Yeah. *sigh* It really does. To be honest, I didn't realize just how big a design flaw this was, how it impacted so many reasons for our dissatisfaction of the game, until I made that post and read others in this thread. Up until now, I had truly believed that what needed to change could come through some system redesigns and implementations.
But this... this is huge. This is unfathomable.
It could be approached one of two ways:
*A complete redesign of the world map (which could be incorporated with the 7th Umbral Age prophecy)
*Breaking up the world map into subzones based on aetheryte locations with new monster families
Personally, I'd rather see option one. Wipe the slate clean. Bring on the sundering. And incorporate it into the game's story.
Of course, option two would be easier and would most likely the be the route the dev team would take.
But in that token... what really scares me is that the giant that is Blizzard Entertainment devoted an entire expansion redesigning the known world of Azeroth in WoW: Cataclysm. It is a monumental task. It's been speculated that complaints about The Black Shroud has prompted a planned redesign of that zone. But who knows if the dev team really understands the scope and complexity of the problem that is the world design as a whole? And if they do, how many more months will it take them to address it after the battle system is overhauled? And if they start plunking in dungeons and quest hubs, maybe they just plan to ignore it altogether?
I don't think my heart has sank this much over the game in months.
Couldn't have said it better myself. What's worse than a mindless grind? The one where you do it for 50 levels, on the same monsters in the same place.
It's a maddening thought.
