Blizzard used to be the market leaders in MMO innovation - just look at how many WoW clones were made after 2004.
I look at the game now and wonder where the hell has that innovation gone? It’s the same old slop every single expac/season.
Mind numbingly boring story? Check. Same 8 dungeons to grind in Mythic+ per season? Check. All classes play the same? Check.
The only real innovation I see now in WoW comes from the cash shop or the traders tender vendor - it appears more effort is put into transmog than anything else (usually better quality items = more $).
I don’t know I think it’s just sad to see a real MMO great become almost like an EA seasonal game what a shame.
They copycat-ed from the beginning on aswell up unto today.
Subjective perception
Yeah well, Seasons are a garbage innovation anyways, true.
Regardless of game. Maybe for Battle Royals and MOBAs as they lack everything else other games have.
That’s nothing new and Blizzard, as being a company, just adapts to the genral tone of the industry. Nothing good, but nothing to do with lack of innovation.
Trading Post on the other hand is a pretty neat innovation, yes, true.
But in the end there are only so many things that can be innovated, everything reaches a point of some sort of stall.
You can’t reinnovate/reinvent the wheel. If you try too much you end up with a square one. Which we’ve seen in WoW a few times, too, as they tried new stuff that failed or they listened to the “community”, aka the loud people, and that failed.
While MMOs weren’t new when WoW launched but they made the most accessible MMO and it is still the most successful MMO.
That’s utter tripe. You can argue about classes and if you like the story or not but in recent expansions Blizzard have gone all in, as far as they can, with features to enhance story telling. Not on the level of FF14 but much closer.
Blizzard were, arguably, still are, the Apple of MMO developers. Apple never made anything original but they perfected it.
There’s definitely some stagnation present, though as someone playing retail for the first time after Classic Vanilla, it still feels like a genuinely modern 2025 game to me. I’m talking about the gameplay flow - solo content, how people manage their time more efficiently compared to 2004. That aspect holds up well. However, the visuals do seem dated, and like you mentioned, there’s a lack of groundbreaking innovations.
What I envision as the next level-up would be a return to classic lore foundations without venturing beyond established boundaries like the Lich King narrative or cosmic overreach. Pair that with a completely new engine featuring AI-driven interactions, and we’d have an absolute breakthrough - it would revolutionize everything!
Thats because it was the OG blizzard that made the game so popular and they qre all gone. Now Blizzard is filled with new people tht were never a part of the magic back in the days.
I agree.
The reason is probably because Ion is focussed on M+ and hardcore raiding. He doesn’t seem to have any love for exploration or the rpg element.
Questing is stale. It’s the same variation of chores we’ve done over a thousand times by now, and they’ll keep serving it up, because it would require a major change in approach. They will not do this for the last two expansions. Their route is set, so don’t expect it to suddenly pivot drastically.
The only hope you can have is if Blizzard creates a next MMO (and that’s a huge if) there’s a real game designer at its head.
seriously though, it’s true, the games creators were willing to take a chance and that is the essence of what made WoW so exciting, it’s not the same now, walking on eggshells is the new norm, that and corporate gaming.
perfected it 
