Some times the more things change the more they remain the same.  But that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case with WoW.  In a little less than 22 months with BC and WotLK the game can truly be said to be so radically different than the original it’s almost a completely different thing.

The things that are completely different don’t just apply to the original pre-BC game.  There have been so many changes in WotLK that certain aspects of the game have either cropped up as completely new (like actually decent crafted epics) to other things almost disappearing entirely.

I live in New Mexico.  It’s been a long-running joke that no one else in the country seems to ever remember that we’re even a state.  New Mexico Magazine even has a segment it still prints in each edition to this day entitled “one of our 50 is missing!”  With silly stories about people back east warning their friends to “be sure to get your shots” before traveling to Santa Fe to visit grand-kids and stuff like that.  New Mexico is a bit like Grull’s armpit – you know he probably has one but you never think about it.  Especially since you never plan on visiting there.

Well, along the same lines, there is a part of WoW that I used to really enjoy (now that I miss it) that is simply gone.  You never hear about it, you never talk about it and it’s pretty much only in PvP that you ever even see it.  Crowd Control, once an important part of almost every instance and raid simply went “poof” in Wrath, and it’s probably a bigger problem than you think.

Well, it may not be such a huge problem if Blizz decides to just let it disappear into a BG or Arena only event.  But if Ulduar is a real challenge, then lots of people may be in trouble for a while.  Now, my guess is that CC is going to make a huge comeback, but that’s only going to make the learning curve on Ulduar that much more brutal for the majority of people.

It’s looking like CC has become an almost lost art. I remember having to get really good at chain trapping as a hunter even in runs like Shattered Halls, to say nothing of Kara.  We even tried to make sure that we had at least 2 CC toons on every run just to make life and pulls a lot easier.  Granted I wasn’t in the most Dominating guild at the time, but it was pretty much the norm.

Not so in Wrath.  I can count the number of times I’ve used CC on one hand.  And both times had to do with Mind Control in Naxx.  And it’s not just that people have forgotten how to use CC because they haven’t done it in a year, but tanks have forgotten how to keep pulls away from CC mobs and DPS guys don’t even know what to look for any more.  So even if you do CC something, the chances the CC will break on it’s own is virtually zero.  It has become almost completely pointless to attempt.

Now, certainly everyone could re-learn CC pretty fast, but I really thought it was much more fun to wait for sap and sheep and then only have a skull and X to deal with than just doing the chain 4 pulls we do now.  Bringing back the CC necessity would also level the playing field on DPS for all classes since you couldn’t just spam AOE for 7k DPS on every trash pull.

I know there have been lots of complaints about the way Wrath works, but overall I like it.  But the loss of certain elements that were once absolutely crucial to success in PvE makes me miss some things about the way we used to have to play.  So when you’re out there in BG’s start working on your CC a bit, it’s probably only a matter of time before it comes roaring back in your face.  Especially you hunters, all I ever see is frost trap any more – no one even lays a Freeze trap for the nostalgia of it.

So it wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw a little old school into your pulls – at least on heroics or something, anything to keep yourself sharp.  I know you don’t have to, but it will make you feel better, I promise.  So enough of this QQ, just had to get that off my chest.  Just don’t forget that CC is a great way to DOminate, and here’s hoping it makes a comback very soon.