3 Ways Garrisons Could Have Been Better

When Warlords of Draenor was first announced, the garrisons were one of the big things people were excited about. But in the end they ended up being what destroyed Warlords and caused the subscription rate to drop drastically. In concept, the idea is perfect. A homing system is what a lot of players want in an MMO. In practice, it wasn't so much what people wanted. These are some ways that I think would have made it better in practice.

1. Custom Decorating

When housing was announced, I was one of the people that had hoped that you would be able to customize it a little bit more. Getting to put the buildings where you want is great, but I think they could have done a little better. I don't think they needed to go full Final Fantasy and have furniture and color wheels, but I do think they could have made it a little better. 

If they had put sets---like a night elf set, a tauren set--locked behind achievements and quests, I think it would have been a lot better. Change all the buildings at once and it wouldn't be all that different from how some people have the trading post and others don't. Or when people change the guards. It would have let it be a little more personal and still wouldn't have completely broken the amount of space needed.

2. Leveling Professions

The buildings were a great idea. But I don't think you should have been able to level 1 - max in your garrison. I think the fact that you didn't have to leave your garrison to level your professions hit the game hard. If they had left the lower level professions to their specific expansions---still had to go through all of the usual leveling, I think it would have been better. The buildings were great for buying recipes and getting the items but being able to level completely there took away from the game. 

3. No Mine. No Herb Garden

The mine and the herb garden took away from part of the game. There was no reason to leave your garrison to do professions. Like above, it made it so you stayed in one place. Professions have been part of the game since they were incorporated. The mine and the garden crashed not only that part of the game, but also the auction house. If they had kept those out--I think the expansion would have been a lot better. Many of the buildings and things were great---but I feel like professions just screwed themselves inside the garrisons. 

Garrisons in concept were amazing. But they needed to work them out a little better. Maybe they needed a little more time on the drawing board. If you have any ideas of what could have made them better, let me know! 

O.S