It was a tense wait for Shadowlands from the start, and the delayed released date for World's Warcraft's latest expansion only made the suspense worse. Finally, the hype culminated in what turned out to be, for the most part, a successful release. Fans and critics are happy with the beautiful zones and the detailed artwork that recreates the afterlife of Azeroth, but as it always is with new expansions, reviews and first impressions aren't all sunshine and roses.
Problems range from technical issues with internet connections or hardware to plotholes in the storyline. Players and critics are always griping about something no matter how good it is, but that doesn't mean their concerns aren't valid. Hopefully, we'll get a look at the gameplay, too. To their credit, Blizzard has been attentive to player's needs and demands, so kudos to the MMORPG monolith for that much.
10 Long Queues
It's the next expansion, so of course, but despite how obvious this entry is, it still goes on the list. People are especially miffed about it this time around because it felt like Blizzard was aware of the problem and had actually taken some extra time to fix it. How many times had we already been through this, and wasn't the release date put back so this kind of technical issue could be mitigated? Blizzard has done a lot to fix this, but it's disappointing that we had to watch the same problem happen again.
9 Disconnections and Lag
This is related to the problem of long queues but it deserves a place of its own. It's not only the disproportionate amount of problems with disconnection and lagging, there has been confusion about exactly why it's happening. There's the common issue of server over-crowding and a large number of players trying to sign in at the same time, but other uncommon issues connected to software and hardware are also appearing on forums and on tech support tickets. One that's getting some attention is related to a new "ray tracing" feature offered by certain video cards, which required a driver update in the case of Nvidia and a beta-opt-in for GE Force users on top of an internal Blizzard fix.
8 Different Timelines and Other Plotholes
We're just putting this here for posterity because we know that the writers at Blizzard are going to stay with the trend they've started and keep jumping pandas and sharks. This last expansion, however, breaks the lore in ways we've never seen before, but that's not a bad thing and we're running with it.
Some of these questions have been answered with certain revelations. Such as the discovery that Sylvanas was in league with the Jailer, for example, and that it is evidently possible to "break" a soul, as what happened with Uther, explaining how his soul was able to be in both Frostmourne and Bastion. The story is still unfolding and more revelations might be waiting.
7 Mission Tables
Players remember these as one of the reasons that Battle for Azeroth doesn't have that many fans. No matter how much Blizzard polishes this concept, it's still boring and nobody likes it. There is no small amount of cutting jokes sneering that this is a mobile game with no actual actions or playing involved, and that's not a direction that players want to go. This was almost scrubbed completely because of the negative player reviews, but a version of it also exists in the latest expansion. Just drop it Blizzard, or figure out a way around it.
6 The Lack of Mounts
Just to clarify, you can have mounts in the Shadowlands, just not the ones you had before. This is mitigated in certain areas of certain zones, where you can farm for pets that drop from rare spawns, for example, but it's still annoying. Pet collection is a big part of modern WoW, and people farm pets for glory, recognition, and personal satisfaction. Players aren't happy about not being able to use them in the next expansion, but hopefully, it's just a temporary restriction.
5 Boring Dungeons
So much energy and creativity were spent on Torghast that other dungeons feel sparse and dull by comparison. It's not that they're bad, they just feel like generic templates of dungeons that we've already completed.
The end-game instances follow the same design aesthetic as their home zone, so it's a lot more beautiful stuff to look at but without a lot of substance. That goes for the four new leveling dungeons as well as the new end-game instances and raids. Adding another layer to that angst, all of them are located in the Shadowlands, so players can't access them until at least level 53 when Plaguefall in Maldraxxus becomes available. Still no new dungeons for lowbies?
4 The Guided Leveling Process
This was a complaint previously that has only intensified as the expansions seemed to use this method more and more often. It's a matter of taste if you want to see this changed or not, since most players who don't care for a linear leveling path end up playing WoW Classic, and some people really enjoy the way the action is organized with lore and exposition integrated into the expansions' early gameplay. For those that would prefer to explore or experience the game with more independence, however, this is boring and a waste of time.
3 Overwhelmed at Max Level
In an effort to ensure that players stay engaged and don't get bored, Blizzard has swung the pendulum too far and overwhelmed them with a myriad of things to do. That should be a good thing, but the activities the characters engage in as part of the introductory storyline don't seem to involve them directly. They follow a hero around, for the most part, and the quests a simple with little possibility of failure, and everything is just so darn pretty. The quest in Ardeanwald that uses sparkles as a weapon could be one example.
2 Fewer Quests That Take More Time
This seems contradictory considering the last entry, but it's not. There's a lot to do as part of the story, but it's just busywork and exposition disguised as a quest, and that's what people don't like.
We're still looking for that balance between too few quests and too many, and this time Blizzard has made a better attempt but it's not there yet. Players who are trying to focus on what buffs to use or what materials they need for their new gear might just get sensory overload and ignore the lore completely, even if they find it interesting to start with.
1 Covenant Abilities are Just Glorified World Buffs
It's a matter of opinion whether or not you like borrowed abilities, but these ones aren't even that impressive considering how much hype they got. There are all kinds of guides popping up online about the best covenants for certain classes and specs, but the process is fairly complex and the reward is meager. It might be an incentive if you're goal is raiding but for those that are taking their time questing and trying to enjoy the story and environment, it's a disappointing reward that could use a buff or a tweak.