The word convenience can really be interpreted too many ways

^
And this is exactly why the dirty PR bastards chose it.

Pay to win sucks - but it is way to early to call it that. Lets see what is in the store. Games like DOTA make tons of $$ of customization only items. I also have no problem if they sell healing, mana and other buffs that can also be earned or crafted, as long as in PvP you can't just quaff an infinite amount. And selling access to areas is fine, as long as its $5 per instead of $20 per. And they can always charge for expansions.

I was part of Beta and this game just didn't do enough for me to want to pay $60 PLUS $15 a month. Now I think I will try it and see what they have improved. But I will do it on PC.

I might as well now. I just need to know whether I can play the digital PS4 version simultaneously on two accounts via game-sharing. If that works I'm pretty much sold.

So was said about Diablo.

The difference between Diablo and WoW is one game has 30 keybinds for skills, the other has 6.

WoW would never work.

Diablo 3 was designed around utilizing a handful of abilities.

WoW has 21+ abilities per class. The game would need to be completely redesigned from the ground up to use few abilities or to use a type of combo system to go from one skill to another.

thekhurg is right. WoW as it is and has been since the beginning would not work with a controller unless you decide to ignore over half the abilities you have at your disposal.

I disagree. Considering the need to time so much at the right time, I don't think relying on remembering which button to use to get 3 abilities should pop up to use with 3 of the buttons on the controller isn't a good design. Sure, there are some out there that will be able to do it. But your standard gamer, who are the type of people who play MMOs, won't find it a simple or pleasing to use system.

But, even then, let's examine this (PS controller since it's what I have in front of me being utilized in this example):

The Warrior class has 21 different abilities at least.

'x' is attack no matter what you do.

So you have 5 x 3 programmable abilities (base, R1, R2, L1, L2), to tie to the other 3 buttons.

That's 16 total, right now.

But, let's say we don't always have attack up. That's still only 5 x 4 abilities. That's 20 abilities.

I think in order to truly get WoW to work on consoles, there would definitely need to be some major changes to how skills are utilized and thereby adjustments to take account for those changes in the game itself.

This reminds me of Everquest Online Adventures. The whole gameplay wal altered to account for the differences and slower gameplay in using abilities due to the controller.

WoW and it's ilk are games that people invest countless hours in, so simplicity isn't really necessary. It is something publishers want because they have their eyes on the widest audience possible, but over-simplifying MMORPGs has it's own consequences.

Getting right into WoW, I've played plenty of it on a controller just for kicks. Cooldowns on the D-Pad, combat skills on the face buttons, targetting on the bumpers. The biggest problems are that tab targetting isn't that intuitive, and for some reason there are no options to adjust the turning speed of the camera (with the default clearly being too slow).

Your 21 button warrior on a DS4 would be no problem. 4 face buttons, 4 d-pad directions, 2 bumpers, 2 sticks. That's 12 "common" face buttons, all modifiable with the triggers for a total of 36. You've got your warrior there, with room for gammy targetting buttons on top.

WoW would have other issues coming to consoles though. The established fanbase already have PCs, and the 10years worth of old content/tired pop culture references has been chopped and accelerated so much that it just doesn't make for a great game. The whole interface would need a re-design, communication would need a re-design, healing would need a re-design and most of the content would need to be adjusted accordingly. It would also be quite a monumental coding task getting the engine to run on the CPUs in the consoles, as it doesn't thread well at all.

Nothing insurmountable, but it wouldn't really make commercial sense to attempt it.

***Your 21 button warrior on a DS4 would be no problem. 4 face buttons, 4 d-pad directions, 2 bumpers, 2 sticks. That's 12 "common" face buttons, all modifiable with the triggers for a total of 36. You've got your warrior there, with room for gammy targetting buttons on top.
***

No, it wouldn't. That's a horrible set up. Just horrible.

First, one finger should always be on L3 for movement. That means you're taking your hand off to fire off abilities. Then adding in possibly using bumpers in conjunction with that?

No. Just horrible.

Sure, you could do this, but it would be a hot mess and people would not like it. That's just a horrible concept, to be honest.

Furthermore, we're ignoring the fact that there are menu elements, chatting, emotes, and the like that will be tied to things as well.

No. Just no. It would be worse than that one mech game with the overly complex joystick. At least that game it gave you all the controls you needed, this would just be a "Shoot, is it L2 or L1 for that? Where is my heal? Wait, are my druid abilities for bear this way or was that for panther?"

Yeah I meant that, was talking about it not having subscription fees.