What other ways are there to show progress in a game? I used to use a dual system. Rank and Level.

By doing things (finding out clues, killing monsters, etc etc) you gain experience, that during the adventure allows you to take more actions, do more attacks, cast more spells, etc etc. When you finish an adventure (maybe the current module) you'd gain a Rank.

After gaining a Rank you gain some stats, health, access to more powerful spells etc etc. And your level would reset. After 10 ranks your character would retire.

Now I know I hate games where I have to skill up running, swimming, climbing, sword, bow, fireball, icy dagger, poison etc etc, to be able to add more power to it.

I look at Chrono Trigger. Here is a game with levels. With characters with different armor levels. But they could all do damage, some could heal, and they could all take a hit (lots of health), though some took magic damage better than physical damage. Or FF3, where Celes was a magic tank by always keeping Runic up, absorbing enemies spell attacks.

Each class in Wow could be a "hybrid" and add either tanking or healing to it.

Also, do you think a Pokemon MMO would be successful?
 

Wow expansion predictions:

1. It will be a great Sea expansion, since this seems to be the only non-burning legion related area that existed in Warcraft 3. It also would be simpler to design, with lots of neat undersea and island environments already existing in the real world.

2. It will have 10 morelevels, 50-75 more crafting levels, new recipes, .... If it is a great sea expansion, one of the metals will only be findable at a hydrothermal vent type environment.

3. The new hero class introduced will be a healer of some sort. my guess would be Witch doctor, but that's just the least iffy guess I can come up with, no class ideas really seem to stand out well.

4. It will be announced later this year, possibly at blizzcon.

5. Wrath of the Lich King appears ot be prett ysuccessful on balance, so this new expansion will continue the system of 10 and 25-man version of raids, a Wintergrasp type PvP area, phasing, etc.

6. I'm not sure which features it could take from darkfall if darkfall is somewhat successful. If guild wars 2, the new star wars MMO, or some others come out, it will definitely borrow features from them.

(I know, these aren't very specific or risky predictions, but here they are anyway.)
 

Alternative Wow expansion predictions (note the overlap with Dillon's thoughts):

1. It will be the Emerald Nightmare, re-using existing parts of the world in a new, phased form.

2. It will have 10 more levels, 75 more crafting levels, new recipes, ....

3. The new hero class introduced will be a healer of some sort. Possibly a temporary pet using one or one that uses an energy type mechanic rather than mana, but with fiddly mechanics like the DK. I'd suggest "Dreamer" who summons various dreams & nightmares to assist.

4. It will be announced later this year, probably at Blizzcon.

5. Wrath of the Lich King appears ot be prett ysuccessful on balance, so this new expansion will continue the system of 10 and 25-man version of raids, a Wintergrasp type PvP area, phasing, etc.

6. It will learn the following lesson from Darkfall: "don't do it like that".

7. i wouldn't rule out the announcement of a second hero class *before* it comes out if numbers are starting to flag. Possibly a necromancer who escaped the scourge like the DK, so they could re-use the starting area.
 

1. Which properties of Darkfall would you like to see in Blizzards new MMORPG, if you had the choice ?

2. What other MMORPGs do you know that are at the (far) horizon ? Like e.g. an Elder Scrolls MMO.
 

How many hero classes will we see in WoW? I know they are tied a bit to Warcraft 3, but I don't know how many are in that game? Mountain King?

I am sure we will the following at the least: tank (already in, DK), healer, melee dps, ranged dps. That's four. They could also add hybrids -- stealth hero class, pet hero class, etc. And ranged DPS can be ranged melee dps and ranged magic dps.

What I'm getting at is the idea that maybe Blizzard might introduce hero classes before the next expansion. I'm sure we will one in the next expansion, but maybe we will see one as a free download before then.
 

Does WoW need more classes? They seem to have their hands full with the classes they have now.

While I dont think the game is broken, alot of the class/gameplay since 3.0 (including the announced 3.1 changes) lead me to believe that the game is now so massive that we are always going to be in a constant state of flux - Always waiting for announced changes to be implimented. These changes seem to take longer and longer to impliment. Can a Game become so large and complex that it is unmanageable? Can a game become so large and complex that it takes longer and longer to impliment changes?

As for expansion ideas, I would like to see a portal to azeroth future - maybe 15 years ahead. All the current 1-60 content has been "beaten" (IE gnomerigan retaken by the gnomes, Dungeon and Raid bosses are "dead"). Maybe the factions re-align, the scourge leaves the horde? Flying mounts in Azeroth!
 

How many hero classes will we see in WoW? I know they are tied a bit to Warcraft 3, but I don't know how many are in that game? Mountain King?

In terms of hero warcraft 3 units, there are 11 hero units from warcraft 3 that could be added (Death knights and paladins are already in the game, Dreadlords and Crypt lords are different races), however, a lot of the warcraft 3 hero units already heavily resemble classes already in WoW, or have most of their skills copied by classes in WoW. There are a few other non hero units (Such as necromancers) that could conceivably be turned into hero classes as well.

Does WoW need more classes? They seem to have their hands full with the classes they have now.

I do agree with this (It also seems that blizzard is starting to copy skills, or just do skill effect permutations, and is running out of genuinely new skills to introduce), however, just like the 10 new levels and new crafting levels, the previous expansion will build up an expectation of new classes of some sort, so they will probably get included.
 

Is it possible to set up an RSS feed for the comments? (One for all comments btw, not separate ones for each blog entry.)
 

Try http://tobolds.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=rss
 

Ah, thanks. One thing, though: if you can, you should have the title of a feed entry start with the title of the blog post, to make it easier to tell which post the comment is for.