If you’ve played World of Warcraft at any point in the last ten years, chances are you’ve dealt with a Mission Table. What began as a fun and addictive feature in Warlords of Draenor has turned into one of the most divisive systems in the game. Some players look back on its early days with fondness, while others wish Blizzard would finally leave it behind.
The Mission Table’s addition in Warlords of Draenor was truly thrilling. You could hire a large pool of followers, send them on missions for gold, loot, or even major quest rewards, and feel like the commander of your garrison. For some, it was the apotheosis of alt gameplay—log on, look at the table, grab the loot, and do it all again. It was easy, it was rewarding, and actually kind of habit-forming.
Things changed with Legion. Order Hall missions reduced the follower system to a smaller scale, so it no longer felt like it was a collection game but rather busywork. Missions were connected directly to campaign advancement, so you couldn’t skip them if you wanted to progress in the story. The rewards were still beneficial, particularly for gold and artifact power, but the enthusiasm started to wane.
By the time Battle for Azeroth came along, the Mission Table had lost much of its luster. Flavor text still alluded to epic battles around Azeroth, but most players just ignored it, clicking past without reading. Rewards were lackluster, and the enjoyment of tracking down new followers had largely disappeared.
Shadowlands tried to reboot the concept with its Command Table, providing a twist of autobattler-style gameplay and a promise of greater strategy. Instead, it was clunky and disconnected. The visuals were unattractive, the mechanics unclear, and most players required addons to even understand it. Anima was too valuable an asset to be squandered on quests, and the rewards—mounts, pets, and equipment—were uninspired and rapidly shared between accounts, giving little incentive to play multiple characters.
In addition to that, the Mission Table interface has long been a pain point. Players have long complained about the minimap button disappearing as you level, making it more difficult to go back to old content or complete legacy quests. The previously well-defined notification system broke down, and players were left in the dark about their missions. As one player quipped, “Once you unlock a garrison or equivalent, that button should always remain.”. Removing it just makes older content more difficult to enjoy.
So is the Mission Table still worth having around? To some, it’s an old-time feature that reminds them of WoW’s experimental early years—a fast, low-work way to feel accomplished in-game. To others, it’s an outmoded system marred by ill-conceived design and meager payoff. Its peak and decline say something deeper about MMO design: new features require careful maintenance, or they’ll become innovation gone to waste.
Whatever Blizzard chooses to do with the Mission Table now, its effect is already on the record for the history of World of Warcraft. Some remember it affectionately; others, irritably. But either way, it serves as one example of how World of Warcraft has tried things out, changed, and fallen short along the way.