we doing this? Other than the tangible rewards, it all has to tie back to the grand scheme of things that the developers are driving us towards. Give lore and history to the zones. WoW has done a great job of building up a complex network of stories and backstories giving each and every zone a lot of depth and breadth.

Next we can add on the complex layer of social interactions within WoW and this is where we start crossing lines. Now if everyone was on board and was fully immersed, that is everyone believes the stories, believes the lore and respects the world that they are in, we're gold. A lot of the tools that allow us greater convenience to connect with others may start breaking down game immersion. Instant grouping, instant teleportation, no need to communicate or share stories. We're heading towards the Ephemeral World of Warcraft.

What Actually IS Immersion?

Defining what provides immersion is easy. But what exactly IS it? Is it being so involved that you lose track of time? That you mistake Azeroth for reality?

At the very least, we should feel involved with the current story arc, that our characters feel involved and have a solid sense of progress (yet again) throughout the various expansions.

Despite the lack of current content and very little sense of personal progress in WoD, nothing yet breaks immersion as much as garrisons.

Garrisons are Breaking Immersion

Now Garrisons from the get-go did NOT break immersion since we were immersed with the world while leveling. The saving grace: amazing questing stories.

Once we hit end game and maxed out most of our buildings, the garrison breaks down into a few things:

1. Command Table: The main crux of the issue.
2. Mines and Herbs: While this in itself was a great idea, how they killed off professions creates a disconnect to the profession part of immersion.
3. Buildings that just feel like gating.

They tried to implement a system based on the very finicky mobile gaming philosophy of "checking in every once so often". Now we have to ask: "Who is checking in? Us the HUMAN playing the game, or our characters?".

The answer is us, the human. Garrisons are breaking the 4th wall of gaming! There is so little interaction and "immersion" with how garrisons are setup in every aspect be it how it has broken down professions to an ugly gated mini-game, but also how our major source of gold and gear (I got 2 700 ilvl gears back to back, that's pretty major).

As I have mentioned before, the garrison system is a very poorly implemented bastardization of a mobile model/town-builder/player housing. It just isn't good in any aspect so don't you go blabbing on about flying breaks down immersion. Even if we CAN fly, where is there TO FLY TO? I am not making an argument for or against flying, but that is my major observation as of right now.

Let's go back to what we setup earlier.

Immersion basically starts with us feeling connected to our character.

We log in and click things FOR our character, but I doubt they are having any fun at this command table.

The STORY is that we are commanders, but all we do is dish out commands player-side. Our character has no involvement, it doesn't even animate their HANDS pushing the buttons for us. Along with the fact that character progression boils down to "Hit 100, raid", there's no REASON to do any of the side-content (*Cough*VP/JP*Cough*)

We need to connect to the world. We (the human) send our non-immersive "followers" out into the theoretical world to explore...but that is it. We rescue/aid them out in the world and recruit them. That I feel was a good starting point but it just becomes bland once they live within our menus.

Lastly, we have social interaction. As of now, garrisons isolate us within our own little bubble and any interaction with others outside of organized raiding is simply clicking a button and completing your encounter in utter silence.

Now take all this coupled with a lack of world content, no wonder players are starting to slowly dissolve the 4th wall of gaming. We're not even on our own toons, the game has boiled down to the human player behind the monitor clicking on menus.

Why Didn't This Happen in MoP?

MoP had its own issues but one thing that is glaringly different is that the game never broke immersion within itself.

We had our personal farms, which was our CHARACTER's farm. They made friends, worked to build friendships with the various farmers, and physically harvested stuff from a farm you physically tend to. Sure, the herb garden and mine are also physical, but they act to negate a profession rather than complement a profession.

MoP was rife with dailies. Everyday you would log in and feel like you were behind the curve. Gotta do all the dailies and all the reputation things, get in your daily heroic for VP, perhaps scenarios for VP. It was overwhelming and I had hoped to see something SIMILAR, just toned down. Now while all those activities were overwhelming they all acted as a font of progression for our characters, something that WoD severely lacks.

Collecting a bazillion apexis for an out-dated piece of gear by the time you earn it? No thanks.


So in short: Fix this now. Don't anger your investors. Remember, some of your gamers are also investors and some big investors are also gamers. This is 2015.

Truny the Non-Immersed?

Truny's LFR Guide to: Blackhand

Since I may need to run Blackhand LFR ONE more time for the free elemental runes, here's a quick quick Blackhand guide for all roles. There IS a "5 Second LFR Guide" posted by some BlizzardWatch site here, but holy moly it is way too long, they expect people to read all that? If you want to be fancy and understand the mechanics a LITTLE bit more, check it out!

Otherwise if you just want to boss people around:

There are 3 phases, if the ground breaks a phase change has happened.

P1.

DPS: Kill. Dodge ground circles. Run behind thing when targeted by thing.
Healers: Same.
Tanks: Kite around. Taunt on smash. No touchy bomb.
Bonus: Melee, no touchy bombs. Don't stand between targeted person and boss.

P2.

DPS: Kill. Run behind vehicle when targeted by thing.
Healers: Same.
Tanks: Kite around. Taunt on smash. No touchy bomb.
Bonus: Melee, no touchy bombs. Don't stand between targeted person and boss.

Melee Bonus: Melee can stand in smash and get knocked up into the balcony to kill adds that rain destruction. Jump back down when your health is low.

P3.

DPS: Kill. Don't get knocked off when targeted by thing.
Healers: Same.
Tanks: Kite around. Taunt on smash.
Everyone: Bomb, go left side, targeted go right side of boss. Don't get knocked off. Don't stand between targeted person and boss.

That's it! Collect your gold and cry because he didn't drop any of the ugly LFR gear. And what's the deal with that? LFR used to drop replicas of tier gear, but now there's only a "fake" LFR set that doesn't even look like the flex/reg, which also doesn't look like the mythic?

Anyways, let's just wait for this xpac to end then shall we?

Truny the Ender

Diminishing the Garrison for my own Sanity

Yadda yadda, the theme of this expansion is to rant about the garrison and how it has consumed most of the peripheral gameplay within WoW. Professions and exploration come to mind.

We've all said it again and again, garrisons were a great idea but how good an idea is versus the actual implementation and expected results is a whole different ball-game.

The only caveat to that is that within the MMO environment, anyone with a level headed mind should have been able to "play out" what today would be with the current garrison system.

People would find professions useless after a while, rewards for managing followers is more in depth than the amount of time players spend on their OWN gearing, etc etc.

Blizzard, what are your core values? Fun? Immersion? Engagement? I thought it was to provide your player base with highly polished, fun products.

It seems that somewhere this has shifted and focused so much on a weird retention model that all immersion and "fun" had been sidelined. If you're going to be delayed or need training, let us know. The gaming community is fairly intelligent, heck some of us specialize in corporate strategy. (Hence for some raiding is not difficult at all as there are already multiple solutions within our means, but that's not even a topic for this blog).

Now I've been actively staying away from my garrison, and yes singular garrison. I do not play my alts anymore, and when I do they are out in the world.

Turby: Timeless Isle to get tokens, Nalak Hunting. ICC/DS/Ulduar mount farming. MoP Archaelogy for Uldum shards (Turby has a higher chance as he's found the most items)
Turny: Currently MIA. Some believe he's converted to the alliance.
ICC/DS/Ulduar mount farming.
Runy: Farming Vortex Pinnacle mounts.
Torby: Herbing. Yes I miss herbing. I still make Potions of Illusions so he has lived in Vash'jir for over 3 years.

What Have I Been "Doing"

There actually is "lots" to do, but not a lot involves being on Draenor, and if it IS on Draenor I try to stay away from the garrison, even though I currently have an ilvl 700 mission waiting for me:

Draenor:

Caging animals every 3 days. Maybe look for Nagrand rares for rep.
Demidos. (Completed, got its pet!)
Raid. 2x a week.
Occasionally check if the blue hippo is up.
Sometimes check for Void Talon portals.

Old World:
 (Weekly)
ICC
Ulduar
DS
Mogushan Vaults - seems the breaking point for DPS to solo this is around 660?
Timeless Isle Rep and Nalak.
MoP Archaeology for Uldum Shards.

(Daily)
Not much.

Notice how only 1.5 of my items is actually focused towards "progression" of my character? Am I progressing my profession? No. Am I working on rep? Yes, kind of, one, hit revered with Steemwheedle! Was I gold farming? No. Saving up for gear? No.

Raid is where its at. Even then, if nothing drops, nothing drops and we're screwed. Except I am now boycotted from complaining since returning back to raiding in 3 weeks I am fully 5-pieced with a weapon and shiny new multi-strike trinket which I will talk about maybe tomorrow!

Turny the Missing Druid

Epeen Wreckers

Oh gosh I do hope this title does not get parsed with obscene sexual search terms.

This is a PSA and a call to arms for all those who would join me in just bringing a sliver of light into the dreadful, dark void that is: Shows of Epeen

This is not a new issue, but I have been relentless in my fight against excessive Epeen Flauntage.

The most prevalent example include the extremely over-geared and over-eager players in random dungeons. Sure they do tons of damage and pull fast, but they see everyone else as inferior and holding them back.

Now, I have been observing this for MANY years.

A NANO-second after the boss dies, they have left the group. They have no time for your bullshit, nor shall you waft in their glory. They are gone and you were just a mere tool for them to accomplish whatever it is they are doing. They won.

However, usually if I am actually on a main, it is rare to be out-damaged and you will see that that person will NOT leave right away but wait for YOU to leave first

So now I call upon those of us who are CONSIDERATE and DECENT humans who have the means to ALSO pump out L337 DPS to take a moment to thank the group, do a dance bow, whatever, then leave. You also need to completely DEVASTATE their numbers and make it look completely effortless.

You would have confounded them, gone against their very being, what makes them l337.

Then leave the dungeon and cry, because all you got was garrison resources and a 630 that didn't drop a year ago.

Truny the Sad.

World of Transmog: Glyph of Felguard

Ever since this amazing glyph was introduced back in...Cata (?), Truny has been on a relentless quest to collect not only cloth pieces and staves/wands for herself but also exquisite two-handed weapons for Blagroon the Felguard.

If you've somehow been an avid reader many years ago you'd remember Blagroon the Felguard. Truny's trusted companion ever since becoming available as one of the high end talents in the Demonology tree when talent trees were still in style.

We've been making fast progress in "heroic" Blackrock Foundry for the past couple of weeks and what do you do when no one needs a 691 warforged 2-hander?

Give it to the crazy warlock that's what!

For whatever reason, the weapon shows up as the demonic green 670 ilvl color variation, which is actually a GOOD thing because the heroic version is actually sort of blue/aqua and clashes with my outfits!

Truny the Needs All The Gear Types