Bring on the horizontal changes, please
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 13th 2007 at 2:30PM
Mystic Worlds lays out exactly what is, in my humble opinion, the biggest problem with World of Warcraft right now: We need some horizontal change. As I said in my impressions of BlizzCon, Blizzard seems intent on building more and more vertical content into the game-- Zul'Aman is built to be played after Karazhan, and Wrath of the Lich King will add another 10 levels onto the top of the 70 we have now. And while Blizzard keeps building up, they're more or less ditching everything that happens from 1-58. Even worse, the only changes we're seeing there are going to be to move past that stuff faster-- not only are they ignoring it, they're working on pushing it out of the game entirely.So Mystic Worlds wants more horizontal changes. That doesn't necessarily mean midlevel content (although a lot of her suggestions mean more things to do for midlevel players). Instead it means that Blizzard should take a breath, and set their teams on making the existing game experience more fulfilling. Things like guild halls, single player dungeons, more professions (Inscription will probably provide new items 1-70, but Woodworking has been necessary for a long time), and little touches-- more live events, gambling minigames (that all players can do), and fun little additions that all players can get involved in, not just those who have made it to 70.
Now, there has to be some part of Blizzard that is pushing for this stuff-- it's not quite as simple as casual vs. raiders in this case. But Blizzard seems to think that they're behind on high end content, and that they're rushing to catch up to players who are hungry for more of it. I don't think either perception is true. If anyone is hungry for new things to do, it's players who have more than three alts, and yet a main that hasn't yet reached 70. I'm more than willing to trade one of the three or four 25 man instances planned in WotLK for two or three of these "horizontal changes," and I'd guess most other players are, too.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Fortuente Aug 13th 2007 2:35PM
I completely AGREE! It's about the journey, not the destination.
Jared Aug 13th 2007 4:31PM
Yay for italics.
Eric Aug 13th 2007 2:39PM
just reading about the idea of more 1-60 content gets me all excited. I've got 4 alts going and a level 62 mage who just sits on his ass. I want to see what the end game is like as something other than a mage. not that i hate my mage or anything, but the game is fun when you get to try things with a different set of skills. but the current level-up process is so tedious and, in my opinion broken. once you hit the 20s it is just grind, grind, grind. i get so sick of the grinding i usually create another alt and start leveling again. obviously this is a self-defeating process but i just can't put in 5 hours to reach one level when i know i have another 30 levels to go before things get interesting.
Argent Aug 13th 2007 2:41PM
single player dungeons was a pretty silly idea the first time someone uttered it, it's still a silly idea now and chances are it will always be a silly idea. how exactly to you expect to balance such a notion so that class A doesn't just blow through the zone while class B can't do it at all?
the whole 'mid-level content' thing to me never rang true because when i levled up my half a dozen toons, i never really ran out of zones to quest in, but i suppose that could be just me.
guildhalls and other frills would be a nice touch, though. dunno if we really need more professions per se, but if we do, then at some point we prolly could use additional profession slots as well.
there are things blizz could implement that could give the game a bit more lateral breath -- such as diplomacy efforts that have actual consequences or perhaps an actual stock or commodities exchange, but i'm not holding my breath on that one.
gambling...well...that's a bit of a slippery slope. i personally would love to see some of it, but given the wide demographic spectrum of customers, i dunno how feasible it is. that's prolly one area where blizz could play it safe.
bill gates Aug 13th 2007 2:44PM
According to Blizzard all 9 million players are hardcore raiders so adding more raid content is all they need to worry about
Todd Aug 13th 2007 2:50PM
I totally agree with this whole article. I would love to see the old dungeons also offer heroic versions. I'm still waiting on player housing. I would LOVE to see some of those unfinished quest chains finally complete.
Hank Aug 13th 2007 2:54PM
Without adding more midlevel content to attract those who already have high-level toons, the player base will slowly erode as people hit top level and new players coming into the game get frustrated at their inability to complete a lot of quests because there is no one else in the zone.
Why is Outland devoid of class trainers and auction houses? So they have some reason to make high-level players return to the old world so the noobs can beg for help. If there was newer mid-level content, maybe I'd roll an alt to experience it, and have a 28 pally to help that hunter on his quest.
Todd Aug 13th 2007 2:53PM
@Argent
I would imagine the answer to your question regarding Single Player dungeons is, the instance itself scales to the class and level. That would certainly allow for a dungeon to cater to melee classes, while the same dungeon can then cater to casters.
Luclan Aug 13th 2007 2:54PM
What I want to see more of is old instances with the option of scaling difficulty to meet higher levels.
Really now they put alot of time and effort into plotting, programming, and tuning all these instances. And the second BC hit they became totally useless.
Make a heroic ony for lvl 70 chars, and like a "legendary" setting for those who will hit 80. This will not only diversify gear more, but it will also allow new players to experience the old instances.
Strongmark on Arthas Aug 13th 2007 2:56PM
I also fully agree. I want to see more mid level. Perhaps they will listen for the third expansion, because there have been MANY cries for this. I like the single player dungeons, kind of like a Single Player Diablo feel, but even a 2 or 3 person dungeon. There are many small guilds out there and more casual people that will never be able to get into 10-25 man groups, let alone old school 40 man raids...
I just don't see how Blizzard can ignore us. Not all 9 million subscribers are hardcore raiders, but I believe the ones that are hardcore are the only ones voicing their opinions. If the little casual guys who don't care enough to say anything don't say anything, the game they know and love will be tranformed what the raiders want.
Painhealer Aug 13th 2007 4:38PM
@4, snicker.
Seriously, although I doubt blizzard would ever provide this detail, I would love to see the percentage of PVE progression by account (not toon) into high-level content. I suspect its a small minority. Many hard-core raiders I know are now running their alts through kara and such while they move their primary towards BT. How many mages have you seen sporting a tanking sword "just because everyone else already had it" in their guild.
Leveling my third toon to 70 has now become almost robotic because I've been there, done that before.
Strongmark on Arthas Aug 13th 2007 2:59PM
i think another thing they can do for the casuals is to take some of these 25-40 man raids and make them have 5 man options. We have reguklar and heroic instances. There could be an option for "Raid and non-raid instance". I agree that the raid, because it is more difficult content, should have better loot, make the non raids have good blues instead of good purples. this way we can all still experience the lore... Thats one of the things I ahte about being a casual, I dont get to experience some of the coolest instances and events that so many talk about :(
Chris C. Aug 13th 2007 2:59PM
@ Gambling
Isn't gambling already part of the game? We roll for drops and buy up all the ore in the AH to prospect it for rare gems.
DarkStar Aug 13th 2007 3:01PM
single player dungeons would be great!!
Tinwhisker Aug 13th 2007 3:01PM
According to most estimates, the hardest of the hardcore still amounts to around a hundred thousand people. According to WoWJutsu, there are over 500 US guilds in BT or MH. While this is a minority, it's one that does a lot of pushing and promotion for the game. You have to develop for them to keep things moving.
I would like to see more content for players of all levels as well.
I think the real problem here is that while the player base and game has expanded, the development team has not. I'm willing to bet that the number of developers hasn't changed a whole lot in the last two years despite the huge growth of WoW.
If that's the case then they can't do any more now than when they started. Which is ludicrous, they can afford it and they need a bigger team. Look at Blizzard's profit numbers; you'll see they are carrying their parent company (Vivendi).
I say keep the current dev team on vertical content and expansions, promote a few of them to head a second (new) dev team for mid-level content and level-free content.
Painhealer Aug 13th 2007 5:01PM
#10, that's a fascinating idea to soften some instances for smaller groups. As a casual guild player, getting a 5-man for Kara would not be hard, finding 10 attuned guildies online at the same time hasn't been possible to date.
Jess Aug 13th 2007 3:07PM
I recently had an idea for expanding the game horizontally. I thought the Tranquillen rep thing in Ghostlands was great becusae players got huge rep rewards and great gear for their level. Why not expand the influence of the Argent Dawn and Cenarion Circle to include quests and rep rewards for lower level players? Put AD or CC quest guys in some of the sparser zones and attach AD rep to running Scarlet Monestary so players who are honored can get nice level 40 blues.
Dreadicus Aug 13th 2007 9:03PM
Speak on sister!
WoW's dev team, is made up of too many ex-EQ raiders, who's intent (in my minds eye) is to make use of WoW employees to code a game for their intended play. (And geeks like them).
Add some casual players to your dev team. Add some folks who 'don't' raid - or even have, but are just over it.. You need to get 'beyond' this 'raid' and realize, everyone thats paid you $300 dollars plus (If you've been here since day1, closer to $400), since you guys released, is owed end-game content w/o having to SHARE it with 25 other dorks they may, or may NOT want to be with.
10 man end-game, FTW!!
rick gregory Aug 13th 2007 3:05PM
Oh WAAH....
Look, you all ignore the fact that mid-level content enhancements cater to *existing* players. Yeah, if you have alt-itis, the old world will get, well, old. But if you want to explore new content... why not level up? Why not get out Outland, run the new dungeons, etc? Why are you creating a 5th alt in the same faction?
Sorry, but this whole idea is silly. The old content that people whine about so much attracted millions of players. While it's not perfect it has been, by definition, very successful.
Heroic instances/raids? really? You've run SM, ZG, Strat or Scholo a bunch of times... would you really rather see the heroic version of one of those... or a new dungeon pitched to your level? Think before you answer - would you rather have a harder version of something you've done many times or something new?
Oh, and i've said this before... but don't tell us that 1) Azeroth is empty, it's hard to find groups, etc... and 2) There's a lot of people demanding new mid-level content. Sorry, but if there are a lot of mid-level people Azeroth isn't a deserted wasteland.
Pingmeister Aug 13th 2007 3:08PM
It would seem to be in Blizzard's best interests to make new low and mid-level content so that folks will try a new character.
If you knew that you could experience all new zones and quests if you re-rolled wouldn't you be more likely to try a new class?
If Blizzard keeps people re-rolling they keep those monthly fees coming.
Unless their solution is to give you new reps to grind...