In my favorite gaming magazine here in Belgium, Mists of Pandaria got a good review, mostly because of the very different things you can do. The one biggest "but", however, is one that struck me. I was feeling like this for a long time and it felt good that I apparently am not the only one. Can't post a link as it's not posted online (and would be in Dutch anyway), but this was the gist of it:

The community has changed over the years. By the constant urge to get better gear, the gameplay getting more and more streamlined and the random and cross-realm Looking For Dungeon/Raid groups, most of the players just rush through everything. Gone are the days when you helped each other with quests, when you partied together with players you randomly met and when you could finish a dungeon somewhat socially, because everyone was on the same server. Yes, it all got more efficient and all, but because of that also more selfish. The charm of discovery and the unexpected is gone for most players. What's left is the social circle of the guild and the daily grind.

I hope I could translate this well enough so that it captures what the author was trying to say. Because in my opinion it's right on the money. I still love playing the game and I am lucky enough to be part of a wonderful, social guild for nearly the 8 years that the game is old (coincidentally still the one which got started by members of worldofwar.net, the late World of Warcraft section of Incgamers). Lots of my guildies have basically become real life friends thanks to Facebook and several guild meetings. But apart from this secluded social circle, the game has become very anti-social.

Small example yesterday (very small, but still): I was running towards a quest mob to kill him and didn't notice a Monk behind me, who suddenly rolled past me just to tag that quest mob first. I know it's a very small nuisance, since the beast respawns quickly... But still. In "the old days" these people existed as well, but the chance was bigger that someone would invite you before killing the mob so that you both would get credited for the quest. And I miss the days where you got a random group invite just because you were on the same quest, or where you actually had to ask people for help with a certain quest on the channel. Now it has become such a grind to level 90 - and even at level 90, the grind basically continues.

Thoughts?