World of Warcraft, in case you haven't been keeping tabs since the mass exoduses of Shadowlands, has been on a bit of a self improvement kick lately.
It hasn't all been roses, mind, but as an occasional dabbler, I'm feeling downright positive about the overall shift away from borrowed power systems and into things the players might conceivably have fun with.
Looking at it today, you wouldn't think this was once an MMO that suffered random content droughts. Instead, WoW players are getting mad about the usual things—perceived balance sleights, gulp frogs, and uh.
Super-expensive FOMO mounts. Alright, maybe there are still some areas for improvement, but still, nature is healing, and the roadmaps are being stuck to with admirable consistency.
Speaking to both game director Ion Hazzikostas and associate design director Maria Hamilton at an event last week—celebrating the release of the goblin-themed major patch, Undermine(d)—I asked how they felt things were going.