Players want more mid-level content!
by Eric Vice 
Oct 6th 2007 at 12:30PM
I was intrigued to read the results of the poll over at Kinless' Chronicles. Before they moved from their old blog hosting provider they started a poll asking what people wanted the most in World of Warcraft.Of all the poll results, I was most interested by the fact that 64% of respondents wanted more level 20-60 content and only 15% wanted more end-game content. Also of note is that only 12% wanted more races in the game. So in other words, people don't want new "starter areas", they want alternatives to the "grinding content" that they've run so many times they can do it in their sleep.
I pretty much agree with all the poll results and wonder why Blizzard seems to have turned a blind eye to the obvious. I think it's fair to say that most of us have one or two high or maxed-level characters, and a handful of lower level characters we "mess around with" trying to find something we like. So why don't they develop new mid-range content?
What format do you see new mid-level content content being packaged in? New zones? New quests? New instances? What about just new items? Personally, when I played The Sims, I always loved the "item packs" that gave me new items to play with in-game. They weren't a content expansion, they were pretty inexpensive, but they offered some new items to spice up gameplay. I think this could be a cheap way for Blizzard to throw the mid-level people a proverbial bone without spending a lot of development time.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TotalBiscuit Oct 6th 2007 12:38PM
I admit to being quite surprised by that, considering I thought mid-game was pretty solid. But I guess those who are alt-o-holics would quickly get bored of doing the same thing and perhaps Blizzard should accomodate for that fact.
Hooper Oct 6th 2007 12:47PM
Please, before it happens, no one comment "how about a new Gnomergon (sp?) world event where we save the gnome city for level 30-40s?"
If I see that on the official forums one more time I'm gonna /wrist and end it all. Have these people not even see the troll starting areas? Those small islands. Its a disgrace.
Though I would like some patches to fill in all the blank areas. What is going on in Gilneas anyways. Can we get a KYL: Gilneas please?
Ashwin Oct 6th 2007 12:50PM
This game needs to expand horizontally as well as vertically, the means more mid game content and a graphics update pack as well. More than just additional mid game content we need more streamlined mid game content, with better designed quests, fixing of broken and imcomplete quests and more quests in zones that anyone hardly ever goes to. Although it must be added that on most servers the vast majority of players are around 70 ish and are greatly looking forward to more vertical expansion(higher lvls). That said, I know a guy who quit WoW partially because he felt that all the work he had done at lvl 60 raiding had gone to waste by the addition of TBC, although he prolly didn't have full tier 3 but still, an interesting point to note.
Hooper Oct 6th 2007 12:54PM
Also, this reminds me, pre-TBC I tried doing a quest you can accept from one of the guys near the boat dock in Booty Bay to go get some buzzard parts from up in the Badlands that I learned was a known broken quest and that the parts didn't drop. Is this quest still broken?
Jamesisgreat Oct 6th 2007 1:08PM
What gets my goat is when Blizzard say 'you can have more mid-level content OR more end-game content but not both as our developers are just so busy as it is'. Well here's an idea - use some of those 9 million subscription fees and hire a ton more developers.
And while your at, hire someone to test your new patches before you release them. Anyone.
rick gregory Oct 8th 2007 4:21PM
The problem with the poll is that it never defines 'mid-level content' so that big mass of people might mean very different things by the term. Some might want more instances... some might want more zones, some more quests, etc.
New quests and completion of some of the quest lines that just kind of end would be nice. So would new items... But, let's face it... at some point with alts you'll have done all of the quests and seen the areas. It's one thing to support people who are making their first, second or third alts... but people making thier 8th?
@5 - always an easy thing to say, but 1) those new people need to learn the code and system and 2) it's not just coders... someone has to create thr quests, think about how they fit into the world, same for items, etc. It's not like they just need to hire 20 people, shove them in front of a computer and you're done.
And, while I can see a lot of this, I STILL have a hard time reconciling this desire for more mid-level content with the cries of "Azeroth is deserted" and "I can't every find a group for [insert mid-level instance]." Blizz should pay attention that poll, but they need to dive into the number to see what people really mean.
Swarfy Oct 6th 2007 1:58PM
Having two level 70's a 48 pally, 42 mage and a 41 rogue, I would be REAL happy if they put in some more mid level content. Gets kinda boring after a while seeing the quest name and not even having to read the description anymore...
Slayblaze Oct 6th 2007 2:00PM
While content itself is very important, we'll be seeing more and more calls for updated graphics such as #3 noted I believe. Looking at what the most recent generation of PC games offers graphically, it is so far above WoW that I have actually found myself playing less WoW simply because of the outdated graphics. While I haven't had an issue with this in the past, I'm noticing it more and more after playing recent PC games as well as 360 and PS3 offerings. The graphical gap has widened and is getting wider with each new release.
As for the actual mid-game content, I agree that a few new quests - or changes to existing questlines even - would be nice for those of us who like to level alts, and take away some of the been-there done-that factor. I'd also like to see a lot more World Event content and have it be available for everyone to take part in, say every couple months or so.
Ryan Oct 6th 2007 2:00PM
@5 In the software business, if you grow too quickly you end up with a huge mess. I'm sure they're trying to expand, but they also have to develop processes and standards so that those people coming in are actually being productive.
Fletch Oct 6th 2007 2:05PM
It always baffled me that Blizzard has completely ignored fixing up the middle part of the game. Only a very small number of people are in the Black Temple as it is, do they really need to spend more time making another raid instance? On the other hand I'm sure there are a large number of people who would like to roll an alt, but just don't want to slog through the middle again. I know I quit because I wasn't interested in endgame raiding and, while I would have loved to roll another character, I just couldn't get past level 30 without wanting to claw my eyes out.
Keith Heymann Oct 6th 2007 2:35PM
Mid-level content would be a plus. I could see some area's that would be easy to expand on.
Venture mining company is one... could easily add in area's 'underneath' what we level on now.. as in the mining caves.
How about that big whirlpool we see on the map? .. or is that perhaps for a big area in the future? .. I could see some form of lost area beneath the sea.. have your ship sucked down by whirlpool at random on way to Booty bay.
Of course wouldn't want the higher end content to suffer while working on the mid level either.. a balance should be found.
Aler Oct 6th 2007 2:56PM
I'm hesitant about wanting new mid-level content, and I understand why Blizzard isn't in any hurry to add it.
Who would this appeal to? Not to new players, since all content is new content to them.
Probably not to casual or heavy-casual players - I've been playing WOW pretty regularly (couple hours a day, so not hardcore) for a year, and I have one char at 70, another at 36, and a bunch in the 20s. I suspect it's possible to take two characters of each faction up to lvl70 with only a minimal overlap. For example, my lvl70 never quested in STV, or in Searing Gorge, or in Silithius, or Thousand Needles, or a couple other zones.
More mid-level content appeals then to the players who have already taken 4 characters to level 70 - hardcore players and those who have been playing for years. Most hardcore players are already satisfied by the continuing march of new end-game content. I suspect the target audience for new mid-level content is far too small to ever justify the resources required to create it. However, this group is probably over-represented on sites like this, hence the apparent high demand.
Dave Oct 6th 2007 3:07PM
Well, they're "fixing" the 20-60 portion of the game by giving us less of what they have in the game to do.
That whole (estimated) %30 increase in quested XP and %30-40 less XP per level they've said is going to happen will more or less remove all of the stuff from 20-60 that you don't like and allow you to have more flexibility in leveling.
Not that I wouldn't love to see a whole new set of questlines and more zones set up like Outland where the quests are almost all done on hubs and in logical orders and all that, but I just don't think they're going to do it.
I suspect much like blizzard just craps out the world event casual content and doesn't really seem to care if it sucks or not, they just don't care about people leveling characters. The leveling population probably has a high churn of people who don't keep playing for very long compared to the steady diehard subscribers at the raiding level. Of course Blizzard won't give out stats, but there has to be some logical proof that the majority of the retention comes from people who enjoy the endgame and don't have 9 alts and a handful of characters that will never see 70 or 80.
Otherwise, Blizzard is most likely going to start bleeding customers at some point if the next expansion doesn't ship for another year. (and then the expansion will suck them back in if they haven't found something else to do... but that's still potentially millions of dollars that won't be around for a while)
Autumnbear Oct 6th 2007 4:04PM
How about updating the overall lore for the game, and allowing more class choices for the current playable races.
Still waiting for the Night Elves to teach my Human how to be a Druid, especially since he's Exalted with both Darnassus AND the Cenarion Circle.
flamingmeteor Oct 6th 2007 4:20PM
It's purely anecdotal, of course, but all the people I know who have quit WoW have done it in the midgame; generally the 30's. The ones that actually make it to 70 (well, 60 back in the day) are the ones who stuck around. This includes several people who only tried the game after TBC came out.
The midgame definitely needs a strong tuning up; everyone knows it, and it's one of the reasons the XP rate is being increased in 2.3. There's entire zones that were essentially incomplete at release (Blasted Lands, Dustwallow Marsh, Deadwind Pass) in the middle tier, and are only now starting to get poked at.
The problem, though, is that doing midgame content is difficult to justify on a balance sheet. The most-repeated content is the endgame material or the newbie material; this is shown perfectly clear by TBC covering 1-20 and 60-70, with nothing in between. The trouble, though, and the thing that Blizzard continues to forget, is that the midgame is "maintenance content"; it's used less often overall, but it's also the easiest place for super-casuals to get bored. And it's even more tedious to people who've reached the level cap more than once; STV, anyone?
Erin Oct 6th 2007 4:27PM
I'd love to see the midlevel content expanded, but hopefully in a cohesive way. I don't think another new zone with questgivers wanting me to bring them X of Y for no real reason is what players are really asking for.
Much of the early and late content excels at making you feel like your questing is more than mere grinding to get to a higher level. You're uncovering clues, you're getting deeper and deeper into mysteries, you're suddenly discovering that quests you performed which seemed random are actually all related.
Yet at the midlevel, with a few exceptions, that largely falls away. You're left zone-hopping with no real sense of purpose or being part of anything, just waiting for the day you can finally graduate from Desolace.
An earlier poster mentioned Gilneas as a possible site for new midlevel content, and I think that's a perfect place. Gilneas is a huge mystery -- rumors of something horrible that's happened beyond that gate, the whispers of worgen, a whole zone that could draw the players in. Kul Tiras is another place that would work well, picking up several threads from WCIII as Jaina and Thrall skirt the limits of their fragile truce sending adventurers there.
Heilig Oct 6th 2007 5:17PM
"The problem, though, is that doing midgame content is difficult to justify on a balance sheet. The most-repeated content is the endgame material or the newbie material"
Think about what you're saying. The only content that is repeated is the people who either start lots of alts to decide what class they like or the people who already leveled a toon and CAN'T go anywhere else, so they have to run the same things over and over. This also includes people who leave the starting areas and realize that now they have to run all the way around the world to do anything and just give up by 30. Blizzard clearly needs to create new content, but I am honestly shocked by the fact that they are avoiding the easy content that is waiting to be made. Grim Batol, Uldum, Modern-Day Hyjal, Stormwind Keep, and Timbermaw Hold already have unused instance portals. Fill those out and put one in each 8-level range from 20-60 and that fills in new lore, new quests, new encounters, and new items all at the same time. Rolling out new instances is THE way to get people over the hump.
Glen Larkins Oct 6th 2007 5:34PM
The main reason more mid level content is there is absolutely no incentive to NOT want to power level like mad. More content at level 35 means people will not be as concerned with how much xp they have to go until 36, but will more likely play the game to enjoy it. Leveling from 60-70 is great because there is so much content that you can level and still not have seen it all. I hit 70 and had never stepped foot in Netherstorm, Blades Edge, or Shadowmoon.
A large number of the quests in the mid level also want to make you travel across the globe and back again. I don't know if this was their idea of slowing progress down, or making you see the world or what, but its kinda pathetic. Anyone present down the shaman water totem quest? Dear Lord....
MisterMichaud Oct 6th 2007 6:15PM
Old news. Blizzard is adding new mid-level content. Dustwallow is being revamped.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1272257992&sid=1
G Oct 6th 2007 8:58PM
A few more quests using already-existing zones and mobs would be fine with me (Forest Song for the alliance comes to mind as a good example). I just leveled up an alt and found things getting a little thin in the 41-43 and 51-54 ranges. Not that I needed places to go, but I really had no choice, and that makes WoW linear. An MMO this large shouldn't ever be linear.