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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsKaplan announces Outlands leveling to be shortened
by Adam Holisky 
Jul 22nd 2008 at 4:00PM
Jeff Kaplan, the lead game designer, posted in the forums under his username Tigole that Blizzard will be speeding up leveling in the 60 to 70 bracket just as they sped up the 20 to 60 bracket. This has long been rumored and it's great to see this get implemented.Initial reports tell us the amount of experience points necessary to progress to each level has been decreased by 30% (for the 60 to 70 range only). Additional posters are reporting that mobs which give 500xp on the live server are now giving 600xp on the beta server. There doesn't seem to be any increase in the XP rewarded by quests yet, but this might be a future change.
Kaplan asks everyone to provide feedback on the change (if you're in the beta), and it looks like they've got his ear for the time being. So if you're in the beta and want to weigh in on the subject, now's the time.
Many thanks to the various users who submitted this news tip.
Filed under: News items, Leveling, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Chuddy Jul 22nd 2008 4:49PM
3 days? haha. maybe in /played. That's just silly. There's always someone who will appear out of the woodworks to say OMG I CAN DO THIS IN ONLY THIS MUCH TIME. This makes me laugh as much as the person who said they leveled to 40 in 3 hours.
Percinho Jul 22nd 2008 5:05PM
And what is your problem with that? I get about 5 or 6 hours a week to play the game, should I never be able to have a level 70? there is content for all player, and stuff that as a casual I will never see. I have no problem with that. So what exactly do you have against players who can't put in 20 hours a week? Why shouldn't we be able to reach 70 eventually?
chief_wiggum Jul 22nd 2008 5:20PM
I've voted you down not because you speak the truth but because you're a Debbie Downer. Do you hear that? You just missed your fail-train ride to Butt-hurt Town! Dammit!
Makros Jul 22nd 2008 5:23PM
"Welcome to the World of Casualcraft. I'm so glad I quit this game before the kowtowing of Blizzard towards making more money."
I have a hard time understanding why someone would troll the blogs of a game they are so proud of quitting. I can see you have truly put WoW behind you. Obvious troll is obvious.
ibcfreak Jul 22nd 2008 5:31PM
If you've quit the game...why are you still reading wowinsider hmm?
ParadeRainer Jul 22nd 2008 6:10PM
Rofl, I thought so, here comes the flimsy arguments. Just because I quit WoW doesn't mean I quit gaming. And you know where I saw this news from? The bottom section of Joystiq, a blog that's... you know... about gaming? I don't give a crap that you've only got 6 hours a week to play the game, it doesn't mean that you paid less or more than me to play the game. I chose to comment on this because it's ridiculous what Blizzard is doing, and instead of the fanboys who jump against truth, I see things the way they are and the way they have been. Retards. I mean, this is the same people that voted Gruul to win over Teron Gorefiend in a 1v1. LAWL.
Lowering requirements to get anything is like spitting in the face of those who played the game from the the beginning, when it was a challenge to even get to level 60. It took me 15 days played and 2 months to get to that, and when it happened, it actually felt like an accomplishment even though it was a videogame. Now, it's just handed to you; how is that fun? WoW is such a casual game now it's not even funny, and WotLK is just exacerbating that. Instead of making content that can distinguish the good from the bads, even the bads can look good and think that they're good at something they're not. But honestly, isn't this what this world is coming to? Mediocres thinking they're above average? Why should (/sarcasm) Blizzard, the captains of innovation do something different (/sarcasm). Just look at what they're doing with D3 and SC2, exact clones of the previous ones with shinier graphics that don't even look that good considering how amazing graphics tech can be now.
And yes, I meant 3 days played in game, or 72 hours. Why would you think otherwise?
Ryan Jul 23rd 2008 10:16AM
You might have a point if endgame was still going to be at 70, but since they're raising the cap to 80 and all the new content will be 68-80, you don't.
Unknownymous Jul 23rd 2008 2:20PM
"Instead of making content that can distinguish the good from the bads, even the bads can look good and think that they're good at something they're not."
Yep, because "bads" who pay just as much as you did (judging by your post, may still) should be limited to a small amount of content based on how well they perform in a video game?
"Mediocres thinking they're above average?"
Oh no, someone isn't as good as you at WoW, look down upon them! Spit on them! They are inferior to you after all.
Sloegin Jul 22nd 2008 4:47PM
Speed up the outland rep grinds as well and you might have something.
Kyudo Jul 22nd 2008 4:48PM
Outland.
Not "Outlands".
deviationer Jul 22nd 2008 5:14PM
meylee, may-lay, shayman, shammy. etc....
no one really cares.
Kyudo Jul 22nd 2008 5:18PM
Except this isn't a pronunciation mistake, it's a typo on a name.
On the flip side, you can argue that he meant to say:
"Kaplan announces Outland's leveling to be shortened"
Braundo Jul 22nd 2008 6:40PM
@deviationer:
"Mee-lee" does get under my skin slightly though :P
ubergrendle Jul 22nd 2008 4:50PM
ninjasuperspy said..."So instead of just bypassing Shadowmoon and Netherstorm, we are going to skip Blade's Edge and half of Nagrand as well?"
I hate to tell you, but with rested bonus and a top-off of XP from the fire festival, i'm going to hit 70 on my new warlock by only doing Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, and Terrokar (and the instance quests in those zones). Its *already* easy to hit 70. Heck, even at patch 2.0.1 I hit 70 on my huntard w/o doing SMV at all.
This XP bonus just gets people to the new content faster, and offsets the lack of instancing 60-70 once Northrend opens up.
Adorable1 Jul 22nd 2008 5:02PM
I know what would quicken up leveling without even having to increase XP gains. 100% drop rate. *cough* Gorilla Sinew *cough*
ninjasuperspy Jul 22nd 2008 5:15PM
Let me chime in on killing Yetis for that Hercular's Rod quest. I killed those dang things for (it seemed like) hours. 100% quest item drop rate and I can move on.
Dan Jul 22nd 2008 6:07PM
Purified hellboar meat. That quest made me think about quitting the game. Low drop rate + low purification rate.....ack.
darian Jul 22nd 2008 6:10PM
Second on the yetis.
Before they fixed it so the Rod would be available to everyone in your group on the first drop, a friend of mine and I spent half a day in there. We both leveled twice before the first rod dropped, and cried bitter tears as we realized that the hours we had already spent would be repeated.
But it was worth it to see a Draenei Paladin swamped by skeletons and an angry Helcular.
Braundo Jul 22nd 2008 6:44PM
On my most recent character, I got the rod on my very first yet (not even inside the cave yet). I just about fell out of my chair.
PeeWee Jul 23rd 2008 11:53AM
Horde quest in Tarren Mill, to get 10 gorilla tongues and 1 spider ichor.
On my forst Hordie, finding the ichor took 238 kills.