On Garrisons

Today’s post will have overtones of irritation, so be forewarned.  I was originally trying to put a positive spin on this post, but was unsuccessful. There are some elements to the garrisons that I do enjoy, but for the most part, the shiny newness of it has worn off, and I’m left now wondering what the use is of logging in and doing my wizard chores.

There has been a lot of talk on Twitter, and I’ve seen a few blog posts with this kind of overtone already published. I have been feeling like this a while, and I was afraid to post anything because I felt like my opinion was of the minority, but now I’m seeing differently.  Although, now I’m feeling like people will think I’m only posting this after everyone else has talked about it, due to the need for some sort of validation. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to be the first to stick my neck out, just not my style! I view my blog as a conversational one, not one where it is the first place people check for news and info. I just don’t have that kind of time, and I like to think things over before I put them in this space.

Back to the topic at hand. My issues with garrisons.

That’s what it is to me now, an issue. A daily quest, without the quest aspect, and the rewards seem minimal.

Crafting

Yes, you can get ALL the raw materials (ore and herbs) from your mine and herb garden. If you build the barn, you can trap animals for fur and savage blood. All this has done is make everyone more self-sufficient, and kind of killed any of the normal profit people make from going out and farming this on alts, then selling it on the AH. I only have one character at 100 so far this expansion, and she is a scribe.  I can only speak for my personal experiences then, and your results may vary 😉

I am now able to get all the herbs I need for my daily cool down and even make some glyphs from the herb garden. I don’t need to go out into the world and farm them up, as now the stockpile has me at over 100 herbs of each kind.

I have over 1000 of each kind of ore, and haven’t visited my mine since the middle of December. I do have an alt in the mid-40’s who is a JC/BS, and she will no doubt burn through that stockpile once she reaches 100, but guess what? Then I will have two mines that, if I want to gather the resources, I have to check once a day.

Buildings

This is a topic that I can see creating a lot of discussion here, or maybe (probably) I’m just imagining things.

I’m unhappy with the way the buildings work. I feel as though the small buildings are just…awkward. I currently have the salvage yard, the scribe building, and I just rebuilt for the third time the enchanter’s hut. Key words there are ‘rebuilt for the third time’. I really, really do not like having to undo and redo these buildings to suit whatever I need at the time. I have enough resources now that that part of the construction isn’t the issue, I just feel like that third building is so awkward. Maybe if I had two crafting professions instead of one gathering and one crafting it would be fine, but I just don’t like how it works. I don’t need the storehouse since I have the portal to Warspear in my garrison. I don’t really need any of the other profession buildings because my guild is large enough that if I need flasks or potions, or if I needed armor made, I could reach out to someone and have them  help, or just check the guild bank before raid and get what I need. The only reason I am rebuilding the enchanter’s hut (again) is to disenchant the low ilvl blues I’m getting from my follower’s missions, and the occasional green I pick up while killing mobs, if I even venture outside my garrison and do that.

The lumber mill is making me grumpy too, lately. I feel like I earn garrison resources at a better and easier rate from the trading post, and riding in circles around Nagrand has quickly grown old. Sure, I got a follower, but then it’s just another follower. I got some achievements too, so yay? Maybe it would have been completely different if I had gotten the LM first, and had it while I was questing and out in the zones, versus getting it once I hit 100. That’s what I’ll try on my alts, and see if that makes any kind of difference.

I still haven’t unlocked the pet menagerie. Anyone who follows my blog probably knows by now that I’m a serial procrastinator, and that also it’s been on my list of things to do for about a year now to level a team of battle pets to 25.

SPOILER ALERT- STILL HAVEN’T DONE IT.

So that’s sitting in the corner of my garrison, collecting snow (I would say dust, but we are in Frostfire Ridge so it’s snow, and you know what, never mind).

Missions

Oh boy oh boy. This is the main thing that has shifted from OMG YAY to OMG NO. Getting new followers, seeing how that works, learning about how the different counters match up, downloading addons to make it even easier, that was all fun. Leveling them up, getting them gear (even noticing for some of them that the cosmetic look of their weapons/armor changed as they got higher ilvls) was really fun and a neat new feature.  Fast forward to today, when I don’t even want to log in, because yes I sent them out to get more Abrogator (Alligator) Stones, more weapons and armor to gear up my followers, some gold, and maybe some garrison resources. Then there are the missions where they bring me back an item level 610 bracer. Cool, thanks guys.

I wish there was another ‘thing’ that they could go out and get. Maybe cosmetic items for my garrison, a chance at a box that might contain, I don’t know, a vanity pet or a toy or something?

 

All I know is, garrisons aren’t really working for me anymore. Now that I’m raiding consistently, I don’t need them for the gear, except for the very rare mission in which my followers bring me back raid gear. I just feel like I’m logging in, doing my thing in my garrison on autopilot, then logging out and playing another game, or doing something else. I feel restless. Maybe this will change in a couple weeks, once classes start back up and I have less free time, but maybe it won’t. I’m not quitting the game over garrisons, or letting these feelings impact how I feel about Warcraft in general. I do still love the game, and I really enjoy the people I play it with. This is just a part of the game that I’m finding I enjoy far less than I thought I would.

 

Thanks as always for reading, and please post comments below- I’m interested in seeing how other people feel about my thoughts above, and how the garrisons are impacting your gameplay.