How would you go about this

[PorrasouxRex]

If you were say, a game dev in WoW, how would you go about making WoW's massive world more interactive/give players more of a reason to go out besides farming for mats/prof lvling/pet battles/arch.

Personally, I would create puzzles, or challenges in the world that gave you some really fun vanity item with a fair drop rate. (Not 1-2% Screw you Timeless Isle)
Those vanity items would be useful/fun to use. For example transforming into another race for a whole day, or maybe something similar to Cinderfall's item. (WITHOUT CHARGES and a long cooldown)

If you do get the item in question, or if you get unlucky, you get a fair amount of gold/valor/conquest for your troubles.

Since, it seems so far people won't have any reason at max level to go out into the world with the introduction of Garrisons doing the majority of the work for you.

So, how would you do it?

[Chimera]

Puzzles sounds awesome! Maybe integrate traditional games as well like chess, checkers, various card games that you can do against npc's or players for currency that gets used to purchase said vanity items or maybe reward satchels/boxes/chests that'll have that drop rate chance. It'll give a new option for mounts and minipets to drop as well to help spice things up instead of it always being Blizz Store, Raids, Reputation, chance off a daily quest loot bag (which you can only do once a day :/), PvP, or rare drops off monsters that you might only be able to do once a day to once a week, fighting against varying amounts of other players to acquire.

Having those rare monster drop mounts is good for the dedicated few, Blizz Store is well, Blizz Store and I won't get into that, raid and dungeon achievement mounts good for those who like challenges, reputation and daily quest for the people who want steady progress, PvP who enjoy pitting themselves against others in a battle of tactics and team work.... These sources are good for balance but there's nothing for the people who prefer games of the mind. Be it vanity items, armor, weapons, mounts or pets, doesn't matter what these brain games offer really, though mounts and pets will give people who prefer this form of gameplay a chance at unique creatures they can enjoy working towards, brain games would be a welcome addition for everyone who enjoys such a thing.

There's a plethora of puzzles and games out there that can be added to various places in the WoW universe based on the culture concept for each zone. Traditional games will never die, the games I listed, and god knows how many more are timeless classics in the world, will live on forever. Adding those in for the people who enjoy them will give them something fun to spend time on when they need a break from game progression, and new games can be invented for the people who want something new to try. There's literally endless possibilities to this that would add a new element of play that could give incentive to encourage existing subscribers to keep playing longer if they're growing bored, and bring back old ones that stopped because they did grow bored but still enjoyed the game as a whole.

[ashdawn]

Yeah, I'd really like an ACTUAL chess in WoW.

[SylviaDragon]

You pretty much summed it up for me. I often go to that little island in azshara and play the minigames on alts for the glutton achievements. I usually don't even fly, I use the little jumping game to get up there. the plants vrs zombies is another game I love to play on my alts when I get bored. sometimes I don't finish the quest line so I can come back and play it again.
also the hidden cave inside that giant whirlpool? awesome. I need more stuff like that. I convinced my friend to jump into the whirlpool and he thought it was awesome. I laughed so hard when he eagerly dove into the STV pool soon after.

The flying disc mount was a step in the right direction reward wise. I also love the chests in timeless isle that requier you do do small jumping puzzels to obtain.

what would I do if I had a say in things? I would have some kind of easter egg adventure., like there are locations throughout the zone that have a chance to start you off on a quest/achivment that sends you off to visit other hidden locations. Each location has some sort of challenges, puzzles or jumping games you have to complete to unlock a chest with goodies at the end. Most likely some gold/jp/valor points and a fair chance at transmog or a vanity item. maybe after you complete all the challenges/get all the gear you unlock another tier that has a reasonable chance of dropping a mount. you could do all of the games as many times as you wanted and perhaps there would be an npc there that allowed you to choose the difficulty of each game but you could only get loot from finishing it once a day. Maybe toss in some cool lore, stories or flavor text here and there.

I also like little interactive lore spots and stuff. finding things that just hint at stories like the tracks in the sand in Tanaris. I also remember there being a demonic book in Darkshore surrounded by cultists. if you got too close to the book a hand would pop out and knock you down. I don't know why but I always really liked hunting for stuff like that.

[Wain]

I'd have to say that I think battle pets were a very successful attempt to introduce a mini game into WoW. Hopefully they're just as successful with other ideas, as long as they're all different but engaging.

[Lisaara]

I'd just add 'vistas' like GW2 does. :3 Make that the real exploration achievement.

[Aeladrine]

I would do it as they've already said they plan to, with max-level quest chains that introduce more lore and progress the story of the expansion. That way, those who don't care about lore can do what they've always done-- raid and PvP-- while others have something engaging at max level.