hi, I was one of those people who stopped subscribing during Mists.
But I’m happy to say it wasn’t because it was a bad expansion. Infact, I thought it was really good.
It was just at a point in my life I didn’t have time to play.
Yes, I have considered that.
And I come to the same conclusion.
What do Blizzard spend a lot of story and quests on in The Ohn’ahran Plains?
Telling us about Centaur way of life and their hunting traditions.
Okay.
But how interesting is that to hear about? They hunt exactly the same way as everyone else. There’s nothing insightful to learn about a race that hunts animals in their territory as a rite of strife and adulthood. The Orcs did that back on Draenor!
So that’s just not very original and there’s no curious details that make it worthwhile to read all the gossip text and story explanations, because all it tells you is that they are Centaurs and they hunt with bows and animal companions.
Where Blizzard gets stuff like that that right is something like the Grummles in Kun-Lai Summit in Pandaria.
They’re a race of wanderers in the mountains who collect random bits of scraps and junk because they think it brings them luck. An old sock is a powerful trinket because its pungent smell of old feet provides the wielder with incredibly luck – presumably.
That’s hilarious. It’s original and fun and you want to read about every Grummle and their personal luckidoo for a little laugh.
The Centaurs are boring, because there’s nothing original about them. They are a stout nomadic tribe of hunters in tune with the nature. Whoa, like I haven’t come across a million of such people in The Barrens alone. 
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Blizzard may realise they are losing older players as they get older and move on.
Yet a new player may not have gone through those stories. So it’s important for them to focus on getting new people into the game.
I can only refer to my experience in Work where we had a Loyalty Programme to keep old customers coming back, but in reality the old customers didn’t spend much money, they just filled seats. So full focus was on the new customer experience, because for the first 1-5 times the new customer came to us, they would buy all the things and spend lots of money.
Where as the loyalty customers would be bored because it was nothing new, they had seen everything and bought everything before. but they wouldn’t be able to get an price anywhere near they could with us because of their loyalty bonuses. Plus they knew and liked what they were getting, so why shop else where and risk being disappointed?.
But the Loyalty customers felt they deserved extra attention. Which they did get, but not as much as new the customers.
Sorry, that might have gone off on a tangent a little. But hopefully it might explain why a story might need to be dumbed down a little, and less progressive, or even something that you might have gone through before.
Oddly, the Dragonracing theme is the only one I think they NAILED. Perfect! /chefkiss
I’m not especially fond of Dragonracing either. As golf is a good walk, spoiled, I feel that those races are a pleasant flight, spoiled. (Try one without pressing any buttons, or only when absolutely necessary. It’s almost meditative.)
But that music works for its context, and it doesn’t wear out. The Pet Battle music has the same quality. Kudos to the music selector for that!
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I mean, yeh it’s a great track, and it suits Dragon Racing.
I just don’t really like Dragon Racing, so I guess it’s guilty by association for me xD.
But in the context of the theme of the Expansion and trailers, it’s pretty good.
Two points here.
One, Blizzard’s marketing strategies don’t excuse bad story. If Blizzard can’t tell a story that is interesting and compelling to new and old player alike, then that’s poor work on their part.
Two, if I as an 18 year veteran feel that the story is boring and lame, then that criticism isn’t dismissed on the basis that it’s meant to be appealing to new players. If Blizzard disfranchises their veteran audience, then they should also expect sound criticism from said audience.
I don’t care to hear why Blizzard have done what they have done or for what reasons.
I only judge the game based on the game experience it provides to me as a gamer and a WoW player. The experience doesn’t improve for me by hearing that the reason why there’s a whelping daycare in Valdrakken is because it might appeal to 10 year old Jenny so she might consider asking her parents to buy her Dragonflight. Ask 10 year old Jenny for her review of the game then. I review it based on my experience.
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But then, I’m an old player and 18 year veteran like yourself and I don’t have a problem with the story.
Then we just return to, if you’re not enjoying yourself why do you waste of time and energy moaning about it, rather than just finding something else to enjoy? It stops the mood being dragged down for everyone who is having a good time. And will be much better for you to focusing on something enjoyable.
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Misery loves company?
But here’s what I wrote in my conclusion:
None of the story in Dragonflight is a mess of retcons and bugs and so forth.
It works and it’s run-of-the-mill so most people will be happy with it, because they don’t have an immediate reason to be unhappy.
And when players for the first time in a decade have an expansion where they aren’t upset and angry about a myriad of things from the start, then they’re naturally going to proclaim that expansion the best one ever.
But if you zoom in on the details a bit, then Blizzard avoiding any major screw-ups is not the same as them having produced a masterpiece from top to bottom.
If you look at the leveling story by comparison to past expansions and their leveling stories, then this one is not better. People won’t critique it because it isn’t downright upsetting, but that’s not the same as it being a masterpiece.
So at best if you’re being a massive shill it’s an average story for a new expansion.
If you’re hard to please it’s less than that.
It’s hard to argue why it’s more, because there are a ton of examples in the past where Blizzard have done better.
I found that to be an infuriating thing to say the first 10 times you said it, and I still do.
I have already explained why I enjoy WoW immensely and have enjoyed it for many years, and why saying that the newest expansion isn’t the best Blizzard have produced isn’t the same as me saying that it’s a horrible and miserable experience from start to finish.
If you’re going to talk in such absolutes like some wannabe Sith Lord where you either fanboy WoW completely or you quit immediately, then it’s hard to take you seriously, because you’re clearly dismissing the nuance of enjoyment.
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Then maybe just try and enjoy the game at face value.
Whilst I have already agreed the overall big story has some big plot holes.
It’s the smaller Stories where this expansion excels in its story telling (yes there are a few cringe moments like the petting Rabbits side quest). Being able to fly around and and random find a small story here and there is quite fun. I still stumble across new quest lines today, even after maxing out renown.
Then if you’re enjoying yourself why rate it only 2/5? That sounds like you’re not enjoying it very much.
Clear communication is the key to getting people to understand what you are trying to convey. the reality is, most people on these forums are going to skim read and pick out a few points here and there.
For example, I haven’t fully read any post you have made today. I have purely picked 1 or 2 points that stood out at a glance and responded to it. (Mainly because I realise would probably just be writing full essays to one another by this point).
Now, you call me a WoW Shill, but there have been times when I’ve not wanted to play. When they announced WOD, I was disappointed because we were getting another Demon Expansion. But I dare you to look for the forum post I made asking them to make a different expansion. I’ll save you the time. I didn’t, I just simply didn’t buy it and didn’t play it. Same with Legion. What brought me back to the game was Battle For Azeroth because it was theme I enjoyed.
Moral of the story, it’s not hard to walk away if you something is not for you. The purpose of entertainment is to enjoy yourself, not to depress yourself.
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I am going to explain this one last time. I’ll use an analogy.
I love the Harry Potter movies. Every single one of them. They are wonderful and I can watch them on any day and have a great time.
But that doesn’t detract from the fact that I have a thousand issues with the Harry Potter movies and see many flaws in them.
There are a lot of things that doesn’t make any sense. There’s poor acting and scenes that are very cringe or ridiculous. The CGI and camerawork is not always very good. And so on.
But I still love the Harry Potter movies in spite of all their flaws. They present a wonderful fantasy world of magic and wizardry, growing up and making friends, and having to save the world of good from evil.
The movies are all of that and more, despite all their issues and flaws and errors.
And although I am a fan of The Half-blood Prince and consider it the best of all the movies, then that doesn’t mean that the one I like the least (Order of the Phoenix) isn’t also good. It’s just less good by comparison.
And even though I also love other movies and I can recognize that the Harry Potter movies aren’t objectively high quality filmography the way that The Godfather movies are, then I can still appreciate and enjoy the Harry Potter movies within their own right, on their own terms, and appealing to their own audience.
If this kind of nuanced opinion is beyond you, then so is this discussion on WoW.
Now, I have to return some video tapes, so have a good day. 
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I’ve got the feeling that Dragonscale Expedition is actually the “main faction” of this expansion, not Valdrakken Accord.
And you don’t see lots of Dragons because they’re a dying breed… appart from the Red Dragonflight, the other four are pretty much gone. You especially don’t get to see a lot of the Green becuase they don’t have their main character like Wrathion for the Black, Kalecgos for the Blue and Chromie for the Bronze. If not for these three characters you wouldn’t see much of Bronze, Black and Blue either.
So why rate a game 2 out of 5? When you clearly don’t think it’s a 2 out of 5.
This is simply a case of lack of clarity in your rating system.
Had to used an out of 10 system where 5 was “worst ever, but it’s still WoW so a good game” and 1 was just “omg this is terrible”. then rating 6 or 7 out of 10 would have made much more sense.
Instead rating something 2/5 just makes it appear that you don’t enjoy it and you’re in the wrong place. But what you actually meant was 6/10 and doesn’t come across as damning as you have presented it.
What I’m trying to point out is that your Rating system doesn’t take into account that it WoW and wow is still good. It’s just comes across as cutting down the game in categories which it really excels at (i.e. Music and Art).
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Just leave them outside my front door and make sure nobody can see what they are 
Synonyms for “mediocre” include but aren’t limited to:
Decent.
Passable.
Average.
Fair.
Alright.
Okay.
Run-of-the-mill.
And so forth.
If you have an issue with my rating system, then I remind you that you have already provided me your feedback and criticism on that previously, and I have told you that I will take it into consideration for the future. It is duly noted.
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Sorry but 2/5 is not mediocre.
You know full well that most people will skim over that and just got to the ratings. That’s why you used your summary buttons in the first place, to save people the hassle of reading.
It’s about clear communication at a glance. If you expect people to need a key to understand what your communicating in an out of 5 rating system, then that’s not being clear.
Enjoy your next game!
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Billyblue, you have said this to me ten times over now if not a hundred.
In return I have acknowledged your criticism and told you that I will take it into consideration for the future.
I feel like I have been quite amendable to your critique and spent time and effort to elaborate and explain both my writing and my opinion to you in great detail.
I’m not sure what more you’re looking for from me.
If you trying to argue me into submission and make me quit the game and go cry in a corner, then that seems both incredibly cruel, rather pointless, and very unconstructive, and I would ask you to stop.
If you are simply looking for an answer to some question I have overlooked, then please let me know and we can straighten it out.
Otherwise I consider this exchange at an end, as it’s getting a bit repetitive. No offence intended. 
You’d think Billyblue actually worked on the damn game at this point lmao
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I want none of those things.
I want everyone to enjoy the game as much as I do and be enjoying themselves as well. But I respect that others might not as tastes differ.
But if you’re at a party and you’re not enjoying yourself do you turn down the music, scream at the top of lungs what a terrible party this is and spoil everyone else’s fun? Or do you quietly find another party to attend that you do enjoy and have a good time yourself?
There is too much negativity on these forums already, and it’s threads like this one that just fuel it.
If you want to end this conversation feel free and enjoy your day
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You’re asking me, but I was asking you.
I have written a post where I have shared my thoughts on Dragonflight for anyone who might be interested, because I like sharing my thoughts and hearing what others think about WoW. And I have gotten what I hoped for with some insightful inputs and exchanges here and there. Some good forum posts for an old forum dweller.
You evidently don’t like what I have written, and you also don’t like how I have written it.
You have so far approached me with confrontation and rebuttal.
To what end?
If you want everyone to have a good time with WoW, do you feel that you have accomplished that in this thread? Do you think this is how you achieve that on the forums in general, by telling people off when you don’t like what they have to say?