And that became very apparent to me during my FF14 adventures. It\u2019s no secret that Square Enix has created its own unique graphical style, defined by glitter, magic, and majesty. I was blown away when I first entered Ul\u2019dah, scampering through the streets like a lost child to the beautiful piano of \u2018Sultana Dreaming.\u2019 It\u2019s an experience I\u2019ll never forget, and the more I dive back into FF14, the more stunned I am.<\/p>\n

Set apart by just a year, there\u2019s no comparison between Shadowlands and Endwalker. WoW, unfortunately, is the ugly duckling next to a gorgeous, snow-white swan. While I thought Shadowlands\u2019 Ardenweald was gorgeous and Revendreth presented the perfect gothic paradise, FF14\u2019s Old Sharlayan simply took my breath away, as did the colorful, sky-top dream world of Radz-At-Han. Graphically, WoW\u2019s just inferior: your characters look like pixelated blobs next to FF14\u2019s stunning bunny girls and cat boys \u2013 everything just feels so outdated.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the visuals that feel like an unwanted blast from the past. WoW\u2019s gameplay\u00a0is now similarly stale. With every expansion, we see the same grind on repeat with little else to celebrate. Sure, Dragonriding was cool in Dragonflight, but doesn\u2019t Guild Wars 2, another of my childhood MMOs, already have that?<\/p>\n

Compared to FF14, where the story and dungeons can feel somewhat overshadowed by side activities like fashion competitions, FC house parties, and general chaotic fun, WoW doesn\u2019t feel like it has much substance other than playing the story, completing a dungeon or raid, then going through those same motions again.<\/p>\n

Player housing is something WoW players have been requesting for some time, and I really think it would change the game entirely. FF14 champions community spirit, and while you can create Guilds in WoW, there\u2019s no set place to call home. WoW feels soulless at the moment, and has done for some time \u2013 you log on, you grind with friends, you log off. There\u2019s nothing that keeps me tied to Azeroth. In fact, the gameplay \u2013 and its overly complex, grindy systems \u2013 is so punishing that it\u2019s pushing me away.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And a new WoW expansion won\u2019t bring me back. At the moment, there\u2019s no innovation. The game\u2019s overarching narrative feels like it\u2019s at a crossroads post-Shadowlands, and gameplay still feels old and clunky. Now would be the perfect time for Blizzard to go \u2018okay, let\u2019s revamp this series,\u2019 instead of pushing out yet another expansion that will delight for a few hours and probably cause\u00a0disappointment\u00a0for many more. Final Fantasy 14 is doing it with Dawntrail \u2013 come on, WoW, do the same.<\/p>\n

WoW holds its place in my heart as one of the most inspiring multiplayer games I played as a kid, but gaming has evolved since then and WoW has remained largely stagnant. Where once the Jade Forest felt like a dream, it feels outdated now, a relic of a bygone era. Please, Blizzard, WoW is an old\u00a0favorite, but I don\u2019t want it to look and play<\/em> like something from my childhood.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s time for a brave new Azeroth, something that puts the \u2018wow\u2019 back into WoW. Imagine the spectacular, moon-bathed vistas of Ardenweald recreated with modern standards. Imagine seeing the Sylvanas Windrunner in-game as they appear in the\u00a0trailers, or the Alexstrasza whose scales shimmer in the sunlight that bathes the Dragon Isles. Imagine WoW if it looked like FF14 \u2013 that\u2019s everything I need and more.<\/p>\n

Like I said, we\u2019re at a crossroads \u2013 Sylvanas Windrunner is gone, we\u2019re back in Azeroth, and the Alliance and Horde have finally scratched out the battlelines in favor of peaceful cooperation. In my opinion, WoW 2 needs to split them down the middle again and bring a little more \u2018war\u2019 (and also Valeera Sanguinar \u2013 whatever happened to her?) to Warcraft. Now is the time, now is the hour \u2013 but will we see it happen? I\u2019m not holding out hope.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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I started playing World of Warcraft during Mists of Pandaria, lured in by the lush emerald forests of this long-lost world, enthralled by a story that had its hooks in me\u00a0through to the\u00a0end. I remember soaring\u00a0across\u00a0the aqua skies of the Jade Forest, stunned by the beauty of the gorgeous Serpent\u2019s Heart statue sitting right at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":73513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.pcgamesn.com\/wp-content\/sites\/pcgamesn\/2023\/08\/world-of-warcraft-2-wow-why-we-need.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc"],"yoast_head":"\n